Gymnastics Coaching.com

That’s a recent headline on USA Today:

A leading Chinese sports official is calling for the implementation of bone-age analysis to stop athletes from faking their birth certificates to qualify for events.

Cai Zhenhua, the vice president of the State General Administration of Sport, was quoted as saying in Tuesday’s official People’s Daily newspaper that age fraud besmirches China’s national image and tramples on the principle of fair competition.

He also is head of the Chinese table tennis federation and says it will adopt bone-age analysis as a test case.

The IOC stripped China of its 2000 Olympic bronze medal in women’s team gymnastics for using an underage girl. …

… read more

Cai Zhenhua has been pushing bone testing over the last year in response to age scandals in Chinese sports.

It’s a specious talking point.

Bone density testing is not accurate enough to determine chronological age.

Is Cai Zhenhua simply trying to deflect criticism? … Or does China have some new more accurate kind of bone density test?

(via Bluffingtongympost)

Gymnastike:

… The Oklahoma Sooners finished their regular season undefeated and exploded with a 366.40, the highest score yet to be posted this season. They have moved past Stanford for this week’s #1 national ranking.

There will be one regular season meet left for some teams, others will rested for their 2011 Conference Championship meets on April 2nd. …

I’ve found the Women’s rankings very accurate in predicting who will finish highest at team championships. But not so with the Men.

I won’t make any prediction on who will win this year, though I do plan to be at Championships to see the meet with my own eyes.

Steven Legendre is a safe bet to win the all-around, however.

Penn State has another #1 Ring Man, Scott Rosenthal. Amazing.

Click PLAY or watch Scott on YouTube.

See much, much more on Gymnastike.

Jason posted the first of a a three part series on what he’s learned …

… I started doing gymnastics when I was six years old and trained for over 16 years. At age 11 I started competing and placing in national competitions at the Junior and later the Elite levels. The highest I ever placed in senior men’s competition was 15th – I was never Olympic material, but I trained with many who were.

Previously, I wrote about how I blew out my knee and came back to win a national championship – this post is specifically about what gymnastics has taught me about acquiring and mastering skills.

Gymnastics is the perfect sport to teach these lessons …

Here’s an outline of his key points:

Acquiring and Mastering Skills

• Deliberate practice.
• Focus on the fundamentals.
• Break down the skill into pieces.
• Visualization

read more – What Gymnastics Taught Me About Acquiring and Mastering Skills

Lu Bo and his team are already in Canada, training for the KSGF in Calgary, Friday vs USA and CAN.

Calgary Gymnastics Centre on Facebook is posting some training photos and video.

Kyle’s going a little hysterical with last minute details, like the meet program.

more Gym Fest photos will be posted on flickr over the weekend.

Don Eckert posted this one. Thanks.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Jordyn Wieber cover girl on the most recent edition of IG.

CONGRATS.

International Gymnast magazine digital edition. (FREE Free only for print subscribers)

Organizing Committee for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo 2011:

… We strongly believe that the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo 2011 would be the one of the meaningful events to encourage us, Japanese on our long way to recovery.

So far, there are no major problems in the venue, training halls, accommodation facilities where we would host gymnasts and relevant parties from overseas.

There is also no change in schedule for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo 2011.

We are looking forward to see You in Tokyo in October.

read the message on the official Worlds 2011 home page – Dear Friends in the Gymnastics Community …

Recall that an earthquake struck Christchurch, September 2010.

Holly Moon, from Christchurch School of Gymnastics, was forced to to train in Auckland for Commonwealth Games and World’s last Fall after the first serious earthquake:

pit now resembled a swimming pool due to cracks and subsequent leaking …

It’s 6 months later, yet the Christchurch School of Gymnastics was again closed recently after a serious aftershock.

Good news from Avril Enslow:

Competitive squads and trampoline are back in as at today 4 weeks on from
the quake.

Gymnasts must train.

I’ve been following a sad court case in northern Australia. The death of adult recreational gymnast, Michelle Maitland, who fell from a tumbling trampoline, hitting her head on the concrete floor.

The final appeal for Townsville Gymnastics Association Inc AND Dean Allan Coggins was turned down. They were found guilty of not providing a safe facility:

(1) Concrete flooring and/or

(2) The failure to provide adequate protective covering to the landing area for gymnastic apparatus, namely a tumble tramp/tumble track.

Read the details of the appeal – Townsville Gymnastics (PDF)

What does that mean for us?

There should be no exposed concrete in any gym, especially anywhere near trampoline devices and pits.

If you offer adult recreation gymnastics, you need an excellent, experienced, authoritative coach who can ensure safety.

Rest in peace, Michelle.

related post – Queensland gymnastics safety assessment

Two big competitions in Alberta, Canada this weekend.

… young gymnasts and their coaches needed to be inspired and … exposed to a high level of gymnastics … gymnastics in Alberta and in Western Canada (and throughout Canada for that matter) would grow. …

Couch Gymnast – Wild Rose Triple Flip Preview

International WAG competition – CHINA v CANADA v AUSTRALIA

Chinese Gymnastics Blog – Wild Rose Cup Schedule and more videos

International MAG competition – CHINA v CANADA v USA

… the first annual Kyle Shewfelt Gymnastics Festival, hosted at the University of Calgary, the weekend of March 25-27th, 2011.

In partnership with Right to Play, we want to host as many ‘gymnastics’ athletes as possible in a big, prestigious event. This will be truly memorable. Truly unique. ..

Kyle’s bringing in celebrity judges scoring routines out of a PERFECT 11.0