Author: Rick Mc

The internet is a wonderful tool. But it has a downside too.

George Palmer sent me an important question by email:

I think hearing what you think of instructional videos on you tube would be interesting. Is it promoting dangerous “park gymnastics”. Is it the blind leading the blind? Is it useful? How about for regular gymnasts? Is it useful for them or should they pay attention to coaches? Any value in having home gymnasts watch instructional videotapes (like a coach would)?

George pointed me to this fairly typical example: (UPDATE: Editor Sizzi took this video down after my critique below. Perhaps that’s for the best.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube (8min).

SIzzi does many things right in this tutorial. And he is very good at standing full twist.

Even the dumbest kid on YouTube cannot miss his disclaimer:

*W A R N I N G* …

THIS IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. THIS SHOULD ONLY BE USED AS A REFERENCE. DO NOT TRY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PROPER TRAINING, A GYMNASTICS INSTRUCTOR, AND A PROPER GYMNASTICS GYM. I’M NOT HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES WHILE ATTEMPTING THIS.-

People need to stop “chucking” moves …

… if you just came across this video and have no former training, then you have no business trying this move, so DON’T DO IT! Have some common sense.

Still, I wish Sizzi would take the video off the net.

Any trampoline coach would criticize:

What Sizzi should do instead is show his COOL SKILLZ. Then tell young kids to go join a gymnastics or trampoline club. To find a good coach.

His other videos are better.

I DO find Sizzi partly responsible for kids hurt trying the progressions he “taught” them in an 8min video.

Honestly, Sizzi, how many of the people who tried your drills do you believe can learn a standing full using your methods? Two? Three?

I think you are misleading everyone else who does not have your strength to weight ratio and acrobatic background.

… End of rant. Leave a comment if you have an opinion, especially if you know of some good online tutorials. For example: Gymnastics Warm Ups on Expert Village

Another example I like better is this tutorial on backward handspring by Chelsie Memmel.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It’s inspiring for kids to be “coached” by a “star”. (Chelsie, by the way, was an advanced but awful tumbler as a young child. Doug Davis of TumblTrak has videos of her back to when she was 3ft tall.)

USA Gymnastics is proud to launch a new, more user-friendly version of usa-gymnastics.org. The revamped site has a new look and information has been reorganized, with the goal of making it easier for fans and members alike to find the information they are seeking. The home page is now dedicated to highlighting what is happening in the sport, as well as coverage from papers across the country. …

We really hope you enjoy the new usa-gymnastics.org. Please feel free to send us your thoughts to feedback@usa-gymnastics.org. Thank you!

USAG

Looks much prettier. Time will tell if it is really more user-friendly.

This user wants an RSS feed. The new site has none.

But let’s give them some time to work out the bugs. USAG is a HUGE site. It’s not easy to move it all over to a new home.

usa-gymnastics.org

(via JBS on Chalk Bucket)

The rookie from WOGA is the next big superstar from NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma.

Click PLAY or watch Steven’s gold medal routine on YouTube.

I asked Steven why he lands so many skills facing forwards. (He won vault with Handspring double front.) And assumed that he was trying to maximize his start scores. Actually, he has inflexible ankles. He said he has always preferred landing forward because landing “short” from backwards rotation is painful.

Newly crowned national team champs Oklahoma added three event titles to their ever-growing collection as the 2008 NCAA National Championships concluded Saturday in Stanford, Calif., proving their team title upset was no fluke.

Freshman Steven Legendre easily secured the floor win with a whopping 6.5 “A” (difficulty) score that netted him a 16.1. …

read more on the Finals – OKLAHOMA WINNING STREAK CONTINUES – Inside Gymnastics

California Berkeley gymnastics is celebrating.

Senior Tim McNeill won NCAA individual championships on pommel horse and parallel bars Saturday evening at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion. The titles are McNeill’s third on pommel horse and second on parallel bars in four years at California, bringing his career total to five — the most in Cal school history. …

… California head coach Barry Weiner said. “Tim won by 0.650 on pommel and 0.700 on parallel bars, those score differentials are unheard of. He just dominated.” …

CalBears

Click PLAY or watch both of Tim’s gold routines on YouTube.

Tim McNeill – bio

Incidentally, I spoke with Barry Weiner — an astute gymnastics mind — after the meet. He projects that the USA will win a team medal at the Olympics. With Paul Hamm as an AA anchor, that the States can finish ahead of Korea. And, perhaps, Japan.

Barring disaster, China should win gold as a team. But Barry feels Paul Hamm has a chance to defeat Yang Wei for the AA title, despite having a lower start score.

My own feeling is that the strongest quality the USA can bring to Beijing is consistency. In a competition where all 18 routines count, the USA can “hit” 18 routines. The Chinese competitors are not nearly as well battle tested under pressure.

No harm done, it seems. But clicking on a gymnastics movie sent to you in an email may result in an unexpected anti-China message.

