Year: 2010

It’s happening right now. In Dallas, Texas.

official website

Anne will be posting interviews on Gymnastike over the weekend.

Thanks MS.

Competition is underway.

More than 700 of the USA’s top Level 9 and 10 gymnasts will compete in the 2010 U.S. Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships, May 6-9, at the Knoxville (Tenn.) Convention Center. The event features competition in regional team, all-around and individual apparatus. …

Knoxville set to host 2010 U.S. Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships

Follow the boys:

• Official Men’s J.O. Championships website
• commentary will be posted on Stick It Media

This interview with Anastasia Grishina is charming and revealing.

… Do you have a role model in gymnastics or a favorite gymnast?

I very much like Svetlana Khorkina and Anastasia Liukin. But I would like to be Anastasia Grishina and become a model for younger gymnasts myself. …

Her coach is S.B. Zelikson.

A “late starter”, she feels she has yet to reach her full potential.

Scary talented. And she’s called “Nastia” in the gym. …

This calendar photo was provided by her family. Any significance to the American Eagle?

(via The Couch Gymnast magazine #3)

CONTENTS

Question of the Month: Defining Gymnastics Moments

The Return of Russian Artistry- An Interview with Anastasia Grishina by Chris

The problem with F.I.G- World Gym Rank creator, Matt Esler, tells the Couch Gymnast his candid opinion of the state of gymnastics.

A New Gymnastics Star- the story of Jennifer Khwela

Doing it “the Russian Way”-The life and philosophy of Leonid Arkaev by Ashlyn.

Romania: Improving with Age- Some delicious insight, analysis and funny anecdotes from the Romanian International by Bea.

Snapshots of Jesolo- Some impressions of the Italian performance at Jesolo and what it means for Italy’s future prospects. by Giuly.

A New Era for Portugal- The story of Portugal’s attempts at qualifying an Olympic team, by Ines.

China Learns to Shine- A brief history of the evolution of China on floor from Suna Sekioglu.

Amy’s Gym Diary- Amy is still plugging away in the gym and getting flown around the countryside to film for Gymnastike!

The List: Lost Girls Part 2- The remainder of Bea’s list of Romanian talents who never got to truly shine.

Photo Album- Some pictures from Jesolo, some more Grishina Photos and Bea’s snaps from the Romanian International

The Quiz- test your gym knowledge.

PHOTO FUN- More laughs from this months Pac Rims.

check it out – #3 – The Couch Gymnast magazine

Andrew Thornton has been sifting to find the best routines from Pacific Rim Championships, so we don’t have to.

I was waiting for this one.

… She received a huge 9.15 execution score here and won the junior beam title with a 15.35 overall score. Definitely one to watch for from China….

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Those landings are almost too exaggerated, for me.

Click through to his American Gymnast blog for … More Pacific Rim Videos!

These days I’m linking pretty much to everything spannytampson does. Thanks!

This edit is an A-Team + USA WAG Gymnastics mash-up.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Mizo is one of my coaching heros. No doubt about it, this video is a must get for Pommel coaches. ($30)

See a sample clip here.

Hideo (Mizo) Mizoguchi’s Pommel Horse Development DVD covers two of the five areas required by the FIG for competitive pommel horse. It covers side and cross travels, and the requirements for Wendy’s, Kerr’s and Flops.

He does this by thoroughly explaining and demonstrating longitudinal travels, single pommel circle development and the Stockli “B”. Mizo includes excellent demonstrations for all the progressions of these important skills for competitive pommel horse. All the progressions are presented in a way to help with the development from the compulsory level competition to elite.

Details linked from the GymSmarts home page.

Though it’s not exactly The Honda, I’m still proud of this Canuck done good.

Stephanie McGregor was awarded the Joy Selig Award, an award that annually goes to the gymnast who most distinguishes herself academically and athletically and exemplifies courage and leadership, both on and off the competition floor.

McGregor, a sophomore from Calgary, Alberta, is involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was chosen as one of OSU’s everyday champions in 2010. …

She “hit” 22 out of 24 routines in 2010.

… McGregor was also recognized as the team’s Outstanding Scholar. Claiming the award for the second straight year, McGregor studies Pre-Bioengineering and studies within OSU’s Honors College. Last month, she received Pac-10 All-Academic first team honors in her first year of eligibility. …

OSU Beavers

Thanks Mike. Turns out your sister wasn’t so bad, after all.

LSU senior gymnast Susan Jackson was named the recipient of the prestigious Honda Sports Award for gymnastics as the nation’s top collegiate female gymnast, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. announced Wednesday.

The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 34th year.

This marks the first time an LSU gymnast has received the award …

Jackson Wins Prestigious Gymnastics Honda Award

The other nominees were Carly Janiga of Stanford, Brandi Personett of Penn State and Sarah Shire of Missouri.

Sure genetics, physical ability, and technical / artistic preparation are important …

But, in the end, what makes or breaks a gymnast is in the psychological domain.

A “good motivator” coach is typically more successful than a “biomechanist coach”.

It’s relatively easy to coach a Yurchenko, for example, but difficult to convince a young girl that she wants to jump backwards over a big obstacle.

Mark Folger from Wichita, Kansas posted on this topic – Goal Setting and Motivation:

A sense of accomplishment increases motivation. Success and accomplishment are relative to past performance and current goals. Therefore, choosing appropriate goals plays a key role in consistent motivation. I use a simple flow-chart I call the Progressive Motivation Cycle to remind myself and my staff of the relationship between setting goals and motivation.

The Blue Cycle is the preffered cycle. When our athletes are rolling along in the blue cycle, life is great. …

The challenge for coaches is what to do when the gymnast does not achieve the goal. How best to handle the process of reevaluating and committing to new goals.

If you let a gymnast get to the red level on the chart, you might lose them from the sport.

I never miss reading Mark’s posts. Read the rest of this article – Folger’s Gymnastics – Goal Setting and Motivation