Greg Townley (U.K.) is a young power tumbler coached by the great Damien Walters.
(If you’ve not seen Damien’s videos, you don’t use YouTube.)
Damien posted this highlights reel of his student.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Author: Rick Mc
Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.
physical preparation for Kip
For those kids who did not get their Kip on Bars for Christmas, here are some some conditioning drills posted by Benjamin Carson.
Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.
These drills lead nicely into the excellent teaching the Kip videos we linked to last July.
Georgia gymnastics snowball fight
Shayla Worley returned to Athens today. I’m looking forward to her NCAA debut Saturday, January 9th against Stanford.
The 2010 season is here.
As Shayla said on Twitter.
It’s go time baby!
They’re going to need her big time, I predict.
Time to start defending their National title. They’ve won the past 5yrs in a row.
Georgia GymDogs snowball fight.
tumbling – Uchimura – triple twisting double back
I just saw this on GymNiceTic. Thanks.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The first gymnast to do “Miller” on an Artistic competition Floor was Steve Elliot (a power tumbler), decades ago in the NCAA. It’s been very rare since.
Our World Champion does it with ease. Is Kohei Uchimura the greatest AA gymnast of all time?
GymNiceTic linked to a a related post on the American Gymnast blog.
Andy Thornton posted 4 Floor routines from the Japanese Men’s Championships 2009.
Here’s Kohei .Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Great landings. Especially the triple twist.
Click through to watch the other 3 routines. Okiguchi mounted with double pike with a full-out to a punch front 1 ¾. INSANE.
Shusuke mounts with Tamayo, laid-out double Arabian. That’s the skill where Kyle Shewfelt shattered both knee caps during podium training at World Championships.
American Gymnast – What the heck was that??!!
Update: After Andrew saw this, he posted the routines of Justin Spring and Ri Jong Song competing Miller.
Komova IS the most talented Jr gymnast
by site editor Rick McCharles
A couple of weeks ago I posted a comparison between Jordyn Wieber (USA) and Viktoria Komova (Russia):
Almost everyone on the IG forum that commented likes Komova better. I think I’ll bet on Weiber. If she can stay healthy training all that difficulty, she’ll be tough to beat. …
My thinking was that you MUST do an Amanar to medal in the AA at in 2012.
Here’s skinny little Viktoria Komova doing Amanar at the Mikhail Voronin Cup competition. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
live.breath.love gymnastics:
At the rate Viktoria Komova is going she will be World All-Around Champion by a longshot! She threw an amanar vault, the patterson dismount on beam, a stellar floor set, and a new low to high bar transition at the Veronin Cup. Amazing!!! …
Perhaps I’d best concede that of the dozen or so top Juniors, Viktoria Komova is the girl to beat.
You can quote me.
… Now, why haven’t I heard anyone complain about “too much difficulty” for Komova. Does she really need to risk that vault now, so far in advance of the Olympics 2012? … UPDATE: Apparently many have been saying exactly this about her. I’ve not seen it.
Her Bars are already great. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Love the Tkachev to Pak. Full swing.
UPDATE: Senor Nico translated an interview with Viktoria and her coach, Gennady Elfimov:
… By the way, regarding injuries, I see that you bandage her ankles…
G.E. – This is a precaution from injuries. We put special arch supports under her heels to protect her feet on landings. These supports only work when wrapped with a bandage. Otherwise, nothing is going on. So we bandage her.
read the entire interview and commentary – IG Forum – “Gimnastika” Magazine Interviews
College Gymnastics social networking
GymnasticsReport.net did some detailed research into Women’s College Gymnastics social networking.
Impressive.
This graph is an audit of the social media being used by Gymnastics programs and their Athletic Departments. An x signifies a program is using that form of social media, more than one x indicates more than one instance of the media being used. Feedback, corrections, additions, are certainly appreciated. This information current as of 12-26-09
Click through to see who does what. You can follow your favourite team on Twitter. Or Facebook. Or by RSS feed.
GymnasticsReport.net – Gymnastics Social Media Tracker
splits stretching you can do at home
… some hip flexer stretching drills from Mary Lee Tracy and Cassie that you can do at home …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Gymnastics Minute is a series of free introductory video tips produced by GymSmarts.
gymnast Oksana Chusovitina comeback age-34
Speaking of powerful vaulters not retiring, GymNiceTic translated a GYMmedia post (German):
… Oksana Chusovitina plans to compete in 2010! At the moment, she trains everyday on vault, which she will hopefully show at the World Cup in Cottbus next March (in three month!), as well as on beam for the Worlds in Rotterdam.
In January she will return from Tashkent to Cologne and continue her training at the age of 34 (!) with her longtime coach Shanna Poljakova. …
http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js
Recall that Chusovitina tore her Achilles’ tendon Nov. 2008 on floor, landing double back short in competition. (video)
Oksana Chusovitina. Gymnastics Hall of Fame. For sure.
Make it or Break it – Season 1 FREE
The first 10 episodes are available free to watch on ABCfamily.com … if you live in the U.S.A.
Some full episodes are free for Canadians on MuchMusic.com.
The new series starts in the States on January 4, 2010.
most powerful female vaulter?
Several suggested others as powerful or more powerful than Alicia Sacramone.
Most often mentioned, Yelena Produnova, in her prime. The argument being, can Alicia do this?
Click PLAY or watch the only gymnast to ever successfully land this vault on YouTube.
… This vault was listed by selecious as the most “difficult, forget the code” of all time. I’d agree.
Like just about everyone else, I love Yelena Produnova.
But I think she was more freaky good at forward somersaulting than “powerful”.
This montage by Lexness captures her unique style well. Watch her leg “power”. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Cool. Outrageous. Gorgeous.
I recall watching Charlie Tamayo doing Handspring Front Layout up on to a stack of mats. And thinking, Nobody in the history of gymnastics ever did that as “easily”.
I still believe Alicia could do Handspring front up on to a stack of mats more “easily” than Yelena. Or any other vaulter I can recall.
… We need sport scientist Jeni McNeal to do some research on this for us.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 