The best bars video I saw in 2008 was edited by Michel Arsenault of Champions Gymnastics in Canada.
It’s a DVD with lengthy accompanying notes called:
2006 Gymnastics Study Tour of China
Michel was partly funded to travel to China by Gymnastics Alberta and Alberta Lotteries (Above and Beyond program).
Visiting gyms in Beijing, KunMing and ZhengZhou, Michel wrote a report of what he saw. Here are just a few note I took while reading the document:
unwavering commitment to extreme quality and basics
children are allowed to quit gymnastics at any time
at some schools parents must pay a small fee for training. The governments pay most costs, however.
exacting training begins at a very young age
all gymnasts train twice / day
compulsory routines until age-11. The entire document for coaches and judges is simple and only 11-pages-long! For comparison, here’s just a tiny portion of the over-complicated Gymnastics Canada regulations posted on a gym wall:
(Canadian rules are the most complex, the most frequently revised, and the most poorly understood in the world, so far as I know. It certainly does a disservice to athletes, coaches and judges.)
very few girls wear handguards (none at all at the Beijing Provincial Training Centre)
when a coach speaks to a gymnast they must stand motionless listening to the coach intently. That said, the coaches are quite quiet. Gymnasts work independently from 6 to 8-yrs-old.
very few drills are done with high repetitions
coaches are paid $3000 – $4000 / yr. Average annual salary in Beijing is about $1500 / yr.
training gymnasts did not all have “a perfect body type”
Michel concluded that the good results in China are as much a result of the coaching “system” as talent identification
VIDEO
very specific technique on the descending and ascending swings of free hip
high priority on hitting a balanced handstand – for pirouettes
Available free to Alberta coaches through the library at AGF.
… Yang Le, deeply influenced by Olympic champion uncle Yang Wei, was fascinated with gymnastics. Her passion for the gymnastics led her to this school when she was only 3 years old. …
It’s conveniently located close to the train station.
This past summer, on recommendation from Keith Russell, I visited the new digs. And was very impressed with the operation.
Meike Behrensen, F.I.G. Media Operations Coordinator, gave me a tour.
(You’ve probably noticed how well and widely Meike has been getting information out to the world in recent months. I’m getting updates every couple of days from multiple sources. Thanks.)
I felt a bit sheepish entering the lovely historic building after all the less than positive things I’ve had to say about F.I.G. over the years. But you won’t find Bruno Grandi at the FIG offices. Nor
Nellie Kim.
Here the FIG employees work frantically trying to keep all the events and programs worldwide on track.
It’s not easy.
I was impressed with everyone I met: young, enthusiastic, energetic, multi-lingual. To survive working for FIG you must have a lot of good qualities.
On this blog we mostly cover Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. But in Lausanne they administer Trampoline Sports, Rhythmic, Aerobic, Acrobatic, Gymnastics for All, … and much, much more.
Consider this a shout out for the F.I.G. Staff. We really appreciate what you are doing for coaches and athletes.
Nicole Miller is the Recreational Gymnastics Coordinator at Lakewood-Trumbull YMCA in Connecticut.
She’s posting her coaching notes online. Drills and Skills. So few Rec coaches do this that I linked to her site from our right hand navigation under Recreation Gymnastics.
It’s divided into sections based on competitive apparatus. There’s a glossary page and links.
Check it out. Or send the link to your Rec Director.
We were very, very close to seeing a World Gymnastics All-around Champion … who fell on her last tumbling pass.
But she had some “bad luck”.
Rebecca Bross of USA falls as she competes in the floor exercise during the Women’s All Round Final on the fourth day of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2009 at the O2 Arena on October 16, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
1 SLOAN Bridget USA 57.825
2 BROSS Rebecca USA 57.775
The worst medal despite a fall I can recall was Cheng Fei at the 2008 Olympics.
Whatever rules we use in our sport, most coaches feel that a full fall on a routine is a failed routine. It should not be awarded a medal, despite any insanely high start value.
That said, I remember Nastia winning Beam at a VISA Championships with a fall. Yet it truly was the “best” routine of the Final.
Dave Adlard convinced me that this controversial drill works well. I’d used it for twisting backward flyaways, but was (for some dumb reason) reluctant to use if on Shoot Half.
Valentin Uzunov posted an article on The Gym Press:
… a 12 week off-season sprint training program, for preadolescent gymnasts (7-12 years of age), who have not had formal sprint training. A detailed discussion is presented on the theoretical and practical application of the key concepts to effective sprinting for vault: optimized running mechanics, start of run-up and acceleration. The methodology behind this program is based on current track and field coaching methods, scientific literature on sprinting biomechanics and preadolescence speed and strength training principles. …
It’s available to download for a few dollars. (This is a great way to support Valentin’s work studying the art and science of gymnastics coaching.)
He’s posted a number of videos on TheGymPress channel supporting this article.
One sample is a drill that I use a lot – Partner hamstring curls. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Gymnasts often have a muscular imbalance: their quads are too strong relative to the hamstrings. Partner hamstring curls are ideal for getting close to a maximum contraction safely.
Andy Thornton did an analysis of Kyla Ross vis-a-vis past U.S. Jr. National Champions. He compared Kyla against Carly Patterson, Shawn Johnson, Kim Zmeskal and all the rest.
A couple of interesting points jumped out at me:
… for American female gymnasts, the average time lapse between winning a first junior national title and reaching peak competitive form is about 2.3 years. So we can expect Rebecca Bross to be in peak form this year, Jordyn Wieber to reach her peak in 2010, and Kyla Ross to reach her peak in 2011. …
Critically important:
… The average peak age … has been 15.7. Hmmm…. that’s younger than the required age of 16 to compete at world or Olympic competition. Great! The gymnasts can go to their first world championships or Olympic Games while they’re on the way down from their peak. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? …
I know many elite coaches who project their gymnasts to peak at age-16.
Andy also posted all 4 of Kyla’s routines if you want to see how she compares as a Jr. against the past greats.
… Suzanne Yoculan is returning to gymnastics. This time she is going to be a commentator. Yoculan is scheduled to make her commentary debut on ESPN/ESPN2 for the UGA vs. Alabama meet as a guest commentator with Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke.
Yoculan is also expected to be a guest commentator for Universal Sports, CBS and may commentate on the local southern sports networks. …
I’m looking forward to it. She a very interesting and entertaining person.
Japan has been doing male team performances like this for over 50yrs.
For the first time I found this Men’s Rhythmic Gymnastics website. It’s not kept updated, however.
Rhythmic Gymnastics is a competitive sport under the authority of F.I.G. (International Gymnastics Federation). Currently, only the women’s portion of rhythmic gymnastics is recognized by FIG – men’s rhythmic gymnastics is yet to get FIG approval. The possibilities and opportunities men’s rhythmic gymnastics presents are endless. It is up to each and everyone of us to work hard to make the dream a reality.
Anysia Unick, from Stampede City in my home town Calgary, finished 7th in the Jr Pan-Am all-around competition and was the only Canadian member to qualify to all four event finals on Sunday. She won the bronze medal on beam.
Meike Behrensen, F.I.G. Media Operations Coordinator, gave me a tour. 
