posted Sep 13th, 2002 - Yesterday's video of NSL Live Talk with USPA's Chief Judge Jim Rees at the USPA Nationals 2019 included valuable information for teams and competitors how to present their performances successfully to the judges. Jim Rees also explained the ever increasing difficulties for the judges to produce scores quickly and accurately.

A new NSL News interview from the archives, once again with DeLand Norgies member Carl-Erik Tuv, connects present and past with the same topic. The Norwegian national 4-way team, FAI bronze medalists in 1999, 2001 and 2003, trained and competed seriously only at a time when the judging rules for penalties were different.

Each infringement was more costly, as a team would lose two points instead of only one. The respective formation did not generate a scoring point, and another 1-point deduction was assigned to the infringement. The teams did their best to avoid any doubts, as a penalty had twice as much impact on the outcome of a competition as it currently has. The change of the penalty rules was applied after the end of the 2004 season. The NSL News used the newest connection between past and present to evaluate the progression of the performances by comparing the penalty situation at the last USPA Nationals before the rule change (2004) with the scoresheets at last year's national championship.

The difference is significant. The Top 3 teams of 2004 combined for a total of three penalty situations, while the Top 3 last year produced a total of 16 infringements that were not accepted by the judges. Jim Rees explained in the interview what it takes to get a scoring point, and the judges in 2004 had obviously much less work. Carl-Erik Tuv touched the judging subject briefly, even though it was not related to any point deductions of the Top 3 teams. However, timely posting of the scores has also been a topic that Jim Rees and Mark Szulmayer both addressed.

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USPA Nationals 2004			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		4,P,22		16,2,8		21,N,14		3,H,M,7		12,6,17		15,10,L		O,13,1		K,18,11		Q,B,20,D		19,G,C,F		Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	21		17		19		21	-2	19		19		20		19		28		28		211	21.1
2	Golden Knights	US	20		17		15	-4	24		19		18		17		18		24		27		199	19.9
3	Arizona Blade	US	18		17		19		21		16		16		16		17		23		22		185	18.5
USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	289	28.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		262	26.2
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	262	26.2

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NSL News interview with Carl-Erik Tuv on 13 September 2002

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NSL News: Carl-Erik, the U.S. Nationals are over. Did you expect this outcome in 4-way? Carl-Erik Tuv: I expected Airspeed in 2nd place. But I had Majik in 1st and the Golden Knights in 3rd place, especially after Majik's scores in Russia.

NSL News: Why do you think Majik did not perform as strongly as in Russia? Carl-Erik Tuv: To be honest - I do not know since I have not been close to the team for four months. But I have some general ideas why a team often does not perform on their peak over and over. In 1996, Airspeed's 8-way team went to the world cup in Belgium and did well. But they lost at the U.S. Nationals to the Golden Knights who had been training at home in the meantime. In 1998, the Golden Knights went to the world cup in Portugal and had a good meet beating the Russian 8-way team. And then they lost the U.S. Nationals against Airspeed in Arizona.

NSL News: Does this mean that teams should not compete shortly before the main event? Carl-Erik Tuv: You need to compete. But everyone who attends a meet before the main event should have in mind what happened to the above mentioned teams.

NSL News: How does this help? How do you set your mind correctly? Carl-Erik Tuv: You just have to be aware that your schedule should consider the main event for the peak performance by putting less attention to the previous 'training events'. The so-called 'training events' can be very helpful if you use them correctly to detect weaknesses. I like to compare to tennis as a sport. Bjorn Borg, one of the greatest athletes in sports history, never competed in more than 9 or 10 tournaments per year. He needed time off to recover and load up with energy for the next tournament.

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USPA Nationals 2002		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	B,12,2		K,6,4		20,5,13		D,Q,11,18		N,3,9		A,21,16		22,H,L,J		G,C,7,15		E,19,17		10,P,M,8		Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights Gold	19		21		19		21		29		22		23		23		22		19		218	21.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	19		22		18		21		26		22		22		21		23		21		215	21.5
3	DeLand Majik	19		19		20		20		24	-2	22		23		24		22		19		212	21.2
4	Golden Knights Black	15		17		16		17		20		17		20		20		19		16		177	17.7
5	Airspeed Zulu	17		18		14		17		22		15	-2	18		17		17		16		171	17.1
6	Cross Keys Fluid	16		16		13		15		18		16		15	-1	13	-2	15		15		152	15.2
7	DeLand Frost	15		16		12		13		17		15		17		17		14		13		149	14.9
8	Ranch Tribe	14		14		13		13		17		11	-2	16		10	-2	15		13		136	13.6
9	Elsinore Adrenaline	13		13		12		13	-2	16		11	-2	15	-1	13		15		13		134	13.4
10	Synchronicity	12		12		10		12		17		13		13		15	-1	12		12		128	12.8
11	Untrained Eye	12		12		11		13		14		10	-2	11	-1	9		12		11		115	11.5
12	Team Kruegeraand	8		8		6		5		6		7	-1	6		7		8		5	-1	66	6.6

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NSL News: How could Majik have used the meet in Russia properly to detect weaknesses if they posted a record-breaking result? Carl-Erik Tuv: I cannot answer this question properly since I have not seen Majik training and performing in Russia. It is very possible that they just had one or two bad days at the U.S. Nationals. In every sport, top competitors can just fail.

NSL News: How much did Joey Jones' injury two days prior to the event affect the Majik performance? Carl-Erik Tuv: It is never good for a team to have an injury like that. However, the ankle injury may not have had a major impact on the team. They are great competitors and very experienced to handle it properly.

NSL News: Let's look at the other teams. Why was Airspeed not able to hold back the Golden Knights? Carl-Erik Tuv: Round 5 was obviously a great round for the Golden Knights. Winning three points over a strong opponent in one round means a lot if your opponent had a pretty good round, as well. It has a strong psychological impact. It looks as if Airspeed did not recover from this blow before Round 9.

NSL News: On Saturday, the teams hardly knew any of their opponents' scores due to delays of the judging. After the first seven rounds on Saturday, the judging for the remaining three rounds on Sunday was up-to-date. Can you read something between these lines, Carl-Erik?

Carl-Erik Tuv: It is difficult to evaluate this situation psychologically if the judging was delayed. Airspeed may just have had one bad round at that time, whether knowing the scores or not. They are very experienced competitors knowing how to deal with all kind of situations.

NSL News: What made the Golden Knights so strong at Skydive Chicago? Carl-Erik Tuv: We have to ask John Hoover who is much closer to the team.

NSL News: What do you expect for next year at the world championship? You did not count the Golden Knights in for the race at the U.S. Nationals. Do you count them in for the gold medal at the world meet? Carl-Erik Tuv: I did not consider the Knights as the favorite team for the U.S. Nationals. But everyone who knows the Golden Knights' winning traditions should not underestimate them. In other words: never underestimate a world champion.

NSL News: Two of these Golden Knights have never been a world champion. Are two world champions good enough to guarantee a victory? Carl-Erik Tuv: No, but it surely helps. They know what it takes to become a world champion. And, yes, the Golden Knights will definitely be one of the favorite teams next year.

NSL News: What are the future plans of the Norgies? Carl-Erik Tuv: We just began jumping again. Next, we will compete at the world cup this year. And then we will see what the future will bring. NSL News: We would surely like to see the Norgies back in business again. Good luck and thanks for the interview, Carl-Erik.