The FIG just announced an update to the 2009 Code of Points, all of 10 days before the new code goes into effect. We were going to write an article about it, but Jess at The C Score beat us to it, and did an excellent job of it too. Check out her summary of the new changes here.
A few quick notes:
--- We guess the judges must have gotten really fed up with seeing all those piked double backs on floor to be upgrading the double tuck from a C to a D. Seriously, a D? That's bizarre.
--- On the other hand, we're glad to see that the requirement that dance passages on floor consist of 3 elements has been removed. Those 3-part passages tend to be eyesores - an ugly disruption of what little dance there is in modern floor routines. Two-leap passages will do very nicely, thank you very much. Now stop counting them among the 8 counting elements, and who knows, those dance passages may actually become pretty again.
--- We know at least one team which will be happy with this update. Memmel turns (pirouettes with one leg held high) on floor, which used to be a C, have just been upgraded to D. That's got to be good news for the Italian team, which has more gymnasts doing Memmel turns than any other nation on earth. Forza Italia!
We were hoping to post our take on the 2009 Code this week, but this new upgrade means we'll have to study the code a bit longer. Ah well. We'll get back to you eventually. Before the first major competition of the 2009 season, anyway.
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The FIG needed to tweak their code. They have important changes in the values of the skills, but I'm not surprised that there aren't dramatic changes. In rhythmic gymnastics, they changed the maximum score (again) from 20 points to 30 points. Maybe we (and by we I mean people who don't like open-ended scoring) should be thankful that rhythmic gymnastics, the only discipline that doesn't use open-ended scoring, is staying that way.
ReplyDeleteWe're kind of torn on open-ended scoring ourselves. We can see why the FIG felt the need to introduce the open-ended system, but we don't like what it has resulted in, and part of us still yearns for the good ol' 10. We haven't had time to really look into the latest changes yet, but we do applaud the main change in the 2009 Code - the reduction of the number of counting elements, which we feel will benefit the sport immensely. We'll get back to you on the other changes some other time. Promise!
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