Category: safety

on SAFER Landings

Click through for the longer post.

Emily Bischoff:

… Teaching our athletes to land correctly is one thing coaches can control in terms of injury prevention, whether it be to lessen the load on tendons and ligaments to prevent overuse injuries, or to minimize the risk of fluke injuries …

… the force upon landing be dissipated throughout as much of the body as much as possible …

… feet around shoulder width apart, which widens the base of support over which force is exerted. Knees should be in flexion (bent), tracking over the toes …

Promoting Safety in Gymnastics: Landings

Kohei – 2014 Floor

I’d argue Kohei Uchimura singled handedly reinvented how male gymnasts land.

Easily the best in the world in his prime, many emulated Kohei’s exaggerated technique.

I love it as he turned the science of safely reducing huge impact forces to zero into an art form.

At the same time WAG was foolishly deducting low chest position. Dangerous!

Of his many stuck routines over many years, Blythe chose this as one of her decade-defining routines.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

train landings train landings train landings

Landings are incredibly important in NCAA competition. Yet College girls are not very good at them. 😕

Almost any male gymnast is more skilled at bringing impact forces to zero than almost any female gymnast. Male gymnasts work seriously on landings.

Click PLAY or watch Scott Morgan on instagram.

Click PLAY or watch U.S. guys working landings on instagram.

Yes. Part of the problem in WAG is judging expectations. We need to educate judges to the biomechanically, physiologically BEST and SAFEST techniques of landing.

How Hikers can FALL More Safely

Based on how we teach children to fall, I put together a video for those hiking while carrying a heavy backpack.

Absorb IMPACT FORCES over time and surface area. 

BEST strategy is to pull in your arms (dropping poles). Take the first impact landing on your backpack.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. 

more comfortable medical casts

I’ve not used either of these, but they look promising. Leave a comment if you’ve tried any alternatives to standard casts.

Click PLAY or watch FlexiOH™ on YouTube.

FlexiOH™ details.

Click PLAY or watch Cast21 on YouTube.

Cast21 details.

FIG should improve Vault landing mats

Does anyone have statistics on this?

I feel certain we are seeing more severe injuries on Vault landings, on average, than on any other apparatus.

I’d recommend FIG require a mat more like the safer one used by Trampoline sports on double-mini.

Eurotramp Double-Minitramp landing mat

Leave a comment if you have an opinion.

Achilles injury in NCAA

Abstract
Achilles injury risk in women’s collegiate gymnastics is 10-fold higher than in all other collegiate sports. This study aims to identify risk factors for Achilles tendon ruptures in collegiate female gymnasts.

Hypothesis:
Gymnasts with Achilles tendon ruptures will be more likely to report early gymnastics specialization, elite-level training before college, and performance of high-difficulty skills on floor and vault. …

Factors Associated With Achilles Tendon Rupture in Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics

talking about the ‘gymternet’

Fans are Fanatics.

We once had to rely on “mainstream media” to cover Gymnastics.

A few TV channels. International Gymnast magazine.

Sports Illustrated … every 4 years.

The situation for fans (and coaches) is much better today.

YOU and anyone online can post your own opinions the sport at no cost. And you might find an audience.

I recall when non-gymnast Spencer Barnes launched The Balance Beam Situation.

Instantly it was my #1 source of information on NCAA Gymnastics.

On the down side, every #hater, #troll and #bully can get online, as well.

Check an AP (mainstream media) article:

The ‘gymternet’: gymnastics’ devoted, sometimes toxic fans

GymCastic’s Jessica O’Beirne interviews Mandy Mohamed in Tokyo

gymnasts commiserate with Simone

Mental blocks are common in Gymnastics.

Simone’s could not have popped up at a worse time.

The one upside of all this publicity is preventing future injuries.

Every gymnast will remember the time the G.O.A.T. withdrew from the Olympics rather than risk getting lost in the air.

Gaar Adams , for example, trained at the Gym that produced the Hamm brothers:

… I tried to push myself past a “twisties” block at the end of one practice in September 2001.

Lost in the air, I fell on my neck and required spinal surgery, a halo brace and four months in a hospital bed.

A shade away from quadriplegia at the age of 13, my dreams of pursuing collegiate and elite gymnastics were over. …

The twisties: My gymnastics career may not have ended in hospital if I’d had a role model like Simone Biles

I’ve seen over a dozen similar stories recounted over recent days.

Victoria Moors, for example.

If it can happen to Simone, it can happen to anyone.

Simone withdrew from AA

Jade Carey will step in as 1st reserve for USA.