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.
The young trampolinist from the U.K. some were calling the next Jason Burnette had to withdraw from World Championships.
What a shame.
His training was going superbly … then 5-days before departure to St. Petersburg he reportedly dislocated his knee cap and broke bones in his lower leg.
He’s in hospital for some time having a series of operations. As an elite athlete the doctors will be very cautious in trying to bring him back to 100%.
Next begins the speculation … Will the (insert up-and-coming Jr gymnast) be able to grow to one of the best Seniors in the world?
She trains at Gym Max in California. Some insight posted by Blythe:
Jian Hua (Jenny) Zhang … along with her husband Hao Quan (Howie) Liang (have) … coached Ross for the past four and a half years. …
Her coaches say Ross, who started gymnastics at age three, is not afraid to work hard. “She has something very special,” Zhang says. “She’s also very smart…we coach for safety. We want to protect her. We want her to enjoy [gymnastics].” …
Protecting a talented Jr. is the most difficult challenge. Any good Junior who simply survives through to age-16 will have a shot at World’s and Olympics. Many of her competitors will not make it.
Madison sends us this tragic story from California.
… Kenneth Ta is dead.
Sacramento police said the 15-year-old fell from an eight-story parking structure at 28th and N streets last Thursday evening.
… We’re just trying to determine if it was an accidental fall or something else,” said Officer Laura Peck, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department.
Friends and family members told KCRA 3 they believe parkour, an urban sport popularized on the Internet, might be to blame. …
I also have to say, that the one thing I really noticed about the Romanians, particularly Forminte, is what good care he took of little Porgras. He was always by her side. Just look at how he is looking at her during this clip, all fatherly and proud and ‘how exciting is that you are meeting Nadia?’
I mean, they seem to take care of all the other girls too. The Romanians have such a family like vibe about them. Not lovey- dovey, but just a practical, healthy family dynamic that probably comes from living together all year round.
… I noticed, during the floor final, when Ortiz was hurt, he was kind of shielding her from watching what was happening. He seems happy to let her just stay the child she is, which is more than I can say for Belu and Bitang whose baby gymnasts looked like careworn war widows by the time they’d made it onto the senior national team. …
… the Code of Points does not help Romania develop and retain many gymnasts.
“Now the scoring is open(-ended), so everyone tries to do many difficult combinations that take a lot out of the body,” he said. “It’s not easy to make many routines. There are two notes, Difficulty and Execution. To have good execution you have to do it many times, and when the difficulty is higher, it is not easy to do many times.” …
Some 2009 World Championships clips including the fall by Rebecca Bross on FX.
It’s interesting to look at a large number of falls closely to see why they happen – often very bad technique and form – and to speculate on why the coach left the skill in the routine.
Seems to me there’s too much incentive to do “difficulty” in our rules.
And that many of these athletes have not done enough landings on competition mats prior to the meet.
I’m sensing a bit of a backlash to the pink campaigns that hope to bring attention to the terrible disease of breast cancer, the second most common after lung cancer.
Will buying a pink t-shirt actually reduce the incidence of breast cancer?
Which organizations are actually contributing to the fight against breast cancer? And which organizations are turning a profit in these pink campaigns?
I’d like to follow the money.
… (the) “Think Before You Pink” campaign urges people to “do something besides shop.” After explaining that some “pink” sponsors are polluting industrial giants or spend more money on breast cancer-themed advertisements than they actually donate towards research or treatment, BCA asks consumers to reflect thoughtfully on questions like, “How much money was spent marketing the product?” or “What is the company doing to assure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?” This group has particularly excoriated major cosmetic companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estée Lauder, which have claimed to promote women’s health while simultaneously using known and/or suspected cancer-causing chemicals, such as parabens and phthalates in their products. …
I’ve heard informally of quite a few cases. Some are mentioned on this thread:
Flipper missed 2.5 weeks of gym and school with H1N1. She had seemed to recover by the end of the first week, but was very sick again on Monday – and is still not at 100%. …
Girls wearing masks to prevent the H1N1 influenza virus are seen at the venue of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Ise, Mie prefecture, central Japan September 11, 2009.
Former World floor champion Daiane dos Santos of Brazil has tested positive for a banned weight loss drug, according to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
In an imaginatively titled article called “Furosemide strikes again!”, the FIG reports that dos Santos tested positive after being given an out of competition drug test in July. …
… Dos Santos, who is recovering from knee surgery, did not compete at the 2009 World Championships earlier this month. The FIG admitted that dos Santos might have been given the drug by mistake because of the surgery, according to the Associated Press.
Furosemide is a diuretic, meaning it causes urination and thereby drains the body of water, which can cause weight loss. It can also be used as a masking agent for other banned substances.
At the 2008 Olympics, Do Thi Ngan Thuong of Vietnam also tested positive for furosemide and was expelled from the Games, then given a one-year suspension. …
The good news … his injury looks minor and should heal rapidly.
Following his foot injury in podium training, Germany’s Fabian Hambüchen said that he is reconsidering his competitive schedule for next year. “I didn’t have a break from competition this year at all. I tried to please everybody. I’ve realised that sometimes you have to be a bit more selfish and look after your own interests. …
After every age group competition I check on injury trends. Talking to the medical staff on site is usually the best way to get a feel for what happened.
What about the World Championships?
Some called it a “Splatfest” … I think that’s a bit too harsh.
The first thing you need tell a non-gymnast about Artistic Gymnastics is that it’s difficult. Second, that it’s dangerous.
We saw a lot of falls like this …
Yang Yilin of China tumbles as she dismount from the uneven bars during the World Gymnastics Championships women’s all-around final at the O2 Arena in London, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
Most gymnasts pick themselves up. And go on. They are tough as any athlete anywhere.
Reuters published an article on the dangers:
The risks faced by young gymnasts in the chase for medals were again highlighted on Sunday when Jessica Gil Ortiz’s bid to win the floor exercise title ended painfully with a suspected neck injury.
The 19-year-old Colombian was attempting to finish off a high-flying tumbling sequence with a double front somersault when she banged her head at an uncomfortable angle, hushing almost 12,000 fans at the O2 Arena into silence. …
Reports are that the injury turned out to be not serious. (Jessica trains at Universal Gymnastics in Miami.)
Other athletes injured in London include Fabian Hambuechen (GER) and Shona Morgan (AUS). Leave a comment if you know of others who withdrew from competition.
