Freestyle Rules

5.0 Freestyle Judging

This applies to Individual, Pairs, and Groups. Each judge gives two scores from 1 to 10.; one for Difficulty, and one for Presentation. The Difficulty score is based upon the difficulty and mastery of unicycling skills. The Presentation score is equally divided between Style, Showmanship, Choreography, use of Props & Other Skills, Originality, and Choice of Costume & Music.

5.1 FREESTYLE DIFFICULTY: Judges give a score from 1 to 10. 50% of the score is based on Difficulty, and 50% on Mastery. Only 'unicycling skills' will be judged. Non-unicycling skills only affect Presentation scores. Dancing, juggling and other non-unicycling skills can increase only the Presentation score, and have no influence on Difficulty.

5.1.1 UNICYCLING SKILLS: All skills (feats of balance) performed with only one support point in contact with the riding surface, this being a wheel, the movement of which is controlled by the rider, thus maintaining balance. Also all mounts. Examples of unicycling skills: Saddle Dragging (only one support point on the riding surface), Touching Fingertip to Floor (finger carries no weight), one foot spin with non-pedaling foot touching the floor (judges must note whether or not the foot is supporting any weight).

5.1.2 NON-UNICYCLING SKILLS: The riding of any vehicle with two or more wheels on the ground, and any skills not performed on a unicycle. Any skill with more than one support point on the riding surface, such as standing on the unicycle with it lying on the floor, or hopping while standing on the frame (seat on floor); two contact points with the riding surface (wheel and seat), both carrying part of the rider's weight. The term also refers to skills such as dance, mime, comedy, juggling, playing music or riding vehicles that do not meet the definitions of unicycles. See Definitions.

5.1.3 UNINTENTIONAL DISMOUNTS: Unintentional dismounts should not have a predetermined score value, and the judges' final scores should reflect how they were handled by the rider. Though unplanned dismounts take away from a performance, how the rider deals with them should influence how they are judged. In a comedy act a skilled performer might 'roll with the punch' of an unintentional dismount so well that the audience believes it was planned. This will add value to a Presentation score. Conversely, a rider who is visibly upset or angry from a fall, or whose choreography falters or is destroyed, has done much more damage to his or her routine and must be judged accordingly. Unintentional dismounts subtract from the Difficulty score, but may either add to or subtract from the Presentation score.

5.1.4 DIFFICULTY: The Difficulty portion of the routine is influenced only by skills that are successfully executed. Skills that are missed have no effect here, but they reduce the Mastery score. If a skill is performed successfully on a later attempt, it then brings up the Difficulty score. New unicycling skills are judged only on their levels of difficulty in this section. Credit for originality and inventiveness is part of the Presentation score. The Difficulty portion of the score is also influenced by the number and variety of skills presented. An act packed with skills will get more Difficulty points than one with fewer skills, even if their overall difficulty levels are the same. Variety also counts. An act with mainly wheel walking skills, for instance, will get fewer points than an act with wheel walking and other skills of the same difficulty level. Another factor is duration. Holding a skill for a longer amount of time indicates a higher level of difficulty. Riders are also judged here on their ability to fit their acts within the performing area boundaries. If riders need more than the allowed space to execute their skills it will reduce their Difficulty scores.

5.1.5 MASTERY: The Mastery score is basically a reflection of the hit/miss ratio of all attempted unicycling skills, and the amount of control shown by riders during their execution of the skills. Here the body form of the rider is judged. If a rider performs skills with an obvious lack of control, the Mastery score goes down. Judges are looking for body form that demonstrates good control and 'mastery' of the unicycle. Holding a skill for a longer amount of time also indicates a higher level of mastery for that skill.

5.2 PRESENTATION: This score is divided evenly into the parts below:

5.2.1 STYLE: This is beauty of body form and movements. This involves positioning and movements of the body during the act. Judges look for deliberate movements over uncoordinated movements made to retain balance.

EXAMPLES: Free leg stretched with toes pointed, head up and chest lifted, arms out and relaxed, smooth transition from one body position to another. This is good body form. Leaning forward, head down, sudden waving of arms, hands and fingers splayed are examples of poor body form.

5.2.2 SHOWMANSHIP: Judges are looking for the rider's ability to capture the audience with his or her confidence on stage, eye contact, facial expressions, and making the audience a part of the act. This is also the category in which a rider can take advantage of a missed skill by the way he or she covers up the miss.

EXAMPLES OF POOR SHOWMANSHIP: Eyes down, face filled with concentration rather than a smile, curses muttered under the breath at mistakes, and lack of awareness of or connection with the audience.

5.2.3 CHOREOGRAPHY: Judges are looking for optimal use of floor space and time. Best scores will be earned by well-planned acts with variety in patterns such as not all skills in lines or circles, or in a tight spot; and a smooth, natural flow of skills into one another without too much idle time. Here also, a routine will suffer if riders go outside the performing area boundaries. The act should be designed to fit within the given space.

