Developmental Camp at Flip Fest

Despite USAG ruining the Senior camp last week, a Developmental Camp is in progress.

Gymnasts never stop training. Tom Forester is leading this event.

TOKYO 2020 Artistic qualification

FIG once again tries to explain the extremely complicated system for selecting 98 male and 98 female Olympians.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

questions for USAG’s Kerry Perry

The hearings yesterday were less than illuminating.

USA Gymnastics CEO provides no answers in congressional hearing to discuss sexual abuse

Instead, here are the Indy Star questions:

1. When did USA Gymnastics change its policy of dismissing sexual abuse allegations as hearsay unless they come from a victim or victim’s parent?

2. Why did you decide to conduct an internal investigation of the allegations against Larry Nassar instead of immediately reporting them to authorities?

3. How many USA Gymnastics officials — including employees, board members and volunteers — knew about the allegations against Nassar prior to the FBI report?

4. What did USA Gymnastics officials tell the FBI in July 2015?

5. What is USA Gymnastics doing to ensure that its subjective judging and team selection processes are not used to discourage athletes from reporting abuse?

6. Did USA Gymnastics destroy or alter medical records collected on athletes?

7. Is SafeSport really the answer?

7 questions we have for USA Gymnastics as its CEO faces a Congressional subcommittee

Rhythmic Gymnastics flexibility training

Gymnasts must be BORN very, very flexible in order to work towards this kind of active flexibility.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

Maloney 1/1 to mixed

Awesome.

Cameron Machado from First State Gymnastics PA.

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

Terry reminds us of the first we saw … a gymnast from Desert Devils coached by Geoff Eaton.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (2008)

I’d say the Free Hip version is tougher.

(via Rachel)

Canadian Championships start today

Waterloo, Ontario is hosting.

  • # of clubs represented: 88
  • WAG: 199 athletes, 122 coaches
  • MAG: 116 athletes, 41 coaches

details

1-arm release for overshoot

I like this drill. It makes the turn easy for beginners.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

But once kids are doing the skill on their own to the table of mats, we don’t need emphasize the 1-arm release. It can be closer to simultaneous.

teaching the H Bar dismount tap

The classic technique since Tong Fei popularized it in 1985 is well explained in this Lee Woolls tutorial.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

On the other hand, some Chinese coaches are now greatly reducing the severity of the action.

A huge tap is not really necessary. It’s usually a form deduction at the bottom of the swing. And there have even been injuries to the lower back from excessive tap.

(via Gymnastics Coaches Skills & Drills)

Changing Gymnastics Culture

Dave Tilley is a coach and sports medicine professional. His goals:

1. Provide gymnasts with healthier, more successful, and more extended careers.

2. Provide coaches, medical professionals, parents, and support staff with more education on how to help gymnasts achieve goal 1.

In Dave’s experience the high rates of injury and drop out in WAG are due in part to …

• questionable methods for motivating gymnasts

• inappropriate flexibility techniques

• suboptimal strength and cardio programs

• insanely high skill repetition requirements, or lack of attention to athlete recovery

• training methods that are applied without a sound basis of coaching rationale or scientific evidence

• a lack of collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to gymnastics training

 

Dave’s made his book free. Click through to download. If you can’t read the entire book, work through Dave’s “Take Away Points” at the end of each chapter.

The book is 3 PDFs.