As I write, I’m recovering from the second cheer hangover of the season for us- another competition weekend, this time including a 12 hour day at the venue! They are crazy days but we do love a cheer competition.
One of the questions I heard a few times this weekend was essentially “What is this Hit Zero thing?”. The short answer for this is really simple, but probably not that much more informative: it means the team had no deductions. Of course, that leads to the obvious question of “what are deductions then?” so let’s break that down a bit.
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A cheer routine has a maximum score, that considers both the skill level and how well the skill is done, for each of several parts of the routine- separate stunts, pyramid, running tumble, standing tumble, jumps and dance, as well as overall appearance, timing and performance of the whole routine. The maximum score varies a bit between levels- non-tumble for instance doesn’t include any of the tumble skills, and novice and level 1 have the basket section taken out of their score sheet. Within each section, each team is scored on that one thing- so a team will get a score out of 5 for the difficulty of their running tumble pass, and another score out of 5 for the execution of their running tumble pass. (There is also sections for choreography- for how it all works together, and originality- and for performance- how well the whole routine fits together and how enjoyable it is to watch.) In theory at least, a coach could predict approximately the score for the team’s difficulty but the execution and performance scores are going to be dependent on the actual routine that goes on the floor that day. Also, the difficulty score can also be lower on the day than originally choreographed if not all athletes actually complete the skill. For instance, if the coach has choreographed a stunt that has a half turn in it to bring the difficulty score up, but on the day the team only manages a quarter turn, they will get the difficulty score for the quarter turn not the half.
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This total score, including difficulty, execution, performance and choreography is the raw score for the team- totalling up technique and execution for everything they do.
Then there are deductions. Any time a team does something obviously incorrectly, in an unsafe way, or something that’s against their level rules, their raw score is reduced- this is a deduction. Deductions can be very small- 0.1 of a point- or quite large, such as 1 point. A whole point deduction is a really big deduction, and can drop a team’s position in the rankings several places if the competition is otherwise very close. A team can receive deductions if a stunt even wobbles (this is called a bobble, just to be confusing), or if it falls partway down, or if the flyer touches the floor- bigger deductions for each level of error. Deductions also include tumble errors, like stumbling on a landing or stepping off the floor. Non-tumble teams don’t have to include any tumble skills in their routines, but if they do and it goes wrong- that’s a deduction. If a stunt group doesn’t get their flyer in the air at all- deduction. If an athlete is noticed still wearing jewellery (like earrings)- deduction. If someone forgot to bleep a swear word from the music- that’s a deduction. If someone’s shoe or bow or scrunchie falls off onto the floor during the routine, that’s a deduction.
There are also legalities, which are deductions for breaking level rules. If the team is in level 1, the rules say they can do a quarter turn to get into or out of a stunt. If they do a half turn by mistake, that’s a deduction. If the team is in level 2, they can do straight baskets (throws). If a flyer twists in the air at all- that’s a deduction. And so on and so forth. It’s very difficult to achieve a full routine with no errors that might cause a deduction- that’s why a hit zero score is a big deal.
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Early in the season, it is sometimes easier to get the hit zero, as some of the early events in the year have a warnings system- this is where they don’t reduce scores for the smaller deductions, but give a warning instead that says ‘if you do this later in the year, you’ll get a deduction’. Some competitions will award hit zero if the team got warnings but no deductions; other competitions will only award the hit zero for teams with both no deductions and no warnings.
Finally, some caveats to keep in mind: It’s possible for a team to hit zero and not win, or possibly not even place. A team can have a routine choreographed in such a way that it is very straightforward for the athletes to complete, but it has a low level of difficulty as a result. Remember that the raw score depends on both difficulty and execution- if the routine is very simple, the maximum possible raw score will be significantly lower than a more difficult and more risky routine- enough that the more risky routine, if it goes mostly but not entirely right, can still beat a very safe routine. There can also be several teams that hit zero, so then the placings depend on their total difficulty, execution and performance scores.
Hitting zero is a big deal in the cheer world- many clubs use it as a coaching goal. Some clubs even require that a team perform their routine to counts, in training, to a level where they would get no deductions, before they are allowed to have their music to practice to! It is a more straightforward target than aiming for particular places- the team as a whole has some level of control over whether they avoid deductions. So now when your athlete comes home and tells you they hit zero, you’ll know what they mean!
Source: https://t-tees.com
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