Influence of Angle of View on Judges' Evaluations of Inverted Cross in Men's Rings

Abstract

The present study focuses on two factors that may influence the accuracy and precision of a judge's evaluation of the angular deviation error in “inverted cross” (angle of the arms away from the horizontal axis). 16 Greek judges of competitive gymnastics participated in an evaluation of the magnitude of the error in the skill. Photographs of the performance of 8 gymnasts were shown to the judges in triplicates in random order from three angles of observation (0°, 45°, and 90°) on a computer screen. The precision in the judges' judgments was best at the 45° angle of observation and at angular deviations of 16° to 30°. Accuracy was influenced both by the judge's angle of observation and the gymnast's angular deviation, as well as by the interaction. Overall, judges may need to improve their ability to evaluate performance through training. Training may incorporate a variety of exercises in judging the inverted cross through augmented feedback of knowledge of results.