Men’s Artistic Gymnastics: A Guide to the Scoring System

Finding the right balance between difficulty and execution…
How does gymnastics scoring work?
How are scores calculated?

1. General information

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics is fun to watch but contrarily to many sports which are considered more accessible, non-initiated people may be taken aback or confused by the scores that are displayed a couple of minutes after the gymnasts have finished their routines. So here is a short presentation of the scoring system used in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics…

Some may remember the 10 score system that was used until 2006 and that was abandoned further to some judging controversies at the 2004 Olympics in Athens: it was probably easier to understand but it was becoming more and more difficult to assess the difficulty and the execution of all routines and to rank gymnasts. The big move was to switch from a “Perfect Ten” to an “Open Ended” system and to clearly identify the difficulty and the execution of a routine.

What makes things even more complicated is that the Executive Committee of the FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) updates the MAG Code of Points every 4 years at the end of each Olympic cycle. The general structure of the MAG Code of Points remains unchanged but some specificities, such as the rates of skills, the requirements or how errors are deducted are modified. As a result, it’s not very easy to compare scores from one Olympic cycle to the next.

Men’s artistic gymnastics comprise 6 apparatuses. The scoring system is similar for Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Parallel Bars and High Bar. Vault is slightly different and will be explained later.

THE FINAL SCORE:

The final score that is displayed on your TV screen after the gymnast has finished his routine is the result of the judges analysis of the exercise. Some judges are in charge of analyzing the difficulty, some judges are in charge of assessing the execution. The final score is the addition of these 2 components.

The final score is the combo of 2 factors :
How difficult the routine was and how well it was performed.

In Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, assessing the difficulty is an addition of tenths to create the Difficulty Value, whereas the analysis of the execution is a compilation of deductions each time the gymnast doesn’t do a skill according to the MAG Code of Points. The judges in charge of the difficulty give you cookies, while those in charge of the execution deprive you of dessert.

2. The Difficulty Score

2.1 – THE DIFFICULTY VALUE COMPRISES 3 COMPONENTS:
(except for Vault)

1. Difficulty Score
2. Composition requirements  (Types of skills required to ensure diversity in routines)           
3. Connection Value (Bonus)

2.2 – DIFFICULTY SCORE:

Each element (or skill) on each apparatus is listed in the MAG Code of Points and is assigned a letter from A to J, which determines its difficulty rate. A is the easiest and J is (currently) the most difficult.

Elements are also categorized in Groups: they are ‘families’ of skills that are performed in a similar fashion : each apparatus has three Element Groups designated as I, II, III, and a Dismount Group designated as IV (except for Floor Exercise). This is important to understand the Composition Requirements below. The ratings of the 8 most difficult skills of the routine are added to calculate the Difficulty Score, including the dismount.

2.3 – ELEMENT GROUPS: COMPOSITION REQUIREMENTS

Each apparatus in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (except Vault) has 4 Composition Requirements (CR): they were implemented to make sure that each gymnast includes a wider variety of skills. Gymnasts must demonstrate skills from each of the 4 required Element Groups.

In the previous MAG Code of Points, the value by default was 0.5 for each of the four Element Groups. In the 2025-2028 MAG Code of Points, there’s an incentive for difficulty and the value is calculated as follows:

EG I:
0.5

EG II and EG III:
If the highest-rated elements performed are between A and C, 0.3 will be awarded. if the highest-rated elements performed are D+, 0.5 will be awarded.

EG IV (Dismount) – except Floor Exercise:
The EG value will equal the value of the element performed. For example, if the Fardan (rated G) is the dismount of a High Bar routine, the gymnast will receive 0.7 for the element and 0.7 for the EG value, i.e. 1.4, instead of 1.2 with the current COP.

2.4 – CONNECTION VALUE:

If a gymnast connect certain skills, he will be granted a bonus comprised between 0.1 and 0.2. This encourages gymnasts to boost their Difficulty Score by proposing more complex exercises.

2.5 – STUCK LANDING BONUS:

On Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar only: if gymnasts stick their landing, they will receive a 0.1 bonus if the element is rated at least C, and for vaults with saltos in the new Code of Points

3. The Execution Score

The judges add all the deductions and the final Execution Score is 10 minus the sum of all deductions.

The principle is the same on the 6 events of Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, even Vault. It’s the heir of the Perfect 10 system. The gymnast gets deducted for each execution faults, that are listed in the MAG Code of Points and that the judges know by heart. There are 4 types of deductions:

The judges in charge of the difficulty give you cookies, while those in charge of the execution deprive you of dessert.

4. Penalties / Neutral Deductions

Since nothing is really simple in men’s artistic gymnastics, there’s an additional type of deductions called neutral or penalties. They concern mostly Floor and Vault, but are not rare on Parallel Bars or High Bar.

Stepping out of bounds:
– on Floor: 0.1 or 0.3 deduction for stepping out of bounds
– on Vault: 0.1 or 0.3 deduction for stepping outside the corridor

Overtime issues
– on Floor: if the routine exceeds 75 seconds, there’s a 0.1 deduction.
– non respect of the official warm up time : usually on Parallel Bars and High Bar because these apparatuses take longer to be prepared according to the gymnast’s needs but it can happen on Pommel Horse and Still Rings too.
– exceeding 30 seconds before commencing the exercise or continuing after a fall.

Behavior and apparatus related violations:
There’s a long list of violations in the MAG Code of Points that can lead to neutral deductions; it can include attire violations, not saluting the judges, not wearing the competition bib number, remounting the podium after the exercise, not permitted presence of a spotter, damaging apparatus, adding mats, unsportsmanlike conduct by the gymnast or his coach

5. Focus on Vault

The Difficulty Value is more simple: each vault is given a value comprised between 1.2 and 5.6, depending on its difficulty. There are 5 groups of vaults, depending on how they are performed. No composition requirements, no connection values…

If the gymnast sticks the landing, he receives a 0.1 bonus (vaults with saltos only)

EG I:
Single salto vaults with complex twists

EG II:
Handspring salto vaults with or without simple twists, and all double salto forward

EG III:
Handspring sideways and Tsukahara vaults with or without simple twists, and all double salto backward

EG IV:
Round off entry and single salto vaults with complex twists

EG V:
Round off entry vaults with or without simple twists, and all double salto forward or backward

Only gymnasts intending to participate in the Vault Event Final are required to execute two vaults. These vaults must be from 2 different Element Groups. In the All-Around and Teams Finals, gymnasts perform only 1 vault.

6. How has the new scoring system impacted men’s artistic gymnastics?

A whole book could be written about the consequences of the new system on how routines are constructed. It really depends on the apparatus, on the type of elements and how they interact in the same routine. The MAG Code of Points has been updated in 2007, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021 and the FIG is always trying to improve the scoring system but it seems that correcting an issue in the code creates another problem, that will need to be addressed in the next MAG Code of Points. But that’s a story for another article…

Source :
2022-2024 Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points
MAG Code of Points 2025-2028: Review & Analysis