see more MAG and WAG World Champions on Facebook. Komova’s Bars are up now.

This was the biggest new skill at the meet. An incredible 7.4 start score! Watch it again on YouTube.

Note that he uses a traditional preflight technique, not the flyspring style used by Alicia Sacramone. (Both work.)

Watch Alicia’s Vault on YouTube.

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Click PLAY or watch it on ShaunWhite.com.

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The new device is composed of a processor unit with LCD display and is connected to accelerometer sensors that are placed under the top desk of the springboard.

… accelerations velocities are calculated … and several parameters such as time to maximal springboard compression and maximal velocity at take-off are determined and displayed. The data is directly transferred to a PC for further analysis ….

Matlab software was used to record, filter and analyze the measured data.

Results are in good agreement with simultaneously obtained results from the force plate and laser displacement sensor measurements (similar time and vertical velocity).

With developed equipment it will be possible to determine typical springboard action parameters for individual gymnast, optimal springboard parameters for a required jump, to analyze repeatability of springboard jumps, to analyze transverse movements and to optimize training and its efficiency. The developed device has good potential for use as a fast information system as well as a device for suitable science/research projects in vaulting.

Details in this PDF – TOWARDS A SMART SPRINGBOARD (CASE STUDY)

I saw that posted in the latest issue of the Science of Gymnastics Journal.

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… From the data it can be concluded, that the double Jaeger is possible in either tucked or piked body posture …

Despite its feasibility, there may be … arguments why the Jaeger Salto on the high bar is not performed that often in international competitions, and potentially, why the double Jaeger may not be attractive for gymnasts to learn as compared to other release-regrasp skills.

… the Jaeger salto is a forward salto during which the athlete “sees” the high bar relatively late prior to regrasp, and therefore has less time to adjust the regrasp based on visual information, as compared to other flight elements, like the Tkatschev (Gervais & Tally, 1993; Raab, de Oliveira & Heinen, 2009).

… the athlete has to reverse the direction of his rotation when regrasping the bar, as compared to other flight elements, like the Kovacs Salto if he intends to perform a subsequent giant swing. …

Download the full research article – WHAT IT TAKES TO DO THE DOUBLE JAEGER ON THE HIGH BAR (PDF)

by Thomas Heinen, Damian Jeraj, Pia M. Vinken, Katharina Knieps,
Konstantinos Velentzas & Hedi Richter

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click for larger image

Slow Motion video at 240 and 420 frames / second work well, too.

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Lifehacker recommends …

Most fitness apps for iOS will teach you to stretch and exercise through specific demonstrations, but iMuscle takes it a step further by actually showing you the muscles in action.

It works by providing a ton of animated diagrams that are accessible with just a touch. When you launch the app, you just grope the part of the muscular body you want to work on and it’ll stick a few pins in it. Each pin corresponds to a muscle (or muscle group) and its associated exercises and stretches. Touching any of the exercises or stretches will provide you with an animated demonstration, written instructions, and pictures of the affected muscles. …

iMuscle Teaches You to Stretch and Exercise by Literally Showing You the Muscles in Action

If you like that, check out similar apps for the Skeletal System and Muscular System.

Thanks for the link, Warren.

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To represent Canada at major international meets, you must be fully certified Level 4. (4 weeks over 2yrs)

This time round, Keith invited Kelly Manjak who’s coached both Men and Women to World Championships.

For a glimpse of what happened at the clinic, Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Kelly is very specific on basics, but not nearly so exacting on high level skills. He’ll spend years working handstand, then expect kids to add Tkachev to their routines within a few weeks.

The course was not videotaped, but I do have some highlights to post over the next couple of weeks.

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Several people have told me it’s good.

• energetic, physical and physiological assessment
• training principles
• diet, nutrition and supplementation
• growth and development issues
• kinetics and kinematics
• angular and linear motion
• angular momentum
• stress, anxiety and coping
• motivation and goal setting
• mental skills training for practice and competition
• the psychology of learning and performance.

Amazon

It’s available in paperback or ebook for $54.95. From that same Routledge link you can preview some pages free. University instructors can request a Complimentary Exam Copy.

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ESPN’s Sport Science lab takes a look at the science and biomechanics behind elite gymnasts.

Don’t go dissecting those numbers. We should be happy that ESPN is helping explain just how amazing are gymnasts.

Links to this video are widely distributed on the web right now. I first saw it linked by Amy Van Deusen on About.com Gymnastics.

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…

Interestingly enough, we found that in order not to take a step, it was often necessary to lower ourselves down in order to gain more stability. The result however, was not a higher score – in fact, in some cases, the score went DOWN. Why?

After inquiring about the E-Score (which we can do in Canada), we learned that judges were taking the 0.3 body posture deduction, even though we had ‘stuck’ our landings. …

click for larger version

I’ve seen College gymnasts stick vault, and yet get a low score for the same reason. Yet as a coach I saw no fault biomechanical nor technical in how the force was absorbed.

The score was unjust.

… But there might be an upside to this mistake in the women’s judging rules. (Men’s judges are far more reasonable.)

Keith Russell has many times speculated on what would happen if we allowed one step or hop on landing … WITHOUT deduction. He feels the number and severity of injuries would decrease.

That step / hop is tremendously effective in attenuating the force of landing. It’s much safer.

My advice for Crystal, therefore, is to train the kids to do a small hop (not step) with the required posture. Also, to have them train landings up on to high mats … so that the timing of the rotation will allow a ‘kick out’ and, thus, a more vertical position with the torso.

… If the girls happen to stick with vertical posture, consider that a bonus.

If you have advice for Crystal on this dilemma, leave a comment on her blog – Exclamation Points.

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