Hong vs Biles – Vault

The 2008 Olympic Champion competed first. And hit better than we’d seen her in training or prelims.

Click PLAY or watch Hong Un Jong on YouTube.

With 0.8 lower start scores, Simone needed to stick or near stick to move ahead.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Two fantastic vaulters. I was happy with the podium ranking.

1. Hong Un Jong
2. Simone Biles
3. Mykayla Skinner

vault results

commentary by Catherine – Beautiful Gymnastics – EF Day 1: Vault and Bars

She notes that we had no falls, a wide variety of vaults and, happily for me, no Produnovas. Only Dipa of India competed one at this Worlds.

hey coach – put the phone away

Tony Retrosi:

When you are in the gym, DON’T BRING YOUR CELL PHONE IN WITH YOU.

I know you “just want to video that skill”.

Don’t just put down your smartphone, put it away. Once it is out of sight, it’s less likely to distract you and shows your gymnasts that they are priority. …

Kids Learn from our examples

I’m with Tony on this one.

Certainly some coaches manage their smart phones well in the gym. But most don’t. Especially the addicts.

That goes for the gymnasts, too, of course.

Jordan Jovtchev phone

Georgia Gymnastics intro

Video scoreboard intro for the 2014 Georgia Gym Dogs vs Florida

Georgia Gym Dogs Hype: So Sick from Georgia Gymnastics on Vimeo.

Thanks Jordyn.

Simone – crazy high

Though Simone is short, she launches her vaults as high as anyone aside from Maroney.

I’d love to have a computer evaluate air time, height and distance as part of the Vault score. As they do in Trampoline.

See more 2014 USA World Championships – Event Finals (Day 1) photos by John Cheng.

Erika Fasana – Floor

World Championships Final, Nanning.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via gymnast #391)

related – Couch Gymnast – Italy: Quiet Achiever or Underrated?

pit pillow throw mat

I was visiting Jeremy Mosier and the crew at Gymtastics when I saw the girls using a Tumbl Trak Pit Pillow as a trampoline throw mat.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Jeremy explained that the Pit Pillow was light enough for one gymnast to throw accurately. He preferred it to a conventional (heavier) throw mat.

Armine Barutyan on Beam artistry

Armine was a fantastic gymnast in the strongest era of Soviet gymnastics. Her life story is fascinating.

As co-Head Coach of GAGE Gymnastics, Armine has been one of the most successful Beam coaches in the world.

Al Fong:

My wife was asked to give a presentation during the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China on how to train artistry for the balance beam.

“… is very possible to create an elegant, beautiful, pleasing routine with well timed accents, rhythm, and exclamation points!

I don’t use a cookie cutter system to design routines for my gymnasts. I have always had different girls with varying abilities and physical qualities that I must work with instead of trying to make every athlete look the same. It’s important that every routine be unique to the individual. …”

Armine Barutyan’s Presentation to the International Judges of the World!

That links to videos of Armine’s training program.