gymnast magazine - september 1975

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Page 1: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975
Page 2: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Get In On The Profit Line

I J1V

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Page 3: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Decisions, decisions ... Nissen, American or GSC?

COMPARISON CHART: "TOP OF THE LINE" FOLDING GYM MATS

There is a multitude of gym mats on the market with a wide range of quality from which to choose. If your requ irements are for a mat with the highest standards of design, workmanship and material, you will inevitably turn to the names that stand for quality. In comparing the finest, Nissen's Panelite, American's Deluxe EM and GSC's Expando Supreme, you will find only subtle differ­ences. Anyone is an excellent choice, but we would like to think your decision will be our Expando Supreme. We offer you five colors or color combinations. We will manufacture a mat to your exact specifications. Addition­al Velcro fasteners are available to convert your mat for other uses. All mats carry a full year warranty. Write today for details and prices.

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Page 4: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

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615 "THE CHEVRON" Notched V-front and back , w ith a chevron insert in front. Zipper front , long sleeves. Trim , zipper and insert of a 2nd colo r. Adults : $11 .75 Girls : $11.25

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598 X "THE WINNER" V-neck front with zipper, high back, long sleeves. Double trim around neckline, zipper and bottom of sleeves of 2nd and 3rd colors. Adults : $11.25 Girls: $10.75

598 Same as above only with single trim. Adults : $9.75 Girls: $9.25

Page 5: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume XVII / Number 9 / September 1975

5. FROM THE PUBLISHER, G le nn sundby 6. CRILEY'S CHALK BOX 6. WHAT'S HAPPENING 7. CO-ED CAMPUS COLUMN, Gretc he n

Dowsin g 8. USSR/USA SUMMER TOUR, Dick Cri ley

16. INTERNATIONAL REPORT, Kasamatsu in Front 01 Tsukahara and Kenmotsu, Dr. Joseph Gohler

16. 1975 NHK CUP, Paul Ziert 18. THE 6th GYMNAESTRADA - A DREAM OF

BEAUTY AND HAPPINESS, Dr. Joseph Gohler

20. A FIRST HAND FIRST VIEW OF THE 1975 GYMNAESTRADA, Sunny Magdaug

22. PRE-OLYMPIC UBSERVATIONS, Montreal, I ngrfd a nd DieterSchulz

28. THE USGF WOMEN'S PAN AMERICAN TEAM TRIALS, To m Wake ling

32. COLOR FOLD-OUT POSTER, Diane Dunbar, Jac k Griggs

38. SUNNY'S SIDE OF GYMNASTICS, Sunny Magdaug

39. BALLIT FOR GYMNASTICS, Grace Kaywell

40. 1975-76 NATIONAL FEDERATION BOYS GYMNASTICS RULES

40. NEW APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY, O .J. Kudrnovsky

42. SEQUENCES BY SCHULZ, Diete r Schulz 44. INSTRUCTION : Progressive Spotting:

Teacher Relief and Aid to The Learner, Hayes Kruger

46. SENIOR GYMNASTICS, John Maggin etti 47. CLUB CORNER 48. WATANABE COACHES CLINIC, Tom

Gardne r 50. HELEN's CORNER, He len Sjursen 52. NEWS ' N NOTES, Re nee Hendershott 56. PSYCHOLOGY AND THE GYMNAST,

Some Thoughts on Coaching Part II, Joe Massimo

58. RESEARCH: Cardiovascular Conditioning for Gymnasts, Ri c hard Black a nd De wayne J. Johnson

60. LETTERS 62. CALENDAR

Cover: Kolleen Casey, 1st Vaulting USGF Elite Nationals; 4th All -Around Pan-Am Trials . Photo by Jack Gr iggs

Editor/ Publi sher: G le llil SUlldby Associate Editor : Di c k Cri ley Research Editor : H.J. l3i es le rfe ldl , Jr . Internationa LEditor: Dr. Jo se ph Go hl e r Art Direc tor : Ri c hard Ke lliley Production Assistant : Pa l L'Toil e Circulation a nd Advertising Manager : Dr. R.S. l3a c h

GYMNAST m.lg.uinl' is publishl'd by Sundby Publicd tio n s, 410 Broddw,IY, Sdnt" M o nic.l, c." Y040 1. S{'(ond Cl,iSS Postelg £' p .lid At Sanl " Monic.l. c.t. Publislll·d monthl y. Price SI.OO d single copy. Subs( ri p li on corrl'spo ndl'll cc, GYMNAST · P.O. Box 110, Sant., MoniC"d, c., 9040b. Co pyr igh t 1'J75 t .111 ri ghts rcsNved by SUNDBY PUBLIC A liONS, 410 Broadway, Santa M o nica, Cd. All Pho tos .md manuscripts submilh.-'d become the prope rly of GYMNASl unll'5s ret urn rl'quest ,m d sufficie nt posldge dr(' indudl·d .

FROM THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER

SUMMER SLUMP? When we made our decision last November to increase the frequency of Gymnast from 10 to 12 iss ues per year we thought we would be hard put to get enough material to fill our summer edi tions and they might be a bit thinner. However this has not been the case, as you can see by this issue, there is just no vacation when it comes to gymnastic activities. A summer filled with a Pre-Olympic compet ition in Canada, Russian flash tour of the USA, Pan Am Trials for the gi rl s, the fantastic Gymnaestrada in Germany and the return of " Sequence Photos by Schulz" has this issue bursting at the seams. We almost acc id ently left out some ads in our preoccupation and excitement in trying to make space for all the photos and editorial data we wanted to fit into this edit ion!

* * * SPEAKING OF ADVERTISING: We have recently rece ived some wonderful letters from our advertisers concerning our read ers ' response to their ads. This has been especially true for the summer camps, gymwear, posters, books, records and the many special se rvices offered by o ur advertisers. We are always pleased to hear of our readers' patronage of Gymnast advertisers as our advertisers are a very important part of our sport and magazine. Most all of our advertisers go'out of their way to service the needs of gymnastics and are continually developing better appa ratus and related gymnastic products . With over 21,000 subscribers (with this mailing) and any where from 3 to 30 gymnasts reading every issue it is hard to even " guesstamate" the extent of Gymnast exposure for our advertisers other than to say it is a fantastic, captive, enthusiastic and appreciati ve audi ence well worth reaching. We thank our advertisers for their suppo rt of gymnastics and Gymnast and our readers for their continued patronage of our advertisers.

* * * SPEAKING OF LETTERS: In the dark and erratic past of Gymnast as it went through yea rs of unpredictable publishing and mailing sched ules on a hand to mouth survival basis (publishing sched ul e depending on w hen enough new and renewal subscriptions came in , advertisers paid their bills or we sold a piece of personal property to pay up the printing bill), understa ndably the majority of our mail was complaints with a few " hang in there " lette rs from diehard supporters. Today with o ur improved schedule and colorfu l magazine the pattern has changed considerably and although we get a few subscription complaints and an occasional critical comment from a coach or reader whose feathers we have inadvertantly ruffled, most of our corresponde nce is from excited readers who just had to take the time to tell us how much they enjoyed this or that picture, art icle o r total edition. We thank you all, and want you to know that beca use of your support Gymnast c irculation has doubled in th e past year and if you cont inue this enthusiastic attitude for Gymnastics and Gymnast magazi ne our circulation might just double again next year. Th e result of which wou ld be a bigger magaz ine with more pages, color and servi ce . If this is what xo u want keep those new and renewal subscriptions coming in and we ' ll hire extra staff if necessary to get the job done better than ever .

* * * P.S. Hope you have all had a wonderful summer and have learned many new sk ill s to surprise your teammates ... Oh, yes, don ' t forget that OLGA and the USSR team will be touring the USA again in the first two weeks of December (see ca lendar for places and dates) and we understand young European and Pre-Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci and her teammates from Romania will tour the USA in February '76 (if interested ... places and open dates are sti ll being finalized by USGF Directo r, Frank Bare - P.O . Box 4699, Tucson, AZ 85717) ... Have a Happy Handstand.

5

Page 6: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

The Greeks may have a name for it, but the Czechs d es ign ed it. This is a small , flat, wheeled dolly whi ch ca n be moved along an inclin ed board . As th e photo shows, th e inclination can be varied, and so too the placement and cable length of the rin gs. Th e sides of the inclined board are e leva te d to keep the dolly from slipping off.

This one is not ve ry lo ng - V2 meter (19Y2 inches) - and on ly a foo t wide, but the idea is easily adapted to la rge r units. Dimensions on the drawing are in milimete rs . The new wheels which have bee n developed for skatebords could be used but the swivel type used for appliances and furnitu re are not sui table because they bind.

Uses for this gymnasi um aide in c lude st rengthening th e muscles used in dislocates , shoot to hand, the peach, free hip, and even the iron cross. We a re indebted to the Czech magazi ne , GYMNASTIKA, No.5, 1974, and their contributor, E. Hroch, for this idea.

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CATHY RIGBY WATCH

Cathy Rigby, Olympian gymnast and memo ber of the Southern California Aero Team (SCATS) , presents the latest attra ct ive " I Love Gymnastics" Cathy Rigby watch . Swiss made , baked enamel d ia l, sweep second hand, gua ranteed fo r 90days. Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for processing your order. Only $19.95 plus 6% California sales tax·

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION Eleven yea r o ld Stephanie Willim from

Bethesda, Maryland started getting internat io na l recog nition when she was just ten. Following is a translation of an article writte n by Dr. Joseph Gohler for Olympische Turnkunst.

" In Ol ympic Gymnast ics, the motto is: faster, stronger, and now there seems to be anot her requirement - yo uth . Th e gym nasts are becomin g yo unge r and yo unger.

Everyone who saw 13-yea r-old Nadia Comaneci was shocked. The coaches of the world gy mnasiums are searching the you nger gen e ra ti on.... Something th e US coaches haven ' t seen is a wo nder chi ld from their own land. She is 10-year-old Stephanie Willim, coached by the Weisses who have the MG Team in Silver Spring, Maryland. You ca n see her toget he r with our Eberhard Gienger in ... "Gymnast" magaz ine . We ourselves saw Stephanie a t Penn State and co uldn ' t get over our aston ishme nt. She d id her super highly difficult tumb li ng and a Tsukahara sa ito vault, and hti s ove r a ho rse that was taller than she. She wa s as pretty as a picture and her sk ills boo k-pe rfect. It loo ks like in the gymns of the world , the coaches are going out of their way io sea rc h o ut the yo unge r ge neratio n."

Acco rdin g to he r coaches Margie and Greg Weiss, Stephanie a lso does a double-twisting ba ck some rsa ult , a sk ill performed by o nly a handfull of even international-ca liber gymnasts.

ORDER FORM

NAME ____ _ ADDRESS _ __ _

CIT'l, _____ _ STATE __ ZI~ __

and $1.00 for postage and handling. Total $22.00. Use as a gift for birthdays , graduation, Christmas or as a thoughtful present for any occasion . A biography of Cathy Rigby, and a gift card are included, at no extra cost.

6 GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 7: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

From Brooklyn, N.Y. we received a picture of Francis Weinryb, she is 13 years old and attends the Flatbush YMCA. She has won 10 awards this year in competition, and her team won the YMCA New York City Finals.

TOUR OF EUROPE

The teams from Bob Hanscom and Diane and Lou Datilio travelled for two weeks through Europe. After the compet ition in Geneva, Switzerland (where North Shore School won ahead of Geneve Artistique and New Hampshire) they stopped by in Leverkusen, Germany for one week. Turn-Club 72 always likes to meet teams, especially from the States. The TC 72 tea m toured the States in 1973 and met very nice people and friends all over the country.

The North Shore School of Gymnastics is a pretty good team and you wi ll hear a lot about them in the future. The girl s were between 11 and 16 years old. With the except io n of vault (which was won by Leverkusen), Bob Hanscom's tea m won al l the events. The girls do a few very good tricks, especial ly on the beam where they all do free cartw heels o r aeria l walkovers. The team from New Hampshire was very young (between 10 and 14 years) and for that age range, pretty good.

by Gretchen Sundlerland Dowsing Cornell University

Like many of you coaches, I've spent a very busy summer teaching at ca mps and attending and running c linics . I had the pleasure of seeing and working with many coaches in California and meeting new ones in Hawaii. Ralph Arthur (past president of the Hawaii Gymnastics Assoc.) and his w ife Helen treated us to some Polynesian hospitality before we left the Islands for home. At Ithaca, New York the AAU Junior Olympics are in full force with 2,000 ath letes from all over the count ry.

Before I get into my main topic fo r this co lumn, let me mention some coaches that I didn 't have li sted in the college directory. Lee

. Ann Lobdill (an All-American gymnast and former student of mine at Cal. State Long Beach) will be the new coach at UCLA and will do an excellent job there. Another very good coach, Kurt Hartell (my assistant from Ca l State Long Beach) will . assist second- year coach Connie Dowd at USc. I met some of their gymnasts at camp this summer and it looks like they ' ll have strong teams in September. The following are also add iti ons to the list: Jackie Walker - Louisiana State Un iversity; Jan dodson - Casper Coll ege, Wyoming; Carole Liedtke -University of Louisville.

After speak ing with many high school students th is summer, I realized how littl e they know about chOOS ing a co ll ege. Sure, they hear about the "b ig o nes" in gymnastics and immediately want to go there - not thinking about their own careers and where they would fit in the gymnast ics program.

I've made up a list of things I think high school students should consider carefully before chOOSing a co ll ege:

1) What do you want to major in ? If you find out that this major is not for you, does the school have enough variety that yo u can change majors?

2) What is the tearn like? Would you be the best, or maybe not rnake the team at all? Do they have a B tea rn or Jr. Varsity if this should happen? Figure out what position you cou ld hand le psychologi ca lly; if you were the best on the tearn, cou ld you keep your rnotivation? If you were on th e B tearn, would you feel slighted?

,3) What area of the country wou ld yo u like to live in? Do you want a large or srnall campus?

4) What is the coac h of the tearn like? Will you get along we ll with her (hirn) for 4 years? It 's a good idea to have an interview with the coach and also talk with tearn mernbers. If possible, watch sorne of the tearn workouts.

5) What type of corn petition will the tearn have? Is there a chance for Regional and National competition if you qualify? Will the budget support it ? Can you corn pete USGF age group if you want to?

6) Is there a rnen 's tearn? Do both teams get along and have respect for each other? Do you h~ve to cornpete for workout tirne and area?

7) How often are workouts ava ilable ? I you want to pract ice every day and the tearn doesn't, is th ere a place you can go?

8) Do you want to stay around horne or do you want to try living away frorn your area? Do you want to stay w it h your club all through college or try different aspects of gyrnnastics on the college leve l with rnore of your own age group? Or do you want to try to do both?

9) M any schools now offer var ious forms of finan cial aid . Check in to this tho rou ghl y; it ca n mea n a savings of both tirne and rnoney to you and your parents. It can rnake a difference to your workout tirne if you don't have to take a job, and yo ur parents wi ll not have to pay more than necessa ry. Many schoo ls have a separate office of financial aid . Also, sornetirnes the tuition sounds high, but rnany uni ve rsiti es (like Cornell ) offset the tuition accord ing to the farnil y incorne.

Choose a few colleges that interest you and apply to thern. Don ' t get your hea rt set on just one and app ly only there. Also, app ly ea rly . Colleges wi ll be c losing applications in the spring , so check dea dlines closely.

Remember, eve ryone wi ll be giving you lots of adv ice, but you shou ld rnake the final decision about a college according to what you need.

~ From left to right: North Shore School of Gymnastics, Mass. USA; Turn-Club 72 Leverkusen, Germany; New Hamps hire Academy of Artistic Gymnastic (only 6 girls belonged to a team, 5 score count for the team result)

GYMNAST Sept. '75 7

Page 8: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

USSR Gymnastics

Team USA Summ(lr

Tour 1975 SEVEN DAYS - SIX NIGHTS, A Russian Gymnastics Tour

by Dick Criley

San Diego sportswriter Wayne Lockwood, a man not easily impressed unless his subject can dribble, putt, kick, throw or hit a ball, was turning ca rtwheels over the performance of a touring Russian gymnastic team. Not only cartwheels, but he was also tossing out terms such ·as triple flyaway and full twisting gainer dismount, while mistaking gymnastic chalk for resin.

What did it take to turn this man into an enthusiast for gymnastics, to write words not as complimentary since Jim Murray 's 1968 paen to the Olympic trials? Olga Korbut wasn't there nor was Liudmilla Turishcheva. In fact, a few of the projects gymnasts weren't there as the Soviet government had whisked them back to Moscow following the pre-Olymp ic meet in Montreal, and some new faces suddenly turned up in Tucson for the start of the 7-day, 6-stop tour.

Lockwood wrote, "The Russian performance was notable not because this was their best team, but because it wasn't. .. The Soviets showed up with a young, relatively inexperienced 13-member team that demonstrated it is prepared to carryon quite well, thank you, should Olga defect tomorrow."

The female gymnasts included '72 Olympian Elvira Saadi, Riga Invitational and Chunichi Cup winner Nina Dronova, Moscow News Champ and European Championship Silver medalist Nelli Kim (who was also carrying 3 gold medals from Montreal) and two exciting youngsters Antonina Lebova and Lydia Gorbik. The men were '72 Olympian and '75 European Champ Nikolai Andrianov, USSR Leningrad Trophy winner Alexander Dityatin, '73 Champions All winner and '74 World Games team member Paata Shamugia, and Gurin Kholexisov and Vladimir Tikhanov. In addition, a rea l treat was provided by the presence and performances of Irena Derjuqina, whose modern rhythmic gymnastics almost stole the show, and one of the USSR's top men 's pair in acrobatics, Vladimir Makarchenko and Sergei Antonov, who were so well received that they were called back to encore performances.

The polished format of the previous successful USSR tour was evident again on this tour. The gymnasts were introduced individually and were spot lighted as each performed a tumbling or FX pass. The acrobats showed a mini-routine which included a backward roll by Makarchenko while Antonov held a handstand on his feet. Following a mass warm-up by the women, variety was the key as subsequent performances a lte rnated men 's and women's events. Television commentator Gordon Maddux introduced the gymnasts with flair and enthusiasm and filled in the few slow spots with background information.

