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OK, this is not exactly gymnastics.
But you can flip and twist after releasing near the top of your swing.
… At the top was a trapeze-like rope-swing with a platform perched 30 feet above the water. “Wicked!” I called out to Jarv before excitedly setting ashore.
When I reached the swing, a sign said, “Price of admission one Beer Lao.” …
I’ve read dozens of NCAA athlete signings over the past week.
There’s something special about this one:
… For nine years, the 17-year-old senior from Clive has trained day in and day out in the gymnasium she shares with world champion Shawn Johnson. But as Johnson moves forward to the Olympics, Hansen will take another route: one that is taking her to Iowa City and the University of Iowa.
This month, Hansen signed to compete with the women’s gymnastics team on a full scholarship. She is women’s coach Larissa Libby’s first in-state recruit and Chow’s first student to move on to the college level.
“We feel like she has the opportunity to resurrect Iowans’ love for gymnastics,” Libby said. “She’s that total package. Academically she’s stellar. … But she also brings a poise and artistry in gymnastics. We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Jessa here.”
…
It wasn’t until high school that Hansen realized gymnastics could be her door into college. As she approached her senior year as an honor student at Waukee High School, scouts began to make offers. …
While Johnson is a role model for many of the girls at the gym who dream of going to the Olympics, Hansen is a role model for those who want to go to college, Coach Liang Chow said.
Rick McCharles
Valentin, editor of The Gym Press, notified us of a documentary on the Li Xiaoshuang gymnastics school. It’s pretty intense.
The first 10min video features a father bringing his 5-year-old son to “try out”. If accepted, the father will take the train 9hrs home. And leave the boy in the care of the school.
To see what happens, click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
documentary part 2 documentary part 3 documentary part 4 documentary part 5
Valentin asks what people think of this documentary. Leave a comment below.
I am trying to be sympathetic of a nation in transition from third world to superpower. Yet these truths are self-evident:
Summing up, the focus of the Chinese system (parents, children, coaches) on “winning” is illogical. Only one can “win” the Olympics. If that’s the goal for all, everyone loses — except that one.
Living this lie cannot persist. As China gains confidence as a nation, as affluence and education increase, parents will not tolerate boarding schools like this. Their children will have better options.
Free enterprise will bring change for the better.
Most surprising of all to me is how poor is the coaching of the young boys. The technical training is very old fashioned. Inefficient. Most of the top coaches in the “West” are better, in my opinion, than the coaches at the Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School.
We should be educating them, not the other way round.
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UPDATE: A more damning exposé, and more unfairly edited, was the CNN documentary on Parkettes in Pennsylvania.
Happy Yanksgiving. (American Thanksgiving.)
Don’t ask me to explain this video …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via THE GOAT)
Jennifer Isbister of Gymn.ca recommended a National Geographic Channel documentary called Taboo II: Child Rearing .
The segment examines child rearing around the world. One section looks at 6-year-old gymnasts living away from their families at Shi Cha Hai Gymnastics Sports School.
From what was shown on TV, the cruelest thing I saw was making these poor boys train in underwear. (Can someone please send that School a few hundred pairs of cheap shorts?)
The translation of coaching comments were very harsh, too, though it is difficult to translate exactly how harsh from another language.
photo – Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School in Xiantao
The big issue — how much can we criticize other cultures who do not meet our own standards? It’s a dilemma when we see people from other countries behave in ways that would be unethical or illegal in our own.
IOC President Jacques Rogge no doubt has dealt with this question many times. To a journalist from England:
… The routine beatings allegedly given to child gymnasts in China are no different to the corporal punishment that was once part of daily life in English public schools, according to the head of the Olympic movement. …
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, commented on concerns aired recently on the BBC by Sir Matthew Pinsent. Sir Matthew said he had witnessed young children in China being physically abused by their gymnastics supervisors.
… they had to be put into a cultural context, insisting the issue should not be “exaggerated” or “blown up”. …
China’s abuse of its athletes is no different to Britain’s public schools, says Olympics chief
Things are changing rapidly in China. But if you think they are changing too slowly, Rogge too forgiving, leave a comment.
Most gyms spend far too little time teaching the skill of regrasp on a bar. (I’ve posted on this in the past.) Here are some more advanced examples:
Watch closely. How gymnasts “catch” a bar is far more complicated than gymnasts realize.
Those with hand guards often contact the bar first with the wrist then slide or bounce down the bar until the hands are in the correct position. (This is one of the main reasons I prefer female gymnasts to delay starting to use hand guards as long as possible.)
