Deductions

Misses

A miss is defined as any of the following:

• any time a rope stops, unless an athlete is wrapping the rope, changing the direction of the rope, trapping the rope on a body part, and/or catching the rope in a pose
• if an athlete attempts to grasp the rope and misses catching any part of the rope during a release
• if a rope is pulled out of an athlete’s hand during a skill

If a disturbance of the rope(s) occurs but it doesn’t constitute a miss according to the above criteria, it is considered a "bobble", not a miss, and should therefore not be counted as a miss. However, it is accounted for by the presentation judges.

Another miss can occur on the next attempt to jump the rope(s).

In Single Rope events, a team can receive multiple misses simultaneously if the miss occurs in another (set of) rope(s).

Misses are counted per (set of) rope(s), not per athlete. During Single Rope partner interactions, Wheel events, and Double Dutch events, when a miss occurs, this is counted as one miss (not one miss per competitor).

Breaks

There are a number of ways that athletes can implement a break in their routine to allow for recovery or set-up for the next skill. A single bounce, double bounce, or side swing done in isolation are clear breaks between skills. It is possible for an athlete to also use lower level skills between high level skills to create breaks. For example, the repeated use of a double bounce full turn between high level power skills, or a single bounce criss cross repeated between quadruple and quintuple under skills. A judge should look for and recognize the overuse of bounces, side swings and lower level skills that are used (specifically) to create athletic breaks in a routine.

note

This does not mean every single single bounce is a break, judges should be able to distinguish between skills used to create athletic breaks, and skills necessary for the flow or execution of the routine.

Judges should count all breaks occurring during a routine.

Space violations

A space violation occurs any time part of an athlete’s body touches the ground outside of the competition boundary. The boundary marker itself is in-bounds.

A space violation can also occur if anyone in the coach's box enters the competition boundary, or fully leaves the coach's box.

If a space violation occurs, the judges must not score any skills completed outside of the boundary. They must resume judging once the athlete has re-entered the competition area.

An athlete cannot receive an additional space violation until they have successfully completed a skill within the competition area.

Judges must count all space violations during a routine.

Time violations

If the athlete(s) moves to start their routine before their music is audible, or if the athlete(s) performs any jumps or routine-related moves after the length of the event or the end of their music, a time violation has occurred.

A maximum of 2 time violations can occur per routine. Judges must count all time violations during the routine.