Probably the biggest change is that they are now counting only the top 8 difficulty elements into the start value of the routine instead of the top 10. More emphasis on a few really good elements instead of trying to get as many hard elements into the rourinte as possible.
Another big difference is the increase in deduction for a fall. Gymnasts will now loose 1 full point for a fall in their routine, instead of 0.8 as it was in the old code. Basically it means a fall will ake it impossible to score well. In some ways this is quite positive because under the old code gymnasts were losing as much for landing deductions and things as they were for a fall.
The element group requirements have also changed on each apparatus to make it more difficult. I think the changes are very appropriate for the level of competition. On bars they have added more difficulty, the flight from low bars to high bar and high bar to low bar are now the same EGR. So under the old code they got an extra 0.5 for a low to high flight and then another 0.5 for a high to low flight. Now they will only be paid 0.5 once for having both flights. Under the new code they now must also do elements that are both forward and backward on bars, they must also do a minimum of a 360 degree handstand pirouette. So yes the code is harder, but most gymnasts at this levek are doing this anyway.
There are no changes to the EGR on beam from the old code. there are a few changes on floor. In the old code the dance passage only needed to contain 2 different leaps, it now has to contain 3 different leaps.
There are also a few changes to the skills in the code of points. Some skills that were taken out of the old code have now been put back in. For example a hanstand on beam is now an A element.
