Tie-breaks in dance competition scoring
Two routines can land on exactly the same average. Whether they share a place, or are separated by a tie-break, is a competition setting.
Shared places
With shared places on, routines with the same average (compared at two decimals) take the same place, and the following place is skipped: 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 4th. Without it, routines are listed in score order.
| Routine | Average | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Routine A | 91.50 | 1st |
| Routine B | 90.25 | 2nd |
| Routine C | 90.25 | 2nd |
| Routine D | 89.80 | 4th |
Breaking a tie for an overall
For overall awards a competition can choose to break ties instead. The steps are tried in order, and the first one that separates the routines decides:
- Highest single judge score. The routine any one judge scored higher wins.
- Middle judge score. The median of the panel.
- Panel average. The averages themselves (equal by definition at this point, unless the scores were rounded differently).
The order of these steps is itself a competition setting. If two routines are still tied after every step, both are placed and marked as tied.
| Routine | Judges | Average | Highest judge | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routine A | 88.00 / 90.50 / 92.50 | 90.33 | 92.50 | 1st |
| Routine B | 89.50 / 90.50 / 91.00 | 90.33 | 91.00 | 2nd |
Ties when no tie-break is set
With shared places off and no tie-break order, an overall podium can widen to include every routine sharing the boundary score, so nobody is dropped from a place they tied for.
This is how CompSync tabulates.
Judges score on tablets, the averages, award levels, placements and overalls are worked out live, and the awards roll straight to the venue screens. Every rule on this page is a setting in your competition.
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