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I love this skill.

How low must it be for no deduction? (Male gymnasts must be horizontal.)

UEG – European Union of Gymnastics – European Championships

Just two years ago I could not find the gymnastics videos I wanted on-line.

Today it’s the opposite problem. There are too many gymnastics videos on YouTube and other sites. It’s difficult to find the best ones.

Leave a comment if you have any tips for how to find the BEST OF GYMNASTICS VIDEOS.

We may need to launch a dedicated website.

I took the Saturday afternoon off-season tour of Woodward in Pennsylvania.

It took over 90min to (briefly) tour all venues of the sprawling complex.

This was my first visit to this camp though I am almost a “regular” (2005 and 2006) at Woodward West in California.

Woodward East is an older, larger version set in rural Amish hills.

It offers programs in Skateboarding, Aggressive Skating, and BMX sports including freestyle and racing. In 2006 they added 2-weeks of Snowboard training.

Woodward started as a camp for gymnastics (boys and girls) and now offers Cheer, as well. Trampoline bunje belts are popular.

Woodward East – home page

A few photos to give you a taste of this world class athlete centre:

Need a gift for a young gymnast in your life?

The cover description of the story is as follows:

“Megan discovers the thrill of being a gymnast with star talent. She forgets her old fears and dismisses her friend’s self-doubt. But when the team needs her, Megan suddenly panics. Can Megan regain her confidence and save the championship?”

Actually the book is much more than that and hits on topics like dealing with perfectionism, the proper place of sports and friendship and interaction of teammates.

As usual, with gymnastics fiction and authors who were not gymnasts or parents of gymnasts, there are some minor gymnastics and gymnastics competition factual irregularities. In this case, however, with its fantasy theme, they are mostly irrelevant and don’t detract from the book as a whole.

Gymnastics Zone

Megan’s Balancing Act (Magic Attic Club) – Amazon

You get a better price ordering through Gymnastics Zone.

I couldn’t be happier for girls who qualify for one of the 86 schools that have NCAA gymnastics teams.

It is a wonderful opportunity.

But what about the other side?

Dick Gould spent 38 seasons as men’s tennis coach at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to 17 national titles during his tenure. When Gould started in Palo Alto, the men’s tennis team had more full scholarships than starting positions; nearly four decades later, the program is limited to 4.5 scholarships for its entire roster.

Gould is a supporter of Title IX – he has three daughters who participated in intercollegiate athletics. He does believe, however, that the legislation encourages reverse discrimination for certain sports, including men’s tennis.

While I am adamant about the fact that schools don’t need to eliminate program to comply with Title IX legislation, I can understand Coach Gould’s frustrations. During a panel discussion this afternoon, he cited data that showed that there is significantly more interest in tennis from males than females. Yet, Division I women’s tennis teams have nearly twice as many scholarships to offer as their male counterparts.

I caught up with Coach Gould after his session: “Facts, Fiction, and the Future: Men’s Sports and Women’s Opportunities.”

The link below includes an audio interview with Dick Gould.

Double-A Zone

Winning Georgia Head Coach Suzanne Yoculan:

… I would like to thank Florida. They have an incredibly strong team, one that won the SEC. Their performances throughout the season helped motivate us all season. They are very strong, the future of our sport and we’ll have to do our best to stay ahead of them in the future.”

2007 NCAA Gymnastics Championship Quotes :: Press conference quotes from Friday, April 27.

Who are the Florida Gators? And how did they get so good?

Their roster has far less prior international experience than the other top teams.

I have to give the credit to Head Coach: Rhonda Faehn and assistants Adrian Burde and Robert Ladanyi.

Gators

UPDATE: Rhonda Faehn named NACGC Coach of the Year

Morgan Dennis from Alabama was “routine of the night” in my books.

Fantastic difficult tumbling. And a funky, wild crowd pleasing routine that really suited her.

Like so many NCAA gymnasts, she’s a top student as well. Four-year honor student. National Honor Society.

ROLL TIDE.

Morgan Dennis bio

I told Grace’s father I could not sit beside him during the final.

It would be too tense.

She was great!

My favourite routine, again, was Corey Hartung. Silky smooth. (I’ll post that routine and other highlights over the next couple of weeks as they become available on YouTube.)

Overall beam is the best apparatus in the NCAA. Much more maturity than the young kids in age group gymnastics.

Kupets had the best routine with two huge releases. But she includes a low shoot 1/2 over low that really puts me off. It should be deducted.

Bars was very good at Championships. And in finals. Some great amplitude on releases and dismounts.

But this is one event final to judge yourself if you are lucky enough to see the TV broadcast. You will get a different ranking even using NCAA rules.

It’s a shame that girls who have great line, great technique, hit exact handstand, have perfect toe point passing the low bar on giants — seem to get no credit.

Tasha – ESPN

The girl to beat this year, was not beat.

Courtney Kupets is fantastic.

I hope she tries out for the American Olympic team for 2008.

However, vault finals were a “let down” for me.

Gymnasts qualified with one vault. Then must average two different vaults (not different families) in finals.

I’ve always disliked this system. It results in some gymnasts competing a weaker second vault. Or poor performance of second vaults. There were a number of falls tonight.

For example, here’s what the champion had to say in the post-meet interview:

Question: “Tonight you won with two different vaults. Do you or any other girls train using two different vaults?”

Courtney: “I don’t regularly train on two separate vaults. My second vault tonight I haven’t done in about 6-8 months. But your muscles know what to do, that’s what training is for. You always keep that second vault in the back of your head.”

Is that smart? Is that safe?

Finals should be the same format as preliminaries. It’s obvious.

Incidentally, there were only one or two forward approach vaults done in the entire Championships. It’s almost 100% Yurchenko right now.