Nova Trampoline & DMT Club

How a competition is organised

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How a Trampoline Competition is organised.

This is a brief guide to trampoline competitions for beginners and, probably more importantly , for their parents. At all competitions we ensure that newcomers to the sport are mentored and closely supported until they feel at ease with the process. In order to do this it is essential that we have sufficient coaches “on the floor”. However, as you will see later in this document, it is also a requirement of all events that participating clubs provide judges. If you become interested in judging on behalf of the club (and thus ensuring that beginners can be properly supported), please speak to a club official who will be delighted to explain what is involved in the process.

Competitions

Trampolining competitions are organised into “grades”. Grade 1 is the highest, and grade 6 (novice in the London region) is the level at which most youngsters begin their competitive trampoline career. Competitions are split in to “Grade 3-6” events, which are regionally based (in our case, London) and Grade 1 and Grade 2 events, which are Nationally, organised. There are also invitational events and Invitational Synchro events, which are usually less formally run, and great fun. These notes refer mainly to Grade 3-6 and Invitational events.

Age groups

Ages are normally calculated from the age of the competitor on 31st December in the year of the competition. (For the “Schools” competition they are calculated from 1^st September.) Boys and Girls normally compete separately unless numbers are very low. At Grade ‘3’ to '6' competitors are split into the following groups

Under 9 Under 11 Under 13 Under 15 Under 18 Over 18

There is no Under 9s Group at Grade '1' or ‘2’. Under 9s who wish to move up to Grades ‘1’ and ‘2’ must perform the Under 11 Routines and compete in the Under 11 Age Groups.

Clothing

Unless rules state otherwise, Girls have to wear a long sleeved leotard, Boys wear a male leotard (sleeveless/gymnastic) and “whites”. For some events (e.g. “Schools”,) boys are allowed to wear white T-shirts and white shorts.

Both wear white ankle socks or trampoline/gymnastic slippers.

Check in

When you get to the Sports Centre you need to tell someone you are there. This is normally your Coach/Team Manager. When you inform them you are there, they will give you a Tariff Sheet/Warm Up Card. It is very important you do not lose either of these. Your coach, or another performer will help you fill out your tariff sheet and check it for you. Change into something comfortable for warming up on the trampoline (your competition clothing, with a club T-shirt and optional shorts). Then wait in with the other competitors for an announcement that warm up for your event can start. (If you are in doubt check with a coach or a more experienced competitor). Do not eat any food or drink fizzy drinks less than 30 minutes before your warm up, (small drinks of water are OK).

Warm up

Competitors warming up are supposed to do so in T-shirts, track suits etc. so that everyone knows they are not actually being judged. You can only expect 2 warm ups on the trampoline When warm up is called, go promptly to the Trampolines allotted for your event, usually called Panel 1, Panel 2 etc., and hand your warm up cards to the Warm Up Marshall standing by the bed, (sometimes a grown up, sometimes an older performer). The Warm Up Marshall calls out each person’s name in sequence from the cards he/she has; when your name is called get on the bed quickly. You are allowed to start jumping for a few bounces (say about 10) and then go through your routine fully once, stop, and get off. If you make a mistake after, say, move 4 then start again. If you make a mistake after a later move then start the routine again from where you made the mistake. When you have finished, (and practised standing still for 5 pink elephants!) get off and go back to your place. Then you wait until your name is called again, and you can do it again, etc. If you wish, you can try out the other bed, and this way you’ll have some idea of which bed you prefer to compete on. The choice of bed for the competition is yours. However, if you are happy with the first bed, stay on it – you only have a limited amount of time to warm up and cannot afford to waste time. Be warned you can only expect two warm-ups by right (although sometimes you may get more) . Any more is a bonus so it is essential that you warm up thoroughly on the floor.

Competition

Each competitor performs 2 routines - a set routine and a 10 bounce voluntary routine. (The top 10 will usually compete in a final round. In the final you will usually do your vol. round again.). When told that the warm up session is over, the performer goes and sits where advised. The Competition Marshall will check that you are there, and tell you when it is your turn. Before you compete, you will get one last warm up, about 5 minutes before you compete.

