In the complicated Canadian competitive structure, National Novice girls are age 11-13.
AA results
1. Leah Tindale (Dynamo)
2. Zoe Allaire-Bourgie (Gymnix)
3. Xuân Patenaude (Gymnix)
4. Audrey Foucault (Gym Fly)
5. Sophie Shaver (Unigym)
6. Charlotte Innes (CGC)
full results
Leah Tindale won the AA despite falls on Bars and Beam. Her Floor included the most difficult tumbling in the competition: Double Arabian, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2, Double Pike.
• the Gymnix meet 2015 was of mixed “developmental age” and ability
• still, it’s a strong talent pool
• Beam was the apparatus that impressed me most. Some very sharp work.
• the girls are so small and light that not many have (yet) much power for tumbling and Vault
• Vault was weakest, I’d say. Gymnastics Canada forces even the smallest, lightest girls to choose from the two Spring Boards used by Olympians. Dumb. Obviously there’s plenty of time to change Springs. Volunteers could police the apparatus to ensure no springs mysteriously disappear.
• the Mexican gymnasts had some excellent routines
• one of many who caught my eye was Sarah Stewart (Zenith Elite, USA) on Bars. Though her warm-ups were better than the competition routine, she finishes Giant turns SQUARE and SOLID. Many of these young gymnasts swing down crooked.
• landings are weak in general. Females (for some reason) do not spend enough time on technique, strength training and spatial awareness for landings. Boys do.
• many of the young girls used the same giant technique for dismount as for giants. That usually results in a high, slow rotating double somersault. Psychologically it’s better to use a different giant for dismount to avoid confusion.
• on the bright side, most of the girls are short enough to swing past the low bar with stretched body. They’ve not “learned” to flex the ankles past the rail, as yet. 🙂
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