Gymnastics Coaching.com

There were some good performances at the World Cup last weekend, especially Daria JOURA from Australia.

But the bigger story was how many top athletes did not show:

For the 25th time, the “DTB-Cup 2007” took place in Stuttgart (Porsche Arena).

Altogether 69 men and 33 women … participated at this event, which took place right in between the world championships in the wake of September and the pre-Olympic Games in Beijing in the end of November.

Beside the three mentioned world champions, there were only 8 of 48 World Championships-finalists participating in Stuttgart…

GYMmedia points out another interesting trend in the Men’s competition:

Out of 69 competitors, not one did all six or rather five apparatuses.

One single gymnast – Samuel Piasecky from Slovakia did four qualification starts: on floor, horse and qualified for parallel bars (3rd) and high bar (7th).

Only eleven gymnasts did a kind of “small all around” competition performing on three apparatuses.

The vast majority (54) cultivated “world cup tourism”, doing only one or two apparatuses…!

GYMmedia.com

Sure the timing is bad for athletes focused on Olympic preparation. In my mind, though, I feel it’s the extreme physical demand of the new code on All-around gymnasts which is convincing so many TOP men to opt out of doing all 6 apparatus.

Jade Barbosa from Brazil performs in … vault at the 25th DTB Cup, a gymnastics World Cup competition, in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Barbosa took second place behind Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina.

(AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)

ESPN – Gymnastics Photo Wire

Rafe Kelley informed me that Toronto has one of the most active Parkour communities in North America and the world.

They have a great website: PKTO.ca

On safety:

Parkour demands as much or as little as you want to put into it, you never have to cross the boundaries of risk at all if you feel that is your path. In the 4 years we have been around, there has been very few injuries and we take great pride in knowing that we have been one of the safest Parkour scenes in the world. It is a common misconception as well that Parkour is ‘extreme’ and ‘roof top jumping’, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. 99.9% of our meets take place on ground level, using normal rails and objects.

Realistically speaking, the greatest risk at a normal training meet is getting dehydrated, and if you are VERY unlucky, a sprained ankle is about the worst you will probably ever get.

Canada’s largest Parkour community serving Toronto and Southern Ontario – FAQs

PKTO.ca – more photos

One of the best ways a gymnast can use straps for training bar swings. (I am not a big fan of PVC pipe systems except for absolute beginners.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Excerpted from a 2 DVD set by coach Paul Hall called Advanced Gymnastics for Boys and Girls. It’s available from CharlesMinsterProductions.com in Australia and British Gymnastics.

related post – best gymnastics coaching DVDs

I really enjoyed one of Blythe’s posts on Gymblog. She’s recommended special awards for gymnasts at World Championships 2007 Stuttgart inspired by Longines:

Longines Award for Vaulting Without Actually Running: Beth Tweddle

Longines Award for Reputation Salvation: Nastia Liukin

Longines Award for Falling: Yang Wei (horizontal bar)

Longines Award for Longevity: Jana Komrskova

Longines Award for Most Consistently Overscored Routine: Steliana Nistor (beam)

Longines Award for Amazing Save: Vanessa Ferrari (bars)

Longines Award for Most Overused Word by American Commentators: “gassed”

Longines Award for Most Impressive Yang Wei Performance: Yang Wei (rings)

Longines Award for Coolest New Trend: double front dismounts from rings

Longines Award for Endurance: Yang Tae-Young

Longines Award for Best Split Jump Ever: Koko Tsurumi

Detailed descriptions and video examples on The Worlds Awards « WordPress Gymblog

Blythe on the Gymblog links to this amazing clip and links to several more.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… it’s hard not to be impressed by what could be called the Andrade, a one-and-a-half twisting Kovacs.

This training video, from former Stanford standout Rico Andrade, is from 2003. A video of Andrade trying (and unfortunately missing) a double twisting Kovacs is also available.

The Andrade, a 1.5 twisting Kovacs « WordPress Gymblog

By the way, I still call Kolman (full twisting Kovacs) the “Pineda”. With my own eyes I watched Tony Pineda from Mexico do it — OK, more of a Gaylord 2 with a half out — at the 1985 Worlds.

Tony was coached by Hideo Mizoguchi in Oregon.

One of those most influential on my coaching career was Hideo Mizoguchi .

I spent much of the past weekend at R2R with “Mizo” and we had a chance to catch up on old times.

Mizo was an up-and-coming talent when Japan ruled the world of Men’s gymnastics. An injury cut short his competitive aspirations and, as a result, he moved to Oregon for University.

There he quickly rose to prominence as a coach, especially for his part in the development of 1984 Olympians Traci Talavera and Julianne McNamara, two of my favourite, innovative gymnasts of all time.

In those days Canadian clubs, including my own, sent kids to Mizo’s gym for summer camp.

When Mizo was named USA Gymnastics Technical Director for the Junior Olympic National Program, a post he held for 10yrs, Mizo continued to invite Canadians to participate at National Team events in Colorado Springs, a huge boost to our development at that time.

