On June 27, an outline of the FIG's Men's Technical Committee's (MTC) proposed changes was posted, giving us a better look at what may be coming in the future.
The big overall change would be to move from ten counting skills to eight. Currently, the junior men and the senior women also count eight elements, so this proposed change would bring the senior men's code in line with others.
Other notable proposed changes include:
Max amount of elements per element group (EG) moves from 5 - 4
A,B, & C skills used to fulfill the 0.5 EG requirements. Now, gymnasts will receive 0.3 for A, B, and C skills (some exceptions apply).
Stick bonuses would apply for all dismounts rated C or higher with the exception of pommel horse
Changes for Floor Exercise
There are two big changes on floor. One is an attempt to increase artistry. The MTC has proposed a choreography sequence and also proposed that gymnasts must show a one-leg balance element. The second major change is to the dismounts. Seniors will now be required to show a multiple salto dismount, meaning no more triple twist dismounts. To accommodate this change, the MTC has also proposed an increase to several common double salto elements (i.e. Double back pike (C to D), Arabian double pike (D to E), and Double layout (D to E).
Changes to Pommel Horse
The MTC's proposed changes to pommel horse are going to limit flaired elements. There will now be a max of four per routine (perhaps this should be nicknamed the Abbadini rule), and Flop sequences will not be upgraded with with flairs. There are also several clarifications proposed on how to perform skills (i.e. The Wu must have two hands between the pommels, otherwise it will be considered a Roth).
Changes to Still Rings
In the previous code of points, holds on rings were allowed no deviation without deduction. Now, there will be a 5-degree allowance without deduction. This rule has changed the hold and angle deductions will be categorized. 5 degrees to 20 degrees will be .0.1, 20 - 45 will be 0.3, and greater than 45 degrees will receive a 0.5 deduction and non-recognition for the skill. Utilizing Fujitsu for these angle deductions would be beneficial as differentiating between 5 degrees by the human eye may be impractical.
Changes to Vault
Because the MTC is proposing to change counting skills to 8, it seems they have also decided to lower vault values again by 0.4 to be in line with probable D scores on the other events. The MTC has also proposed moving back to five vault element groups. The proposed groups are:
"1. Single salto vaults with complex twists
2. Handspring vaults with or without simple twists, and all double salto fwd.
3. Handspring sideways and Tsukahara vaults with or without simple twists, and all double salto bwd.
4. Yurchenko with twists (New)
5.Yurchenko with saltos (New)"
Changes to Parallel Bars
The MTC has proposed that all swing-to-handstand must continue in the same direction which may mean that we may see an increased number of 1/2 pirouettes. They have also proposed a maximum of two front uprise style elements. Like on floor, they have also proposed upgrading many of the double-flipping elements on parallel bars.
Changes to High Bar
In the general section of proposed changes, the MTC says there will be a max of four elements per element group; However, for high bar, five flight elements from group two would be permitted if at least two of them are connected. If the MTC follows through with this change, this means we could see high bar routines with five of the eight counting elements from one group and then one from each of the other three EG. Connection bonus and angle deductions were also clarified. Several elements may also increase in value including Gienger (C to D) and Jaeger (C to D for straddle and D to E for straight).
Finalization of these proposed changes is expected to happen later this year or early next year.
Article by: Kensley Behel
*Previous versions of this article stated that the new angle deductions for still rings was for handstand deductions. The article has been updated to clarify that the new proposed angle deductions are for hold and angle deductions.