Apparently the state level yoyo contest prelims are now judged on only technical merit, so my question is: What does technical merit mean in yoyoing?
Clean execution of tricks, good technique and probably orientation of the of the yoyo in the plane between the throw and the return. I bet string hits count well too.
I downloaded and watched several of the Worlds 2011 Prelims and the difference between the prelim style performances and the Freestyles is very different. VERY. Prelims are pretty much “all business, bang out the tricks”. The freestyle performances were, well, a lot more interesting to watch. Not saying the prelims weren’t interesting either, but it just has an assembly line type quality to it: Go up, announce, burn through it, NEXT! But, keep in mind, prelims are short on purpose and have to be done efficiently as a lot of people get eliminated in this round. It’s a necessary part of any contests with large numbers of participants.
Technical Merit only means that they judge you based on the technicality of your tricks on stage. You will not officially receive any points based on your presence as a stage performer (although judges can give you if they want to). Your score will only be affected by the tricks you do up there, how hard they are, if you mess up or not, and how well you execute them.
That last part: Example- A guy does an eli hop, he gets more points. But if someone else does say a behind the head eli hop, or circular eli hops, then they get a lot more points. Difficulty determines everything. They won’t consider how well you coordinate the thing until finals.