Gymnastics Coaching.com » safety

Fotheringham – 1st wheelchair double back

coach Rick — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:12:13 +0000

Recall Aaron Fotheringham, the kid from Vegas who did back salto in a wheelchair at Woodward?

I was scared for him that time, back in 2006.

Now … terrified

… On August 26, Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham became the first person in a wheelchair to land a double backflip. …

… I’ve also been working on a front flip. I’m gonna have to say that one’s scarier than the back flip. In the front flip, you’re trying to get around without your head digging into the ground. …

Outside

If Aaron keeps upping the difficulty, he’s going to get badly hurt. That’s obvious.

I want to skysurf

coach Rick — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:01:45 +0000

Skysurfing looks like a blast.

gymnastics – bar wrist rips

coach Rick — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:03:09 +0000

Canadian gymnast Brittany Rogers is back in the gym, still recovering from her foot injury suffered competing in Australia.

But what gym? Rumour has it that she’s switched from Omega to Phoenix.

Brittany posted this photo of her wrist under the caption – Bars love me.

Not too bad. Yet.

But recall it was an infection of the wrist that took Nadia out of the 1979 World Championships All-around.

Do you have a strategy for treatment / prevention of Bar wrist rip?

My best advice is to use vasoline under a neoprene wrist band. Often with a cloth wristband overtop.

UPDATE: Sara wraps electrical tape around her wrist, then wristbands as normal. … Any duct tape solution sounds good to me!

IGC – huge gymnastics pit

coach Rick — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:24:29 +0000

Anna sends a link to the International Gymnastics Camp Olympic Gym page. The video highlights their HUGE pit.

Check the excellent IGC TV YouTube channel, as well.

young Russian Rhythmic gymnasts

coach Rick — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:01:46 +0000

Full Twist linked to a great photo essay on young Rhythmic gymnasts in St. Petersberg

more photos on EnglishRussia.com

Note the knee pads, used to protect from carpet burn, I assume.

American Gymnast’s Jay Thornton

coach Rick — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:02:20 +0000

Gymnastics Examiner posted an exceptional interview with Jay, the man who missed qualifying for two Olympics. Yet has become one of the biggest success stories in the USA with his website American Gymnast.

Examiner.com: Can you tell me a little about your childhood in gymnastics?

Jay Thornton: “I was very fortunate to have several a wonderful coaches from the beginning. I was a pretty good twister. I was a little bit bigger as a kid and I had that going against me. I’m about 5’10″ and competed at about 170 pounds. I was a bit bigger as a kid and wasn’t the most physically gifted, but my first coach, Tim Erwin, started preparing me with sound gymnastics technique from the day one.”

Examiner.com: When did you decide you wanted to go to the Olympics?

J.T.: “When I was 10 years old. It was 1984, the year of the Los Angeles Olympics and I, like every other gymnast at the time, was watching the ’84 U.S. Men’s Olympic team compete. When I saw them win that gold medal, I knew at that point that I wanted to become an Olympic gymnast.” …

Read about the coach who taught him to love gymnastics, Nick Brancheau. His inspirations: Roethlisberger and Bilozertchev. And how he reconnected with the woman who would become his wife.

Gymnastics Examiner – Catching up with American Gymnast’s Jay Thornton

The advantage of buying grips and equipment from American Gymnast is that Jay truly knows the sport inside out. Here’s his reaction to to Sho Nakamori’s post on his Reisport Ring grips tearing after only 2 days.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Jay’s younger brother Andy, who also competed for the University of Iowa, posts an excellent blog, Andy’s Angle, on American Gymnast. I read it religiously.

Note that the coaching video tutorial section has a new address: Gymnastics on Demand

trampoline Cody for gymnasts

coach Rick — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:05:51 +0000

George Hery demonstrates a few progressions for this technically easy, but psychologically challenging, skill.

I’d love to see Artistic gymnasts learn Cody before they flip Tsuk, Yurchenko or double back.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I learned in this video that the Cody on Trampoline is named after American Dale Cody.

If you appreciate The Gymnastics Minute, click through to GymSmarts.com to browse their coaching DVDs. ($30 each)

Twisters Cheer Camp 2010

coach Rick — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:01:49 +0000

A good edit.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (8:44)

These girls are great. While watching, I had an epiphany:

If Cheer didn’t tumble, Artistic gymnastics coaches would enjoy the sport. Enjoy it as much as Acrobatic Gymnastics.

The turn off for Artistic is dangerous tumbling.

Am I right?

triple layouts montage

coach Rick — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:02:39 +0000

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Brett MacAulay linked to this saying, …

I think the first trick is Miller Miller Plus holy cow batman!

Orthotic effect of a stabilising mechanism in the surface of gymnastic mats on foot motion during landings … whew

coach Rick — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:06:05 +0000

Crystal sends us a link to an an interesting study that seems to indicate that landing barefoot on soft mats causes more “distress” on the feet than on harder mats.

Certainly many higher level gymnasts prefer stiffer mats for landings for many reasons, especially as the risk of ankle sprain is lower.

Sport Science geeks should click through:

Orthotic effect of a stabilising mechanism in the surface of gymnastic mats on foot motion during landings

Dr. Bill Sands tells us that Sport Science research in gymnastics is dying. … If so, why don’t they make their reporting documentation and language more accessible?

The format and unnecessarily complex wordusement of that abstract makes me want to burn my most recent issue of the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology.