As much as possible, gymnasts should be able to go to the toilet at any time during training.
Common sense.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. This is the new policy of British Gymnastics.
Category: safety
The Teenage Brain
Recommended for coaches is a 2016 book looking at the latest research in brain development.
The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults – by Frances E Jensen & Amy Ellis Nutt
For those of us who have forgotten 😀, teenagers are capable of incredibly bad decisions.
There’s a reason for that.
The teenage brain is not yet fully developed.
Click PLAY or watch an interview with one of the authors on YouTube.
WaPo investigation into NCAA abuse
For many, many gymnasts the opportunity for a College scholarship to gain their education is a fantastic experience. Indeed, the vast majority of gymnasts I’ve spoken with are happy with their decision to compete after Club.
BUT it doesn’t work for all. I’m particularly concerned about risk of serious injury competing so many times each season in NCAA.
Recently, Molly Hensley-Clancy and Emily Giambalvo did a deep dive into female college gymnasts complaints for the Washington Post:
Beneath NCAA gymnastics’ glow, a familiar ‘toxic’ culture
Female gymnasts say college was supposed to offer a reprieve from intense club programs. Then they arrived on campus and found more of the same.
I believe that story is not behind the paywall.
Schools identified in the article:
- University of North Carolina
- LSU
- Utah
- Penn State
- Clemson
- Utah State
Eating disorders are common for many young women, especially college athletes. But studies consistently find female gymnasts are at a staggeringly high risk, with a 2004 study finding 42 percent of gymnasts and other elite “aesthetic sport” athletes, such as figure skaters, had disordered eating habits, compared with 16 percent in sports like soccer or basketball.
Certainly I believe the complainants.
I also believe that many of their teammates had positive experiences with the same coaches. Both can be simultaneously true.
Are things getting better in the NCAA?
Bryony Page – Paris Olympics
Page was roared to victory … in front of a home crowd in Birmingham as she repeated her 2021 title and is now eyeing a gold medal at next year’s Paris Olympics.
The 32-year-old has been bouncing on trampolines most of her life and she makes soaring 10 metres into the air to complete complex moves look as natural as walking.
But it has not always been so.
The Sheffield-based athlete’s trampoline career almost fizzled out in her teenaged years as she suffered “lost move syndrome” and became frightened to try a basic front somersault. …
“It doesn’t happen very often but when it does it’s really scary. Everything started to spiral down. Instead of being just scared of that one skill I then got scared of another skill.
Page, who likens the syndrome to the “twisties” experienced by American gymnast Simone Biles, became depressed and could have walked away but eventually she overcame her demons. …
read more on Reuters
Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.
Samantha Peszek – fear on Beam
Sam Peszek was the 2011 and 2015 NCAA balance beam champion. A legend on the apparatus.
After retirement in 2017, she launched Beam Queen Bootcamp.
Despite her successful gymnastics career, she struggled with fears on beam majority of her career.
We had the opportunity to get insight into how she dealt with fear and ultimately overcame it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Olympism365 – Sustainable Development
The goals of the IOC are commendable.
Just one of those is sustainable development.
Note Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
safe and fair Gymnastics for ALL
stuck landings Tokyo Olympics
In slow motion.
It’s much tougher to STICK than they make it look.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Thanks Jeff.
Russia opts out of FIG competitions 2024
I’m thinking this is the best possible result for the rest of the world.
FIG made an attempt to return Russian athletes to international competition as IOC decided — and they decided not to participate.
The Olympics will be a much more positive event without Russia.
Valentina Rodionenko:
“We do not agree with any of the admission criteria that FIG has developed …
Until the international federation makes changes to its document, we will not send athletes to the starts.
This is the decision of the national team’s coaching staff.”
Tom Farden on paid admin leave
Carly Dockendorf has agreed to be interim head coach of the Red Rocks.
From the statement:
“This action comes after recent conduct and actions by Coach Farden not related to student-athlete welfare, which simply do not align with our values and expectations.”
Gymnastics Coaching.com 