WAG What are beam requirements for level 8 and 9?

[rjb123]

In English please (meaning I have no clue what the value of things are "A, B,C, D"). I know that you need a series with flight in level eight- like BHS BHS. Do you need a back tuck or no handed skill too? Multiple no handed things in 9? Just curious.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

I can't fully answer your question...but I can say that "no handed" skills like tucks and layouts are typically "C" skills. You are allowed 1 C skill in L8, but they aren't required until L9. In general, there are lots of options for L8 and L9, so it's hard to explain the requirements without using "A, B, C," etc. There are of course, some "typical skills" and some gyms may have specific requirements. Kipper's gym's typical L8 routine is a BHS (B)/BLO (C) series, switch leap (C, but can count as B), Round-off (B) BT dismount (A), perhaps with a full twist (B). But there are LOTS of other acceptable combos.

 

[ayyyrial]

Here are the requirements on Level 8 balance beam series:
-you need a series of at least 2 different skills where at least one has flight.

"Flight" means handsprings, roundoffs OR no handed thingies. So a BHS-BHS series would fulfill this, or a BHS-back tuck. Other things that would count could be front walkover-round off, front handspring-cartwheel, etc.

For level 9:
-you need a series of at least 2 different skills where BOTH have flight. So this would mean two handsprings, round-offs, and no-handed things (saltos/aerials) in combination.

You are not specifically required to do a "no handed" skill (front or back tucks, front or side aerials, etc) in either level. HOWEVER the reason that so many people do is you have difficulty requirements (sorry, this is the part where we get alphabet soup - ABCD etc). Basically in both levels you are required to do skills of a certain difficulty on the ABCD rankings - in level 9, obviously, they have to be harder than in level 8. It's pretty hard to get to that difficulty without doing no handed things, especially since there's a deduction if your leaps/jumps/turns are much harder than your other skills.

Here's the cheat sheet from USAG: https://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Rules/J.O. Code of Points/appndx14_optreqchart_0715.pdf

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Wow! Not that my L4 is anywhere near these things, but great explanations @JoyAvenueMom and @ayyyrial ! It is hard to digest the "alphabet soup" sometimes. Thank you!

 

[fuzi]

Think of the alphabet soup this way:
As are foundation skills that other things build upon.
Bs are tougher skills. It's a big deal when a gymnast gets these.
Cs are hard. Parents hope and pray their kid makes C skills.
Ds are really hard and crazy. Parents definitely cover their eyes.
Es are insane. Parents leave the room.

Here's a beam example.
A: back walkover
B: back handspring ("Yay, she made it")
C: back tuck - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a cannonball position ("I hope she lands on the beam!")
D: back tuck done sideways on the beam ("I'm not watching. There is no way she can do a back flippy thing and land in the exact same place!)
E: layout with full twist - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a straight position with a full twist. ("not humanly possible")

 

[fuzi]

In both level 8 and 9, you are required to have (at minimum) a full turn on one leg. You are also required to have a leap or jump that shows a full split in the air.

In level 8, you have to have a minimum of an "A" level dismount. This might be a front flip (tucked) or back tuck, pike, or layout. In level 9, you have to have a minimum of a "B" level dismount. This might be a front flip in a straight body position, or a back flip with a half or full twist.

 

[gymgal]

Think of the alphabet soup this way:
As are foundation skills that other things build upon.
Bs are tougher skills. It's a big deal when a gymnast gets these.
Cs are hard. Parents hope and pray their kid makes C skills.
Ds are really hard and crazy. Parents definitely cover their eyes.
Es are insane. Parents leave the room.

Here's a beam example.
A: back walkover
B: back handspring ("Yay, she made it")
C: back tuck - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a cannonball position ("I hope she lands on the beam!")
D: back tuck done sideways on the beam ("I'm not watching. There is no way she can do a back flippy thing and land in the exact same place!)
E: layout with full twist - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a straight position with a full twist. ("not humanly possible")

Love this!! Except I would substitute the second C for "back tuck or layout. I don't care if she lands it. I just hope she doesn't split the beam on the way down.

