Event
Balance beam

Skill type
Dance

Value
C

Known as
Switch side
Johnson
Switch leap 1/4
Switch straddle

Named after
Brandy and/or Kathy Johnson (USA) – never

About
One of the great mysteries of our time is why the switch side on beam is named the Johnson if neither Kathy Johnson nor Brandy Johnson ever competed it. If a Johnson switch sides on beam, does it make a sound?

Basically, here’s what happened. The 1997 code is the first one to contain a switch side on beam (so there’s your first problem with “Johnson”). Then, in 2001, the code of points used the description of the Johnson from the floor section to describe the new switch side 1/2 on beam, calling it “split leap with leg change and 1/4 turn to straddle pike position (Johnson) with additional 1/2 turn.” And then it just sort of stuck on beam as well. The 2006 code was the first one to call the actual switch side on beam a Johnson. Copy + Paste: the silent killer.

Then, in 2013, the code ran into the problem of having to assign, you know, a first name to this beam skill instead of calling it “Johnson (TBC).” So everyone said, “Eh, it was probably Kathy Johnson.” The issue there being that Kathy Johnson never did switch sides. Her skill on beam was a split side. To this day, the code can’t really decide whether it’s naming this one after Kathy Johnson or Brandy Johnson, but the real answer is neither.