FIG Scoring Rules: Execution vs Difficulty Explained
Six judges watch how you performed an element and deduct between 0.0 and 0.5 points for it. Two other judges watch what the element was and write down a difficulty value. Neither pair sees the other's number, neither number limits the other, and in individual trampoline both go into your total at full weight.
That is the whole of execution versus difficulty in the FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) Code of Points 2025-2028. Difficulty, the D mark, is a property of the skill: rotation, twist, shape. Execution, the E mark, is a property of the performance: how straight the legs were, when the tuck opened, whether the landing held. The rest of this article is how each mark is built, where the two overlap, and what the arithmetic says about chasing one at the cost of the other.
Degree of Difficulty (DD) is the number Trampigo calculates. Execution, horizontal displacement and time of flight are not, and this article describes them from the Code rather than from the tool.
What Each Mark Actually Measures
The individual trampoline total is one line in §17.2.9.1: Score = E (max 20 pts) + H (max 10 pts) + D + T − P. Execution plus horizontal displacement plus difficulty plus time of flight, minus penalties, rounded to two decimal places at the end (§17.2.10).
| Difficulty (D) | Execution (E) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who judges it | Difficulty Judges D7 and D8 | Execution Judges E1 to E6 |
| Rule sections | §17.1, §21 | §17.2.3, §20 |
| Maximum | Open at senior level, limited in Junior and Age Group | 20.0 points |
| Built by | Adding values for rotation, twist, shape and bonuses | Subtracting deductions from the maximum |
| Decided by | What element you performed | How you performed it |
| Does Trampigo calculate it | Yes | No |
The panel is nine people: the Chair of the Judges' Panel, six execution judges, and two difficulty judges (§18.1). Difficulty has no upper bound at senior level (§17.1), so D is the only mark on the sheet that a gymnast can keep pushing indefinitely. Execution starts at its maximum and only goes down.
How the E Mark Is Built
An execution judge evaluates each element in the range 0.0 to 0.5 points and registers a deduction (§20.1). What happens to those six numbers is the part most gymnasts get wrong. In individual competition, the sum of the two median deductions is taken as the deduction for that element, and the sum across the exercise, including the landing deductions, is subtracted from a maximum of 20 points (§17.2.3.2).
The Code's own worked example, from Part II M, covers an element where one judge failed to enter a deduction:
| E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | missing | 0.2 | 0.3 |
The average of the five entered marks, 0.18, replaces the missing one (§17.2.7). Sorted, the six deductions are 0.1, 0.1, 0.18, 0.2, 0.2, 0.3. The two in the middle are 0.18 and 0.2, and the deduction recorded for that element is their sum: 0.380.
Two consequences follow, and both matter more than they look.
A fault the middle of the panel agrees on costs double its face value. If all six judges see toes not pointed and all six take 0.1, the two medians are both 0.1 and the element loses 0.2. The tariff on a deduction list is per judge, not per element.
Ten elements multiply it. A habit that shows up on every element, not pointing the toes, feet drifting apart, elbows away from the trunk, is 0.1 from each judge ten times over, which is 2.0 points off the E score. That is a larger number than almost any single-element difficulty upgrade can give back, and the next section puts real values on exactly that trade.
The deduction list in §20.2.1 is specific rather than impressionistic. Bent knees in pike and straight positions during the flying phase cost 0.1 to 0.2. Feet not together, knees not together, toes not pointed and elbows apart from the trunk cost 0.1 each, with the leg-position deductions capped at 0.5 in total. A tuck or pike element must reach a 180° angle between legs and upper body no later than 1 o'clock: reaching it between 1 and 2 o'clock costs 0.1, between 2 and 3 o'clock costs 0.2, and never reaching it costs 0.3. More than 360° of twist in the last somersault still finishing 90° of twisting at 3 o'clock or later costs 0.3. Landing faults are separate and taken once for the greater fault only (§20.2.2): up to 0.3 for instability, 0.5 for touching the bed with the hands, 1.0 for going down to knees, front, back or seat.
How the D Mark Is Built
Difficulty is assembled from independent additions rather than looked up as one number (§17.1.1). Each quarter somersault is 0.1, a completed single is 0.5, a double 1.0, a triple 1.6, a quadruple 2.2. Each half twist is 0.1. Multiple somersaults of 720° or more in pike or straight earn 0.1 per somersault, and tuck earns nothing there. Backward elements earn 0.1 at a double, 0.2 at a triple, 0.3 at a quadruple. Heavily twisting doubles, triples and quadruples earn further bonuses past their own thresholds.
