Gymnastics Coaching.com

UK favourite Louis Smith won Pommels at the World Cup meet in Scotland last weekend. His circles aren’t extended. But he’s very consistent.

Click PLAY or watch Louis on YouTube. (15.750)

No surprise there.

Now Louis plans an attempt at the Guiness World Record for the highest number of flares on a pommel horse.

What? The current record is only 46?

Hey, Louis just picked up his 20th birthday present, a new £24,000 Scirocco.

Thanks Tracey Morrison.

The final performance, a free style.

I was very proud of young Shawn Johnson in this performance. For the first time she danced the “lead”. Mark did well to hold up his end as well as he did.

Shawn let her hair down. And simply had fun.

Congratuations.

Click PLAY or watch the freestyle on YouTube.

The weird costumed intro did not work for me. But the rest of the choreography I would call masterful. Enough acrobatics. But not too much.

It was by far the best of the 3 freestyles. Gilles and Cheryl were … dull. Don’t play on a camp classic like Flashdance unless you are going to blow the original out of the water.

I’d say Shawn will win.

… Of course it all comes down to fan voting.

In my time zone the broadcast is in progress. This is the finale.

I thought, despite some technical error, Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani easily had the most enjoyable paso doble.

Shawn and Mark were less inspired, IMHO.

Here it is …

Click PLAY or watch the paso doble on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch a Gymnastics Minute video on GymSmarts.

Tony Retrosi, is the owner, Head Coach and Program director of Atlantic Gymnastics Centers.

The Gymnastics Minute is a new series of free introductory video tips produced by GymSmarts.

GOLD – Beth Tweddle 2009 Glasgow Grand Prix UB Finals

This is one difficult routine!

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

UPDATE.

Johnson will face off against two other “Dancing With the Stars” contestants in the final showdown of the season.

On Tuesday night, the champion will be announced on the results show. …

Fan support is crucial. The winner will be determined by a formula that factors in judges’ scores and viewer votes.

Shawn says their costumes for the FINAL are the best yet.

Better than these?

You can vote online starting 8PM EST, 5PM Pacific.

UPDATE:

Fans can vote for “Team Shark,” as Johnson and Ballas have dubbed themselves, for up to 30 minutes after the show ends tonight (10:30 PM ET) by calling 800-VOTE4-09 or texting the word “VOTE” to 3409 (AT&T only). Online voting (registration required) will continue until 12 PM ET on Tuesday.

Inside Gymnastics

Click PLAY or watch Alexis Brion on YouTube.

Alexis actually learned this skill by accident while training full-in. She was at the time coached by Jim Walker at Gymstrada (later Excalibur Gymnastics). She later went on to great things at Alabama.

(via World Gymnastics)

You may have seen this clip before on GymBlog – Alexis Brion’s double in back out pike. It shows the same skill by Tatiana Groshkova.

Check the comments for more history from Blantonnick who was at the gym when it was “invented”.

My gym sent many girls to CSF over the years, including Debbie (Broderick) Rodriguez, today coach of L10 Sr. D Champion 2009 Makayla Stambaugh of Byers Sacramento. And Carol “Lefty” Johnson of Disney movie fame.

It would be a shame to see that historic program disappear.

USA Gymnastics is working with the gymnastics coaches at Cal State Fullerton on a fundraising campaign to support the school’s continued involvement in NCAA women’s gymnastics. Their goal is to raise $50,000 to $100,000 by Friday, May 22, 2009.

To this end, USA Gymnastics is soliciting pledges from interested fans and members to help support the Titan’s 33-year-old program. All donations will be fully tax-deductible and used solely for the Cal State-Fullerton program. At this point, we are asking for pledges. Once we know more, we will follow up to activate your pledged donation. Please sign up now and help this storied program that has made 25 Regional and 13 national NCAA appearances and won the national title in 1979. …

Please click through to USAG to make a pledge.

About Cal State Fullerton Women’s Gymnastics:

Nickname: Titans …

Accomplishments:

1979 NCAA national champions, AIAW Champions under the leadership of Lynn Rogers
13 trips to the NCAA nationals
25 regional appearances; 18 gymnasts for 66 All-American awards
Academics:
Ranked sixth in the country in 2008 with a GPA of 3.5867

Watch a Gymnastike interview with Head Coach Jill Hicks.

CHINESE NAT’L CHAMPS

MEN
1-Feng Jing 90.3
2-Guo Weiyang 89.7
3-Feng Zhe 89.35

WOMEN … judging is severe, keep in mind …
1-He Ning 58.1
2-Huang Qiushuang 57.75
3-Xiao Sha 57.05

I saw this posted by Inside Gymnastics on Facebook. They link to CCTV.

At the Level 10 National Gymnastics Championships, 4 of 8 winners were named May 15:

Junior A – Lizzy Le Duc of WGA Texans in Spring, Texas, won the all-around title with 37.750 points …

Junior B – Keeley Kmieciak of Phenom Gymnastics in Aurora, Ill., swept the top honors in this division. She won the all-around (38.450) …

Senior A – Kaylan Earls of Arena Gymnastics in Joliet, Ill., finished first in the all-around with a 38.400

Senior B – Abbey Habicht of Orlando (Fla.) Metro won the all-around title with 38.050 points. …

Click through to USAG for more commentary and complete results.

Region 5 is kicking butt in the Team Competition, as usual.

==== Update:

Junior C – Jaclyn McCarlin of CO Gliders in Covina, Calif., won the all-around title with a total score of 38.400. …

Senior C – Noel Couch of North Stars Gymnastics Academy in Boonton, N.J., won both the all-around (38.250) and the floor exercise (9.700) titles. …

Region 1 kicking butt.

USAG

=== Final Update

Junior D – Kayla Williams of Bozhi’s Gymnastics in Huntington, W.Va., won the all-around title with a 38.525 …

Senior D – Makayla Stambaugh of Byers Sacramento (Calif.) won the all-around title with a 38.500 …

USAG