Many gymnasts catch “close” with bent arms to be sure they do not miss the regrasp. (It’s impressive to see a release move caught with straight arms!)
The natural deflection of the bar (especially Horizontal Bar) complicates matters.
Hoshi Yosuke of Japan – original photo – flickr
One of the girls at Funtastics, Idaho learned a Jaeger salto very quickly. But was frustrated by repeatedly getting her hands on the bar — and “pinging”. She couldn’t hang on.
What to do?
SUGGESTED DRILLS (asking the gymnast to watch the bar closely):
REPEAT DRILLS increasing distance or adding a challenge. (Clapping the hands. With twist. etc.)
Of course either “missing” the bar or “catching and then slipping” is very dangerous. Coaches must prepare athletes for “crashing” safely after a miss. Spotting and sufficient matting is essential.
(AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Italian Vanessa Ferrari is about to miss the grip during the women’s uneven bars final at the Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, southern Germany, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007.
Thanks George.
Related posts:
Many of the leading contenders for next summer’s Olympics are scheduled to compete at the “Good Luck Beijing” test competition, Nov. 28-Dec. 3 in Beijing.
The artistic gymnastics competition will feature men’s team, women’s all-around, and men’s and women’s individual event finals.
The Chinese roster includes four of the host country’s best females — Cheng Fei, Jiang Yuyan, Pang Panpan and Zhou Zhuoru — but its big stars in men’s gymnastics are absent. None of the six male gymnasts entered were members of China’s gold medal-winning team at the 2007 World Championships in September.
Qualification rounds will take place on Nov. 28, followed by the men’s team final and women’s all-around final on Nov.29.
full list of competitors – International Gymnast
It’s an interesting meet. The winners will have a lot of media attention in the run up to the Games.
Interesting too in that the Men are not awarding an individual all-around. And women are not awarding team. … I assume there are too few men wanting to do all-around. Too few nations that can field a full women’s team at this time in the Olympic cycle. This code of points is too difficult, I think.
The USA is sending Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world all-around gymnastics champion, who can handle the pressure. And young, super talented, up-and-comer Bridget Sloan. Good choices, I think.
They will compete in the National Indoor Stadium. A good chance to see the exact facility that will be used at the Games. Trampoline will soon have a test meet here too.
At the Athens Olympics Kyle Shewfelt won Floor. His payment for that victory from Sports Canada? ZERO DOLLARS. (hilarious interview by comedian Rick Mercer)
If Dragalescu from Romania had won gold on Floor in Athens, he would have been awarded US$65,000 by his, one of the poorest governments in Europe.
Now Canada is ponying up some dough — $20,000 for Olympic gold:
The committee believes it has found the right mix of training assistance and cash incentives with its new Athlete Excellence Fund, says COC president Michael Chambers.
“It varies wildly (in other countries, from) huge amounts to lesser amounts than we provide,” said Chambers.
“But in most of those other countries that have large rewards, at the end of the trip if you win a Games, they have very little in the way of development programs leading into the Games,” he said.
“So it’s all or nothing. That’s not where we wanted to go.”
The athlete support and reward program is a way to compensate high-performance athletes for the financial burdens they often face while training for Olympic Games, the COC said in a statement.
While gold medals will garner the highest amount, silver medal winners would be paid $15,000 and bronze medal winners $10,000.
I was surprised to hear that Paralympic athletes will be eligible, as well. Beijing will be the 13th Paralympics.
by Rick McCharles, editor
A number of readers have requested more posts on … “gymnastics coaching”. (tips, tutorials, drills, etc.)
We’ll try our best to post one of those, minimum, each day.
Here’s the first, an update of one of my old articles. I was reminded of it this past weekend when gymnasts told me this was a favourite.
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Shaping Skills with Drills
Getting to handstand on bars is a physical, technical & psychological challenge for young girls.
I prefer piked straddled casts, especially for beginners.
My favourite drills include:
photos – Christchurch School of Gymnastics, New Zealand.
Kids love these drills. They require no spotting. They inflict no “rips†on the hands. And they work.
Girls soon learn they can easily get to handstand if they put their hips (centre of gravity) over the bar quickly.
Many times I have seen beginners of average ability achieve handstand using only these drills. Especially girls with good flexibility.
The last progression I call “touch and go†— the same drill as shown but without boxes. The feet jump from the bar instead. This ensures the gymnast makes the skill as easy as possible, by shortening the body on the ascending swing.
All competitors should be able to learn straddle up cast handstand. Very few, straight body cast.
Original article – Rick McCharles — Gymnastics — Shaping Skills with Drills — introducing “cast to handstandâ€
Gymnastics Coaching.com 