Gymnastics Coaching.com

I’m happy.

The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee did approve a new format for Collegiate Team Finals after all. (There was some doubt after the concept was opposed by some in the dominant SEC Conference.)

… Instead of the top six teams competing for the team title on the second day of the championship, the gymnastics committee wants the top four teams to advance to the finals (a concept the committee has dubbed “four on the floor”). The change would eliminate byes during the NCAA finals, making it easier for fans to follow the standings. The change also would shorten the competition, making it easier to broadcast live, which in turn could give college women’s gymnastics more fan appeal. …

That’s a slight improvement, in my opinion. I’ve attended Finals the past 3yrs and the old 6 team Final did drag a bit.

Even better, is this change:

… The committee also is recommending that the score of every gymnast who competes on an apparatus count toward the team’s final score. Currently, six gymnasts compete on each apparatus but only the top five scores count, allowing a team to make a mistake and still contend for the title. Making all six scores count toward a team’s final score will help fans be more involved in the event, Plinske said. The change would be in effect only during NCAA regional and national competition. …

NCAA – Gymnastics seeks to shift gears with ‘four-on-the-floor’ idea

This will favour teams that have depth. And consistency.

And will also result in more upsets. Delicious uncertainty.

The downside is that teams will take fewer risks.

If NCAA Championships/Sport Management Cabinet approves the change, it starts not next year in Florida, but in 2011 at a neutral site in Cleveland. (That’s a good decision as Florida opposed this change in the original vote.)

commentary by Dwight Normile – International Gymnast – NCAA Women’s Rules Could Change for Better

Coach Cy Platt resumed training after a long break.

His baby soft hands did not respond well.

Cy is one of the Platt Brothers, an excellent acrobatic, comedy performance team.

No cover-up in the Chinese media.

In the English language paper, Lu Shanzhen responds clearly. Two gymnasts under investigation from the 2000 Olympics were old enough to compete:

… “We have already received notification from FIG and we will communicate with them actively,” Lu Shanzhen, head coach of China’s women’s gymnastics team and vice-director of China’s Gymnastics Administrative Center, was quoted by sports.cn on Wednesday.

“The ages of Dong and Yang are in accord with the rules of FIG concerning the Olympic Games. We will work closely with FIG toward the investigation,” Lu added. …

China Daily – Chinese olympians investigated for age fraud

Interesting.

Gymblog asks: Dong Fangxiao 2000 Olympics … In hindsight, how anyone could have thought she was really 17?

Jim sends us an interesting pic.

What’s crazy coach Jack Carter doing here?

Here’s a picture of the girls and coaches having some acrobatic fun at a high performance training camp at Carter’s Gymnastics Academy in Mesa, AZ. Carter’s is owned and run by Jack and Erin Carter, who’ve coached Olympic, Elite, and US National Team gymnasts for more than 25 years.

I only just now heard that Michael Jackson is dead.

The first two thoughts that jumped to mind:

1) he was WEIRD

2) he was such a TALENTED dancer

Click PLAY or watch him at the 1995 MTV Music Awards.

On Twitter (MBallas) Shawn Johnson’s dance partner Mark Ballas said:

R.I.P Michael jackson, he was my inspiration and the reason i do what i do, i am devastated, he will be missed

One time Michael was brought in to a studio after his backup dancers had rehearsed and perfected a complicated program.

He watched it only once. And knew it exactly.

Michael was ready to dance it.

… I’ve heard similar stories about Neil Young on guitar.

This was posted by coach Dave Brubaker on Facebook.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I really like the introduction.

How does a gym club afford a spot of that quality?

Dave explains:

… actually it was filmed by CBC and edited with our graphics. It is not our facility at all. I just paid to have the commercial tailored to our club. “Graphics overlay”. That way a group of clubs were able to split the production costs. …

The real Bluewater Gymnastics facility can be seen on their website.

I assume the bubble shown in the TV spot is Ortona Gymnastics in Edmonton.

