Author: Rick Mc

Complexe Gymnique d’Arques

Blythe Lawrence in 2011:

The 6,000 square meter training center …

The beautiful and colorful training gym in Arques, France.

I was able to visit Arques and see the new complex late last year. It is sparkling and simply the most beautiful gymnastics venue I’ve ever seen. …

Everything in this building feels brand new and state of the art. A set of Olympic medals from Beijing and stuffed animal Olympic mascots are displayed in the waiting area on the first floor. The airy gym, stocked with Gymnova equipment, is all white walls and blonde wood and the company’s signature red and white mats. The building’s roof has 1,200 square meters of solar panels and produces more energy than it consumes.

There are rooms named after 2004 Olympic uneven bars champion Emilie Lepennec and Laurent Barbieri, who won silver on vault at the 1985 World Championships. (Before Thomas Bouhail did him one better in Rotterdam …, Barbieri was France’s last male gymnast to win a world medal on vault). …

Click PLAY or watch it on Daily Motion. (slow loading — Daily Motion is a pig to avoid)

Uncle Tim can’t find any.

He checked the finalists on Horizontal Bar at the 2012 Olympics, for example.

Those are supposed to be layout with the half twist completed before crossing the rail.

Will the new MTC finally crack down on the many crappy Adler + Yamawaki combinations?

I hope so.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Good reminders from Fuzion.ie

See and LIKE the full size image on Facebook.

… Using Xbox Kinect technology your every move is tracked, so you’ll receive real-time feedback whenever you work out. You’ll get a personalized program …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Too Many Amanars)

Korbut Flip:

… highlights from the 1987 USSR Championships.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gymnasts shown are Shushunova, Pryakhina, Sarkisyan, Zadorozhny, Schepotchkin, Porplenko, Kharkov, Rodion, Martsinkiv and Tikhonkikh.

Those girls were tough. Landing mats even tougher.

Parkour gym gives traceurs room to train

A new gym in Sherwood Park gives athletes a safe place to practice climbing, jumping and other parkour moves.

Click PLAY or watch it on CBC.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=sharevideo&clipId=2303066090&width=480&height=322

Thanks Dave.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Rico Andrade spliced that together.

I complained about the Code on FX when Kenzo Shirai can win relying only on twisting skills.

To me that’s overuse of one kind of skill.

But the difficulty of that twisting is astonishing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Here’s his quad twist.

In one small study of Rugby players, positive feedback was best.

EXPERIMENT NO. 1: Motivation boost

EXPERIMENT 2: Supportive vs. cautionary

EXPERIMENT 3: Positive vs. negative

Globe and Mail – Angry coaches beware: Athletes respond poorly to negative feedback, studies find

related – Sweat Science – Good Coach, Bad Coach: Motivation, Hormones, and Performance

The answer is far more complex than that, of course.

For younger and less sophisticated learners, positive feedback is best.

As they gain confidence and ability, the coach can be increasingly critical. If you are teaching me how to snowboard — for one sad example — give it to me straight. I don’t need any false praise. I can take it.

I’ve seen great coaches use entirely different strategies with different athletes in the same group. Critical and demanding with one, supportive and encouraging with the next.

It’s an art, not a science.

Thanks Elisabeth.