Gymnastics Coaching.com

will Italy qualify to Olympics?

For the 8 teams fighting for 4 team spots in the 2012 Olympics, now’s the time for things to go right.

Italy just finished a “trial” for the January Test Meet.

Couch Gymnast:

… Italy’s bid for a place in the Olympic Team competition is looking all the stronger for the addition of two new seniors this year. …

The meet was dominated by two Italian up-and-comers, Erika Fasana and Francesca Deagostini. Fasana’s AA score was 57.6. Francesca Deagostini recently impressed with her beautiful beam work at the Italian Grand Prix Event. She achieved the top score there. …

See scores and commentary.

Click PLAY or watch Francesca Deagostini’s Beam from the Grand Prix on YouTube.

… In sad news, Serena Licchetta, 2009 and 2010 World Team member has torn an ACL again and will not be able to vie for the Olympic spot. …

Bars is the weak apparatus.

you need a virtual body

If you want to model for H&M, you need a body exactly like these young ladies.

Exactly.

The bodies of most of the models H&M features on its website are computer-generated and “completely virtual,” the company has admitted.

H&M designs a body that can better display clothes made for humans than humans can, then “dresses” it by drawing on its clothes, and digitally pastes on the heads of real women …

Jezebel

(via Kottke)

introducing Giant on P Bars

WAG coaches often remind us that giant is easier on Men’s Horizontal Bar.

True. But giant on Men’s Parallel Bars is more difficult than on the FIG Bars.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

See more like this on Nick Blanton’s YouTube channel.

Pixar’s lack of female characters

Pixar’s John Lasseter has five children, all boys.

Though they make the most consistently excellent animated films, Pixar is often criticized for a bias towards male characters.

Perhaps that’s starting to change.

… Pixar has a forthcoming full-length movie, Brave, about a Scottish warrior-princess. It was slated to be directed by Brenda Chapman (Pixar’s first female director), then was replaced by Mark Andrews, with Chapman as co-director. …

Pixar’s gender gap

Click PLAY or watch the trailer YouTube.

GymnasticsLeotards4u.com

Kimberly Murphy announces the launch of their new website:

“Offering cute, comfortable, and affordable gymnastics leotards for gymnasts everywhere”

Check it out – gymnasticsleotards4u.com

Available worldwide.

new NCAA team – Lindenwood University

… Gretchen Goerlitz will take the reigns as the first head coach in history for the Lady Lions gymnastics program. …

Goerlitz hails from Neenah, Wis. where she was a level 10 gymnast for seven years at Oshkosh Gymnastics Center. She has a skill named after her on the uneven bars.

In 2007 Goerlitz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in cognitive neuroscience from Denver and in 2009 earned her master’s degree in exercise physiology from Texas Woman’s. …

Gretchen Goerlitz Named Lindenwood’s First Gymnastics Head Coach

Check out the interesting splash screen for their program.

Norwegian Champion Karoline Sandov is on the team. Nice.

Click PLAY or watch an interview with the new coach on YouTube.

If we want the WAG NCAA not only to survive, but to thrive, we need cheer any school brave enough to add gymnastics. Lindenwood is in Saint Charles, Missouri.

(via “Get a Grip“)

Bar pirouette shaping drill

Tony Retrosi recommends this drill posted by Mary Lee Tracy.

Shaping drills for twisting and pirouettes

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’ve never used it before. But will now.

WoozIn, A Facebook For Kids

… It’s essentially a Facebook-lite/virtual world mashup that allows prepubescent youth to share, comment and like their friends’ updates, pictures, videos and more, while also meeting the protections dictated by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

… Woozworld now has over 15 million unique visitors per month from over 180 countries. The users have created over 8 million avatars and 16 million virtual spaces, and play for an average of 50 minutes per day. …

Previously in beta, the new social networking service officially rolls out on Tuesday here on www.woozworld.com. …

TechCrunch