Let’s face it, NCAA Women’s gymnastics judging has a problem with evaluating routines appropriately and consistently, but no one really knows how to fix it. Last year, there were 84 perfect 10s, more than the number of 10s in 2020 and 2021 combined. Moments where judges clearly made errors (like Chloi Clark’s 9.950 vault) are frustrating, not only for the fans but for the athletes as well. As a former judge, I’m equally frustrated by the overscoring and inconsistencies we see from the officials, especially since I know first hand how well-prepared and experienced these judges have to be to even be assigned to these competitions.
Issues with judging can be broken down into three categories: accuracy of scoring, consistency of judging, and availability of officials. In this article, I lay out some suggestions to address each of these major issues, some of which are very easily implemented while others may require more significant time and resources.
Accuracy of Scoring (aka Overscoring)
For the most part, judges don’t take deductions that don’t exist, especially since coaches can request a line item list of each deduction at the end of the meet, and the judge must be able to justify their score. Most accuracy issues involve ignoring deductions that should be…
