Author: Rick Mc

Disaster.

The 5 time defending Champions are out.

1 Missouri 196.500
2 Georgia 196.275
2 Oregon State 196.275

OS win in a tie-breaker. Congratulations to the Beavers (especially Stephanie McGregor). Only the top 2 teams move on.

I’m more convinced than ever that UCLA will win Championships in 2wks. They scored 197.825. (Don’t tell me it’s because they were overscored at home.)

They’ve got the “momentum“. The “intangibles“. They’re giving it “110%”. … Whatever …

Coach Chris Waller has said all year that this team has something. He’s the same coach from the past 3 years when I always felt something would go wrong with UCLA. And it usually did.

Giving the UCLA coaches all the credit for the 2010 season is like blaming Jay Clark’s coaching team for everything that went wrong with Georgia this season.

In the end, it’s the gymnasts who must perform.

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Results:

Gymnasts are all dancing on the Floor to a live performance of Jackson 5 song.

They announced the results of the other Regional Championships, but didn’t explain that Georgia lost the tie break to Oregon State. Organization of this meet could have been better.

1. UCLA 197.825
2. Arkansas
3. Arizona Wildcats
4. Iowa State

All-around:
1. Vanessa Zamarripa
2. Anna Li
3. Casey Jo Magee
3. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs

Winners:
Vault – Anna Li
Bars – Anna Li
Beam – Casey Jo Magee (… I didn’t see that routine.)
Floor – Brittani McCullough

A 6-way tie for 2nd on Floor. That’s one problem with NCAA judging.

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Sixth rotation:

UCLA finished on Beam. Tagged as “inconsistent” all year, would they fall apart?

No way. That line-up is amazing. Did they put up Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs second?

Sheesh!

Beautiful, if careful, routines. Especially Vanessa. … I thought the judges were slightly (for once) stingy. Aisha Joy Gerber looked terrific.

Fifth rotation:

Only in College gymnastics will I hear my favourite song of 1975, Radar Love, used as Floor music.

Hey Gymnastike. Check out EHH on Bars for “stick of the week”. That was a dart. Swing BIG. Let the double layout go a bit long. Be ready with the knees.

The crowd wanted a 10.0 for Vanessa. Ah … NO. Buy that dissenting judge a glass of wine.

Compare her routine with the next, Anna LI. Now that’s a “perfect 10” College routine. Wow!

Still, UCLA can be beaten on Bars. It’s their weakest apparatus as a team. Arkansas was just as strong tonight.

Coaches, though some disagree, I’m quite convinced that Pak is the way to go for high to low transfer for girls that want to compete University. It’s less consistent than shoot 1/2, but far less deductible.

Even Straddle back is better than shoot 1/2.

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Fourth rotation:

Kudos Arkansas. Very clean, very smart Bar routines. Looks like great coaching, to me.

Who does the 1/2-in, double front dismount? Perfectly! Now that’s cool.

Certainly the NCAA is not the place to seek out new skills, nor innovative combinations. Any Level 10 meet is better. Safety and consistency is the goal in College. Beam is particularly predictable, though it’s still my favourite apparatus. So nice to watch solid routine after routine with only rarely a wobble.

Back twisting dismounts are a risk in College beam. The landing is difficult to stick. And many girls still cross their legs. Gainers are the best dismount.

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Third rotation:

Brittani has so much power on vault. Her warm-ups are scary.

I was cheering the UCLA Vault coach after 3 of his first 4 girls “stuck”. But Brittani and Vanessa both had landing deductions.

Triple twist on Floor is great, but deductible. Great College tumbling lines include Rudi to layout step-out. And Double twist to layout step-out.

Each rotation has had more errors from the other teams. …

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Second rotation:

UCLA starts on Floor. Brittani McCullough had the loudest audience reaction during march-in, I reckon. They have a lot of girls on this team!

I could hardly watch any of the other apparatus. UCLA was riveting on FX. What a “team” commitment to choreography, leaps and jumps. The routines have some similar movements, rhythm breaks, …

This is UCLA Gymnastics 2010, a huge improvement over the past few years.