I travelled a ll the way from Hawaii to catch this appearance and want to note a few of the interesting performances and moves.

MFX: double backs from Kholexisov, Shamugia, and Andrianov and a double twister from Tikhanov for mounts; Shamugia, and Andrianov and a double twister from Tikhanov for mounts; Shamugia's back somie to back roll extension with straight arms and snap down to splits; Kholexisov's arabian dive roll with straight leg roll out to straddle stand; double leg circles from Kholexisov and Andrianov; Andrianov 's pike front, handsprin g, fu ll twisting dive roll and his double twist dismount. Just about all the tumbling had good height.

WV: Saadi 's hal f-on half-off handspring and Lebova 's handspring­with 11;1 saltos (albeit to her seat).

8

Warm-up

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 9: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Irena Der Jugina Vladimir Machanchenko & Sergio Antonov

GYMNAST Sept. '75 9

Page 10: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

PH: not much notable except Dityatin's high, smooth performances. He's about 6 feet tall and looks very good as he swings those long legs around. Impressive was the height of his scissor with V2 turn. Most of the other performances showed the fatigue associated with travelling.

R: much straight arm work, including high inlocate to handstand mount from Tikhanov, Kholexisov, and Andrianov. Dismounts included double twist, high layout, and from Dityatin a handstand to immediate half-in half-out. Kholexisov showed a whippet. Hold positions tended to be short timewise.

UPB: Lebova 's free hip to hand with a half turn out and stalder from high to low bar (same from Dronova) ; also her dismount was a well­executed cast to front saito in pike position . Nelli Kim showed good flight and twists. It was too bad we didn 't get to see Miss Saadi perform here.

MV: Tikhanov's full twisting handspring; Shamugia's high handspring l V2 saito in piked position ; Andrianov's tucked Tsukahara; Shamugia 's Tsukahara in (almost) layout posit ion; and Andrianov's handspring l V2 with a Y2 turn out.

B: Dronova's aerial work, flip-flop to back somie dismount. Gorbik's press to handstand and stoop through to high V seat mount; she fell after an aerial walkover but remounted, repeated and continued ; also her needle sca le and RO, tuck back dismount. Lebova used the back somie in the middle of the beam and was very solid about it; also her needle sca le with her head down to hershin ; dismounted with flip-flop to layout back . Saadi was very graceful and dancelike, her movements

10

Nina Dronova

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 11: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Alexander Ditiatin

Tucson sponsors and Mayor preparing to present plaque to the Russian delegation . Antonina Glebova Alexander Ditiatin

GYMNAST Sept. '75 11

Page 12: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Vladimir Tikhanov Antonina Glebova

Antonina Glebova

were confident and her aerial secure; she dismounted with an aerial with 1Y2 twists. Nelli Kim a lso was very co nfident in her attack on the beam; she dismounted with a gainer off the end, then got back on and showed the same gainer with a full twist.

PB: Kholexisov, Tikhanov, Shamugia, and Andrianov all used the double back dismount. Most moves that could go to a handstand were executed with that kind of virtuosity. Tikhanov revived the one-arm handstand , but a lso fell off o n a swinging pirouette. Dityatin mounted with a high cast to support, forward roll with flip kip to support to straddle cut , L; his dismount was a full twister . Shamugia mounted with peach to handstand , layaway, straight arm streuli. Andrianov mounted with glide kip and reverse st radd le cut in the middle, drop back and peach to handstand, diamidov, back toss through handstand , high stutz, straddle cut , L, press to handstand, double back.

HB: Kholexisov used several complicated grip changes, and pirouette moves, high layout dismount. Tikhanov had a bad break after his flank vault but muscled through. Dityatin 's Voronin vau lt was almost laid-out, dismount on double flyaway . Concluding, the men put on a dismount exhibition of high layout flyaway, double, triple (Tikhanov), half-in half-out (And rianov) and full in back out from Shamugia.

WFX: Lebova mounted with RO, ff, whipback, ff, fu ll , used also a handsprin g, front and RO , ff, back. Lithe and little , she reminded the crowd of Olga. Dronova showed more drama in her moves, mounted with RO, If, full ; he r tumbling was high but her dismount seem ed weak without a saito. Saadi showed good dance elements, leaps, turns, her

12

Antonina Glebova

Vladimir Machachenko and Sergie Antonov

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 13: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Vladimir Tichanov Paata Shanugia Paata Shanugia

GYMNAST Sept. '75 13

Page 14: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Nelli Kim

full twisting mount was high . Nelli Kim, who has won several FX titles, mounted with RO, ff, double twist and showed in one tumbling pass : RO, ff, layout , somie with Y2 twist to Japanese splits.

Irena Derjuqina was most graceful in leaps, turns, dance, rolls, pirouettes, all the time manipulating her hand implements. She showed great control of the ball as she rolled it from one hand to the other, up one arm and down the other, tossing it into the air and executing 2 or 3 moves to be in place to retrieve it. The Indian clubs were handled with the ease and facility of our top baton twirlers and with some of the elements of a razzle-dazzle juggler. Her ribbon exercise was very acrobatic with the ribbon constantly describing a ll kinds of patterns - loops, sw irls, spirals, serpentines, the crack of whip and the rhythm of a lasso. The hoop was not used as Whammo manufacturers intended it, but she performed veritable contort ions into and out of it, twirling it, sending it spinning out and back, throwing it into the air and prancing gaily until it returned. The frequent changes of leotard betwee n her appearances also "added to the variety of the show. Such appearances by top Modern Gymnastics practitioners should do much to advance this creative aspect of gymnastics.

The Ru ssians and their tour sponsors were delighted with the response of the more than 6000 San Diego spectators who turned out on a Monday night. The re were strong indications that this would not be the last time that the USGF-would schedule in top gymnastics to this area. Indeed, Sports Arena Manager Phil Quinn is said to have had calls the next day from enthusiasts who thanked him for bringing the Russians to San Diego.

14

Nelli Kim Nina Dronova Lida Gorbik

Antonina Glebova

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 15: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

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Elvra Saadi

GYMNAST Sept. '75 15

Page 16: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

INTERNATIONAL REPORT JAPAN

Kasamatsu in Front of Tsukahara and Kenmotsu

The preseason beg ins at the NHK Cup which has been arranged for years by the biggest radio and TV company of Japan . Only 4 gymnasts cou ld complete ly satisfy (qualify), and one more a lmost qualified: Kasamatsu, the world master, Tsukahara, the horizontal bar Olympia winner of 1972, Kenmotsu, the ex­world master in the twelve event, world master on the parallel bar in 1974, and the n~w sta r, Kajiyama who raised up (appeared) so radiant (brilliantly) at the wo rld competit ion in Varna, and Fujimoto was fifth with 109.00, already 1.85 behind Kajiyama (110.85) . Fujimoto was also behind Kenmotsu (111 .10) and Tuskahara (111 .25), while Shige ru Kasamatsu with 112.30 points celebrated a great victory and made no mistake in the optional ro utine . The sixth, Shiraishi, who now already shows an outstandin g six event, stayed 1.80 points behind Fujimoto. Fumio Honma, Kawaguchi, Nishikii , Horide and Iga rashi , all gymnasts in the top class were not yet in competition form. Also Kume, the master at the horizontal bar was disappointing and only placed 18th, with a modest 103.35.

What new talent is there? This question should ha ve been answered at the East Japanese College compet ition. But it was a disappointment, because Kajiyama surpassed the competitors so much, that the second Kume, who did the optiona l this time one whole point better, stayed almost two points behind Kajiyama, whose ser ies 9.45 - 9.40 - 9.65-

'9.35 - 9.20 - 9.40 = 56.45, can well measure up to the optional ser ies of Kasamatsu at the NHK Cup, except for his parallel bar result. Kasamatsu did the optional there as follows: 9.35 - 9.50 - 9.30 - 9.50 - 9.45 - 9.55 = 56.65. Gushiken , the Highschool master 1974, kept himself quite well in Hirosaki as fifth, but o n the floor and horizontal bar offe red still littl e (8.70 and 8.85). So the hopes of the Japanese are resting further on the quintet of Kasamatsu, Kenmotsu, Kato, Kajiyama and Tsukahara. Those might be joined by the best of the group Honma , Shiraishi , Igarashi , Kume, Nishikii, Fujimoto and Ho ri de. Of whom Fujimoto has the best cha nee. There is a good reason for naming Sawao Kato here: in spite of the press announcements, that the Olympia winner of 1968 and 1972 had quit , Kanekos master student exercises intens ive and a lready is in good form, because in the compu lso ry of the NHK Cup Kato was in fifth place, but did not do the optional because of a light shoulder strain.

Japanese female gymnasts proceed slowly. Matsuhisa marr ied meanwhile (her name is Hironaka now), won in Tokyo with 73 .80 points, whereby she did the optiona l with a good 37.45 . Hayashida was second with 73.60 and showed a new paralle l bar optional with somersault forward , from the lower bar to the high bar (9.70). Also good was Yoshida (73.30) thereafter already a break: 4th Ishimura 72.55, fifth, Kikkawa, 72.40, sixth, Watanabe, 71.65. At the East Japanese College Competition in Hirosaki, the winner, M. Nakamura was brilliant (37.20) with a fresh optiona l on the beam (9.60) . But after the champion her effort was only average. Second : Sakura i, 36.65, third, Kitoh, 36.15, fourth, Mano, 36.05.

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'Shigeru Kasamatsu

EUROPE:

In the Soviet Union, further forced preparati on is the order of the training schedule to beat the Japanese, who maintained the Worlds since 1960. After Kulaksizow and Asarjan, after Kryssin and Kewlischwilli, let alone the two a lready mentioned, Ditjatin and Tichonow, emerged now Marke low of Moscow and Azasow coached by Abukajew.

Markelow won a twe lve event with 109.45 before Kewlischwi ll i (109.25) and Kulaksizow (109.05). Azasow won the six event in the scope of the Junior Country Events Rumania - USSR, which the Russ ians won 186.80 : 184.10, reached Kowal 37.80 points and the 13 year o ld Filatowa young star astounded as second with 37.65 points. In 1976 Rumania will be the big opponent of the USA fema le gymnasts at the fight about the bron ze medal.

+

= 1975 NHK CUP Hachiojo, Japan June 14 and- 15

By Paul liert, Gymnastics Coach University of Oklahoma

The 1975 NHK Cup was really eve rything I had hoped it wou ld be! In fact, it was truly awesome watching the top thirty-six Japanese gymna sts compete the new Olympic compu lsories for the first time. Without question, Kasamatsu was in a class of his own. He had on ly minor difficulties with the compu lsori es (Al l the problems stemmed from hi s trying to do each part to its optimum.), and he has made seve ra l major cha nges in his optionals. Some of the changes include front uprise stut z handstand on parallel bars and half- in half-out dismounts from rings and horizonta l bar. Although they had major breaks. both Ke nmotsu and Kajiyama looked

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 17: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

JAPANESE NHK-CUP Name FX PH R V PB HB SUB Total N ame V UPB BB FX SUB Total

1. Ka samalslI , S. e 9.50 9. 10 9.15 9.1 5 9.45 9.30 55.65 1. Hironaka, M: e 9.35 0.75 9.25 9.05 36.35 0 9.35 9.50 9.30 9.50 9.45 9.55 56.65 112.30 0 9.30 9.25 9.50 9.40 37.45 73.80

2. Tsuka hara, M. e 9.30 9.05 9.40 9.20 8.95 9.55 55 .45 2. Hayas hida, F. e 9.20 9.25 8.05 9.35 36.65 0 9.00 9.05 9.35 9.40 9.30 9.70 55.80 111 .25 0 9.35 9.70 8.50 9.40 36.95 73.60

3. Kenmotsu, E. e 8.95 9.25 9.40 9.20 9.25 8.90 54.95 3. Yoshida, R. e 9.25 8.95 8.90 9.10 36.20 0 9.30 9.45 9.20 9.60 9.30 9.30 56.15 111 .10 0 9.35 9.35 9.25 9.15 37.10 73.30

4. Kajiya ma , K. e 9.35 9. 10 9.05 8.95 9.30 9.30 55.05 4. Ishimura , M. e 9.20 8.90 0.60 9.25 35.95 e 9.50 9.25 9.40 9.00 9.20 9.40 55.75 110.85 0 9.35 9.30 0.65 9.30 36.60 72.55

5. Fujimoto, S. e 8.70 8.50 9.20 9.25 9.00 9.05 53.70 5. Kikkawa, C. e 9.20 9.20 8.30 9.25 35.95 0 8.95 9.15 9.40 9.35 9.00 9.45 55.30 109.00 0 9.30 9.40 0.55 9.20 36.45 72.40

6. Shiraishi, S. e 8.00 9.10 8.80 0.85 0.35 9.1 0 53.00 6. Wata nabe, M . e 9.10 9.15 8.00 9.05 36.10 0 8.75 9.00 8.80 9.30 8.95 9.40 54.20 107.20 0 8.60 9.10 8.95 8.90 35.55 71.65

7. Shimizu, J. e 0.50 8.60 8.85 8.90 0.80 8.95 52.60 7. Yamazaki, N. e 9.30 9.20 0.00 9.05 35.55 0 9.00 0.60 8.95 9.35 9.00 9.05 54.00 106.60 0 8.60 9.05 8.00 9.05 35.60 71 .15

8. Nishikii , T. e 9.00 8.65 8.90 8.95 8.80 8.75 53.05 8. Usui , A. e 8.90 8.95 8.35 9.15 35.35 0 9.40 8.55 8.95 920 0.85 8. 10 53.05 106.10 0 8.70 9.35 8.50 9. 10 35.65 71.00

9. Nagai , G. e 8.90 9.30 9.00 8.80 8.70 8.90 53.60 9. Sugiyama, K. e 9.1 5 9.10 8.65 8.80 35.70 0 8. 15 9.25 8.85 9.10 8.00 9. 10 52.40 106.00 0 8.80 8.90 9. 10 9.15 35.20 70.90

10. Horide, K. e 9.25 8.95 8.20 9.05 8.05 8.40 51.90 10. Sakura i, S. e 9.00 8.90 0.45 0.40 34.75 0 9.55 8.90 0.35 9.55 0.20 8.60 53.15 105.05 0 9.20 8.35 0.90 9.20 35.65 70.40

11 . Igarashi, T. e 8.60 8.65 8.90 8.45 8.60 9.30 52.50 11. M ano, S. e 9.10 9.35 8.75 9.00 36.20 0 8.20 8.40 9.00 880 880 9.30 52.50 105.00 0 8.95 7.00 9.40 8.75 34.10 70.30

12. Honma, F. e 0.60 8.05 7.75 0.70 0.95 9.50 52.35 11 . Kasamatsu, K. e 9.05 9.05 0.30 9.00 35.40 0 0.65 . 9. 10 8.15 9.15 8.25 9.20 52.50 104.85 0 8.90 8.65 8.05 8.50 34.90 70.30

13. Kawaguchi, I. e 0.85 9.00 9.00 8.75 8.45 8.30 52.35 13. Kitou , C. C 9. 10 8.60 0.90 8.85 35.45 0 0.60 8.05 0.95 0.80 0.75 9. 15 52.30 104.65 0 0.90 7.85 0.05 0.75 34.40 69.85

14. Mikami , H. e 0.85 8.90 8.70 0.60 0.85 8.95 52.85 14. Morita, A. e 9.25 8.95 0.20 9.05 35.45 0 0.60 7.55 8.60 8.65 8.75 9.20 51.35 104.20 0 9.15 8.85 8.20 8.35 34.35 69.80

15. Sugawara, H. e 0.50 9.15 7.80 0.00 0.40 0.60 51.25 15. Takagi , I. e 8.90 9.00 0.35 8.00 35.05 0 8.90 9.05 8.25 9.15 8.25 8.70 52.30 103.55 0 8.80 9.20 8.05 8.65 34.70 69.75

16. Teramoto, Y. e 0.45 8.60 8.90 8.80 8.60 8.85 52.20 16. Watanabe, I. C 9.10 9.00 8. 15 8.80 35.05 0 0. 55 7.00 8.90 8.55 8.75 0.75 51.30 103.50 0 8.55 7.80 8.50 8.70 34. 55 69.60

17. Maeya ma, S. C 8.95 8.25 8.70 9. 10 8.20 8.50 51.70 17. Akaba , A. C 9.25 9.00 8.50 8.95 35.70 0 9.00 6.95 8.75 9.30 8.65 9.10 51.75 103.45 0 9.35 8.95 7.80 7.45 33.55 69.25

18. Kume, T. C 0.75 8.15 7.10 8.75 8.30 8.65 49.70 18. Nakamoto, H. C 9.40 9.20 7.90 8.75 35.25 0 9.00 8.00 8.70 9.30 8.45 9.40 53.65 103.35 0 9.25 8.40 8. 15 8. 10 33.90 69.1 5

19. Toshinaka, K. C 0.30 8.40 8.75 8.80 7.40 8.70 50.35 19. Imura, H. e 8.80 9. 10 7.90 8.70 34.50 0 8.65 8.40 8.95 8.40 8.30 9.25 51.95 102.30 0 9. 15 9.00 7.80 8.65 34.60 69.10

20. Suzuki , K. e 0.75 7.05 8.30 8.80 7.00 8.75 49 .45 20. Kanoll, K. C 9.20 8.70 7.85 9.00 34.75 0 9.05 8.75 8.60 9.30 8.20 8.80 52.70 102.15 0 8.80 7.85 8.50 9.00 34.15 68.90

EAST JAPANESE HIGH SCHOOLCHAMPIONSHIPS Name FX PH

1. Kajiyama, K. 9.45 9.40 2. Kume, T. 0.80 9.25 3. Maeya ma, S. 9.25 8.00 4. Taira, T. 9.20 9.30 5. Gushiken, K. 8.70 9.40 6. Mikami , H. 8.80 9.40 6. Shimizu, J. 9.00 9.20 8. Suzuki , K. 9.25 9.05 9. Hirose, T. 8.65 9.10

10. Ogasa wara, J. 8.55 8.75 11. Matsuda , H. 9.00 9.00 12. Honma, O. 9. 15 9.25 13. Satoh, S. 8.95 9.05 14. Senda, S. 9.25 9 15 15. Murata, M . 8.75 9. 15 16. Satoh, T. 8.65 8.75 17. Miyazak i, Y. 8.95 9.05 18. Gotoh, K. 9.00 9.35 19. M atsumoto, S. 8.75 9.00 20. Igarashi, I. 8.90 8.55

sloppy and poorly prepared for the competition. Tsuka hara and Fugimoto looked well trained we ll trained to compete w ith Tsukahara showi ng significant improvement on parall el bars and pommel horse. Fugimo to wa s very co nsistent but still lacked the poli sh whi ch one assoc iates w ith THE JAPANESE TEAM. Although Kato did break o n th e pommel ho rse and parall el bars compulsor ies, he did show that his is back and wi ll pu sh everyo ne for th e top hono rs at Montreal. (Having sco red 53.90 in the compulsory competition , he decided to scratch the opt iona ls.) Add it io nall y, Horide, Nagai, and Shimi zu impresse d me as up-and-comers. (Shimizu has just begun hi s junior yea r in coll ege.)

