Event
Balance beam

Skill type
Dance

Value
D

Known as
Switch 1/2
Switch leap 1/2
Switch split 1/2
Change-leg 1/2 (chiefly British)

About
The switch 1/2 is usually a trap. It sounds like a good idea. A D (0.4) element, connected out of a switch leap for bonus, maybe connected into something like a Korbut for more bonus. Done and done, I’m having a great time, I’m the sultan of beam.

But that’s just what they want you to think. For some, the 0.3 deduction incurred for a drastic under-split more than 20 degrees short of 180 negates the potential benefits of including a switch 1/2 in a routine, while for others, it’s the 0.1 deduction for bent knee, plus the 0.1 deduction for hips not square to the beam even if you got pretty close to 180, and then the broken connection pause that does it. But there’s always something.