Year: 2011

Chris Sharma is one of the greatest rock climbers of all time.

… but how did he do at the Wanderlust Yoga festival?

Click PLAY or watch him on YouTube.

That’s only one of many, many Chris Sharma vids posted on a sponsor’s site, prAna.

Many gymnasts go into Yoga after retirement. Personally I’m not all that much of a fan.

Recall that Scotland released coach Tan Jia En immediately before Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Bad move. Both coach and gymnast Adam Cox withdrew from the Games team in protest.

They are advertising for two new positions:

• 2014 Commonwealth Games Men’s Artistic Coach (full time position)
• Education Administrator (1 year fixed term contract)

Click through to Full Twist for links to both.

… who’s the better all-arounder?

A new feature on Gymnastics Examiner poses questions like this to bloggers like these:

Gymnastics No Ceiling, The All Around Gymnastics News, STOI!, Gymnastics United, GymNiceTic, Couch Gymnast, Wild/Precious, Full In Full Out, Aunt Joyce, Full Twist, Gymnastike

So … who’s the better all-arounder?

To find out click over to Gymnastics Examiner. It’s a bit of a split decision.

This is a repost from a couple of days ago. Corey sends a link to a new shape of pit foam …

… the industry’s first and only conical shaped foam that improves airflow and surface contact, resulting in a foam pit that provides a softer, safer landing. The conical shape also degenerates slower …

UCS Rounders are the only pit foam available with a flame retardant cover that further protects the foam from breaking down, which reduces pit dust and improves the life span of your foam pit, making it cleaner, safer and more cost effective.

Sounds AWESOME.

Bob, in the comments, links to video of the system in use. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Leave a comment if you’ve tried them. Or gotten a quote compared with a similar volume of traditional “cubes”.

_____ original post:

With the recent injury to coach Mike Outram, I was happy to see Scarlett post some good reminders for us all – Gymnastics Pit: Dos and Don’ts

DO NOT…

Do not land head first into the pit
Do not bury yourself under the pit blocks.
Do not attempt skills you cannot do by yourself safely
Do not land on your knees in the pit
Do not dig holes in the pit blocks
Do not throw foam out of the pit
Do not pick the foam pit blocks apart
Do not throw foam blocks at anyone’s face

read more

Check another pit article on her World of Gymnastics blog – The Two Types of Gymnastics Foam Pits: Loose Foam vs. Resi-pit

Foam pits are extremely necessary for optional gymnastics skills … There are two types of gymnastics foam pits, loose foam pits and resi pits. ..

Click through for photo and video examples of each.

Of course there are downsides to pits, as well, especially loose foam pits. They cause a few injuries. (e.g landing on the edge of the pit by accident)

And loose foam pits sometimes result in a false sense of security.

Kids can do skills with poor technique into pits … and think they are progressing.

An ideal facility for me would be to have Bar and Rings permanently over the pit (in case of fluke grip slips). But access for the other apparatus only once a week.
🙂

The best pit system in the world right now is a loose foam pit atop a Jim Walker suspension.

The only way to get a Jim Walker pit, however, is to email him for details: jwalker AT excalibur-gymnastics.com

NastiaFan101 linked to this routine from Spanish gymnast Laura Martinez (2001) as an example of a “horrifying” routine due to composition. (overuse of Stalder / Endo)

Sacramonious joked that it’s surrealistic like a Dali painting.

Click PLAY or watch Laura’s Bars on YouTube.

Personally, I like it. An original, interesting routine with a superb dismount.

But I only posted because of the Pak to handstand. Has anyone ever come closer to handstand without going over?

Very cool.

The upper arm support on men’s parallel bars is unique to gymnastics. Here Scott Burns from California Sport Center shows a drill to develop this unique strength.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Check the Gymnastics Minute YouTube channel for more. And GymSmarts for DVDs.

I could link to every post on Sports Coaching Brain. Serious coaches should bookmark directly. Or subscribe by RSS.

Wayne Goldsmith believe we need to reinvent sporting competition:

How to turn your sport into a New Sport:

1. Make your competitions shorter;
2. Make your competitions more enjoyable;
3. Provide something relevant and meaningful for all participants in your sport: not just for the could-be-champions;
4. Be inclusive of families and their needs, their schedules, their time limitations;
5. Listen to your clients and respond to their needs.

Details on this post – New Sport …

I sent the link to Kyle. That’s exactly what he’s trying to do at his new competition, the Kyle Shewfelt Gymnastics Festival.

Seyram Atubra was the primary researcher in a study of mainly recreation gymnasts.

British Gymnastics – England commissioned the Institute of Youth Sport to conduct a study to examine the reasons why young gymnasts leave the sport. …

Over 5000 former gymnasts and their parents were asked to complete a survey and telephone interviews were conducted with 40 former gymnasts and their parents. …

Key findings:
• started gymnastics at an average age of 6.2 years and stopped at an average age of 9.9 years

Most important benefits gained from being a gymnast:
• Improved strength and fitness
• Enjoyment/fun

Most important reason for leaving gymnastics:
• ‘boring/repetitive’
• Left to take up a new sport
• Didn’t like the coaches’

Here’s the PDF if you want to read the full report. For more information contact name via the Gymnastics England Research page.

Thank Keith Russell and Meike Behrensen for the link.

(via Recreation Gymnastics)

Just elected.

I saw this linked from THE ALL AROUND on Facebook.

Zoltán Magyar (original Hungarian name Magyar Zoltán) (born December 13, 1953 in Budapest, Hungary) was the premier pommel horse gymnast in the world in the 1970s. Magyar had two moves named after him, the Magyar spindle … and the Magyar travel …

Magyar finished his career with two Olympic, three world, three European and two World Cup titles on his specialty. …

(Google translation from Hungarian)

The twice Olympic Vault champion from Spain has announced his retirement.

Albert from Barcelona posted a nice retrospective of his sometimes controversial career. (I’m still irked he wasn’t sanctioned for STANDING on the Vault table in Athens.)