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Tyler for Ringtraining.com emailed:

… Elite Rings have just been upgraded to version 2.0. The new rings are not a major departure from the originals, but there are a number of subtle enhancements. …

As for the feel of the rings, they now have an improved texture. This is probably the change that will matter most to people in the long run. I hired a texture design specialist to help me come up with the perfect texture for the new rings.

The plastic is a bit better and we’re no longer using glue to bond the two halves together. They are now ultrasonically welded, which means it will take the jaws of life to pull them apart. I tried to break one of the new rings by repeatedly tossing it 15 feet in the air and landing it on edge onto a concrete floor. Nothing. Not even a scratch. The Elite Rings II are rock solid!

I’ve seen a few rings break in training. (Rick Pegararo kept his half ring as a souvenir.) It’s dangerous.

These Elite Rings are not designed for competition. They are specifically made for general fitness training, especially for the fast growing CrossFit crowd. Everyone is learning that ring and rope training using your own body weight is the fastest way to develop upper body fitness.

… Competition style gymnastics rings are textured with a large and aggressive grain. This is great when you are wearing thick leather hand guards, but not so good for bare hands. The original Elite Rings had a lightly textured grain that did not tear up your hands. The Elite Rings II have a more aggressive fine grain texture, which offers a more secure grip than the originals, but still won’t tear up your skin too much. This type of texture also holds chalk extremely well.

see more photos – Ringtraining.com

pyramids – flickr

Blythe Lawrence of Gymblog (welcome to Canada!) is reporting for International Gymnast on-line:

2007 Canadian national champion Kristina Vaculik overcame a fall on floor exercise to take top honors in the senior women’s all-around at Elite Canada, held Friday night in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Vaculik scored a 56.9 to hold off challengers Peng-Peng Lee of Seneca, Ont. and Nansy Damianova of Gymnix in Montreal. Although she overrotated her double pike on floor exercise, Vaculik said she looks at the meet as just another stepping stone to next summer’s Olympic Games.

—

Dec. 14, Abbotsford, B.C.

Senior Women’s All-Around

1. Kristina Vaculik (Gemini, ON) 56.900
2. Peng-Peng Lee (Sport Seneca, ON) 56.150
3. Nansy Damianova (Gymnix, QC) 56.100
4. Sydney Sawa (CalGym, AB) 53.950
5. Aisha Gerber (Oakville, ON) 53.900
6. Emma Willis (Bluewater, ON) 53.750
7. Alyssa Brown (Mississauga, ON) 53.600
8. Kim Genereux (Gymnastics Adventure, SK) 51.550
9. Stephanie McGregor (Gymtastics, AB) 50.150
10. Melissa Mann (Flicka, BC) 49.900

Full results and details on the Olympic selection process: International GYMNAST Magazine Online

Grace Chiu is taking great photos, as always. Posted on GraceClick.ca.

NAWGJ – home page National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges USA

When I took human physiology we used Rhesus monkeys for dissection. Only twice did I ever get to the human cadaver lab. (But those images haunt me to this day.)

Physical Strategies: Five Pounds of Muscle Versus Five Pounds of Fat

(via Straight to the Bar)

As a coach I love press to handstand. (As a gymnast, I couldn’t do one. I was inflexible and “instrong”.)

Coach Brian Bakalar posted yet another excellent instructional geared for parents:

… the Press Handstand requires flexibility, specifically in the hips. As the legs rotate upward to a Handstand, they go through a very wide straddle. The better the flexibility, the lesser the requirements of strength in the Press Handstand. Regardless of flexibility, the skill does require intense strength.

In 2007 press handstand is as important as ever for boys. But girls only really need that specific strength for bars. It’s possible, though not desirable, to be a good gymnast without press.

The critical “action” is lifting the hips without leaning forward too far with the shoulders:

read the whole article – Gymnastics Revolution – Parents – The Press Handstand

I write from the Men’s Floor judging table in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Senior Men and Women are warming up for Day 1 of competition.

