Year: 2010

Is anyone still living the pretense of Nastia Liukin returning to training?

An outside observer would not easily conclude she was a gymnast by checking her Twitter page.

I’m thrilled for the financial success of both Nastia and Shawn Johnson, but they both are guilty of SPAMMING their fans with too much marketing, not enough content on websites, twitter and Facebook.

Expect increasingly a backlash against both “brands” from their core fan base, gymnastics people.

And at what point in living the lie of a “possible comeback” will their agents relent, letting each tearfully, reluctantly retire. … Perhaps on Oprah. Think of the ratings!

… If you’re still a diehard Nastia supporter, be sure to become a fan of her new Supergirl Facebook page.

… prediction by site editor Rick McCharles:

UCLA will win the Team competition. Vanessa Zamarripa will win the all-around.

This is the most difficult College Gymnastics Championships season to forecast, in years.

If all 12 teams at nationals hit, I feel that UCLA, Florida or possibly even Georgia would score highest.

Florida could benefit from “home court advantage”.

But it may well be that, under pressure, consistency will turn out to be more important than the potential for really high scores. A safer bet to hit near perfectly would be Oklahoma or Alabama.

As Oklahoma coach K.J. Kindler said, the team competition is wide open.

The first challenge will be getting through to the Super 6. Any team in Finals could win it all. I could see Stanford or Oregon State atop the podium, no problem.

Best for the sport would be to have a new team win Championships. Anyone but G.A.U.U. (Georgia, Alabama, Utah, UCLA).

The all-around competition at NCAA Championships is far less important than Team. I recall when Tasha Schwikert won in 2008. She looked despondent because her team had a disappointing meet.

At the beginning of the season I would have predicted Shayla Worley or Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs to be the top AA gymnast of 2010. But that title is really up for grabs, too.

Many feel that Vanessa Zamarripa has momentum and the kind of star quality needed to be named National Champion. She was finally ranked #1 on GymInfo March 29th.

Here’s little Vanessa as a Level 10 in 2005, representing Midwest Twisters.

Region 5 has produced a lot of great gymnasts. Vanessa one of the best.

related – playlist of all 24 routines from UCLA at Pac-10 Championships 197.350.

From Mark Folger:

How does a child benefit from doing something well?

• A sense of accomplishment
• Motivation to continue the activity
• Developing passion for an activity
• Learning to set goals and be a progressive thinker
• Learning the process of accomplishment
• Recognition from parents, family and friends
• Determining a career path (depending on the activity)
• Friendships with other children who share common interests
• It’s fun to do something well

This list could become very large, so I’ll stop here. …

Actually, Mark doesn’t stop there. Click through to read the whole post. A great message

FOLGER’S GYMNASTICS – Is There Anything Better than Watching Kids Excel?

YOUTH SPORTS BLOG FOR COACHES, PARENTS, GYMNASTS AND GYMNASTICS FANS.

photo – Sonya

This video is not acrobatic sport specific, but gives a glimpse into why people are proud to work for Cirque du Soleil.

The only other companies I would put in the same league for innovation and quality are Apple and Pixar.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It helps that owner Guy Laliberté priorizes the art far, far ahead of the business.

disclosure – I love Cirque

All regionals competitions go 6PM local time, Saturday, April 10.

Which of these great meets could you attend?

Los Angeles Regional – California (University of California, Los Angeles, host)
1. UCLA
2. Arkansas
3. Iowa State
4. Arizona
5. Brigham Young
6. Arizona State

Salt Lake City Regional – Utah (University of Utah, host)
1. Florida
2. Utah
3. Auburn
4. Boise State
5. Denver
6. Washington

Columbia Regional – Missouri (University of Missouri, Columbia, host)
1. Georgia
2. Oregon State
3. Missouri
4. Minnesota
5. Iowa
6. North Carolina

Lexington Regional – Kentucky (University of Kentucky, host)
1. Alabama
2. Nebraska
3. Illinois
4. Kentucky
5. Central Michigan
6. Michigan State

University Park Regional – Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University, host)
1. Oklahoma
2. LSU
3. Penn State
4. Maryland
5. Ohio State
6. New Hampshire

Morgantown Regional – West Virginia (West Virginia University, host)
1. Stanford
2. Michigan
3. Southern Utah
4. North Carolina State
5. Kent State
6. West Virginia

… The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Gainesville, Florida, April 22-24, hosted by the University of Florida.

In addition, the event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers. …

read more on NCAA

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

(via Gymtruthteller)

Update: From Gymnastics Examiner:

… Unlucky schools in this draw: Auburn and Boise State, which have to get by either Florida or Utah in Salt Lake City. At another school, either would have a better chance at knocking off Utah, which has had better seasons. But not in Salt Lake City — the fan presence at Utah alone should be enough to boost the Utes, who don’t perform at a conference championship, to the NCAA prelims.

Georgia, whose gymnasts have been fighting injury and lack of “flow” in the post-Suzanne Yoculan era, are seeded first in the Columbia Regional but are certainly the most vulnerable no. 1 seed. For one thing, they have to compete against the home team, which has one of the best all-around performers in the nation in Sarah Shire. They also have to meet Oregon State, which is capable of matching Georgia on a good day on the road. The Gym Dogs without Shayla Worley in top shape have a real chance of not qualifying to the NCAA Championships. …

Utah, UCLA, Missouri, Kentucky, Penn State, West Virginia to host NCAA Women’s Regionals

Action-Sam on IG forum posted an important photo. Here’s a partial screen grab.

See the entire photo.

Three of the best gymnasts in the world. One is “normal”, one is bow-legged, one is … Rebecca Bross. You might call her knock-kneed.

Read the entire thread – Rebecca Bross … feet on UB… no nasty comments

Obviously you can be a World Champion with bow legs (i.e. Valeri Liukin) or knock-knees like Rebecca, but it’s not nearly as artistic.

Click PLAY or watch Rebecca’s Bars on YouTube.

The fact that her heels are apart is not nearly as obvious from the side, the judge’s perspective.

RipGuardian has a Facebook page. They’re asking for pics of the worst hand rips you’ve ever seen.

Search for RipGuardian on Facebook.

A great quote from theamazingjaide, a Level 6 gymnast who simply cannot get used to hand guards on bars: “get grips or get rips”

This is one of the most problematic skills in gymnastics.

Gymnastics-Skills.com posted a unique series of drills.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This is one small piece of a coaching strategy. I’ve never used this drill, but I like how it encourages lateral displacement of the centre of gravity.

Great news. Chelsie Memmel’s gym in Wisconsin hired Morgan.

M&M Gymnastics Welcomes Two Time Olympian, and Olympic Silver Medalist Morgan Hamm, as our New Boys Team Coach!

One of the knocks against the fantastic Hamm brothers, both now retired, is a perception that they were selfish, not giving much back to the sport.

Forget that when it comes to Morgan. He’ll be welcomed warmly into the coaching fraternity.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

(via cgallet1 on IG forum)

The favourite to win Bars at Championships 2010 is UCLA Senior, Anna Li.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.