RaceForTibet.exe, shows a cartoon with a very skilled Chinese gymnast performing some amazingly convoluted exercise on a “vaulting Bbox” for which the jury immediately scored her a shocking 0! Whilst the gymnast’s performance is “re-wound,” a number of fairly stark photographs of real events, taking place throughout China and Tibet, are shown as a flashback. …

… we can also continue to see an increase in attacks carried out by people taking advantage of the media hype and interest raised across the globe over these dramatic circumstances.

Will you watch the Olympic games? Best not if they claim to appear via e-mail as a Flash executable movie!

McAfee Avert Labs Blog

(via Shergymrag)

Get a Mac.

Relaxed, out-of-gym.

(via Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics)

Vault
1. Legendre (Oklahoma)
2. Sender (Stanford)
3. Wickham (Ohio)

Horizontal Bar
1. Ruggeri (Illinois)
2. Storer (Minnesota)
3. Dixon (Stanford)

Vault was the strongest final. Legendre nailed a handspring double front to edge Sender and Wickham, both with near perfect “Shewfelt” vaults. (Yurchenko 5/2 twist).

McNeill from Berkeley and Legendre from Oklahoma were the biggest stars of the night, each taking home 2 golds.

Steven Legendre

Most often finals are anti-climactic. Not the case this year. It was a good meet with few errors.

The audience was much subdued from Team Finals, however. Like me, many are still in shock that Stanford lost Team.

Video from some of the top routines yet to come.

Full results linked as PDF files from the official competition page.

Floor
1. Legendre (Oklahoma)
2T. Sandy (Penn State)
2T. Wickham (Ohio)

Rings
1. Horton (Oklahoma)
2. Sender (Stanford)
3. Ramos (Penn State)

David Sender

Full results linked as PDF files from the official competition page.

Like most of the home crowd in San Jose last night, I was drinking the Stanford Kool-Aid. A championship for the Cardinal seemed predestined.

Legendary former Stanford coach Sadao Hamada flew from Japan for the soon-to-be historic competition. Stanford alumni National Champion David Durante flew in to cheer on his team.

Despite a shaky start on PBars, Stanford looked good. OU was having problems, too.

In fact, when the scoreboard flashed the Team results at the end of the competition, I was still convinced Stanford had won. Assuming that the last of Stanford’s vault scores had not been tabulated. (Live scoring online and in the arena were both very confusing throughout the meet.)

It wasn’t until I was this scene erupted in front of my eyes, that I finally understood …

The Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team claimed the 2008 NCAA Championship with a 363.200-362.750 victory over event host and top-seeded Stanford Friday night. Once again the title came down to the final event as OU finished strong on rings …

It was an ending that couldn’t have been scripted any better. Facing a deficit of almost two points with its final two competitors left to go on rings, the Sooners looked to senior co-captains Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons and Jonathan Horton to make one final charge at the title. …

Needing a score of at least 15.700 to win the title, Horton came through with a career-high score of 16.100, sticking his dismount and securing his third NCAA team championship as a Sooner.

“That was the first rings routine I think I’ve ever done where at the end I wasn’t tired at all because I had so much adrenaline going,” Horton said. “It was just so much fun to be up there in that handstand before my dismount just thinking, `I’m going to stick this. I’m going to give our team a shot.’ I know Taqiy was thinking the same thing. We all had to do our jobs. Everybody was clutch tonight and came through when we needed them.” …

Sooner Sports

I should have known not to underestimate Oklahoma. They’ve now won 5 of the last 7 Team titles under coach Mark Williams.

Dave commented on this blog that OU earlier this season scored 364.60 vs Minnesota. The highest score in the NCAA in 2008.

The competition was close:

FX: Oklahoma 62.60 vs 61.85 Stanford
PH: Oklahoma 56.20 vs 57.35 Stanford
R: Oklahoma 61.70 vs 62.05 Stanford
V: Oklahoma 64.15 vs 63.75 Stanford
PB: Oklahoma 59.65 vs 58.55 Stanford
HB: Oklahoma 58.90 vs 59.20 Stanford

I feel very badly for Stanford. They did so much right this season. Only to end in disappointment.

I spoke to Stanford’s David Sender leaving the arena. All he could say was, “I’m tired.”

Dave and the other finalists need to recharge the batteries quickly. Apparatus FINALS are tonight.

Inside Gymnastics has more analysis – SOONERS SHAKE-UP STANFORD

Nice drill for beginners working towards “Moy”.

There are two elastic straps tied to the Parallel Bars. One the hips should hit; the other the feet should hit.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Concentrating on getting his hips up, the gymnast stops worrying about his grip on the bars.

I also like how the “bail” on the downswing is made easier by starting with the feet on mats.

Thanks coolgymnast.

See the most advanced version: amazing long hang swing on parallel bars (China).