Here's a revised judging system designed for fair assessment of pen spinning videos, specifically designed to judge team-based pen spinning battles.

The system is different intra-board and inter-board.

Intra-board:

Nominate an odd number of judges. 5+ is preferable.

Inter-board:

Each board has one judging entity, which may comprises of several judges. The judging boards cannot be the same as the two competiting boards. The number of judging boards must be odd.

For singles matches, use the following scheme.

Smoothness, Execution, Tempo, Variety, Innovativeness, Difficulty, Filming

Do not give a grade; give a differential vis-à-vis the opponent.

-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3

+/- 0: Tied
+/- 1: Slight advantage
+/- 2: Noticeable advantage
+/- 3: Marked advantage.

Differential can also be awarded in increments of 0.5, if needed.

Here's roughly how it should be applied specifically for each criteria. Use your judgment when evaluating videos:

Smoothness:

+/- 0: Overall smoothness is equal.
+/- 1: Slight advantage.
+/- 2: Noticeable advantage
+/- 3: Marked advantage.

Execution:

+/- 0: The spinners have made the same number of mistakes (mistakes are small jerks, hesitations, uneven rotations).
+/- 1: One spinner has made one more mistake than the other.
+/- 2: One spinner has made two more mistakes than the other.
+/- 3: One spinner has made three+ more mistakes than the other OR the spinner has dropped the pen more than the other.

Tempo:

Evaluate each video individually. Then evaluate the difference between the two.

0: Speed is not adequate for the combo. Spinner is not in control of the pen or the pace is too slow.
1: Speed is a bit sluggish/fast. Some tricks are not properly executed because it went too fast or the spinner could have pushed the speed a bit more.
2: Speed is adequate. Overall, the pace feels right.
3: Speed is excellent. The spinner is able to use the speed as an advantage and showcase each important trick clearly. i.e. : A very fast spinner who's in total control of the pen and the tricks.

Example:
A tempo 2
B tempo 3
Tempo: 2 - 3 = -1

A tempo 3
B tempo 0
Tempo: 3 - 0 = +3

Variety:

Try to approximately breakdown the combo, then evaluate on the following scheme:

0: Spinners have shown an equal arsenal of tricks and tricks family.
+/- 1: Spinner have used one more trick family well (not just inserted a random trick) than the other spinner, or has less repetitions of the same trick than the other spinner.
+/- 2: Spinner have used two more trick families well than the other spinner, or has noticeable less repetitions of the same trick than the other spinner.
+/- 3: Spinner have used three or more trick trick families well than the other spinner, or has markedly less repetitions of the same trick than the other spinner.

Innovativeness:

Evaluate each video individually. Then evaluate the difference between the two.

0: Spinner shows no effort to be creative. Re-use standard tricks and nothing stands out.
1: Spinner shows some effort to be creative, but the impact is minimal. A few uncommon tricks or minor details are shown in the video.
2: Spinner shows good effort to be creative, and it has a direct positive effect on the combo. The combo relies on several original concepts which are put into evidence in the video.
3: Spinner delivers a unique and interesting combo. Totally new tricks or concepts are shown and they have a great impact on the quality of the video.

Example:
A: 3
B: 2
Innovativeness: 3 - 2 = +1

A: 0
B: 2
Innovativeness: 0 - 2 = -2

Difficulty

Evaluate each video individually. Then evaluate the difference between the two.

0: Spinner only uses fundamentals and basic variations (reverse, twisted, ...)
1: Spinner uses a decent range of intermediary tricks (backarounds, etc...) or may use difficult tricks but not at an elevated level.
2: Spinner shows mastery of some difficult combinations, such as neobak fall.
3: Spinner shows mastery of difficult combinations and is able link those tricks together with ease to produce very long string of hard moves, while keeping a comfortable pace, OR the spinner has shown several tricks that are only feasible by a handful of people.

Example:
A: 2
B: 2
Difficulty: 2 - 2 = 0

A: 1
B: 0
Difficulty: 1 - 0 = +1

Filming

Evaluate each video individually. Then evaluate the difference between the two.

0: Spinner's camera or angle hinders vision of viewer greatly, making it hard to see what is going on.
1: Spinner's camera or angle somewhat hinders vision of the viewer, making it hard to see some parts of the combo.
2: Spinner's camera and angle are adequate and clear, but the hand goes off-screen at least once.
3: Spinner's camera and angle are clear and the hand never goes off-screen.

