Comments for Stretching Out: The opposing forces of difficulty and age limits at http://www.intlgymnast.com , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.intlgymnast.com Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:22:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1386:stretching-out-the-opposing-forces-of-difficulty-and-age-limits&catid=8:stretching-out&Itemid=130#comment-1513 I first started watching gymnastics in the 1980s and it was something else than what it is today... dare I say it now it is often boring. Please change the code back to 10s so audiences understand again. And deduct for double backs that do not have knees together and pointed toes. And get these gymnasts dancing properly again. PLEASE! I miss the drama and the beauty of this sport. Now I'm just scared these gymnasts are going to hurt themselves. And drop the age limit - they will be doing the tricks in the gym before 16 anyway. - Charlotte Sat, 01 May 2010 06:08:11 +0100 http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1386:stretching-out-the-opposing-forces-of-difficulty-and-age-limits&catid=8:stretching-out&Itemid=130#comment-1352 Seeing as how they've already gotten rid of the 10.0, why not just move to a scoring system like diving, where they multiply the difficulty level by the execution? That way an increase in one is most beneficial if the other multiplying factor is higher as well. Being a gymnast with exceptional form and limited difficulty I found it very frustrating that difficulty is weighted so much more heavily than form. A new, more difficult combination can add up to a full point to your score whereas significantly improving form might garner five tenths at best. - Cassie Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:29:21 +0100 http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1386:stretching-out-the-opposing-forces-of-difficulty-and-age-limits&catid=8:stretching-out&Itemid=130#comment-1351 I think it´s very ironic that FIG changed the code to "favour execution" when we see the sport going the complete opposite way. We see more injuries today not just because they have to add more difficulty, but also because they have to keep training those difficult skills for many more years, since the gymnasts learns new skills when she is 12, 13, 14 tops, because that´s when their bodies can handle addapting to new movements. I think it is very clear that FIG doesn´t have a clue about training and coaching and makes a delusional code based on what they wanted to be true in spite of what is real. - Renata Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:21:24 +0100 http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1386:stretching-out-the-opposing-forces-of-difficulty-and-age-limits&catid=8:stretching-out&Itemid=130#comment-1350 I agree that the current code places an emphasis on a degree of difficulty that is unsustainable for most gymnasts of any age. While some gymnasts are able to work to a peak of difficulty, and even fewer are able to do so in the proper year, very few indeed (of any age!) can even attempt to maintain that difficulty, let alone increase it, after a few years of the wear and tear it brings. If the code is going to demand so much of gymnasts (who incidentally will need to start training more difficulty at a younger age [i]anyways[/i] just to get up to a competitive level in the new code), then it should give them a larger window of opportunity in which to demonstrate their hard-won skills. If the FIG wishes to maintain the current age limit, or even simply wishes to maintain the public appeal of the sport, then they need to make execution more important than sheer difficulty. The best way to do this would probably be to bring back the 10.0 code (oh, how I miss the days of perfection!), but in lieu of this, perhaps they should double the execution score. It's very frustrating to watch routines that include "upgrades" stuck into routines when the gymnast cannont yet consistently perform the skill with good form- they merely incur fewer deductions than they earn in difficulty points. At this rate perfected difficulty may never be seen again. Wasn't it the form and virtuosity that made the difficulty in artistic gymnastics exciting in the first place? Though we see little glimpses of it here and there still (Nastia's Olympic AA vault!), gymnastics in general is less pleasing to watch now than it used to be despite being much more difficult. The routines are so difficult that gymnasts [i]can't[/i] be expressive all the way through- there is the inevitable moment of standing in a corner before tumbling passes. Perhaps another way to encourage gymnasts to work on proper form, and to decrease injuries, would be to bring back some form of compulsories. This would bring back the clean basics while allowing gymnasts to spend less time doing huge skills on hard surfaces. If everyone had to have both difficulty [i]and[/i] clean basics then perhaps we'd see fewer injuries, and better gymnastics! - KristyJ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:11:20 +0100