An inspiring story of Kiya’s comeback from a devastating Achilles injury during her senior season.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Category: sport medicine
book – ADHD is Awesome
Every coach deals with kids who have some kind of attention deficit disorder.
In fact — when I coach 6-year-old Rec boys, I can’t tell the difference between the ADHD kids and the rest. They are all hyper. And not all that ordered. 😀
Check this out.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
what do you know about Olympic Champion Oka Shinnosuke?
I didn’t know that our reigning Olympic champion suffered an ACL tear during the 2022 All-Japan Championships.
In fact, I feel most of us don’t know much about Oka Shinnosuke compared with rivals Daiki Hashimoto and Zhang Boheng.
Oka Shinnosuke is a fascinating example of contrasts: a gymnast who fears heights, a quiet leader with a fiery gaming temper, and a “compact car” with a “Ferrari engine.”
His journey from the “Chin” of failure to the “Kin” of Olympic gold is a testament to the power of locked in focus and the pursuit of beautiful gymnastics. …
read more – Oka Shinnosuke: 12 Facts About the Small Giant of Gymnastics
East German coach Dieter Hofmann
When Hofmann died of COVID-19 in April 2020, the international gymnastics community remembered him as an innovator and mentor.
The tributes focused on his technical knowledge shared generously, on a coach “always willing and eager” to help programs worldwide.
None mentioned “The Rose.” None referenced the Stasi files or the pharmaceutical protocols. …
I attended a number of Hofmann’s coaching courses.
He was a coaches coach. Very good at planning. A proven winner. His team won no fewer than 52 medals at Olympic Games, World and European Championships.
I have no doubt that his main passion was beating the USSR.
BUT in that era of the DDR, you cooperated with the Stasi (secret police) or lost your job.
In that era of the DDR, if higher-ups told you to test new drugs on gymnasts, you did it.
I knew very little about all these new revelations — aside from the drugs he told us about at one coaching course. Some kind of steroids. They tried them on junior male gymnasts ultimately deciding that the benefits weren’t worth the risk.
Uncle Tim put together a career retrospective on Dieter Hoffman. So far as I can verify with contemporaries, it’s very accurate. Uncle Tim is a terrific researcher.
Read more …
Gymnastics-History.com – Code Name “Rose”: The Double Life of East Germany’s Head Coach
Fujitsu software in health care
… International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), … Fujitsu Limited, and Acer Medical Inc., which provides AI-powered medical image processing and preventive medicine, today announced a collaboration …
… smartphone app …
I attended the press conference and LIVE, real-time demonstration of the medical package.
Smart phone video ➙ wirelessly sent to a laptop ➙ analysis ➙ wirelessly sent to a monitor.
The DEMO we watched was analysis of gait. Preventive medicine. They want to analyze elderly patients standing, sitting, and walking—turning that into valuable clinical insights for the doctor.
I was impressed.
It seemed quick enough to be used in the Gym by a coach doing analysis. By the time the gymnast gets to the monitor, the data would be ready for display.
In Japan, Fujitsu has their software working for Golf Swing, Archery, Baseball, and other sports. Gymnastics is more complicated, of course.
Watanabe was asked WHEN we might see the Fujitsu software used in FIG competition regularly. He wouldn’t commit.
Personally, I need it more IN THE GYM for coaching analysis.
The software wouldn’t need to be anywhere near as perfected for that use. I’d want to compare my gymnast performance of Tkachev in training against Kate McDonald, for example. 😀
anti-doping regulations Jan. 1, 2026
From FIG by email:
We hereby inform you that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published the main anti-doping regulations and documentation that will come into force on 1 January 2026.
2026 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods
2026 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes
Please note that a mobile-friendly digital version of the 2026 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods will be published on 1 January 2026.
Rebeca Andrade by her coach Xico Porath
Adidas posted a charming mini-documentary of the great Rebeca Andrade’s relationship with her life long coach, Xico Porath.
He’s been coach and father figure through her long career — including 3 major knee injuries.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
VIDEO – Why It Sucks To Be A Gymnast
Many gymnasts will relate to this commentary.
For young kids, Gymnastics is fantastic — until the chronic pain from training begins. On average, kids are mostly chronic pain free until about age-10.
After that, competitive Gymnastics is not for everyone. It’s no failure to then switch to any other sport or activity.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
16-year-old Palestinian gymnast severely crippled
improving brain – body connection
You know that kid?
A motor genius?
They can quickly understand a movement challenge and accomplish it quickly.
HOW that works is little understood by coaches.
Yuka Sugiura consults with gymnasts & coaches, explaining the vestibular system. And uses a few quick, easy drills to improve the brain body connection.
To learn more, listen to the podcast. Google: “EP077 Gymnastics Growth Show – Nick Ruddock and Yuka Sugiura“
Gymnastics Coaching.com 