Gymnastics Coaching.com

USAG is posting photos.

… Mustafina was nearly in tears after some struggles in her jam-packed bars set. Always dramatic both in training and in competition! …

Inside Gymnastics LIVE on Facebook

Or @InsideGym.

Gymnastics Examiner is LIVE too:

… Mustafina and Alexandrov left without talking to any reporters. “They are not happy,” I was told. Mustafina’s bar workout certainly left something to be desired, but she did OK on beam, I thought. …

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Live blog: Women’s podium training at the American Cup

… The SCAM is an intense important meet, for a change. Cool.

Blythe has Men’s podium training LIVE, as well.

Already a member of the USA Gymnastics Men’s Senior National Team, U-M student Christopher Cameron sets his sights on the 2012 Olympics in London. …

LSA – Lord of the Rings

Click PLAY or watch his Rings on YouTube.

Chris Cameron is the defending N.C.A.A. all-around men’s gymnastics champion, a member of the University of Michigan’s defending N.C.A.A. championship team, and a rising star for the national squad.

His skill is even more remarkable given that he was born with hemihypertrophy, a congenital abnormality that causes one side of the body to grow faster than the other. At 12, Cameron had a growth plate removed from his fast-growing left leg to allow his right leg to catch up. …

NY Times – Champion Michigan Gymnast Rises Far Above a Disadvantage

At our recent WAG competition with 900 competitors the two biggest medical incidents:

1) sprained ankle
2) a nervous athlete hyperventilating

… Competitive anxiety can be crippling for some athletes. There are several contributing factors that lead to, as some coaches put it, CHOKING under pressure (“it’s hard to stay on the bars with both hands wrapped tightly around your throat,” I once heard one coach say”. …

contributing factors:

Nervous Nelly Personality
Lack of preparation
Outside influences
Fear of failure
Fear of injury
Fear of repercussions
Unproductive Use of Warm Up Time

Full Twist picked up on the topic – Competitive Anxiety in Gymnasts, linking to a post on World of Gymnastics – How to Control your Nerves Before a Gymnastics Meet and on Beam.

And a new post by Alicia Sacramone, one of the most confident appearing gymnasts I’ve ever seen, – Don’t let fear steal your confidence.

Missy Marlowe this past weekend was telling kids of an epiphany she had as one of the best gymnasts in the world: … If she pretended to be confident, she found herself to be far less nervous.

Video footage taken by Nicholas Bock while he and his 2 sons, both gymnasts, traveled to China with coach Guonian Wu to receive a personal and hands-on experience at a Chinese gymnastics school.

In a joint presentation with StickItMedia, Nicholas thoroughly describes for us what a typical day is like for young Chinese gymnasts, who have been selected to live, study and train at a famous sports school. His boys trained for ten days alongside these young Olympic hopefuls in a training system that has already produced numerous Olympic and World Champions.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike. (13min 30sec)

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NDM1NDcxNTgz

Watch more video of Seeking Perfection in China on gymnastike.org

Nicholas Bock:

Last summer, we spent 10 days training gymnastics at the Shi Cha Hai Sports School, which is located in the heart of Beijing China. The school is one of the most famous sports schools in China, producing several Olympic gold medalists in gymnastics …

When we arrived at the gymnastics hall for the first time, we were not impressed with the facilities. The floor was old, the high bar was rusty, the mats were old and torn, and climbing rope was not a rope at all, but an old long wooden pole, dangling from the ceiling. Being jet-lagged, we just watched the Chinese boys train. What we saw was unlike anything I had ever seen before. And after about 30 minutes, I knew why the Chinese dominate so completely. With the help of our coach, Guonian Wu, who was once a Chinese National team member, as well as a Chinese National team coach, we were given permission from the head boy’s coach, a long time friend and teammate of Guonian’s, to videotape. …

read more – Stick It Media – Seeking Perfection in China

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Spanny’s Big Fake Smile on Facebook)

GymNiceTic:

After having some troubles to stay away from certain drugs in 2009 and maybe also in 2010, Dutch gymnast Yuri van Gelder is finally back in the game again in order to compete at the European Championships in April. …

He qualified at trials for Europeans last week. …

Yuri’s still got it, pulling out of strength holds. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Routine starts at 2min.

… A bit shaky but definitely not bad: 15.500 / 6.4. …

GymNiceTic

NCAA Schedule | CollegeGymFans.com | Cottbus results | Gymnix results

By yesterday …

With so much attention focused on the cancellation of Men’s gymnastics at Cal Berkeley, other schools have been neglected by the media.

Cal State Fullerton, for example, has been under the gun for that past couple of years. Head Coach Jill Hicks has had to learn to become a fundraiser.

… if the gymnastics team wants to stay, by March 1 we have to raise $560,000,” Hicks said. …

Titan – Gymnastics continues to fight for another season

It sounds like there will be no Title IX miracle at this school.

Mel Franks, senior associate athletic director, says gymnastics needs to find the money. Or they are cut.

An unofficial promo video for the most exciting American Cup in many, many years.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Chinese Gymnastics)

I’m betting Mustafina and Horton will win.

The International Olympic Committee has rejected Iran’s complaint that the logo for the 2012 Olympics resembles the word Zion and is racist. …

Universal Sports

Don’t the conspiracy theorists in Iran have more important things to worry about?

Just yesterday I heard from a lady gymnast / acrobat in Iran who would love to be able to practice the sport openly.

In a related story, there’s a bit of controversy over the 2014 Winter Games mascots.