Aerobatic Judge Training

Judging-Line-EAAC-2013

Learning to Judge Aerobatics

Competition aerobatic flights, just like Olympic skating, high-board diving and other artistic performances in the sporting world, are a game of two parts: the “ace” in the sky, on the ice, diving into the water - twisting and turning, displaying their performance to the judges who ultimately make all the real decisions … who wins, who comes second and so on. CIVA championship judges always have the "best seat in the house", so if you are not an active competitor this is an important and highly enjoyable alternative activity.

To judge an aerobatic sequence is not especially difficult, but it does require a thorough understanding of the judging "rules" and a good deal of practice to swiftly assess what is seen and quickly determine an appropriate mark for each figure - these are of course personal opinions, hence the panel of 7-10 judges normally present at each CIVA championship.

Judging Q&A

An addition to CIVA's judge training material that was launched late in October 2020 is a completely new info and test area that will eventually, we hope, become a valuable training tool for everyone - especially those CIVA judges selected to work at aerobatic championships. What is there so far is just our start-up material, but in time we expect this to develop into a very useful resource for everyone with an interest in aerobatic judging.

The name of this resource is the CIVA Community, and its home web page is here. Be sure to let us know what you think of it.

Information and Training Material

Simply reading the CIVA judging rules in Section-6 is hard work, and often leads to even more questions. Most NAC's or aerobatic clubs run judging seminars each year, and over time most also discover that teaching "How to Judge" requires careful preparation and subsequently the presentation of a considerable amount of clear and interesting training material.

From this page you can download for your own use the current set of CIVA training files - a collection of Powerpoint presentations backed up by videos plus some interactive and practical classroom exercises that enable students to become thoroughly involved initially in "Calling" and subsequently in applying their judging skills to the assessment of aerobatic figures at all levels. This material is updated each year to include rule revisions and additions approved at the CIVA plenary meeting.

The seminar material here is free for you to use, and you can easily tailor it to exactly suit your own requirements.

CIVA International Judging Seminar material - Updated for 2023
Note that for the documents below:
 to view the pdf - Left click the link, it opens in a new Tab
 to download the pdf - Right click the link and select "Save As ..."

  CIVA Judging Seminar v3 Module-0.pptx - How do you think you think?
  CIVA Judging Seminar v3 Module-1.pptx - Introduction and Rules
  CIVA Judging Seminar v3 Module-2.pptx - The Judging Process
  CIVA Judging Seminar v3 Module-3.pptx - Problems, Positioning and Freestyle
  CIVA Judging Seminar v3 Module-4.pptx - FPS and the Judging Analysis
 CIVA Zoom round the Rules 2023 v2.pptx - A full review of the key Rules
  The Fair Play System (FPS) and ACRO software.pptx
  CIVA Judging Attitudes x10.pdf - Test your assessment of angles ...
  CIVA Judging Seminar - WAC-11 Free Unk-1 Calling HD.mp4 (zip)
  CIVA Judging Seminar - US Nats Free Unk 2014 Goody Thomas.mp4 (zip)
  CIVA Judging Seminar - The Monkey Business Illusion.mp4 (zip)
  CIVA Judging Seminar - Fast and Slow Thinking #1.mp4 (zip)
        Note: the .mp4 videos must be un-zipped before viewing

Please direct all questions and comments on this material to: Nick Buckenham -   Email

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