5.2.4 USE OF PROPS AND OTHER SKILLS: A unicycle, when used for anything but a unicycling skill (handstand on the unicycle while it is lying down, hopping standing on the frame with wheel and seat on the floor) is considered a prop. 'Other' applies to any non-unicycling skills, such as dance, mime, comedy, juggling, acrobatics, playing music, etc. Note that it says "Use of." This score is not awarded for the props or other skills, but for the effect of such props or skills on the performance. The judges are looking not for the props or skills themselves, but how they are used. It is not mandatory to include props or non-unicycling skills in the performance. If none are used, the score will not be lower.

EXAMPLES: A rider performing a variety of difficult unicycling skills who juggles three balls while riding in a straight line, may be taking away from the quality and tempo of the rest of his or her act by performing this relatively easy part of an otherwise high-paced, difficult act. A rider who spends half of the performance time dancing next to the unicycle does not add to his or her act, no matter how high the dancing skill. A rider who includes a skill he or she has not mastered and executes it poorly can lose points rather than add to the score.

5.2.5 ORIGINALITY: The judges are looking for inventiveness in all aspects of the performance; in both its Difficulty and its Presentation. They are looking for new unicycling skills, and/or originality in the act as a whole.

5.2.6 CHOICE OF COSTUME AND MUSIC: The judges are not judging the actual costume and music, but the positive effect of the chosen costume and music on the overall performance. The theme, or type of performing, should match both the costume and music for a high score.

EXAMPLES: A slick, flashy act to music is not improved by a tramp costume and clown nose. At the same time, a clown in goofy costume doing a straight skills act is hard to take seriously, and the skills will not seem as hard. An act where the music merely plays in the background will score lower than an act in which the rider uses the sound, beat, theme, or changes in the music as integral parts of the act.

5.3 PAIRS FREESTYLE: Pairs judges must consider the performance of two unicyclists together. All judging criteria from above are used, but the additional factors below must also be considered.

5.3.1 DIFFICULTY: The Difficulty level of a multiple person act is determined by the overall level of difficulty displayed by the pair, not by the difficulty of feats presented by a single rider. If one rider's skill level is a great deal higher than the other, judges must keep the Difficulty score somewhere between the levels of the two riders. A skill in which the two riders obviously support each other will score lower than the same skill performed separately. Judges must be able to distinguish between 'support' and 'artistic contact.' Riders who are merely holding hands may not be supporting each other, but if their arms are locked, they probably are. NOTE: Some skills are more difficult with riders holding hands, such as one foot riding.

5.3.1.1 PAIRS VS. DOUBLES: 'Doubles' refers to two riders on one unicycle. Some Pairs performers use lots of doubles moves, with lifting, strength, and the associated difficulty. Other Pairs acts use no doubles moves at all. How to compare them? Remember that the skill level of both riders is being judged. If the 'top' rider does not display much unicycling skill when he or she rides, judges must keep that in mind, and rate their average difficulty accordingly. If the top rider never rides, one can argue that this is not a Pairs act, and give a major points reduction. Doubles moves are difficult for both persons, but must be weighed carefully against non-doubles performances.

5.3.2 STYLE: The judges are looking for riders working together, Do they look like they are a team, or are they riding separately, in their own worlds, to the same music?

5.3.3 CHOREOGRAPHY: Two riders together do not have to cover the floor space equally. If it is a dance style act, with a male and female rider together, circling to opposite sides of the performing area will not improve the score. Depending on the act's theme, the performers may stay together for the entire time. The judges must determine if this adds to the act or not. Generally, riders riding away from each other and coming back is little more than empty filler, and does not add to the performance.

5.4 GROUP FREESTYLE: Everything for Individual and Pairs applies, plus these additional points. A group of several riders has many more options of what to do and how it can be presented. Riders may all be of similar skill levels, or of widely different levels. Some groups will be much larger than others. These things all need to be considered when judging groups.

5.4.1 DIFFICULTY: As in Pairs, judges must seek to find the average difficulty level of what may be a widely varied group of riders. Top level skills done by only one rider cannot bring the Difficulty score up to top level. All riders in the routine must be used effectively. This means that if one or more riders are at a beginner level, they can still ride around in circles, carry banners, be carried by other riders, etc. Riders should not be left standing on the side.

5.4.1.1 SMALL GROUP VS. LARGE GROUP: Some groups will be much smaller or larger than others, and judges must include this information in their decisions. Large groups may have a tendency toward formation riding and patterns, while smaller groups may focus more on difficult skills. With so many possibilities, judges must compare many different factors to get an adequate judgment. Large numbers alone should not earn a high difficulty score, and neither should a few difficult skills performed by a small number. The judges must consider the group's size as a part of the overall performance, including the advantages or limitations that size has on the types of skills being performed.

