Claudine Gervais sent me a link to a very interesting article.
Platelet-rich plasma therapy is an experimental treatment for “stubborn” injuries including (common-in-gymnasts) knee tendinitis.
… The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient’s blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body’s instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery. …
Steven Legendre is getting all the internet buzz, but who’s #1 ranked in the NCAA All-around?
Penn State’s Casey Sandy collects his third weekly award of the season upon capturing four individual titles en route to his fourth all-around crown of 2009, in Saturday’s dual meet with third-ranked Illinois. It is the fourth time this season that Sandy has claimed four or more individual titles while winning the all-around in a single meet. …
I’ve seen gymnastics coaches who love to take the credit when a gymnast does something right:
“WE did a fantastic Tkachev.”
But are quick to blame the athlete when something goes wrong.
In general, coaches of female gymnasts are too controlling. They try to continue coaching 13-year-olds they same way they coached the girls at age-9.
That’s not the best or most efficient strategy. As gymnasts get older, they must make more and more of the decisions. We are preparing them for life, as well as gymnastics.
Not only do we have to “let go” of control. But each athlete is individual. Some 13-year-olds can make good decisions for themselves and are self-motivated. Some 15-year-olds want you to yell at them for “motivation”.
You can start teaching your athlete to be self-reliant with simple ideas that can be done in practice, such as:
Don’t over analyze—if they can remember three things that you tell them to do—that is amazing.
Have them describe what happened, instead of you telling them what happened. If they didn’t like what happened ask them what they would do differently—don’t accept “I dunnoâ€.
Design practices so that you don’t do the same skill over and over again (block practice) but make it random … mix it up … the variability makes the athlete think much like they would in a game.
Stop workouts and ask them questions. How did it feel or I noticed this happened, why do you think that is?
Don’t give constant feedback—tell them what the purpose of the workout is—let them work on it. Let them experiment and give constructive feedback after 5, 10 or 15 tries. If you do it every time, they learn to rely on you and not on themselves. …
This is one of the few interactive gymnastics websites where a regular commenter who goes by the name TCO … or, more recently, as apolytongp … has not been “banned” or, at least, edited.
At a key stroke I could ban him too.
But I don’t want to at this time.
He’s boring. Repetitious.
An Amerocentric war monger.
A gymnastics substance abuse conspiracy theorist.
On the other hand, apolytongp’s many times been first to find gymnastics stories on the internet. He’s passionate. We’ve had some very good conversations online.
The internet is all about giving EVERYONE an equal voice. Even apolytongp. He’s trying to limit the profanity on my request. I appreciate that.
I just wish he’d start his own blog. We’d all then be able to leave our comments there.
Note that the comments are pretty much “buried” on this site. Most people don’t read them. I rarely read comments on sites other than this one, especially YouTube.
That’s 16.7 start, 16.9 if he does whip -> 2.5 twist as he originally intended. Right?
NICK calculates only 16.6….F(6)-F(6)-[C+D](3+1+4)-B(2)-C(3)-[D+C](4+1+3)-C(3)-E(5)=4.1+2.5+10=16.6
UPDATE: From Geoffrey Taucer:
Actually, Nick’s off by one tenth; according to the latest NGJA interperetations release, the value they’ve given the DLO 5/2 is a G, not an F. Otherwise, his calculations appear to be accurate (assuming the final pass is an arabian double pike and not an arabian double lay; which is probably an accurate assumption).
This would put the start value of this routine at 16.7.
Don Eckert posts by far the most interesting gymnastics videos on the internet. And now he’s sponsored by Gibson (Mats, Beam, Bars, Grips, …)
… Shawn and Teri Johnson will be leaving for Los Angeles this week. They’ll be moving into an apartment in Hollywood, where Shawn will work with Ballas.
Teri left her job in the West Des Moines school district. Her husband, Doug, a trim-finish carpenter, will stay behind to work and fly in to watch her compete.
“We’re pretty much moving out there for as long as she’s on the show,” Teri said. “I don’t feel we’re Hollywood folks. I guess we’ll find out.”
…
If Shawn decides to try for London, maybe this experience will help her “artistic presentation,” as the experts say.
“Ultimately,” Teri said, “this could be a huge benefit for her. She’s never concentrated on her grace and flexibility before.” …
Normally this showcase of American gymnastics is a bit of a let down. More sizzle than steak.
And the women’s field is not all that strong this year:
Brittany Rogers, Canada
Youna Dufournet, France
Kim Bui, Germany
Rebecca Downie, Great Britain
Koko Tsurumi, Japan
Amelia Racea, Romania
Kristina Goryunova, Russia
Bridget Sloan, USA
Jordyn Wieber, USA
Jessica Lopez, Venezuela
I have already spoken on my excitement about Bridget (paticularly since reports that she’s been training a front triple twist!) and I’m sure Jordyn will do fine. It’s also nice to see Jessica Lopez back as I felt her floor was a standout last year. Plus, Koko Tsurumi is always good to see and Brittany Rogers is one of Canada’s outstanding new seniors. But I have to say that the person I am most excited about (hopefully) getting a peek at this comp is Becky Downie. …
I too find myself more interested than usual, I think because it’s the first Scam American Cup of the quadrennial. Let’s see “what’s new” for this cycle. Is Wieber the next big American star?
