Gymnastics Coaching.com

Altadore Gymnastics looking for a Women’s Head Coach. Or, even better, a Technical Director / Head Coach to oversee all our competitive programs: Women’s Artistic, Men’s Artistic, Trampoline and Tumbling.

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Normally I’m dubious about “Gymnastics Spectaculars”.

But they just might be doing this one up right. Here’s a preview video featuring the rock band K.S.M., one of the supporting acts.

http://www.brightcove.tv/playerswf

gymnasts – cast

GymnasticsSuperstars.com – official website

I wish Dave Durante was in the lineup, though.

The Region IV Gymnastics site posted suggestions for coaches from judge Linda Thorberg:

Things that judges respect most about coaches:

1. Knowledge of the rules
2. Respect and appropriate behavior to their athletes
3. Know how to write an inquiry
4. Know how to keep their cool – you are a role model
5. Understand that the highest score is not necessarily the right score
6. Are willing to listen to our point of view
7. Have FUN

What judges remember most about routines after the meet:

• Feet, feet, feet
• Split positions 180+
• Height on leaps/jumps/tumble/dismounts
• Dynamic/aggressive rhythm
• Variety of skills
• Torso movement
• Artistry
• Precise turns
• Great swing

Some good reminders.

Hollie Dykes

Gymnastics Photos: Good vs. Poor Form – About.com Gymnastics

Many were excellent.

But I liked best the VISA commercial featuring sprinter Derek Redmond who, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, “tore his hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final but fought through the pain and, with assistance from his father, managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.”

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Today Redmond works for UK Athletics and is a motivational speaker.

Eddy Curry of the New York Knicks had a dream …

Since he was 11, he knew what he was going to do for the rest of his life. He was into gymnastics, but when is the last time you saw a 7-foot black male gymnast in the Olympics?”

… “When Eddy Curry was in junior high school, his idol of choice wasn’t Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Hakeem Olajuwon. It was Dominique Dawes, the Olympic gymnast. “She was real cool,” Curry says. “I thought she looked good, too.” […] In an age when every 7-footer dreams of being a point guard, Curry, who can still complete a backflip, is a genuine throwback who doesn’t mind throwing his weight around.”

Photoshop contest: Eddy Curry, Olympic gymnast – Yahoo! Sports

Footage of a lecture Brad Harris did at the 2008 GAT Convention. He shows drills and explains how to effectively teach gymnasts front giants. …

Brad Harris is head coach and co-owner of the Tampa Bay Turners

http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-3-16/mediaplayer.swf

(via gymnastike.org)

Coach George Novak and many others stated that he was happy the (possibly) underaged Chinese gymnasts were able to compete in Beijing, because otherwise he would never have got to see those fantastic routines on the big stage.

The loudest accuser, Bela Károlyi, was called a hypocrite by some.

… Should we really protest to the International Olympic Committee and the Gymnastic Federation and ask that these girls return their medals?

By many accounts, the Chinese gymnasts are victims also. They were doing what they were trained to do. But 14-year-old girls who win deserve their medals, too.

Let’s state right up front that cheating is wrong. The Olympic gymnastic age rule is an attempt to avoid serious injury in athletes younger than 16 whose long bones are not yet fused. But at best this is a disingenuous rule, as gymnasts may practice for years often daily for long hours under harsher conditions than the few minutes spent in Olympic routines. The rule does not prevent practice injuries.

…

Perhaps we should accept the games and big-time athletics as what they are, realizing that the vast majority of the athletes are there by choice, and either receive or expect considerable material benefits. …

To undo all the international good this Olympics accomplished by our protesting a few Chinese seems foolish. Let’s not penalize a few young girls and a host country in order to protect ourselves from ourselves. We started the whole rich and famous spectacle and should take much of the blame.

SOUNDING OFF: If we enjoyed Olympics, let’s not be hypocrites – Daily Pilot

Actually, the age requirement has slowed down the intense training of young children by some coaches.

But it is unenforcable by F.I.G. at this time. So the rule must go. Be sure totalitarian governments including China will have their documentation perfected and no age references on the internet for the 2012 Olympics.

I’ve heard nothing for many days on the “scandal”. Perhaps it’s over.

Over until one of the Chinese girls sells her “story” to the western media … some day in the future. The truth MIGHT be that He Kexin is old enough … but had her age lowered in official documentation in order to be eligible for 2012 Olympic selection squads.

In the meantime:

… I know there is a lot of controversy about her age but please can we just admire the skill of this athlete …

Click PLAY or watch the He Kexin montage on YouTube:

related:

The Age Controversy – Part 1 – Gymnast.com

The Age Controversy – Part 2 – Gymnast.com

And the rest of the gymnastics Olympians.

Click play or watch it on Gymnastike.

江鈺源 JIANG Yuyuan – Facebook

3,644 fans. So far.

… Jiang Yuyuang’s father Jiang Tao is a taxi driver in Liozhou, mother Oh Fengzhen has no steady income. The family survives on the taxi wages. …

Jiang Yuyuan: Mommy You Don’t Have To Beg For Food – Fool’s Mountain: Blogging for China

Those who feel sorry for athletes in China should redirect their pity towards non-athlete children. If you travel to Asia to volunteer to improve the lives of children, you won’t be working with gymnasts.

(via Gymbrooke)

A very nice and already nostalgic retrospective was posted by Andrew Thornton:

All of the official Olympic medals have been handed out, but as we all know, it’s not just the medals that will form our memories of the 2008 Olympic Games. Here’s a look at some of those “other categories” that they may not give medals for, but that help define our Olympic experiences as fans.

original – flickr – star_trooper

Unofficial 2008 Olympic Awards