 

[duyetanh]

Think of the alphabet soup this way:
As are foundation skills that other things build upon.
Bs are tougher skills. It's a big deal when a gymnast gets these.
Cs are hard. Parents hope and pray their kid makes C skills.
Ds are really hard and crazy. Parents definitely cover their eyes.
Es are insane. Parents leave the room.

Here's a beam example.
A: back walkover
B: back handspring ("Yay, she made it")
C: back tuck - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a cannonball position ("I hope she lands on the beam!")
D: back tuck done sideways on the beam ("I'm not watching. There is no way she can do a back flippy thing and land in the exact same place!)
E: layout with full twist - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a straight position with a full twist. ("not humanly possible")

Sweet Jesus, I am already barfing on the B skills...I am going to need to be admitted to the funny farm if she continues advancing!

 

[Natasha]

Here are the requirements on Level 8 balance beam series:
-you need a series of at least 2 different skills where at least one has flight.

"Flight" means handsprings, roundoffs OR no handed thingies. So a BHS-BHS series would fulfill this, or a BHS-back tuck. Other things that would count could be front walkover-round off, front handspring-cartwheel, etc.

For level 9:
-you need a series of at least 2 different skills where BOTH have flight. So this would mean two handsprings, round-offs, and no-handed things (saltos/aerials) in combination.

You are not specifically required to do a "no handed" skill (front or back tucks, front or side aerials, etc) in either level. HOWEVER the reason that so many people do is you have difficulty requirements (sorry, this is the part where we get alphabet soup - ABCD etc). Basically in both levels you are required to do skills of a certain difficulty on the ABCD rankings - in level 9, obviously, they have to be harder than in level 8. It's pretty hard to get to that difficulty without doing no handed things, especially since there's a deduction if your leaps/jumps/turns are much harder than your other skills.

Here's the cheat sheet from USAG: https://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Rules/J.O. Code of Points/appndx14_optreqchart_0715.pdf

Just a clarification, which may have been a typo, because the examples (BHS-BHS) fit, but the skills do NOT have to be different.
In our area it is very common to see the BHS-BHS at L8 and sometimes a BT as a C skill separate in the routine. At L9 BHS-BLO or BHS-BT is common as well, although we still see a lot of BHS-BHS with separate arial skills. At L10 the series must have one skill without hand support in the series.

 

[Natasha]

Think of the alphabet soup this way:
As are foundation skills that other things build upon.
Bs are tougher skills. It's a big deal when a gymnast gets these.
Cs are hard. Parents hope and pray their kid makes C skills.
Ds are really hard and crazy. Parents definitely cover their eyes.
Es are insane. Parents leave the room.

Here's a beam example.
A: back walkover
B: back handspring ("Yay, she made it")
C: back tuck - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a cannonball position ("I hope she lands on the beam!")
D: back tuck done sideways on the beam ("I'm not watching. There is no way she can do a back flippy thing and land in the exact same place!)
E: layout with full twist - i.e. no handed flip going backward in a straight position with a full twist. ("not humanly possible")

HAHA so true!! My dd is competing D skills (Front Tuck which is a blind landing) and I watch between my fingers. The E skills she is training? I only watch those afterwards on the video she records, because that way I already know she survived it.

 

[ayyyrial]

Just a clarification, which may have been a typo, because the examples (BHS-BHS) fit, but the skills do NOT have to be different.
In our area it is very common to see the BHS-BHS at L8 and sometimes a BT as a C skill separate in the routine. At L9 BHS-BLO or BHS-BT is common as well, although we still see a lot of BHS-BHS with separate arial skills. At L10 the series must have one skill without hand support in the series.

Oh yeah, thanks for catching that! I meant two separate skills, not that they have to be different.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Ok. A little confused. I thought my DD said you *need* a C in a L8 beam routine. However, all documentation I'm reading is just saying the series w/ one flight is the only requirement. So since the vast majority of L7 beam routines I see have a bwo bhs as the series, this means that these routines would technically still have a 10.0 SV in L8? That's kind of surprising, but seems like true.

My DD is also somehow under the impression that you need a connected dismount (like need to do either a roundoff or a cartwheel before the back tuck/layout), but that doesn't appear to be true either???

