Judging and the Code of Points (COP) are controversial, and many have talked about how they need changing. Andy Thornton has developed an alternative COP, which is very interesting, but I do not know whether it would be possible to come up with so many parts of the score in competition. I think that the difficulty plus execution formula is perfect. It can, and probably does, currently put too much emphasis on difficulty at the moment, but execution deductions can be increased in value to change this and/or difficulty scores can be reduced. In my opinion the main problem with judging is the execution score is not transparent or challengeable. This needs to change for several reasons: to ensure objective judging, to be fairer on judges, to minimise controversy and most importantly to give gymnasts and coaches information about why they get deductions.
There is always speculation in the commentary about deductions. As an audience, we learn that this step will cost 0.1 or 0.3, or that the routine was flawless and deserves no deductions. Sometimes, the scores are in line with the commentary. Sometimes, this is not the case. When there is a fall, we always know where the deduction comes from. But I don’t know where the deductions came from in Nastia’s vault in 2008, or Vanessa’s floor routine in the latest world championships. There is no reason why we, and dare I say Nastia and Vanessa should not know. There is no reason why the judges cannot list the deductions and their values along with the D-scores, which can then be challenged.
When Lauren Mitchell won the floor, Peggy Liddick said “Statistically, it was you turn, they just had to give it to you!!” Link here. Um, please don’t get me wrong – I am not of the “I support New Zealand or anyone playing Australia” school of thought – but Mitchell should have earned that gold because she was the best on the day (and I think that she did!). Is it really true that judges give out medals based on it being someone’s turn or feeling sorry for a gymnast? There is certainly some talk that this happens, and it is not the first time that Liddick has mentioned it. Sometimes, I like the poetic justice of a gymnast winning after struggles, but if gymnastics should be fair. I cannot imagine any referee in tennis or basketball giving out penalties or goals because it is “their turn” or they are sorry for a competitior/team.
Many blogs say that Lauren should not have won. I do not believe this is fair on this hard-working gymnast or the people judging her. Judging must be very hard, and judges are subjected to so much scrutiny. If we had a list of the specific list of deductions of each gymnast, maybe there would not be this level of controversy and criticism of judges. I am not an expert on gymnastics, but Mitchell’s routine was awesome, and it is possible that the judges had very good reasons for putting her in first place.
I know that controversies would come up, but I think they would be lessened with transparency, because even when one doesn’t agree with a call, they may at least understand the rationale. Being able to appeal would also add transparency. If gymnasts, coaches or fans disagreed with a deduction, there may be scope to change things, which could improve the judging.
It could also improve routines and gymnast’s skills. If a gymnast knows they are being marked down for an ugly skill, it may encourage them to make their routines more artistic, and take out the ugly skill. Clearer communication about where a gymnast goes wrong could improve artistry in the sport. At the moment, assumptions are made around reasons why scores are the way they are. More specific communications could help gymnasts improve.
When I was at University, getting an assignment back that was a B instead of an A without any reasoning annoyed me. I can imagine that some gymnasts may get this feeling on seeing their D-scores. They may have no idea why they have been marked down so much. Of course, they would have some idea, but in the end, they may not be aware that a given skill would have built in deductions. Of course, it is up to the coach and gymnast to make the gymnast as perfect as possible, as it is for any sports’ coach. But this may be difficult – a coach may be able to see many things wrong. If they knew the exact deductions, they may be able to decide which area to work on the most, or which skills to add or take away.
Of course, having a list of deductions may be time consuming, especially when appeals happen. However, if appropriate limitations are put around these appeals, they should be manageable. People will get used to the extra time. Ultimately, I think the cost will outweigh the benefits.
Showing posts with label Peggy Liddick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peggy Liddick. Show all posts
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
A few changes in Romanian Gymnastics
One of my favourite gymnastics bloggers, The Couch Gymnast, has covered the changes in Romanian gymnastics coaching in detail over the last few days. Nicolae Forminte's decision to quit the team has been met with negative remarks from her and the gymnastics coaching blog. This is because, unlike some coaches of old, Mr.F seems to care about his gymnasts and try to shelter them from the less positive aspects of the sport. I say seems because I have never seen a gymnastics competition live, nor do I know what goes on at Deva.
Forminte quit because two former Romanian coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang, have been appointed as consultants to the team because they Romanian gymnastics team has had less than perfect results lately. Forminte believes that this shows little confidence in him, so he has stepped aside. I don't blame him. In my opinion, the problems with Romanian gymnastics cannot be wholly blamed on him.
I think that there are lots of factors that have contributed to the current state of Romanian Gymnastics. This is a list of problems that I can see in Romanian gymnastics along with possible solutions.
1) Lack of resources
The Romanians don't have resources for things like hand grips, and importation of new coaches. They are losing great potential coaches such as Catalina Ponor to other countries because they just can't pay them as much as the likes of the United States.
Maybe Romanian Gymnastics can try to get a corporate sponsor to provide hand grips and/or more money. They have a marketable image. If Nadia got involved, it would be even better. However, we would need to tread carefully here. We don't want corporate sponsors compromising the programme. Gymnasts and gymnastics need to come first.
2) Improvement of other programmes
Look at the UK. Their programme has changed a great deal and now their teams are doing better. The UK won that silver medal just as much as the Romanians lost it. The Russian programme is also experiencing a resurgence. After communism fell in Eastern/Central Europe, the shape of the gymnastics world changed because resources were diverted away from gymnastics and other sports. But the reverse has happened in Australia and the UK because when these countries get better programmes, their governments can afford to give them more money.
The Romanians cannot do anything about this. They need to focus on their own programme.