When told to compete by the Competition Marshall, take off your T-shirt etc., & go with your 4 spotters (who either you or your coach will have organised beforehand) to the bed you have chosen before. Sit still on the bed in the middle, and wait for the Superior Judge to approach you, check your name, call the other judges to order, and finally give you permission to start. Stand up, (salute/ present to the Judges), and start your preliminary bounces. Stay in the middle and build up height and control. As soon as you are ready, start your routine. To finish, have a single low out bounce as you have been taught, and then stand still for at least 3 seconds (5 Pink Elephants etc.). Get off the bed (climb off, don’t jump), and go back to the area you have been sitting in.

After everybody has done this once, you all get another go, this time the routine is a Voluntary one, which you have chosen and agreed.

Judging

Performers are judged on form (style, neatness etc.), loss of height, travel etc and the judges can deduct up to 0.5 (from 1.0) for each move. Thus a perfect routine would score 10.0 from each judge (this never happens in trampoline unlike gymnastics) and a really poor routine, which nevertheless finished, would score 5.0. Obviously if the routine stops after 4 or 5 moves then the score would only be out of that number.

There are 5 form judges (and for the voluntary round, a tariff judge as well). The form judges should show marks that are approximately similar (e.g. 7.3; 7.5; 7.2; 7.0; 7.8). The highest and lowest marks are not counted and the remaining three are added together to give the score for that round.

The first round is called the compulsory (or set) routine. Every competitor must do the same routine. This is the routine as written by the competition organiser. The competitor must perform the “Set” routine as written with no changes. If the competitor makes a mistake, and changes the routine, they will only be marked up to the point where they went wrong!

The second round is the voluntary (or vol.) round. The competitor can either choose to do the same routine again or construct their own. At beginner and lower levels we usually suggest that you do the same routine so that you can concentrate on getting the “form” right rather than having to remember lots of different routines.

If you construct your own, 10 different moves in succession must be performed. The reason that some competitors change their routine for the voluntary round is because each move is worth a certain score, referred to as tariff (see table overleaf). This is judged by the tariff judge, who will obviously therefore show a score which is different to the other judges.

A tariff of between 1.0 and 3.0 would be good for a beginner. A more advanced competitor could expect to be up to about 5.0. Scores of above 5 are generally considered to be high tariffs. (At an invitational you may even see scores up to

11, 12 or even 13 but these are rare so don’t worry too much about these The top internationals in the world are now completing tariffs in excess of 14!)

Tariff

Tuck, pike and straddle jump	0.0	Front somersault piked	0.6
Seat drop	0.0	Back somersault tucked	0.5
Front drop	0.1	Back somersault piked	0.6
Back drop	0.1	Back somersault straight	0.6
Half twist	0.1	Back somersault to seat tucked	0.5
Half twist-to/from seat drop	0.1	Barani piked	0.6
Half twist-to/from back drop	0.2	Barani straight	0.6
Full twist	0.2	Barani tucked	0.6
Front somersault tucked	0.5

1 Back somersault tucked	0.5
2 Straddle jump	0.0
3 Back somersault to seat	0.5
4½ twist to feet	0.1
5½ twist jump	0.1
6 Pike Jump	0.0
7 Back Drop	0.1
8 ½ twist to feet	0.2
9 Tuck Jump	0.0
10 Front Somersault piked	0.6
	Total 2.1

The tariff score is added to the form score for the voluntary round and the total determines the top 10 for the final

OFFICIALS: This region requires ANY club entering these competitions to provide officials for the duration of the event. The MINIMUM required are:-

Clubs entering 2 - 3 competitors 1 named qualified official

Clubs entering 4 - 6 competitors 2 named qualified officials

Clubs entering 7 - 10 competitors 3 named officials (minimum of 2 qualified)

Clubs entering 11 - 15 competitors 4 named officials (minimum of 3 qualified)

Clubs entering 16 - 20 competitors 5 named officials (minimum of 3 qualified)

Clubs entering 21 - 25 competitors 6 named officials (minimum of 4 qualified)

Clubs entering 26 - 30 competitors 7 named officials (minimum of 4 qualified)

Clubs entering 31+ competitors 7 named officials, plus 1 per 10 (or part 10) competitors over 30 (minimum of 4 qualified)

Synchronised pairs count as 2 competitors. A competitor entered for an age group plus Open Men’s/Ladies in the same event counts as 2 competitors. The above criteria apply to all divisional events.

