Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

confessions of an NCAA gymnastics fan boy

There was a time as a club coach when I was dismissive of the Women’s NCAA.

It seemed a place for past-their-prime gymnasts to compete watered-down routines for outrageous scores like 9.95.

I was way wrong. The Championships this year, on podium, was fantastic.

UCLA gymnast Anna Li competes on the balance beam during the first day of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships Thursday April 24, 2008, in Athens, Ga.

Li.jpg
(AP Photo/John Amis) – original – ESPN

The Women’s NCAA is by far the “best” gymnastics competitive program in the world:

  • 85 schools had teams Division I, II, III in 2004-05 (down from 179 in 1982)
  • wonderful opportunity for girls to keep doing the sport while getting a degree
  • scholarships at some Universities
  • employment for coaches
  • fan appeal
  • media and TV appeal
  • motivation for young girls to one day get to the NCAA
  • superstructure of the entire NCAA sport system
  • beam, floor and bars are very entertaining to watch
  • most extreme floor choreography anywhere
  • where else am I going to hear ACDC as floor music?

    • The success of the NCAA, I feel, is mainly due to Nadia’s perfect 10. Everyone in the world understands the 10. It’s easy for fans and the media to follow what’s happening at a meet even if they cannot recognize a full-in or Jaeger.

    This is BIG TIME sport.

    Ashleigh.jpg

    A few things I disliked at the Women’s NCAA Championships 2008:

  • Only 4 programs have ever won Team: Utah, Georgia, Alabama and UCLA. That’s too predictable. I would prefer rule changes allowing other teams a better chance to upset the superpowers.



    • Clarification added: Too much weight put on Team and All American lists relative to the All-Around and Event Finals winners.

  • Not enough I wish there were MORE emphasis on All-Around and Apparatus medals. They seemed to be deemed “less important” for some reason than All-American status.


    • event-winners.jpg
    Courtney McCool FX (Georgia), Grace Taylor Beam (Georgia), Susan Jackson Vault (LSU), Tasha Schwikert Bars (UCLA) – event winners

  • The Men’s NCAA Championships has a better system for determining the All Around winner. The women should use it too.


  • Women qualify to finals with one vault. Then are asked to competed “two different vaults” in Finals. That’s not safe. The Men qualify with one vault, and compete only one vault in finals. Much better.


  • On vault there are too many Yurchenko 1/1s. It’s boring. Provide more incentive for different vaults, not necessarily more difficult vaults.


  • Too much emphasis on sticking landings. An average routine with a stuck landing is often over-valued.


  • The NCAA is super strict on hitting handstand on bars. But judges do not seem to deduct bad body alignment. Performances are so good in 2008 that those girls with superb line should get more credit than they do.”

    • The greatest criticism of the NCAA program looking from the outside is the injury rate. But I’m not completely sure that’s true. Certainly the NCAA teams provide far, far better medical than anything the girls had in clubs.

    I do wish they competed fewer meets in a season.

    Leave a comment if you agree, disagree or having something to add. I’ll send the comments on to the NCAA Coaches organization as feedback from the fans.

    Men’s European Gymnastics Championships 2008

    166 senior and 145 juniors from 41 nations. Lausanne, Switzerland May 8-11, 2008.

    European-Championships.jpg

    official competition home page in 3 languages

    gymnast Shawn Johnson + coach Liang Chow

    Excellent article in Sports Illustrated by E.M. Swift examines the relationship between the World Gymnastics Champion and her Head Coach: East Meets Midwest

    … “I’ve been with Chow since I was six, and I’ve trusted him with my life,” she says. “He’s like my second dad.”

    p1_johnson2.jpg
    Eric Risberg/AP

    … Chow accepted a scholarship two years later to a place he’d never been, the University of Iowa, to study English and help coach the gymnastics teams. In doing so, he left behind a world of relative wealth and privilege for the spartan life of an American college student. “I was pretty famous in China,” says Chow, who was making more money than his father, a senior electrician. “He was a pretty tough guy. I’d never seen him cry before, but he cried when I left.”

    Chow was 23 when he arrived in Iowa City with a suitcase and a kindergartner’s grasp of English, but he relished the adventure. “Gymnastics trained me, not just for gold medals, but for life,” he says. “There is no fear in gymnastics. If you can do a double backflip, you can do anything. It was hard at first, but later on, Iowa seemed like heaven to me. I love this country and this system because if you have the talent and the knowledge, you can use it.” …

    click through to read the entire article – Sports Illustrated

    (via Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics – Shawn Johnson, The Poet?)

    Li Xiaopeng, Yang Wei, Cheng Fei – May 14th

    China will compete some of their “big guns” at the Bank of China World Cup gymnastics competition, to be held in Tianjin on May 14-15.

    (‘Prince of Parallel Bars’ swings back into action – China Daily via People’s Daily)

    Bank of China is a BIG sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Should be a good meet. I’m looking forward to seeing how the World Champion performs.