All day long the younger age and ability divisions competed. The youth talent pool of female gymnasts (for 2012) has never been stronger. The men have individual super-talents coming up, but, as usual, not enough depth.

Here’s the press release on the meet:

Elite Canada 2007 – Artistic Gymnastics/Gymnastique Artistique

Nearly 200 gymnasts in eight age categories, including top-ranked Olympic contenders Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs of Toronto and Nathan Gafuik of Calgary, are set to compete Dec. 14-16 at the 2007 Elite Canada competition in Abbotsford, B.C.

Highlighting the women’s senior event are Hopfner-Hibbs, and three of Canada’s brightest young stars competing for the first time at the senior level – Peng Peng Lee of Toronto, and Charlotte Mackie and Brittany Rogers, both of Coquitlam, B.C.

Hopfner-Hibbs, who struggled most of last year with a foot injury is fully recovered and looking sharp after a string of sucessful results last month in Europe, including a silver medal on beam at a World Cup meet in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Everything is geared to winning an Olympic berth and honing her routines to peak at the Games,” says Carol-Angela Orchard, who coaches Hopfner-Hibbs at Sport Seneca in Toronto.

This year’s Elite Canada has added importance as one of several Olympic qualifying events for members of the senior women’s team.

Hopfner-Hibbs, who will compete in Abbotsford on beam and uneven bars, her two best events, has the inside track on one of two Olympic berths up for grabs on the women’s team.

Others in the running include Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Ont., Nansy Damianova of Montreal and Alyssa Brown of Mississauga.

Although they are too young to compete in Beijing, Lee, Mackie and Rogers, will also be in the Elite Canada spotlight as rising stars being groomed for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Still eligible to compete as juniors, all three will make their much anticipated senior debut in Abbotsford.

Highlighting the men’s senior competition are Gafuik and hometown favourite Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C., both key members of the 2007 world championship team.

Gafuik, who thrives on competition, plans to unveil new elements in most of his routines while Ikeda is thrilled to be competing at Elite Canada on home turf for the first time in his 10-year career.

The men’s competition will be missing some familiar faces, including Olympic champion Kyle Shewfelt and several other senior team veterans, including Brandon O’Neill of Edmonton and Adam Wong of Calgary.

Shewfelt and Wong are recovering from injuries while some ofther members of the men’s senior team are taking time off to rest before gearing up for the gruelling Olympic qualification process set to begin later this winter. …

“It’s important for these guys to have some time off to rest and recover,” says Canadian men’s program director Jeff Thomson of Vancouver. “There’s a lot of hard work ahead to prepare for Beijing.”

At the world championships in September the men’s squad, minus Shewfelt and Wong, qualified a full seven-man team for Beijing.

Gymnastics Canada – Gymnastique Canada

Jim Walker, President of Excalibur Gymnastics in Virgina Beach, coaches US National Team Member Randy Stageberg. In his spare time Jim builds pits.

He uses a unique design, suspending cables one foot above the floor, supporting foam and matting above.

I’m hearing great things about them. You cannot yet order one of Jim’s pits yourself, as he only does them for friends. (Friends like WOGA, University of Georgia, Beigers, Hills, Parkettes. Those kind of friends.)

If you want to know more, leave a comment below.

If you are interested in recovery, here’s an excellent article:

All work and no rest makes for an injury-prone and weakened athlete. Read top conditioning coach Nick Grantham’s rules for recovery and reap the benefits.

Talent alone is no longer enough to guarantee victory in the sporting arena. Athletes striving for high level success must push their bodies and minds to the limit. If you cannot adapt to and cope with the physical and mental demands of training, you will quickly become exhausted. So how can we reach the limits of human performance without tipping over the edge? The key lies in one of the simplest yet most neglected training principles: recovery.

In the words of one who should know, the seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong: ‘Recovery… that’s the name of the game… Whoever recovers the fastest does the best.’
…

Obviously recovery is critical in endurance sport. And far less important in acrobatic sports.

Still, there are some good ideas here:

Injury Recovery and Conditioning

(via GymSports New Zealand Coaching News November 2007)