Either way, my DDs gym is having her group (mostly L7's) uptrain on back tucks, switch leaps and 1.5/straight leg turns all w/ the intent that they are "for L8". Also, those w/o connected dismounts and working very hard to get them too. Hmmmm... Is our gym just very agressive vs the requirements when it comes to beam? We certainly don't do the same thing for the other events. It's kind of surprising to me.

 

[fuzi]

My DD is also somehow under the impression that you need a connected dismount (like need to do either a roundoff or a cartwheel before the back tuck/layout), but that doesn't appear to be true either???

Either way, my DDs gym is having her group (mostly L7's) uptrain on back tucks, switch leaps and 1.5/straight leg turns all w/ the intent that they are "for L8". Also, those w/o connected dismounts and working very hard to get them too. Hmmmm... Is our gym just very agressive vs the requirements when it comes to beam? We certainly don't do the same thing for the other events. It's kind of surprising to me.

There's a difference between filling the minimum requirements to have a 10.0 start value, and having a competitive routine that could win at states or regionals. Starting in level 8, judges evaluate composition as well as execution.

The best level 8 routines will have two directly connected flight skills (like BHS + BHS), a C tumbling skill (like back tuck or layout step out), a connected dismount series (like round-off + layout), as well as "C" leaps and turns. It sounds like your gym is expecting them to have "strong" beam routines for their level, rather than "meeting the minimum" routines.

 

[Natasha]

^^ This. And, it helps to compete the higher end skills to have more experience competing these skills as you move up. At L9 my dd competed her L10 routine (minus the dismount) to get experience competing the skills before she competed L10. This helped her confidence in competing the skills this year.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Things to keep in mind. What your gym has decided are "needs" are not necessarily what is actually needed.

 

[thefellowsmom]

My DD won level 8 regional beam with BHS-BHS, Switch leap sissone combo, regular full turn and a roundoff layout dismount.

A C acro skill (back tuck or back layout) was rare from what we saw competing across several states this season. One of dd's teammates had a beautiful back tuck and competed it along with a BHS-BHS but didn't score any higher with it. We also had a girl compete a BWO-BHS and score around the same. All our girls scored very similarly with varying degree of skills. They all scored in the 9.4 - 9.7 range depending on the day. Presentation and performance seemed to be the difference of those tenths. They all had falls throughout the season too and all scored around a 9.0 with falls. It's all about details and presentation, execution regardless of skills won the day. At least that was our observation.

Now, I also saw a routine with a tick-tock BHS, a split jump beat jump combo and a front tuck dismount score a 9.6. I think that is almost like cheating, but what do I know.

Another thing I have noticed as my dd gets deeper into optionals is that this time of year, after season is over, is spent playing with new skills and trying to figure out what type of thing works for each kid. Trying out skills ahead of where they need to be seems to be the norm. Then as summer comes along things seems to sort themselves out and settle into where they are going to be.

My dd is currently working BHS-BLO, Back tucks, front tucks, side and front arials, one handed backhandsprings, twisting her dismount, backhandspring double downs for dismounts and lots of turn/leap/jump combos. Who knows what she will end up competing next season. Could be any of these things or something else entirely.

I would look to what the girls that competed eight/nine this year for your gym are doing and that will likely tell you what your team's level 8/9 routines generally look like.

 

[Texasmomof3]

Sweet Jesus, I am already barfing on the B skills...I am going to need to be admitted to the funny farm if she continues advancing!

Go ahead and reserve a parking space at your local walk-in emergency clinic now. (Says the mom who spent Monday night getting her dd's ankle x-rayed after she rolled it off the beam practicing her back tuck.). Crashes at this velocity take on a whole new meaning.

 

[duyetanh]

Go ahead and reserve a parking space at your local walk-in emergency clinic now. (Says the mom who spent Monday night getting her dd's ankle x-rayed after she rolled it off the beam practicing her back tuck.). Crashes at this velocity take on a whole new meaning.

 

[my4buffaloes]

Sweet Jesus, I am already barfing on the B skills...I am going to need to be admitted to the funny farm if she continues advancing!

Wait until your dd gets hurt on one of the harder skills. Then you really have something to worry about from then on.

 

[dynamicduo]

Or, your level 8 gymnast could trip over a mat and break her finger thus missing the first two meets of her season! Accidents & injuries can happen at any and every level of this sport!