Pirouetting in 1/4 Turns

Last week, I played with creating a new side station for bar rotation.

I've seen Enrique Trabanino use push-up bars (I call the mini p-bars pirouelettes, but others call push-up bars pirouelettes) before for the assist in 1/4-turn phases of working bar pirouettes.  Since the 8 inch mat was there, I thought leaning a push-up bar against it at angle might feel more comfortable and keep the weight distribution more concentrated on the posting arm.'''

Creative slider drag racing

This was my girls jet-skiing on sliders Saturday morning:

I feel one-upted, though, after seeing this bit of creativity:

I don't think my gym has any such bucket containers.  I've thought about having someone on a small mat in a hollow or something.

I've also wondered why Tumbletrak, since they sell furniture movers, don't design a larger slider to make it easier for more body part contact than simply hands or feet.

Sunday Funnies

On Dorkly, the 7 Most Annoying People to Watch [Gymnastics] with:

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The Road to Success is Paved with Failures

Hat tip:  JAG

Related:
What do you resolve to do next year?
Embrace Failure
Paying attention...and letting it go

Resurrection

A lot of turmoil and instability for this gym in the last year.  It's in a rebuilding phase.  Difficult without upper level gymnasts for the lower ones to look up to and others outside the gym to take note.  Tricky, still without the head coach position filled.

Optimistically looking to the future and hoping things stabilize.

Sunday Funnies

Marc Jacobs

Wrists and Thumbs

Another post about thumbs...well, okay- mostly wrist shift on a couple of lower level skills:

A little diversion

I thought I'd let one of my Hot Shots experience what it's like to do a "big skill" a couple of weeks ago.

Not bad for two turns at this:

The first way I spotted her in the video was because I wasn't sure how she'd respond.  Reaching down to her and grabbing her by the hips insured I'd have hold of her.  This works well for bigger kids as their bodies can just come to rest on my shoulder at the end of it (as opposed to my using arm strength to hold them up).

Ok....back to teaching her level 3 skills....*sigh*

Focus: Underswing

Ugh...a level 3 meet scheduled post-regular season.  So the 3s still have to spend some time on 3 routines.  This focus on the underswing dismount also allows me to work in the level 4 dismount at the same time. 

I also like:
-Two back hip circles in a row
-No cast back hip circle
-Candle lever holds

So Girlie!

Okay, I'm masculine enough to admit it:  I made these over the weekend:

So yes, I invested in a loom and lots of colored rubber bands.  Skin tone colors and brown are difficult to find (just ordered some online directly).

Anyway, I think it might be too long and difficult of a project for summer camp; but I'm thinking I can give these out as reward incentives.

My Hot Shots already have a reward system (idea inspired by Coach Robyn) where I give stickers throughout workout (good behavior, showing improvement, winning a contest, meeting a challenge, etc.).  The gymnasts then put them on index cards, bookmarks, and flexagons.  When there are 20 stickers on a card, I sign off on it (the gymnast then gets to take it home) and convert it into dollars- $2/20 stickers, using garage sale stickers.  They take that $2 sticker and put it onto another index card.  They then save up dollars to purchase from my "store".

 I also have skill cards and record strength gains onto cards, which all gets stored and filed behind their names in an index card box.

A tetraflexagon

Sunday Funnies

Marc Jacobs

Rainbow Loom Gymnasts

Two loom bracelets made for me by two of my gymnasts (No, I don't normally wear them)

I don't know when nor how exactly this hobby got started; but I noticed it around summer of last year when kids at the gym were bringing in their looms and obsessing over making bracelets during snack and lunch break at camps- so much so it was hard to get them back out onto the floor for practice.

I don't know how I ended up here (finding the Youtube video by accidentally clicking down the sidebar link trail), but by chance discovered something that I am sure will get kids at my gym excited.  I don't know if they even are aware that making gymnasts are possible (I had no idea there were even figurines or things other than bracelet making).  The following are original designs:

 Apparently the above designer plans to create some of the other event apparatus as well, like the uneven bars (according to one response I read in her comments section).

Another original designer for rhythmic gymnasts:


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The Present

Hat tip:  JAG

I tried to teach my child with books.

He gave me only puzzled looks.

I tried to teach my child with words.

They passed him by often unheard.

Despairingly I turned aside.

“How shall I teach my child?” I cried.

Into my hand he put the key.

“Come,” he said, “play with me.”

(A verse by an unknown author at the entrance of the Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans)

Sunday Funnies

Fun Vault Return Station

Unconventional Backhandspring Progression Drills

These are my Hot Shots a week ago:

And here I was thinking I was the only one that thought of using a spotting block as a station drill for backhandsprings, as opposed to a rolling device (Boulder, Pacman, octagon...).  But there really is nothing new under the sun:

This looks like the same exact setup I came up with last year:

If it was discovered independently, since there's very little that's ever completely new and original under the sun, then maybe I should be encouraged that I must be doing something right if others are doing it as well.

I don't know many who use a pike sit as a starting position/progression for drilling the backhandspring.

I've got several other progression drills I've been doing that I hope to eventually piece together and share, once I have a sort of "end" product to show for it.

I'm hoping that all the pieces of the puzzle I've been doing will eventually come together.

I realize that much of this looks unconventional.  It's all been influenced by my mentor, Wade Petersen.

Here's a setup that these Hot Shots absolutely had a blast with:

In order to make the top wedge slide back effectively, they have to get off balance and jump long.  Because the top wedge is also narrow, they have to do their cartwheel step-in or round off straight, or else...

Move it Forward

 

Hat tip:  JAG

World Autism Awareness Day

“I’ve learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal—so we can’t know for sure what your ‘normal’ is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I’m not sure how much it matters whether we’re normal or autistic.”
—Naoki Higashida, 13 year old author of The Reason I Jump



NYTimes:

Describing why, exactly, he likes to jump, Higashida tells us: “The motion makes me want to change into a bird and fly off to some faraway place. But constrained by ourselves and by the people around us, all we can do is tweet-tweet, flap our wings and hop around in a cage.”

Bungee Exercises

Tuesday Funnies

Ever notice how the word "gullible" can sound a lot like the word "gymnastics" when said out loud really, really slowly?

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