Year: 2010

I’ve not yet seen it, but this show is getting good buzz.

TOTEM traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage evoking a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

TOTEM – home page and upcoming shows

Congratulations!

And welcome Athena Louise Fong.

As you can see, Athena’s already learning inversion.

The gymnasts at G.A.G.E. are going to be baby sitting soon.

(via email from Al Fong)

Many are happy and happily surprised that the Floor champion from Romania actually made a comeback, winning Floor at the World Cup last weekend.

But is this truly a good Floor routine?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I think not. It’s hard to say what’s more depressing in 2010: Women’s Floor or Men’s Horizontal Bar. Both are dreadful, far less impressive than the best routines of 2004 and earlier.

I blame the F.I.G. rules on those apparatus.

I’ve never been a fan of Sandra’s Floor. But, to be fair, I expect it will improve. She’s only been cleared for full routines recently.

Chinese National Champion Guo Weiyang won 3 apparatus finals.

Men’s Floor
1 KOSMIDIS Eleftherios GRE 15.425
2 GONZALEZ SEPULVEDA Enrique Tomas CHI 15.075
3 MARKOVIC Tomislav CRO 15.025

Pommel Horse
1 GUO Weiyang CHN 15.100
2 SMITH Louis GBR 15.050
3 BUSNARI Alberto ITA 14.550

Still Rings
1 VAN GELDER Lambertus NED 15.475
2 LIAO Junlin CHN 15.400
3 PETROUNIAS Eleftherios GRE 15.275

Men’s Vault
1 WAMMES Jeffrey NED 16.000
2 SAPRONENKO Jevgenijs LAT 15.838
3 TUUHA Tomi FIN 15.800

Parallel Bars
1 GUO Weiyang CHN 15.600
2 KULESZA Roman POL 15.300
3 CARBALLO Manuel ESP 15.050

Horizontal Bar
1 GUO Weiyang CHN 15.425
2 MARAS Vlasios GRE 15.275
3 KULESZA Roman POL 14.975

It was a good day for the Netherlands too. Congratulations on the comeback of drug fiend Van Gelder. We trust he’s given up the habit.

Women’s Vault
1 GIL ORTIZ Jessica COL 13.925
2 CHELARU Diana Maria ROU 13.750
3 WONG Hiu Ying Angel HKG 13.688

Uneven Bars
1 WU Liufang CHN 15.050 (VIDEO)
2 PORGRAS Ana ROU 14.375
3 LOPEZ Jessica VEN 13.950

Balance Beam
1 PORGRAS Ana ROU 14.775
2 YANG Yilin CHN 14.100
3 WU Liufang CHN 13.650

Women’s Floor
1 IZBASA Sandra Raluca ROU.325
2 CROKET Julie BEL 13.600
3 RABINOVITZ Roni ISR 13.450

The big story on the women’s side is the successful return of Romanian veterans Sandra Izbasa (GOLD Floor) and Ana Porgras (GOLD Beam). Suddenly Romania jumps to become a much stronger contender for World’s.

Once again, crisis what crisis. Congratulations to new coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang.

Click PLAY or watch Ana Porgras’ Beam on YouTube.

official results page

Read commentary on Gymnastics Examiner and Couch Gymnast. Or the official FIG press release.

… The next stopover of the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup circuit and the last one before the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam (NED) will be in Ostrava (CZE) from September 29 – October 1 …

I’m loving Wayne Goldsmith’s blog, despite the name – Sports Coaching Brain.

It’s cutting edge stuff.

Coaches, teachers and instructors around the World are experiencing frustrating times coming to terms with the rapid changes in society …

Look at the average ten year old today.

He watches television. Turns it off. Turns on his Nintendo DS. Flicks off the DS and turns on his computer. Gets bored after ten minutes, turns on the television again and watches a video or DVD while listening to a CD.
Kids in this century are living in a world of constant stimulation. …

What do we do as coaches with short attention span athletes?

Wayne offers some great ideas:

Practical Coaching Tips

All athletes love training camps….
.
Look to add variety to old sessions, old routines and old drills. …

Have coaches from other sports (similar in nature to your sport) come to your sessions …

Invite and accept input from athletes …

Encourage and develop a club and athlete social program …

Encourage the development of the person …

Try to incorporate Game Sense …

Change the training environment to stimulate an environment of learning …

Look for innovative and creative ways to take advantage of the new skills and abilities “computer kids” are developing. …

“Sell” parents and athletes on the positive aspects of personal development that sport offers.

read the details – Coaching in the Century of Entertainment

Here are some progressions for the Pak Salto as presented by Neil Resnick, head coach at Boise State. This is another piece of a presentation given at the 2002 Illinois State Gymnastics Congress.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Paks have gotten straighter and straighter since 2002. But these drills still work.

Posted by Chris on the Coaching Gymnastics in the New Millenium blog, last season. … We’re looking forward to more blog goodness from those guys, soon.

This is 4yr-old Jessica (2001). She can teach us plenty about positive self-talk.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Get the t-shirt.

Watch an interview with teen Jessica from May 2010.

Former Head Coach Suzanne Yoculan hosted a reunion with what looks like dozens of her former College gymnasts.

Here’s Stacey Galloway at Sea Island. She was on two of their 10 National Championships winning teams.

From the Facebook album: Mobile Uploads by Suzanne Yoculan

This is what we do very well in gymnastics gyms.

August 27-29th Alberta Gymnastics and the Jasper Gymnastics Club hosted 63 coaches at the annual AGF REC Retreat. Jasper was the perfect setting to relax, rejuvenate, and learn new skills while networking with other coaches. …

Alberta Gymnastics

What! … This doesn’t look like gymnastics:

… I heard it was GREAT. And getting better each year.