What is he doing now?

Mizo and his wife Kellie are running Champions Gymnastics in Katy, Texas. His gym was custom built as part of a shopping centre, a most unique model and one that is working very well. They host the Ricky Deci Invitational each year.

I recommend his Strength Development for Men’s Gymnastics video available from GymSmarts. (Click Men’s Gymnastics to get to it.)

Video sample.

Champion Gymnastics in Houston, Texas hosts the Ricky Deci Invitational, Jan 5-6, 2008 for boys and girls.

Rick was an inspirational 13-year-old National Team gymnast who died Oct. 11th, 2001 while training Pommel Horse at USOTC in Colorado Springs. Originally reported to be an inexplicable heart attack, I’m not sure the autopsy ever conclusively determined the cause.

Head Coach Hideo Mizoguchi named the competition in Ricky’s memory.

7th Annual Ricky Deci Invitational
Jan. 5-6, 2008
Men’s Levels 4 – Elite / Women’s Levels 2-10
The Merrell Center, Katy, TX

7th Annual Ricky Deci Invitational

Proceeds go towards the Ricky Deci Memorial Foundation.

Flying today to Vancouver for 2007 British Columbia Fall Congress. All day Sunday I will be leading sessions in the Recreational Stream — Gymnastics for All. It’s going to be FUN.

at gymnastics class – Hi Dad

much larger version – Hi Dad! – Flickr

The bad news is that coach Carol Angela Orchard had to cancel and will not be presenting in the competitive Artistic stream.

Rick McCharles

From my USA Gymnastics Region 2 Congress 2007 (R2R) presentation:

DVD (VHS)

digital video clips

The old techology — DVDs — can survive 5 – 10 more years. I posted previously my BEST gymnastics coaching DVDs.

Online video is far more exciting for me.

I want the exact video clip that comes to my mind, any time, anywhere. I want it on my iPhone, my laptop, my MP3 player. Streamed to my TV. Projected up on the wall of my gym.

I want something like YouTube, but far, far better.

YouTube was better 6-months ago than it is now. Every day it gets more cluttered with low quality junk. (Often with the word “blooper” in the title.)

Tom Beach of GymSmarts concurred. The problem is “filtering” the good stuff. Finding what you want.

The best we have now on sites like YouTube are “channels” put up by people you respect. My favourite gymnastics coaching channel so far is “saltocafe“, videos posted by and linked to by Don Eckert of Woodward West. I “subscribed” to that channel and about 20 others.

But the best source of digital coaching video in 2007 is American Gymnast (AmGym.com) which produced hundreds of quality instructional video clips. Their service called Gymnastics On Demand — which launched in September — costs $9.95 per month by subscription.

I’m a subscriber and highly recommend the service. It would be a great investment for a club, far better value than, for example, USECA Video Club.

Gymnastics on Demand – AmGym.com

The easiest way to see how Gymnastics on Demand works is to watch their video introduction — See it in Action.

Personally, I’m not sure the subscription model will be best long-term. Most people do not want to join sites as a “member” nor plug in their credit card number.

But … I’m excited for the future. AmGym has set a very high standard. It will take some serious talent to compete. (GymSmarts is certainly developing an on-line video clip database as well.)

Leave a comment below if you have other sources of on-line gymnastics video.

I thought the old Mississauga gym was one of the best in Canada.

Alex Bard’s face is numb. The upshot from constantly smiling.

When the Gymnastic Mississauga head coach is not overcome by giddiness describing the spacious new facility the club now calls home, the immense promise of his protégés certainly leaves him in a perpetual happy zone. …

“This is the best facility in Canada for sure. In North America for sure,” as his eyes scan one end of the gym to the other and 35 feet up to the ceiling.

“Size, space, equipment, number of equipment. We now have additional equipment for drills.”

Three uneven bars, seven beams, two adjacent full-sized floors, two running vaults, a pit four feet deep full of sponge, a floor so pliable if feels like you’re constantly walking on a diving board, Bard can’t get the words out of his mouth fast enough. There’s also a video and audio unit used for reviewing a gymnast’s performance.

“Now, the boys and girls don’t have to share the floor, an advantage to developing new skills.”

While the registration numbers are only marginally improved from 791 gymnasts at the old centre, to the current number of 846, the introduction of new programs for schools and clubs, should lift the number well into the four digits.

The club has even agreed on a deal with the Erin Mills Soccer Club. With the players working out this winter in the SportsZone’s new indoor soccer facility, many of the elite players have been signed up for an 18-week program to work on their strength, flexibility, balance, plyometrics and acro elements.

Then there’s also rhythmic gymnastics. “We want to keep the facility operating close to 18 hours a day,” said Bard.

Article – The Mississauga News – Mississauga.com

There are some fantastic gyms in the USA that Alex has never seen. Best in Canada, maybe.