TECHNICAL NOTES

These were taken directly from Summer News Edition 2006 “All Around News”

GENERAL

¨ PREP Optional rules and regulations used by a specific state must be published and/or posted on the Internet. Especially for invitationals that may involve the participation of multiple states these rules must be available to all participants. The State Administrative Committee may choose to have sub-divisions of PREP Optional. The amount of Timed Warm-up allotted per athlete will depend upon whether the specific PREP optional division is comparable to compulsory or optional routines. The 2006-2007 Rules and Policies will have a chart showing meet guidelines for both compulsory and optional.

¨ Effective August 1, 2006, Levels 1-3 will have an open warm-up of 15-30 minutes and a maximum of 30 second timed warm-up. The meet format must be published in the meet information. Considering the ages of the athletes at these levels, it is recommended that the session be no longer than 2½ hours in length, including warm-up time.

¨ The two committees discussed signals and verbal cues. If a gymnast is competing on an apparatus and the coach instructs her by giving specific information on what to do during the routine (for example – what comes next in the routine or to repeat a missed requirement), the deduction of 0.20 is taken from the average without warning.

¨ There has long been some question when a judge can make a change to a score if the judge finds they have made an error in calculation. While all judges hope they never make an error, the committees felt this issue must be addressed in order to be fair to all competitors. The decision was made that once the final average score is submitted to the scoring system, it may not be changed unless an inquiry is made within 5 minutes of the end of the rotation.

¨ An important clarification regarding “not landing on the feet first” on vault and on saltos on UB and BB dismount and saltos on Beam and Floor was issued: If the gymnast lands on her hands and soles of feet simultaneously, a deduction of 0.5 for the fall is applied. Value part is awarded.

¨ Judges are often put in an uncomfortable position of being presented with an inquiry at the end of a competition that is an attempt to raise a score for the purpose of qualifying. For qualification purposes to State or Regional meets, if an athlete's AA score is 0.10 or less than the qualifying score, the coach may submit an inquiry on the event that the gymnast received her lowest score. This process does not apply for mobility purposes, or if qualification to the state or regional meet is by percentage or designated number per age group. Score changes must be made for a valid reason.

 

VAULT

¨ There was a great deal of discussion regarding the problem of vault competition running slow due to the allowance of three touch-warm-up vaults. While the committees did not take any action for change at this time, coaches are reminded that the touch warm-ups are not required to be in competition order, and that coaches are encouraged to work together to safely expedite the touch warm-up period.

 

UNEVEN BARS

¨ Level 8 bar clarifications that a single element cannot count for two Special Requirements: One element from Groups 3, 6, or 7 and the one flight. The routine must contain two different elements with minimum of B value to meet both Special Requirements. For example, If a Level 8 performs a clear hip circle (B), then performs another clear hip with a half turn that turns prior to 10° of vertical, the requirement of two B elements (one flight or turn, the other from Groups 3, 6 or 7) has been fulfilled.

¨ The dismount Special Requirement for Levels 8-10 on Uneven Bars is changed to read to “salto/hecht dismount”

¨ Uneven bars fall time is increased to 45 seconds.