CYMNAST Sept. '75

R V PB HB Total Name V UPB BB FX Total 9.65 9.35 9.20 9.40 56.45 1. Nakamura, M. 9.25 9.20 9.60 9.15 37.20 9.05 9.20 8.85 9.50 54.65 2. Sa kurai, R. 9. 10 9.40 8.70 9.45 36.65 9.15 9.30 8.90 9.15 54.55 3. Kitoh, C. 9.05 9.10 9.15 8.85 36.15 8.65 9.40 9.05 8.95 54.55 4. Mano, K. 8.95 9.40 9.25 8.45 36.05 9.25 9.05 9.00 8.85 54.25 5. Yamamiya, T. 9.00 9.00 8. 15 8.75 35.90 9.35 8.60 8.95 9. 10 54.20 6. Senno, K. 9.50 8.85 8.60 8.75 35.70 8.75 9.45 9.05 8.75 54.20 7. Matsumoto, M . 8.75 9.00 8.65 9.10 35.50 8.00 9.35 8.70 9.00 54.15 8. Murata, M 9.20 0.50 9. 10 8.65 35.45 8.85 9.10 8.90 9.30 53.90 9. Kaas hi , M. 8.70 9.10 8.75 8.55 35.10 8.90 9.00 8.95 9.20 53.35 10. Morita, A. 8.90 9.20 9.00 7.90 35.00 8.60 9.15 0.40 9.05 53.20 10. Akutsu, K. 9. 10 8.65 8.70 8.50 35.00 8.35 8.70 8.60 9.10 53.15 10. Yamada, N. 9. 10 9.10 7.70 9.10 35.00 8.25 9.05 8.75 9.00 53.05 13. Yagi, H. 8.80 9.00 8.80 8.25 34.85 8.60 8.50 8.55 8.85 52.90 14. Asami, H. 8.70 8.65 8.90 8.50 34.75 8.35 8.80 8.65 9.00 52.70 15. Ya mamoto, K. 8.75 8.80 9.40 7.75 34.70 8.95 8.35 9.05 8.60 52.35 16: Akaba, A. 9.20 8.45 8. 15 8.85 34.65 8.10 8.65 8.70 8.80 52.25 17. Nakamoto, H. 9.35 7.90 8.70 8.45 34.40 8.65 7.00 8.75 9.40 52.15 18. Tomikawa, K. 8.20 8.90 8.35 8.55 34.00 8.50 9.10 8.35 9.10 52.10 19. Kubo, N. 8.60 8.10 8.75 8.45 33.90 8.30 9. 10 8.55 8.60 52.00 20. Shiroyanagi, M. 9.05 8.55 7.85 8.30 33.75

CENERAL OBSERVATIONS I wa s especially surprised and interested in

th e relationship between the judges and coaches. There definitely seems to be a master plan fo r the 1976 Olympics, and it is well understood and accepted by al l. For example, the judging of the compulso ry vau lt showed complete emphasis on the pre-flight requirements. M any times I watched gymnasts who showed horizontal and above, straight body pre- f li ght followed by sli ght straddling of th e legs and weak stretch to the mat sco re in the low 9.0 's w hil e oth er gymnasts who showed piked and less than ho rizontal pre-flight w ith tremendous distance and o pening in pos t­fli ght sco red in the middle 8.0's. Furthermore, through out th e competiti o n, th e judges seemed acutely awa re o f co rrect and maximum

execution with th e result being that the gymna sts were grea tly encouraged to " go all out " o r gamba each trick. Both the films I took and my p ersona l observatfons show that routin es performed with the objective to do each part to its max imum even wh en it resulted in a major break co nsistently out scored the routin es w hich were performed conservatively with no major brea ks. I ca rne away from the meet def i nitely fee li ng that much of the success of th e Japn ese program comes from the ,attempt of the judges, under the direction of the coaches, to use the compet iti ons to esta bli sh th eir philosophy o f what constitutes a superior perfo rman ce rath er than merely to implement th e FIG Code o f Points.

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6.Gymnaestrada

Berlin 1975

"Now first , after I have seen your exhibition, I understand , that the gymnastics done in the Gymnaestrada will also be with apparatus. I always thought gymnastics to be 'Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics' , but the concept and the application of each of the countries is indeed so very diverse. " Thus spoke the world's greatest gymnastic theorist and successful Olympic trainer Professor Akitomo Kaneko about the Gymnaestrada, referring to the gymnastic historical exhibition, " The Pathway to Gymnastics", regarding the text that I had prepared.

The moving transitions of the body formation of gymnastics is to the movement training and from that to the artistic gymnast is the gymnastic competition of the International Gymnastic Federation , then to be Olympic artistic gymnasts.

No one else points out the connection from simple gymnastics and complicated artistic gymnastics better than the Japanese piece performances with their synchronized gymnasts. Here eight master gymnasts demonstrated Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics so equally, that one believes the one gymnast and with seven other gymnasts seem to have been in reflected image. Nearby, the spectators of Japan's gymnasts flooded the halls, the splendid competition exercises in Berlin in drawing raving applause because of the high level performance made by gymnasts in transition to gymnastics and artistic gymnastics. When, for instance, all eight of them swung into the handstand landed perfectly still, and when they sprung into a flip flop or even two subsequent flip flops they did a combination between their body extentions reaching towards the ceiling in backward somersaults. The cheering of expert spectators continued when all eight gymnasts were in a " Japanese split" position with legs spread out, the chest to the floor and bowing forwards showing flexibility .

Who are these Japanese magicians for synchronized gymnastics? They are the students of Kokushikan University. They are their country's masters in the mens' group competition, " Gymnastique Rhythmique Modern ," as it is ca lled in French and that was with the feeling of the Japanese performance. They were a big sensation at the 6. Gymnastrada , ca lling attention for the understanding of the people the reception of the mens ' performance in the program to advertise by th e Japanese performance in the program the "Gymnastics World 's Best Championship."

18

Scenes from 1975 Gymnaestrada

Competition Group Gymnastics in Japan

long before the girls first took part in the World Championship in competition artistic gymnastics, in 1963, it was already in Japan's high school championships in group gymnastics for boys and girls. Many young people and adults carried on this form of gymnastics in the sc hool and university clubs, the form as to the skillfulness of the Olympic artistic compe tition gymnastics in which the Japanese men are World Champions. Even though they have not the offi cial blessing of the Gymnastic Federation as well as by the "Gymnasten" who are gymnasts that practice the so call ed " Gymnastic Rythmique Moderne. "

People Of All Ages at the Gymnaestrada

Back to the Gymnaestrada! There were 312 performances with more than 12,000 active gymnastic people in front of 250,000 spectators, among them , ve ry important to note, the 10,000 that had followe d th e ir own ac tive people from 36 countries to Berlin. Most of the female

gymnasts and male gymnasts came, of course, from the German Federal Republic, around 10,000; but the Ne therlands and those from Switzerland came with 3,000 gymnasts and Norway with more than 2,000 gymnasts.

Oh how attractive a Gymnaestrada is! And what cheering among the spectators, what feeling of happin ess among all the active participants of all ages and with different levels of skillful performances. And of the male and female participants, the female participants covered just a bit more than 80 percent.

Above all , th e large space performances included those groups from Holland, Norway, Sweden , Denmark, Finland , South Africa and Switzerland. The ho usewives and mothers (in these large groups) pe rformed with such carefulness and discipline that wonderful pictures were shown on the green lawns of the Mommsen Stadium. And with this sight you could have sa id with Goe thes Faust : " linger anyhow, oh, this moment you are so beautiful! " Who has tak e n pictures of all that beauty? A pity tha t mon ey wasn ' t there for an official Gymnaestrada book, as it was in 1963

GYMNAST Sept. '75

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when the Au st rians had published one in such a fine way after the 4th Gymnaestrada.

The 6th Gymnaestrada was the most beautiful of the two existing Gymnaestradas and the most sk illfully performed and also the best organized o ne! More than four million German marks (almost two million dollars) was given to the city of Berlin alone and out of this, six thousand was spent for the decoration of the halls, th e capacity of which was much bigger than that of the performance places in Vienna and Ba sels (1969) . However, the places in Berlin were not big enough to keep all the spectators who wanted to see the gymnastic artists from Japan or the six girls from Brazil whom Ilona Peukert had taught to perfection in rhythmi c and gymnastic style. As well as the ravishing rhythmi c dancing Brasi lians were the Blacks in the famous group from South Africa, almost 400 active when they performed their bush dance.

Hall 5 was so crowded that it seemed at the point of burst ing when Sweden 's elderly mens' group (average age 50) demonstrated their Parodie of Rhythmic Jazz Gymnastics. That was

GYMNAST Sept. '75

the frontal attack to the laughing muscles, the most humorous that the 6th Gymnaestrada offered. It was also where you could experience how the Israeli and the group of the technical high school from Munich transformed frolicisome gaiety into gymnastic forms. How free was the gaiety and the profound seriousness that could be observed sometimes in the gymnastic schools was an exception.

The oldest participant was a man from Munich, the youngest was a two year old girl from Berlin, who all of a sudden captured the hearts of everyone among the 11 ,000 spectators on the last day of the exh ibiti ons in the Deutschlandhalle, because of the unconcern about the tasks of others in her group.

It belongs to th e character of the Gymnaestrada that it is a show, not as a rule, to teach and learn from as well as to experience the skil lful performances in the group. As to learning and teaching, there was also a Scientific Congress, which at the beginning of the sixth Gymnaestrada, met in the huge Congress Hall , discussing the theme, " The

Finaland .,

, ,;

Denmark

Human Motion" with interested young people from 30 countries.

At this Congress Prof. Brian Sutton Smith, from New York, made a speech about a very remarkable leading report " Movement, Play and Creativity" in which developed a new play theory for the child.

As a teaching aid , the exhibition, " The Way of Gymnastic" which impressed the president of the international gymnastic federation so much that he declared at an interview that such an exhibition ought to belong to the standard program of a gymnaestrada from now on.

Then there was the theme, "The Future of the Gymnaestrada" . The 91 year-old Johan Heinrich Francoi s Sommer from Holland, the founder of th e gymnaestrada (1953), was overwhelmed as to the sp lendid show of this world's festival of happiness and beauty. He, however, feared two things: that the gymnaestrada could perhaps be even (still) bigger, that such a thing as compet iti on character could perhaps creep in, something he had never wanted. There were committees that made a choice among the many different

19

" :; 0 ;; <J

'" '--'" ~ " ~ a: ~.

Page 20: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

performances worth seeing, enabling once again those people to watch the best things fo r the last day. The idea of the selection was on equal basis in o rder not to rank any group better than each other. Th e opinion of the experts, itse lf, is so dissim ilar that for instance, the half hour performances of a group from Munich was rega rded as the future of gymnastics by one expert and by another expert regarded as a fa ulty development.

They should have extended the Gymnaestra da for one mo re day so that the gigantic expenses would have been worthwh ile, for 2000 people have worked, most of them voluntarily, w itho ut pay for this organizatio n, about which, by the way, Arthur Gander sa id that it had been perfect. Another day and the gymnastic fans could have watched 10 to 12 more performances!

In the separate countries there should be selections made in adva nce in order to show o.nly the best and thus leave the average groups at home. This would have given a condensed program without destroying the sense of gymnastics. For what is not tota ll y good is not worth neither giving advice nor giving entertainment and experience. ITB-President Gander also expressed th e desire for a limitation of the number of participants. O ver 20,000 organized participants and spectators met in the million town Berlin . To handle the organization for more than 20,000 participants and visitors is only sti ll possible in cities with a populati on of a mi llion or more, but the fes tival suffers from · it. When the Gymnaestrada was held in Basel in 1969, it was rea lly a festivity in which the whole town participated . But in the city o f Berlin you cou ld not notice the Gymnaestrada was going on. It was a festivity around the rad io tower in the neighborhood of the Exhibition Hall.

As the gymnasts made their " World 's Best," no one missed the East Block gymnasts. Only in the three shows in the Deutschlandhalle you missed them: the Russ ian gymnastic (trainers), and Andrianov and Magyar, the gymnastic Champions from Bulgaria and USSR. The free world was there, the communist stood in absence. Seen in th e east-west persepctive it was a victory for th e free world. The free world, is so free, that no one rea lly thinks of it. "Since five days, the boycott is tota l," sa id Arthur Gander, in a press conference the day the Gymnaest rada opened. For five days they also knew Hungary was not allowed to come. Seven days before opening the Gymnaestrada they learned from Yugoslavia that they cancelled because of the participation of South Africa and Taiwan . " They have cried the gymnasts and trainer, when they heard they could not go to Berlin," said a Yugoslavian gymnastic friend, who with 100 other private fe ll ow ci tizens recieved travel permits to visit the Gymnaest rada. We emphasize the Yugoslavian group have had sensational performances in the past Gymnaest radas and were' expected but they were not all owed to comel This politica l boycott was the on ly dark spot for this 6th Gymnaestrada, the beau tiful dream, in free Berlin .

Also the wea ther was fantastic, i t turned into a festivity of " joy of life", to a festivity of beauty and charm, to a festivity of victorious celebration of versiti le gymnastics and into a milestone on th e road to an even higher common body cul ture. That not only the talented ca n take part of but also people with strong will and ene rgy could take part togeth er or alone and to keep form and to remain in good co nd ition up into higher ages.

20

Scenes from 1975 Gymnaestrada

A First Hand First View

of The 1975 Gymnaestrada

By Sunny Magdaug

Th e sca ri es t thing a newly co ll ege gradua te can read on a newspaper in bo ld red head li nes is how bad job prospects are for this summer. I, therefore, deci ded not to waste time in f ind ing a job and bega n workin g for myself as a freelance photographer and w riter for gymnasti cs.

I took my chances th e week -end before fina ls and we nt to Sa n j ose State to cover th e U.5.G.F. W estern Reg ional ChampiollSh ips (m y first p rofessiona l assignment). After final s I went up to UC Berkeley to meet 1975 NCAA Coach Hal Frey and the gymnasti cs team for another assignment.

In prepa rin g to go to Illinois to cover th e Elite U.S.G.F . Gymnast ic Championships o n my own, this last ju ne, I was given an opportunit y instead by G lenn Su ndby to ass ist him in ' cover ing th e 1975 Gym naestrada in West Be rl in, jul y 1-5 . To make a lo ng story short, I dropped the Il li no is trip and ended up going to Europe and to the Gymna es'trada alone. My

origina l one nionth stay in Eu rope is now ex tended fo r two months. I decided th at I wou ld use th e extra time to stu dy European gymnastics in the d ifferent cou ntries, after the Gymnaestrada .

Before departi ng Sa nta Monica and Los Angeles fo r Europe, I was well equipped wi th two ca meras; enough fi lm to last a year; enough posters, magazines, bumper stickers and magaz ine su bscr iption forms to overwe igh my baggage. Neverth eless, w ith p lent y of determination and a smi le, I got through the baggage barriers and made it in one piece, baggage and al l, in to West Berlin.

However, befo re I ca me to Berl in I made a quick two night stay i n Amsterdam, where they are ha ving th eir 700 years ce leb ration. Because I was spending mo ney in Amsterdam, I decided to leave for Ber lin o n the train before ex hausti ng my expense account. It was a good thing whe n Il eft Amst erdam for Ber lin because it gave me ext ra tim e, that I needed, to start . preparing the coverage of the 1975 Gym naestrada .

Having depa rt ed Am sterdam, june 27, ea rl y in the morning, I arrived at Ber lin that evening, 7 p.m. W est Berlin is a lively modern city in the middle of East Genna ny. The cont ras t of how E. Germa ny looks in compari son to W. Ber lin is li ke night and day.

The layout of E. Germany 's land looks desolate with m ili tary road b locks, jeeps and

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military men. One really gets th e fee ling o f being in a Police State. It was exciting passing through Nurmberg beca use it looked exactl y like w hat I hau see n in th e movies.

Berlin is a rea l jewe l of a cit y w ith people who are warm , congenial, helpful and d ifferent from the res t of Germa ny because they are prouu to be Berlin ers.

I rea ll y fe lt li ke Berlin is " w hat's happening" thi s sUlllmer since th e Int ernati ona l Fillll Fes ti val and th e Int ern ati o nal Ca rt oon Ex hibiti o ll s are also go ing o n th e sallle tillle as we ll as th e 1975 GYlll na es trada.

The 1975 Gymnaestrada

During the first coup le of da ys before the Gymna es traua began , I wa lked aro und th e prelllises feeling the atlllosphere and li stening to all th e different languages aro und lll e.1 was especia ll y impresseu by th e huge garden that was fu ll of fl owers, p lant s and a huge water fouilli an fo r it s backg rou nd. So thi s IS Berlin­anu I loved that fee ling.

I was excit eu for th e Gymnaestrada to beg in aft er wa tching some rehea rsa ls and bit prev iews 01 sOllle ro utines anu exhibiti ons. Th ey were do ne wit h such enthusiaslll th at I couldn 't help from fee ling every nati o nali sti c feeling for th e different countri es.

1975 is th e year for th e sixth GYlllnaestrada. U nlike th e Ol ympi cs th ere is no cOlllpetit io n bet wee n tea llls o r nation s and many peop le of

GYMNAST Sept. '75

all ages ca n participat e as o ne group, if so desired. Gro ups that p erforlll ca n con tain as Illany as 400-600 people at a tillle or 20 people and less. Berlin just happens to be the cit y where Dr. Freide rich Luuwig jahn founded th e original forlll of gYlll nast ics Illore than 150 years ago . Accoruing to Art hur Gardner, president o f Intemation al GYlllna stics, lllallY countries later adopted thi s forlll and develo ped gYlllnastics to what it is touay.

GYlllnasti cs in Europe is distinguished in two ca tego ri es; rh ythllli c and cO lllpetitive. Th e GYlllnaestrada seems to fea ture rhythllli c gYlllna sti cs more than the cO lllpetitive.

During th e first da y of the GYlllnaestrada I founu o ut that the rea son th e Ea st Bl ock Countri es did no t cOIll'e wa s because th ey were havi ng a gymnastic ex hibiti o n of th eir own and wrot e a let ter to Ga nuer explaining th e reason for th eir abse nce. Gander sa id th at he wou ld no t penali ze th e East Block countri es for not partic ipating since hav ing rece ived th eir lette r. A ll the o ther Europea n countires, though , we re well represe nted . Other co untri es like South Africa, japa n, South Alllerica and Canada jo ined in w ith th e GYlllnaes trada. I was a bit ui sa ppointed that th e U.S., did no t send Illore peop le over. Kyle Gayner and Bart Conners were the o nl y U.S. gYlll nas ts there. Though China had no gYlll na sts , SOllle o f th ei r representat ives we re th ere observ ing.

The sixth GYlllnaestrada opening cere lllon y took place th e evening of jul y 1. It was held at Berlin 's OIYlllpic Stadiulll that was built in 1936 by th e Nazis. They held the OIYlllpics that year Illainl y fo r the purpose o f exliibi tin g th eir sports tealll s for all the wo rld to see. One ca n almost hea r the echoes of the 1936 OIYlllp ics there just by wa lk ing through the elllpty stadiulll.

The opelling cere lllony was a rea l ' spectacul ar sight since I 've never seen anything qu ite like it befo re. I even had to run frolll one side of the stadiulll to th e othe r side in o rder to see w hat was rea ll y happening.

Eve ryo ne frolll all the countries marched around the stadiulll. It was an overwh elllling experi ence to hea r th e cheers from th e audience crowds anu th e participants w ho sa t on the oth er side of th e stadiulll (a ft er Illarching) to match t he audi ence's enthusiaslll. Lat er I found o ut that th ere was a total of 22,000 peopl e, 18,000 part icipants and 4,000 gues ts, th ere for th e GYlllnaestrad a.

The German Sports School did a giga nti c ex hibition th at nigh t fea turin g " Gerlll an gYlll nas ti cs free tim e used well.· ' Al l groups frolll youngsters, teens and adu lts did th eir routin es and skits separa tely and together. It was Illore pure family entertainlllent and a cultural expe ri ence than anything else I ha ve eve r seen in illY life.

Opening ce remonies concluded w ith th e li ght s of the stauium be ing turn ed off and th e li gh ting up of ca ndles o r Illatches frolll around the stadiulll to symbolize cO llllllon bond and fri endship for all the wo rld . I was in th e Illid st of the Swedish group sharin g m y li gh t w ith them and all the world.

Th e nex t four days were fill ed w ith gY lllnas ti c ex hibitiom frolll gro up ages six to over 60 and each evening was a specia l ni gh t for th e different countri es. Two or three shows would go on a night in the ex hibiti o n halls. It was hard to see all o f th em, but w hat I sa w, I liked .

One group, espec iall y popular at th e GYlllnaes traua was j apa n. It cost Ill e a call1 era leme cover and allllos t ill Y life w hen I was fighting thro ugh th e crowds just to get to th e door. I t was worth a str uggle th o ugh because their ex hi bit ion competiti o n training exe rcises

we re trul y u o ne b ea utifull y and if you were close eno ugh, yo u coulu feel the power in th eir bouy thru sts. Perfo rming w ith about 20 men in the group at a tillle their exac t tillling and synchronizeumotions were beyond beli ef.

An especially ent ertaining group was Sweuen 's " Rythmgubbarna " (translation­Rh ythlll Old Man ). Ranging fro lll ages 33 - ove r 60 (with Illany of thelll in th eir 50 's) they can rea ll y dance rhythm jazz or rock and roll better than th ose w ho are younger. Seelllingl y age less and refreshing they were an exc iting group to watc h .

South Afri ca IllUSt have been th e IllOS t di ve rsifi eu group at th e GYlllnaestrada. The y we re u eckeu out in eve ryt hing from Af rican tribal costullles, Ill ouerll dan ce leo tard s, and uifferent va ri ati o ns of green and blue sweat suits. It looked as if there were at leas t a thou sa nd o r more represe ntati ves from S. Afr ica. Their uiffe rent rou tin es and skits we re illlpress ive anu seelllingly broke some of th e monotony w hen things started to look the sa me towarus the fin al da ys of th e GYlllnaestraua.

Th e "Worlu 's Best" exhibitio n, I hea rd was exciting by some and no t-so-exciti ng by o th ers. I Illi sseu it since no o ne frolll th e East Block countri es were th ere. Gerlllan y's Gienger, world high ba r challlpio n, I Illanaged to see during German ni ght and he was illlpressive on the high bar even in regular stree t cloth es. When I go to Frankfurt , in a couple of weeks, I w ill ho pefull y get to see hilll there again.

I wa s also im pressed by th e Scand inavian , N etherlands anu Swiss wOlll en groups. In large groups containing as Ill any as 450 wOlllen of all ages, th ey uiu rh ythllli ca l exercises to Illu sic and sy nchro ni zeu t'pge ther gracefully. It was def init ely a treat to see thelll all use their hoops and ball s. They rea ll y d id sOlll e pretty things.

I felt that th e Swedish rh ythllli ca l wOlllen 's group was abso lut ely "slllashing. " They did a rea ll y cute skit of gy mnasti cs a 100 yea rs ago and gymnasti cs now.

Th e South Alll eri cans added their flair of rhythmi c gY lllnasti cs w ith a touch of th e Latin flair , of course !

Th e gY lllnas ts a nd peop le who were wa tching the GY lllnaestrada interact ed with each o ther so c lose ly that sometillles I wo ndered who was hav ing a better tillle, th e perforlll ers o r the audi ence. Neverthe less th e GYlll n aes tr aua prov id ed th e sh arin g ex per iences w ith o ne another no Illatter where yo u were or w hat yo u were doing at an y given tilll e.

SOllle of th e partic ipants I talked to sa id th ey prefered the GYlllna es trada to th e OI Ylllpi cs becau se th ere was no pressure to ou t-d o each o th er to o r be th e winn er.

It is rea ll y hard to relate in wo rds w hat a GYlllnaestraua is all about unless one ca n ex peri ence it for himself. One description co mes I ro m Germa n Republi c Presiuent Wa lter Schee l. in hi s speech at th e opening ce remony, " Thi s great festi ve occasion is intended to help us enjoy sport , enjoy life and enjoy li v ing tog eth er with peop le from all over the wo rld ." Many of th e people at th e Gymna estrada took auva ntage of th e opportu nit y to make fri ends w it h people in t he different countries.

Th e Gymnilest raua co uld have gone on forever and I was ve ry sa d , but happy, when it all enueu. A very hono reu gues t j .H. F. Summer, fo unuer of th e Wo rlu GY lllnas ti cs Fes ti va l from Ho llallu anu 91 yea rs yo ung, come fo r th e Gymnaestrada in Berlin. It's rea ll y neat fee ling w hen I think o f il ll th e people thi s occas io n allracts. con 'I. on pg. 55

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Men's All-Around winners L to R: Fujimoto, Tsukahara , Detiatin

Tammy Manville

PRE-OLYMPIC OBSERVATIONS -----------------------------------­Dateline: Montreal

by Ingrid and Dieter Schulz

There were 80 gymnas ts, 46 girls and 34 men from 17 di fferent co untries who took part in the pre-Olympic competition in Montreal July 3rd thru August 1st. Czechoslovak ia and the Netherlands on ly brought girls teams. Notably missing w ith no expla nation were teams from Switzerland , Eas t Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria , Den ma rk, No rway and Sweden.

In keeping with the current inte rnational trend most of th e gym nasts we re quite young even in the men 's competition such as 17 year old Bart Conner from th e USA, Alexander Detiatin - USSR, and Philip Delesalle of Canada all of who took pa rt in the finals. The girls were even younge r with Spai n sending a couple of 13 year olds and of co urse Nadia Comaneci from

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Romania the AA winner sti ll on ly about 13V2 or 14 (depending on whi ch press release you get at the moment) a lo ng with her teammate Theodora Ungureanu of the same age not to forget the two littl e Russian g irls Koval and Glebova. The o ldest male gy mnasts were Mitsuo Tsukahara of Japan and Steve Mitruk of Canada both 28 . Hironoka Miyuki of Japan was the oldest woman gymnast at 30 a nd did well on the floor, uneve ns and vault, but a fall from the beam kept her fro m p lacing better AA.

In the co mpul sor ies for women it was very close between Nadia Comaneci of Romania and Nelli Kim of the USSR w ith Kim missing a bit of her bea m rout ine . Littl e Theodora Ungureanu of Ro ma nia (no o lde r than Nadia and the same body type) won against the two

young USSR gy mnasts Antonina Glebova and Olga Koval. The Hunga rian g irl s agai n were strong and the American a nd German girls did pretty good.

In the wome ns Optional Ro utin es, Kim (URS) and Comaneci both d id very we ll and again the little Ruma nian g irl beat a ll t he other participants with he r ve ry good va ult (Tsukahara ) and he r ro ut ines at the other apparatu s whi ch are we ll known since the European c hampi ons hi ps. Theodora Ungureanu, th e ot her Rumania n su rprise seems to be as stro ng as the b est girls and scored 37.95 poin ts in the optional routines. Koval (URS) mi ssed her un eve n bar routine (8.45) b ut she did not lose h e r 4th pl ace. The Hungarians again do pre tty good . Trish Reed

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(USA) scored 9.40 points for her Tsukahara vault and got into the finals. Tammy Manville (USA) did a very good and original beam routine (also in the finals). Denise Cheshire (USA) the best American girl in the compulsory hurt her hand, (later found out something was broken) and because of that she didn't do well at the unevens (8.85) normally one of her strongest events, she placed only 14th. (She was not able to take part in the Pan Am trials one week later in Miami.) Kelly Muncey (California) . who competed for Canada came in 12th place and was the best Canadian girl. The Canadians are very excited to take part in the Olympics with a team (we wish them success) .

The German girls look pretty good. Uta Schorn couldn't compete because of a knee-

GYMNAST Sept. '75

accident but the other girls seemed to be stronger now.

The Czech girls did not do as well as everybody expected com pared to their success in Varna . (TCH 5, USA 7, RFA 8th place) This time, the Germans and Americans looked much better. The gymnasts from Poland made a good impression (talented & hopeful) but missed at the vaulting (Matrassek 8.05).

The girls of Belgium made progress especially de Keukeleire and the French girls looked better than before.

In the Wome ns finals Nadia Comaneci seemed to be a little bit nervous (she missed a few things in the warm-ups). So everybody could see even when a girl is able to do 14 (I)

Tammy Manville, USA, 4th beam

Nadia Comaneci, Tsukahara Vault

routines easily on every eV'2!nt in the workouts a week before the competition (everybody talked about this and was very impressed) that competition maybe is another thing (Don' t do 15 routines!!!) But no doubt about it, Nadia is a marvellous gymnast and shows us the possibilities of gymnastics!

In vaulting the little Russian can do a Tsukahara and handspring front somersault -but not high and wide eno ugh . Nadia did a very good and high Tsukahara (the best one in this competition) and was with 9.5 points, a little but underscored. But Nelli Kim did a Tsukahara and then a surprising handspring with one and a half(l) twist in the second flight and own her first title , a right decision . Trish Reed got a 9.45 score for her Tsukahara and came in 4th.

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Comaneci domi nated the uneven bars with a beautiful routine, w ith a ve ry high somersault from the high bar to regrasp th e high bar - her free hip circles to handstand and th e sole circle to underswing w ith half tw ist and to the back somersault as her d ismount. Theodora Ungureanu dem onst rated a new move: a back stalder at the high ba r in to a handstand o n the lower bar.

Beam finals started w ith a surprisel After the mount Nadia Comaneci fe ll off the beam -score 9.1. By nothin g impressive Theodora Ungureanu as the next gymnast d id her ro utine with a nice fu ll turn in a ha ndsta nd pos ition -9.6. Th e same score fo r Nelli Kim w ho did her back somis on the beam, tuck full twi stin g gainer dismount and got her second title.

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Tammy Manville made a original exercise with a surprising mount and a good tuck jump into a front walkover, aga in a 4th place for an American girl.

On the floor once again a decision between Comaneci, Kim and Ungureanu who took part in al14 final s. But Friday, th e final day, was a day for Nelli Kim. She won the fl oor f inal and got her third title.

Coaching Note: In the rules of the F.I.G. no male or femal e coach is all ow ed to go up on the platform to spo t th e girl s. Some teams (TCH, ROM, URs) only had th e male coach brought over to Montrea l. They spot during the hour before th e competiti o n starts - during the competition they run around the arena - why?

Is this necessa ry? In all internat ional competition you see som e girl gymnas ts (especially of th e better teams) looki ng into the spectators. Somewhere was their coach and he made some signs to ass ist in their decisions.

In Montrea l the Ameri ca n g irls were in one group with the Rumanians. So metimes USA Coach, Muriel Grossfeld got angry because th e Rumanian girls overtimed their warm-up seconds but they would be qu icker if they

. didn 't have to move fo r exa mple th eir springboard by th emse lves. But their coach wasn ' t allowed to go to the beam to help them ... Eve rybody kn ows that there are very few girl-gymnasts who grow up into a natio nal team and don ' t have the help o f a male coach. So why they aren ' t all owed to spot the girls o r to

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give moral support during the international competitions? The F.I.G. should think about it.

In the compulsories for men Andrianov did not compete because of a shoulder injury. The first surprise was not that the internationally famous Tsukahara ranged first after 6 events, but the other Japanese Fujimoto. Besides Tsukahara who missed the routines at the pommel horse (8.95) and vaulting (8.55) other top gymnasts like the Russ ian Detiatin (vaulting 8.80 and parallel bars 8.45), the Polish Szajna (high bar 7.95) and the German Gienger (high bar 7.60) showed that th e compulsory routines were weak and as yet not sure enough. Gienger made a little mistake (like Korbutat the uneven in Munich) he dropped his foot against the bar so that he loses swing and had to jump down.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

So only four gymnasts scored over 54 points: Fujimoto 55.75 ; Tsukahara 55.50; Zoltan 54.25; Szajna 54.15.

Optional Routines W'ith very good optional routines Mitsuo

Tsukahara got 57.45 points (9.60 / 9.30 / 9.70 / 9.50 / 9.65 / 9.70) and beat Shun Fujimoto (56.75). The young Russians Detiatin and Tikhonov did much better in the optionals than in the compulsories (56.50 p. and 55.75 p.) so that they came up from the 5th and 7th rank finally to the 3rd and 4th place . Zoltan Magyar (HUN) showed a triple twist on the floor but lost points at the rings (8.65) and the Polish Andrej Szajna lost his chances for a better place because of his pommel horse (8.15) and the

Nadia Comaneci

high bar (8.80). If Szajna could be more constant he would be easily one of the top gymnasts at the world, but every big international championship he made mistakes in one or two routines. From the West German team only Edgar Yorek with his 6th place could do well , but the compulsory still was not good enough . (Gienger did not feel quite good after the Mexican trip (before Montreal) so he did not compete in the optionals.) The USA sent a young team : Tom Weeden (21), Tom Beach (20) and Bart Conner (17), who got the 5th place in the optionals (55.15) but also with 52.40 in the compulsories not good enough for a better place. But nevertheless the good optional routines and to take part in the parallel bar and high bar final s was a big achievement for this

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young and hopeful American gymnast. Besides that he was a subst itute for the rings final as was teammate Tom Beach for the high bar final. The French gymnast Buerio with 54.90 was 6th in tre optionals but with 51.55 in the compulsories he only came in 11th place AA. The Canadians took part with 9 gymnasts. The best of them was Masaaki, a Canadian Japanese with the 12th place AA and parti c ipation in the ring final. The other Canadia n gymnasts had some ve ry good floor exercises and vau lts but Canada still did not have a good al l around man . Maybe the 17 year old Philip Delesalle, who was a big surprise in the pommel horse final, could be a hope for the coming yea rs (optiona ls 53.70). Keith Carter lost a better place in the compu lsori es but did pretty good 54.25 p. in the Optionals.

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Men Finals Floor Exercise: It looks li ke everybody is

trying to use a double back somersault in the first tumbling row and to finish his routine with a double twisting somersa ult. If the men would use music for their routines it would be much better. Some routines look good enough to be performed with music. Probably in 10 more years every man will perform his floor exercise to music. What do they wa it for?

Pommel Horse: The best routine to be seen in the finals was done by 17 year old Philip Delesalle / Canada. He got a 9.50. Detiatin / USSR was second best in the finals, but he won the final because Magyar / HUN missed his routine and Delesalles preliminary score was not high enough to win. Magyar tried to start his routine with an unusual move but he missed

Tsukahara doing Yz in Yz out as seen from the side.

it. He starts with circles on the en d and during doing the circles he turns around (half twist) and did circles in a backward position. He did this trick well in warm-ups.'

Rings: The two Japanese Tsukahara and Fujimoto showed good routines and both double somersault with full twist as dismount (half in ha lf out). Szajna came in third with his original dismount double front somersault. Detiatin did wide swings with straight arms exact into the handstand positions. He seemed to be a littl e underscored.

