Author: Rick Mc

Apparatus rankings.

Alabama Gymnastics – Kassi Price – Bars – 1/12/07

Click PLAY or watch Kassi on YouTube.

Roll Tide.

Alabama official bio

bio – Got Chalk

Amy Van Deusen is the editor of the About.com gymnastics section. A gymnast for 15-years, she competed NCAA with William and Mary. You might know her name from articles in International Gymnast magazine.

Not only does About.com link to other reputable sites, Amy also adds her own original content. For example:

There’s much, much more. I’ve added Amy’s site to the links under BLOG on the right hand navigation on every page. It’s likely to become one of my favourite sites.

Check out: About.com Gymnastics. (You can subscribe to the RSS feed on that page, too.)

Poet Theatricals is auditioning for their brand new show at Casino Estoril, Portugal. They are looking for fast track, trampoline, and Chinese poles acrobats. Rehearsals start in August 2008 and the show contract runs through March 2010. For more information contact cherrise (at) poetproductions.com

http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/456073/one_arm_pull_ups_multiple_repetitions_with_each_arm.swf
One Arm Pull Ups. Multiple Repetitions With Each Arm – Metacafe

This is, I think, the best I’ve ever seen.

UPDATE: Blair tells me that’s Cisco out of MEGA in Marin County, California.

Leave a comment if you know a video link to someone better.

I’m looking to escape the cold of Canada and flee to see Cirque du Soleil’s QUIDAM in sunny Monterrey, México. (Jan. 24 to Feb. 8, 2008)

There’s a great thread on the Cirque Tribune forum:

The Cirque Tribune :: View topic РQUIDAM in Monterrey, M̩xico

Quidam – official website

Just because we’ve always done it that way, doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.

Tradition – despair.com

Dave Adlard calls it “traditionitis”. Coaching inertia.

What about you? As a coach, are you willing to change? Try new drills? Use innovative equipment? Work smarter instead of harder?

Since you are reading this blog, I suspect you are.

One of my biggest complaints in 2008 is seeing coaches assign too much tumbling on hard surfaces. Repeating technical and form errors. And putting athletes at greater risk of overuse injury.

Too much “pounding” is just stupid.

I noted that Utah coach Greg Marsden, after too many injuries last season, had his team train “on soft surfaces” up until the first meet of the year with Georgia. Which Utah won.

At minimum, kids need to tumble on sting mats atop the hard Floor. Best case scenarios: trampoline devices from companies like TumblTrak. Or rod floors. Or even air floors.

Related: Chinese gymnastics coach likes the Tumbl Trak

I often assign “wheelies” or “roll-outs” to athletes in a general conditioning program. (Advanced only. These drills can be hard on the lower back.)

Ross Enamait explains in detail the making of his custom ab-wheels:

Why Bother?

Before constructing this tool, you are likely wondering why bother with such a project. Why not simply purchase a two handed, store bought model? I have my reasons…

In addition to its unilateral benefits, the single handed model allows for several additional movements (demonstrated within the video …). Many of these exercises would not be possible with a traditional wheel.

The single handed wheel also offers a smoother, more controlled roll when compared to many of the poorly constructed (plastic) models. The lawnmower tires that I use are also built to last …

Furthermore, traditional wheels have become slightly more difficult to locate in recent years. After the ab wheel craze that came several years ago, many of the wheel manufacturers have either gone belly up or simply abandoned the product. Five or six years ago, I can remember purchasing cheap wheels at Wal-mart for just a few dollars. Wal-mart no longer carries the wheels however. You’ll likely need to spend more money for a product that is still poorly constructed, sitting atop plastic wheels that lack stability. As you can see, the homemade wheels may not be such a crazy idea after all. …

RossTraining – Articles

Click PLAY or watch Ross demonstrate how to use them on YouTube.

(via Straight to the Bar)

I believe that IOC (International Olympic Committee) and FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) are quite undemocratic.

Worse, they are very unaccountable.

A group of coaches asked me recently how to send input to the Men’s Technical Committee of FIG.

From what I could find, there is no specific mechanism set out by FIG. You could try emailing the committee members. (If you can find those email addresses.)

Perhaps contact Men’s chairman Adrian Stoica directly at his office at the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. (He’s President. Conflict of interest?) I’m sure Adrian will be happy to hear from you.

Or, you could try the general contact form on the FIG website. (Don’t hold your breath.)

Leave a comment below if you know of a better way to send FIG feedback on the regulations that affect the lives of athletes.

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Certainly FIG is not all bad. One bit of bright news to me was learning that many of the FIG documents are available as free downloads in PDF format.

The Men’s Code of Points, for example:

See what else is there: FIG – Downloads section – International Gymnastics Federation

Rick McCharles

I’ll be visiting the high flying Stanford Men’s team Jan. 29th, ranked #1 in the preseason poll.

31 October 2007: Alexander Buscaglia during practice at the Ford Center in Stanford, CA.

high res photo available for sale – Stanford Photo : Buscaglia103107_15.jpg – Credit David Gonzales

You get the feeling the Cardinal is destined to win Championships at home April 17-19th. Certainly they are the team to beat. I say this despite their upset loss this weekend to cross town rivals Berkeley. (Stanford was missing Sender and Nakamori who were training at the Olympic Training Center.)

Stanford Men’s Gymnastics

And I’m really looking forward to visiting the exciting Stanford Women’s Team on Jan. 28th.

larger photo

Many are predicting BIG things. GymGemz ranked them #2 in their preseason poll. Gymblog feels Stanford has the talent to contend for a Championship.

Stanford Women’s Gymnastics

A short snippet of the training videos from coach Edouard Iarov in France in the 1990s. These kids were way ahead of their time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Iarov, former coach of Valeri Liukin, is currently National Coach of Canada.

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