We're continuing our summary of the 2017-2020 Code of Points by focusing on the changes to skill values on vault and bars.

In case you missed it, we broke down the new regulations concerning the D- and E-scores in our previous article here. This series will continue later with a final article detailing the new skill values on beam and floor, so stay tuned.

Vault

To make up for the lower composition requirements on bars, beam and floor, vault start values have been lowered across the board. Below is a list of the most common vaults performed at the elite level and their new start values in the 2017-2020 Code. You’ll see that the changes are not uniform, and some vaults were lowered much more than others. The always-controversial Produnova vault has been lowered the most—by six tenths—to a 6.4 start value. The Amanar was also lowered significantly—by five tenths—to a 5.8.

SKILL	2013-2016 CODE VALUE	2017-2020 CODE VALUE
2 ½ twisting Yurchenko (Amanar)	6.3	5.8
Double twisting Yurchenko	5.8	5.4
Handspring forward on, 1 ½ twist off	6.2	5.8
Handspring forward on, full twist off	5.8	5.4
Handspring forward on, tucked double salto off (Produnova)	7	6.4
Tsukahara, 1 ½ twist off	5.5	5.2
Yurchenko ½ on, 1 ½ twist off (Cheng)	6.4	6
Yurchenko ½ on, full twist off (Podkopayeva)	6	5.6

Uneven Bars

To review the changes on bars, we broke down the various skills as they do in the Code: Mounts, Casts & Clear Hip Circles, Giant Circles, Stalder Circles, and Dismounts. Overall, there aren't too many changes to skills on bars. The most noteworthy changes happened with a few release moves. The new Code distinguishes between straddled, piked and stretched releases, where the current Code had instances where these skills have the same value. For instance, a piked Jaeger and a straddled Jaeger are both D skills in the current code.

Check out our full summary below.

Mounts

Only two mounts that had their values increased, and both used to be E-level skills. Neither skill has been performed in competition in recent years, and no wonder—it's just a tad bit more difficult than the simple kip!

Skill	2013-2016 Code Value	2017-2020 Code Value
Round-off in front of low bar, tucked salto over low bar to hang on high bar without touching low bar	E	F
Round-off in front of low bar, arabian salto over low bar to hang on high bar without touching low bar	E	G

Casts & Clear Hip Circles

The new code decreased the value of a transition from low bar to high, from C to B. The Code has also added the Shang, an F release move, to the main table of elements. The skill was first performed by Shang Chunsong at the 2013 World Championships.

SKILL	2013-2016 CODE VALUE	2017-2020 CODE VALUE
Clear hip circle on high bar, counter pike over high bar to hang on high bar	F	F
Clear underswing on low bar, release & counter movement forward in flight to hang on high bar	C	B

Giant circles

As mentioned, the new Code made some changes to the value of a few release moves depending on the body position of the gymnast in flight.

SKILL	2013-2016 CODE VALUE	2017-2020 CODE VALUE
Piked Jaeger	D	E
Stretched Geinger	D	E
Stretched Jaeger	E	F

Stalder Circles

One of the more notable changes, the new Code decreased the value of a common transition used by elite gymnasts: facing inward, the gymnast performs a Stalder backward with release and counter movement forward in flight to hang on high bar. This skill is currently valued at a C, but will be devalued to a B skill in the new Code.

Dismounts

The new Code raised the value of three dismounts by one tenth on each.

 

Skill	2013-2016 Code Value	2017-2020 Code Value
From high bar, underswing with _ turn to salto backward tucked or piked (Comaneci)	B	C
Swing backward to double salto forward tucked with _ turn, also salto forward with _ turn into salto backward tucked	D	E
Swing backward to double salto forward piked with _ turn	E	F

Stay tuned for the final part of this series, where we'll review the changes on beam and floor.


Related:
New Quad, New Rules: The 2017-2020 Code - Part 1