From the 10-nessee Collegiate Classic to the 10-less NCAA national championships, we’ve had a roller coaster of a year in judging for 2024, with a lot of opportunities for confusion and discussion. We added a new “finishing” deduction, which only seemed to increase confusion as to who was and wasn’t having the deduction applied. When reflecting back on this year and comparing it to the last one, what haschanged? Rather than basing this purely on opinion, I decided to look at some data about scoring throughout the season and compare it to 2023 and 2022.
Percentage of 9.9-Plus Scores by Week
The first question I had was about the number of high scores throughout the season. Theoretically, scores should improve over the course of a season, as gymnasts become more experienced, lineup strategies solidify, and athletes settle into their competitive rhythms. This should be especially true in the postseason, where we are only seeing the top programs and athletes competing for regional and national championships. I created a chart that shows the percentage of scores of 9.9 or above by week over the course of the season (2024 had an extra week compared to 2023, which is why you see the break in the 2023 and 2022 lines).
Generally, each year the number of…