Vault: Some real nice va ults co uld be seen during the warm up section. But to make the finals or to get a medal depends on sta nding it up or not. Some vau Its are worth to remember : Szajna: handspring front somersault piked;

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PRE-OLYMPIC RESULTS MEN

All-Around 1. Tsukahara, M itsuo (JPN) 2. Fujimoto, Shun (JPN) 3. Detiatin, Alexander (URS) 4. Tikhonov, (URS) 5. Magyar, Zo ltan (HUN) 6. Jorek, Edgar (RFA) 7. Szajna, Andrzej (POL) 8. Molnar, Imre (HUN) 9. Donath, Ferenc (HUN)

10. Conner, Bart (USA) 11. Boerio, He nri (FRA) 12. Naosaki, Masaaki (CAN) 13. Beach, Tom (USA) 14. Pieczka, Marian (POL) 15. Weeden, Tom (USA) 16. Boutard, Miche l (FRA) 17. Cepoi, Sorim (ROM) 18. Koloko, (F RA ) 19. Steinmetz, Werner (RFA) 20. Delesalle, Philip (CAN) 21. Carter, Keith (CAN) 22. Luli, Dubi (ISA) 23. Oprescu, Nico lae (ROM) 24. Milanetto, Maurizio (ITA) 25. Delacasa, Juan (ESP) 26. Leclerc, Pierre (CAN) 27. Butler, Gle n (CAN) 28. Medd, Bruce (CAN) 29. Bertrand, Fernando (ESP) 30. Walstrom, Owe n (CAN) 31. Neale, Ian (GBR) 32. Mitruk, Steve (CAN)

C 55.50 55.75 53.95 53.65 54.25 53.60 54.15 53.70 53.15 52.40 51.55 52.55 52.30 51.25 50.65 51.20 49.65 49.55 50.70 49.70 49.05 49.70 50.95 49.75 49.55 49.55 47.55 47.25 47.95 46.45 46.80 45.75

o 57.45 56.75 56.50 55.75 54.85 54.85 54.10 54.20 54.70 55.15 54.90 53.05 53.25 54.20 53.70 52.95 54.35 54.00 52.75 53.70 54.25 54.40 51.60 52.40 52.20 51.55 53.15 52.50 50.45 51.30 50.90 51.75

Individual Events

Floor Exercise C&O Avg. Final 1. Tsukahara, Mit suo (JPN) 9.500 9.500 2. Fujimoto, Shun UPN ) 9.350 9.450 3. Szajna, Andrzej (POL) 9.300 9.450 4. Tikhonov, Wladimir (U RS) 9.250 9.350 5. Detiatin, Alexander (URS) 9.325 9.200 6. Magyar, Zoltan (HUN) 9.250 9.050

Pommel Horse C&O Avg. Final 1. Detiatin, Alexander (URS) 9.325 9.400 2. Delasalle, Philip (CAN) 9.125 9.500 3. Molnar, Im re (HUN) 9.200 9.350 4. Fujimoto, Shun (JPN) 9.200 9.300 5. Magyar, Zoltan (HUN) 9.400 9.050 6. Tsukahara, Mitsuo (JPN) 9.125 8.950

TOTAL 112.95 112.50 110.45 109.40 109.10 108.45 108.25 107.90 107.85 107.55 106.45 105.60 105.55 105.45 104.35 104.15 104.00 103.55 103.45 103.40 103.30 103.10 102.55 102.15 101.75 101.10 100.70 99.75 98.40 97.75 97.70 97.50

TOTAL 19.000 18.800 18.750 18.600 18.525 18.300

TOTAL 18.725 18.625 18.550 18.500 18.450 18.075

WOMEN All-Around C 1. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 38.10 2. Kim, Ne lli (URS) 37.90 3. Ungureanu, Teodora(ROM ) 37.55 4. Koval, Olga URS 37.40 5. Glebova, Anotn ia (URS) 36.90 6. Egervari, Marta (HUN) 36.85 7. Matulai, Zsuzsa (HUN) 36.55 8. Reed, Trish (USA) 36.40 9. Wohrle, Gisela (RFA) 36.35

10. Manville, Tammy (USA) 36.40 11. Keleman, Marta (HUN) 36.30 12. Muncey, Kelly (CAN) 36.40 13. Bieger, Andrea (RFA) 36.20 14. Knopova, Jana (TCH) 36.35 14. Cheshire, Denise (USA) 36.45 16. Kralova, Eva (TC H) 35.85 17. Arsenault, Lise (CAN) 35.90 18. Hironaka, Mi yuki (JPN) 35.70 19. McDonnell, Teresa (CAN) 36.10 20. McDonnell, Nancy (CAN) 36.10 21. Schubert, Traude (RFA) 35.70 22. Matraszek, Lucja (Pal) 35.55 23. Smolikova, Drahomira(TCH)36.10 24. Audin, Nad ine (FRA) 35.15 25. Murphy, Kathy (CAN) 35.45 26. Bucci, Stelani (ITA ) 34.70 27. Audin, Martine (FRA) 34.55 28. Seggiaro, Chan tal (FRA) 34.40 29. Van Ravenstijn, Jean (HaL) 34.45 30. Krawieczek, Judyta (PO L) 34.50 31. SI. Laurent, Sylvie (CAN) 34.45 32. De Keukeleire, Joe ll e (BEL) 34.30 33. Mayne, Tanya (CAN) 34.55 34. Broderick, Lisa (CAN) 34.60 J5. Lennox, Avril (GBR) 34.25 36. Peri, Rita (ITA) 33.35 37. Spongia, Va le ntina (ITA ) 34.00 38. Freres, Monique (BE L) 33.40 39. Kos, Joke (HaL) 33.45 40. Wilcox, Merr ie-E llen (CAN) 34.15 41 . Dulresne, Ginette (CAN) 33.30 42. Marcos, Elo isa (ES P) 33.55 43. Cabello, Eli sa (ESP) 33.15 44. Mendizabal, Susana (ESP) 33.15 45. Nilis, Rita (BE L) 32.95 46. Velema, Margo (HaL) 33.40

Individual Events

o TOTAL 38.75 76.85 38.60 76.50 37.95 75.50 37.00 74.40 37.30 74.20 37.20 74.05 37.30 73.85 37.25 73.65 37.25 73.60 37.00 73.40 37.05 73.35 36.80 73.20 36.90 73.10 36.25 72.60 36.15 72.60 36.50 72.35 36.25 72.15 36.40 72.10 35.95 72.05 35.30 71.40 35.65 71.35 35.60 71.15 34.85 70.95 35.70 70.85 35.30 70.75 35.30 70.00 35.40 69.95 35.50 69.90 35.40 69.85 35.30 69.80 35.25 69.70 35.30 69.60 34.30 68.85 33.80 68.40 34.05 68.30 34.85 68.20 34.15 68.15 34.40 67.80 34.05 67.50 32.85 67.00 33.55 66.85 33.20 66.75 33.20 66.00 · 32.85 66.00 32.90 65.85 31.35 64.75

Rings C&O Avg. Final TOTAL Vault C&O Avg. Finals TOTAL 1. Tsukahara, Mitsuo UPN) 9.675 9.500 19.175 1. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.500 9.600 19.100 2. Fujimoto, Shun UPN) 9.450 9.500 18.950 2. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 9.425 9.500 18.925 3. Szajna, Andrzej (POL) 9.375 9.500 18.875 2. Koval, Olga (URS) 9.425 9.500 18.925 4. Detiatin, Alexa nder (URS) 9.300 9.250 18.550 4. Reed, Trish (USA) 9.325 9.450 18.775 5. Naisaki, Masaaa ki (CAN) 9.225 9.150 18.375 5. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.325 9.350 18.675 6. Donath, Fe renc (HU N) 9.200 8.850 18.050 6. Egervari, Marti (HUN) 9.325 9.300 18.625

Milsuo Tsukahara Vault ______________________ ... 1. Szajna, And rzej (POL) C&O Avg.

9.175 9.125 9.250 9.350 8.975

Final TOTAL Uneven Parallel Bars C&O Avg. Final . TQTAL 9.425 18.600 1. Comaneci, Nad ia (ROM) 9.650 9.850 19.500

Fujimoto: Hand spr ing front somersa ult with half twist; Tsukahara who did in the optionals a roundoff back so mersa ult layo ut decided to forgo the finals.

Parallel Bars: Nothing rea lly exciting was to be seen . It seems to be possible to get a high score and to make the finals w ith a clean but normal routine. Everybody would like to see some new moves at the parallel bars! Some tricks : Szajna: He starts with a glide kip straddle back to a planche, stiff arms st iff body press to handstand.

High Bar: The Japa nese gym nasts dominated in front of the two young Russians who had good swing. Tsukahara showed aga in his dismount double somersau lt with full twist (half in hal f out) .

GYMNAST Sept. '75

2. Magyar, Zoltan (HUN) 3. Jorek, Edgar (RFA) 4. Fujimoto, Mitsuo (JPN) 5. Boutard, Michel (FR A) 6. Walstrom, Owen (CAN) 9.00

Parallel Bars C&O Avg. 1. Tsukahara, Mitsuo (JPN) 9.575 2. Fujimoto, Shun (JPN) 9.500 3. Conner, Bart (USA) 9.350 4. Jorek, Edgar (RFA) 9.375 4. Molnar, Imre (HUN) 9.325 6. Szajna, Andrzej (POL) 9.300

Horizontal Bar C&O Avg. 1. Tsukahara, Mitsuo (JPN) 9.575 2. Fujimoto, Shun (JPN) 9.400 3. Detiatin, Alexander (U RS) 9.400 4. Tikhonov, Wladimir (U RS) 9.400 5. Conner, Bart (USA) 9.125 6. Magyar, Zo ltan (HU N) 9.075

9.300 18.425 2. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.500 9.750 19.250 9.125 18.375 3. Egervari, Marta (HUN) 9.475 9.550 19.025 8.875 18.225 4. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.425 9.550 18.975 8.275 17.250 5. Matula, Zsuzsa (HUN) 9.400 9.400 18.800 8.075 17.075 6. Bieger, Andrea (RFA) 9.375 9.400 18.775

Final TOTAL Balance Beam C&O Av&. Final TOTAL 9.650 19.225 1. Kim, Ne lli (URS) 9.550 9.600 19.150 9.500 19.000 2. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.525 9.600 19.125 9.350 18.700 3. Comaneci, Nad ia (ROM) 9.675 9.100 18.775 9.250 18.625 4. Manville, Tammy (USA) 9.325 9.400 18.725 9.300 18.625 5. Koval, Olga (URS) 9.425 9.200 18.625 9.250 18.550 6. Knopova, Jana (TCH) 9.250 9.100 18.350

Final TOTAL Floor Exercise C&O Avg. Final TOTAL 9.700 19.275 1. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.700 9.800 19.500 9.600 19.000 2. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 9.675 9.800 19.475 9.550 18.950 3. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.475 9.550 19.125 9.400 18.800 4. Matulai, Zs uzsa (HUN) 9.400 9.500 18.900 9.100 18.225 5. Glebova, Antonina (URS) 9.350 9.350 18.700 9.050 18.125 6. Koval, Olga (URS) 9.500 8.700 18.200

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Page 28: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

THE USGF WOMEN'S PAN AMERICAN TEAM TRIALS August 8-9, 1975

Miami Jai Alai Fronton - Miami, Florida Report and Photos by Tom Wakeling

The women 's Pan American team tr ia ls were carried out through the thoughtful e fforts and direction of Bruce Davis. Many people -gymnasts, coaches, judges, the press and spectators alike - owe a vote of gratitude to this man. He worked hard to satisfy the needs and wishes of each group.

The trials were scheduled as a double meet in that, of the two day period sixteen events had to be comp leted . All sixteen scores were then totaled and their sum determined the outcome. The top six gymnasts and two a lternates wi ll represent the United States at the VII Pan American Games in Mexico City this October. (The first nine finishers were invited to ahend the Pan Am training camp in Reno.)

Twenty-four girls actua ll y qualified for these trials but four of them, for their own reaso ns, did not part icipate. Those who were missed are Jeanette Anderso n, Den ise Cheshire, Nancy Thies and lody Yocum. The competitors were divided into two equa l groups, (as were the judges). Two events ran simu lta neously - Beam with Vault fol lowed by Bars and Free Ex.

COMPULSORIES Durin g the first day the gymnasts treated the compulsories noti ca bly

with caution, play ing it safe by pe rforming the routines in a rather low

28

key fashion (particu larly on beam). But what should be known is ihat it was their first competitive experience using the Pan Am cOlT)pulsories. At the second day 's compulsory eva luation the overall performance quality had greatly im proved . This increase in their leve l of execution ~an perhaps be attributed to the probability that the gymnasts were more confident as a result of the first days experience, or perhaps some may have believed that it was necessary to perform with the UTMOST of their capabil iti es if they hoped to make the cut. Whatever the encouragement it proved worthwhi le ... especia lly for e ight or nine gymnasts . Beam:

The scores that were awarded during the second day compu lsory session were for th e most part higher than those evaluations of the first. This could have resu lted from an added input by the gymnasts to extend themse lves by execut in g the e lements mainly wit h greater amplitude and cha racter. Averaging the two days scores, Kathy Howard 's averages out as a 9.425 (9.35 & 9.50) which is followed by Diane Dunbar's 9.375 (9.35 & 9.40) . What we have done here, as we have throughout th e rest of this report, is to average the scores from the first session with those awarded at the second in orde r to perhaps more accurately eva luate th e performance level and co nsistency. Vault:

The compulsory va ult (s traddle - coming in at horizontal) would appear to many, to be sure, a relatively simple va ult. But in actuality its

Text con't. on pg. 37

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 29: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Kathy Howard 29

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~~~~~ .................................................. ~~~ .............. ~ ................ ~ .... ________________ ~~~_ '~1~ ~ ..• ___ ._ ~ :_~: ~ _ \

Page 31: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Debbie Wilcox GYMNAST Sept. '75

Roxanne Pierce

Pan Am Team - Manager Grete Treiber; Team members: Ann Carr , Diane Dunbar, Kathy Howard, Kolleen Casey, Debbie Wilcox , Roxanne Pierce, Trish Reed and kneeling the Coach,Dale Flansaas.

Page 32: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

36 J eanne Be adle GYMNAST Sept. '75 Ta mmy Ma nvill e

Page 33: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Ann Carr

requirements for a sa tisfactory score is rather demanding. To sustain a preflight of enough distance while maintaining a horizonta l is not a ll to convenient for the gymnast (o r coach). And from that point the judges are looking for high repulsion in the straddle position supplimented by a good and LONG afterflight. All these requirements needed to be me t at an elite leve l. Not a ll though mastered it as well as others. Straddling an encouraging 9.65 the first day was Debbie Wilcox, the high est scoring vaulter at th e trials. Debb.ie's second day vau lt of 9.55 gives her a compulsory va ultin g average of 9.60. The nearest score was that of Diane Dunbar (9.4 ave.) followed by Trish Reed's (9.35 ave.). Floor:

Kathy Howard executed the compulsory with an e lequent style with which she averaged a 9.55 . The crowd " turned on" to Kathy during the second day as she e nte rtained the audience quite effective ly with a compulsory - a Pan Am compu lsory! She was alive and one could sense that she loved what she was doing. The people liked seeing that. So did the judges (9.65 that day). And the next perfo rman ce following Kathy's was that of Carri e Eng lert, he rself displaying just how mages tic a compulsory ca n be. Bars:

What was particul a rl y amazing was Roxanne Pierce 's compu lsory bars. She demo nstrated grea t se nse of rhythm as she worked them straight forward with smooth and sound precision . She compiled an average score of 9.50. Following Roxanne was the dynami c Debbie Wilcox averaging a 9.45.

OPTIONALS Many gi ri s proved a spetia l ability during the optiona l sessions

displaying or igina lity, diff icult):, courage, sk ill and personality. For example would be Roxanne Pierce, she worked he r se lf choreographed floor exe rcise to the tunes of West Sid e Story. It was fabulous .how she cou ld te ll a story with a ll its emotional content so beautifully throu gh a gymnast ic eve nt. Other ex.amp les would be: nicely executed Tsuka haras or handspring fulls, a front o n beam or an immaculate bar e ffort. Th e gymnasts let go and showed, to a ll those who witnessed the meet, tha t they are first rate athletes and art ists. Vault:

Trish Reed , De bbi e Wilcox, Ann Carr and Kolleen Casey were inte nt on displaying the ir fine vaulting capabilities, and judging by th e scores awarded and by the crowd 's reaction, they succeeded . Tris h ca me in with Tsuka haras- tu cked (9.45 & 9.5) ave raging 9.475, Debbie with roundoff piked backs (9 .45 ave.), Ann with a cartwheell V2 p ike d (9 .45 ave.) and Koll ee n with some incredible handspring fulls (9.4 & 9.35) for a 9.375 average. Beam:

Kathy Howard 's bea m was characterized by good amplitude and sure form which the judges fe lt wo rthy of the 9.525 ave. (9.45 & 9.60). Ann Carr was not all too fa r behind with a strong and prec ise routine which included a back on. Cons iste nt high performances were characte ri sti c of Beam. Dunbar ea rned a 9.425 ave. and some indi vidual singl e performances we might mention were those performed by Su sa n

CYMNAST Sept. '75

Archer and Tami Manvill e. Donna johnson scored a 9.45 at th e first n ight 's optionals and at the second optio na l meeting she appeared to be on her way toward another such score. She was exce ll e nt on b ea m but to the amazement of th e c rowd she scored 9.3 . However th ey did not real ize that she ran he r routine two seconds short which cost he r a .10 deduction . Another 9.4 it co uld have been . Another e lement worth a mention is Wilcox's fro nt on to an immediate front off - tremendous! Floor:

Ann Carr is a " hot" tumbler with g reat amplitude and that tale nt coupled with he r nice ly designed free exercise pu ll e d a 9.50 and this averaged with he r seco nd night's 9.60 gives her a relative ly impressive 9.55. Howard graced th e floor for a 9.45 ave. Compi lin g the sa me average score was the ve ry ta le nted Tami Manville. jeanne Beadle showed what I beliexed to be one of the brightest and personable routines of the tria ls. She designed it, for the most part, herse lf. Very well done. She ea rn ed a 9.5 with it for her second night effort. Bars:

Leslie Wolfsburge r swun g a 9.50 point average with her bar ro utin e. She seems to have comp lete control of those rails promoting her rhythm, ski ll and knowledge of technique. Dunbar was Les li e 's threat as Dian e manu ve red a prove n and polished routine also for a 9.50 ave. Wilcox certa inly has herse lf together when it comes to bars (a nd vaulting). She is part icularly strong on the eve nt which is proven b y her average score of 9.475 (9.45 & 9.50).

