How do you judge a rhythmic gymnastics competition?

Three juries watch the same routine and answer three different questions. The D jury records what the gymnast attempted. The A jury judges how the routine was built and performed. The E jury judges how cleanly it was done. A full international panel under the 2025-2028 Code is twelve judges: four on D, four on A, four on E. That is the bench behind every score at the 2026 World Championships.

The D jury splits into two pairs. DB1 and DB2 write the body difficulties and the dynamic elements with rotation in symbol notation; DA1 and DA2 write the apparatus difficulties. Inside each pair both judges evaluate the whole routine alone and file an individual score without consulting the other; that private card exists to grade the judge, not the gymnast. Only afterwards does the pair submit one common value. Final D is the common DB plus the common DA.

An element performed very poorly is not recognised by D at all — the E jury deducts for it instead. The A and E juries work down from 10.00 and award no difficulty at all: the Code obliges the E judges to deduct equally for errors of the same magnitude, whatever element they happened on.

The three totals add up and penalties come off the sum: D + A + E − penalties. For the element values themselves, see our rhythmic gymnastics scoring guide.

Each of the A and E juries turns several cards into one number, and the rule depends on how many cards you have. With four judges, the highest and lowest deduction are struck out and the remaining two averaged. With two or three judges, every deduction is averaged.

The panel trims deductions, not scores. The highest deduction is the harshest judge, the lowest the most generous, so cutting both ends removes the two who saw the routine most differently.

The arithmetic shows why. Four execution cards arrive at 2.60, 2.80, 3.00 and 3.90. Averaged flat that is 12.30 ÷ 4 = 3.075, giving E = 6.925. Trimmed, you drop 3.90 and 2.60, average 2.80 and 3.00 = 2.90, giving E = 7.100. Had that fourth judge written 3.00 like the rest, the flat mean would read 2.85: the outlier dragged it 0.225, a quarter of the 0.90 gap. The trimmed figure stays at 2.90 either way, because the top card is thrown out whatever it says.

Below four cards the trim switches off for a blunt reason: drop the top and bottom of three and one judge decides alone.

The D jury never averages. DB1 and DB2 must land on one number, and so must DA1 and DA2 — an element either happened or it did not, so a difficulty value cannot be half-credited.

Execution has three bands and only three: 0.10 for a small error, 0.30 for a medium error, 0.50 or more for a large one. The band follows the size of the deviation from correct performance, never the value of the element it happened on.

Fault	Deduction
Small error (minor deviation): bent knee, unpointed foot, hop on the spot	0.10
Medium error (distinct deviation): extra step, shape held under 1 second, gymnast static for 4+ seconds	0.30
Large error (severe deviation): big shape deviation, loss of balance with support on a hand or the apparatus	0.50
Total loss of balance with a fall	0.70
Apparatus lost and retrieved without travelling	0.50
Apparatus lost and retrieved after 1-2 steps	0.70
Apparatus lost and retrieved after 3 or more steps	1.00
Apparatus lost outside the floor area, whatever the distance	1.00
Apparatus lost at the end of the routine and never retrieved	1.00

Execution faults are taken every time and for each element at fault, with no cap for repeats. On body segments it is one deduction per incorrect segment, but both knees bent together is 0.10 once for knees, not 0.20.

Artistry runs on its own scale, and this is where most club judges go wrong: the artistry penalties are 0.30, 0.60 and 1.00, not the execution bands. They answer one question — how much of the routine carried the component. Carried from the first beat to the last, nothing is taken. Carried through the majority (over half the duration) is 0.30, through parts only is 0.60, not prioritised at all is 1.00. Rhythm and connection faults are counted one by one in 0.10 steps and can run to 2.00. Music carries fixed costs: an introduction of four seconds or more before the first movement is 0.30, as are sirens, engines or spoken words with no melody behind them. Continuity broken for four seconds or more by a severe technical interruption is 0.60, once per routine.

Two line judges and one or two time judges sit outside the three scoring juries. Their deductions never touch D, A or E — they come off the final total, at 0.30 for each boundary fault and 0.05 for each second over or under the limit.

