Gymnastics Coaching.com

If you are just starting to think about College Gymnastics, check out an excellent preseason preview published by Inside Gymnastics:

… Poised to break through is Florida, ranked No. 3 pre-season, who many tap as future champions. To date only four squads—Georgia, Utah, Alabama and UCLA—have ever won the women’s team title, but with a bevy of stars, including former National Team members Corey Hartung and Melanie Sinclair, and strong leadership from coach and former Olympian (1988 alternate) Rhonda Faehn, Florida has been this-close the past few years and the Gators are poised to snap up the top spot—if not this year, soon. …

College Countdown

My favourite team the past two seasons was Florida.

But beating Courtney Kupets and Georgia seems impossible to envision.

Love the UCLA Gymnastics poster this year. (I’ve got a good feeling about them, too.)

larger version

WidescreenPenguin posted a few of the routines including Gold medalist on Floor.

I’ve never been a fan of this routine, but she is looking a little stronger than at the Olympics.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Do you like the widescreen format?

More World Cup Final videos.

(via The C Score)

An excellent montage from addicted2gym.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

All the old “knocks” against the Chinese women’s gymnastics team have faded one-by-one.

They can’t Vault.

They can’t Tumble.

The Chinese body type is not strong.

They can’t handle the pressure of a big meet.

Chinese coaches don’t understand Sport Psychology.

I had predicted the USA would beat China at the 2008 Olympics. And I was wrong.

Olympic Champions – AP Photo/Amy Sancetta – ESPN

In 2009 China is the team to beat.

But I still believe, long-term, that the USA will surpass them. It’s a matter of when. The free market ultimately will produce the best athletes.

(via Gymnastics: from a ten year olds view!)

I waited all weekend for routines from the World Cup Final in Madrid to be posted.

Monday … I’m not nearly so interested. (There’s something special about LIVE sports coverage.)

Check them out – UniversalSports.com

Thanks Katrina.

If you do not live in the USA, you might need a utility like Hotspot Shield. Otherwise, this may be all you see.

UPDATE: Everyone needs Windows Media Player for this too, I understand.

I have not done this in years.

But it worked well last time I tried it, IF you have people skilled with their hands doing the gluing.

From Spieth Anderson:

Your beam or horse top can be factory recovered to look like new, even after years of hard use! With our factory recovery, the top will be completely stripped, padded and recovered in identical materials to our brand new products.

… Beam recovery can also be done in your own gym with our convenient recovery kits. The kit includes all the required materials, so all you have to do is provide the labor.

Any advice for us?

Is it worth buying the kit?

Or better to pay the difference and simply buy a new beam?

Leave a comment if you have experience with these kits, good or bad.

Andrew Thornton on Gymnast is doing his best to change the world. He’s far more thoughtful than anyone in the FIG.

Thanks!

His latest post asks …

what changes each of you would most like to see in gymnastics at this point in time?

Brainstorming, to get you thinking, Andrew throws out these ideas:

Reinstate compulsories

Have all gymnasts compete all-around again at world and Olympics

Get rid of the women’s age requirement

Get rid of the two-per country rule for all-around and event finals

Increase the number of gymnasts who qualify to all-around finals

Change the 3-up-3-count team finals format (and suggest another format)

Forget the new scoring system and bring back the “10”

Keep the new scoring system but reduce the number of skills required

Bring back bonus for originality and virtuosity

Give bonus for great artistry

Don’t require D level dismounts

Upgrade some of the multiple flipping skills on floor for men

Upgrade some of the swinging skills on men’s rings

Allow for connection points between swinging skills on men’s rings

Upgrade/downgrade any skill of your choice!

Have women do two vaults again and take the best score

Have women do two vaults again and take the average score

Reduce the angle deductions on women’s bars

Get rid of the full-turn requirement on women’s beam

Judges stop taking execution deductions that don’t exist

Get rid of “individual world championships”

Hold a full world championships every year

Go back to holding a full world championships every other year

Leave your own comments and counter suggestions on Gymnast – What changes would you most like to see in gymnastics?

Officewheel

A few of the winning routine videos are posted on the official competition website.

IRCOS by FIG Online.

The official website still has no photos, nor news updates on the second most important competition in Canada.

Pitiful.

Finally the results have been posted. Poorly. And only as PDF files.

I’m waiting until GymnasticsResults.com or Gym Score Depot post them. Both sites no doubt wearied of waiting this weekend. Results are time sensitive.

Scores look low. But Canada tried using the 2009 Code of Points. (We love confusing people in my country. It makes the administrators feel important.)

Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C., won medals in all four event finals, including gold on vault and beam, at the Elite Canada gymnastics meet on Sunday in Gatineau, Que.

Rogers, 15, who won the women’s all around on Friday, added a silver medal on floor and bronze on uneven bars in the first major meet for Canadian gymnasts since the Beijing Summer Games.

Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Ont., also came through with flying colours in her first competition as a senior. …

Bluewater Gymnastics – Photos Courtesy of Grace Chiu

Sydney Sawa of Calgary also had a strong performance, picking up bronze medals on vault and floor and a silver on beam. Ti Liu of Montreal earned gold on uneven bars.

In the women’s junior competition, Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge, Ont., battled back from a sore knee to win gold medals on beam and floor in one of the most talented fields in recent years at Elite Canada.

Canwest News Service – Leader Post

related: The C Score – Rogers medals on four with gold on vault and beam

I’ll get some personal feedback from coaches on the Floor and post it later this week.

There are some unhappy Canadian coaches, let me tell you.

Americans Corrie Lothrop, Olivia Courtney and Amanda Jetter swept the medals … at the 4th International Challenge in Woluwé Saint-Lambert near Brussels. Perhaps more importantly, Larisa Iordache, the twelve year-old phenom from Romania, finished only .05 points out of the medals! …

read more – C Score

Click PLAY or watch Corrie Lothrop’s Bars on YouTube.

More videos from the meet posted by Dutchfan.

(Photo: Tanja Moody)

… The victorious American girls, clad in Nastia Liukin’s pink Olympic outfit, are sitting in the front row. The Romanian juniors are sitting behind them, and the Dutch girls, dressed in black, are standing behind them. Two of the Belgian girls are standing on the side, with the two others seated in the front row next to the Americans.

Triple Full

For once Valeri could stop talking about the Olympics …

Oh, maybe not.

WOGA’s 13th Annual Men’s Gymnastics meet just concluded. By all accounts it sounds like a big success.

Gymnasts attended from Ukraine, Canada, Russia, Latvia, Kazakstan, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and New Zealand.

Anne Phillips of Gymnastike posted some interesting video interviews with coaches and gymnasts, a nice partnership with the organizers.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.
http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-3-16/mediaplayer.swf

Visit Gymnastike.org For More Videos

Check the terrific photos by HEATHER MAYNEZ, as well.

Results