Gymnastics Coaching.com

Preview performances for Viva ELVIS, the newest Cirque show, will begin Friday, December 18, 2009.

Viva ELVIS, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music, is a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley. Nostalgia, modernity and raw emotion provide the backdrop for his immortal voice and the exhilaration and beauty of his music.

I’ve not seen any official trailer as yet, but here are some clips.

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mnr_lib/200910/players/player-multi.swf?job=41517

… Loving that latest trampoline act.

In related Cirque news, the Chinese government just announced a 50km bridge to be built connecting Hong Kong and Macao with the mainland. This will be good for Macao business, including the Cirque show Zaia.

There’s nothing confirmed regarding the future Cirque show to be fixed in Dubai. But Cirque du Soleil says it is unaffected by the recent financial crisis there.

In response to those speculating that Russia may be the team to beat for the London Olympics, medstudent24 on the IG forum posted <a href="http://www.intlgymnast.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6854&quot; best junior, by the numbers:

All this talk about Komova and Mustafina got me thinking how good they REALLY are compared to the rising American talent. I took the highest scores each gymnast received on each apparatus and combined them to come up with a total. The results are…

1. Jordyn Wieber. VT-15.75 UB-14.8 BB-15 FX-14.65 AA: 60.2
2. Viktoria Komova. VT-15.1 UB-15.45 BB-14.955 FX-14.3 AA: 59.805
3. Kyla Ross. VT-15.2 UB-14.15 BB-15 FX-14.2 AA: 58.55
4. Aliya Mustafina. VT-14.850 UB-14.825 BB-14.175 FX-14.650 AA: 58.5

LilyPod then linked to videos of all routines for the top 2 taken from their best AA competition. It’s an interesting comparison. Almost a Nastia – Shawn comparison.

See what you think.

Weiber had the better vault.

Komova had the better bars. (Superb dismount for Weiber, however.)

Hmm. I’d say Weiber won beam. But Komova is close.

Clearly Wieber won Floor.

Two completely different styles. Weiber powerful, routines jammed with difficulty. Komova more elegant. Better artistry and form.

It’s going to be a wonderful Olympics in 2012 with all this young talent (hopefully) peaking at that time.

UPDATE:

Almost everyone on the IG forum that commented likes Komova better. I think I’ll bet on Weiber. If she can stay healthy training all that difficulty, she’ll be tough to beat.

I still think you need an Amanar vault to win the Olympics 2012. (Nastia won 2008 with only a perfect Yurcheno 1 1/2.)

I’d like to see her defend her Scam American Cup title March 6, 2010. If the USA put up Rebecca Bross (confirmed) and Jordyn Weiber … that would be a potent duo.

How about a promise of a week’s training next summer at gym camp?

Click PLAY or watch the IGC Summer Gymnastics Camp promo on YouTube.

The U.K. is the most improved nation in recent years, especially on the Men’s side.

Brilliant timing with the Olympics coming up in London.

British Gymnastics superb achievements throughout 2009 have been recognised by the British press, who have awarded BG the prestigious Sports Journalist Association Committee Award recognising “the progress made by a sport which is now established as a medal-winning force on the world stage.”

Representing British Gymnastics at the 2009 Sports Journalists Association awards were Adrian Stan, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Technical Director, along with Paul Hall Head coach of Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastics club with gymnasts Louis Smith and Daniel Keatings. …

Beth Tweddle, Britain’s World Floor Champion was voted in 2nd place in the SJA’s Sportswoman of the Year Award just behind Heptathlon World Champion, Jessica Ennis.

read more

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

How many times have we heard this story?

Former gymnast goes on to greatness in another sport.

I just finished telling a friend that Twitter is useless … then I saw this on the Sports Girls Play blog. … Linked from Twitter.

An interview with Damu Cherry-Mitchell (DC)

DC: “First I want to say the God is the reason why I am here and able to do what I do! Without God none of this would be possible! I am a world class 100 meter hurdler for the USA and Nike. I am a 2008 Olympian where I finished 4th. My personal best is 12.44 and my goal is to qualify for the 2012 Olympic team. I have been a professional for 7 years now. Thank you for your interest and I hope that I may be a blessing to others!”

