We’ve all seen some controversial routines with lively debates about what the score should have been. On the judging side, few routines are more controversial than the 9.850/10.000 split. One judge thinks the routine was perfect while the other sees the routine as…pretty significantly less perfect.
Judges’ scores have to be within a two-tenth range on any average score over a 9.500, which seems reasonable enough until you get a 9.800/10.000 split, which for top teams is often more than the difference between the top and bottom score in an entire lineup.
With gymnastics being a subjectively evaluated sport, as well as the fact that judges have different perspectives of the routines, some variation is expected. If the variation is greater than two tenths, the judges can call a conference and discuss their deductions. But when a 10.000 and a 9.850 or even a 9.800 are flashed from the judging tables, everyone wants to know what the other judge was thinking, including the judges themselves. Without the ability to call a conference and the NCAA’s insistence on independent scoring from judges, there’s nothing to do but let the scores stand.
This week, we’ll be looking at some of these routines to see why there might have been such a large difference in…
