US Brevet Judges (WAG)

[Bob]

I brainstormed a list of things that FIG could do regarding education about the rules.

Not all of these ideas are equal, but I am betting that each of you will like at least a couple of them. Curious what you think.

1. Improve the rules so that they are more intuitive and less busybody — allowing more gymnasts and coaches to understand them. The rules are out of control, especially on the women's side, and some of it is due to systematic, structural issues, such as rewarding connection bonus on beam based on letter values instead of biomechanics, which could drastically simplify those rules. I could list tons of other examples. They are making it worse by adding more detailed expectations every year, too, instead of relying on core principles that they apply.
2. Include alterations for lower-level competition so that everybody can use the same rules — it makes it so that everyone is doing mostly the same sport. (This has actually worked in MAG better than WAG in some countries. For example, the entire US boys program uses FIG rules with some adjustments, and some of those adjustments are no longer needed with the recent rule changes, in fact.)
3. Hire copyeditors and layout experts to improve the texts so that more people can read and understand the language.
4. Post the rules as a website with a search bar, not a PDF.
5. Significantly expand the opportunities for actual judges to get international training (See @FrolovasDoubleLayout 's post.
6. Remove a couple of the hindrances to judge level "mobility" — it's not responsive enough.
7. Offer online-based training modules and assessments for athletes and coaches.
8. Offer a free online-based assessment for fans as well.
9. Use data from these assessments — the most common errors, for example — as opportunities to improve the rules.
10. Publish more routine analyses right on the internet the way that some of us and others on YouTube do — heck, invite those people to help them do the work.
11. Publish a series of videos, say, weekly, highlighting different rules and areas of concern, with a general population as the intended audience, not just judges and high-level coaches
12. Have more people do education work like Hardy Fink did after he left the MTC, especially in countries with developing programs, and require each federation to have someone have an education-oriented role with a job description that requires widespread education, not just education of elite judges.

point 2 - most countries away from the USA use a modified fig scheme. I do think it's better. USA would have to have a fundamental shift away from the 10 and college gymnastics scoring . I can't see that happening.