Ann <::arr fin ished with the highest AA total of 149.85. She did it with solid consistency resulting from so lid ability. Ann is an a ll-a rounder, and that my friend s, is the name of the game . She always looked good and I am sure she will in M ex ico City. We can be proud of her. As we should with each member of the United States Pan Ameri can Nationa l Team. Speaking of pride, we sho uld have it with al l our gymnasts - they deserve it. Th ey worked hard to earn it. An introduction of the Nationa l Team : TEAM: Ann Carr, Di ane Dunbar, Kathy Howard, Kolleen Casey, De bbie Wilcox, and Roxa nne Pierce. ALTERNATES : Trish Reed, jea nne Beadle and Tam i Manville COACH : Dal e Flansaas MANAGER: Grete Treiber Best Wishes to the m a ll.

RESULTS PAN-AMERICAN GAMES TEAM TRIALS

WOMEN FINALS

Prelim C&O FINAL V UPB BB FX Total Totals TOTAL

1. Ann Carr C 9.15 9.35 9.10 9.300 36.900 0 9.30 9.40 9.45 9.500 37.650 74.550

M a nnettes C 9.10 9.35 9.35 9.400 37.200 0 9.60 9.40 9.50 9.600 38.100 75.300 149.850

2. Dia ne Dunbar 9.45 9.30 9.35 9.300 37.400 9.15 9.45 9.35 9.000 36.950 74.350

Diablo Gym Club 9.35 9.40 9.40 9.250 37.400 9.35 9.55 9.50 9.300 37.700 75.100 149.450

3. Kathy Howard 9.15 9.10 9.35 9.450 37.050 9.15 8.85 9.45 9.400 36.850 73.900

Okla . Twist ers 9.20 9.55 9.50 9.650 37.900 9.10 9.25 9.60 9.500 37.450 75.350 149.250

4. Kolleen Casey 9.35 9.30 9.00 9.100 36.750 9.40 9.30 9.10 9.200 37.000 73.750

St. Pau l Turne rs 9.20 9.40 9.30 9.400 37.300 9.35 9.40 9.30 9.300 37.350 74.650 148.400

5. Debbie Wilcox 9.65 9.40 8.90 9.000 36.950 9.50 9.45 8.75 9.050 36.750 73.700

Flye rs Gym LTD 9.55 9.50 9.00 9.050 37.100 9.40 9.50 9.15 9.400 37.450 74.550 148.250

6. Roxa nne Pierce 9.20 9.45 9.25 9.200 37.100 8.90 9.35 8.80 9.300 36.350 73.450

M a nn e tt es 9.35 9.55 9.30 9.300 37.500 9.25 9.30 9.25 9.300 37.1QO 74.600 148.050

7. Trish Reed 9.40 9.10 9.00 9.000 36.500 9.50 9.25 9.30 8.950 37.000 73.500

De nver Sch. Gym 9.30 9.20 9.15 9.250 36.900 9.45 9.40 9.40 9.350 37.600 74.500 148.000

8. jeanne Beadle 9.10 9.25 9.30 9.300 36.950 9.10 9.10 9.15 9.200 36.550 73.500

Unatt. 8.90 9.25 9.30 9.350 36.800 9.15 9.20 9.30 9.500 . 37.150 73.950 147.450

Additional Competitors Tammy Manvill e (Ar iz. Tw iste rs) 147.250; Leslie Wolfsberger (SCATS) 146.850; Donna Jo hnso n (M iss iss ippi) 146.500; Susa n Arc he r (K IPS) 146.200; Jan Ahten (Seatt le Gym Clu b) 145.550; Barbie Myslak (So. Conn. Gym Club) 145.500; Cat hy Shotwe ll (Gymmi a mi) 145.000; Ca rrie Englert (O r. Acad. of Gym) 144.825; Donna Pa yto n (Loui sv ill e Sch. Gym) 144.600; Pauline Litowsky (Mississipp i) 144.200; Ga le Wycoff (SCA TS ) 142.750; Jan Anthony (Ma nnettes) 52.000 (Ian Anthony compe ted only in th e first nights compulsories and optionals, then scratched due to illness.

37

Page 34: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

SIDE OF GYMNASTICS By Sunny Magdaug

Note: A few days ago, I le ft Berlin and arrived at Cologne in West Germany. I began writing this column on a Thursday morning while I was waiting lor some friend s to meet me at the train station. However, since I have several hours to wait, I found a spot under the tree near Cologne's famous Gothic Cathedral and while ove rlooking the Rhine River, I wrote.

It was ju st my luck, the day before th e Gynlllaes t rada , to rUl l int o China's Gymn asti c Assoc iati o n De legat io n. Tho ugh th ere were no gymnas ts rep resentin g China, the Delega ti o n was there obse rving gymnast ics.

De lega tion mem ber and interpreter, Chen Fay was ve ry helpful in exp laining the functions of th eir associatio n in promo tin g gymnast ics in China.

The Ch ina Gym nas tic Assoc iati o n started in 1952. Eve ry fo ur yea rs i t is reo rganized and a new president e lected. It is d ivided in to six ma in d ivisio ns: admin is trati o n ; refe ree; gymnast training; co nt es t ; intern ati o nal re lat io lls; and news bureau .

'I he Associat io n p romo tes gymnast ics o n all levels of C hina's schoo l system and encou rages gro u p gymnast ics as we ll as ind iv id ual gy mnast ics. D uri ng su mmer and w inter vaca ti ons th ere are sem inars fo r gymn as t and re leree tra il l ill g; they have nati o nal gym nas ti c champio nshi ps and are now encourag ing th e fo rma ti o n of littl e league groups.

Th ey hope tha t by pro mo tin g gymnast ics from eleme ntary sc hoo ls and up th at eve ryo ne w ill k now gym nas tics. Th ey think th at it is a good spo rt all d wou ld like to have eve ryo ne in the ir co untry do it.

China's top man gymnas t is Lin -Den-Yu and th eir top wo man gymnas t is She-Hui- Fong.

China's Spor tsday w ill be he ld Septem ber 9t h where there w ill be gymnast ic exhi b iti o ns.

Inte rview with Nippon leader Prof. H. Suzuki

H. ~u z uki is the lea d er of th e wo rl d fa mo us N IPPON Mell 's U ni vers it y Gymnast ic C lu b o f Koku shika n Uni ve rsit y, To kyo, as we ll as a p rofesso r of p h Ys ica l ed uca tio n at th e uni ve rsit y.

Suzuk i has been a teacher o f gymnas ti cs for 30 years at Tokyo Educa ti o nal Uni vers it y. Belore com ing to Kok ushi ka n U ni versi ty, he taught at Na ti o nal Tukulea U ni vers it y. He is also a teacher of sw imming in the sum me r and sk iillg i ll the w int er. He lik es to sk i o n Mt. Zao­Yamaga ta, w h ich is ve ry famous in japan becau se i t has ve ry ni ce scenery in th e w inter.

Wit h all d w ithou t the aid of an interp reter I was able to conduct an interv iew w ith Suzuk i d uring IUl lCh t ime by a huge bea utiful garden

38

Gymnae strada Berlin 1975

o n the prem ises of th e G ymnaest rada . Lu ck il y, he is able to read alld w rit e English and th o ugh it was slow we were ab le to co mm unica te w ith pen and paper. However, a littl e later Seij i Nagase, fo rme r j apanese gymn as t, in terp reter and gym nast ic in st ructor in Cologne, he lped me fini sh my int erview w ith Suzuk i.

But befo re I conducted m y il ite rview, I co uld not help wa tch ing Slj zu ki 's fascinat io n w ith all the people arou nd him . He was filming and tak in g pi ct u res of all the peop le. I was just lasc inated wa tching hi m.

As I interviewed Suzu ki , he exp lai ned that in japa n th e boys start gym nas ti cs at age six o r seven. Du r ing sc hoo l they mu st have three ho urs of required gy mn as ti c lessons. A nd aft er sc hoo l whe ll there is rec rea ti o n for all spo rt s, the training of gymnas ts is in cl uded in th e recrea ti o n prog ram. Though japan does no t have any p ri va te gym nas tic c lubs o r gro ups, th e sys tem of gym nast ics in the schools is very good.

There are th ree reaso ns why th e japanese contai n some of th e best gymn as ts and best gymnas ti cs techlli q ues in th e wo rl d. Fi rst of all , they have be tt er body proport io n that ma kes ,it possib le to do d iff icult moves. The seco nd reaSO ll being all owing mo re trai ning ti me to th e gy mn as tic spo rt and thi rd being th ei r p hil osophy of gy mn as ti cs and it s re lati ollShip to bodY and to sp ir it. Th e way th ey relate to gymnas ti cs is by thin k in g o f gymn astics and lee ling gym nas ti cs.

Gymn ast ics in japa n has been a pa rt o f li fe fo r th e people many, man y Yea rs. Fo r exam ple, it is a custo m fo r yo ung and o ld ali ke to do " morning gym nast ics" eve ry si ngle mo rnin g.

W hell I asked Suz uki how the habits of gy mn as ti cs re late to j apa nese customs and eve ryday li fe, he b roke ou t into a big d iscuss io n wit h Se ij i and some of the N IPPON team mem bers. How I w ished to u nderstand th e Japa nese lang uage. I co uld have w ri tte n at leas t 10 more pages o n that subjec t alo ne.

1 hey talked about the ir gymnast ics w ith vigo ro us energy . Though I co uld n 't comprehend exact ly what th ey were say in g, I could lee l the d ep th of th eir mea ning of gymllas ti cs. It does no t m att er th at Seiji ca nnot tra nslate w hat Suzuki says abou t habi ts of gym lldsti cs ill re lati o n to th eir eve ryday li fe and culture. The fee ling is what is import an t. And i f Olle co uld have felt that fee ling then there sho uld n 't be need fo r words.

Alte r the ill'terview and before leav ing, ~ u zu k i took the littl e mon key he had ti ed o n to his gear bag and tied it o n to my came ra bag . 1 hat was very ni ce of hi m and now I have a lit tl e compa ni o n to trave l thro ugh Eu rope wi th me.

Nippon Me n's Gymnastic University Club, Kokushikan

Vigoro usly w ri t ill g away at the Deutsche ~porteschu l e (German Spo r ts Schoo l) in Colog lle, w here I am stay in g, I am tem p ted to go jOgg il lg, swim m ing, p lay tenni s or wo rk o ut in the gym . But here I must stay g lued to m ysea t a IllI w rit e. Anyway, fo r the past co up le of days d ur ing m y stay here I have gone to th e lake, parti ed all d goofed off a b it. The peop le at the ~port esc h u l e have been grea t and I 've enjoyed std yin g he re w ith th em .

I was lucky eno ugh to ta lk w ith Sei j i, here at ihe Sporteschule and he gave me som e mo re backg rouilli o n th e competi tio n group gym nasti cs performed by j apan at th e Gym naes trada.

It was th e f irst tim e in mo re than thirt y yea rs that j apa n has ex hi b it ed gro up gymnas ti c competiti o n exercises o ut side th eir country un til th e Gynlllaestrada in Ber lin . Du r in g th e 1936 O lym p ics was th e las t tim e j apa n pe r lormed competi ti o n gro up gymnasti cs o n dn i ll ternat lo lla l leve l. Prese n tly, j apa n ho lds nati o nal compe tit io llS in gro up gym nas ti cs and th eir lederation would lik e to see i t come back as an int e rnat io nal com pet iti o n eve nt.

As yo u might have guessed, co m pet iti o n group gym nasti cs is no t new. It o ri g inated in GerllldllY <lIld was pro mo ted by Hitler beca use he li ked to see beauti ful movement o f peopl e toge ther. O illy afte r WWII it was discont i nued as a competitio ll eve lll in gymnast ics beca use th e res t of t he wo rld would have been re minded 0 1 th e Naz is. j apa n, howeve r, has continued it in it s o ri g inal fo rm .and has deve luped it in to one of the most bea uti f ul art lorms in gY ln ndsti cs, today .

Sei ji sa id th at in j apan, th e yo ung boys li ke group gy mn as ti cs bett er than compe titi o n gymn as ti cs o n th e six eve nt s. In a gro up th ere are six mem bers w ho must do free exe rcise toget her in th ree o r three and a half min utes . In that tim e they inc lude apparatus in th eir ra utill e like j u mp ropes, sti cks and keuls (s haped like a bo ttl e w ith a lo ng skinn y neck). 'I hey alsa inc lude free-exe rcise w itho u t appa'rdtus ill th eir routines.

In judging competiti o n group gymnas ti cs, there die two di ffe re llt se ts of judges and fo ur judges ill eac h set. O ne set of judges eva luates .o nl y th e cho reog raphy of the gro up and th e o th er se t of judges eva luate o nl y the di ffi culty dnd .o ri g inalit y of the ro u ti nes. The hi ghest pass ib le po in ts a gra up <;a n ea rn is 60 po int s to tal inc luding pa ill ts o bt ain ed by th e four ind ivid ual ca m petit ors w ithin the group.

I ,1 m thall k lul to 5e iji fo r all his help and for hi s ca nce n l about mak ing sure I get all th e inl a rmati o n I need. Incidentl y, w hil e I was wr it ing my great essays he came wa lking in th e roam w ith a top japa nese r ing man. How m any p laces in the wo rl d d oes th at usually happen -dnd in Europe at that! Not to ment io n hav in g a ~wed ish gymn as ti c champ io n wa it ing o ne al te rllaon , allli I m issed hi m beca use I fe ll dsleep. Lu ck il y, I met him the nex t day at a Ju nio r Champ ia nshi p mee t be twee n Norway and Live rkuse n, a loca l Germa n gymnas ti c cl ub in a neighborin g town .

Well , al ter m y stay in the Sporteschule in Ca l ag I H~ , in a d ay or twa, I w ill p roceed to ~ra n kl urt alld then to Sca nd inavia. I ca n 't wa it ta ga ta th e gy mn as tic ca m ps in No rway and ~wede ll beca use I hea r the cou ntry is bea utiful in that pa rt .01 th e wo rld.

As ya ur repo rt er-at- Iarge, trave ling the tracks and streams of Europe - Later!

SUNNY

GYMNAST Sept. '75

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Ballet ... ::~:.~ Ci mnl~(icr

Grace Kaywell ~JOHNSTOWN

PITTSTOP

0-o :T

~ o ~ ~

Readers ha ve asked why I am now living in Johnstown, Pennsy lva nia instead of Palm Beach, Florida. How cou ld I give up the ocean and palm trees for ice and snow? Th e answer is simple. M y children are all grown and I do not need a fi ve-bedroom house. I was offered a position at th e University of Pittsburg at Jo hnstown as P.E. Dance teacher and Ballet Coach for th e Panthers Gym Tea m. Our Head Coach is Ernie Fetze r, a remarkabl y talented young man, so don't be surpri sed if you hea r that the Panthers make gymnas ti c news. Ernie is young and strong and handsome, girl s" . and he really can get yo u to do most anything on those bars without fear beca use he creates confidence and spots 50 well. This is the first year the UPJ will have a Gym Tea m and our

. c lasses begin September 2nd. Ernie Fetze r is also Head Coach for th e

Johnstown Turn ers Gym Tea m. Di ck Rigby is there, too. He is th e founding Coach and has been teachin g for some 15 yea rs. Yours truly is there, also, as Ball et Coach. Ilaving worked with Ernie for severa l months, yo u do n' t have to take my word for it that he is a great coach. His gi rl s, the Johnstown Turners, won the team trophy for th e Acti ve Ladies Upper (Advanced) Division at the National Turnfest in St. Lou is, Mo. , June 24-29th! Out of 400 contestants Lynn Port ze r placed 4ih all-around, Ca th y Drosjack, 7th, Beverl y Drosjack, 8th , and Stephanie Matolyak, 10th. In the Junior Girls (14-17) Middle Divi sion , our girl Tammy Rishell, 14, won the all-around!

It was a fun M eet and 51. Louis was a great place to visit. The Concordia Turne rs were great hosts, and as usual I kept running into o ld friends. Jim Farkas of th e Milwaukee Turners looked younger than ever, which says a lot for gymnastics. Jim was a pioneer for the

GRACE NOTES From The Pitt At Johnstown

Readers have written in and asked me to describe some "connecting" ballet or dance steps for their free exercise or beam routine_In this issue we have chose the Sissone.

This step ge t ~ it s naille Irom th e dance r who 'made it up. 1 here Me mdny different kinds o f 's issones as the gynHIJst springs into th e air either 10rwMd ~, sideways, or ba ckwards, and s imultan ed u ~ l y pushes hilllse lf away from one leg, which he stretch es after him . Th e legs ma y bea t befo re opening. and as he lands th e raised leg quickly c l o~e~ to the other , givin g a subtle impress ion o f ~y n copa t ion.

Illustrated i ~ th e s i s~om~ to th e back (fe rme) closed. Sta lld in tlw filth positi on , p li e and spring backward into tlw air. at th e same tim e raising the Iro llt leg as high as poss ibl e, pointing both leet alld straightening both legs.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Federa tion , writing o ur first Age-G ro up Gymnastics Workbook for th e USGF, wh ich was a much-needed aid at th e time.

Watch the cl imb of St ephanie Matolyak. She is a Freshman at Pitt and a member of our Panthers Gym Team. I took her to Palm Beach this May to work out w ith Kim Chase, who was on our Ol ym pi c Team competin g in Munich. Kim is hard at it , trying to get ready for th e Ol ympic trial s to make the Tea m aga in and compete in Cana da. The Cha se family have a large gymnastic schoo l in Ri vie ra Beach, Florida and helped our Steph ie ve ry Illuch. Up to her competition in th e adva nced division, Stephie was compet ing only in th e Middle Di vision. Thanks, Kim, and good luck!

