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OK, this Olympic prediction is a no brainer.
I can’t see Japan. Or Korea. Or anyone else beating China at home. Their start values are simply too high to overcome.
It’s going to look something like this:
Chinese gymnastics team celebrates on the podium after winning men’s team final at the 39th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, Oct. 17, 2006.
People’s Daily Online
Gym Chat has a discussion threat on the “best way to get better splits/flexibility”.
It includes a link to research by Bill Sands, Jeni McNeal and others:
CONCLUSION: This study showed that vibration can be a promising means of increasing range of motion beyond that obtained with static stretching in highly trained male gymnasts.
Flexibility enhancement with vibration: Acute and …[Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006] – PubMed Result
Jeni brings her vibration machine (video) everywhere. She’s very positive on this training method.
But where can you buy a machine?
John Wingfield from Indianapolis sells them for $1800.00 plus shipping. That includes research study resultts, the suggested protocol for use, and a 1 year parts and labor warranty.
Email for details Usddirtc {at} @aol.com
Disclaimers: I spoke with a gymnastics coach who worked with former World Champion sprinter Donovan Bailey’s Athletics group. They tried vibration for a number of different purposes, ultimately concluding that it was not beneficial enough to use.
We made our own machine in the 1990s at Taiso Gymnastics based on the model brought to Canada by Edouard Iarov. We had mixed results, to be honest.
Though the research looks positive, you need try it with your own athletes before being convinced vibration works to improve flexibility.
Leave a comment if you have experience — positive or negative — on these devices.
Posted by Neal McQuaid:
… the inaugural Slacklining Masters, which will be held in Fort William, Scotland, “will be kicking off at 12pm on Saturday 23rd February at the Lochaber Leisure Leisure Centre playing fields with the Grand Final at 4pm.†Dust off your slacklines, tie them off to some trees, and get practicing! …
“The cash prizes for the comp are now totaling a whopping two grand.
UK Champion = £500
UK 2nd place = £300
UK 3rd place = £200International Champion = £500
International 2nd place = £300
International 3rd place = £200″
I like the graphics on a page from Tulsa World of Gymnastics. Here’s a sample:
Begin by lying on your back, your arms out to the side on the floor, and your legs elevated about 90 degrees from the ground. Using as few other muscles besides your lower abdominal muscles, lift your hips up off the floor only a few inches. Then roll your hips back on the floor and repeat.
This exercise can be done in both pike and straddle position. Place your hands on the floor next to your knees, and then scoot them forward three inches. Leaving your hands in this position, lift your legs off the ground about three inches. Drop your legs, but do not let them touch the ground, and repeat.
See the rest of the article – Strength and Conditioning: Abdominals
They provide plenty more articles like this in their Gymnastics Tips for Gymnasts and Coaches section.
(via About.com: Gymnastics)
She had tougher tumbling and a more difficult vault in Montreal …
Dwight Normile, IG editor interview:
“Nellie,” I began confidently, “I remember you at the 1976 Olympics. You did a double back on floor, and you kept your knees together and your toes pointed.”
Nellie melted in gratitude. She thanked me — ME! — for noticing and remembering. This led to further discussion of her greatness. At those Montreal Games, she also introduced the full-twisting Tsukahara, using an inferior board to the contraptions used today. And hers was the real deal; she did the whole 540 degrees. It wasn’t the Kasamatsu-kind, where you can cartwheel on, cut the corner and get away with a lot less twist. Again, her form was impeccable.
Even we gymnasts at the time (I am the same age as Nellie) recognized that Nadia was “special”. She had a style and charisma that exceeded everyone else at the competition. At the 1976 Games, in fact. Nadia was the main story of those Olympics for all sports.
Yet today Nellie Kim is President of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee.
(How do we contact you Nellie?)
Click PLAY to see Nellie Kim – 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Vault on YouTube.
The Floor was very, very hard back then. Click PLAY for Montreal 1976 – USSR – Nellie Kim FX on YouTube.
Nellie Kim – Wikipedia
Nellie awarded the Golden Star of Russia
Not sure this is even worth posting.
It’s a football recruiter under the microscope. Only one of the issues is whether or not he called the football player’s girlfriend, gymnast Maranda Smith. And whether or not that was a violation of NCAA rules.
It’s still being investigated.
Gainesville, FL– The U.Florida compliance office is currently gathering information about a possible secondary recruiting violation involving Gators football coach Urban Meyer and his communication with a junior college transfer and his girlfriend, a Gators gymnast.
According to a Jan. 16 article in The Gainesville Sun, gymnast Maranda Smith said Meyer called her about signing with UF in hopes of luring her boyfriend, Carl Moore, a five-star wide receiver from Sierra (Calif.) College, to Gainesville. Moore signed his letter of intent with the Gators on Dec. 19 and enrolled in classes earlier this month. Smith competed for UCLA but transferred to Sierra last year before enrolling at UF. …
Brett on the Trampoline and Tumbling blog is doing something cool with Google Maps:
… My goal for this map is to list every USAG member gym that has a competitive Trampoline and Tumbling program. As I find lists of gyms (and have the time to enter them), I will add gyms to the map. If you would like me to add your gym to the map, just drop me a note in the comments. …
screenshot
Click through to try the real map, especially if you want to add a gym: Google map of USAG Tramp and Tumble gyms
Amy Van Deusen wrote a great post on About.com Gymnastics: Cool Trick: The Layout Full on Beam.
She linked to this fantastic example performed by Kui Yuanyuan (Simplified Chinese:奎媛媛) in the 1997 Worlds Beam Event Finals. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube:
Circus performers have done double twist and far, far more on “beam-like apparatus”.
Who and how soon will we see an Artistic gymnast compete double twist? Or will the beam need to be sprung more first?
PS
I had forgotten about the Kui Yuanyuan controversy:
Kui went on to win two bronze medals at the 1997 Worlds with her team and on the balance beam.
The balance beam results turned into one of the most disputed events in gymnastics history. Kui performed one of the most difficult routines of all time, yet finished .012 behind Romania’s Gina Gogean, who competed one of the easiest sets performed in World competition during the 1990s. Kui’s rare full-twisting back layout on the beam drew gasps, as did her three split leaps to back handspring, 2 layout step-outs. Kui lost the silver medal as well, when a tie-breaker was put into effect. The results prompted the president of the Federation of International Gymnastics to publicly chastise the judges and tell them they were wrong. …
One example, an (older) photo of Gael and Charlotte Mackie from Canada.
… a thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute.
More cuteness – Australian Gymnastics blog
How many revolutions can you spin on one hand in handstand?
Click PLAY to find out on YouTube.
These are Capoeira martial artists BBoy Punisher and BBoy Demon from France.
(via … as usual … Jump Club)
Check the comments for more information.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 