Entries from October 2010 ↓

Some wondered why Marci Bernholtz was not on the UCLA roster.

Senior Marci Bernholtz has injury retired and will stay in the gymnastics program as an undergraduate assistant coach for the 2011 season. …

UCLA Bruins

The Bruin’s first weekend intrasquad of the season took place last Saturday. Details.

Georgia posted video of their intersquad. VIDEO highlights.

Welcome DGS.

I’ve added a link to the site in the right hand navigation.

DGS is Deary’s Gymnastics Supply. They are the official grip supplier to the USA Gymnastics Men’s and Women’s national teams.

Here’s the backstory on the company and founder John Deary:

I was influenced as a young gymnast by athlete coaches from Springfield College and later my college Coach Abie Grossfeld at Southern Connecticut State College 1976 to 1981.

Like most gymnasts, the gymnastics bug infected me and the passion for the sport became part of who I am.

Combining this passion with my family influences in business and my many years of experience working for AAI as a sales representative, I started the company in 1993 as a gymnastics equipment distributor. …

Along with some success in business came the feeling of wanting to give back to the sport that has been so good to our company. In 2004 our company offered to sponsor the USA National Teams as their Grips Supplier and are in the second quadrennium as the USA Official Grips Supplier.

Office: 800.932.3339

How to break in Grips. (PDF)

www.GYMSUPPLY.com

Of course DGS distributes a full range of products for gym, cheer, fitness and more.

A Sesame Street video has gone viral. It touches a nerve with many women.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The back story is of a very young African American child who wanted straight, blonde hair. Her Dad, Sesame Street head writer Joey Mazzarino, put this together for her.

“She really is loving her hair right now,” Mazzarino told CNN.

Many are working on remix versions. Here’s Willow Smith’s – Whip My Hair Sesame Style (VIDEO)

Me too.

A flash of the past …

Click PLAY or watch a behind the scenes edit on YouTube.

Praise for the International Gymnastics Federation.

At the World Gymnastics Championships 2010, for the first time, the training gyms were opened to media. It was great.

I heard of no incidents of over zealous reporters hounding gymnasts or coaches. Everyone was cool.

And it was fascinating to see different approaches of different nations. (Brazilians spend more time on Facebook than any other country, for example.)

A Look Inside the Training Hall with China, Australia, Japan, and Romania

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Formal press conferences were almost non-existant. All media preferred the new “mixed zones” where they could ask questions one-on-one at the end of each session. That’s one reason why there are so many personal interviews posted online this time.

I did hear complaints (second hand) that some of the good old media hands were less happy to be sharing the wealth with new media. (And with one chicken.)

Personally I avoided the scrums so did not see any media fist fights myself.

But, as you know, old media is dying. Money for events like this drying up. Canadian TV did not attend this time, for example. Budget cuts.

FIG and USAG have embraced the future, posting immediately to YouTube this Worlds, updating 24/7. Encouraging bloggers.

This was by far the best coverage of a World Championships ever online. … Old media has big problems trying to compete online.

New media is the future, good or bad. If you’re reading this blog, there’s a strong chance you’ve already canceled your newspaper subscriptions.

Security was good in Rotterdam, but not too strict, … aside from the time Gymnastike got kicked off the bus.

But Tokyo will be a madhouse for media. I hope stricter rules are put in place for the mixed media zones. They could have bloggers speak to athletes last, if that will keep the AP happy.

Note that Gymnastike and Gymnastics Examiners are not blogs. They are both even newer kinds of media than blogs.

Gymnastics Examiner is in Zurich, reporting on the Swiss Cup meet this weekend.

Click through for an entertaining bit on podium training – 2010 Swiss Cup: Notes from the training gym

official website

Got high praise this time around.

Click through to Full Twist for a run down by nationality.

It’s frustrating to be a Dutch mountain climber.

So they built this …

That’s Klimcentrum Bjoeks in Groningen, the north of Netherlands.

Learn more about it from a 2009 UK Climbing article.

(via The Adventure Blog)

… Stone Works wall in Carrollton, Texas claims that they’re actually the world’s highest.

In Rotterdam at the World Gymnastics Championships, it was a delight to hang out with Brigid McCarthy (The Couch Gymnast and Couch Gymnast magazine), Anne Phillips (Gymnastike) and Blythe Lawrence (Gymnastics Examiner).

There were many other bloggers, journalists and photographers there too, but I spent most of my time with these three gymnastics fanatics. It’s insane how hard they work.

I can confirm that Brigid is an extremely fast typist.

Let me once again dispel the myth that bloggers make a lot of green doing what we love. We don’t. And neither do 99.99% of the other citizen journalists on the web.

The quality of blogs is mixed, as you know. But at least we’re working with noble purpose. And irrational dedication.

If you’ve got something to say, start one of your own on WordPress.com. It’s free.

NastiaFan101 notes in an IG forum thread on Romanian Yurchenkos:

… It pays to do an Amanar with flexed feet, crossed legs, and a slight knee bend because you’re only going to lose -0.10 for each, for a grand total of -0.30. That’s nothing. …

To be fair, almost every gymnast has crossed feet on vaults of 2 1/2 twist or more.

Yet I agree that the deduction should be greater. Gymnasts who can keep form, rewarded more. Crossed feet are a very obvious error.

Some coaches spend more time ensuring their gymnasts keep tight legs twisting, Al Fong, for one.

Canadian coach and Sports Psychology Consultant Rachelle Valel had her Master’s thesis edited into a book.

… the process and emotion an elite athlete faces when contemplating retirement. This research has practical applications in sport psychology and coaching. Sport identity, motivation and accomplishment are discussed as factors that contribute to a positive or negative retirement experience. The sport of gymnastics is highlighted due to the unique challenges athletes face at a young age. …

Sport Retirement: The Experiences of Elite Female Gymnasts

What does the former WTC chair think about WAG rules today?

… She doesn’t like them.

GYMmedia exclusive interview with the long-time President of women’s Technical Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), Jackie Fie (USA)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Amanda Turner linked to videos of the 2010 World Champion … back when she was still falling off Bars in competition.

Show that to your kids.

Amanda has links to Beam and Floor from 2004, as well.