Kim Zmeskal was the first American World Gymnastics Champion.
She’s an international judge. And an elite coach / owner of Texas Dreams, often mentioned as a possible future successor to Marta Karolyi.
I watched a coaching presentation Kim put on for Project 2012.
It’s very good.
Kim kept it quite simple, too. (Any coach who is a judge is more realistic as to potential deductions on skills.)
For example, pirouette on bars:
Click PLAY to watch the BAD example. Or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY to watch a much better example. Or watch it on YouTube.
In competition we see many more late, deductible pirouettes (the former) than pirouettes close to handstand.
An even better example she showed is Sheep Jump. Either a D-value on beam … or a NOTHING. It’s not devalued.
Judges have gotten much tougher on Sheep this code. Even if the feet are high enough, the feet close enough to the head, the head far enough back … if the gymnast is not extended in the hips, no value.
no value
gets credit
There are many more good examples and reminders Kim showed.
She goes over the controversial new landing deduction on Floor: stepping back with 1-foot into lunge position. The good ladies of the FIG never seem to consider safety when they come up with these new interpretations. This rule will certainly cause more injuries. But since it helps the judges separate the top routines in the world, … they adopt it.
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I’ve not yet heard if Project 2012 will be continuing into the Fall. I hope so.
Certainly you can sign up and go back and watch the old presentations archived online any time you want.
… Project 2012: a Web Event for Coaches highlighting the essential techniques for gymnastics success in the next quadrennium. This 12-week event, brings the best coaches in the United States to your computer screen doing LIVE lectures and demonstrations on the most important cutting-edge information in our sport. …
Sessions include 45 minutes of lecture and 15 minutes of question and answer, using live lecture, video, power point.
homepage – USAproject2012.com
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This project is associated with GymSmarts. Alison Arnold’s site is Head Games.
8 comments ↓
Sorry i am little slow, need to really catch up on the new rule, but what is the this landing rule on floor, with the lunge. is that now a deduction?
You cannot lunge any more at the end of a tumble. It will be treated as a step.
Lunge is now a deduction.
And I don’t think it’s unsafe. Gymnasts have shown they can stick big tumbles. Now they will get credit for it.
Ohh that is fantastic!! I totally support that rule, its about time there was a ruling on that one. I hate the lunge unless its out of rebound, and only when done really gracefully.
All and all, i support this.
Yes, 2012 will have new sessions in the fall.
Go to their website and sign-up for the newsletter.
Or signup for the GymSmarts newsletter on GymSmarts.com. We will also be updating on future sessions with 2012.
I think it puts more stress on the gymnasts’ bodies, as if they don’t have enough with the difficulty requirements these days.
I also see an artistic value to it when done well a la Rebecca Bross, Nastia, etc.
But this event is just called acrobatics on a spring floor now right?
I liked the lunge step out of tumbles for the women. I always understood it as an artistic presentation to go along with the fluidity required for music and dance in women’s floor exercises. I know people will probably argue choreography doesn’t exist any more, but isn’t forcing a stuck landing getting further away from promoting choreography? I always loved the way Allyse Ishino used the lunge step with her arms. Anyways I guess it’s already in the code, but I’m surprised some people like the new rule.
I hate all this posing in the lunge. I want to see tumbling and dance, not tumbling and poses. Great that it is gone!
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