Handspring fwd on-tucked double salto off: If the 2nd salto is not completed because the gymnast lands on feet and bottom simultaneously, then the vault will be recognized as Handspring fwd on-Tucked salto fwd off (VT): So, FIG finally started putting regulations on splatty Prods. Only took them an extra quad. I hope it really does make it harder for splatted Prods to count and we don't have a bunch of inquiries where they recheck and go, "Oh, on the slo-mo replay your feet did hit the ground a nanosecond before your bum, guess you get the full difficulty value!"
FIG is seriously trying to encourage more varied and exciting UB routines. Yay! Hopefully that will pan out.
Arabian UB mounts have been upgraded to F and G, because duh. Still, no one's going to do them. But the principle of the thing.
The layout Jaeger has been upgraded to an F! Along with this, the piked Jaeger was upgraded to an E, but honestly I would have preferred to see the layout upgraded, the pike still at a D, and the straddle down to a C because that means we are still in the clutches of the straddle Jaeger onslaught.
The triple flair BB mount is a D! Still, no one is going to do it... but more incentive!
The sheep jump is now a C! I'm excited because a)I'm the one person who doesn't like sheep jumps, b)hopefully this will greatly decrease sheep jump combos, and c)Yang Bos? Pretty please?
Another skill that I love that still won't be competed got upgraded- the Li Li back spin is D!
Acro bwd and fwd within an acro line (FX): NO MORE RANDOM AERIALS FULFILLING CR!!!! This is probably the top requirement I wanted to happen, and it did!! (Still want a combo acro line requirement, too.)
The corner rule was edited: You can stand on two feet more than once! I think you still can't stand in the corner for more than 2 seconds, and if so, we have finally hit the happy medium of the corner rule! No more stork stand!
Exercise ends with acro element (no choreography after last acro) -.1 (FX): And this was an artistry deduction I've been wanting forever! Grishy's awesome, but that ending of her 2012 routine...
The double laid out Arabian is an H! FIG got their heads on straight!
Within the 8 counting elements there must be a minimum of: 3 Dance, 3 Acro (BB, FX): Well, looky here, FIG is actually responding to an issue arising in one quad in THE NEXT CODE? Who'd'a thunk? And I can settle back and enjoy the Dutch floor rotation this year without thinking, "Is this going to become a long-term trend?"
Insufficient Complexity of creativity in the movements (A complex and creative movement is one that requires training time, coordination and previous preparation) (BB, FX): New artistry deduction. So, FIG is finally requiring beam choreography other than arm-waving after years of whining about there not being enough artistry? But seriously, I hope this is enforced. I hope we see some more exciting choreo to fulfill this (bring back the leg choreo, Afan!)
Not-Glory Hallelujah
C+C or more (dance) (BB): No more C+C mixed connections. Admittedly, this will bring an end to the requisite switch+back tuck connection, which I don't mind, but there were some other cool potential connections from that bonus.
No piked side somi (BB)? Tucked side somis are some of the ugliest things on this planet, but piked ones are the Cinderellas to their tucked ugly step sisters! Please tell me I just missed it.
The missing turn deduction on floor is gone? That just doesn't make sense to me.
The insufficient use of entire floor area deduction is gone? Hopefully that won't really affect anything, and I think that's pretty likely, but still, a safeguard, you know?
The butterfly was downgraded on floor!! Two gymnasts have done it this quad, Kim Janas and Claudia Fragapane, so it's not dead, right? (Side note: oh how I miss Kim Janas). Are two gymnasts becoming too big a trend for FIG? And it was my favorite leap.
In other news of my favorite dance skills (which are never competed) being deincentivized, the double illusion turn is now gone from the table of elements. And I was hoping they'd upgrade it to a D next quad.
Other Thoughts
Support (repulsion phase) with one hand -2.00 (VT): The Mykayla Skinner deduction? The COP previously had "Touch with one hand -2.00"- I'm guessing the difference between "support" and "touch" would be she could get away with her finger-swipe under the 2013-2016 COP and not now?
I like having a general "dynamics" deduction on vault
Only 3 different elements in chronological order from the same root skill (except for Kips, Giants, and casts to HSTD) will be counted for DV, CR, and CV (UB): I'm interested to see just how much impact this will make in construction of routines. I think this may be FIG's way of trying to encourage one-arm pirouettes without encouraging pirouette-fest routines, but what do I know. Looking at Glasgow's UB final, Spiridoz, Scheder, and Harrold all would be in excess of the 3-skill limit (Spiridoz and Scheder with inbars, Harrold toe-ons). For Spiridoz and Scheder, they could just switch one or however many to a toe-on, but then they'd lose difficulty (except for Scheder's inbar shoot). So, it shall be interesting to see what happens.
If kip performed after Shaposhnikova type elements with/without 1/1 turn- apply deduction for empty swing (UB): So, this would seem to be FIG's way of warding off Shaposh-fests next quad. And this should also encourage Tkatchevs, Geingers, pirouettes, etc. connected out of Shaposh variations.
The layout Geinger appears to be an E now, though, hey FIG, you still have it under D as well. Switch that before the final draft!
So the C/D+D (or more, without rebounding) CV on beam is gone. Absolutely no CV for non-rebounding connections now.
Mount without DV (BB): So... just Mount not from the table of elements from the last COP?
Onodi Tic Toc (BB): Wait- this is a thing? WHY HAVE I NEVER SEEN IT?
The stricken D-dismount requirement: The dismount is still required to count toward the DV of an exercise, so we son't be seeing an onslaught of A and B dismounts. I wonder if we might see a large number of the gymnasts who currently compete gainer layouts go back to double twists or front fulls since having a C dismount won't count against CR any more. I also wonder if we might see some bigger tumbles on floor since gymnasts don't have to worry about dismounting with a D, especially from gymnasts from lower-ranked programs that have C tumbles not in combination.
And in section 6.2 (Determining Final Score) the composition requirements are still up to 2.5. Oh FIG.
