Okay, folks, let’s dive into my little adventure figuring out Simone Biles’ floor routine score. I’ve always been amazed by her, so I wanted to try and break down how these scores even happen.
First, I grabbed a pen and paper – old school, I know! Then, I pulled up a video of one of Simone’s floor routines. I knew I needed to watch it a bunch of times to even start to understand what was going on.
Watching and Rewatching
My first few watches? Totally overwhelmed. She’s doing flips and twists I didn’t even know existed! I started by just trying to count the tumbling passes. That seemed like a good place to begin. I jotted down each pass as I saw it, making little notes about how many flips or twists were in each one.
- First pass: Whoa, that’s a lot of twists!
- Second pass: Okay, slightly less twisty, but still insane.
- Third pass: Is that even humanly possible?
- And all other pass…
The Difficulty Score
Next, I realized I needed to figure out this whole “difficulty score” thing. I did some digging online and found out that each skill has a value. The harder the skill, the higher the value. So, I went back to my notes and tried to identify some of the skills. This was tough! I used slow-motion a LOT.
I started to recognize some things – a double layout, a full-in, stuff like that. I found a list of skill values online (thank goodness for the internet!) and started matching them up to what I saw Simone doing. It was like a puzzle, slowly putting the pieces together.
The Execution Score
Then there’s the execution score. This is about how well she does the skills. Are her legs straight? Does she land cleanly? I rewatched the routine again, this time focusing on those details. I noticed little things, like a tiny hop on a landing or a slight bend in her knees.
I learned they deduct for those little imperfections. I tried to be really critical, marking down anything that wasn’t absolutely perfect. This part was surprisingly hard – it’s easy to get caught up in the overall awesomeness and miss the tiny details.
Putting It All Together
Finally, I attempted to put it all together. I added up the difficulty values of the skills I could identify. Then, I estimated the deductions based on what I saw in the execution. I knew my number wouldn’t be perfect, but I wanted to see how close I could get.
My final result? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t exactly the same as the official score. But, it was in the ballpark! And more importantly, I gained a whole new level of appreciation for what Simone Biles (and all gymnasts) do. It’s incredibly complex and takes an insane amount of skill and precision.