Gymnastics Coaching.com

Americans historically have been great innovators on bars. Under appreciated is this Chinese superstar.

Liu was the first female gymnast to perform a one-arm giant swing on the uneven bars which is named after her in the Gymnastic’s Code of Points; she also performed this skill into a Geinger release move. …

In 2000, she was China’s first Olympic Champion on balance beam as well as China’s first All Around Medalist (after Andreea Răducan was disqualified from her gold medal due to a disqualification for taking an unlicensed cold medication, Liu moved up from 4th to the bronze medal position). …

Wikipedia

It’s a shame that FIG stifled 1-arm giant skills by devaluing them. I think we will see skills like that return one day.

1996 Olympics Team Optionals showing 1-arm Geinger:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Liu Xuan 2000 Cottbus Bars showing piked Jaeger half:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That’s similar (piked rather than straddled) to the skill we see done by He Kexin today. I expect it was inspired by Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan – bio on China Culture

Tracey Morrison from the U.K. posted a video to Facebook. Jam packed with interesting combinations and even a few mistakes.

Click PLAY or watch “Not So Ordinary” Chinese gymnastics montage by Fullybooked on YouTube.

Amy Van Deusen on the Gymnastics About.com blog posted another of her “Cool Tricks”.

This time a Full-Out Dismount off Parallel Bars very well done by Marcel Nguyen at the German Nationals 06. (Click through to read about it.)

Other high level alternatives?

I heard Valeri Liukin once competed double layout.

Here’s double front half. (First done by a Japanese gymnast decades ago, I belive.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch forward salto salto fwd with 5/2 on YouTube:

Click PLAY or watch double salto bwd tuck+360 from end on YouTube:

Any other cool alternative PBar dismounts? Leave a comment.

College gymnast already qualified for the Olympics. How many other NCAA gymnasts will compete in Beijing?

DU junior All-American gymnast Jessica López (Caracas, Venezuela), representing her native Venezuela, finished in sixth place in the all-around at the 2008 Tyson American Cup in front of 9,318 fans at Madison Square Garden Saturday. López scored a 14.225 on vault, a 14.075 on balance beam, a 14.80 on uneven bars and a 14.30 on floor exercise for an all-around score of 57.400 to finish the second-highest international finisher on the women’s side.

Americans took the top four spots in the meet, as Nastia Liukin led the way with a score of 63.425, followed by Shawn Johnson (63.100), Samantha Peszek (62.075), and Shayla Worley (60.400). Germany’s Joeline Mobius was the top international gymnast with an all-around score of 57.925.

López is ranked No. 6 in the nation in NCAA gymnastics in the all-around and is ranked in the top-20 on three events.

Denver Gymnastics

International Gymnast magazine

Like Courtney Kupets, another powerful tumbler is out.

UCLA placed third in its final home meet Sunday afternoon and, more unfortunately, lost another gymnast to injury, as redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough ruptured her left Achilles tendon on the takeoff of her opening tumbling pass. McCullough will miss the remainder of the season.

“If it’s possible to feel worse for an athlete than you normally would after an injury, that’s how we all feel about Brittani McCullough,” said UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field. “She ruptured her right Achilles two years ago, was in a car accident last year and severed a tendon in her toe, and now this. It’s heartbreaking to see someone who does everything right in life have to suffer so much.” …

UCLA Gymnastics

Are these injuries the result of years of “fraying”.

What causes them?

How can we reduce the frequency of them?

Coach Lisa Rennebaum-Adlard at Funtastics, Idaho uses a folding panel mat instead of a normal (flat) Yurchenko hand mat.

Young gymnasts find it easier to finish the round-off in the correct position on the board as they are not required to tumble “up hill” as much.

Click PLAY or watch the drill on YouTube.

That’s a trampoline vault horse called the Porta Table, no longer available.

Related posts:

best video – Yurchenko vault

best Yurchenko vault hand mat?

introducing Yurchenko

A glimpse into the technical requirements of the Quebec WAG Development Programme.

I thought you might find it interesting to see a video of our developmental programme. it is similar to Tops and not every clubs competes this system. It is called Defi (means challenge) and has levels 1 – 6. Girls can begin when they are 5/6 and they oldest girls are about 9/10. The girls are given a % for the skills performed, they end up with an overall percentage which accords them different levels of final success and whether they are reay to move up to the next level.

bogwoppit on Chalk Bucket

Click PLAY or watch a gymnast showing Level 5 requirements on YouTube.

Of course there is far more to the system than we see here.

If you read French, check it out on this page: Programme DEFI 2007-2008

This is the big story of the friendly competition held this past weekend:

1. Shawn Johnson (USA) – 61.700
2. Vanessa Ferrari (Italy) – 60.100

Americans generally don’t like competing in Europe as their scores are often lower than at home.

It took guts for Shawn to face off against her top rival for the Olympics in her own country. This means people were pretty confident Shawn could still win, even in Italy.

The bigger question is … Why did Ferrari compete?

Vanessa had no chance to win competing only a Yurchenko full vault. It would have been better to sit out rather than lose at home to her top competitor the way she did.

Shawn Johnson is the Olympic favourite, no question, if she has no major errors in the AA competiton.

The second biggest story was the 3rd place finish of Samantha Peszek. She looks like a lock for the Olympic team at this point.

More results – GYMmedia

CONGRATS to Jordyn Wieber (USA) who won the all-around in the Junior meet. Rebecca Bross finished 2nd with a fall on beam.

Amanda Beard has won seven medals at three Olympic Games and is hoping to compete in the next Beijing Olympic games in 2008.

She’s was tabbed the “world’s sexiest athlete nude” after appearing in the July 2007 edition of Playboy.

Recently:

I’ve actually talked to my agents a lot about producing my own swim meets where we’d do a couple different swim meets in different locations and mix it up like that — not having your traditional races and having someone like Budweiser or Go Daddy be big sponsors and make it more risqué, make it more fun for the fans to get really into it. That kind of stuff could really draw a lot more people to swimming and then, maybe, they’ll continue watching year-round instead of every four years for the Olympics.

Beard Constantly Swims Against Tide – AOL Sports

Aquatics meets are even duller than traditional gymnastics competitions. I recall the empty spectator bleachers at the USA Diving Championships 2006.

(via Olympic Games blog – Amanda Beard says swimming should be more risque)

Gymnastics is not the only sport trying to find a way to draw spectators.

Related: Great West Gym Fest BIG SHOW

The Behind the Team channel on AT&T blue room posed a few professional photos of the American Cup Champion.

Nastia Lunkin at practice – flickr

Nastia on Bars – flickr

The new judging regulations have “improved” Bars for the best few gymnasts in the world more than any other apparatus, I would say. There is no way Nastia would be starting with a 7.6 routine if we still had the code from 2004.

AT&T blue room.

Check the new video profile on Nastia, as well.