Author: Rick Mc

Dr. Siros Prassas is the editor of a good site for those interested in sport science.

For example, here’s an article he posted on the biomechanics of vaulting.

Should be very interesting. Right?

But most coaches do not have enough time for this kind of data.

Are your eyes getting blurry?

In this blog we strive to KISS. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

Here are the most important points I got from the article:

The article is OK though I disagreed with some other points not listed above.

Academic biomechanical analysis is often of limited value. I’d much rather listen to an elite coach who knows the most important conditioning and drills. Not every variable.

The best reason to check out the article is to watch a video of an amazing Handspring Double Front used as a model: Vaulting Mechanics – Dr. Spiros Prassas – Associate Professor, Department of Health and Exercise Science, Colorado State Unversity

The best I’ve ever seen is the matting at the Christchurch School of Gymnastics in New Zealand.

I was there for installation, custom fit carpeted mats held tightly together with wide Velcro. It was done by a local mat maker who took pride in producing equipment at a far lower price than the major companies, but of superior quality.

Even so, this was an expensive project. But worth the cost, we felt.

A lot of minor, dumb injuries occur due to irregular beam mats.

The only downside to this set-up is that there is no way to change the position of the beams. They are locked in.

The Canadian men’s team has been tearing it up on Floor and Vault in international competition.

Not sure the shoes should get all the credit, but the Olympic Champion Kyle Shewfelt swears by his Venturellis. (Without socks.)

The Canadians are sponsored by the Italian high end sport slipper manufacturer Venturelli through distributor Bermo Sport.

details – Venturelli.com

They carry a wide selection of shoes for Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampoline, as well.

Interesting comments by coach / author John Howard on some disadvantages of huge summer gymnastics camps.

Extreme Sports Culture – Not!

We have to tell you that after years of sending our gymnasts (and our own daughters) to a commercial gymnastics Texas summer camp, we stopped doing so when the camp began simultaneously running extreme sports camps. There is no way we wanted our young daughters and gymnasts exposed in even a very limited way to the very “different” culture, attitudes and mores (morals) of the boys and men involved in those sports, especially when we were not around. You can make your own decision.

I had the same concern when I first got to Woodward West. But I must say the “bad influence” of the Action Sports athletes turned out not to be a problem in the weeks I was there. Woodward is extremely strict in monitoring foul language and behaviour.

I cannot speak about other camps except for Muskoka Woods in Canada. Excellent, as well. Kids are very safe there.

Shop on Price

We are seeing an interesting trend that the summer camp coed with the most qualified directors and coaches (gyms currently producing Elite gymnasts) are less expensive than the huge commercial gymnastics camps. There are obviously other differences in the camps, but if quality coaching is your goal, then you might look at camps run by Elite level coaches.

How Many Gymnasts?

This question is somewhat like the question of what size college to attend – a small gymnastics camp will allow your gymnast to become personally known and work with all of the coaching staff. You will want to carefully consider how well your gymnast will fit in and adapt to a huge camp with hundreds of gymnasts and if they will get noticed in the crowd.

Good points. The giant camps are expensive. Gymnastics-wise you will often get more done at regular summer camp in a regular gym. Choose wisely.

On the other hand, there is no way a club camp can match the life experience of something like Woodward West.

I advise coaches to register their kids in both the huge summer camps and private gym camps, if they can afford them. The two are much different experiences.

All the posts about summer gymnastics camps. – GymnasticsCoaching.com camps category

My experience is that any club that makes a commitment, can register 1 boy for every 3 girls. That is a “natural ratio”, I feel, in North America.

Yet TNT has only 30 boys for 240 girls in Rec.

Why is this imbalance persisting?

… Both TNT and the larger American Gold Gymnastics offer boys-only classes.

… “The boys, it’s just amazing how strong they are…”

They practiced exercises on the bars and pommel horses. Aune helped each with the rings.

Finally, during free time, they leapt. Using a spring board, the boys jumped into a pit filled with foam blocks. They swung from a rope and threw the blocks at each other and at Aune.

The triplets’ mother, Terrijan MullerDahlberg, said gymnastics is a good foundation for other sports.

“It gets them flexibility, it gives strength, it gets them agility,” she said. The boys’ older sisters, ages 18 and 16, also learned gymnastics.

Right now, TNT offers only recreational programs for boys. The academy is working to increase the boys’ numbers, Bakker said.

