Gymnastics Coaching.com

Every acrobat dreams of getting a chance to flip in zero or low gravity.

Las Vegas based ZERO-G is the only commercial opportunity on Earth for individuals to experience true “weightlessness” without going to space.

The co-founder’s son, Danner Cronise, is the youngest ever to “fly” at age-8.

His sister Erin, an aspiring gymnast, said her favorite part was “being able to do a back flip without needing someone to spot me like in class; I felt like the best gymnast in the world! During one of the first weightless moments, I did a back handspring — I was so excited!” …

Martha Stewart, Professor Stephen Hawking, Princess Beatrice of York, Amy Grant, Billy Bush, Burt Rutan, Miles O’Brien, and cast members of “The Apprentice,” and “The Biggest Loser” are just a few notable passengers who’ve flown with ZERO-G.

The typical flight portion of the ZERO-G Experience lasts approximately 90 to 100 minutes. During the flight every customer experiences 15 parabolic arcs, each providing about 30 seconds of reduced gravity or weightlessness. By the end of the flight you will log about 7 to 8 minutes of reduced gravity – that’s about as much zero-gravity time as Alan Shepard experienced on America’s first human spaceflight.

Zero G – The Weightless Experience – official website

Zero Gravity Corporation – Wikipedia

The 4th annual Ranking of Recruiting Classes as posted by College Gym Fans.

Like last year, they rank Utah #1.

… In comparing athletes, we considered health, injury history, and the athlete’s status during the season before she entered college. History has shown time and again than a top L10 or “elite drop-down” can have as much impact in the NCAA as an elite National Team member. It has also been demonstrated that many elites who take time off during their senior years or are recovering from repetitive use injuries have a harder time making the adjustment to college. Trend is also important, for both elites and L10s. A fast rising L10, making rapid progress throughout her junior and senior year, shows an intangible attributes that bear some consideration. Therefore, US and international elites were not always favored over top L10s in this analysis. …

Ranking of Recruiting Classes for 2006-2007

Utah ended up having a very difficult season last year, lucky in scrambling to a 2nd place finish at home in Championships. Recruiting is not everything in the NCAA.

I saw on Gym Chat that the Utah girls did well in class:

Utah Gymnasts Score High In Classroom :: Utah gymnastics team compiles a 3.52 GPA.

Kristina Baskett is not only one of my favourite College gymnasts, but she has a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Wow.

Chances are your young gymnasts have seen this video.

It’s teenage internet sensation DeAndre Ramone Way AKA Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, or simply Soulja Boy, an American rapper.

… his song “Crank That (Soulja Boy)“, which he initially self-published on the Internet, … became a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007. …

Soulja Boy – Wikipedia

Though the song does not do much for me, this, the official instructional video, may interest coaches who want to teach it to kids at the gym. It’s a dance craze.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube:

This is the first photo I’ve seen:

1996 Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu and her husband welcomed an unexpected Christmas guest this year — a daughter born on Dec. 25.

“She truly is a beautiful and peaceful baby,” Moceanu told IG. “Christmas miracles still do exist!”

Baby Carmen Noel Canales was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Christmas Day afternoon, weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz. and measuring 18.5 inches. …

Moceanu was the youngest U.S. senior national champion in history, winning the 1995 all-around title at age 13. She was a member of the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. …

Canales, a former gymnast at Ohio State, is now a podiatric surgeon in Cleveland.

International GYMNAST Magazine Online

Both parents said they would be happy if she decides to be a gymnast.

Always insightful, check the list posted by the International Gymnast magazine editor:

Another year has ended, a new one starting. For gymnasts, 2008 marks the final year of another Olympic cycle. So as we forge ahead, it is also a time for reflection.

With that in mind, I offer the following wishes for a more perfect world of gymnastics in the year to come…

IG Online Interview

When I coach boys age-6 recreational classes, inevitably at least one parent tells me their son has been diagnosed with ADHD or some sort of attention deficit disorder.

The thing is, I can never tell which of the kids is disordered. ALL seem attention disordered to me. It’s the natural state of an excited 6-year-old boy.

Case study:

Patricia and Ron Golden needed something to occupy their youngest child, a 4-year-old boy whose frenetic energy was taking its toll on their furniture and their patience.

“Sean used to flip down the stairs backward, like a Slinky,” said Ron Golden, a retired juvenile detective with the Camden Police Department and now a federal court security officer.

…

The Goldens rejected suggestions that their son try Adderall, a drug frequently prescribed for hyperactivity. Finally, they discovered gymnastics.

Sean took to the sport so well that now, two decades later, he is one of America’s leading male gymnasts, the U.S. champion the last two years in the vault, the 2005 champ on the rings, and a member of the American men’s team that finished fourth at the recent world championships in Stuttgart, Germany. …

From Camden’s streets to a gymnastics mat | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/25/2007

I think drugs are prescribed far too quickly. Too often.

Lets wear the hyperactive kids out with sport, instead.

That said, I was just coaching a gymnast who is on daily medication. She said she cannot identify any negative side effects from her prescription. But that when she is not on the meds she finds it difficult to concentrate during training.

I coached her brother too when he first went on the same medication at age-6. He went from wild-and-crazy to quietly introspective over-night.

In all, 3 siblings are on the same medication. None are considering going off it as yet.

Ted Brown at Illinois finished second on pommel horse at the 2006 NCAA Championships.

But a far greater accomplishment was his medical comeback from brain tumor.

This is inspiring.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Ted Brown Gymnast Documentary: Swinging Against the Odds “Life Without Regrets”. Directed, Produced, and Edited by Mike Boyer.

Thanks JJ for pointing us to this video.

You can make money from posting your gymnastics video.

Metacafe paid one million dollars to video creators in its first year of sharing revenue. Interestingly enough, the top earner is a three-minute gymnastics demo, raking in $27,829. By contrast, the runner-up earned just $9,656.

Gymnastics Video Earns $27,829

We’ve posted this one in the past. But here it is again, in case you missed it the first time.

http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/7203/matrix_for_real_joe_eigo.swf
Matrix – For Real…Joe Eigo – metacafe

Not nearly the best video we’ve seen. But this one was one of the first parkour / free running clips to get widely circulated.

Can you do better? Get 6 million hits?

If so, try posting your video to metacafe’s Producer Rewards program.

on the ball on Flickr

Since I first met him in 1994, Edouard Iarov has been the coach who most influences my coaching philosophy. He is a coaching genius. An original.

photo credit – KyleShewfelt.com

Iarov, Canada’s Men’s National Coach, helped teach a recent coaching course. I will be posting short video clips of his presentations. But Men’s Artistic coaches may also be interested to see Edouard’s “technical testing program” for high performance boys. It’s posted on Gymnastics Canada:

2005 Men’s Program Technical Testing-EN (PDF file)
Gymnastics Canada – Gymnastique Canada

One of the coaches at the course asked me why Claude Pelletier, Canada’s Women’s National Coach, had not presented. I don’t know.

Claude was excellent the last time I saw him teach at a National Coaching Certification course. But that was many years ago. We need you back, Claude.