WAG Holding biased in-house meet to boost morale of team

[Muddlethru]

Is this a practice some gyms do to increase the confidence of their team prior to their first meet? Can coaches invite a judge to judge an informal in-house meet for their team only and give the judge instructions on how to score? For instance, could a gym instruct the judge to score an event based on what a gymnast could get if the skill was not spotted or if they could do a certain skill?

A friend invited us to a meet a week ago and the scores were very inconsistent. Some routines seemed to be scored slightly inflated but most of the L9 and L10 routines seemed grossly inflated. The in-house meet had only one judge. Kids were getting spotted with no apparent deduction for the spot. One L10 got a 9.9 on bars. She hit her feet on the mat after performing a pak, her legs were apart on her overshoot (not to HS) and did not have a release are among the more glaring deductions. The same athlete got a 9.6 on a vault that landed on the pit with a mat. Another L9 got a 9.5 on bars which she flew uncontrollably to the low bar for her overshoot with her legs flailing, her pirouette did not start and end in a handstand because she went to it from a giant and her giants are archy. It just seemed implausible to me to get those high scores on those routines. But I admit I have an untrained eye. So if a gymnast can get those high scores with the mistakes I mentioned, then I apologize for jumping into conclusions.

This is not a rant. It does not bother me that the gym is doing it. I am just curious if this is practiced by some gyms in this website and if it does help and/or what are the thoughts behind this practice. I would not like this false sense of security but maybe it has its place somewhere.

 

[gymdog]

No, that's not a common practice.

 

[raenndrops]

At the end of the season (after District Championships) we hold a "Last Chance Qualifier"Meet to see if more girls can qualify for Nationals (Since it has to be paid for right after Championships and you lose the money if the gymnast doesn't qualify). Coach does ask a more lenient judge... one who doesn't take the max on the "up to" deductions... to come. The girls always start on Bars and end on Vault (the most wiggle room). It is not guaranteed that they will qualify, but coach does what she can to give them a fighting chance. Last year, she held off til a week before verified scores had to be submitted so a couple of girls could perfect a few things. All 4 of the girls that competed qualified - and the judge wasn't being THAT lenient... YG had a higher vault score during the season. (Normally, it is the week after Championships... but in 2011-12 season, only 7 of 11 qualified at the meet... and OG missed qualifying by 0.4 after a fall on her front tuck in L6 floor routine).

 

[htimcj]

Our gym does an in-house meet for the little ones to experience performing in front of a crowd before their first meet. We don't usually have a true judge for these although we have had a former judge and this year a brand new judge come. So our scores tend to be from coaches or other kids which leads to some interesting scores to say the least

 

[Gym Beam]

Our gym always has an in-house meet to acclimate new competitors to a meet environment. Although we have real judges at this meet, only achievement ribbons are given and no scores are posted. DD was a little apprehensive about the whole competing "thing", but after the mock meet she got the bug, big-time and was ready for her first season to start.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Our gym usually brings in a judge right before the season starts to get a guage on where the kids are with their routines, but it usually isn't really a meet. Each kid gets scores and feedback on their routines. The couple times that we have participated the scores were actually pretty low and it did put the fire under her to get better before the season starts, maybe that was the point

 

[Committed]

All in house meets DD participated in we're very generous in scoring. Then again, these were for OLD level 3 & 4.

 

[bookworm]

I've never seen an in house meets with scores that big for level 10 (esp with obvious deductions)...

 

[gymdog]

I've never seen an in house meets with scores that big for level 10 (esp with obvious deductions)...

Also, what level 10 doesn't know you can't get a 9.9 with certain mistakes...it's not like this will raise their morale at all. Maybe it's some sort of in-joke.

 

[Muddlethru]

I see the purpose in holding these meets for the purposes stated above. All the girls seemed so pumped and could not wait for their next meet. They all felt good about themselves. So, I guess that's good. Positive thinking can only help.

Also, what level 10 doesn't know you can't get a 9.9 with certain mistakes...it's not like this will raise their morale at all. Maybe it's some sort of in-joke.

The gym had only one L10. The L10 is on her 3rd year. In the past two years she's scored anywhere between 6.00 to 8.40 in bars. She did high school gymnastics this season which ended a couple of weeks ago but did not even get a score higher than an 9.1 in bars. They said she would have gotten a 10 if she had not hit her feet on the mat (isn't it more than a .1 deduction when you hit the mat?). I'm getting all these info from the mother's and the gymnasts talking. Mother's are talking about how her scores improved from last year. Gymnasts were all excited the L10 almost got a 10. She is one of the coach's daughter and all the little girls look up to her. I wonder if that is the reason her stores were so inflated, to garner more respect and admiration from the young ones because I am sure as gymdog states, she should know that routine did not deserve an 9.9.

 

[Jenny]

I can see them trying to boost the girls morale. Not sure I would want to do it like that but ...

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

We hammer our kids at our in house comp... makes them work really hard for the rest of the season.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Sheesh, seems like this will backfire when you get to the regular meet and their scores drop drastically! My DD old gym always brought in a judge before season starts, but to give honest appraisals of routines, not pump the girls up.

 

[GymBee97]

Our Gym just had a judge in and the team went through like a meet would be. Judge did evaluation on each of the girls and we get a written paper with the things the girls still need to work on. They also get based on what they showed - what the start value would be.
The girls dress like its a meet but they aren't given the scores for their events (If they are my DD didn't know she got a score) This is common in my area at the gyms I know of.

For the younger lower level gymnast it helps get the fear of a judge and going all by them selves in front of a group of people with everyone staring at them out of their systems (or at least exposes them to it).

 

[ollieblueeyes]

I would agree with the previous poster. Last year when the LVL4's had a few in-house meets right before a big invitational. The judges were asked to take every deduction to the max! Now the Development LVL 3's and 4's did not get the same treatment, their goal was getting positive competition experience.

I agree, that LVL 10 knew what her scores should have been. Personally, I think my LVL4 would have see through that and been upset!

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

When dd's gym does the mock meet, the judges are realistic. The coaches really are looking to reinforce to the girls that, yes, they really do need to tighten their legs and point their toes, etc. The coach told me this last year, that hearing the same corrections from someone else (and a judge!) is helpful.

 

[bookworm]

To the OP , you said that the Level 10 just finished her high school season...isn't gymnastics a winter sport? So is this girl getting ready for her HS season?

And to answer your question, the routine as you describe on bars definitely has more than .1 in deductions...although not having a release isn't one of them..

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

To the OP , you said that the Level 10 just finished her high school season...isn't gymnastics a winter sport? So is this girl getting ready for her HS season?
..

Not sure where OP lives, but in our State, HS gym is a fall sport.

We have had a judge in about a month before first meet - to judge 'readiness' no scores.

 

[sglemon]

Our gym does this, it is a "fun" meet. They are broken into 4 teams, with level 3-10 girls on each team and they compete against the other teams. It is team bonding, and little level 3 s have a chance to know some level 10 s. They remain supportive throughout the year of each other. Each team does a dance, which they compete with, the do their routines. It is the first meet run through they do before competition starts. Scores are highly inflated, like if you have a spectacular fall, you can score an 11. They take automatic deductions only in the routines, like a fall is .5, missed skill .6. Girls that have competent routines will score 9.9s. The gym speaks with everyone before the meet and explain how the score are inflated. There are judges at the table, that critiques all the routines, and offer suggestions, but the coaches provide the inflated scores.

 

[chalkbowl]

We hold an in-house meet each year and have had the judges ask if we want deductions taken for spots, missing elements, ect... I'm not sure if it's common practice, but obviously does happen.