Entries Tagged 'handstands' ↓

Mainstream media love to do these stories. This one is more balanced than usual.

Mail Online:

It’s enough to make any parents grimace as these Chinese children are contorted into the most uncomfortable positions.

Aged between four and seven, the young gymnasts are put through a rigorous stretching routine by their coaches during a training session. …

Read more: Hang in there: How children as young as four are stretched in training to be China’s future gymnasts

I was happy to see coaches doing handstand on a floor bar, rather than flat-handed. This will help prevent overuse injury to the wrists later in the career.

Thanks Jeni.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube

Sara Eckert and Mike Jojola at McArthur Burney Falls State Park in northern CA.

Describing himself as an ‘educated balancing performer’, he has been sculpting his abilities since the age of five. The skills have taken him through circus troupes and across the globe.

Describing his performances as ‘expressions of art’, Eskil is currently touring with a team of 10 people as part of a documentary about his incredible achievements. …

Trollstigen, Norway

see more photos – Don’t let go of me! The incredible extreme artists balanced precariously over a cliff

Thank Stacey for the link.

St. Mary’s Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Thanks Nick Blanton.

Dr. Jeni McNeal

These two gymnasts are quite good at handstand walking.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

But I don’t like gymnasts doing these contests. It’s a pet peeve of mine.

Why?

Handstand walking teaches many bad habits. (bad line, bad form)

Kids learn to maintain balance by moving the hands (base of support) forward underneath them. This is bad preparation for many skills, particularly handstand on Parallel Bars.

My personal philsophy is to allow handstand walking backward and sideward, but almost never forwards.

… These girls are great tumblers, despite my concerns.

_____

Update: JO and K send us a related link, gymnasts from Capital Gymnastics in Texas doing handstand drills, including some handstand walking. (better form, still poor “line”)

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

… I’d still recommend the walking course be backwards and sidewards only.

Used at Island Gymnastics Academy in PEI, Canada.

Both challenge the gymnast. Both are intended to simulate (somewhat) a handstand on Rings.

The first unit is home made. The round parallettes are commercially available. Coach Jim Rand bought them at the WOGA Men’s competition last year.

Leave a comment if you know where they can be purchased online.

This is Ariel on holidays in B.C.

This is coach Krista Morris. She’s celebrating her brief holiday from the gym by doing gymnastics atop Mt Remus, Alberta.

besthike trip report

The 2000 Olympic medalist from Russia on the beach in Vancouver, B.C.

from Facebook

It’s Yekaterina Lobaznyuk‘s birthday today.

Ivan Cuk (Slovenia) has posted a new edition of (ScGYM®).

Click through if any of these articles look of interest to you.

A HISTORY OF USA ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (PDF)

QUALITY OF THE TEACHING PROCESS AS AN EXPLANATORY VARIABLE IN LEARNING GYMNASTICS SKILLS IN SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION (PDF)

COORDINATION OF HANDWALKING IN GYMNASTS: A COMPARISON TO BIPEDAL WALKING (PDF)

JUDGES EVALUATION OF ROUTINES IN MEN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (PDF)

BASIC LANDING CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (PDF)

Home page – Science of Gymnastics Journal vol.2, num.2, 2010

Ivan is looking for articles for future publication.

Related:

… The gymnastics community (FIG) knows that more knowledge leads to a lift in the level of gymnastics. At the end of June, the second symposium on artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, organized by the Faculty of Physical Education, Campinas University, will be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil. details.

We strongly support gymnastics conferences and would like to share information about all such scientifically orientated events. If you are planning to organize a scientific conference on gymnastics please let us know and we will publish the information on our pages. …

Somebody call security …

FIP Centercourt Charity Golf Tournament 2010 by Robin Sutton Hardwicke

on Facebook.

This miscreant has the same name as Olympic gymnast Raj Bhavsar.