A triple back somersault in the pike position, written 12< in Trampigo's shorthand, breaks down like this:
| Term | Rule | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Somersault rotation | §17.1.1.4: a completed triple is 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Twist | §17.1.1.6: no twist | 0.0 |
| Twist bonus | §17.1.6.3: no twist to bonus | 0.0 |
| Position | §17.1.5: 0.1 per somersault for pike at 720° or more | 0.3 |
| Backward bonus | §17.1.6.1: 0.2 for a backward triple | 0.2 |
| Element difficulty | 2.1 |
Nothing in that table refers to how well the skill was done. A triple back pike performed with bent knees, opened late and landed with two steps is still 2.1 in the D column. All of that damage lands in the E column instead. The DD guide shows these same five terms as a live breakdown if you want to watch them move as a skill changes.
Element difficulty and routine difficulty are also different things. The D mark is the sum of ten element values, plus a routine-level bonus of 0.3 for each element of 1080° or more of somersault rotation past two in women's competition or past five in men's (§17.1.7). Two gymnasts performing identical exercises can therefore carry different D scores, which is why a tariff quoted without a category is incomplete.
Worked Example: Trading 0.8 of Difficulty for 2.0 of Execution
Below are two versions of an illustrative senior exercise. This is not a recommended progression and not anyone's actual competition routine. No element may be repeated in an exercise (§14.1), so all ten in each version are distinct. Every difficulty value was produced by running the elements through Trampigo's own scoring logic, which implements this edition of the Code.
Version A, as trained:
| # | Element | Notation | DD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full in back out, tuck | 82-o | 1.3 |
| 2 | Half out, tuck | 8-1o | 1.1 |
| 3 | Rudy out, tuck | 8-3o | 1.3 |
| 4 | Full in full out, straight | 822/ | 1.7 |
| 5 | Double back, straight | 8/ | 1.3 |
| 6 | Double back, pike | 8< | 1.3 |
| 7 | Triple back, tuck | 12o | 1.8 |
| 8 | Half out triffis, tuck | 12--1o | 1.7 |
| 9 | Barani, tuck | 41o | 0.6 |
| 10 | Double full, straight | 44/ | 0.9 |
That sums to 13.0. Two elements carry 1080° or more of somersault rotation. The routine bonus in §17.1.7 needs more than two such elements in women's competition and more than five in men's, so neither applies and the total is 13.0 in both categories.
Version B swaps element 6, the double back pike at 1.3, for a triple back pike at 2.1. Everything else is unchanged:
| Category | Version A | Version B | Difficulty gained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 13.0 | 13.8 | +0.8 |
| Women | 13.0 | 14.1 | +1.1 |
The women's figure is higher because version B has three elements of 1080° or more, one past the women's threshold of two, which adds 0.3 under §17.1.7. The men's threshold of five is untouched.
Now put an execution cost against it. Suppose the triple back pike is new enough that the gymnast opens it late on every attempt, at 2 o'clock, and the extra rotation pulls the toes on every other element. Illustrative figures, not measured ones:
| Mark | Version A | Version B |
|---|---|---|
| E (execution) | 17.2 | 15.2 |
| H (horizontal displacement) | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| D (difficulty, men's) | 13.0 | 13.8 |
| T (time of flight) | 17.20 | 17.20 |
| Total | 56.90 | 55.70 |
The harder routine scores 1.2 lower. Under the women's bonus, version B reaches 56.00 and still loses. The E, H and T figures above are illustrative; only the D values are calculator output.
The lesson is not that upgrades are bad. It is that the two marks are measured in the same units and a 2.0-point execution habit outweighs a 0.8-point element swap, so the question worth asking before adding difficulty is what the new element does to the other nine. Build both versions in the Trampigo routine builder and the difficulty side of that comparison takes about a minute.
Where One Fault Hits Both Marks
Shape is the place the two marks touch, and this is the exception to everything above.
The Difficulty Judges assess body shape on the least difficult shape adopted during the middle phase of the element, with straight counted as the most difficult and tuck the least (§13.2.4). In a multiple somersault the gymnast may claim only one position, and the judges assess the element on the least difficult shape adopted (§14.5.3). The Code's own example is a Barani out triffis with a piked first somersault and a tucked second one, assessed as tucked.