The smart pundits will be picking UCLA to win Championships 2010.

Brittani McCullough had the best routine and the top score, 9.925. Her tumbling has been more effortless. But having now seen this routine live, I’d say Brittani is the routine to beat at Championships. It’s electrifying. (Something like McCool’s the year she won.)

UCLA put up EHH last on Floor, a great and very “clean” routine too. 9.90.

Arkansas had some weak vault. Arizona a lot of breaks and falls on Bars.

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First rotation:

I love College gymnastics live. It’s such a positive atmosphere. Arkansas and fans loud and enthusiastic, bringing some of that SEC rah rah. They showed some great Floor … how many 1/1-ins on that team?

I love how few falls you see in College gymnastics. It actually speeds up the meet. Only one in first rotation, I believe. On vault. … She warmed it up perfectly, too.

There was a Handspring Handspring Front Pike on Vault. Nice!

Where is powerhouse Thomasina Wallace from San Jose? Injured?

Screw-up. The announcer called rotation before the last Beam competitor had gone.

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I seem to have a WiFi connection here at Pauley Pavilion. This is the Regional Championships, qualifying teams and individuals to NCAA National Championships in Florida.

UCLA Hall of Fame gymnast Kim Hamilton Anthony was outside the arena promoting her memoir, Unfavorable Odds.

Tickets only $10, a great value. Still, there’s surprisingly low attendance. Too many alternative activities in L.A. on a Saturday night, I assume. Traffic was light getting here, however.

Live streaming seems to be working. I’ll update this post with highlights as the night progresses.

Photos and results for WAG are posted, in Romanian, on ProSport.

(via Inspired by Nadia)

One of the good news stories is Raluca Haidu who won the AA scoring 58.150. Recall that she was one of the two little gymnasts featured in the documentary The Secret of Deva. … Surviving all that bad coaching, she looks terrific, today.

Click PLAY or watch Haidu’s Floor on YouTube.

From the Couch Gymnast:

… I love her music. It’s a great piece of folk. Up there with Sandra’s 2008 music as far as I concerned. Little Pitic is just looking terrific. She didn’t finish her last twist, but like a lot of Romanians these days, her leaps and turns are excellent. …

More on Romania …

See more videos from the meet on the catastoian YouTube channel. Especially the 14.60 Floor from Jr. Diana Bulimar. Great potential.

Other videos with commentary are posted on Gymnastics Issues. Gymnastics, No Ceiling was there, posting some of her own meet photos.

So, it’s the usual in Romania leading up to Europeans – Crisis, what crisis?. And the usual problems: Bars and lack of depth.

I was wondering when this bad idea would be realized.

An update from Blythe in Paris:

This news comes from the coaches orientation: Sunday’s finals will have a kiss and cry area and the gymnasts must go there to await their scores after performing. After their score is given, they may return to the training gym if they have another event to do.

As far as I know, this World Cup will be the first to implement the kiss and cry, an idea stolen from figure skating that most gymnastics fans don’t like.

The FIG announced the addition of the kiss and cry area for events last year but thankfully did not have one at the World Championships. …

Live blog: Podium training at the French International

Coaches and gymnasts best rehearse how to react to different scores. Or there’s going to be some awkward moments on international TV.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

UPDATE from Eurofan:

… you do realise this isn’t new? It’s been done in Stuttgart, Cottbus and Maribor for a number of years and nobody was upset about it. …

My reply:

Thanks Eurofan. I didn’t realize that.

Over in North America we are touchy about “freedom”. When the rules force coaches and athletes to do anything new, the reaction is generally negative.

That said, I still think kiss and cry is a bad idea, especially for Men’s gymnastics.

On his GymSmarts blog, coaching legend Mas Watanabe discusses a frustrating skill.

How to get a consistent front somersault at the end of a back tumbling sequence.