5.4.2 STYLE: The judges are looking for teamwork and cooperation. Do all the riders know where they are supposed to be? Do they look as if they're pulling each other around, rather than riding together? If one rider falls, do the others help him or her up? Etc.

5.4.3 ORIGINALITY: The judges look for patterns, choreography and ideas that are different from year to year.

5.4.4 CHOREOGRAPHY: The judges look for movements that cover the performing area uniformly, and use all riders effectively.

5.6 JUDGING PANEL: There are five judges. All judges must have a good knowledge of the relative difficulty of unicycling skills, and a complete knowledge and understanding of the rules and judging criteria for the events they are judging. Creativity and Originality can only be judged by someone with a knowledge of what has been done in the past. People attending their first artistic unicycle competition should watch and learn, but not judge.

5.6.1 SELECTING JUDGES: A person should not judge an event if he or she is:

a. Parent, child or sibling of a rider competing in the event.
b. Individual or team coach, manager, trainer, etc. of a rider competing in the event.
c. More than one judge from the same family judging the same event at the same time.
d. No more than one member of a national team, club or group may be at a judging table at one time.

If the judging pool is too limited by the above criteria, restrictions can be eliminated starting from the bottom of the list and working upward as necessary only until enough judges are available. The eliminations must be agreed upon by the Chief Judge and Artistic Director, or next-highest ranking artistic official if the Chief Judge and Artistic Director are the same person.

5.6.2 ASSIGNMENT OF AGE GROUP JUDGES: Judging seats will be allotted to individuals, groups, and national teams in proportion to their combined artistic participation at the convention. The registration count should be taken approximately one week prior to the convention. Actual judging assignments will be made by the Chief Judge from lists of registered and qualified people.

5.6.3 ASSIGNMENT OF EXPERT (AND JUNIOR EXPERT) JUDGES: Assignments for Expert and Jr. Expert (if used) judges will be made by the Chief Judge using the most qualified of all judges available. A list of qualified Expert (and Jr. Expert) judges will be registered with the Artistic Director and/or Host prior to each event.

5.6.4 STANDARD SKILL VS. FREESTYLE JUDGING: With two entirely different sets of rules, qualified judges for Standard Skill are not necessarily qualified to judge Freestyle and vice versa. Judge qualifications must list the types of events they are qualified to judge.

5.6.5 JUDGING PANEL MAY NOT CHANGE: The five members of the judging panel must remain the same for entire age groups; i.e. one judge may not be replaced by another except between age groups. In the event of a medical or other emergency, this rule can be waived by the Chief Judge.

5.6.5 RATING JUDGE PERFORMANCE: Judges can be rated using one or more of the following methods:

a. Rate the judge based on years of experience (riding, judging, etc.).
b. Rate judges on a test that is sent to them (at the minimum this kind of test should be able to tell if the prospective judge at least has read the judging packet that they received).
c. Rate on past performance, comparing their scores to those of other judges at previous competitions.

Characteristics of Poor Judging:
a. Excessive Ties: A judge should be able to differentiate between competitors. Though tying is most definitely acceptable, excessive use of tying defeats the purpose of judging.
b. Group Bias: If a judge places members of a certain group or nation significantly different from the other judges. This includes a judge placing members significantly higher or significantly lower (a judge may be harsher on his or her own group members) than the other judges.
c. Inconsistent Placing: If a judge places a large number of riders significantly different from the average of the other judges.

5.7 SCORING: In all Freestyle events, the scores of each judge are transferred into placing points. The highest scoring competitor gets 1 placing point, the next one gets 2, etc. In other words, the placing points are equal to the competitor's place given by that judge. NOTE: The number of placing points available for a competitor depends on the number of entries in that category. If two or more competitors have the same score, they are awarded equal portions of the total number of placing points available for the places they occupy in the ranking. EXAMPLE: Seven competitors. Four of them tie for 2nd place. 7th place gets 7 points, 6th place gets 6 points, and 1st place gets 1 point. For the other four competitors, add up the other placing points numbers: 2+3+4+5=14. Divide this by the number of competitors (4) to get 3.5 placing points each. The winner is the competitor with the lowest total placing points score. If more than one competitor have the same placing score, the placing is decided by a lower placing score for Difficulty. This means that the Tabulators will have to go back and calculate the Difficulty placing points. If the Difficulty scores come out the same, all competitors with the same score are awarded the same place.

5.8 WORLD CHAMPIONS:

GROUP FREESTYLE: First place winners are World Champions.

STANDARD SKILL, INDIVIDUAL & PAIRS FREESTYLE: Male and female winners in the Expert category of each event are the World Champions. Winners in the Jr. Expert category, if used, are the Junior World Champions.