SGP: How old were you when you started competing?
DC: I actually started competing when I was 10 years old as a gymnast! I started competing in track n high school when I was 16 years old.

SGP: Did you play other sports when you were younger?
DC: I was a gymnast for 7 years

read the rest of the Interview with Olympic Hurdler Damu Cherry-Mitchell

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

Update. Damu coached, as well, for Brandy Johnson’s.

I’ve been looking at the official 2009 Valeri Liukin Invitational webpage all weekend. (Some great photos.)

But it took Blythe on Gymnastics Examiner to put together a proper write-up of the FIG meet.

Ukraine’s Nikolai (Mykola) Kuksenkov, ninth all-around at the 2009 World Championships, won the Valeri Liukin Invitational last weekend in Frisco, Texas.

Kuksenkov posted the highest scores of the meet on floor (14.8) and high bar (15.4) to finish ahead of runner-up Jonathan Horton of Houston and Takuto Tatikani of Japan. Horton had the highest score of the entire meet on rings (16.1) and tabbed second place finishes on floor (14.7) and parallel bars (15.45) but was as usual outdone on pommel horse (13.0). He finished with an 89.45 all-around total to Kuksenkov’s 90.1. …

click through for more – Mykola Kuksenkov best at Valeri Liukin Invitational

Congratulations to Valeri and WOGA for putting together such an important men’s meet.

The financial plight of Cal State Fullerton Titans Gymnastics is close to my heart. My gym had more girls go to this University, over the years, than any other.

Two teams, one goal, and 2008 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin brought Southern Californian gymnastics fans to Titan Gym during the Southern California College Preview.

Click PLAY to hear about the details or watch it on Gymnastike.

Photos and videos of the event are linked from the UCLA website.

(via The Couch Gymnast)

Check out the awesome and unique Hecht vaults starting at 35sec.

I’d never even dreamed of those combinations. GREAT for “block”.

Brandy from GK gymnastics has one of the best attitudes i’ve seen. She seems like she is always having fun and is very coachable. I think she has potential to be one of the best vaulter in the country.

Click PLAY or watch The girl can Vault! on YouTube.

More videos like this on the Gibson Athletics SaltoCafe YouTube channel.

I just got an updated price list from the Canadian distributor of Gaofei equipement from China. Some great deals.

Click through to their website – InspireSportsInc.com – to see prices as well as a line of gymnastics clothing.

Inspire Sports is Liang Cheng and David Sykes, career gymnastics coaches.

I’ve finally had time to look at a wide assortment of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics video clips on new GymDrills.com website put together by Will Vaughn.

I like it.

I wish more coaches would document their favourite drills on video and make them available to the world.

The quality of the drills is high. The quality of the video, average. Some demonstrators show minor form and technical errors.

I was pleased to find some drills I’d never seen before.

The biggest problem with the site, as with (to a lesser extent) the similar American Gymnast Gymnastics on Demand is the navigation. It’s not perfect on either site … but GymDrills has one killer feature. Fill in the SEARCH box with “Pak” and only those videos tagged with that word appear on the resulting list.

The 5 star rating system on each video will be useful when enough users rate them.

I do have a few quibbles with GymDrills.com.

I’m not a fan of the Microsoft .WMV video format. But they do play on a Mac if you get the free Flip4Mac plugin.

The database has great potential for growth too, I think. Seems GymDrills can continue to add new clips into the future. At some point registered users may be able to upload clips.

I like that videos from other sources (even GymnasticsCoaching) have been included. They are free to watch, even if you are not a paid member.

Cost of access to this site is inexpensive:

• Free per 7 Days (Trial)
• 3.99 USD per 1 Month (Monthly Membership)
• 35.00 USD per 1 Year (Year Membership)

If cost is a big barrier to you, sign up for the free week and watch every video during those 7 days.

I’d love to see GymDrills offer, as another option, a Freemium business model in future.

… offering basic services for free, while charging a premium for advanced or special features …

A good sampling of videos could be free. Other videos and services (e.g. chat room) should be available for paid members.

Certainly as of today Gymnastics on Demand is a better service … but it costs $9.95 per month as compared with $3.99 per month for GymDrills.

I think both sites are great!

Both are highly recommended.

Check out GymDrills.com for yourself.