… One of the errors is too much whipping action on the back 1 and 1/2 twisting somersault. When they have too much whip on the somersault, the last half of the flip develops too much rotation. That will cause the landing and take off angle for the forward somersault to be very inconsistent. …

That’s not the only typical error he flags. Read the article for yourself: Rebound Tumbling Pass

Click PLAY or watch 1 1/2 twist backwards on YouTube.

Consistency on the punch front is a very individual thing. I’ve known kids who never miss in a meet, but aren’t consistent in practice. And … visa-versa.

Punch front layout (or layout step out) is much more consistent than “tucked”. That’s the long term goal. Train layout as early as possible on TumblTrak.

In my mind the least interesting and entertaining acrobatic “sport” is skateboard.

But if anyone can make it interesting and entertaining, it’s William Spencer.

Click PLAY or watch a highlight reel on YouTube. (half million views)

More gnarly shredding on thedenvershop YouTube channel.

(via FlipCatch)

related post – new Olympic sports – BMX 2008, skateboarding in 2012

As reported by Inside Gymnastics, an interview with coach Chris Waller:

“It’s our best team we’ve had since the last time we won,” Waller told Inside of the 2010 squad. “And I don’t just mean talent-wise. The team works together as a team. It’s not perfect, but it’s really darn close. I’m just amazed at how the team has gelled together and taken ownership of the direction they want to go in.”

And does Waller expect his squad to claim their sixth national crown?

“You never know,” he answered, “but if they do their jobs I don’t see how we can’t be in the top three, at least. It’s interesting because winning and losing is oftentimes more similar than different. When you’re trying to win, sometimes that results in a fall, [but] if you play it safe you usually you don’t win.” …

read more – WALLER EXPECTS GREATNESS

And here’s a great article about why Brittani McCullough chose to major in Nursing, despite the problems it created for her training:

… Several of her science courses conflicted with practice, so she began seeing her teammates less and less. This quarter she can practice with them only once a week because of 12-hour clinics she is required to attend twice a week at Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

Usually she trains only with her coaches, so she sometimes leaves behind motivational notes for her teammates. “She makes sure the team knows she’s still there with us,” Li says.

McCullough’s schedule leaves little time for a social life, and she squeezes in 10-minute naps between classes. …

UCLA gymnast Brittani McCullough chooses tough career course

Rest In Peace George Nissen.

American gymnastics legend George Nissen passed away on April 7 in San Diego of complications from pneumonia.

I.G. – Dwight Normile – Trampoline Inventor George Nissen Passes Away

How did he get the idea?

… The Ringling Bros. circus would come to Cedar Rapids every year in the summer, and my brother and I would go. We actually did carry water for the elephants to get admission. When we watched the circus, we really enjoyed the flying trapeze performers, especially their dismounts. If they missed, they would fall to the net. But they would also dismount to the net and then they would rebound with another trick. I said, “Jeez, if you wanted to, you could keep rebounding into other tricks …

interview on Acrobatic Sports

The inventor of the trampoline was also the inventor of crazy trampoline stunts, like the time he double bounced with a kangaroo.

There’s a great historical documentary called Up in the Air on YouTube.

The internet is full of tributes to the great man. Every acrobatic coach owes him a debt of gratitude.

Thank-you George Nissen.

Merde!

Blythe Lawrence is live blogging the French International in Paris, the most interesting international meet of the season, so far. Her first post is podium training.

He Kexin and Wu Liufang look superb on Bars.

… And oh, here’s Beth Tweddle! Full routine on bars right out of the box. She did a Church, Hindorff, Tkatchev half to mixed grip to Barani and a whole bunch of other amazing things I didn’t have time to write down. The British are in black leos and black shorts and absolutely look like they mean business. …

World Champion Kohei Uchimura from Japan is there, and looking good. Jon Horton will be chasing him.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

Gym Nova is the equipment supplier. The French company was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games, too.

read more – Live blog: Podium training at the French International Over 5000 people watched the podium day!

And be sure to follow Gymnastics Examiner all weekend.

Brittany Rogers tweeted she’s really enjoying the event.

It remains to be seen what the French audience thinks of Coach Yin Alvarez, the cheerleader. …