Author: Rick Mc

Neil is a accomplished gymnast, martial artist and dancer who has spent the last year creating a concept coined “Art in motion” …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… the third part of Hideo Mizoguchi’s pirouette and blind change drills.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Love that drill. But you need to be a relatively strong spotter. (Either a strong spotter. Or have small enough kids.)

related videos:

• Pirouette & Blind Change Drills (part 1)
• Pirouette & Blind Change Drills (part 2)

Cassidy McComb posted some highlights.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Interesting to see all the new coaches.

Alabama’s new gym looks fantastic (PHOTOS), as good as Georgia. Leave a comment if you’ve seen them both.

Clara reflects on the London Olympics. Seems a bad dream.

1. Grishina

Click PLAY or watch her Floor in the Team Final on YouTube.

2. Team China
3. Youna Dufournet
4. Men’s team finals
5. Larisa Iordache
6. WAG vault final
7. WAG beam final

Stoi! – London: The Bad

For comparison, check out Arabian Punch Front’s reflections on London:

• Olympic Wrap-up Part 1: Why The Olympics Didn’t Feel Like the Olympics

• Olympic Wrap Up Part 2: Why The Olympics Made My Summer

A few interesting clips from last week.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That’s the MAG gym in Canada looking for a full-time coach.

MEDFORD, Ore. – The investigation continues in the case of a Medford gymnastics coach facing charges of encouraging child sex abuse. …

Jeffrey Bettman was arrested at his home last Friday, after the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force served a search warrant regarding downloaded child pornography from his IP address.

… had been setting up private photo shoots with some of the gymnasts and secretly video taping them as they changed …

KDRV

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 8, 2012 – As part of its ongoing efforts to promote a safe environment for athletes, USA Gymnastics is launching the “We Care Campaign” to better educate parents about the important role they play in preventing child sexual abuse. This educational effort complements the “Clubs Care Campaign,” which focused on raising awareness among gymnastics clubs about child sexual abuse …

I own this photo, even if somebody else paid me to click.

My favourite Copyright reform watchdog, Michael Geist:

Nov. 07, 2012

This morning, the majority of Bill C-11, the copyright reform bill, took effect, marking the most significant changes to Canadian copyright law in decades.

… has its flaws but also creates some of the most expansive copyright user rights in the world. …

Canadian Copyright Reform In Force: Expanded User Rights Now the Law

Geist has been tireless in dogging politicians on that legislation. (I wrote irked emails on the topic to the Prime Minister myself.)

… A big win for photographers in Canada: as of today, you now officially own the copyright to all your photographs regardless of whether they were commissioned. The development comes as a result of Canada major copyright reform bill (Bill C-11) taking effect this morning. One of the stated goals of the new copyright law is to, “give photographers the same rights as other creators.” …

petapixel

Thanks Stu.

Easily my favourite audiocast episode so far.

This week we talk to Jermaine Browne, Artistic Director of the Kellog’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions about artistry and performance in gymnastics.

Uncle Tim reviews the men’s gymnastics routine maker iPad app. We discuss the perfect number of members for an Olympic team, pick our Halloween costume contest winner and uncover evidence that Khokina’s video interview was indeed mistranslated.

We also talk to NCAA coach and current Kellog’s tour chaperone for the Fierce Five, Jill Hicks about helping gymnasts stand up for themselves, trust, NCAA recruiting, changing technique in college, puberty, body dysmorphia and finding happiness.

I subscribe via iTunes. But didn’t get my download this week — so listened to the streamed version on Gymcastic.com instead.

Next week — Chellsie Memmel. 🙂

And a special congratulations to co-host Spanny Tampson who’s “with gymnast“. 🙂 🙂

Most recent edition has just been posted.

Here are a couple of studies that may be of interest.

… sample consisted of 27 female gymnasts and 15 controls. …

… Sedentary adolescents show a higher prevalence of overweight, hypertension, osteopenia and final height prediction. In this particular group of athletes, competitive gymnastics influences body composition but does not appear to compromise nutritional status, normal progression of puberty, bone mass and genetically defined final height. …

GYMNASTICS AND THE FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD: REALITY OR MYTH? (PDF)

Another compared take-off’s kinetic and kinematic variables of elite male gymnasts doing different kinds of standing backward saltos.

KINEMATIC AND KINETIC ANALYSIS OF COUNTER MOVEMENT JUMP VERSUS TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF STANDING BACK SOMERSAULT (PDF)

UPDATE:

Good news.

In California, coaches were not standing in for Compulsory J.O. Bars, fearing deduction, even if they didn’t spot their gymnast.

Beginners are at risk of slipping off backwards, while trying to get as high a swing as possible in competition.

But check out what JBS, founder of the Chalk Bucket forum, found after researching the issue:

Page 163…section VIII…#4 of the JO Compulsory Program book used to read:

Coach standing between the bars or next to the beam throughout exercise 0.10

Now it reads:

Coach standing next to the beam throughout exercise 0.10

read more on Chalk Bucket…

JBS links to the relevant update in the 2005-2013 WOMEN’S JR. OLYMPIC COMPULSORY BOOK ERRATA.

So, … J.O. coaches CAN stand-in for their kids on Bars in compulsories. Without deduction. You may want to photocopy that update document and take it with you to the competition if you want to stand in.

Note also:

118 L5/6 V A. General: Add 12. There is NO deduction for coach standing between the board and the vault table.

You’re still not allowed to stand in for Beam or Floor.

____ see original post below:

Jeremy Waters, California Sports Center, San Jose, CA:

Open Letter to USA Gymnastics

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of coaching my girls at the NorCal Level 6 State Championships. While I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend — as I almost always enjoy meet weekends — there was one moment that I will be reliving in my nightmares for weeks to come. A girl from another gym peeled off the bar in the back of a tap swing, and landed directly on her head. The meet was interrupted, the girl was carried out on a stretcher and taken to the emergency room. Fortunately, she turned out to be fine …

Under current USAG rules, points are deducted if the coach stands between the bars ready to catch the gymnast during a routine. And while coaches are permitted to step in for a singe skill or brief sequence, this is so nebulously defined that most coaches, to avoid that deduction, simply stand back for the whole routine.

This is not an acceptable situation. Such dangerous and preventable crashes should never be allowed to occur. For the safety of all female gymnasts in the US, I urge you to rewrite the spotting regulations on bars to encourage or even require coaches to stand close to or under the bars during a routine. …

If you’ve an opinion on that, leave a comment on Jeremy’s Facebook page.