Level 6/7 Vaulting
With all the new optional changes this year, the one that we seem to have the most discussion about is the Level 6/7 vault. Whenever a new concept comes along, there is a period of adjustment as we all strive to determine what the key components are and how they translate into a score – what makes a vault a 9.0 as opposed to an 8.0. During this time of adjustment, unfortunately as a result, sometimes scores may fluctuate. The same was true when the flat back vault was first introduced.
The USA Gymnastics website has two great educational webinars on the Level 6/7 vault. The first is Tom Koll’s presentation, “Women’s Junior Olympic Vault – Levels 6/7, where he discusses the expectations of the vault, shows a number of vaults in regular and slow motion, and states the deductions that would be taken in each phase. Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/S2jxgZHzGos
The second webinar, “Complimentary Level 6/7 Vault Practice Judging Video – 2018 – 2022” does the same, but also shows a range of scores for each vault. Here is the link:
https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=22970
Both webinars are well done and will help us all to better understand the expectations and evaluation of the Level 6/7 vaults.
Wishing you all a great rest of the season,
Bonnie Ann Synol/NJ-USA Gymnastics Education Representative