Example:
A: 3
B: 2
Filming: +1

A: 2
B: 3
Filming: -1

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Once all criterions have been graded, make a weight sum using the following formula:

(3*Smoothness + 2*Execution + 5*Tempo + 4*Variety + 5*Innovativeness + 5*Difficulty + 1*Filming) / 25 = Final score (keep 3 decimals)

Alternative: If you want to put less emphasis on transition use this for doubles matches:

4*Smoothness + 3*Execution + 5*Tempo + 5*Variety + 5*Innovativeness + 5*Difficulty + 1*Filming + 2*Transition / 30

And this for singles matches:

4*Smoothness + 3*Execution + 5*Tempo + 5*Variety + 6*Innovativeness + 6*Difficulty + 1*Filming / 30

You can of course customize this formula as it suits your needs.

For each judge, the final score gives a vote in favor of one or the other spinner. A final score of 0 for one judge represents a null vote for the judge.

After all votes are tallied, the winner is the one with most judge votes.

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For doubles matches, use the following scheme.

Judges fill the same scorecard as the singles match for each combo in the pair. They then take the average for both videos of the pair, and this constitutes the pre-transition score.

The judge must then give up to +/- 1 to the team with the best transition, 0 if tied. Transition is judged on originality and efficiency (technically impressive, smooth, etc...).

This point is then added to the pre-transition score to form the total score for that judge. This gives a vote in favour of one or another pair.

Example: Judge A votes +0.45 in favor of A, but gives -1 to A because B had a better transition. The final score is -0.45 for A, which means B wins.

Here's an example:

Judge evaluates A vs B

Smoothness: +1
Execution: 0
Tempo: -1
Variety: +1
Innov.: -2
Difficulty: +1
Filming: 0

(3*(+1) + 2*(0) + 5*(-1) + 4*(+1) + 5*(-2) + 5*(+1) + 1*0) / 25 = -0.12

A -0.12 B => B wins this judge's vote.

Why do tempo, innovativeness, difficulty, and filming have subtraction? In other words, why do these things have to be derived as a difference between the individual spinners while the others merely assign a value to one's favour without the subtraction?


EDIT: Also, the weights for each criteria seem to be subjective. Is there a standard or do we have to arrive to a mutually agreed one?

Obviously if the two managers decide that they want it to be a somehow themed battle, they can change the judging weights. But other than that, this seems to be a pretty good standard.

It's just semantics really.

They could have easily been directly translated into +/- form, I just think those criterions are easier judged on a more objective scale.

Weights are easily modifiable, that's the strength of this system. You can modify a lot of parameters to suit whatever need you have.

I think what I wrote is pretty good, you could switch it around a little bit I guess.

It's because those are more easily and fairly judged relatively since standards for those criteria vary. Something like Execution on the other hand is very easy to judge (it's just related to the amount of mistakes/drops in the video), so it can be rated absolutely.

The weighting parameters are somewhat flexible, as Zombo said. But the reason Execution for example has a lower weighting is because it isn't as difficult or important as some of the other criteria. Execution just involves not dropping the pen whereas something like Innovativeness requires more thought and effort.

Great system, and not very common...Innovativeness : 3 to Spinner Zombo :clap:

I like it, especially because of the filming. Filming never should of been out of a 10/10 scale, because it shouldn't be such a huge factor compared to your spinning. It should be like a 2scale. You get 0/2 if your video camera sucks and you're poor and can't afford another one but it doesn't effect your score that much.

sure, but if you can't see clearly, so that you can't decide what to say about the other criterias, then the spinner can't win, matter of fact...so 0, 1 or 2/2, and disqualification if the quality is REALLY too bad.

Well, yes, if the combo couldn't be seen at all due to bad quality, the video would be rejected outright and require a re-submit (time-permitting) or merit an automatic forfeit. The Filming criterion refers more to how effectively filming was used to make the combo look better; e.g. was a good camera angle used, what about the background?, etc.

I agree. It would be sad if the price of the webcam/wathever else had to be rated through the word "filming". Rejection is stricter but fairer and a lot more honest.

added a note about 0.5 incrementals.