With NCAA season right around the corner, it’s time for us to review some of the most popular skills in NCAA, and how they are evaluated. For this article, I picked skills that I thought were both popular, but also more complicated in evaluating. You won’t see basic core skills like kips, cast to handstands, or back handspring layout series on beam. Instead, I focused on some of the other skills that have more to them than just performing them with good form. Below you’ll find examples of about three elements or combinations on each event that I’ve broken down what exactly the judges are looking for in a well-executed routine. After reading this article and mastering the evaluation of the skills here, you’ll be ready to comment and critique right alongside your favorite NCAA commentators.
A HUGE change this year is the addition of a new “hold deduction,” which was added to the NCAA Modifications this year. The WGCA provided further guidance on applying this deduction, which was published in the November 1st NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Newsletter:
The gymnast must show a controlled finish position (legs straight, arms up) for 1 second at the completion of the routine. This position must be held facing the direction in which they landed. If the gymnast…
