Month: January 2008

Always insightful, check the list posted by the International Gymnast magazine editor:

Another year has ended, a new one starting. For gymnasts, 2008 marks the final year of another Olympic cycle. So as we forge ahead, it is also a time for reflection.

With that in mind, I offer the following wishes for a more perfect world of gymnastics in the year to come…

IG Online Interview

When I coach boys age-6 recreational classes, inevitably at least one parent tells me their son has been diagnosed with ADHD or some sort of attention deficit disorder.

The thing is, I can never tell which of the kids is disordered. ALL seem attention disordered to me. It’s the natural state of an excited 6-year-old boy.

Case study:

Patricia and Ron Golden needed something to occupy their youngest child, a 4-year-old boy whose frenetic energy was taking its toll on their furniture and their patience.

“Sean used to flip down the stairs backward, like a Slinky,” said Ron Golden, a retired juvenile detective with the Camden Police Department and now a federal court security officer.

…

The Goldens rejected suggestions that their son try Adderall, a drug frequently prescribed for hyperactivity. Finally, they discovered gymnastics.

Sean took to the sport so well that now, two decades later, he is one of America’s leading male gymnasts, the U.S. champion the last two years in the vault, the 2005 champ on the rings, and a member of the American men’s team that finished fourth at the recent world championships in Stuttgart, Germany. …

From Camden’s streets to a gymnastics mat | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/25/2007

I think drugs are prescribed far too quickly. Too often.

Lets wear the hyperactive kids out with sport, instead.

That said, I was just coaching a gymnast who is on daily medication. She said she cannot identify any negative side effects from her prescription. But that when she is not on the meds she finds it difficult to concentrate during training.

I coached her brother too when he first went on the same medication at age-6. He went from wild-and-crazy to quietly introspective over-night.

In all, 3 siblings are on the same medication. None are considering going off it as yet.

Ted Brown at Illinois finished second on pommel horse at the 2006 NCAA Championships.

But a far greater accomplishment was his medical comeback from brain tumor.

This is inspiring.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Ted Brown Gymnast Documentary: Swinging Against the Odds “Life Without Regrets”. Directed, Produced, and Edited by Mike Boyer.

Thanks JJ for pointing us to this video.

You can make money from posting your gymnastics video.

Metacafe paid one million dollars to video creators in its first year of sharing revenue. Interestingly enough, the top earner is a three-minute gymnastics demo, raking in $27,829. By contrast, the runner-up earned just $9,656.

Gymnastics Video Earns $27,829

We’ve posted this one in the past. But here it is again, in case you missed it the first time.

http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/7203/matrix_for_real_joe_eigo.swf
Matrix – For Real…Joe Eigo – metacafe

Not nearly the best video we’ve seen. But this one was one of the first parkour / free running clips to get widely circulated.

Can you do better? Get 6 million hits?

If so, try posting your video to metacafe’s Producer Rewards program.

on the ball on Flickr

Since I first met him in 1994, Edouard Iarov has been the coach who most influences my coaching philosophy. He is a coaching genius. An original.

photo credit – KyleShewfelt.com

Iarov, Canada’s Men’s National Coach, helped teach a recent coaching course. I will be posting short video clips of his presentations. But Men’s Artistic coaches may also be interested to see Edouard’s “technical testing program” for high performance boys. It’s posted on Gymnastics Canada:

2005 Men’s Program Technical Testing-EN (PDF file)
Gymnastics Canada – Gymnastique Canada

One of the coaches at the course asked me why Claude Pelletier, Canada’s Women’s National Coach, had not presented. I don’t know.

Claude was excellent the last time I saw him teach at a National Coaching Certification course. But that was many years ago. We need you back, Claude.

There’s no shortage of “dog on skateboard” videos. But the top 2 I find on the internet are Pete the Jack Russell and this beast:

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf

Here’s Extreme Pete:

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=53f_1188392867

Both dogs have many highlight reels.

Leave a comment if you have seen any other animals that can compete with these two.