The balance beam lacks... balance

[@elisharoberts1029]

Helen Hu earned the first 10.0 in NCAA for 2025 on beam and was a gorgeous blend of 'old school' and the current code. This routine clearly proves gymnasts can and should blend both eras and the judges can and should reward athletes for doing so in their scores!

[@cocoroni1031]

Helen Hu's beam is classified as good 'old school' in both artistry and elements. It doesn't fit into FIG's beam rule, except beam rhythm. It's a waste of time to do these skills in 3-5 seconds when you can do an aerial or jump with the same rating. Many gymnasts do 11-19 skills on beam nowadays.

[@triffus]

Handstands should be a beam requirement.

[@MajorMajesticIce]

Definitely

[@hazelnutspred3348]

they are boring

[@triffus]

Oh yeah? Good to know. I totally reverse my opinion. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!

[@tugasaku2643]

Or any static holds for that matter…

[@rin-eri]

idk whats not pleasing about hip circles

[@saragrant9749]

They look awkward and quite often had very little rhythm to them. That’s not to say ALL looked like that- but the vast majority did.

[@katledbetter]

For me, a non-gymnast- 70% of the hip circles shown in this clip were the smoothest ones I've ever seen, and they still looked a bit clunky. It also doesn't look like there's a great way to get out of them that doesn't look clunky, or need a good "pause- reset" moment. I could be wrong, but for me they just look clunky, disruptive, and painful. Almost like you stopped halfway through a skill, then reset. It seems like a skill better suited for uneven bars to my untrained eye.

[@alveolate]

it's like trying to do uneven bars on a thick plank of wood... the beam also does not allow for much combination after finishing the hip circle, and the skill itself doesn't really show much "balancing"

[@objetivista686]

Hip circle is very pleasant to watch for me

[@cocoroni1031]

Helen Hu's beam routine highlights the lack of balance. Gymnasts in FIG meets won't do those elements because why waste 3-5 seconds for a B-D skill when you can milk CVs from tons of leaps, jumps and aerials? Make balance elements counted in top 8, and better multiple their rating by 2 in every routine's D score calculation.

[@findingthatperfectspot4692]

I would kill to see a routine like Helen Hu's at the elite level. She's absolutely glorious. I'd love to see a balance skill included in the eight counting skills. Yes, please! We'll probably have to grant the gymnasts more time to complete their routines, though. Ninety seconds won't cut it.

[@A.Girl.Has.No.Name.]

Hu's routine was absolutely a thing of beauty! I'd personally prefer to see more routines like hers, with originality, precision, and difficulty that's not JUST tumbling.

[@cocoroni1031]

@@A.Girl.Has.No.Name. The era of tumbling on beam is long gone. It was a peak in London quad. Now most big “tumblings” are replaced by DBB connections.

[@jhere289]

These are amazing! I will say, those handstand holds on beam show amazing strength and co-ordination

[@Katie-dy7zx]

Some college gymnasts have been showcasing more balance moves this year and it’s certainly more interesting to watch vs nothing but flips and/or leaps/wolf turns.

[@objetivista686]

They basically taken most of the skill diversity of this sports throughout these last decades. It become all about being mostly compulsory and competitive rather than the blend of sports and arts it used to be.

[@cocoroni1031]

The open code is a trade-off for more breakthrough through difficulty over diversity. Beam is different because inflated CV formula makes beam less exciting, and make big skills & balance elements effectively useless.

[@tilmanrotationalinvariant2257]

@@cocoroni1031 no it isn't. Nobody is keeping you from difficult skills if you are forced to do some balance elements. On the opposite. People are forced to find new skills, to maximize their difficulty.

[@cocoroni1031]

@@tilmanrotationalinvariant2257 my point is, the whole point of the open code is to prioritize efficient difficulty, over skill diversity. There’s no room in 90 seconds for creativity and for adding balance elements when CV is overvalued and unlimited. Adding balance element will marginally add variety, but I believe gymnasts will perform 2-3 same elements like turns (wolf turn and full turn), if you don’t further inflate the reward of it.

[@luchats]

@@cocoroni1031 true but how do you judge creativity without being unfair. thats the thing.

[@rg1whiteywins598]

I love hip circles.

[@luchats]

I mean, I would argue that doing those big moves while staying on the beam shows great balance and strength.

[@einer_von_den_verruckten2259]

I personally don’t think it lacks balance. I mean doing a backflip on a beam needs balance and control to even do it. As the MAG the WAG should be allowed to evolve in difficulty.

[@DrSarahsCafe]

I love this channel. Thanks to whoever is responsible for the content!!

[@gymnasticsmasterclass]

Thank you so much 🙏🏼

[@athenaathenaisc1473]

My favorite beam move of all time was Chellsie Memmel's scale. Iconic ... i wish the balance element would make a reapperance.

[@cienciandre]

You should add a watermark to these clips, I've seen people reuse your content shamelessly

[@kristinae.7084]

It's so sad how the COP discourages innovation, creativity, and beauty.

[@findingthatperfectspot4692]

I don't think the COP discourages innovation. Gymnasts submit new skills all the time. However, I agree that the current scoring system doesn't incentivise gymnasts to show beautiful routines. The new artistry deductions are a step in the right direction, but we're going to need more than those... Including a balance skill in the eight counting skills would be a huge step in the right direction.

[@Tgill122]

I always liked thr hip circles. It looks semi painful, but I always enjoyed them.

[@GymnasticVisions]

Everything is my favorite skill!!

[@hazelnutspred3348]

i never liked the 90 degree scale. the 180 one looks way better

[@alveolate]

hip circles = doing uneven bar skills on a 3.9" piece of wood suspended 4.1' in the air

[@honeybonnie7717]

Although I agree with the continuous lackluster use of the beam in recent decades I think we are misusing the word balance. The beam is just a few inches of wood so pretty much every skill requires high balance, I believe what we are missing now is control, strong beautiful poses that can be held for seconds long, not just a display of jumps and aerials.

[@tadg2003]

2:35 also since 2022 COP Hip circles, flairs and rolls are allowed in the turn requeriment but I think only Jade Carey with the roll mount do that and don't do a turn in the BB.

[@findingthatperfectspot4692]

Sabrina Voinea also performed a roll instead of a turn in 2024.

[@sebumpostmortem]

Alternative thumbnail: Make Pointed Toes Great Again😅.

[@stvp68]

Too much acro on beam & floor (including MAG FX)

[@TheUrbanGentAOB]

Honestly, for me, gymnastics has completely been changed for the worst. It's just not exciting anymore. It's like watching different versions of the same thing over and over. That's boring and lame. Take me back.

[@elisabeth4342]

An Angled handstand hold with trunk almost parallel to floor and legs held together and straight - similar to what the male gymnasts do on the still rings - should be brought back to either beam or floor. It demonstrates top tier upper body strength/balance, which competitive female gymnasts are supposed to be known for. Gymnasts are some of the strongest and most powerful female athletes out there. You can't compare female ice skaters, tennis players, competitive cheerleaders, BMX, 100m swimmers, 200m sprinters, ballet dancers, etc. to competitive gymnasts - especially power gymnasts. They might need to step up their game a little if they want to continually prove their upper body strength/balance is as superior as their lower body power.

[@ismaelpedroza7918]

The code should be able to accommodate all types of gymnastics, and the gymnast should be the ones to determine the evolution of the sport and not the code of points... It was amazing for example to watch Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on beam, both so amazing to watch, with very very different styles and both getting amazing scores in its individuality. I dont think is fare to punish any style, for example punish Jade Carey for being a good "acrobatic" gymnast with not that amazing artistry

[@daughterofyemoja]

Agreed! Love your positivity. Both styles can and should be celebrated.

[@cocoroni1031]

The code doesn't punish gymnasts like Jade Carey particularly. You are only screwed if you can only do 1H1F acro. You can however break FIG's scoring equilibrium by doing at least 3 H+ acrobatic lines and good enough leaps. That being said, floor workers (not talking about Simone level) don't have advantage in AA.

[@ismaelpedroza7918]

@@cocoroni1031 I'm thinking in the Artistry Deductions ... I think is just to subjetive and just define one specific image of "artistry" ... I think the code should reward artistry and not deduct ... that way if you can throw 3 H+ lines you get a reward for that, and if you can put on a amazing dance and choreo show (that is as amazing to watch as the H+ lines) you can aso get your reward... and maybe have both types of gymnast in a floor final

[@lindacoolbaugh962]

So true, why call it "balance" if you're not going to show balance. I miss these moves. Especially the handstands that show strength and what do you know, balance.

[@swearnim]

Modern gymnastics in beam is just about jumping and power. Zero artistry. Its such terrible to watch beam nowadays

[@turnne]

Age old argument........The movements today are much more difficult. Its all about tumbling and combination movements which are high point( and more difficult) movements Its the same thing people have said about figure skating.

[@tilmanrotationalinvariant2257]

Easy fix. Gymnast must execute atleast 2 balance Elements. Problem solved.

[@dustinabc]

Everything you do on the beam requires balance. That being said, I'm not a fan of the current judging system and code of points. It seems artistic gymnastics could (should?) be divided into two sports- acrobat gymnastics and artistic gymnastics. (And might have to rename sports acro renamed something else...)

[@joaocampelo3725]

They lack balance even in their overall execution. The great champions of the past were much more consistent than the medalists today 😵‍💫

[@findingthatperfectspot4692]

The great champions of the past did not have to cram eight high-difficulty skills into their routines. They only performed three or four difficult skills per routine.

[@cocoroni1031]

Gymnasts nowadays do 11-19 skills and tons of connection on the whole beam. You can't compare gymnasts in the past who did minimal amount of skills and many leaps that were not good. Besides, balance check isn't that detrimental and it will be less deducted in the new code.

[@lizzzzzzzz]

beam routines are so boring now.

[@ssjj6070]

The only way to make hip circle beautiful is to make the beam round like an asymmetric bar lol

[@jakemagilke2461]

First!