“We’re trying to eventually get a boys team to compete.”

At American Gold Gymnastics on 17th Avenue South in Fargo, about one-third of the youngest gymnasts are boys. The number of boys drops off as the classes grow older, said Marci Schuster, recreational director at American Gold.

Like TNT, American Gold has no competitive boys team. Its performance team, the FM Acro Team, has two boys.

“I think sometimes it comes from dad, thinking he wants his son in football and hockey,” she said.

She tells fathers that gymnastics can make their sons better at other sports.

“The boys that come love it. They think it’s great,” Schuster said.

· IN-FORUM ·

It’s a complex question. A multi-faceted answer.

Leave a comment below if you have an opinion.

Contortion Home Page posts photos of Rhythmic gymnasts warming up.

They also sell contortion videos.

ContortionHomePage.com – photos and videos

Another great post on the Perfect 10 blog. Click through to get a description of each.

Top Ten Things That Should Have Happened in 2007 But Didn’t…
…

In no particular order…

1. Hollie Dykes should have made more of a world impact. …

2. Oksana Chusovitina should have won a medal on the Vault in the Event Finals at the World Championships in Stuttgart. …

3. Speaking of people that I hoped would win a medal at Worlds… how about Elena Zamolodchikova? …

4. Florida Women’s Team should have won the NCAA title. …

5. Ivana Hong should have made the Floor Finals at Worlds. …

6. A non-US gymnast should have won the Tyson American Cup. …

7. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs should have been healthy and in the Event Finals on Beam in Stuttgart.

8. Courtney McCool should have announced her intention to make a run for the 2008 Olympics. …

9. Vanessa Ferrari should have caught her Comaneci in the All Around at the World Championships.

10. I should have been elected as the FIG president… obviously.

So that’s my list. What would be on your list of things you think should have happened in the world of women’s artistic gymnastics in 2007?

perfect 10 » Top Ten Things That Should Have Happened in 2007 But Didn’t…

Click through the link above to add your own comment.

It’s always hard to argue with Perfect 10.

But Courtney McCool for 2008?

I agree she was quite possibly the best all-around gymnast of all-time prior to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. I was certain she’d win.

Sadly, she missed.

Sites by Morgan – Courtney McCool

it would have been a huge comeback for McCool to qualify for this Olympic team. Over-all, I feel her Georgia teammate Courtney Kupets would have had a better chance.

I like this.

TBGN WEBDESIGN offers personalized sites for prominent British female Artistic gymnasts on British-Gym.com.

On the roster right now is World Bars Champion Beth Tweddle.

Since designing our first web site in 2002, TBGN WebDesign service has grown in popularity and currently has 7 running web sites!

When TBGN first opened in November 2002 our main aim was to promote British gymnastics to a wider audience through the world wide web. We are still striving for this today and are committed to promoting British gymnasts.

Many gymnasts feel that they would like an official web site so that gymnastic fans all around the world can find out about them, keep up to date with their results and learn how to contact them. Gymnastics in Great Britain has never been better, and with the growing interest in British gymnasts, many are choosing to have an official web site designed by TBGN.

We also provide a web design service for gym clubs, please check out our sites and the pricing information and place your order today!

TBGN WEBDESIGN: a site you’ll love by the people you trust

Clubs will one day offer built-in web pages for their own top gymnasts. The best I’ve seen to date is the excellent Gymnastics Revolution, Connecticut, website. Everyone on the competitive team gets a personal page.

screen shot

I’ve always admired the solid, consistent gymnastics of Canadian Dave Kikuchi.

And I appreciate his consistency even more in a 3-up, 3-count World Championships Team final.

In a newspaper interview David says his style resulted from a lack of physical talent. (I wish I coached athletes with his kind of lack of talent.)

Some athletes have both raw natural talent and the mental drive that will take them to the top of their sport.

David Kikuchi says he’s not one of them.

“I would be the one with less physical talent,” says Kikuchi, 27, a leading member of the strongest Canadian men’s gymnastics team in decades.

“Nothing came that easily to me. I wasn’t able to do the skills right away. It took me a long time to get to be on the national team.”

That sounds a little modest, considering Kikuchi’s career. His team walked away from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with gold. Kikuchi himself won national gold in rings and on the horizontal bar last May in Quebec City.

The Daily News: News | Persistence pays off for star gymnast