Behold, the latest JUDGE’S CORNER post, in which one of our awesome Judges discusses the how video judging has evolved since the pandemic to become a valuable teaching tool.
Before COVID judging over video or zoom was not even a thing. Prior to the pandemic, analyzing a routine and pointing out a gymnast’s mistakes may have been a common teaching technique, but coaches primarily used pictures or screenshots to look at body shapes and angles or amplitudes of skills.
Times have changed!
Using video to analyze a routine from a judge’s perspective is a great power for a gymnast to have. Pointing out short holds, angles and things they don’t feel or think about can improve on an average score of 0.3-0.5!
Judging over the computer gives judges more time, less pressure and allows for more accurate start values. At a competition, the pressure to keep meets going gives the judges up to 1 minute to come out with their final score. That’s not a lot of time to add up deductions and connections let alone really THINK about a routine.
Being able to rewatch a connection for example, gives the judge the opportunity to analyze and make better decisions. As a meetcritique judge, I always judge a video at regular speed and get an impression of the routine as if I were watching in person. I then go back and rewatch individual elements and slow down (sometimes frame-by-frame!) – pausing and adding a deduction where it is most explicitly shown on the video.
The most important thing difference we deal with are different angle of views of the routine on video (check out this blog entry: angles, angles, angles!). Looking at an angle of cast or a leg separation on a split jump from an in person, lower seating angle is different than it may appear a parent’s recording.
In-person judging tends to have less deductions as sometimes a cast may appear below horizontal live but then you slow motion it and stop it on the peak of the cast and it’s actually horizontal or above. This is one reason why a meetcritique score may be less or more than your gymnast received at the meet.
There are so many differences like above but “seeing what the judges see” is a great way to focus a gymnast’s practice to correct mistakes!
If you have a question you would like to see a meetcritique judge tackle in a future blog, email us at hello@v2.meetcritique.com
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