Event
Balance beam
Skill type
Turn
Known as
L turn
Leg-up full turn
Full turn with leg at horizontal
“The dreaded full turn ahahahahahaha”
Named after
The letter L
About
At the beginning of the open-code era, this C-rated element was a near compulsory element because a turn had to be included among the routine’s (then) 10 counting skills. Following the removal of that rule for 2009, the L turn has fallen somewhat in frequency, though it is still useful enough as a C dance element and in combination with a regular turn or in a super-duper Dutch series.
It gained its reputation as “the dreaded full turn” during that 2008 quad when it seemed, anecdotally, that gymnasts would wobble on it more than any other more difficult acrobatic skill. (Probably because it was in routines more than any other more difficult acrobatic skill.) Even now, a wobble on an L turn is liable to get the “ugh, easiest skill in the routine” treatment, even though…you know…it clearly isn’t.
Value
C