She’s canceled out of Secret U.S. Classic May 26. That’s the final qualifier for Visa Championships in St. Louis, Mo., June 7-10.
She can still compete Visas and try to qualify for the Olympic Trial in San Jose. But I have my doubts that she will.
… Chow said Johnson is still recuperating from a knee injury, and said he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to compete in St. Louis. If she misses that event, she wouldn’t be eligible for the Olympic Trials in San Jose at the end of June, meaning her longshot attempt to make a second U.S. Olympic squad would be over. …
… the pony tail has awesome powers to make a beam routine look polished, precise, and elegant.
Here’s what I mean.
Study any beam routine you admire and you’ll notice there’s a certain rhythm to it, accented by skills, leaps, and turns. The gymnast seamlessly picks up the rhythm after each accent. It’s this quality that keeps the routine flowing even if there happens to be a wobble or balance error. …
1) Snap the pony tail with each turn.
2) After each completed skill or leap / jump combination, stop and hold the finished position until the pony tail stops, then resume. …
The former gymnastics coach / editor Char has another blog called Doll Diaries.
In one post, she details how to construct a Vault set-up for the American Girl of the Year doll, McKenna:
… In her books, McKenna is working towards the Level 4 team. In the US, Level 4 gymnasts compete vault on a large mat system and do a vault called a handstand to flat back. …
McKenna needs a springboard to go with her vault. …
How did the triple Olympic medalist stay on top through 4 Trampoline Olympics?
‘eat, sleep, train’
… My workout
“I work out six days a week in the afternoons or evenings, four hours a day, with one day off for recovery. Some of the work is trampoline and technical tricks with video analysis, with a coach teaching us form and improving our routines.
“I do short sprints on the bike, and weight training. I focus on lower body for power to weight ratio. Now I’m in a force phase, so I’m lifting heavy weights. Yesterday I squatted 305 pounds – I weigh 120 pounds. You need strong legs to get height on the trampoline because we’re going up to 18 feet in the air.
I’m judged on three elements out of 10: form, difficulty and then “flight time,” so power-to-body-weight ratio is important to get height.
“I do ballet once a week to help with form and posture and hot yoga twice a week to stretch me out and de-stress; I like the sweat and the heat.” …