3) Lack of competition
One of the reasons that the USA system works so well is that there are a number of good gyms and each gym produces different types of gymnasts with different specialisations. For example, Mary Lee Tracy seems to train awesome bars workers while Mihai Brestyan trains excellent floor and vault workers. WOGA seems to train great all rounders, and Chows has trained one too. Anyway, my point is that the national programme does well at training beam workers, but less well at training bars workers, and there is no other gym providing bars training and or great bars workers who can fill the gap.
Also, the fact that many gymnasts can only normally come out of Deva also means that many potential gymnasts may be put off because of having to move away from Mum and Dad. Not every gymnast is hungry for success from childhood. This could be contributing to a shortage of Romanian elites, which means that injuries can devastate the whole team.
Maybe Deva coaches could also support gyms in other parts of the country (in terms of equipment and coaching and keep looking at the talent that comes out of them. If an athlete is happy in a gym away from Deva, they could let them keep training there. This could deepen the team. Maybe there could be camps each month like the US and Australia has so that these athletes can bond with Deva members.
4) Lack of coach immigration
Another reason why the USA programme is so great is that it has imported a number of awesome coaches who are attracted by the money, and the prospect of living in the USA. This has been very good for USA gymnastics. Ditto Peggy Liddick for Australia. China has used outside help for chore graphing floor, which has done a lot for floor routines. As far as I know, Romania hasn't done this.
If they could get a great bars coach to come in and teach the other coaches to coach, this could help the Romanians. Otherwise, a Romanian coach could have an internship at a good bars gym in Russia or China. They could then teach the other Romanian coaches how to coach good bars.
5) The Bars and the New Code
The bars is an Achilles heal for the Romanians, and has been for a long time. Bars routines have higher potential scores than other apparatus. This has been the case before. However, under the old code, the impact was tiny. At most lower difficulty meant 0.5 points less. Now it means 2 points less. Bars matters more and with Romania being up against the UK, which has one of the world's best bar workers, it is not surprising that there are problems.
I have already stated a possible solution to this one in (4)
This is just my opinion. I don't know the ins and outs of the Romanian programme. I have just been thinking about this a little over the past few days and I thought that I would put down my opinions.
Forminte quit because two former Romanian coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang, have been appointed as consultants to the team because they Romanian gymnastics team has had less than perfect results lately. Forminte believes that this shows little confidence in him, so he has stepped aside. I don't blame him. In my opinion, the problems with Romanian gymnastics cannot be wholly blamed on him.
I think that there are lots of factors that have contributed to the current state of Romanian Gymnastics. This is a list of problems that I can see in Romanian gymnastics along with possible solutions.
1) Lack of resources
The Romanians don't have resources for things like hand grips, and importation of new coaches. They are losing great potential coaches such as Catalina Ponor to other countries because they just can't pay them as much as the likes of the United States.
Maybe Romanian Gymnastics can try to get a corporate sponsor to provide hand grips and/or more money. They have a marketable image. If Nadia got involved, it would be even better. However, we would need to tread carefully here. We don't want corporate sponsors compromising the programme. Gymnasts and gymnastics need to come first.
2) Improvement of other programmes
Look at the UK. Their programme has changed a great deal and now their teams are doing better. The UK won that silver medal just as much as the Romanians lost it. The Russian programme is also experiencing a resurgence. After communism fell in Eastern/Central Europe, the shape of the gymnastics world changed because resources were diverted away from gymnastics and other sports. But the reverse has happened in Australia and the UK because when these countries get better programmes, their governments can afford to give them more money.
The Romanians cannot do anything about this. They need to focus on their own programme.
3) Lack of competition
One of the reasons that the USA system works so well is that there are a number of good gyms and each gym produces different types of gymnasts with different specialisations. For example, Mary Lee Tracy seems to train awesome bars workers while Mihai Brestyan trains excellent floor and vault workers. WOGA seems to train great all rounders, and Chows has trained one too. Anyway, my point is that the national programme does well at training beam workers, but less well at training bars workers, and there is no other gym providing bars training and or great bars workers who can fill the gap.
Also, the fact that many gymnasts can only normally come out of Deva also means that many potential gymnasts may be put off because of having to move away from Mum and Dad. Not every gymnast is hungry for success from childhood. This could be contributing to a shortage of Romanian elites, which means that injuries can devastate the whole team.
Maybe Deva coaches could also support gyms in other parts of the country (in terms of equipment and coaching and keep looking at the talent that comes out of them. If an athlete is happy in a gym away from Deva, they could let them keep training there. This could deepen the team. Maybe there could be camps each month like the US and Australia has so that these athletes can bond with Deva members.
4) Lack of coach immigration
Another reason why the USA programme is so great is that it has imported a number of awesome coaches who are attracted by the money, and the prospect of living in the USA. This has been very good for USA gymnastics. Ditto Peggy Liddick for Australia. China has used outside help for chore graphing floor, which has done a lot for floor routines. As far as I know, Romania hasn't done this.
If they could get a great bars coach to come in and teach the other coaches to coach, this could help the Romanians. Otherwise, a Romanian coach could have an internship at a good bars gym in Russia or China. They could then teach the other Romanian coaches how to coach good bars.
5) The Bars and the New Code
The bars is an Achilles heal for the Romanians, and has been for a long time. Bars routines have higher potential scores than other apparatus. This has been the case before. However, under the old code, the impact was tiny. At most lower difficulty meant 0.5 points less. Now it means 2 points less. Bars matters more and with Romania being up against the UK, which has one of the world's best bar workers, it is not surprising that there are problems.
I have already stated a possible solution to this one in (4)
This is just my opinion. I don't know the ins and outs of the Romanian programme. I have just been thinking about this a little over the past few days and I thought that I would put down my opinions.
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