Category: Uncategorized

by Rick McCharles, editor

A number of readers have requested more posts on … “gymnastics coaching”. (tips, tutorials, drills, etc.)

We’ll try our best to post one of those, minimum, each day.

Here’s the first, an update of one of my old articles. I was reminded of it this past weekend when gymnasts told me this was a favourite.

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Shaping Skills with Drills

Getting to handstand on bars is a physical, technical & psychological challenge for young girls.

I prefer piked straddled casts, especially for beginners.

My favourite drills include:

handstands and pirouettes on a floor bar

bounce to handstand on low bar from a mini-tramp

jump to handstand from piked straddled stand on a low floor bar

cast to piked, straddled stand on boxes. Then jump to handstand (as shown in the photos below).

photos – Christchurch School of Gymnastics, New Zealand.

Kids love these drills. They require no spotting. They inflict no “rips” on the hands. And they work.

Girls soon learn they can easily get to handstand if they put their hips (centre of gravity) over the bar quickly.

Many times I have seen beginners of average ability achieve handstand using only these drills. Especially girls with good flexibility.

The last progression I call “touch and go” — the same drill as shown but without boxes. The feet jump from the bar instead. This ensures the gymnast makes the skill as easy as possible, by shortening the body on the ascending swing.

All competitors should be able to learn straddle up cast handstand. Very few, straight body cast.

Original article – Rick McCharles — Gymnastics — Shaping Skills with Drills — introducing “cast to handstand”

Fred competed for France in the Olympics. These days he is at Le Rêve, Wynn Las Vegas, one of the hardest working artists in town.

He’s amazing. Watch this training footage:

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=381572&server=vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=01AAEA
Fred Nicolas Aerial Pole.

More like this on the video page of FrederickNicolas.com

Pam White from Pyra sent us a link to their line of high performance cheer apparel.

It looks GREAT.

… focuses directly on the needs of today’s cheerleaders. Grip and Shock technology provides protection and comfort while building confidence and creating a unique, yet stylish appearance. PYRA apparel is committed to the devoted athlete whose passion is the sport of cheerleading. …

Pyra | Performance Cheer Apparel

Leave a comment below if you’ve tried Pyra clothing.

OK, the original Cheerleading movie Bring it On (2000) starring Kirsten Dunst was excellent. I can rewatch it, in fact, for the witty and sassy banter.

Here comes the 4th sequel. Judging from the trailer, they’ve gone to the well far too many times. It’s going directly to DVD.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

In Bring It On: In It to Win It, the dueling teams are the Jets and the Sharks, whose distinctive East Coast/West Coast (respectively) cheer styles leaves them clashing from the start. The drama gets even more intense when Sharks cheerleader Carson (played by soap star Ashley Benson) finds herself crushing on Penn, a cheerleader for the Jets (played by the super cute Michael Copon).

American Cheerleader

Hey, an apology to West Side Story is in order, as well. Jets and Sharks — yeesh.

Thumbs down.

Great news.

The founder of the Christchurch School of Gymnastics in New Zealand is again assigned to judge in Beijing. Avril definitely knows what she is doing.

She’s been one of the highest ranked judges for years.

This new code is complicated. Start score is NOT everything. I’m hoping to see winning routines in future that do not have the highest A-score. The B-score assessment needs be more rigorous.

Recommended upcoming event at Avril’s gym:

MAG & WAG GYMNASTIC CAMP
14th – 18th January 2008 …

Practical Coaching Sessions
… led by former Romanian Head Coach Jozsi Ferencz

Christchurch School of Gymnastics

I understand the Men’s team is moving into a brand new 32,000 sq. foot facility in Frisco.

Nice to see that immigrants to the USA can still achieve the American Dream. Congratulations to founder owners Valeri Liukin and Yevgeny Marchenko. They started the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in 1994. Today it is undoubtedly the most successful private gym in the world.

I was advising young people just this past weekend that “coaching is a lousy career choice” … unless you own the gym.

WOGA has a flashy new website too. Check it out: WOGA.net

This past weekend at a coaching clinic I was surprised to hear that one of demonstrators could not do kip on bars. Well … she had done it a few times in the past.

Yet she could do 7 good chin-ups and hold V-hang on a bar for 15 seconds. That’s more strength than is needed for kip.

Happily she made several good kips in series at the clinic. One of the best days in the career of any gymnast.

Back in the day we had a box of kip t-shirts at the gym. Whenever one of the kids learned kip they got one as a prize.

“gymnastics” Design on Products : CafePress.com – t-shirts

Animation from Drills and Skills.

Follow-up …

Did you see the horrific fall at X Games 13 this past summer?

I deliberately did not link to that video. (Or any crash videos, for that matter. There’s far too much of that on YouTube already.)

Jake Brown actually walked away from a 50ft fall on to a material called “Skatelite”.

I only mention it on this site because I wondered how Jake was doing today.

Final diagnosis: minor concussion, broken wrist, bruised lungs.

Very, very lucky.

