2003 World Yo-Yo Contest

2003 World Yo-Yo Contest

Updated 7/23/03

Freestyle Qualifiers:

Contestants who are finalists or have met the National Winners Requirement will have 3 minutes to perform a freestyle routine to their choice of music. For A (1A) and AA (2A) this will be a minimum of 10 open contestants plus the number of pre-qualified National Winners that enter.

National winners are the winners of National Yo-Yo Contests recognized by the World Yo-Yo Contest. These include the AYYA, GYYA, JYCC, Active People (Switzerland), KYYA, FYYA, IYYA, ABI, PYYA and BYYA.

All national winners must compete in the compulsories, as these scores will become part of their final score, but they will be allowed to Freestyle with any score they get.  However, commencing in 2004, a National Winner must score a minimum of 24 points to maintain their automatic cede into the finals. 

In the event the winner of a recognized country, in A or AA, does not compete, the top placer in the 2003 World Yo-Yo Contest's compulsories from that country will be allowed to use that slot, provided they achieve a score of 40 points or more out of a possible 50 points. If there are less than 5 national qualifiers additional open contestants will fill the slot(s) up to a maximum of 15 finalists. For more information please read the FAQ.

A and AA Freestyle Rules:
Each contestant will have 3 minutes to perform a freestyle routine to his or her choice of music.

  • The timer starts when the music starts.
  • No points will be scored for tricks done before the music starts, or after the 3-minute mark.
  • All music must be considered G rated (appropriate for all audiences). Performers with inappropriate music (obscenities, ethnic or sexual slurs, etc.) may be disqualified. If you are unsure about your music, a judge will be available to listen to your music and make sure it is appropriate.
  • Music must be provided on a queued Cassette, a CD, CD-R, or a Mini-disk. (No MP3's or CD-RW's)
  • All music must be clearly labeled with the track to be used and with the contestant's name.
  • All actions of a performer must take into account the safety of the audience, facility, and the player himself. With the concurrence of the Contest Director and the Chief Judge, all judges have the authority to disqualify a performer for dangerous or inappropriate behavior.
  • No assistants are allowed on stage while a contestant is performing. All yo-yos that are to be used by a contestant must be brought on stage before their freestyle starts. No yo-yos may be returned to the stage and no others may be accepted from the audience or an assistant.
  • No props are allowed in the A and AA divisions without the prior approval of the Contest Director and the Chief Judge.

Freestyle Scoring:

A contestant's Freestyle score will consist of two components: Technical Execution (maximum of 75 points) and Performance Style (maximum of 15 points).  The details of these two components are outlined below.

1.    Technical Execution (T.E.):

  • Technical Execution will count for up to 75 percent of the contestant's total score.
  • Each judge shall determine a "net score" for T.E. for each contestant based on the algebraic sum of the positive and negative scores as determined below. These raw scores will be normalized, averaged and weighted and will become a part of the contestant's final score.
  • In the AA freestyle, points are generally awarded only for trick elements occurring while both yo-yos are in play.
  • In the A freestyle, at no time may there be more than one yo-yo in play (including slave or prop yo-yos).
  • One or more positive points may be awarded for advanced level tricks, or trick elements, performed successfully. 
  • Typical scoring elements for the A division include but are not limited to: mounts, string hits, pops, grinds, lacerations, transitions, regenerations, release catches (like suicides), whip catches (like Iron Whips) and other yo-yo maneuvers. 
  • Typical scoring elements for the AA division include but are not limited to: loops, punches, wraps, moons, hops, stalls, worlds, transitions, regenerations and various combinations and/or variations of these elements.
  • Within the rules particular to the division, all of the scoring elements listed above for both A and AA may be included in either an A or AA freestyle.
  • Additional points may be awarded for difficulty, originality, long sequences on same spin, and extreme amplitude of a maneuver.  In other words, a judge may give as many points as they feel are warranted for each element successfully performed.
  • One or more points may be deducted for: obvious trick or trick element misses, loss of control and restarts.  Remember that in AA each yo-yo is judged separately.
  • Repeated efforts to regain control of a yo-yo, such as unsuccessful binds, and excessive uncontrolled loops or punches may result in additional deductions.
  • Replacing one yo-yo with another will count as a 2-point deduction if the yo-yo string had become jammed or knotted or if the yo-yo would have had to be restarted.  Therefore, a loss of control that results in a restart or yo-yo substitution will be a mandatory 2-point deduction.  In AA, if both yo-yos need to be restarted a mandatory 4-point deduction should be assessed.

2.    Performance Style (P.S.):

  • Performance style will count for up to 15 percent of the contestant's total score.
  • Each judge shall determine a Performance Style score for each contestant from 0-50 points. These raw scores will be normalized, averaged and weighted and will become a part of the contestant's final score.
  • A performance equal to the winners of the 2002 Nationals or 2002 Worlds would probably score no more than 40 points. The judges will reserve scores of 41-50 points for performances that set a new and higher standard.
  • Also note that no points shall be awarded by the judges for Performance Style for any tricks or antics done before the start of the 3-minute freestyle or after the three minutes has elapsed.
  • Elements of style such as but not limited to the ones listed below will score points only while the contestant is performing an advanced level trick.
    1. Stage presence,
    2. Choreography,
    3. Amplitude,
    4. Elegance of control and line,
    5. Maturity of yo-yo maneuvers,
    6. Originality,
    7. Movement (use of "yo-yo space" up, down, back and forth, left and right including dance and acrobatic moves while yo-yoing).
  • As a guide to the judges the following scoring ranges are suggested.
    1. 0-9 points: Little demonstration of the P.S. elements listed above.
    2. 10-19 points: A good but elementary routine demonstrating some of the P.S. elements.
    3. 20-29 points: A good mature routine demonstrating most of the P.S. elements:
    4. 30-40 points: A World or National level performance demonstrating all of the P.S. elements:
    5. 41-50 points: A performances that sets a new and higher standard:

Compulsory Scoring:

Compulsory points are the total adjusted points a contestant has earned in the compulsories. The compulsory scores will be converted to compulsory points by dividing them by 5.  Therefore, a perfect score of 50 points will be adjusted to 10 points while a score of 44 points will be adjusted to 8.8 points.

FINAL SCORE:

The Final Score for each contestant will be determined by adding their adjusted points for Technical Execution, Performance Style and Compulsories.

A perfect score of 100 points would indicate that a contestant received first place votes from all judges (after the high and low judges scores were discarded) for both Technical Execution and Performance Style and also scored a perfect score of 10 points (50/5) on the compulsory tricks.

  • Ties will be broken based on the following tiebreakers in the order below:
    1. Highest Compulsory Score
    2. The highest "adjusted" score" for Technical Execution
    3. The highest "adjusted" score" for Performance Style.
    4. In the extremely unlikely event that there is still a tie, the judges may devise an appropriate tiebreaker, or declare the contestants to be tied.