In the new JO Optional Code of Points they have now added a .1 additional bonus on each apparatus for completing successfully what they deem to be an above and beyond level of difficulty. This bonus has been in place for vault for the last several years and now they are extending it to all of the events.

My daughter is excited she will have this on two events this year and will essentially be starting from a total of 40.2 instead of 40. This can be significant and I would say at the highest levels you will see girls receiving this bonus on all events and then starting with their highest possible score being a 40.4.

This is a game changer and my guess is that we are going to see a big jump in difficulty level at level 10 over the next couple years and even more girls repeating level 9 multiple times.

This bonus only applies to Level 10.

For the last several years the .1 additional bonus has been in place for many of the more difficult vaults at Level 10. The most common vault at level 10 is the Yurchenko Full. This does not qualify for the bonus, but if a gymnast can compete a Yurchenko 1.5 or higher or any number of other difficult qualifying vaults (ie. my daughter competes a half on half off back tuck and that qualifies) they can earn an additional .1 in bonus above the 10.0 start value so theoretically they could score a 10.1 on a perfectly executed vault.

For floor, bars and beam if you compete an E skill and have at least .6 in connection and difficulty bonus then they will receive the .1 additional bonus.

This .1 bonus will be indicated on the score card separately along side the start value. For this reason you may often hear this additional bonus referred to as a 10.1 start value. In fact last season on my daughters score card most times they just wrote down 10.1 as her start value. So technically this is an additional .1 bonus but is usually described as a 10.1 start value.

One more thing to note is that in order to get the bonus the vault or E skill must be landed, counted for credit and without a spot and you must receive credit for six tenths of bonus. Just attempting these skills and bonus will not get you the extra tenth, they must be completed successfully. Only then will the gymnast receive the addition .1 bonus.

Let’s take a look at what E skills we might see on each event. Until now E skills were kinda a big deal and having one got a wow. Picture seeing a double layout on floor or a double back dismount on beam. These would have caught your eye, right? Get ready for them to be much more common place.

There are more skills than listed here but some of them are pretty obscure. I would love to see videos of really cool and unusual E skills, post them below!

Bars

A piked jaeger is an E skill. A jaeger is a very popular high bar release skill. But please note that only the piked or laid out versions are Es. A straddle jaeger, which is by far the most popular version is a D skill and does not qualify for this bonus.

A piked tkachev is also and E and like the jaeger, the straddled version is a D skill and doesn’t get this bonus.

Other high bar release skills that are E skills are the Comaneci, hindorff, jones, schuschunova, counter Kim, laid out geinger, Tkatchev family skills initiated from a circling element (ex. Ricna, Ray)

Bar to bar transitions that are E skills are the shaposh variants with a half twist to HB, an overshoot with a 1.5 twist (yikes!), a full twisting pak salto (Bhardwaj),

Circling elements and turning include any circling element in the clear hip, toe on or stalder family with 1.5 turn, a giant with a full hop at the top, a giant with a double turn at the top, a front giant with a full on one arm or a front giant with 1.5 turn at the top, endo or piked stalder with a full turn at the top,

Dismounts include a double layout, full twisting double back, full twisting double layout, half turn to a double front, double front from a front giant, and there are a bunch of crazy 1/2 turn to front flip with 1/2 turn and such from either a forward or backward swing.

Make sure to check out my posts on high bar release skills and bar transitions if you have any additional questions about these skills.
High Bar Release Skills
Bar to Bar Transitions

Beam

In my opinion I think that beam is going to be the hardest to get the E skill bonus. E beam skills are super hard, like jaw on the floor hard. My guess is that we will see more double back dismounts, Onodi’s and switch rings as well as front pikes and back layouts with feet together in series. Those seem to be the most accessible of the beam skills.

In the leaps and jump category there is the yang-bo, which is a split jump with the back arched and the head reaching to the straight outstretched back leg. Also a split jump or straddle jump with a full turn, tour jete half, switch half, switch side half, switch ring leap or switch leap with back arched and head approaching back outstretched leg, and wolf or tuck jump or hop with a 1.5 turn.

A triple turn, a full illusion and a triple wolf turn are also Es.

For acro there is the onodi, which is a back handspring with a half turn into a front walkover. Also, a front or side aerial finishing in scale, front aerial to two feet, back handspring with a full twist either from two feet or gainer position, front pike, front tuck from two feet with a half twist, Arabian, back layout with feet together also with a full twist.

E dismounts include double front tuck (a girl in our state does this and it is unreal – so cool!), a triple twist, double back in tuck or pike and also with a full twist, and a front gainer off the end of the beam with a full twist in stretched position or a double twist in tucked position.

Floor

For dance there isn’t much. A wolf hop or jump with a double turn is the only E leap, jump or hop. A quad turn and a triple wolf turn are also Es. That’s it!

For tumbling there are more options and we are already seeing a lot of E tumbling passes so floor will likely be one of the most common places to receive this bonus.

A front double twist, double front tuck, double Arabian, triple twist, double back with a full twist (full in, full out or half in half out), and a double layout are all Es.