We can pay a surcharge/ fine to allow one less official than required. We always have to do this! In the case of an official not showing on the day without a replacement of equal and approved calibre being offered, the surcharge increases to £30.00 and no further entries are accepted from that club until the surcharge has been paid. The competition committee reserve the right to disqualify any club who do not supply their nominated officials on the day.

Unqualified officials can be expected to be used as Competition Marshals, Warm Up Marshals, Manual Recorders or Certificate Writers but all officials may be used in any capacity and must appear correctly dressed. Any club failing to arrive at the required time with their official or with officials incorrectly dressed, can be withdrawn. WE ALWAYS NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR THESE TASKS!

Progression

To progress to the next level of competition (e.g. from Grade 4 to Grade 3) a Qualifying Score has to be achieved. The Qualifying Score for progression from one Grade to the next is the total after the first 2 rounds - the Set and Voluntary Routine (the Final has no bearing on qualification). A maximum tariff is set for each level of competition (to prevent high tariff routines with very poor form or style winning events!) In order to qualify for National Finals at Grade 2 or 1 the competitor must achieve the specified qualification score using the correct Set Routine.

Competition Results in detail.

Set, Vol and Final

Trampolining is not just about the moves or how high you jump, but about performing routines of 10 different skills with no extra jumps in between. All competitors do 2 routines in a competition - these are called the set and vol (short for voluntary) rounds.

The vol routine is different from the set, because you gain marks for the difficulty, or tariff, of the routine. A set routine is not given any score for difficulty because everyone does the same thing. (This is slightly different in higher graded competitions but that need not concern us here.)

In the lower graded competitions (Grades 3, 4 and lower) the set routine is fixed by the competition organisers, and every competitor does the same routine. (In higher competitions such as Grades 1, 2 and all National/International competitions, the set is not fixed but consists of compulsory elements (such as a double somersault, body landing, etc.) and it must be done as written and submitted).

The vol routine gains a difficulty (tariff). This is based on the amount of twist and somersault in each move, plus bonus of 0.1 in some somersaults when the shape is piked or straight. A repeated move does not earn any tariff (thus the competitor strives to make a clear distinction between the shapes of each move). The vol is sometimes submitted before competing but the competitor is free to change it or actually do anything they like The tariff judge has to work out what the performer has done!

Whilst the tariff does make a difference, most marks come from form scores. Five judges mark the routine and for each of the 10 moves, they give a deduction of between 0.5 (very poor move, with travel, loss of height, bad form, etc) to 0.0 (a perfect move). This is deducted from 1.0 for each move, thus the 10 bounce routine must be marked in the range 5.0 to 10.0. In addition, marks are deducted for various errors such as instability at the end of the routine, not starting the routine in a reasonable amount of time, etc.

Most top competitors will be aiming at 9.5 or more in the set which is a very good routine indeed. Lower-graded competitions are likely to see 8.5 being a winning form score. When competitors are closely-matched, the tariff becomes a significant element in the scores.

Of course, one judge's opinion of what is perfect is different to another's. There are five form judges but the top and bottom marks are deleted, leaving the middle 3 marks to be added together to give a potential maximum for a set of 30.0. There are (usually) 2 tariff judges who check the routine is as-written during the set, and who write down and calculate the difficulty (tariff) during the vol.

Score Calculation And The Final

The set score is calculated by adding the middle 3 form judges scores together, e.g. 25.9

The vol score is calculated by adding the middle 3 form judges scores together, then adding the tariff of the routine. Normally this is tabulated separately, e.g. 29.4/5.7 so you know how good the form and tariff were.

These are added to produce the set & vol score, e.g. 25.9 + 29.4=55.3. This is done by the manual recorder, though for most events this is done simultaneously by computer and the results relayed to the competitors by remote screens.

These scores are ranked and the top ten bounce a third time, in the final. If there are any ties for 10th place, then 11 or more competitors will bounce. The final follows the same format as the vol, as in the competitors gain a tariff score also, e.g. 29.6/5.7.

In years gone by, the scores were zeroed and only the final scores decided the result; but nowadays the 3 scores are added together and ranked, the highest scoring competitor winning the day. e.g. 25.9(set) + 29.4/5.7 (vol) + 29.6/5.7 (final)=84.9.

Ó NovaTrampoline Club 2002