From the Judge’s Chair…Men’s Pommel Horse
I’ll be honest; judging pommel horse can be quite intimidating, whether you’re a world or Olympic judge determining medalists or simply at home trying to figure out what’s going on. Because it requires such intense upper body strength, is fast-paced, and has absolutely no pauses or “holds” in the routines, pommel horse isn’t just challenging for the gymnast and coach – it’s arguably the toughest event to judge. Because the event is so physically exhausting, there are virtually no “filler” skills; in other words, the gymnast tries to connect the ten counting skills as closely together as possible to avoid doing extra circles that will simply require more energy. This adds to the challenge of judging, as the judge literally can’t look down at their papers a single time throughout the routine without risking missing something important.
Here I’ll try to make this process of coming up with a D-Score on pommel horse a little less intimidating by going over some basic terms and relevant rules, followed by a demo from our current world champion on this event – China’s Zhang Hongtao.
Here are a few terms that tend to get thrown around when gymnasts talk about pommel horse, but which even devoted fans may not fully understand.
Flop – this term basically refers to one pommel skills; in particular, loops and stocklis on one pommel are typically called flops.
Stockli – this term is typically used to describe a half turn done on one pommel
Russian – also called “wendeswing” - a skill that can be done on various parts of the horse; most commonly done on one pommel, in cross support on the leather, or as part of a traveling skill across the horse. It consists of making one complete revolution around a central spot with the shoulders facing that spot the entire time. Russians are described by how many revolutions are made. The most commonly used descriptions are:
180 Russian = half of one revolution
270 Russian = ¾ of one revolution
360 Russian = one complete revolution
540 Russian = 1 ½ revolutions
720 Russian = 2 complete revolutions
1080 Russian = 3 complete revolutions
*Note these same descriptions are used to describe the number of revolutions of a pirouetting handstand dismount.
Flop Sequence – a sequence done on one pommel; technically should refer to a sequence that just contains pommel loops and stocklis, but often is used to refer to a sequence containing a one-pommel Russian as well.
Important Rules to Remember
· First, keep in mind that although the gymnasts still tend to connect skills in direct succession in order to avoid doing extra circles, there are NO CONNECTION POINTS ON POMMEL HORSE.
· You can only count up to one flop sequence with a Russian and one flop sequence without a Russian for difficulty.
· Only two Russian (wendeswing) elements can count for difficulty. This DOES NOT include one pommel Russians or traveling Russians; thus it really just refers to non-traveling Russians on the leather.
· Only two 3/3 cross support travels can count for difficulty. This would not include a Wu, for example (3/3 travel with a 720 Russian).
· Handstand dismounts are upgraded by one letter if a 3/3 travel is included, and an additional letter if at least a 360 turn is included.
Although there are some other details we could certainly go into, I feel these rules are the most important ones for us to know as educated fans. If you understand these, you’re well on your way to understanding D-Scores on pommel horse.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
Zhang Hongtao Pommel Horse 2009 Worlds Event Finals
Step 1: Calculate the Element Group Total
-Each EG is worth 0.5.
-The dismount must be a D to get the 0.5.
-A “C” dismount is worth 0.3, and anything lower is worth 0 points.
EG 1: Single Leg (Scissor) Skills
EG 2: Circle Skills (with or without spindles or flairs)
EG 3: Traveling Skills
EG 4: Kehr, Russian, and Stockli Skills
EG 5: Dismount
The scissor to handstand counts for EG 1.
The full spindle at the beginning counts for EG 2.
The Sivado (backwards travel) counts for EG 3.
The first flop/Russian sequence counts for EG 4.
The stockli to handstand with 3/3 travel, 270 turn fully fulfills EG 5.
EG Total: 2.5
Step 2: Calculate the Skill Value Total
Count only the ten best elements (must include the dismount).
A’s: 0.1
B’s: 0.2
C’s: 0.3
D’s: 0.4
E’s: 0.5
F’s: 0.6
G’s: 0.7
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Full spindle done in two cross support circles
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D
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0.4
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Two flops + Russian 540
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E
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0.5
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Direct Stockli B
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B
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0.2
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Scissor ¼ turn to handstand and back down (Li Ning)
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D
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0.4
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Sivado (backward 3/3 travel)
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D
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0.4
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3/3 travel with 720 Russian (Wu Guonian)
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E
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0.5
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1080 Russian on the leather
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D
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0.4
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Magyar (forward 3/3 travel)
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D
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0.4
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4 consecutive flops
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E
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0.5
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Stockli to handstand, 3/3 travel and 270 turn
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D
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0.4
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Skill Value Total: 4.1
Step 3: Add both totals together
2.5 + 4.1 = 6.6 D-Score
Note that even the world pommel horse champion counts a simple B skill in the routine, although his other 9 skills are of at least D value. Zhang received a final E-Score of 9.6, with scores ranging from 9.4 to 9.7. His final score of 16.2 beat out silver medalist Krisztian Berki of Hungary by just 0.125, as Berki had a higher D-Score of 6.9. Three other gymnasts in the final received D-Scores of 6.6, so it was really Zhang’s E-Score that gave him the gold. Berki’s E-Score of 9.175 was the only other one above a 9.0 in the finals. Personally, I don’t think I could really find 0.3 in reasonable deductions in Zhang’s routine. Under so many previous codes of points that routine would have been a perfect 10.0. Do you think a world or Olympic judge will ever have the guts to give one again? If they won’t do it for Zhang, I can’t imagine who they would possibly do it for.