Gymnastics Coaching.com

Easily the most detailed, funny and profane side-by-side breakdown of who really won the World Championships.

Spoiler …

Big Fake Smile – allow me to ladle you a piping hot bowl of this is how it is.

You might want to fan the flames in the comments of that post. 🙂

… the training halls in Tokyo at the 2011 World Championships. Watch how the defending Olympic Champions prepare for a competition.

This workout was filmed on October 10, the day before the 2011 women’s World Team Final. The Chinese team made a few errors and settled for the team bronze medal for the second year in a row. Later in the week, Yao Jinnan won the all around bronze medal, and Sui Lu was crowned 2011 Balance beam World Champion.

Gymnasts in this video: He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Tan Sixin, Yao Jinnan, Huang Qiushuang, and Sui Lu.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/MzM5NTEzMTQ1?related=1

Watch more video of Workout Wednesday, Season 5 on gymnastike.org

It’s amazing that such slight built and flexible girls can do that much difficulty. The Russians, too, do such “pretty” gymnastics (PHOTOS).

Too bad we live in an era where “start value” and consistency are what WINS. I’d love to see the best gymnasts in 2011 do compulsory routines again in a separate competition from Worlds.

Obstacle course military training has been around for thousands of years.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

But if we call it “Parkour” or “Free Running”, many kids are quick to sign up for the class. Those are some of the hottest classes in many gyms, right now.

Unfortunately some Insurance companies are starting to list “Parkour” as an “extreme sport”, too dangerous to cover. Check your policy.

Aja Monet Sims Level 10, class of 2014, gymnast from Brandy Johnson’s Global Gymnastics Academy of Clermont FL performs her 2011 competitive bar routine which includes her signature skill the Sims (Weiler + Comaneci E Single skill).

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She did compete it successfully (VIDEO) at JO Nationals 2011. And also competed it this season (VIDEO) from kip cast.

Gymnastike Mar. 2011 interview with Aja.

I saw Aja’s skill mentioned on a new blog called Bekah’s “Get a Grip”, an amusing post titled – The 11 Most Awkward Gymnastics Moments of 2011

Motto of Paralympian motivational speaker Josh Sundquist.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

His book – Just Don’t Fall: A Hilariously True Story of Childhood, Cancer, Amputation, Romantic Yearning, Truth, and Olympic Greatness

(via The Gymnast Life)

We’ve not yet seen anyone compete the Jaeger with an extra salto. A recent article linked from Science of Gymnastics Journal analyzed the skill.

… From the data it can be concluded, that the double Jaeger is possible in either tucked or piked body posture …

Despite its feasibility, there may be … arguments why the Jaeger Salto on the high bar is not performed that often in international competitions, and potentially, why the double Jaeger may not be attractive for gymnasts to learn as compared to other release-regrasp skills.

… the Jaeger salto is a forward salto during which the athlete “sees” the high bar relatively late prior to regrasp, and therefore has less time to adjust the regrasp based on visual information, as compared to other flight elements, like the Tkatschev (Gervais & Tally, 1993; Raab, de Oliveira & Heinen, 2009).

… the athlete has to reverse the direction of his rotation when regrasping the bar, as compared to other flight elements, like the Kovacs Salto if he intends to perform a subsequent giant swing. …

Download the full research article – WHAT IT TAKES TO DO THE DOUBLE JAEGER ON THE HIGH BAR (PDF)

by Thomas Heinen, Damian Jeraj, Pia M. Vinken, Katharina Knieps,
Konstantinos Velentzas & Hedi Richter

By AshleyakaFlipper2.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Blythe Lawrence questions the podium ranking from the Final at Pan-Ams.

1. Diego Hypolito 6.8 + 9.000 = 15.800
2. Tomás González 6.5 + 9.125 = 15.625

finals results

Click PLAY or watch Hypolito on YouTube. (9.0 execution)

Click PLAY or watch González on YouTube. (9.15 execution)

I agree. Gonzales was far cleaner. The 0.15 differential is unjust. I’d go as far as to say that Tomás should have won the gold medal.

Once again, this example shows that FIG is generally deciding ranking by difficulty. I still cannot fathom why. Any FIG judge in the world would appreciate the difference in quality.

Disclosure. I’ve always felt Diego gets over-scored. He’s one of those who makes not even a pretense of having any style.

related – Kyle Shewfelt on Gonzales v Zou Kai

… A while back, I made a proposal to one of the FIG men’s technical committee members to restrict the number of passes on men’s floor exercise to 5 and to add 10 extra seconds to the length of a routine in order to encourage time for a little bit of artistry. I believe that this could make a huge difference in preserving the “artistic” part of the sport. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting to hear back…

Rewind: A problem with ARTISTIC Gymnastics

One way to start kids “releasing” for Tkachev.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NjgzNTA3MzI0?related=1

Watch more video of Technique Tuesday, Season 2 on gymnastike.org

In July I visited the excellent Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Pierre de Coubertin is celebrated as “founder of the International Olympic Committee, and considered father of the modern Olympic Games.”

Yet …

The Olympics would be “men-only” Games if founder Pierre de Coubertin had had his way. Inspired by the example of ancient Greece and the ideals of medieval chivalry, de Coubertin saw the true Olympic hero as an adult male.

For him, the Games were “the solemn and periodic exaltation of male athleticism . . . with the applause of women as a reward”….

Women’s long battle for right to compete

Monsieur de Coubertin would approve of pompom waving Cheerleaders on the sidelines, but not competitive Cheer.

Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

It is important to emphasize that Pierre de Coubertin never said nor wrote that the colors of the rings were linked with the different continents
…

janecky.com

Neither do the 5 colors stand for: passion, faith, victory, work ethic, and sportsmanship.

The Olympic museum is in good shape. The Swiss economy is strong. And Li Ning donated $1 million in July.

You can take a virtual tour (VIDEO) on the official website. It may not play in every browser.