Scoring between States

[MaryA]

I started to hijack Bribri's thread, and then thought better of it and am starting a new one. Her neice got a 37.325 at level 5 States which was 9th place. That seemed like a really low place for such a high score, so this was my question... cut and pasted from what I was going to post on Bri's brag.

Such a high AA coming in 9th made me wonder though... do some states score easier/harder than others or do some states just have better scoring gyms/gymnasts than others? I'm sure it's a combination of both, but we are in neighboring states (and her neice doesn't live in Texas), and I looked through the level 5 State scores for our state and out of all of the sessions, all of the age groups, someone swith your neice's score would have came in 1st place in most sessions/age groups, 2nd in a few, and 3rd in just one. Nothing lower than that. There are only 10 level 5's in our entire state (all sessions, all age groups combined) that scored higher than your neice.

So my question is (and I do realize there is no way to definitively answer this question, at least not without comparing videos or other such nonsense), does her state just produce better gymnasts, or are our judges more picky? Are there states with notoriously difficult or notoriously easy judging? I know the HC has plans for the team to start going to out of state meets this coming season (with even a Texas meet within the next few years... eek!) so I'm curious. I have even heard that the judges in the western half of our state judge harder than those in the eastern half... no idea if this is true or not. It does seem like most of the meets we go to are in the eastern half of the state, but I don't think that the HC chooses the meets based on where the judges are likely to be "nicer."

Discuss...

 

[wallinbl]

Did you look at other meets for those same gymnasts? It may have just been an "easy" meet - they happen from time to time. DD's gym went to one last year. The girls all loved their scores, but statistically, they were outliers (22% above 37, 50% above 36). Floor and vault were outrageously high (a girl got over a 9 even though she had to be spotted on the RO-BHS) and beam was pretty lax. Two years ago at state, the vault scores were all 0.5 or so too high (that, or 500+ girls suddenly got better).

It's also possible to get a tough age group for awards. DD's age group at state had 3 38's (out of 11 girls).

 

[Quadqueen]

MaryA, the same situation here....an AA of 37+ would definitely have placed higher where DD competes in MA (and most definitely in CT). Indeed, in my experience, scores vary tremendously by state. DD's gym is on the MA/CT border, and when the girls compete in CT, they score significantly lower. It's so frustrating for the girls, and luckily we didn't do any CT meets this year. I know of one CT gym that does well in CT...their girls are scoring high 8s and some low 9s in CT, and then they come to our meets in MA and blow us out of the water with mid-high 9s.

I'm sure in some cases, the gymnasts are better, but I think it is more likely a difference in scoring....which is frustrating for us all, isn't it?!!

 

[lhmom]

It can even vary from year to year in the same state. DD this past season scored a 38.250 at state and came in 2nd in her age group. The age group above her had 7 girls who scored above a 38-the age group below had 4! It was really crazy. I looked back at the year before (only 2 sessions of level 4's) and there were maybe 6 girls total who scored a 38+ out of all the age groups. This year, the level 4's had three sessions that had been determined by season scores (lowest scores went 1st session, middle 2nd and highest in the last session). We joked that by the time we went (last session), the judges were not as alert. But really, I think it was that the judges who were assigned to this year's state were maybe not as tough. Who knows?

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Some states/areas definitely tend to give higher scores. We try to go to a bunch of states around here because the scores are higher and they make us feel good. In Chicago, I got a 9.25 on a floor routine that really was not my best. They usually get more like 8.7s around here.

 

[gymgal]

Dd's team goes to neighboring states often and they routinely score higher out of state. Usually about .3 more in each event. Makes a big difference in AA. But all the girls have learned not to get too excited about the scores as they will go back down once they go to state championship. Still, its really good for the girls who don't usually get 9's. A morale booster to say they got a 36aa.

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[FitzwillyReigns]

I'm curious about the differences between states as well since we are moving from coast to coast next month (SoCal to NoVa). Our head coach who is also a judge "claims" that West coast judging is tougher and the gymnasts are better - but she could be tooting her own horn. As I've been researching new gyms in NoVa and looking at their scores, they are much higher than my daughter's which makes me wonder if she won't be able to cut it or if it's just a matter of judging. We shall see.

 

[MaryA]

Some states/areas definitely tend to give higher scores. We try to go to a bunch of states around here because the scores are higher and they make us feel good. In Chicago, I got a 9.25 on a floor routine that really was not my best. They usually get more like 8.7s around here.

Oh good, since DD's first out-of-state meet will be in Chicago!

 

[LizzieLac]

MaryA, the same situation here....an AA of 37+ would definitely have placed higher where DD competes in MA (and most definitely in CT). Indeed, in my experience, scores vary tremendously by state. DD's gym is on the MA/CT border, and when the girls compete in CT, they score significantly lower. It's so frustrating for the girls, and luckily we didn't do any CT meets this year. I know of one CT gym that does well in CT...their girls are scoring high 8s and some low 9s in CT, and then they come to our meets in MA and blow us out of the water with mid-high 9s.

I'm sure in some cases, the gymnasts are better, but I think it is more likely a difference in scoring....which is frustrating for us all, isn't it?!!

Yup, we're in CT. Generally, I think the judging is more on the tougher side, but it does vary from meet to meet. But as I posted in another thread, states were judged tough a few weeks ago. However, floor was out of control with most scores in the 6-8 range. In the 12 and 13+ sessions, floor won with like 8.6 (I think). The result is that girls won their age groups with scores under 36.

I looked at last year's scores (this year's are not posted yet) and nothing like that happened. Seems a little unfair and just bizarre.

 

[Quadqueen]

oh, interesting that you're in CT, LizzieLac!! We live in CT (on the MA border) but DD's gym is in MA so we count ourselves lucky LOL