Gymnastics Coaching is an aggregator . We try to link to the best of the best published online in English. The most interesting ideas, photos and videos.
Artistic Gymnastics – best of 2011 categories:
INDEPENDENT SITES (blogs, coaches, etc.)
OFFICIAL SITES (magazines, organizations, FIG, NOCs, etc.)
PHOTO & VIDEO SITES
Artistic Gymnastics, especially WAG, dominates the Gymternet over all other acrobatic disciplines. That’s OK since we want every child to start with Artistic & Trampoline before specializing.
Artistic Gymnastics is the Foundation.
_____ INDEPENDENT SITES:
The very best have not changed much since a year ago:
Those sites post prolifically. Each is quite unique. Please subscribe, follow and/or like those as well as others listed here that don’t post quite so often. (A much longer list of sites we follow is listed in the right hand navigation of every page on this site.)
The excellent Gymnastics Minute videos were Tony’s idea, originally. Sadly we’ve seen few new videos from publisher GymSmarts, long the #1 production house for coaching videos.
John Geddert has been posting online for a few years. But in 2011 he became the elite coach who communicates online the most. I get something from John every day:
• Jennifer Isbister’s Gymn.ca (Canada) … perhaps the original dedicated National site
Recent Couch Gymnast graphic
_____ OFFICIAL SITES:
I link a lot to IG. Dwight Normile, Amanda Turner, John Crumlish & team – International Gymnast magazine online News | Facebook | @intlgymnast
Last year and again this year I was astonished at the quality of communications out of USA Gymnastics and FIG. Those organizations have media people equal the best bloggers. In the past information from both was whitewashed — no bad news. But both have gotten increasingly open, over time.
I’ve long criticized Inside Gymnastics magazine. But the IG2 posts were better this year, I thought. Especially during LIVE events. And especially on Facebook.
Universal SportsTumble Mumble is an interesting kind of page. Interspersed between news articles from Reuters and AP are blog posts from Blythe Lawrence, Andy Thornton and others.
The best thing that ever happened for gymnastics coaches is YouTube. Thank Google for buying that company and letting us share with the world for free. In 2011 I still link to YouTube over Vimeo and others as YouTube streams quickest over a weak WiFi signal.
Some of my favourites this past year:
• American Gymnast Gymnastics on Demand videos on the JoeLangley YouTube channel (1150+ coaching tutorials)
Inside Gymnastics has the photographer I link to most. That’s the terrific Grace Chiu. She uses Facebook perfectly, posting a few of her best shots in order to promote sales from GraceClick.ca.
There are a number of equally wonderful photographers around the world. But many are over-protective. Almost nobody sees their work. Foremost of those is the great Eileen Langsley.
Did I MISS one of your favourite sites? … or links to their content?
… Leave a comment and I’ll update this list in a week or so. I could name many more.
If you’re not exhausted by online polls, head over to this one — far more entertaining than most.
On the other hand, you are required to answer ALL questions, even those you don’t have an opinon on. AND the number of choices are restricted on most. (There should be a write-in choice for each.)
Inside Gymnastics readers, let your voices be heard! It’s time for our Annual Reader’s Choice awards, decided by, well, you of course! Complete the survey below and look for the winners to be announced in our January/February 2012 issue!
It’s lengthy. But I was happy to see online categories included:
Best Gymnastics Blog?
Andy Thornton, American-Gymnast.com
Gymnastics Examiner
GymnasticsCoaching.com
Doug’s Blog, TumblTrak.com
Other…
Double Front’s Kristal Sergent Boulden visited the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in Oklahoma:
… The IGHOF website describes its library collection as “extensive,” “second to none,” and “perhaps the largest gymnastics library in the world.”
And yet when I visited the IGHOF, there was no library collection. A staff member told me it was possible that materials were stored in an onsite archive and were not out for display. I am still waiting to hear back from museum staff about what items comprise the library collection.
Aside from the library collection, the IGHOF exhibit is surprisingly underwhelming. …
Immortal, a touring show, is the first of two Cirque MJ productions in development. Still “under construction” it’s worth seeing. In Sin City until Dec. 27th.
Ivan Cuk