The Johnstown Turners girls gymnastics team won the national championship in the senior (ages 18-30) upper grade June 26-29 in the national Turnfest at St. louis, Mo. Awards were given to the top 10 gymnasts and their points counte the team champ­ionship. the champs and their placings are shown: Front row, left to right - Beverly Drosjack,8; and Kathy Drosjack, 7; back row - Stephanie Matolyak, lOth; lynn Portzer , 4th; Robin Bost, lIth , and Tammi Rishell , first in the junior girls (ages 14-17) middle grade all-around. In the center is coach Dick Rigby. Missing from the photo are Nancy Petrosky, 12th place senior girls , and coaches Ernie Fetzer a nd Grace Kaywell .

~ CT ' c ~

'" o '" 3

~ " :T o o

Johnstown Turners' Gymnastic Team - 1975. Back Row: Stephanie Matolyak , Bev Drosjack, Cathy Weissburg , Mindy Singer, Tammy Rishell , Tammy Rigby and Dena Horner. Front Row: Chris Gartland, Patti Rice , Kathy Klug , Patty Ritter , Debbie lambert , Carolyn Cassanese, Peggy Burns, Mary lou North. Absent: Chris Murphy, Nancy Petrosky, Kris Piljay , lynn Portzer, Robin Stevens and Kathy Drosjack.

2 3

A good arm po~ iti o ll would be th e ballet third. the sam e Mm to th e side as th e raised leg , the o th er ann ov('rh ead . 1 he head may remain erect and lorward or illCline it to th e side. Land so ltl y all th £' bdCk loo t . Illdkill g sure to land firml y ill th e d C'mi-pli e (toes to uch lirst . th eli th e ball ~ 01 th e 1('C' t dlHI th t' 11 th e heels pressed

lirllll y into th e 11001'. ) 1 here should be 110 so und as th e demi-pli e " cu ~ h i on s" the bod y. See that your bod y does 1I0t bl'lId 10rw,lI'd ur bredk in th e middle a ~ you (o n1<' dOWIl. Keep .I good li ft ou t 01 th e hip~ dl ld the rib .. . w ithout hUll chin g s h o uld e r~ .

39

Page 36: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

. 1975-76 NATIONAL FEDERATION BOYS GYMNASTIC

RULES

. tohstantly striving to provide equitable, safe ~ri~ stable rules the National Federation Boys Gyrtlnastics Rules Committee recently revised the rule book. .: In an effort to make the book more useable, the event requirements have been clarified (not changed) - they are now "spelled" out as ;i,b;c, - - - etc. . Additional activities of the rules committee involved the development of a new officials bam, an official score sheet and the establishment of an Early Season' Questions iiyer. The latter item is an attempt to help judg~ s and coaches interpret the rules more elfedively. A situation is stated and then a fuiin,g made.

Qf special concern to the committee is the re~eht development of equ ipment that does npi meet the specifications or has not been approved by the NFSHSA. As a result of the concern the committee has established a d iirinite policy for the adoption or alteration of the pfesent specifications. Said policy has been fbrwiird ed to all concerned parties. It is recommended that all high schools purchasing pew equipment review the rule book to make certain that their purchases have the NFSHSA approval or meet the NFSHSA specifications.

Some of the rule changes made are: . :1; Judges are to flash their scores ~ iihllitaneously and the head judge is to sign the officia l score sheet.

4. When vaulting lines are to be placed on ihe·f1oor marking the position of the long horse ~ritl to indicate the 4/4 and 5/ 4 vault ing distances.

3. NissHyde as a synethetic leather has been ~ pproved for use. ; 4: The specifications for the length of the horizon tal bar have been raised to 100-7/ 16" pius br minus Y/' and the height for the parallel bd-(s has been raised to 68-15/ 16'': plus or minus 3/ 16" : .· 5: On the trampoline, touching anything tither than th e bed will now be treated like bihd events. The deduction wil l be relative to the . skill performed. Addit ional items were atl.ded to help in judging trampoline.

Fina ll y, the rules committee recommends tha t all sc hool s, where possible, compete in the reserve level and use the USGF compulsory routines.

40

NEW APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY

By O.J. Kudrnovsky

From the very beginning of the entry of gymnastics on the American scene, we are plagued with a mess of hodge-podge terms, describing the app (apparatus) xx (exercises). And ever since, this situation is not improving any, in fact it is growing worse . Through numerous new gymnastics books and publications, and through constantly increasin g gymnastic competition, especially on the international level, a multitude of obsolete, no order, no system terms are creeping in our daily use. You can open any of these books, and at once, you are confronted with terms like "Czechwende", "Streuli", "Braglio", "Carmanuci", and a dozen of different kinds of " Moores", and others and others, one thousand and one such "nothing to go on" terms.

To counteract this unsound trend, I have worked out a uniform standardized terminology of the app. xx .

This new terminology is based on Dr. Miroslav Tyrs' monumental scientific study. (Dr. Tyrs was the founder of Sokols.) In this work Tyrs analyzed the entire scope of the app. exx. from the standpoint of physical laws of human body, its spatial patterns and kinetics . Through such procedure he found similarities, relations, common characteristics and other data of the app. xx. In accordance with these findings , - he established definite criteria to define, identify and categorize any app. x or movement.

The counterpart of the original terms in this new proposed terminology were carefully selected from a great variety of existing and already Widely known English terms.

For space limitation on these pages, only the main classes, subc lasses and a few examples of "stem-xx" are included, in the Terminology Table. For the same reason all definitions except the one of the I. Class are omitted .

All app. xx are arranged in five classes, subclasses, orders and suborders. Note: For space limitation on these pages, only the main classes, subc lasses and a few stem-xx are listed on the terminology table . For the same reason, all definitions, except the one of the I. Class, are omitted .

Terminology Table: I. Class - Statics : Basic x pos (positions). Hang

is a pos in whic h the perf (performer) hangs on the app by high or low limbs, singly or in combination by both. The perl's shoulder axis is below the app axis. The hang is sustained chiefly by the flexor muscle groups.

A.l . Free hang. 2. Combined hang. 3. Hang isometrics.

B. Support = a position in which the perf is upheld on the app by his arms, chief ly by the extensor mu scle groups . His shoulder axis is even or above the app ax is.

B.l. Free support. 2. Combined support. 3. Support isom e trics, ba lances.

C. Sitting pos = are maintained by resting on one or both thighs. The body weight rest wholly on one or both thighs .

Cl. Fore-seat. 2. Straddle seat. II. Class - Linear, curvilinear and circumrotary movements:

A.l. Hand trave l. 2. Hand climbing. 3. Step climbing

B.l. Body pendulum swing. 2. Flying swing C. Longitudinal body axis turns, facings.

III. Class - A. Ascending, + B. Descending movements.

A.l. To app emplacement. 2. Rise from full to fractional hang and from fracitonal full support. 3.a . Hip circ le uprise. b. Seat circle uprise . 4.a. Pull upruse. b . short swing uprise . c. Kip uprise. d . Back swing uprise . e. Fore swing uprise . f. T -hang uprise . g . Flag lever uprise.

B.l. Displacement from the app. 2. Lower from fractional hang to full hang and from full to fractional support. 3. Lower from support to hang . 4. Drop from support to hang. 5. Castoff from support to hang, or from higher support to lower support. IV. Class - Rotary movements around the transverse axis of the body.

A. In-or out locate. B. Body rolls. C. Body springs. D. flips. E. Body circles. V. Class - Circulatory leg movements on the diagonally side-fore-back-upward path, and angular-linear body movements.

A.l. Fractional leg c irc les. 2. Full leg circles. 3 . Scissors. 4. Transfer circ les. 5. Transfer-turn circles.

B. Vaults

Manner of the Terminology Interpretation. By using the following formula; Stem-x +

Basic-x pos = Mode/ Modes; which is a combination of stem-xx in al l classes and basic­xx, and variety of modes, used as denominators, modifiers, all possible and impossible app xx can be formulated.

Note: To save time, effort and print, a system of Tss (term short script) and T'not (terminotation) has been developed. This abbreviated system may at first seem too difficult, but after working with it for a while, it becomes a second nature . Why T'not? To anable any person without a special drawing skill to record any x; to facilitate markings of even the most comp li cated x in the most economical way; to standardize various methods of nomenclating physical activities, and finally to preclude the language barriers.

APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY

TERMI NOTATION

I. Class - A.l. Hang: hg. 2. Hand-knee hang : Hnd-kn-hg. 3. Hg fr't lev.

B.l . Support: Spt. 2. Front lying support: Fr't Ig spt. 3. L-support: L-spt.

C.l. Fore seat: For s't. 2. Straddle seat: Strdl s't. II. Class - A.l . Hand travel: Hnd trav. 2. Hand climb: Hnd cli . 3. Step climb: stp c1i.

B.l. Fore-swing: For-sw. 2. Back-swing: B'k­sW. 3. Prep sw ing: Prep-sw. 4. Short swing: Sh't SW. 5. Under-swing: Un-sw.

C.l. 'Is turn : '1s t. 2. v.. turn: Y4t. 3. '12 turn : '12 t. 4. 3,1.0 turn: 314t. 5. 1/ 1 turn: 1/ 1 t. 6.1&Ya turn plus: l&Ya+. Ill.Class - A.1.a. Jump to pos: I'm to pos. b. Mount to seat: M 'nt to s't.

2.a. Pull up to bent-arm hang : P'l to b't-a hg. B. Press to support: Pr's to spt.

3.a. Hip-circle uprise : Hip c'cl uprs . b. Seat­circle uprise: S't-c-cI uprs.

4.a. Pull uprise: P'l uprs. b. short swing uprise : Sh ' t-sw uprs . c. Kip uprise : Kip uprs . d.l) Back-swing uprise: B' k-sw uprs. d.2) For-sw uprs. e . T-uprise : T-uprs. F. Flag lever uprise: Flag lev uprs.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 37: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

B.l.a . jump off: I'm off. Dismount: Dism 't. 2.a. Lower to ha ng: Lo to hg. b. Lower to bent arm support: Lo to b 't-a spt. 3.a. Lower backward : 10 b'w. Lowerforewa rd: 10 forw. 4.a. Back drop : B'k dr. b. Fore drop: for-dr. 5.a. Back castoff: B'k c-off. b. Fore castoff: For c-off. IV. Class - A.l. Outlocate: O-Ioc. 2.lnlocate: In­loc. B.l .a. Fore-roll: For-r'l b. Shoulder fore­roll : Shou for-r ' l. C.l. Head-spring : Hd spr. 2. Hand-spring: Hnd-sp r. 3. Back hand-springL B'k hnd-spr.

D.l . Fore-f lip: For-fl. 2. Back-flip: B'k fl. 3. Back tuck flip: B'k tuck fl.4. Back layout flip: B' I I-out fl. 5. Fore-swing back flip: For-sw b'k fl. 6. Back-swing back-flip: B'k-sw b' k fl.

E.l. Ba ck hip circle: B'k hip c-cI. 2. Fore hip circle: For hip c'cI 3. Back crotch circle: B'k crotch c-cI. 4. Back rear circ le : B'k r' r c-cl. 5.

Back giant-circle: B'k g'nt c'cI. 6. Fore giant­circle: Fo r g'nt c-c l. 7. P-Bar; Back hip circle: B'k hip c-c l. 8. Back hip circ le to handstand: B'k hip c-cI to h-std. V. Class - A.l. Right sideleg V2 circ le: R't si-Ieg Y2 c-cI. 2. Right sideleg circ le: R' t si- Ieg c-cl. 3. Flank scissors: FI scis. 4. Transfer left f lank circle: Tr ' fer fl-c-cl. 5. Right transfer-turn Y2 circle: R' t tr ' fer-turn Y2 c-cI. '

B.l. Squat-vault: Sq-v ' lt. 2. Flank Vault: FI­v' lt : 3. Back-vault : B'k-v ' lt. 4. Stoop-vault: Stoop v- It. 5. Sheep-vault: Sheep-v'lt. 6. Lon g­vault: Long-v' lt

Mode of ExecutionL 1. Directions of movement. 2. Relation of gym 'st & app. 3. Relation of axes, gym'st & app. 4. Leg hand relation . 5. Grasp. 6. Range of movement. 7. Body & parts posture. 8. time. 9. Body & parts participation. 10. Hand span.

Example of a H.Bar x in T'not, Tis and in Tss :

1;p\r1"-l JJ {(, ()t~~J>t:~ '~~1\ -

• Tis: jump to hang, prep-swing, back-swing uprise: back hip ci rcl e to handstand: 2 back giant-circles: back castoff hip circle uprise : drop kip upri se: fore hip c ircle, handstand : Squat vault. Tss: j 'p to hg, prep sw, b'k uprs: b'k hip c'cI to hnd-std : 2 b 'k g 'nt c-c ls: b'k c-off hip c-cI uprs: dr kip uprs: for hip c-cl, hnd-std: sq-v'lt.

APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY TERMINOTATION

f-,A1Q ~ .1. L.

f 0 40-

( -t r. \~-~-to Q.. .1:0.

..1--; f . I t 6.i<l-.

0-0-

~r 6. ....0-

rr ~5"_ .

GYMNAST Sept. '75

.1.

0 ... &

41

Page 38: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Jaeger, East Germany - Back uprise front saIto cut catch

Eberhard Gienger , West Germany - Stalder with eagle grip

42 GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 39: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

\--- -.

GYMNAST Sept. '75 43

Page 40: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Instruction: Progressive Spotting: Teacher Relief

and Aide to the Learner By Hayes Kruger

Assistant Professor and Gymnastics Coach Madison College, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Interest in gymnastics has grown tremendously in recent years through the television exposure of such world class gymnasts as the Russian, Olga Korbut, the American , John Crosby, and the latest, the exciting young Romanian wonder, Nadia Comaneci. The clamor has spurred the growth of gymnastic clubs that put a premium on the development of talent such as that displayed by the former Cathy Rigby. American gir/s, particularly, are hungry forthe opportunities to learn the intricacies of the body management that make gymnastics the excit ing and beautiful sport that it is.

Pressures to include more gymnastics in the schools have put a strain on the limited talents of many physical educators who grew up in an era when gymnastics consisted of an annual unit of stunts and pyramids. Gymnastic literature has not been able to keep pace with the need expressed by teachers at both the school and beginner c lub level for information on modern progression and instructional methods. How does one teach a large beginning group when assistance is limited? One of the answers is to teach progressive spotting techniques along with progressions in stunts and connecting movements. Every learner becomes a coach, too.

Spotting is a gymnastics term meaning to assist a performer in the execution of some stunt that , otherwise, would be beyond the learner's ability to perform correctly or safely. A "heavy spot" means a large amount of manual assistance while a " light spot" refers to help as little as a gentle touch during the critical part of a movement 's beginning, middle, or ending.

Progressive spotting is a term the author uses to identify the series of steps from " heavy" to "light spotting " . Th e stunt to be learned is subjected to ana lysis with a view toward the use of manual assistance by student spotters. A way of proceeding is to establish the stunt as the terminal objective or target skill by describing in detail not only the action but also its standard of quality and amplitude (size or height). This target ski ll is then converted to a sequence of enabling objectives or steps wh;ch describe specific behaviors to be achieved in an ascending order of difficulty beginning with the most fundamenta l of required behaviors for both the performer and the spotters. Progressive spotting techniques describe a) the actions of the spotters from the moment of contact with the performer to the break in contact, b) what they are to look for and be sensitive to during each part of the action, and, c) what to do in providing corrective manual assistance and verbal feedback. As manual assistance is progressively reduced, verbal corrections and reinforcements as accurate as they are specific to the situation become increasingly important to correct and safe execution. The general gu ideline for a two spotter progression is as follows :

44

1. Involve all the students by teaching them the first step, enabling objective number one, in which the spotters have very specific directions to follow apart from those specified for the performer. Grouped in threes, the entire class starts off together and periodically reviews this step so that the success of all at this level is guaranteed.

2. Identify the quality standard to be achieved before proceeding to enabling objective number two for both the spotters and the performer. The major stress must be placed on accuracy of spotter behavior so that the performer has as little to worry about as possible. His safety is completely in their hands.

3. Follow this procedure for each step or enabling objective up to the point where two spotters are no longer needed. Identify observational cues that pinpofnt trouble and describe corrections that are needed. Have the group or groups involved review the previous step to give additional emphasis to a critical point. Do not permit learner progression to the next step until both performer and spotter performance meet the minimum standards which should be high enough so that mistakes are not practiced.

4. Continue with single spotter progressions until no assistance is required but continue to use the spotter as the observer to supply appropriate feedback on technique and qua lity. I nstructor review is essential to success.

In practice this means that the entire class start s out tog ether. As the readiness or need for additional information is demonstrated, the instructor holds mini-instructional sessions for groups that have attained the minimum standards of acceptance or that have specia l problems requiring instructor attention. Each of the enabling objectives is introduced in this manner to permit learners to progress at their own rate. As soon as a learner is ready, the spotters are taught the required modifications while the performer assumes a proportionately greater share of the work required to achieve eventual independence of spotter assistance. To help the lea rners acquire the confidence and skill demanded by these progesssions, the instructor is careful about organizing the groups of three in a manner that will facilitate learning and maximize safety. Ability grouping is des irable with a minimum of disparity in the heights and weights of the members of each group. The students will usually follow direction s for grouping with such criteria in mind .

Trust is built through repeated safe performances of basics. Carelessness cannot be tolerated nor any " horseplay" whatsoever. If the spo tters are not strong enough, careful enough, or considerate enough to meet the instructor 's min imum standards of learner conduct, progressive spotting shou ld either be postponed until more favorable circumstances are in effect or the enabling objectives should be subjected to further analysis. Perhaps there is a simpler form that w ill assure success and safety for all .

The benefit of student work in threes are several. In addition to freeing the instructor from the demands of a few to the needs of the many, attention can be given to individual progression at all the steps along the way through instructor reinforcement , clarification , and correction as the situation warrants. Personal attention can be given in the form of direct assistance to any group in difficulty. Learner perception of the possible is clarified through progressions that describe the process as well as the action sequence that enable the learner to acquire desired skills. This is particularly true for those learners eager to grow in gymnastic ability . But, even those not destined for competitive gymnastics enjoy the thrill of the new and different. Also, it is fun and ego-enhancing to be included rather than excluded, to be given the opportunity to learn rather than being designated as untalented . Even if they never learn to perform without spotter assistance, much has been gained and nothing lost. Many excellent spotters will be developed who will achieve great satisfaction in being able to help others attain competence. A final set of benefits inc ludes those associated with learning to cooperate and to share in the fruits of cooperative endeavor. The " I" of individual gymnast ics performance is put into the framework of the " We" of shared learning.

