Gymnastics Coaching.com

Statue in downtown Salt Lake City.

Leave a comment if you know of other good acrobatic statues we might post on this site.

I wonder how secure the cable anchors on the cliff edge were attached.

And who is this nut?

Click PLAY or watch the mad man do a hecht dismount from horizontal bar into the abyss on YouTube.

(via Chalk Bucket)

We’ve all seen kids who can put their knees into extreme flexion.

No damage done.

I still don’t like it. And try not to let the other kids encourage them to “practice” it.

larger original – flickr

larger original – flickr

Tungalag wrote:

I am interested to find a job as a contortion coach. I have experience since 1978. Used to work together with Angelic from the “O” show coach.

I am now in Las Vegas.

Peace, Tunga

mongoliancontortion @ yahoo.com

History of Mongolian Contortions

Karen Habegger posted on the Chalk Bucket forum. Here’s her company:

To assist you in the selection process, we invite you to visit our Song List page where you can listen to samples of our gymnastics music. Secure, online ordering is available 24/7 and in most cases, your competition CDs are mailed out the next business day.

Gymnastics Floor Music from Musical Designs

Leave a comment if you have other sites you like for gymnastics music.

One of the many things I like about NCAA gymnastics is that I get to see plenty of straddled casts to handstand. I’d estimate more than 90% of the casts at the 2007 Championships were straddled.

Small animation is Amanda Borden on ShanFan.com.

This flies in the face of the philosophy of many (most?) elite coaches who insist on legs together casts.

Q. Why do College gymnasts end up doing straddle-up?

A. Because it is too difficult to hit precise handstand consistently without form breaks on straight body.

Straight body cast is a frustrating skill.

I recall watching double Olympian Kate Richardson, one of the best gymnasts in the world at that time, working on doing straight body cast perfectly. She could not do it consistently in routine. (Look for the form breaks next time you watch an international FIG meet on TV.)

Straight body casting is only a target skill for me for very small, light kids.

The smart coach teaches both techniques: straight body and straddle up. (And does not allow straight body with feet apart.)

Carolina Star98 is a happy gym Mom.

She posted photos of her daughter’s successful camp summer of 2006 on the Chalk Bucket forum.

And she plans to send her daughter to flipfest again this year.

That’s the camp founded by Olympians John Macready and John Roethlisberger. Many of their international gymnast friends come to coach.

flipfest camp – official website

campers with coach Carly Patterson 2006

Does anyone know where this was taken?

If so, leave a comment below.

Thanks George.

RG Community News out of Australia pointed me to this short history of Rhythmic Gymnastics (with quite a Canadian flavour) posted on eliteRG.com.

It’s especially good for those of us who do not know the history of the sport.

Rhythmic Gymnastics grew out of the Swedish system of free exercise developed in 1814 by Per Henrik Ling.

Ling promoted aesthetic gymnastics in which students expressed their feelings and emotions through bodily movement but it was still calisthenics without apparatus.

History of Rhythmic Gymnastics

Cute.

Chinchilla Uneven Bars 0499 on Flickr