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From Meg Warren’s excellent article. Love the illustrations.
… The handspring on the floor is a prerequisite. The gymnast also needs to be able to spring from the hands.
Beginners normally drop down from a low elevation on this next drill. And have a target for the hands. (e.g. folding mat placed sideways)
Read the entire article – USA Gymnastics Online: Technique: Flyspring
Oklahoma’s Steven Legendre (from WOGA) took the gold medal in the all-around competition Friday at the Junior Pan-American Gymnastics Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Team USA swept the top four spots in the all-around to capture the team gold as well. …
Team Results:
1. USA – 262.933
2. Brazil – 252.566
3. Argentina – 240.832
4. Colombia – 236.734
5. Mexico – 231.634
6. Peru – 217.703All-Around Results:
1. USA – Steven Legendre – 87.032
2. USA – Glen Ishino – 86.967
3. USA – Alexy Bilozertchev – 86.534
read more – Sooner’s Sport
Legendre got on my radar when he impressed at USA Championships 2007, especially on Floor and Vault.
Inside Gymnastics magazine posted 83 retrospective highlight photos from the past year. Here are a few examples:
Who else? Shayla.
Tyson American Cup, Natasha Kelley (USA)
2007 Gymnix, Randy Stageberg (USA)
Pan American Games, Justin Spring
See them all – Gallery: A Look Back at 2007 – Inside Gymnastics
OK, this is not exactly gymnastics.
But you can flip and twist after releasing near the top of your swing.
… At the top was a trapeze-like rope-swing with a platform perched 30 feet above the water. “Wicked!” I called out to Jarv before excitedly setting ashore.
When I reached the swing, a sign said, “Price of admission one Beer Lao.” …
I’ve read dozens of NCAA athlete signings over the past week.
There’s something special about this one:
… For nine years, the 17-year-old senior from Clive has trained day in and day out in the gymnasium she shares with world champion Shawn Johnson. But as Johnson moves forward to the Olympics, Hansen will take another route: one that is taking her to Iowa City and the University of Iowa.
This month, Hansen signed to compete with the women’s gymnastics team on a full scholarship. She is women’s coach Larissa Libby’s first in-state recruit and Chow’s first student to move on to the college level.
“We feel like she has the opportunity to resurrect Iowans’ love for gymnastics,” Libby said. “She’s that total package. Academically she’s stellar. … But she also brings a poise and artistry in gymnastics. We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Jessa here.”
…
It wasn’t until high school that Hansen realized gymnastics could be her door into college. As she approached her senior year as an honor student at Waukee High School, scouts began to make offers. …
While Johnson is a role model for many of the girls at the gym who dream of going to the Olympics, Hansen is a role model for those who want to go to college, Coach Liang Chow said.
Rick McCharles
Valentin, editor of The Gym Press, notified us of a documentary on the Li Xiaoshuang gymnastics school. It’s pretty intense.
The first 10min video features a father bringing his 5-year-old son to “try out”. If accepted, the father will take the train 9hrs home. And leave the boy in the care of the school.
To see what happens, click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
documentary part 2 documentary part 3 documentary part 4 documentary part 5
Valentin asks what people think of this documentary. Leave a comment below.
I am trying to be sympathetic of a nation in transition from third world to superpower. Yet these truths are self-evident:
Summing up, the focus of the Chinese system (parents, children, coaches) on “winning” is illogical. Only one can “win” the Olympics. If that’s the goal for all, everyone loses — except that one.
Living this lie cannot persist. As China gains confidence as a nation, as affluence and education increase, parents will not tolerate boarding schools like this. Their children will have better options.
Free enterprise will bring change for the better.
Most surprising of all to me is how poor is the coaching of the young boys. The technical training is very old fashioned. Inefficient. Most of the top coaches in the “West” are better, in my opinion, than the coaches at the Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School.
We should be educating them, not the other way round.
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UPDATE: A more damning exposé, and more unfairly edited, was the CNN documentary on Parkettes in Pennsylvania.
Happy Yanksgiving. (American Thanksgiving.)
Don’t ask me to explain this video …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via THE GOAT)
Jennifer Isbister of Gymn.ca recommended a National Geographic Channel documentary called Taboo II: Child Rearing .
The segment examines child rearing around the world. One section looks at 6-year-old gymnasts living away from their families at Shi Cha Hai Gymnastics Sports School.
From what was shown on TV, the cruelest thing I saw was making these poor boys train in underwear. (Can someone please send that School a few hundred pairs of cheap shorts?)
The translation of coaching comments were very harsh, too, though it is difficult to translate exactly how harsh from another language.
photo – Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School in Xiantao
The big issue — how much can we criticize other cultures who do not meet our own standards? It’s a dilemma when we see people from other countries behave in ways that would be unethical or illegal in our own.
IOC President Jacques Rogge no doubt has dealt with this question many times. To a journalist from England:
… The routine beatings allegedly given to child gymnasts in China are no different to the corporal punishment that was once part of daily life in English public schools, according to the head of the Olympic movement. …
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, commented on concerns aired recently on the BBC by Sir Matthew Pinsent. Sir Matthew said he had witnessed young children in China being physically abused by their gymnastics supervisors.
… they had to be put into a cultural context, insisting the issue should not be “exaggerated” or “blown up”. …
China’s abuse of its athletes is no different to Britain’s public schools, says Olympics chief
Things are changing rapidly in China. But if you think they are changing too slowly, Rogge too forgiving, leave a comment.
Most gyms spend far too little time teaching the skill of regrasp on a bar. (I’ve posted on this in the past.) Here are some more advanced examples:
Watch closely. How gymnasts “catch” a bar is far more complicated than gymnasts realize.
Those with hand guards often contact the bar first with the wrist then slide or bounce down the bar until the hands are in the correct position. (This is one of the main reasons I prefer female gymnasts to delay starting to use hand guards as long as possible.)
Many gymnasts catch “close” with bent arms to be sure they do not miss the regrasp. (It’s impressive to see a release move caught with straight arms!)
The natural deflection of the bar (especially Horizontal Bar) complicates matters.
Hoshi Yosuke of Japan – original photo – flickr
One of the girls at Funtastics, Idaho learned a Jaeger salto very quickly. But was frustrated by repeatedly getting her hands on the bar — and “pinging”. She couldn’t hang on.
What to do?
SUGGESTED DRILLS (asking the gymnast to watch the bar closely):
REPEAT DRILLS increasing distance or adding a challenge. (Clapping the hands. With twist. etc.)
Of course either “missing” the bar or “catching and then slipping” is very dangerous. Coaches must prepare athletes for “crashing” safely after a miss. Spotting and sufficient matting is essential.
(AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Italian Vanessa Ferrari is about to miss the grip during the women’s uneven bars final at the Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, southern Germany, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007.
Thanks George.
Related posts:
Gymnastics Coaching.com 