    Wei-Yang.jpg
    Yang Wei

    Chinese Olympic Gymnastics Team is …

    … After the Internal Test Event conducted, a few of the team members were supposedly selected. …

    Competing on the Olympic team
    » Cheng Fei
    » Jiang Yuyuan
    » He Kexin
    » Yang Yilin

    For the last two spots it is between
    » He Ning
    » Sui Lu
    » Pang Panpan
    » Xiao Sha

    Gymnastics and stuff

    Just speculation, I’m assuming.

    It’s quite early to be naming team members.

    Click PLAY or watch Jiang Yuyuan at 2007 Worlds Event Finals on Floor. YouTube

    Some nice parts in this routine. But I don’t need to see front step-out through to double twist in Finals at World’s. Rules changes MUST do something to reduce the number of tumbling lines. Three is enough. Four should be rare.

    spotting Tsukahara double pike

    Mitchell Mays from Minnesota had the highest score this year in the NCAA on Vault — 16.700.

    And was the nation’s No. 1 ranked College vaulter.

    Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

    Unfortunately Mitchell fell (safely) at NCAA Championships 2008. And did not medal.

    I’ve never spotted Tsukahara Double back on vault. And I’m not sure I ever want to.

    spot-Mays.jpg

    spotting Mitchell Mays

    Related post: gymnastics – the less spotting, the better

    confirmed – 2008 USA Visa Championships

    by Rick McCharles

    Once again I will be attending the competition hosted May 22-24 in Houston, Texas.

  • Men’s Gymnastics National Jr. and Sr. Championships
  • Rhythmic National Jr. and Sr. Championships
  • Trampoline and Tumbling Jr. and Sr. Championships

    • In addition, an elite Women’s Artistic Gymnastics competition will be included:

  • US Classic/Challenge

    • Tickets went on sale Saturday, April 26th.

    The 2008 Visa Championships for Artistic Women will be hosted separately this year, scheduled June 5-7 in Boston. Tickets went on sale April 23rd.

    Four final petitions (Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Geoffrey Corrigan, Morgan Hamm, Jake Lee) brings the Men’s field to 45 competitors.

    08vc_men_267_20080425_042201.jpg

    complete list of competitors – USA Gymnastics.

    2008 Visa Championships Artistic Gymnastics (Men) – official competition home page

    best acrobatic tutorials on the internet?

    I criticized one online video tutorial.

    Here’s an excellent one. How to Do a Split by Amy Van Deusen on About.com Gymnastics. Photos by Paula Tribble.

    It’s a series of drills with explanation. Two examples:

    oversplitsPaulaTribble.jpg

    ringsplitsPaulaTribble.jpg

    Check the entire How to Do a Split tutorial on About.com Gymnastics. And the rest of the excellent content in Amy’s Training Advice section.

    Related: How to Do a Center Split – About.com

    strength training – front lever pulls

    One of the top gymnastics conditioning coaches in the world is Chris Sommers from Arizona.

    He’s posted some great video tutorials. As a sample, one of my favourite exercises: Front Lever Pulls.

    Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

    A men’s Artistic coach, Chris shares his knowledge on a number of sites. But the best starting point is: GymnasticBodies.com

    Front lever pulls are ideal too for the non-gymnast. They can be done on rings or any bar, even in the playground.

    Check out the variations — called the Ice Cream Maker — on Ringtraining.com. (Click through to watch the video.)

    Related posts:

  • front lever – superb strength training skill
  • rings – front lever

    • Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Maribor ends

    Great meet for the Canadian women!

    VaculikBB01.jpg
    Gymn.ca – Kristina Vaculik – 2007 Gymnix

    Women’s Beam
    1. VACULIK, Kristina (CAN) (16.3) = 14,975
    2. WEVERS, Sanne (NED) (16.1) = 14,275
    3. CARDENAS, N.Sanchez (COL) (16.3) = 14,275

    Women’s Floor
    1. HARMES, Suzane (NED) (15.9) = 14,525
    2. ZIMMERMANN, Jasmin (SUI) (15.7) = 13,950
    3. DAMIANOVA, Nansy (CAN) (15.3) = 13,900

    Parallel Bars
    1. CUCHERAT, Yann (FRA) (16.7) = 15,900
    2. FOKIN, Anton (UZB) (16.6) = 15,750
    3. PETKOVSEK, Mitja (SLO) (16.5) = 15,650

    Men’s Vault
    1. GWANG, Ri Se (PRK)
    – (17.0) – 16,400
    – (17.0) – 16,400 = 16,400
    2. WIGNANITZ, Raphael (FRA)
    – (17.0) – 16,250
    – (17.0) – 15,775 = 16,012
    3. CARANOBE, Benoit (FRA)
    – (17.0) – 15,575
    – (17.0) – 15,200 = 15,387

    Click PLAY or watch GWANG, Ri Se on vault at the last World Championships on YouTube. Looks like he is still doing the same vaults.

    Vault is the most impressive of men’s apparatus these days.

    High Bar
    1. PEGAN, Aljaz (SLO) (16.4) = 15,350
    2. DIMIC, Alen (SLO) (16.3) = 14,950
    3. SCHAERER, Christoph (SUI) (16.4) = 14,875

    Great to see the Slovenians doing well in their own backyard.

    full results men – GymnasticsResults.com
    full results women – GymnasticsResults.com

    competition home page

    Related post: top gymnasts NOT going to Beijing (Pegan)