Year: 2011

Here’s something new. Developed by a gymnastics coach.

Upload any video online, and it will be converted to a series of individual frames.

see it in action – SlowMotionCoach.com

Sure there are many ways to watch any video in slow motion, but this is quick and easy. It costs $5 for unlimited use.

My main concern is quality. Online video is bad enough without slowing it down any more.

Bella Tucker is a “young gymnast who came down with a near fatal infection on Easter (2010) and underwent quadruple amputation surgery”.

Cathie Lowell, Owner of Phantom Gymnastics reports on Bella’s progress:

… We are happy to report that Bella’s spirits are high despite a few setbacks and additional operations during the last month. She has been in both the Children’s Hospital and the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. She has begun some physical therapy to strengthen her core, getting her ready for the Shriner’s hospital in Philadelphia where the real work will begin. Bella will receive prosthetics and she and her family remain hopeful and encouraged.

Bella celebrated her ninth birthday on Aug 12. She continues to have lots of visitors and has learned to use her electric wheel chair, which she operates with her elbow, to get around the hospital and garden. …

She’s also become proficient with her iPad, which allows her to use Facebook to view and respond to posts! …

read more on USAG

_____ KP sends update links:

My original post was much outdated. Bella got home before Christmas last year. She now has her own website. And Facebook page. Donations are gratefully accepted at both.

This is a great post – Bella returned to the gym!

I wonder if she’s yet seen Nick Vujicic’s video “I LOVE LIVING LIFE. I AM HAPPY.”

Former LSU gymnast Ashleigh Clare-Kearney addressed NATA (National Athletic Trainers’ Association) members at their annual convention Monday in New Orleans.

Clare-Kearney, one of the most decorated gymnasts in LSU women’s gymnastics history, was the physical and emotional exception in the gymnastics world during her career. At 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds, the two-time NCAA champion outsized most of her fellow gymnasts who she says are traditionally around five feet, 100 pounds. …

A good read – USA Today – Athletic trainers stress safe weight loss methods

Ashleigh Clare-Kearney went on to become an assistant coach at LSU.

(via IG)

On the FIG shop you can now buy a card game where you must match famous gymnasts including Kohei UCHIMURA, Evgenia KANAEVA, Aliya MUSTAFINA, Marcela MATOS LOPEZ, and more.

details – New at the FIG Shop!

I’m a big fan of 17yr-old Courtney’s blog – Keeping Balance.

A gymnast’s journey through the intricate world of gymnastics, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

She’s very eloquent on the love / hate relationship many girls have with the sport.

This post is a perfect example – Leotard Memories

Click PLAY or watch the accompanying video on YouTube.

Inspiring 🙂

“The Warm-Up,” staring coach Tom Farden.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Utah Gymnastics and Greg Marsden on Facebook)

Scared of heights? England’s Gary Hunt dives 27 metres into Lake Vouliagmeni in the third event of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series

see more photos on The Daily Mail

There’s a new Discussion on Gymnastics Examiner.

Most of the arguments pro and con are included. Here’s my opinion:

Since there is no way to medically confirm chronological age, I’m against any minimum age rule for the Olympics.

If there were a way to confirm age, I’d still be against any minimum age requirement (though not quite so strongly). I’m not convinced the current rule has done much to protect younger children from over training. Younger athletes are often actually safer doing high difficulty routines than they are when old.

Read more on Examiner.com The Discussion: The great age debate

Wikipedia has a good history and summary of the issue.

… Those of us baby boomer divers will fondly remember ABC’s Wide World of Sports annual presentation of high diving competitions, especially the shows from the cliffs of Acapulco where daredevil divers had to launch themselves out far off slippery slopes in order to clear the jagged mountainside. The event favorite Mexican team divers always selected the classic ‘arched’ swan dive to the raucous applause of the home crowd.

Now fast forward 35 years later to an event that is in its’ third season and makes the cliffs of Acapulco look like a novice event. It’s the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series now taking place in exotic locales all over the world. …

Diving Examiner – Red Bull Cliff Diving Series Thrills Athens Greece Crowd

Here’s a good profile on up-and-coming Cliff Diver, Gary Hunt from the U.K.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gary’s pushing the world’s greatest Cliff Diver, Orlando Duque from Colombia, by trying new dives like quintuple front barani out. And multiple twisting quad back somersaults.

Needless to say, it hurts when you miss from 27m – or 88.5ft.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall:

Upon the initiative of FIG President Professor Bruno Grandi (ITA), a symposium on Artistic and Trampoline Gymnastics was held in Zurich on June 17 – 19, 2011. Eighty technicians, judges and coaches from five continents participated, focusing their attention on the codes of points that will govern the two disciplines throughout the 2013 – 2016 Olympic cycle.

At the centre of the symposium, a President’s solemn warning; Professor Grandi invited his troops to fulfill their responsibilities in terms of innovation and creativity. “Artistic Gymnastics needs to be reinvented and simplified. Our athletes must learn to better wield the potential and personality of each apparatus!”

With regard to judging, President Grandi emphasized transparency, without which the credibility of gymnastics is at serious risk, particularly in the eyes of the IOC. He informed judges that an educational training programme will soon be made available. Finally and directly addressing Trampoline, the President invited the discipline’s leaders to promote universality and the number of countries practicing the sport. …

FIG – FIG PRESIDENT DELIVERS COGENT ADDRESS
Gymnastics under the microscope

Will we see more variety in routines?
Safer gymnastics?
Reward for quality of performance?