Gymnastics Coaching.com

Retired gymnast and the World Food Programme (WFP) ambassador Li Ning Thursday said he would pay for five humanitarian flights to bring food and other relief materials to earthquake-stricken Haiti.

The Olympic gold medalist said the donation of 1 million yuan (146,500 U.S. dollars) would cover the cost of the flights from Panama to Port-Au-Prince, capital of the Caribbean nation.

“It’s heartbreaking to see such a huge loss in Haiti. It reminds me of the terrible earthquake in our country in May 2008,” said the 46-year-old businessman successful in China’s huge sportswear market. …

WFP ambassador Li Ning helps with Haiti aid

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If you don’t like the open-ended code of points …

If you don’t like minimum age rules for gymnasts …

Then, you probably don’t like the International Gymnastics Federation President Bruno Grandi.

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… On January 22, 2010, the Chinese … newspaper Tianjin Daily released an interview of the FIG President Grandi …

Gymnastics has become accessible to everyone. It has created a social status and contributed to individual and collective fulfilment. It plays an incredible economic role, and continues to fascinate fans worldwide and inspire and galvanize us into action when we need it most.

For worse? There is the corruption that goes hand in hand with money, doping and cheating. I have been fighting against it since first I entered the world of sport. …

FIG – Get more for your money!

Surprisingly, the article doesn’t mention the elephant in the room, the looming disciplinary proceedings involving Chinese gymnasts Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao, suspected of having violated minimum age requirements for participation in the 2000 Olympic Games.

That bomb will drop February 26, 2010.

(via The All Around Gymnastics News on Facebook)

Gymnasts of all ages from coast to coast will getting an upside-down look at the world on Saturday, January 23rd, when they share the experience of performing a handstand at precisely 2 PM, wherever they live in Canada, as part National Gymnastics Week which runs from January 18-24.

Many other activities are planned at clubs across the country in a combined effort including Gymnastics Canada, 12-provincial/territorial federations and over 700 hundred clubs …

details – Gymnastics Canada

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more handstands

This should only be true for bloggers.

Here are some stats to justify to parents why their kids should be in gym.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has the results in from its latest media usage study, and it was enough to shock the authors. …

the latest study, … upwards of seven and a half hours per day. Plus, for the first time, time spent watching TV actually dropped in favor of other forms of media, including listening to music, using a computer, playing video games, reading print publications and watching movies.

Moreover, because so many of the kids are multitasking by consuming multiple forms of media at the same time, they actually end up consuming closer to 11 hours’ worth of media content within that seven and half-hour span. Nor does do those hours include the time kids are spending talking on their cell phones (half an hour) or sending text messages (an hour and a half). …

Mashable

The comments on the Tatiana Gutsu post have gotten a bit heated. I’ll throw a bit more fuel on the fire with this Gutsu v Miller comparison …

Building on the NCAA 10.0 Yurchenko vaults post, who did the better vault?

1992 Olympic Games, Women’s All around competition. Shannon Miller Vault #1.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via a “new” blog – Body Rhythm)

Tatiana Gutsu – 1992 Olympics AA – Vault 2. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Inside Gymnastics is offering free a new preview feature, that same technology used by International Gymnast and so many other magazines these days.

Click twice to ZOOM.

Check it out at insidegymnastics.com/magazine/.

Nice!

… I just noticed the magazine finally removed the link to the seemingly still born IG TV page.

I’ve criticized Inside Gymnastics in the past. Let’s give them credit for this innovation.

They’re doing a great job on Twitter and Facebook too. Far better than International Gymnast magazine.

From coach Troy Wright.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Perfect drills. I’d keep doing them until the kids can touch only nose and toes on the wall.

More drills on Troy’s new YouTube channel.

Or check out the original (very popular) post – Basics, Basics, Basics!!!—The Training of a Handstand.

Core stability for gymnasts is important, up to a point.

But I’ve long suspected that coaches over-emphasize it, at the expense of other physical qualities.

For example, this gymnast is not arched due to lack of abdominal strength.

Giant doesn’t require much abdominal strength.

There’s a bit of trend in sport science, right now, to reduce the amount of core body conditioning we are doing, especially the traditional “sit-up”.

Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, is cited in this recent article:

MacLeans – The man who wants to kill crunches
A Canadian professor of spine biomechanics rails about the dangers of the ubiquitous sit-up

Of course that’s not sport specific.

A better article for coaches is …

The Myth of Core Stability by Professor Eyal Lederman, of CPDO, the Centre for Professional Development in Osteopathy and Manual Therapy.

I checked on this “trend” to avoid over-conditioning the core with Keith Russell.

He tended to agree:

… don’t isolate, use large body movements where ever possible and DON”T overemphasize the abdominals …”

Food for thought. Leave a comment if you’ve modified your core body strength training. Using more isometric training, for example.

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related – Gymnastics Revolution – The Giant

Woodward West Gym Camp.

Click PLAY or watch “Bhardwaj” spotted on YouTube.

More videos on the Gibson Saltocafe YouTube page.

related post – another spotting Pak 1/1 on Bars

In Part 1 of this series, Mizo explained how to use a “Ring Machine” to introduce Iron Cross to beginners.

In Part 2, he uses a pulley system to reduce resistance.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The most common injury training Iron Cross is to the elbows. Boys need years of preparation before they put it into the routine in competition.

There are over 80 more posts on this site under the Rings category.