As competitive cheerleading grew more and more creative and intricate with the amazing stunts, tumbling patterns and innovative choreography, the scoring systems attempted to adapt as well. With no unified governing body for all competitive cheer (and there still isn't one), no one scoring system was in place. There are at least 5 or so major competitive systems with their own different scoring systems. It's a wonder that teams can be successful from one company to the next with so many differences in how they are scored. It's easy to see the difference between first and 5th, but are these systems really accurately separating the teams with similar talents and skill levels?
The true problem is not the varying systems; the real issue is that unlike most other sports, the scoring is overwhelmingly subjective. The industry boasts technique camps, seminars, clinics and training for all stunting and tumbling skills. How can there be so much specific technique involved, but so little adherence to that technique with regard to objective measurement. Gymnastics defines the exact technique for every skill. Thus, the officials evaluating routines simply give deductions for anything not done exactly according to the defined technique. This is what is missing from competitive cheer.
Have no fear, the NCATA is here! This was a no brainer. When the NCATA evolved competitive cheer as a true sport, the very first scoring principle was to eliminate the subjectivity in officiating. Borrowing from other judged sports like diving and gymnastics, the concept of exact technique and deductions resulting from variance from that technique was a purposeful and much needed step.
Acrobatic and tumbling teams submit a worksheet for 5 of the 6 events. The worksheet is a calculation page that the coach lists each of the skills in each heat. Every skill has a set value. Sequences or multiple skills receive combined values from each of the component elements. The resulting value is called the Start Difficulty Value or SDV. This number solely reflects the difficulty of the skill or sequence of skills being performed. With an SDV in place, officials do not have to consider difficulty in their score. They focus solely on the execution of the skill. In other words, the official can be very critical whether the skill was performed according the exact technique that is defined and expected of that skill and not be cluttered with the consideration of difficulty. Traditional competitive cheer scoring systems use difficulty to put a performance into a 1 or 2 point range but leave it up to the judge to rate the execution of the skill(s) within that range. This is where the subjectivity overwhelms the process. Since the difficulty determines the point range, poorly executed high level skills still leads to starting in a higher point range and actually encourages teams to just "throw" skills regardless of technique. This can promote injuries from unsafely executed skills.
In acrobatics and tumbling, the SDV or difficulty is the starting point. An official watches the skill(s) and then assesses deductions for anything that is not precisely executed according to the appropriate technique. The set deduction is taken off of the SDV. For example, if a stunt sequence has an SDV of 9.5 and there are 7 mistakes at .05 each, then the deduction will be .35 and the final score will be 9.15 (9.5 - .35). There is no limit to the number of deductions so the worse the technique is, the lower the score will drop. With other teams having the same, higher or very close SDV's, every hundredth or tenth of a point is a big deduction. Thus, teams are encouraged to only perform more difficult skills if they have the technique and ability to do so at a high level of execution which encourages safety. Teams are very accurately officiated according to set objective standards with extremely little areas of subjective interpretation. Feet apart, bent knees, incomplete rotations, unlocked arms and other technique issues are clear mistakes. There's no opinion. Either feet were apart or they we not.
This old concept of scoring, renewed in acrobatics and tumbling, vastly improved the scoring of skills by eliminating subjectivity. Finally, there's a clear answer whether a sloppy hard skill beats a well perfected less difficult skill. After meets, A&T coaches don't have to wonder if the officials liked their style or thought the other team had more difficulty. The SDV's and the scoring system solve all these subjective issues before one single score is awarded. Because acrobatics and tumbling teams are varsity scholarshipped sports at their universities, the talent level is very high and similar from team to team within divisions. Each team will have very similar SDV's. Now more than ever, in this sport, it comes down to objective evaluation of each teams' execution. This season's first ever national championship between #1 Oregon and #2 Maryland was decided by twelve hundredths of a point. It wasn't a matter of opinion, it was decided by the numbers. The NCATA scores big with this system!
The true problem is not the varying systems; the real issue is that unlike most other sports, the scoring is overwhelmingly subjective. The industry boasts technique camps, seminars, clinics and training for all stunting and tumbling skills. How can there be so much specific technique involved, but so little adherence to that technique with regard to objective measurement. Gymnastics defines the exact technique for every skill. Thus, the officials evaluating routines simply give deductions for anything not done exactly according to the defined technique. This is what is missing from competitive cheer.
Have no fear, the NCATA is here! This was a no brainer. When the NCATA evolved competitive cheer as a true sport, the very first scoring principle was to eliminate the subjectivity in officiating. Borrowing from other judged sports like diving and gymnastics, the concept of exact technique and deductions resulting from variance from that technique was a purposeful and much needed step.
Acrobatic and tumbling teams submit a worksheet for 5 of the 6 events. The worksheet is a calculation page that the coach lists each of the skills in each heat. Every skill has a set value. Sequences or multiple skills receive combined values from each of the component elements. The resulting value is called the Start Difficulty Value or SDV. This number solely reflects the difficulty of the skill or sequence of skills being performed. With an SDV in place, officials do not have to consider difficulty in their score. They focus solely on the execution of the skill. In other words, the official can be very critical whether the skill was performed according the exact technique that is defined and expected of that skill and not be cluttered with the consideration of difficulty. Traditional competitive cheer scoring systems use difficulty to put a performance into a 1 or 2 point range but leave it up to the judge to rate the execution of the skill(s) within that range. This is where the subjectivity overwhelms the process. Since the difficulty determines the point range, poorly executed high level skills still leads to starting in a higher point range and actually encourages teams to just "throw" skills regardless of technique. This can promote injuries from unsafely executed skills.
In acrobatics and tumbling, the SDV or difficulty is the starting point. An official watches the skill(s) and then assesses deductions for anything that is not precisely executed according to the appropriate technique. The set deduction is taken off of the SDV. For example, if a stunt sequence has an SDV of 9.5 and there are 7 mistakes at .05 each, then the deduction will be .35 and the final score will be 9.15 (9.5 - .35). There is no limit to the number of deductions so the worse the technique is, the lower the score will drop. With other teams having the same, higher or very close SDV's, every hundredth or tenth of a point is a big deduction. Thus, teams are encouraged to only perform more difficult skills if they have the technique and ability to do so at a high level of execution which encourages safety. Teams are very accurately officiated according to set objective standards with extremely little areas of subjective interpretation. Feet apart, bent knees, incomplete rotations, unlocked arms and other technique issues are clear mistakes. There's no opinion. Either feet were apart or they we not.
This old concept of scoring, renewed in acrobatics and tumbling, vastly improved the scoring of skills by eliminating subjectivity. Finally, there's a clear answer whether a sloppy hard skill beats a well perfected less difficult skill. After meets, A&T coaches don't have to wonder if the officials liked their style or thought the other team had more difficulty. The SDV's and the scoring system solve all these subjective issues before one single score is awarded. Because acrobatics and tumbling teams are varsity scholarshipped sports at their universities, the talent level is very high and similar from team to team within divisions. Each team will have very similar SDV's. Now more than ever, in this sport, it comes down to objective evaluation of each teams' execution. This season's first ever national championship between #1 Oregon and #2 Maryland was decided by twelve hundredths of a point. It wasn't a matter of opinion, it was decided by the numbers. The NCATA scores big with this system!
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