Rick McCharles

This post is for the 14 coaches who spent a weekend with me at Dynamyx in St. Albert at a Level 2 Technical Women’s Artistic coaching course. Here are links to some of the many things we covered:

Themes

Fun, Fitness, Fundamentals – but FUN is most important

have more FUN at Gymnastics – powerpoint video

Fun competition – Mountain Shadows video

We want to keep girls participating in our sport through high school

Gymnastics is the best, easiest way to improve fitness

Gymnastics is not complex

Safety

We spend as much time, money and energy keeping kids SAFE as any sport

Avoid dumb “traumatic” injuries

Be alert to potential “overuse” injuries

Australia 2007 – avoiding overuse injuries (video)

Progressions

There are many ways to learn any skill

We want to use the safest, most enjoyable drills

Use mats and trampoline devices to train “high reps, less stress”

For example, TumblTrak tumbling “Air Floor”

Understand -> Teach model

A recommended approach to teaching every skill

Ideal models

Simplified biomechanics (DMPs)

Look at needed body actions when assigning specific conditioning

G.S. George: Amplitude, Segmentation, Closure, Peaking

Physical preparation

Most important are Strength and Flexibility improvement

Use the most effective safe conditioning drills

Overload

Progressive Resistance

Specificity

Recovery

Isometrically train important body “shapes” (i.e. handstand variations)

Most coaches spend too little time on “planche“

Important is “half press”

Keep strength training as FUN as possible

Cross training is great for the psychology of your program

Strength training

Lower body, Core body, Upper body

Individual and Partner conditioning

Personalize the program as much as possible

Change about half the drills each month

Progressively increase resistance

Schedule “Hard” days and “Medium” days

Best are exercises to the point where the muscles are “shaking” (near failure)

Monitor progress closely

Physical Ability testing programs (e.g. LEAP) are excellent, but don’t discourage children with too much emphasis on the results

Plyometric training is excellent

Flexibility training

The two Olympians from Alberta were very inflexible

Flexibility is trainable, but not as easily as strength

Passive and Active exercises

PNF works — but the improvement is short lived

Dynamic stretching is excellent, but be safe

Serious stretching for flexibility improvement is done at the end of the workout

Monitor progress closely (photos are good)

Tumbling

Good handstand is prerequiste

Physical preparation

Basics: Handsprings (fwd & bwd), Round-off, Somersaults (fwd & bwd)

Focus on excellent handsprings and round-off, advanced skills will come easily

Teach forward skills before backward skills

Teach flyspring before handspring

Headspring and Dive roll are good, often neglected drills

By far the most important phase of backward handspring is the “trust fall” before bending the knees

Evaluate backward handspring by looking at the position of the ankles, knees, hips and shoulders on takeoff

Teach backward handspring on a downhill slope

Use a sponge between the feet

Train on trampoline or “springy” mats

Bars

Use many drills not requiring spotting

Use many drills “easy” on the hands (minimize rips)

Use many drills on the floor bar

An excellent set-up is a mini-tramp under a low bar

Beware the most dangerous skill in gymnastics – Squat on jump to high bar

Teach “regrasp” on a bar

Teach kids how to “fall” safely from a bar through games & contests

Two kids of bar skills: 1) swings, 2) releasing the bar from swing

Be very cautious teaching backward flyaway. Minimize the chance of hitting feet on the bars

More information on flyaways

Safety straps are faster, safer and easier for introducing new skills

More information on safety straps

Kip is more difficult than giant, be very patient

Free hip is easy to introduce out of double back hip circle

Sole circle skills are easier than free hip, and have good potential for the future

Straddle up handstand is far easier than straight body

That is just a starting point coaches. Click on the CATEGORY topics in the right hand navigation for more information on Tumbling, or Bars, or Physical Preparation, or Biomechanics ….

OK, you may not want to click on Biomechanics.

: )

Email me via the EMAIL US link the top of any page if you have questions.

What?

When I read on Gymblog that the most famous gymnast of all time, Nadia Comaneci, was going to be facing off against Donald Trump … I couldn’t believe it.

True. The show debuts Jan. 3, 2008.

Cast members for this rejiggered “Apprentice” — which in the past relied on scrappy, ambitious star-wannabes — were selected from a field of some 125 celebrity applicants, Trump told reporters.

“They were all begging to be on the show,” he said. “The hardest thing was breaking it down to these 14.”

One deciding factor: Each of the chosen has had experience in business, Trump said. “These people have all done something very dramatic with money.”

A few recognizable names among NBC’s ’Celebrity Apprentice’ cast – BostonHerald.com

Others include actor Stephen Baldwin, Gene Simmons of Kiss, actor Marilu Henner from TV’s “Taxi”.

The 14 celebrities won’t be vying for a job with Donald Trump, as in the previous six “Apprentice” seasons, but instead will compete in business-oriented tasks around New York City to raise money for their favorite charities. The official “Celebrity Apprentice” will win a $250,000 bonus to donate.

Nadia handled Bela Karoli. She can deal with Donald Trump.

Daddy Bart Conner may be getting more time with their son Dylan while Mom is taping the show.

Photo – NadiaComaneci.com – fan website