Line judges flag any part of the body or apparatus touching outside the boundary of the 13 × 13 m floor, the gymnast or apparatus leaving it, and a routine finishing outside it. Each is 0.30, every time. Lose both clubs over the line one after the other and it is 0.30 + 0.30; lose them together over the same line and it is 0.30 once, counted as one apparatus; lose them together over two different lines and it is 0.30 + 0.30 again.

What carries no penalty matters just as much: touching the line itself, an apparatus crossing the boundary in flight without touching the ground, a broken or unusable apparatus removed, an apparatus caught in the ceiling, and anything after the last movement, even if the music is still playing.

The time judge starts the stopwatch the moment the gymnast begins to move and stops it when she is completely motionless. A musical introduction of up to four seconds without movement is tolerated. Individual routines run 1'15" to 1'30", groups 2'15" to 2'30", and timing counts in full seconds: 1'30.99 is clean, 1'31.00 costs 0.05. Preparation that delays the competition by more than 30 seconds is 0.50.

At FIG level the DA1 judge also carries presentation penalties: attire, jewellery, hair and emblems at 0.30, early or late presentation at 0.50.

The Code already answers this. A Group 4 FIG panel is 2 E, 2 A, 2 DB and 2 DA: eight scoring judges where a World Championships panel seats twelve. The General Judges' Rules attach the arithmetic to that line — when artistry or execution is evaluated by two or three judges, all deductions are averaged. Small panels are legal, not improvised.

Level	D judges	A judges	E judges	Line + time	Basis
Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cups (Groups 1-3)	2 DB + 2 DA	4	4	2 line, 1-2 time	General Judges' Rules, Art. 8
Other FIG-approved international events (Group 4)	2 DB + 2 DA	2	2	2 line, 1-2 time	General Judges' Rules, Art. 8
Regional or club meet	1-2	2	2	1-2 line, 1 time	Organiser's choice
School or first meet	1	1	1	1 combined	Organiser's choice

Below FIG level you choose the panel, but keep the three questions apart. If one person covers everything, write the D value first, then the artistry deduction, then the execution deduction, on three separate lines. A blended impression mark cannot be explained to a coach an hour later.

With two judges, give D to whoever knows the difficulty tables best and split A and E, or have both write E while the chief judge carries D and A. Two E cards are averaged, no trim.

Recruit a timekeeper and a line judge before a fourth scoring judge: an untimed routine four seconds long changes placings far more often than a 0.10 argument about a knee. Where one judge enters all three values, JudgeMate keeps D, A and E separate on one device.

Only the D score can be inquired. Not artistry, not execution, not a fall, not a line flag. In rhythmic gymnastics the D score splits into DB and DA and each is inquired separately; ask about both from one routine and DB counts as the first inquiry, DA as the second.

An inquiry comes from the designated national federation representative (a coach or delegation member, under no circumstances a judge) standing in the inquiry area. The deadline is two minutes after the score is displayed, or on paper before the next competitor's score goes up. Once it is filed it cannot be withdrawn.

The President of the Superior Jury reviews it using official competition footage only. The D score may rise, fall or stay where it is, and the decision is final: the Regulations close off internal challenges and name the Court of Arbitration for Sport as having no jurisdiction over it. Fees run CHF 300, then CHF 500, then CHF 1,000 for each inquiry after that, counted across the whole competition rather than resetting each phase, and waived if D increases. Time and line deductions sit outside this: a free verbal review request to the inquiry officer, inside the same deadline.

Independence is what makes the rest work. A and E judges evaluate the routine alone and submit their deduction without consulting the other judges. The D pairs file their individual cards the same way and only then agree the common value. The Specific Judges' Rules go further: the D, A and E judges sitting on one panel must come from different national federations, and every individual card feeds the Judges' Evaluation Program that grades each judge across the cycle. A card adjusted after hearing a neighbour's total no longer votes. Write your deductions before the board lights up, keep your own notation, and never say a running total out loud. Phones are barred from the technical table.