Parents Tough meet - a little venting...

[StringBean'sMom]

Had our first tough meet this weekend. First one for most of the girls (and parents!) where you wonder what in the world the judges wanted to see - and knowing that it was apparently NOT what we were doing! I was ready to eventually be at a meet with "tough" scoring, but it just seemed really inconsistent to my untrained eye. Even saw a floor routine that was so rushed that she ended 8-10 seconds before the music, had bent knees/feet apart BHS (that even I could see!) - scored in the low 9's and several of our girls with really nice, tight form scored mid-8's.

The hardest moment was my bars-loving girl seeing her bars score drop a ton - She went from a 9.5 to an 8.9 between her last two meets (5 days apart!) I know I certainly can't see the subtleties that judges are looking for, but her routine looked as clean and consistent as always, so it was rough to see that score pop up. I know judges have different things they focus on, but that seems like a really wide divide! I was, however, so proud of how she gathered herself up and didn't let it get in her head for her beam rotation though (She has come a looong way with not over-thinking herself into a corner!)

At least it was a good chance to discuss how meets won't always go the way you want but you need to keep your head up, work towards your own personal goals and move on to the next meet! Here's hoping for a more encouraging meet next weekend!!

Oh - and an only semi-related question - For Level 3 bars, you can compete a pullover or kip, but the kip doesn't give any "bonus" to your score, right? (Just a bigger source of deductions, really) My girl has her kip (pretty clean and straight arms) but isn't competing it yet. However, I overheard a parent in the bleachers (from another team) commenting that her DD was competing her kip because it added a "bonus" to her score. I didn't think that was correct, but thought I'd ask....

 

[raenndrops]

no bonus for the kip... that mom doesn't know what she is talking about... BUT some judges will be more excited about a L3 routine with a kip and take smaller deductions on things where there is a range like "up to 0.3".
Coaches have to decide if the kip is cleaner than the glide and pullover (for a few girls, it is). If so, put it in.

As for the high score on floor that finished early... I know that it used to be that you didn't have to finish with the music at old L4, so that could be true with New L3 too. We just try to get the girls to go on the music so they will be ready when they move to L4 and it really does matter.

 

[gymmiemom]

A kip does not add a bonus. But I agree with the above poster. It seems like sometimes the judges are a little more lenient if a L3 busts out a kip. My DD has competed a kip the last two weekends and it is not perfect yet, but pretty good. With her pullover her scores have ranged from 8.4-9.1. The last two weekends she scored an 8.8. Who knows? We also compete all over the place (4 different states) because of where we live and the limited availability of meets in our home state. So since the judges are always different we don't neccassarily see consistant scoring if that makes sense at all. However for state in 3 weeks her coach is still up in the air about which she will compete.

From what I understand there is a small deduction for not ending with the music this year at L3. I am not sure what it is though. That is just what our coach told us. I am no expert on deductions

 

[MILgymFAM]

I get the feeling! At DDs first meet, every girl on the team ended up with silly deductions on floor because there were elements required that the HC somehow missed adding entirely. Add to that the fact that it was DDs first meet and we were told the meet would be a state qualifier, but then found out after that it wasn't a legit qualifier.. Yeah, it wasn't a great first experience for us either. Next weekend DD has her first "real" meet, and now her only chance to quality for states- we are hoping the floor routine fills requirements now. DD would like to qualify and is nervous at having one shot since the other girls will have had four chances (she joined the team mid season). I am cool no matter how she does, but it means a lot to these girls! Hopefully the next meet goes more to your expectations!

 

[gracyomalley]

frustrating....but actually, the difference between 9.5 and 8.9 really is often in the eye of the judge....I personally as a parent enjoyed it more during years when DD was just trying not to fall - I UNDERSTAND those deductions/scores....now its the little stuff that makes it feel like a good or not so good meet....I do know that at the big invitational we were just at the Level 7s with twists and front lay outs, etc got higher scores (9.5s) than lots of clean "classic" level 7 routines....not supposed to be that way, but...

 

[raenndrops]

I get the feeling! At DDs first meet, every girl on the team ended up with silly deductions on floor because there were elements required that the HC somehow missed adding entirely. Add to that the fact that it was DDs first meet and we were told the meet would be a state qualifier, but then found out after that it wasn't a legit qualifier.. Yeah, it wasn't a great first experience for us either. Next weekend DD has her first "real" meet, and now her only chance to quality for states- we are hoping the floor routine fills requirements now. DD would like to qualify and is nervous at having one shot since the other girls will have had four chances (she joined the team mid season). I am cool no matter how she does, but it means a lot to these girls! Hopefully the next meet goes more to your expectations!

Hey, if you tell me what she does in her routines, I will tell you if it has all the requirements I like Xcel... a LOT!

 

[Becauseisaid]

Well I won't ditto the no bonus for a kip comment since it's been said. Around here, doing the kip in an L3 routine will generally murder your score. We have 1 girl on L3 who has a BEAUTIFUL kip with minorly bent arms. (Very minor. I had to have it pointed out to me and I'm usually pretty observant.) My DD routinely outscores her on bars and the biggest reason I can see if that the judges see a kip at this level as something to deduct whereas the glide-pullover offers less chances for deductions.

 

[StringBean'sMom]

We've seen very few level 3 kips around here, so no real god idea on whether it would be a "wow" or a liability. I think she may compete it at the end of the season, just to see what happens..

It was good to learn that it wasn't just my observations though, her coach apparently did a score inquiry - haven't heard what she learned from that, but good to know I wasn't the only one wondering about that score!

Another meet this weekend and all the girls are really motivated to work hard and have a great time - great thing about being young, they may have been frustrated but they let it go and move on easier than grownups do! We could learn a lot from them!