on Bar deflection

Some gymnasts — often taller, heavier and older — know how to use the movement of the bar to improve dismounts and releases.

Some close-up video.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=524236960944195

via Nick Blanton’s Gymnastics Consultancy on Facebook

Though just last week I used a “bow and arrow” analogy, it’s far more complicated than that.

The new Elite Canada Champion Anderson Loran works a Horizontal Bar as well as anyone.

Click PLAY or watch him on YouTube. (16sec)

Tory Wilson – 10.0 Vault

The determined crowd of 14,129 that braved a severe winter storm to come to the Utah gymnastics meet was rewarded with best meet of the season as the Utes annihilated No. 23 California 197.050-192.750. Sophomore Tory Wilson electrified the audience in her first career all-around appearance, scoring a 10.0 on vault and winning the all-around with a 39.475.

Wilson, who entered the meet ranked No. 1 in the nation on the vault, will retain that position after her perfect score–the first 10.0 by a Ute since 20-time All-American Ashley Postell sprang for three in 2008 (two on vault and one on beam). Wilson had been competing on three events before a season-ending injury to defending Pac-12 all-around champion Corrie Lothrop last week opened a spot in the bar lineup. …

Utah Utes

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

197.050 helps their ranking. But BBS points out that Utah is not deep without Corrie Lothrop.

Dalton Catches De Los Angeles

As most gymnastics fans like to see, the 2013 Winter Cup came down to the final event. Michigan’s Adrian de los Angeles clung to a slim .35 lead over Olympian Jake Dalton. De los Angeles had a nice routine on PH (13.30), but struggled a bit with his dismount. No doubt tired at the end of his very long routine, his bobble was just enough to allow Dalton to overtake him on his last event (HB-14.50). Dalton’s fellow Olympian Danell Leyva also put on a great show with his 3rd-place finish, ending up only 1.3 points behind. All three dominated the competition, with Dalton (FX,SR) and Leyva winning two event titles (PB,HB). …

Stick it Media

Feb 5th – IG Online Interview: Jake Dalton

El Salvador Gymnastics tribute

Coach Irving Nóchez from San Salvador helped put this retro edit together.

Very cool.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Enrique Trabanino from Perfection competed out of that gym.

Tkachev – fast and dirty

Nick Blanton is a great coach and clinician. But you might be shocked at his QUICK and EASY method of teaching Tkachev.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I was shocked this past year seeing boys at Taiso using that exact method. Very few drills. Throw and go.

It works. Taiso produces great Horizontal Bar guys, including Commonwealth Games Silver medalist Anderson Loran.

But I’d recommend many more progressions for the girls.

Florida 198.100

Even in a league with very few deductions, it’s not easy for any College team to total 198.

… An orange-and-blue party was in full swing, punctuated by a dynamic floor routine by senior Ashanee Dickerson. Dickerson’s career-best 9.975 floor score highlighted the No. 1 Gators’ victory against their fifth-ranked SEC rivals.

“That was the best routine of her four years here, it really was,” Gators coach Rhonda Faehn said. “That was amazing.”

The Gators finished with a team score of 198.100, the second-best mark in the program’s history behind only a 198.225 in a narrow loss to UCLA (198.250) in the regular-season finale in March 2004.

NCAA

Click PLAY or watch Ashanee on YouTube.

… to state the obvious, the Gators are a juggernaut of talent and they were hot tonight ! It appears they are on a level all their own and no team will be able to match them. But I felt that way last year, and the year before, and . . .you know the story. …

BeamMeUpBama – I watched every routine of the UF vs Bama meet on GatorVision, and

related – #6 Georgia were tied by #18 Kentucky at 195.825.

on twist direction

Mathew Sparks is Head Coach and Dance Captain for Cirque La Nouba, Florida. He sees more flips and twists in a day than many coaches see in a month.

For an upcoming clinic, Matt’s recycled a video presentation from … that era when Men vaulted over a long skinny horse. (Kids today can get freaked out first time they see a vaulting horse so inferior to the Table.)

It’s a brief introduction to dominant twist, identifying twist direction and relation to skills like Kasamatsu, Tsuk 1/1, round-offs and pirouettes.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10152546791765005