Entries Tagged 'Gymnastics' ↓

The Chalk Bucket forum has a thread on this topic.

Cost in the USA runs $100 → $350 for Floor.
Free → $150 for Beam.

If you want professional choreography, check out Precision in Los Angeles.

At my gym kids have paid as much as $450 for a Floor routine. Buying a “used” routine is normally 50% of the original cost.

Leave a comment if you can add to the discussion. Price for quality varies wildly, it seems to me.

related – Gymnastics Zone – So You Need a Routine Choreographed

by site editor Rick McCharles

Chinese officials insist new eligibility rules will end the problem of age falsification in gymnastics.

China were stripped of their women’s team bronze from the 2000 Olympics after Dong Fangxiao was found to be 14 years old – two years too young.

Chinese sports officials promised that tighter checks introduced after the scandal would eradicate the problem.

They say the delegation for next month’s Youth Olympic Games in Singapore have had stringent checks.

“We’ve scrutinised every athlete’s age for the Youth Olympic Games to make sure there is no-one going to Singapore with a fake age,” Cai Zhenhua told Thursday’s China Daily. …

read more on BBC – Chinese confident over age checks for gymnasts

(via Full Twist)

I predict we’ll see many age falsification scandals in multiple sports at the Youth Olympic Games. China will likely not be one of those nations found guilty.

It’s not over for China, however. One day it will be proved that one or more of their competitors at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was underage.

And everybody already knows that Yang Yun was also underage in 2000. She admitted it. That controversy will come back to haunt them again, though I expect they’ll be no further IOC sanction for 2000.

Click through to Amanda Turner’s articles for full results.

Venezuela’s Jessica Lopez won the women’s all-around title Wednesday at the XXI Central American and Caribbean Games, taking place this week in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

The 2008 Olympian topped defending champion Elsa Garcia of Mexico and Colombian Olympian Nathalia Sanchez at the gymnastics hall in Hormigueros, south of Mayagüez.

“The competition was really strong,” the 24-year-old Lopez said. “It was the very last event at the very last minute that decided the outcome.” …

IG – Lopez Wins Central American Games Title

These 3 guys all scored over 88 points. Impressive.

Colombian Olympian Jorge Hugo Giraldo held off his Puerto Rican rivals to win the all-around title Tuesday at the XXI Central American and Caribbean Games, taking place this week in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Giraldo, 30, prevented Puerto Rico from taking a second gold at the gymnastics hall in Hormigueros, south of Mayagüez. Top qualifier Luis Rivera, 23, settled for the silver ahead of teammate Luis Vargas, 27. …

IG – Giraldo Wins Central American Games

Naama Arad, like me, was challenged by this Gymnastics Minute instructional by coaching legend Mas Watanabe.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… My advice to Naama is to consider this an advanced technique. Beginners should perfect long, low backward handspring series first. (Think of a rock skipping across a lake.)

Manjak has gymnasts do many sets of 5 normal ffs every day, for example.

Much, much later you can shape the skill for specific reasons, as Watanable is doing here.

1996 Olympic gold (team) and silver (uneven bars) medalist and 2000 Olympic team bronze medalist Amy Chow was married to Jason Ho on July 10 in Saratoga, Calif.

(via USA Gymnastics on Facebook)

Gymnastike chose her routine from the 2010 CoverGirl Classic Jr. competition as their Routine of the Week.

Love the artistry and the laid out full twist. Wobbly, though. (15.05)

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Hardy Fink runs the F.I.G. Academy coach education program.

How did he convince this powerhouse line-up of some of the best coaches in the world ALL to go to Trinidad for the entry level course?

The course leader was Chris Evans of Great Britain who has served as an expert for theory lectures, as course leader and as Women’s Artistic Gymnastics expert at multiple Academies. At this Academy he taught all of the theory lectures. Paul Hall also of Great Britain and coach of that country’s best male gymnasts served as expert for the men’s apparatus. Kelly Manjak, former coach of Olympic Gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt and now one of Canada’s top women’s coaches served as the expert for the women’s apparatus. A special delight was to have the services of 1980 women’s All-around Olympic Champion, Jelena Davydova (RUS) present to teach artistic preparation, choreography and Balance Beam. …

FIG

Some years ago I did clinics and workshops in Port of Spain. This was much, much better.

