A & V Rhythmic Gymnastics Club took part in Rhythmic Grades 2013 –Zone A, which took part in The City of Canterbury Rhythmic Gymnastics Club.
All gymnasts who wish to compete at the international level must complete Zone Grades. The scores obtained in this competition determine whether gymnasts will compete in novice competitions during the year, or whether they can compete at the National Grades Finals or the British Championship. As The Code of Points has been changed the scoring has also changed the National Technical Committee will agree the pass marks only after all four Zones have completed their grades.
To compete at the British Championship, gymnasts must get required scores at their Zone Grades, as well as passing the British Qualification Testing in which their flexibility is tested together with their fitness, strength and ballet ability.
The Zone grades 6 to 10 are correspondent to gymnast year of birth.
In 2013, only gymnasts who are in age group U11 and older are eligible for the national competitions.
The new Code of Points 2013 – 2016 that was introduced in January of this year has brought radical changes. The gymnasts are required to perform a minimum of one set of dance steps which must last for at least 8 seconds –these dance steps must be perfectly performed to the music and the gymnasts must DANCE and be expressive.
The number of body difficulties required has been decreased, and their value too has been lowered. Now the maximum value of a difficulty is 0.50 and the only way to increase the value of a difficulty is by increasing the number of turns in the element of rotation.
The evaluation of apparatus handling has changed too. Now, only apparatus skills which are special or unusual are awarded. There can be no repetition of the use of the apparatus so the gymnasts will be trying to use the apparatus in a variety of ways. Major errors, e.g. drops are now heavily penalised, not only by technical faults, but also by breaks in the unity of the choreography and in the musical interpretation and timing.
The score is now out of 20.00 for Seniors and 18.00 for Juniors (adjusted for Espoirs).
