The best bars video I saw in 2008 was edited by Michel Arsenault of Champions Gymnastics in Canada.
It’s a DVD with lengthy accompanying notes called:
2006 Gymnastics Study Tour of China
Michel was partly funded to travel to China by Gymnastics Alberta and Alberta Lotteries (Above and Beyond program).
Visiting gyms in Beijing, KunMing and ZhengZhou, Michel wrote a report of what he saw. Here are just a few note I took while reading the document:
unwavering commitment to extreme quality and basics
children are allowed to quit gymnastics at any time
at some schools parents must pay a small fee for training. The governments pay most costs, however.
exacting training begins at a very young age
all gymnasts train twice / day
compulsory routines until age-11. The entire document for coaches and judges is simple and only 11-pages-long! For comparison, here’s just a tiny portion of the over-complicated Gymnastics Canada regulations posted on a gym wall:
(Canadian rules are the most complex, the most frequently revised, and the most poorly understood in the world, so far as I know. It certainly does a disservice to athletes, coaches and judges.)
very few girls wear handguards (none at all at the Beijing Provincial Training Centre)
when a coach speaks to a gymnast they must stand motionless listening to the coach intently. That said, the coaches are quite quiet. Gymnasts work independently from 6 to 8-yrs-old.
very few drills are done with high repetitions
coaches are paid $3000 – $4000 / yr. Average annual salary in Beijing is about $1500 / yr.
training gymnasts did not all have “a perfect body type”
Michel concluded that the good results in China are as much a result of the coaching “system” as talent identification
very specific technique on the descending and ascending swings of free hip
high priority on hitting a balanced handstand – for pirouettes
Available free to Alberta coaches through the library at AGF.
If you want a copy, contact Michel directly through his club. He’s the host of the excellent Wild Rose competition, incidentally.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 