Gymnastics Coaching.com

Old timers can recall when the only consistent source of information about gymnastics was International Gymnast magazine.

Each month we’d wait anxiously for it to arrive. Cutting out the pictures and posting them on the gym wall.

In 2008 there are dozens of good sources of information. Other magazines. Online magazines, including International Gymnast online. Discussion forums. And blogs like this.

It’s easy to post your own site and reveal the truth:

xkcd

(via Scobelizer)

When are you going to start your own blog? It’s free and easy with WordPress.

Just dashing off to the post-competition celebrations. But here are the results of finals — which seem to last for about 17hrs today.

(The NCAA coaches in the audience were mortified at how long we were willing to make athletes hang around for a meet.)

WAG_Senior_EvtFinals.pdf

MAG_Senior_EventFinals.pdf

Peng Peng won beam with a 15.85 out of 6.8.

Brandon O’Neil had a 6.8 start on PBars, scoring 15.50 to win. Unfortunately he landed out of bounds on his 6.5 start FX.

It’s an amazing honour to count as one of the few of hundreds who aspired to trial for the Olympics.

Congratulations to these girls and their coaches.

Thirteen women were named to the 2008-09 U.S. Senior National Team. These 13, as well as six additional women, will compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics, June 19-22 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. …

2008-09 U.S. Senior National Team

Jana Bieger, Coconut Creek, Fla./Bieger International Gymnastics
Mackenzie Caquatto, Naperville, Ill./Aerials
Olivia Courtney, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro
Ivana Hong, Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE
Alaina Johnson, Tyler, Texas/Texas East
Shawn Johnson, West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics
Mattie Larson, Los Angeles/All Olympia
Nastia Liukin, Parker, Texas/WOGA
Corrie Lothrop, Gaithersburg, Md./Hill’s
Chellsie Memmel, West Allis, Wis./M&M Gymnastics
Samantha Peszek, Indianapolis, Ind./DeVeau’s
Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass./Brestyan’s
Randy Stageberg, Chesapeake, Va./Excalibur

Also invited to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Chelsea Davis, Lakeway, Texas/Texas Dreams
Darling Hill, Mt. Laurel, N.J./Will-Moor
Britney Ranzy, Gaithersburg, Md./Excalibur
Amber Trani, Richlandtown, Pa./Parkettes
Bridget Sloan, Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s
Shayla Worley, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro

Gymnast.com

Mackenzie Caquatto – official website

The top three finishers of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, from left, second place, Nastia Liukin, first place Shawn Johnson and third place Chellsie Memmel salute the crowd, Saturday, June 7, 2008, in Boston.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) – ESPN

Commentary:

Johnson Retains All-Around Title – Gymnast.com

Nationals: Shawn Wins, Chellsie Triumphant – Gymnastics and stuff

Shawn Johnson National Champion 2x Running! – Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics

Johnson, Wieber win U.S. Championships – Gymblog

“Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy about a second place,” Liukin noted after the meet. “I’m a competitive person at heart, and I get that from my dad 100 percent… but I was really happy with how this whole weekend went besides that first fall on the first day.”

Johnson Defends U.S. Title – IG – results

Ivana Hong had a good meet finishing 5th.

It is not confirmed yet, but a rumor is that Nancy Damianova and Elise Hopfner-Hibbs have been chosen for the Canadian Olympic Team. Kristina Vaculick deserved the spot over Nancy in my opinion.

Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics

That’s the general consensus, honestly, amongst coaches here at the Canadian Championships.

In reality, Nancy and Kristina are close — even if you disregard the bizarre point system used for selection. Either athlete is a good second choice after Elise. I would rank Kristina slightly ahead of Nancy, but it is a close decision.

The latest rumour is that Nancy’s coach Katerine Dussault has been named coach.

If true, that’s an idiotic decision. Elise’s coach Carol-Angela Orchard has far more international experience and is the obvious choice.

Over 600 gymnasts have been competing at the huge Olympic Oval in my home town Calgary. Today it ends, culminating in apparatus finals in Artistic and Trampoline sports.

I’ve been attending Nationals for about 30yrs. This is the best ever, in my opinion.

Congratulations to Scott Hayes and everyone at Gymnastics Alberta. To the hundreds of volunteers. To the organizing committee.

