Comments on: gymnastics falls in slow motion

By: Jim from Seattle

Jim from Seattle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:37:06 +0000

tp….
reasonable people, including you and me, can agree to disagree….
if you think an 8″ mat helps your USAG level 5s to improve their gymnastics, then that is what you shouuld do….

By: tp

tp — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:12:40 +0000

p.s. I use an 8-incher under the beam in competition for my Level 5s only because it creates the illusion that the beam is closer to the ground … hehehe … gotta take those advantages when you can, you know?

By: tp

tp — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:11:29 +0000

Ah yes, thank you for clarifying. Yes the supplemental matting may be ok for training but for competitions it seems a little silly.
And yes the Barta crowd tend to just be injured from overuse and training harder, not necessarily smarter. Still, it probably wasn’t the best example seeing how famous they are for their injured athletes
I always noticed that Soviet women tended to be less injured compared to the US women – of course that could be because they kept things more hush-hush for all I know.

By: ryantroop

ryantroop — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:26:53 +0000

on top of that, most of the falls in the video were just bad technique – that’s not saying they were coached poorly, it just happened to be an off day for that athlete and they were just a little off. All of us could probably look at every one of those and say “too high on the board” or “shoulder was down” and point out what was wrong with THAT showing. It happens. Life goes on. Even our beloved world champions had their moments of imperfection. It’s part of the sport, and it always will be.

By: ryantroop

ryantroop — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:18:13 +0000

erm.. first, related to the original post – I have had the wonderful opportunity to observe UIC’s training for women, and they do a wonderful job of training injury prevention by not only building muscle, but also through limiting pounding repetitions, and creating functional awareness. I am a firm believer that training muscles to expect high impact, and awkward landings, it will prevent damage to those muscles and fibers when put under stress. While some injuries are just outright catastrophic (which is why a spotter should be there), most injuries can be prevented by making sure the gymnast is strong enough to take it, and their bodies are ready to handle the impact.

As for the matting posts *boggle* how about thinking “these kids are doing things you probably wouldnt, so lets keep them safe in the process!” Sure, perfection is wonderful. Yes, our sport strives for perfection – but please!! You won’t ALWAYS get perfection, and not every kid is going to be super elite all the time. Look at some of the falls and crashes that weren’t televised! And these are people that are supposed to represent the best in the world! Im HAPPY that coaches and the “administration” have allowed for safety matting to prevent long term damage to these kids (yes, I know, some are adults too).

Think of how many knee and ankle injuries people had before spring floors, or how incredibly damaging falling off a highbar was before “proper matting” was introduced. Give these athletes a break.

I remember hearing once that a double back has the same impact landing of jumping off a second floor window into grass. True or not, I can imagine it’s similar. Were it my kids tumbling, twisting, or landing, from some of these skills (especially some of the releases we are seeing lately), give them a soft landing for that “just in case” instead of the “they should be perfect.” I have seen some very well stuck landings into 8″ mats, and I have seen some beautifully stuck landings into sting mats. I don’t see any reason to take them away.

But I guess that’s the wonderful part of the internet – we are all allowed our opinions, however off the wall. Anonymity FTW.

By: Jim from Seattle

Jim from Seattle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:58:31 +0000

ps. i’m no fan of Barta, but the injuries you allude to were unrelated to LANDINGS….those chicks could stick/nail/drill dismounts like nobody else………
the sport needs to go back to that

By: Jim from Seattle

Jim from Seattle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:52:33 +0000

tp:
i want to be clear…….
all the supplementary mats have more or less evicerated “sticks” re: landings….
i’m not “pulling” for any side, I just know with absolute certainty that stuck landings have gone the way of the dinosaur….you want sticks?
GET RID OF SUPPLEMENTAL MATS IN COMPETITION.
discuss as appropriate…..

ps. what do you mean my prose is not clear? i’m a firm acolyte of the Groucho Marxist school of rhetoric…..
;->

By: tp

tp — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:30:14 +0000

Jim from Seattle, whose comments I normally enjoy reading …
I cannot figure out which side of this you are pulling for. It probably has to do with the fact that your style of writing is somewhat incomprehensible. Perhaps you forgot your morning coffee
It sounds like you are trying to say that pre-1995 gymnasts were better at landing safely and sticking. Then you try to back it up with the groups of gymnasts that were known for sticking and pointing to their injury record. Karolyi kids were rife with injuries during that time period (and before, and beyond). Therefore, I am trying to piece this together and it doesn’t make any sense.

Care to clarify please?

By: Jim from Seattle

Jim from Seattle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:43:30 +0000

Rick,
this is one of (yeah, Jim, you’ve got, what ‘hundreds”?) my ultimate pet peeves…..
prior to the 1995 Worlds (Sabae), the matting was 20cm for ALL apparatus….gymnasts either landed or didn’t, stuck or didn’t…..
now, i’m from the US and of course am hyper-aware of legal safety/liability issues, but, and i’m respectfully challenging ANYONE reading this blog to tell me that dismounts are safer today and gymnasts are better at it today than pre-1995.
The best “stickers” in gymnastics history are the Soviet men from the late 80s early 90s and Karolyi’s group from same time period………and how many injuries did those groups have?
flame away, i HATE all those g–d—–d extra friggin’ ridiculous mats…..
lemme see….sting mat over an 8 inch crash pad over a competion landing mat for a (usag) level 5 half-turn drop-off?
gimme a break……….

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:48:34 +0000

I believe it goes both way when it comes to falling “safely”. You can teach proper falling basics to all athletes and they will benefits from it, however, it still takes a instinct to be able to react quickly enough to ensure safety. Some kids have this some don’t. It can also be trained to the extent in which a kid who falls more often will have a better chance of being safe them someone who is not used to falling or missing a skill.