Every Artistic coach needs to read the wrap-up commentary posts from Andrew Thornton:
Andy’s Angle on the 2009 Worlds Part 1…
Andy’s Angle on the 2009 Worlds Part 2…
A sample:
…
The women’s scoring in particular was the most unpredictable and undecipherable I’ve ever seen. I was confused, lost, and actually ostracized as a knowledgeable fan. I can’t imagine how lost the fans were who haven’t followed the sport for 20 years like I have.Execution scores on the women’s side are ridiculous beyond explanation. They give every gymnast a mid-8 regardless of the performance. High 8’s and rarely a 9 are only possible on vault. What a bunch of nonsense! …
In fact, Andrew was driven to draft his own Code of Points.
2 comments ↓
Draft his own code? Great. Now he needs to put it to use. The FIG is never going to listen to disgruntled people who never DO anything. People with connections, like Andrew, need to get together and carve an alternative out of the FIG’s ass!
The open ended code was a big F-up. What big organisation is going to go back and fix the real problem after they made the push to change it? That would be admitting that they screwed up. Any of the code prior to 2006 would be great.
There are controversies with every code, and every time the judges are blamed. I can’t help but think the rules regarding jury intervention are not encouraging judges to give fair scores, too worried about being in line with everyone else.
Let’s just go back to a code that encourages originality, ARTISTRY, and a few big skills that make you think WOW, unlike seeing 8 gymnasts throw all the same elements in their routines because all the rules make those the best choice. Gymnastics might be worth watching again if we went back to the ten.
I don’t have a problem with the high number of execution deductions as we are still having gymnasts reach the podium with falls!
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