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Scoring in women's college gymnastics can get confusing. It's also much different than the scoring used for gymnastics at the Olympic level.
The 2026 women's college gymnastics national championship semifinals take place on Thursday, April 16, in Fort Worth, Texas, before the national championship competition on April 18. Oklahoma, Arkansas, UCLA and Minnesota compete for two national championship spots in the first semifinal, whereas LSU, Stanford, Florida and Georgia are competing for the other two spots in the second semifinal.
REQUIRED READING: Who's in NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships semifinals? Updated bracket, schedule
Women's college gymnastics does have the perfect 10 in its scoring, with perfectly executed routines earning the illustrious score, unlike at the Olympic level where there's no perfect 10 score. Perfect 10s are also quite rare, as the most ever in a career by a single gymnast is 28, with Jenny Hansen, Jamie Dantzscher and Trinity Thomas all tied for the most.
Even the most diehard gymnastics fans could use a refresher on the sport's scoring from time to time. Here's how women's gymnastics scoring works ahead of the semifinals and finals in 2026:
Unlike elite scoring, which is used at the Olympics, and men's college gymnastics, women's college gymnastics doesn't use the open-ending scoring system, where perfect 10 scores don't exist. In elite scoring, routines are scored with both an execution score out of 10.000 and a difficulty score, which comprises of the moves and skills shown.
In women's college gymnastics, vault operates differently than the other four events — bars, beam and floor. The highest maximum score in any event is 10.00, which can only be achieved by executing a specific move that results in a higher start value.
In vault, for example, a Yurchenko one-and-a-half routine has a 10.00 maximum value, whereas the Yurchenko full's maximum possible score is 9.95 due to the difficulty of the two moves.
For bars, beam and floor, the most basic routine has a maximum value of 9.4. The score only rises based on difficulty of skills, which is rated from an A-to-E scale — A being the easiest and E being the most difficult.
Team scores are much simpler than individual routine scores. Six gymnasts per team compete in the four events, with the five-best scores contributing to a team's total score.
The team's total score is based on each gymnast's individual score in each event added together. The team with the highest score wins, obviously.
There are composition deductions and execution deductions in women's college gymnastics, with composition deductions based on failing to meet routine requirements for each event, whereas execution deductions are based on technical errors by the gymnast.
There's an element of subjectively to gymnastics scoring, as judges determine how many points are deducted in execution deductions. A single deduction can be anywhere from 0.05 to 0.5 points, typically.
Here's a look at common deductions, according to the NCAA:
Eight teams reach the final destination of women's college gymnastics in Fort Worth, Texas, and are placed into two semifinals of four teams. The top two teams in each semifinal advance to the national championship two days after the semifinals.
The national championship then goes to the team with the highest score of the national championship, which is self-explanatory.
Forty teams qualify for the NCAA women's college gymnastics tournament each year, and are divided into eight regionals hosted by the top-eight selected seeds. Eight teams compete for play-in spots prior to regionals. The winner of each regional advances to the semifinals of the tournament in Fort Worth.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How does women's college gymnastics scoring work?
Continue reading...
The 2026 women's college gymnastics national championship semifinals take place on Thursday, April 16, in Fort Worth, Texas, before the national championship competition on April 18. Oklahoma, Arkansas, UCLA and Minnesota compete for two national championship spots in the first semifinal, whereas LSU, Stanford, Florida and Georgia are competing for the other two spots in the second semifinal.
REQUIRED READING: Who's in NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships semifinals? Updated bracket, schedule
Women's college gymnastics does have the perfect 10 in its scoring, with perfectly executed routines earning the illustrious score, unlike at the Olympic level where there's no perfect 10 score. Perfect 10s are also quite rare, as the most ever in a career by a single gymnast is 28, with Jenny Hansen, Jamie Dantzscher and Trinity Thomas all tied for the most.
Even the most diehard gymnastics fans could use a refresher on the sport's scoring from time to time. Here's how women's gymnastics scoring works ahead of the semifinals and finals in 2026:
How does women's college gymnastics scoring work?
Unlike elite scoring, which is used at the Olympics, and men's college gymnastics, women's college gymnastics doesn't use the open-ending scoring system, where perfect 10 scores don't exist. In elite scoring, routines are scored with both an execution score out of 10.000 and a difficulty score, which comprises of the moves and skills shown.
In women's college gymnastics, vault operates differently than the other four events — bars, beam and floor. The highest maximum score in any event is 10.00, which can only be achieved by executing a specific move that results in a higher start value.
In vault, for example, a Yurchenko one-and-a-half routine has a 10.00 maximum value, whereas the Yurchenko full's maximum possible score is 9.95 due to the difficulty of the two moves.
For bars, beam and floor, the most basic routine has a maximum value of 9.4. The score only rises based on difficulty of skills, which is rated from an A-to-E scale — A being the easiest and E being the most difficult.
How do team scores work in women's college gymnastics?
Team scores are much simpler than individual routine scores. Six gymnasts per team compete in the four events, with the five-best scores contributing to a team's total score.
The team's total score is based on each gymnast's individual score in each event added together. The team with the highest score wins, obviously.
Women's college gymnastics deductions
There are composition deductions and execution deductions in women's college gymnastics, with composition deductions based on failing to meet routine requirements for each event, whereas execution deductions are based on technical errors by the gymnast.
There's an element of subjectively to gymnastics scoring, as judges determine how many points are deducted in execution deductions. A single deduction can be anywhere from 0.05 to 0.5 points, typically.
Here's a look at common deductions, according to the NCAA:
| Small step or hop on landing | - ≤ 0.10 |
| Large step or hop-on landing | -≤0.20 |
| Flexed feet | - 0.05 |
| Bent knees | - ≤0.30 |
| Deep squat on a landing | - ≤0.30 |
| Low chest on a landing | - ≤ 0.20 |
| Fall | -0.50 |
| Handstands on bars short of vertical | Up to -0.30 |
| Split positions on beam or floor | Up to -0.20 |
How NCAA women's college gymnastics championship works
Eight teams reach the final destination of women's college gymnastics in Fort Worth, Texas, and are placed into two semifinals of four teams. The top two teams in each semifinal advance to the national championship two days after the semifinals.
The national championship then goes to the team with the highest score of the national championship, which is self-explanatory.
Forty teams qualify for the NCAA women's college gymnastics tournament each year, and are divided into eight regionals hosted by the top-eight selected seeds. Eight teams compete for play-in spots prior to regionals. The winner of each regional advances to the semifinals of the tournament in Fort Worth.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How does women's college gymnastics scoring work?
Continue reading...