So a piked double back that drops into a tuck loses the 0.2 position value in D, dropping the element from 1.3 to 1.1, and separately collects a form deduction in E. The same fault, two marks. Everything else in §20.2 is execution only: opening late, unpointed toes, knees bent inside a shape that still qualifies, none of that changes the difficulty value.
The angles in §13.2 are what decide which side of that line you land on. Straight is more than 135° between upper body and thighs. Pike is 135° or less there with more than 135° at the knee. Tuck is 135° or less at both. A "loose" tuck is still a tuck and costs E only. A pike that closes past the knee threshold has become a tuck and costs both. Tuck vs. pike vs. straight works through when a shape change actually pays.
One more rule crosses the line in the other direction. An exercise is ten elements (§4.1). Perform an eleventh and the execution judges apply a 1.0 point landing deduction (§16.5, §20.2.2.6), and the exercise is still ten elements, so the extra rotation is a cost with nothing on the difficulty side to set against it. A controlled out-bounce with no rotation is the allowed exception and is not counted as an additional element (§16.2, §20.2.2.1.1).
Common Mistakes
Treating the D mark as a score. It is one of four marks added together. The routine builder's number is a difficulty computation, not an official judged score, and a judge rules on what is actually performed.
Reading a deduction list as per element rather than per judge. The 0.1 next to "toes not pointed" in §20.2.1.2 is what one judge enters. What reaches your score is the sum of the two medians of six such entries.
Assuming straight is worth more than pike in the D column. Both are 0.1 per somersault beyond 360° (§17.1.4, §17.1.5). A double back is 1.1 tucked and 1.3 in either pike or straight. They differ in execution demand, not in difficulty value.
Expecting a twisting single somersault to earn a position value. A Barani is 0.6 in tuck, pike or straight. The position value applies beyond 360° of somersault rotation, and §17.1.4 restricts the single-somersault bonus to elements without twist.
Planning around a repeat. §14.1 gives no difficulty for a repeated element, and §14.6 makes it a 2.0 penalty wherever "no repeats" is set as a requirement. Trampigo does not flag a repeated element today, so that check stays manual against your own list.
Treating a shape change as a free distinct element. §14.5 limits it. Up to a half twist you get three positions if there is 270° or more of somersault. With 360° of twist or more you get three positions only above 450° of somersault, which is why the Code lists a full twisting back somersault as one position possible and full in full out as three.
What This Changes in Routine Planning
Cost an upgrade against both marks, not one. A new element that adds 0.8 to D and costs you 0.1 per judge on three elements has paid for itself; the same element costing 0.1 per judge on all ten has not.
Fix the habits before the tariff. Toes, feet together, knees together and elbows close are worth 0.1 each per judge, on every element, and they are the deductions least dependent on which skill you are doing.
Record the category with any tariff, because §17.1.7 can separate two identical routines, and the split is real from the third 1080° element onward in women's competition.
The difficulty half of all of this is arithmetic and worth automating. Build the routine in the Trampigo routine builder and each element's value updates as you change it, then check the five terms behind any single element in the DD breakdown guide. For what happens to that number between your competition card and the scoreboard, see How Difficulty Scores Are Validated in Competitions; for the structure of the Code itself, see Mastering the FIG Trampoline Code of Points.
Which elements any individual gymnast should train toward is a judgment for a qualified coach, based on that athlete's readiness, not something the Code of Points answers.
Sources and Ruleset Note
Every rule reference above is to FIG Code of Points 2025-2028, Trampoline Gymnastics, individual trampoline: Part I sections 4, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21, and Part II sections B (difficulty principles) and M (calculation and rounding examples). The full 2025-2028 Code of Points is available as a PDF. The edition was approved by the FIG Executive Committee in February 2024 and is valid from 1 January 2025.
Difficulty values in this article were generated by running the elements through Trampigo's calculator, which implements this edition. They are difficulty computations, not official judged scores. The execution, horizontal displacement and time-of-flight figures in the score comparison are illustrative and were chosen to show the arithmetic, not measured at a competition; Trampigo does not calculate any of those three marks. Junior and Age Group difficulty limits are set by the FIG Junior and WAGC Rules, a separate document. This article covers individual trampoline only, not synchronised trampoline, double mini-trampoline or tumbling, each of which has its own difficulty table and its own judging panel.