I particularly liked trampoline sports — power tumbling, double-mini, trampoline — being front and centre. Canadian coaches have done a fantastic job building the sport across the country and rarely get the recognition they deserve from the media.

Kids bussed in on school field trips liked trampoline sports best, I noted.

Full results linked from the competition home page

Ontario will host in 2009. British Columbia in 2010.

Andrew Thornton:

… if we simply look at the scores from Day 1, there is a team of six I see that would have scored the highest in a 3-up, 3-count format, and it might have a couple of surprises:

Shawn Johnson
Nastia Liukin
Alicia Sacramone
Chellsie Memmel
Bridget Sloan
Mattie Larson (!)

Sound crazy? It might at first, but if you look at the actual numbers, it shouldn’t.

see the numbers on Gymnast.com – If we had to pick the team based on Day 1 of Visa Championships

Related: Can Mattie Larson win a place in the show? – L.A. Times

She’s from All Olympia Gymnastics Center in Los Angeles, the same gym as Junior Samantha Shapiro.

Gymnastics Canada used a “point system” based on score on each apparatus to choose two female Olympians.

The Canadian Gymnastics Championships Finals tonight is the last chance to gain points.

Described colourfully as a “cut-throat” competition by an athlete on the male side, the yearlong battle between three of the women is more cut and dry at this point.

With Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs nearly five points ahead of Nansy Damianova and 14 ahead of Kristina Vaculik — according to the unofficial count in the new qualifying system Gymnastics Canada is using to select two women to represent them in the Beijing Games this summer — it would take a perfect performance from Vaculik today at the Olympic Oval, and some below-average efforts from the other two to propel her into an Olympic berth.

Even so, anything can happen, and although Hopfner-Hibbs does a great job hiding her nerves, she’s anything but calm.

“I’m not that calm. I’m trying to be calm,” said the Torontonian who claimed the all-around title at the 2008 Canadian gymnastics championships Thursday night.

“It’s a very stressful process. We’ve never had anything like this before.

“Hopefully next time we qualify a full team so we don’t have to go through this all over again.” …

Toronto Sun

Elyse

From a coaching perspective, the system used turned out to be a big mistake. Those wanting to contend needed to compete as much as possible, traveling frequently to World Cup meets in hopes of adding points.

In fact, they needed to stay in a state of “competition readiness” from January through until today. That’s not ideal for peaking at the Olympics.

It was totally unnecessary too. Better would have been selecting a training squad working together cooperatively. With a final decision made based on competition results and training performance. As is done in the USA. In Russia. In most countries.

Elyse and Aisha Gerber have both signed with UCLA for next season. Coach Chris Waller is here cheering on the two new recruits.

Many are raving about the unique qualities of this American gymnast, second in Junior after day 1 at the VISA Championships in Boston.

What feet! What toe point!

These are older videos …

Click PLAY or watch Beam on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Bars on YouTube.

Coaches Galina Marinova, Fernando Villa, and Arthur Akopyan. Club All Olympia Gymnastics Center (AOGC) in Los Angeles.

(via Rawles)

Samantha Shapiro – Got Chalk

I haven’t read the book by J. D. Hughes, as yet. But the title … I like it!

Keep all students in your physical education program moving, learning, and on their toes—even when you’re teaching very large classes.

This ready-to-use guide is packed with 6 units, 70 games, 15 hints, and 39 special game variations for teaching even the largest of classes.

If you are looking for fresh ways to teach children ages 4 to 11 basic fitness concepts, movement skills, and games that emphasize creative thinking and cooperation, No Standing Around in My Gym is for you. It’s an incredible source of ideas and solutions to help you

• increase the time students are active in class,
• minimize discipline problems,
• develop healthy attitudes that lead to a lifetime of activity,
• save valuable lesson preparation time, and
• keep students motivated and challenged.

The book provides complete descriptions, nearly 200 illustrations, and proven plans to make the units and games easy to teach. It’s the ideal resource for busy teachers with little time in the day to think of new ideas or develop lesson plans from scratch.

Amazon.com: No Standing Around in My Gym: Books: J. D. Hughes

There are very few good books on gymnastics games and activities. This adds to that limited literature.