tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
I visit a lot of clubs around the world.
The safest I’ve seen is GAGE in Kansas City, Missouri. Al builds a lot of his own equipment and matting to make circuits safer and more efficient.
If you want to see for yourself, consider registering for camp this summer.
related – Former GAGE gymnasts Sarah (Shire) Brown — currently Head Coach at Penn State — is very entertaining and eloquent in talking about her years at GAGE. Listen to that interview on GymCastic episode 358.
If you see video of Sam’s injury online, don’t share it.
The Auburn gymnast was badly injured landing a double front on Floor at Regionals hosted by LSU.
Sam was visited in hospital by the LSU Team Doctor, the LSU Orthopedist, the President of LSU and D-D.
Notre Dame (Basketball) Coach Muffet McGraw has been on the Final Four stage nine times in her career. …
But her news conference on Thursday was different. It was passionate, and it was personal.
Muffet McGraw has had enough. …
She will only hire female assistant coaches in future. Female coaches in women’s sport should be the norm. Male coaches, the exception.
Click PLAY or watch her on Twitter.
A terrible landing on Floor. Handspring Double Front.
Click PLAY or watch how her team reacted on Twitter.
#StickItForSam
Sam’s an aerospace engineering major who, upon her graduation in May, has accepted a job to work for Boeing in Seattle.
A former coach of Brazil’s national gymnastics squad accused of sexually abusing dozens of boys has been banned for life from the sport, as prosecutors investigate the allegations.
The ruling by the Brazil Gymnastics Federation’s disciplinary tribunal announced Sunday prohibits Fernando de Carvalho Lopes from any activity relating to gymnastics. …
Christie Aschwanden has a new book that’s getting a lot of attention, especially from coaches of endurance athletes.
The main takeaway for me was improving quality and quantity of sleep had the best potential for feeling more READY for the next training.
In one study a group of athletes spent 10 hours / night in bed, whether or not they were sleeping the whole time.
She found that many of the commercial products on the market had negligible effects on recovery. Often the placebo had the same result as the supposed recovery aid.
Recovery is very individual. And complicated.
She found that ice baths can “work” in that they make many athletes feel better (later), even if you’re not actually changing anything in the body.
Personally, I find the best strategy for the coach is to do an assessment of readiness to train at the beginning of workout, and adjust the plan based on that assessment. On a GOOD DAY do more. On a BAD DAY do more basics, less impact.
One season I had the girls do one rope climb during the warm-up reporting back to me how it felt. That was a good indicator, I found. We changed the load (e.g. tumbling reps) based on how they were feeling that day.
Amazon – Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery
Christie Aschwanden is an award-winning science journalist.
She was the lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight for many years and is a former health columnist for the Washington Post. …
She was a high school state champion in the 1,600-meter run, a national collegiate cycling champion, and an elite cross-country skier with Team Rossignol. She lives and occasionally still races in western Colorado.
… At first, she wasn’t sure what she could do to help the survivors, but when she heard about the creation of the Athlete Assistance Fund (AAF) in early 2018, she felt like it could be the perfect spot for her.
“I wanted to be somebody that could help make a change,” Sacramone Quinn said by phone last week. “The Athlete Assistance Fund seemed like a great partnership where I could help these athletes …”
The not-for-profit organization aims to provide financial assistance and guidance for any gymnast who was sexually abused in the sport and would like to seek counseling. …
Alicia Sacramone Quinn works to help Nassar survivors through the Athlete Assistance Fund
related – Indy Star:
The Athlete Assistance Fund was set up to help gymnasts who were sexually abused receive free, confidential counseling. But it faces many challenges gaining the trust of a skeptical public and abuse survivors.
Dave Tilley:
Issues like stress fractures, ankle sprains, growth plate inflammation, ACL or meniscus tears, Achilles injuries, and overuse cartilage break down are seen throughout all levels of gymnastics. These injuries all have a common overlap in being “impact” based….
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
On the upside, all that impact results in gymnasts having very dense bones.
On the downside, every coach needs to constantly assess the training plan to minimize the risk of traumatic and chronic injuries.
Dave has some advice.
1. Temporarily Reduce Workloads and Impact Volume
2. Diagnose and Get Medical Care Quickly
3. Be Patient
4. Manage Soft Tissue Daily (Manual Therapy and Stretching)
5. Use Ice Baths and Compression Nightly
6. Land Properly
7. Slowly Rebuild Knee and Ankle Joint Strength Following Injury
8. Slowly Rebuild Impact Volume Following Rehab
9. Correct Technical Issues (Steep Take off and Landing Short)
The other more obvious piece, although it’s shockingly not addressed, is that gymnasts simply need to stop landing short and destroying their ankles all the time. Mistakes obviously happen here and there, but the reality is that far too many gymnasts are being allowed to land very short on a daily basis. …
10. Build Leg Strength with Physical Preparation Programs
11. Track Growth
Click through for details and videos:
11 CRUCIAL WAYS TO COMBAT IMPACT KNEE AND ANKLE INJURIES IN GYMNASTICS
Paris Phillips of the North Carolina State University Wolfpack was diagnosed with juvenile Diabetes after her first semester at college.
Paris posted an excellent article on how she’s dealt with that medical challenge while staying in the sport. In fact, she was only off training for one month total.
Over the past few years Paris has been talking to younger gymnasts and people in sport who have been diagnosed.
Click through for the full story.
(via Luba)
