Gary Connery is apparently the first person to skydive out of an aircraft and land on the ground without injury without the use of a parachute.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Kottke)

Print Friendly

Coming SOON from Norberts:

(via Rec Gymnastics)

Print Friendly

Nate Wessel walks us through the design of the Pump track, foam pit and resi jumps.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There are more videos like that on the WoodwardTahoe YouTube channel.

Print Friendly

Bangor based Rathgael Gymnastics and Tumbling Club has announced plans to develop what will be the largest gymnastics facility in (Northern) Ireland.

The facility which will span 14,500 square feet …

… almost 800 gymnasts …

Full Twist – Rathgael Gymnastics to open Ireland’s biggest gymnastics facility

Click PLAY or watch a preview on YouTube.

Print Friendly

Note the free standing elevated chalk box.

Those segments are 8ft long, wide enough to leave a 2ft channel.

The white base spotting box is the minimum height you’d possibly ever want to use. The yellow pieces can be stacked as high as needed for the height of the gymnast. This day it was set so the tallest girl in the gym could swing.

The blue mat in-between is custom made to fit.

Construction is layers of rigid foam, glued together. Then topped with carpet bonded ethafoam from an old roll strip.

Al’s gym makes their own covers having purchased a $1600 industrial sewing machine.

A contractor friend of mine priced out one of the yellow sections at less than $200 including handles and perhaps even a zipper closure. GAGE has dozens. Each is light enough to easily be moved by two small kids.

Al finds this system far superior to the below ground channel pits.

Leave a comment if you’ve an opinion. Or any alternative this useful.

Print Friendly

comment on the Facebook photo

This was a set-up, take-down gym just a couple of years ago. Now they have their first gymnast representing Ireland — Ellen Hynes at the Celtic Cup 2012. Congratulations.

Print Friendly

From our perspective, choosing the right type of pit will take a complete analysis considering every factor involved with this purchase (primarily the security of the users of course!).

1-Your actual gymnasium’s realities and impositions. For example, it is quite possible that to create a sunken pit in a gym situated on the 2nd floor is simply impossible.

2-The desired dimensions as well as all of the equipment you would like to into the pit.

3-The available budget (whichever type of pit you end up choosing, this project will be expensive.)

4-Your preference base on your experience. From a gymnast and coach point of view, a pit with foam cubes is psychologically more inviting to attempt difficult and complicated movements. From an administrator point of view, the pit with foam cubes seem less hygienic (even if the foam cubes are protected with covers…. covered or not, if a child vomits in the pit, it is a pain!).

From my personal point of view, I would opt for a suspended sunken pit for it’s easiness regarding maintenance and especially for the possibility to adjust the elasticity of the net and re-tension the pit (it is also cheaper in term of $$). I also believe that mixing a suspended pit and a pit with foam cubes could be a great compromise! Attractive proposition because it offers a sense of security for the users with the net preventing athletes to reach the ground between cubes, maintenance is easier and cheaper (less cubes).

Whichever pit you choose, you should always use it with a foam safety mat to prevent tearing up the pit’s foam. …

Pascal sent some additional pit diagrams:

If you have additional questions, Pascal invites you to contact him:

GYMNOVA Canada / GymRep et Cheer-Rep
450-662-9901 poste 2 (bureau)
514-894-3872 (cell.)
ptremblay a gymrep.com

Print Friendly

Gymnova invented the “suspended” pit, so far as I know. The knock against the “suspended pit” design is that the foam top can be easily split by bigger athletes. I’ve heard that there is a more expensive kind of foam fill that is unsplitable, but it’s about twice the cost.

My gut feeling is that their built-in pit is more durable.

In ground or raised, it’s still nice to have loose foam for NEW skills.

Loose foam is messy. But cubes can be ordered with fire retardant covers.

Those images all come from the current Gymnova catalogue. (PDF)

Do you have a favourite pit design? Leave a comment, if so.

… After much consideration, I’m still leaning towards the Jim Walker design as best of the best.

Print Friendly

source

And what’s the least expensive you’ve ever seen?

Please leave a comment.

American Gymnastics in the comments likes the safety of semi-circle trench pits like this by GYMNOVA.

Print Friendly

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That one is the Acrobag.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on whether it could be used by circus acrobats, divers or gymnasts.

Woodward Copper Mountain should be the place to test one.

Print Friendly