Seems to me that numbers of competitors must be increasing in the USA.
Great news. Acrobatic Gymnastics is a terrific sport.
The country’s best acrobatic gymnasts are heading to Kissimmee, Fla., for the 2010 Acrobatic Gymnastics National Championships, July 24-28, at the Silver Spurs Arena.
The Acrobatic Gymnastics National Championships showcase more than 500 of the nation’s top and up-and-coming acrobatic gymnasts, from the junior and senior elite to Junior Olympic Levels 5-10. …
Darlene Fedyna of Gymtastics Gym Club (Calgary, Alberta) gained nearly 150 new nieces and nephews.
Earlier this month, Darlene Fedyna returned from working at Sikelela school near Dundee, South Africa. There, she taught 147 students in Kindergarten through Grade 7 who named her “Auntie Darlene” about movement, teamwork, and how to play sports.
The initiative, called Play-it-Forward, was possible through fundraising efforts at her gym in Calgary that raised about $6,500 — enough to buy basic sports equipment and T-shirts for the kids at the school. …
Olympians Sam and Bridget were on hand this morning in the pit gym working out and helping some of the fellow campers with some new skills. Check out a little video edit that will give you a taste of what happened during morning instruction. …
I still have video of Duane when he was on the USA Jr. National Team under Hideo Mizoguchi. One of the strongest young gymnasts I’ve ever seen.
Kaitlin found him on the WWW:
Singer, Dancer. Choreographer, Actor, Director
… He competed in the 1991 Jr. Pan-American Games, 1993 and 1994 Portugal Invitational, USA vs. Mexico dual and 1991 McDonald’s InternationalMixed Pairs. …
Duane began his professional dance career at the age of 17, dancing for the first Hip-Hop theater dance company, Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM). While performing with RHPM, he also taught at MIT, Stanford University, Jacobs Pillow, University of Utah, UCLA, Monte Carlo Ballet Company, Pennsylvania Ballet Company,Philadanco, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Broadway Dance Center.
In 2007, Duane was installed as an adjunct faculty member of The Boyer College of Music & Dance at Temple University, Philadelphia. In January 2008, he was honored to be named the Assistant Artistic Director to RennieHarris Puremovement.
He is currently conducting community outreach programs within the suburban Philadelphia area as well as in conjunction with select universities across the nation. In August 2009, he was installed as an adjunct faculty member of Ursinus College. He is currently in the studio, preparing for his future solo releases.
Check out this “suspension and support” apparatus.
• inexpensive
• used by all ages and ability levels
• many can use it simultaneously
• low in height to decrease injuries caused by falling
It’s been used and manufactured in Algeria since about 1974. Keith Russell and Hardy Fink feel it’s an ideal piece of equipment for developing nations.
• Twist Direction for Somersault Skills
• Twist Direction for Round-off
I found, happily, that Dr. G.S. George agrees with what I’ve been teaching for years:
– all somersault twisting should be done in the same direction
– the initial turn of of the round-off should be in the opposite direction
photo of Tseng 2010 - GraceClick.ca
For example, if you put your right hand down first on round-off, you normally will twist all somersaulting skills to the right.
If you put your left hand down first on round-off, it’s normal to twist all somersault skills to the left.
We know this is “most common”. Bill Sands published that conclusion in Technique Magazine (2000) – Twist Direction (PDF)
This is for Artistic gymnasts. It’s more important for male gymnasts to be “normal” than for female. And, yes, you can win the Olympics if you are not normal. But – all things considered – your odds of winning the Olympics improve if your twist direction is normal.
I’ve not seen any scientific data on why this relationship between round-off and twist direction is most common in successful gymnasts.
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Trampoline and Tumbling coaches take a far more sophisticated approach to this issue.
Brett MacAulay at Calgary Gymnastics Centre would do many tests before deciding what direction a new trampolinist would twist somersaults.
He’d do a separate battery of tests to determine what hand to put down first on round-off. The two are not necessarily related, despite what we see as “normal” in Artistic gymnasts.
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Order Championship Gymnastics from the official website – Winning Gymnastics. Or phone 888-796-5229. ($79)
Or catch Dr. George at one of his seminars this summer.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 