Guinness World Records has confirmed that Cirque du Soleil has reclaimed the record for most people walking on stilts in multiple venues. 1908 participants from Montreal, Moscow, New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, Macau and Brazil can now call themselves Guinness World Records record holders.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

In other Cirque news, billionaire founder Guy Laliberte threatens to sue over a new book and has booked a Sept. 30th flight to the International Space Station in a Soyuz spacecraft.

Related: If you are a rock climber, you might be interested in the new world record “dyno” (2.80m).

I just watched the archived version of a gymnastics coaching presentation by sensai Mas Watanabe. It was streamed live June 23, 2009.

Technical Refinement – Yurchenko Vault (1hr 5min)

As expected, Mas feels the contact position on the horse is critical.

Mas also spent a good deal of time looking at exact body position on the spring board.

Which of the 4 gymnast do you think had the strongest Yurchenko?

I learned a lot about the importance of of the arms action and hands position during the round-off. Mas really understands this confusing phase.

This is the most detailed and sophisticated analysis of the Yurchenko I’ve yet seen. It’s a great jumping off point for discussion on variations in technique for different body types.

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How do you watch it?

This was week 4 of Project 2012

official website

… highlighting the essential techniques for gymnastics success in the next quadrennium. This 12-week event, brings the best coaches in the United States to your computer screen doing LIVE lectures and demonstrations on the most important cutting-edge information in our sport.

Session One begins Tuesday June 2 at 6pm PST-9pm EST and once a week until July 7th. (US$199)

Session Two runs from July 14 through August 18th.

Sessions normally are 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of question and answer, using live lecture, video, power point, and of course your questions, all on your computer.

Project 2012 has nothing to do with the USA Gymnastics Congress events. Yet I still find myself thinking of it as the “poor man’s Gymnastics Congress”.

If your club has cut costs this year, declining to send coaches to Congress. This is a GREAT alternative.

Running every Tuesday night, here are the 4 presenters posted so far:

June 2 – Mary Lee Tracy: “Creating an Efficient Conditioning Program”

June 9 – Tom Forster: “In-bar Elements – Determining The Best For Each Gymnast”

June 16 – Chris Burdette: “Shootovers and Pacs: Drills and Spotting Techniques”

June 23 – Mas Watanabe: “Yurchenko vault – technical refinement”

(Chris Burdette had some technical problems with video. He will be rescheduled for sometime in future.)

Coming up:

June 30 Russell Warfield: “Raising the Barre: Understanding the importance of Dance for Gymnastics”

July 7 Tammy Biggs: “Leap or Die: the key to scoring on beam and floor in the next quadrennium”

Term Two: 6 weeks beginning July 14th – August 18th

July 14 – Tom Forster: “Releases – Selecting And Training The Ones To Fit Your Gymnast”

July 21 – Mary Lee Tracy: “Training Beam to HIT”

July 28 – Kim Zmeskal Burdette: “Coaching with a Judging Eye”

Aug 4 – Mas Watanabe: “Development of the combination tumbling sequences – utilizing the tumble track”

Aug 11 – Tammy Biggs: “Skills that should be done on beam”

Aug 18 – Russell Warfield: “So you think they can’t dance? Creative ways to incorporate Dance into your Gymnastics Program.”

You can watch streamed presentations archived online. But cannot download them to watch offline. (Actually, once the presentation is buffered in the Network Recording Player software, you can watch it and rewatch it offline. But not transfer it to an iPod, for example.)

Distance learning is the future. No doubt.

Project 2012 is just the beginning. Congratulations.

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The project is associated with GymSmarts. And Alison Arnold’s sport psychology site Head Games.

Tiger Paws wrist supports have become unbelievably popular with female gymnasts in North America.

Jay Thornton of American Gymnast explains how they work. And proper sizing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Where I live Tiger Paws are not nearly so popular with power tumblers or male gymnasts.

As always, I recommend you not use wrist supports if you don’t need them. But – if you do need them – wear them always.

From the always entertaining Despair Inc.