Back in 2008 the leading gymnastics blogs were Perfect 10, Difficulty + Execution and Gymblog.

The most visionary blogger, however, I felt, was Aleksas Trotter.

more photos on MySpace

On April 19, 2008 Aleksas Trotter committed suicide.

He was medically depressed.

Blythe Lawrence of Gymblog posted a touching tribute.

His death was a big loss to the blogosphere. This guy was super talented for his age, a pioneering montage maker who inspired many others to start. And to explore the darker side of the sport.

His videos (over 300,000 views) are still up on YouTube – gymkingdiesel channel.

Here’s a sample. Click PLAY or watch Toy Soldier montage on YouTube.

New to me is a video tribute posted by his father on the original Aleksas.com blog, left otherwise as it was the day he died.

Click through to the link above if you’d like to see it.

Rest in peace, Lex.

Ask anyone what they like about the new G.S. George Gymnastics textbook Championship Gymnastics. High on everyone’s list → the illustrations.

Stephenson, volunteer coach and former co-head coach for the Golden Gopher women’s gymnastics team, recently finished work on a book, “Championship Gymnastics: Biomechanical Techniques for Shaping Winners.”

Stephenson illustrated the entire book, which was written by Dr. Gerald George, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Louisiana. Here, Stephenson answers questions about the project, his artistic career, and future artistic endeavors.

How did the project of putting together “Championship Gymnastics” start?

“It really started in the early 1980’s, I had worked with Dr. George in creating a book called “Biomechanics of Women’s Gymnastics”. That book was probably the only book out in years that addressed so many of the important fundamentals of women’s gymnastics. We were pleased with it, but Jerry called me a couple of years ago as he was preparing to retire, and he said that he’d learned so much since writing that first book that he wanted to redo the whole thing. I was thrilled because my artwork has improved so much that I wanted to redo the whole thing too. We decided that we would make this happen. …

read the entire back story – Gopher Sports – Stephenson Completes Book Illustration Project

Thanks Roy.

Bit of a shocker. But not all that surprising considering the problems she’s had since World’s.

AND Alicia’s looking great, certainly a stronger candidate to make the USA World’s Team.

World vaulting champ Kayla Williams has made the decision to forego further Elite training and focus on preparing for college, according to coach Mary Lee Tracy.

Williams, the USA’s first, and to date only, World Champion on vault, tore her a plantar fascia tendon in her foot “one or two weeks ago,” according to Tracy, and decided yesterday to end her Elite career, even though the injury will not require surgical repair. …

Inside Gymnastics

reaction on IG forum

George Hery demonstrates a few progressions for this technically easy, but psychologically challenging, skill.

I’d love to see Artistic gymnasts learn Cody before they flip Tsuk, Yurchenko or double back.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I learned in this video that the Cody on Trampoline is named after American Dale Cody.

If you appreciate The Gymnastics Minute, click through to GymSmarts.com to browse their coaching DVDs. ($30 each)

Over the years there have been hundreds of gymnastics references on The Simpsons. (No doubt many of the writers had kids in the sport.)

The Children of a Lesser Clod episode marks the first appearance of Lugash the Béla Károlyi-esque gymnastics coach. …

coach Lugash

In the Little Girl in the Big Ten episode Lisa is failing Gym Class.

She’s sent to coach Lugash for training. Once there, Lisa learns that gymnasts are SMART. (Actually, they’re College girls, but petite.)

If interested, click through to watch the full episode .

If, like me, you missed the live coverage of Covergirl this weekend, catch up on Gymnastics Examiner.

… Recall all the negative buzz Jordyn and her coach John Geddert received online when she won American Cup at a “tender age”?

She’s not only healthy in 2010, but is competing more difficulty than ever. Double double on Floor. And her Amanar looks easy. … I think Jordyn is in the mix for the Olympic AA title in London.

Click PLAY or watch Jordyn’s vault on Gymnastike.