The manual assistance techniques for the front handspring and the back handspring have been selected by the author for the purpose of illustration. It will not be possible to go into every detail of every step but experience has shown that once the instructor understands the basic principles, he is able to fill in the details himself. These two skills are among those frequently taught badly or too exclusively to a few daring indiv iduals. Other skills in tumbling and apparatus are equally amenable to ana lysis and progressive spotting development. To make them work , it is necessary to determine and then to develop the requisite skills, understandings, and social behaviors required by the first of the series of enabling objectives.

con't. on p g. 47

The pictures in series E illustrate only the initial step in the two-spotter progression . A similar sequence to that of the back handspring follows performer demonstration of increasing compe­tency to assume responsibility for the safe and execution of the front handspring. the hazards of error are not so great but correct execution takes persistent practice with spotter assistance and verbal feedback concerning such errors as lifting the head upon pushing from the hands.

E-l: The front handspring starts with the body stretch , arms overhead. and spotters ready.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 41: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

A-}

A-2 The performer in these pictures is Anne Bodkin, freshman gymnast for Harrisonburg High School. She has been receiving instruction in gymnastics for three years and looks forward to her first opportunity to compete. The spotter in the tanktop is Ruth Budd , former gymnastics participant on the Madison College team before it reached competi­tive status. Cheryl Flory, the spotter in the long sleeved leotard , is a freshman gymnast at Madison. All three either are or have been associated with the Madison College Youth Activity Club Gymnastics Program which operates year round instruction to girls and boys in the area.

A-3

B-} B-2 C} C~ D Pictures A, B, C and D, illustrate the four levels of assistance provided by spotters for the back handspring. A-}: The wrap·around·grip for maximumsupport. the perform· er maintains a stretched body throughout. A-2: Note the strong support provided by the position of the shoulders for a rearward turn. A-3: The turn being completed to the handstand . Note the stretch of the body rather than the characteristic over-arch of the beginner. (The performer is now going from R·L instead of L·R). B-}: The hands·on spotter position to guide the learner into the sit·back. Performer is now familiar with rearward turn and ab le to push off from flexed hip and flexed knee posi· tion. B-2: Hands remain in contact to control the si t·back action. Performer ready to

stretch explosively. Note the raised arms to reduce "throw" and focus attention on leg push. C-} : The wait·and·catch spotter position. Performer is now able to sit rearward rather than squat but needs assurance she will not wait too long before pushing off. D: The final two·spotter position. Performer sits and pushes off. Spotters assist from the sit·back to and beyond the inverted position with decreasingforce as the performer increases the thrust in gradual increments. With their eyes following the path of the performer's hips, the spotters are ready to quickly adjust their assista,nce should the performer make an· error.

E-2: As the hands strike the floor, the spotters use the wrap-around-grip with the other hand grasping the upper arm.

E-3: The body is turned forward while the performer maintains the stretched body shape. Note the strong support provided by the upper arms permitting a slow forward turn to improve kinesthetic awareness.

E-4: The rotation to the feet is almost complete. A push with the elbows against the rear of the hips will com­plete the transfer of weight. Note the arm position of the performer which asures the maintenance of the stretch­ed shape.

CYMNAST Sept. '75 45

Page 42: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

SENIOR

GYMNASTICS

By John Magginetti

OLD DOGS AND NEW TRICKS DEPARTMENT

Of course, when doing giant swings on Rings, and especially trying to simply 'bailout' from a handstand without first lowering, nothing replaces a tight butt and fully extended shoulders. (Straight arms'of course.)

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However, here is an idea that is helping several of our loca l ring men, and I have been told, most of the top world competitors.

4

5

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Cut a piece of Va inch doweling wood the width of the gymnasts third and fourth finger. Place a three inch piece of elastic next to the dowel. Now wrap the two together with gymnastics tape. Tie the two ends of the elastic together, leaving a sma ll amount of space. Place the wrapped dowel behind the first knuckels of the grip fingers. Now put on the grip. (See above pictures .)

The doweling material will make the grip and your hand form an almost unbreakable grip on the ring. If you have never worked rings with the grip on the first knuckle, this will feel uncomfortable at first. Might I suggest wearing wrist bands of some type and pulling the grip almost as tight as it will go. Gymnasts with larger hands (Tim Shaw for examp le) usually do not find when doing giant work that they slip past the first knuckle. With the doweling behind this knuckle, even a gymnast with short fingers will soon have th e confidence of hitting the bottom and not coming off.

I see these ' dowels' as I have come to call them, made of different material. Some

gymnasts are simply wrapping tape around elastic (or a cut rubber band) until it is the desired diameter. The tape itself is more form fitting and excellent for first learning to have a foreign object behind the grip. I have experienced no breaking of the Va inch dowel. One gymnast I work out with is using copper tubing. It is not fl ex ible, but I must admit, it works fine for him.

Try it. If it works, use it. By the way, some of the local University guys are using the dowels on the horizontal bar. They work fine when doing giants, but when releasing and regrasping, they tend to move.

A WORD FROM JAPAN

Tim Shaw, now li ving in Japan and at age 24 only one year from officially being a Senior, sends this new dismount from the Horizontal bar.

Wyler kip, Brannie-out. Could he have meant a Brannie out of the Wyler kip or is he really doing a Brannie-out?

Tim promised to be home for the Beach meet and show it to the Western World.

WHERE IS HE NOWl

After last months results of the Senior Olympics, several readers wrote asking, Where was Bobby Diamond?

Well, Bobby was hurt. The week before, the Cal. State Northridge power ring man and all around competitor was warming up for the Monroe Invitational when he cut a one and one half twisting Arabian dive just a little too close. Bob is O. K. now and can be seen spending the Summer months trying to re­injure himself.

After graduating from the then San Fernando Valley State College, Bob went on to Law School and is now an attorney in the Westwood area. He works out several days a week and at age 31 is still learning. (Like how to take a one and one half twisting Arabian up before twisting.) Bob usually has time only to work Horizontal bar and is improving. He is using a very nice pike-open, full when his newly acquired double twister is not working. He of course still has a nice double flyaway if all els.e fails .

He, like all the rest of us older gymnasts has had to learn to stretch in the shoulders. He is presently re-Iearning Russian giants with the late stoop. Bob has promised to go into the beach meet on Labor Day, but says that his law practice and art work come first. Bob is preparing for a one man art show, (he is very good with oils) and is arguing several cases this summer.

If you are at Valley College in Los Angeles and you see a face that you grew up with on television (or one from the present J-wax commercial ) you are right . Bobby still looks the same. Go up to him and say " Hi ." If you know Bob, it will probably be your only words of the conversation.

NOTE: Sr. Olympics Gymnastic Chairman John Magginetti would like to hear from other areas in the USA (or Foreign) concerning Sr. or Master · Class gymnastic programs and individuals in order to start a regular activity column in GYMASTfor the out of school gymnast.

WRITE: John Magginetti , c/ o GYMNAST Box no, Santa Monica, CA 90406.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 43: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ~ con 't. from pg. 4S

In the case af the handsprings, the basic handstand with spatter assistance shauld shaw a strang, stretched shape. The ability to. maintain a stretched shape while the body is manipulated by the spatters is essent ial to. success. Far the back handspring, it is necessary, also., to. have the ab il ity to. return the feet simultaneously to. the f laar from a stretched handstand pasitian in a manner similar to. ending af the raund-aff. These prerequisite ski ll s are develaped thraugh repititians af mule kicks, inverted balances, particularly with assistarice to. correct alignment prablems, and maximum isametric stretches af the bady to. get the "feel" of the stretched bady shape . Once this stretched shape can be assumed at wi ll , cansideration can be given to. pragressive spatting in graups af three, ather requisite behaviars having been acquired tao. , af caurse. Step ane can be managed by chi ldren as yaung as the secand grade. Pragress will be slaw, af caurse, but these chi ldren have the time to. learn wihtaut pressure. By the time they reach the faurth .and fifth grade, they will be aperating an steps clase to. the terminal abjective.

TED PRITCHETT SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS & FITNESS

4343 Industrial Center San Antonio, Texas 78217

While autstanding clubs exist and many fine gymnasts ha ve been produced, Texas has aptly been described as a " sleeping giant af gymnastics." After private clubs first introduced the spart, the " Y's" and jewish Cammunity Centers started pragrams and finall y same af the mare pragressive schaal systems.

In 1974, the Trans-Texas Federatian was farmed cansisting af 20 teams to. pramate friend ship, encaurage spartsmanship amang the gymnasts and to. pravide an appartunity far USGF cahlpetitian.

Naw in the summer af 1975 San Antania has expladed upan the gymnast ic scene with the apening af GYMEX, Ted Pritchett Schaal af Gymnastics, a 15,000 sq. ft . facility which cantains 13 balance beams, 4 uneven bars, 4 irampalines, 2 gald carpet aver ethafaam flaar exercise areas, 2 vau lts and 2 complete sets af men 's equipment. A physician and nurse are an call at all times. Starting as a canverted warehau se, it has been transfarmed into. a bright calarfu l gym with skylights to. pravide natural dayli ght lighting to. encaurage the growth af the many plants and trees in the gym, as we ll as the yaung gymnasts!

Ted ape ned his gym with 300 gymnasts and expects to. dauble the enrallment with the beginning af the fall sessian .

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Jan and Tam Heineke, farmerly af Wichita Kansas arri ved in july to take aver the girls campetiti ve programs. Tam Heineke is a farmer natianal vaulting champ ian with a gymnastic backgraund af 15 years. Mast knawl edgeable in the area af wamen 's gymnasti cs, Tam is natianally recagnized as a master clinician and ane af the United States' bes t wamen's caaches. Alang with his wife, jan, he has praduced the United Gymnastics Federatian Kansas State Champianship team twice and three natianal champians. jan Heineke, a United States Gymnastics Federatian natianally rated judge, cames to. San Antani o with 18 years gymnastic experience. P.K. Kralik, a Czechaslavakian gymnast af 15 years experience is the bay's caach.

Th e phi lasaphy an which Ted runs his schaal is " Eve ry ch il d is aur best student" . Each child , whether he ar she has the patential to. became an Ol ympian, ar enters the _schaal with "Faurteen left feet" is encauraged to. be proud af that whi ch they are capable af accampli shing and to. develap a lave af the spart.

With a schaa l and staff af this magnitude and philasaphy like this, we might laak farward to. the sleeping giant af Texas awakening with a raar.

Gymex, San Antonio, Texas

The main paints far the spatters to. remember is that the perfarmer is engaged in maving his center af gravity from place to. place and that spatter assistance must be cammensurate with the perfarmer's needs to. assure hi s safety and the proper sequence af all the parts within the mavement pattern. Spotter cantrol af the pasitian and mavement of the hips, therefare, is vital for each af the enabling progresses from ane step to. the next, he assumes an increasing amo.unt af respansibility far praducing the farce required to. mave his center af gravity and far the techniques essential to. proper execut ian af the ski ll. Only as he demanstrates praficiency can the spotters release cantral to. him. These mutual respansibilites must be we ll understaod by everyane so. that ratatian fram spatter to. perfarmer can pracede withaut difficulty. Occasianal repetitian af key paints, cues, ar the entire set af instructians may be necessary to. assure accident free learning.

The authar assumes that the reader knaws what back and front handsprings are but has difficulty teaching them to. large graups. Simplified versians af descriptians af these twa skills identify the shapes and rhythms that make understand ing by the learner easy.

Back handspring: From stretched standing, bend at the hips and knees to. site the hips back to. an aff balance pasiti an. (Caunt ane.) Immediately stretch exp lasive ly at the hip and the knees by exerting a strang push aff the feet while laaking rearward in the directian of the hands. Land in a "handstand". (Caunt two.) Let the hips cantinue trave lling far a mament and snap bath feet dawn when they have passed beyand the vertical ar gravity line, accampanying this actian with a strang push aff the hands. (Caunt three.)

Frant handspring: Lunge step farward with the arms already in the stretched averhead pasitian . Tip the bady farward vigarausly and place bath hands farward af the shaulders an the flaar with a blacking ar punching actian. (Caunt ane). Push aff the hands immediately to. direct the hips upward as if trying to. tauch the ceiling with the faat and quickly bring the rear leg to. the lead leg. (Caunt twa.) Maintain the stretched bady in flight whi le rotating to. a landing an the feet. (Caunt three.)

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Page 44: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

WATANABE COACHES

CLINIC June 16th thru June 27th, 1975

By Tom Gardner

This article is designed as a preliminary report on the information given at a coaches clinic by Mr. Masayuki Watanabe, coach of the 1975 NCAA Gymnastic Champion­ship Team, the University of California at Berkeley, and director of American Gymnastics Center in Concord, California . The two-week clinic was held at the center for four hours per day between June 16th and June 27th, 1975. By most standards "this seems an adequate amount of time for such a clinic, but it was generally agreed that Mr . Watanabe had still only scratched the surface on his unique approach to gymnastics.

The clinic was attended by coaches from Northern and Southern California, and Oregon. It dealt 'with psychological and administrative aspects of coaching but was particularly designed to help solve everyday technical problems that the coach might encounter. Among the demonstrators for the clinic was 1975 USGFall-around co-champion Tom Beach, and other members of the University of California team.

During the first week of the clinic, Mr. Watanabe covered technical aspects of the basic movements on both men's and women's events, with progressions and typical faults included. The second week contained a more in-depth coverage of the men 's events and sess ions on different aspects of coaching outside the gym. Here, psychological problems, training schedules, training methods, and Mr. Watanabe's approach to spotting were discussed.

General Coaching Aspects

The coach shou ld co nsider each gymnast as an ind ividual. He sho uld attempt to make each individ ual understand him, and he sho uld be concerned Wifh proh lf' ms no t on ly insirle fh e gym but outside as we ll. H e shou ld try to help th e gymnast mo ti va te h imself and schedule his training. Basica lly, w hat thi s bo il s down to is: he should try to teach " how to learn. "

Technical Aspects of Coaching

First of all , the coach needs to be aware of th e general princip les of movement. He needs to know th e ax is of ro tation , th e po int about w hich the cente r o f grav it y moves, an d if this po int shift s during a movement. He needs to be aware o f th e length o r rad ius of th e swing, th e di stance from the ax is of rotation to the center of grav it y. Further, he needs to be aware of body angles wi th res pect to the apparatus and jo in t ang les of th e different seg ments of the bod y. He needs to know the speed of a movement and how this speed ca n be changed A lso, how momentum ca n b e conserved o r changed to help accomplish a certain move ment.

Secondly, coaches need a common techni ca l _goa l for each st unt , t hat is, its best techni ca l execution. And t hey need a c lea r pi cture of this goa l in th eir mind. Th en th ey need a techni ca l know ledge of ba sic movements and progressions in orde r to attai n these goal s. But more than a techni ca l knowl edge of bas ics is needed . It is most important to know how to stress basi cs.

Th e coach needs to let th e gymn as t know that co rrec t basics are initi ally ve ry impo rtant. To deve lop th e co rrect strengths and co rrect techniques, basics need to be st ressed over a long period of tim e. But af ter an in itial emph as is, bas ics should be stressed co nstantl y, but more adva nced stun ts ca n be attempted. Th en o ne's ba sics and indiv id ual stunt s ca n be built up s imult aneo u ~ l y. Thi s approach needs to be modifi f'd for f'J ch indi vid ual, but stress o n

48

bas ics shou ld be co nstant , no matter w hat leve l the gymnas t happens to be.

A ft er a ce rtain level o f competence in basi c move ments is accompl ished, th e coach should know th e progressions for each adva nced skill. He needs to know the most ef fec ti ve, e fficient , and techni ca ll y co rrect way to lea rn a stunt for most gymnasts, th en he mu st dea l w ith specifi c prob lems of each individual. If th e co rrec t progress ions are used, the gymnast ca n deve lop th e co rrec t strengths and co rrect positi ons and therefore be technicall y co nsistent throu ghou t his gymnastics. Add iti onall y, w ith proper progressions, th e gymnast ca n develop more contro l and need not rely on spo ttin g to any grea t ex tent. Correct prog ressions make th e attempt of a new stunt a ve ry natura l process an d th erefore keeps fear and injury to a minimum.

Technical Highlights of the Events

The purpose here is to go over each of the events cove red at th e clinic and present some of its highlights w hich make Mr. Watanabe's approach par ti cularl y unique.

Tumbling: Basic roll s, both fo rward and backward,

sho uld be done eve ry day no matter what leve l o f gymnast. Forward roll s w ith handstand pirouettes are direc tl y re lated to pirouett es o n other apparat us. A lso, back ro ll ex tensions are rela ted to shoot movements on rings, stem ri se on high bars, and peaches on para ll el bars.

To maintain a smooth rhythm o n ca rtwheels, th e leg, , ho ul d be sli ghtl y bent w hen pu shing of f th e floor and upon landing. Th e fingers sho uld be pointing towa rd each other w hen th e hands are on the floor. This enab les th e gymna st to push more efficientl y, w hi ch is criti ca l w hen ca rtwh eels are deve loped into more advanced stunt s such as ro und-offs, di ve ca rtwh ee ls, and ca rt w heels to side somersa ults.

To deve lop a cilr tw hee l in to an ae ri al ca rtw hee l a one-arm ca rt w hee l sho uld be used first. Th e far arm shou ld then prog ressive ly be '

placed clo ser to the firs t foot , and entire movement should be done w ith more and more speed.

When attempting a hea dspring, a strong arm push, coupled w ith a vigorous hip ex tension shou ld be emphasized. Also, th ough, an in itial strong leg extension before th e head is placed on th e floor sho uld also be stressed. Continuous headsp rings, w ith out bendi ng the hips upon landing, sho uld be pra cti ced as a progress ion tawards two-foot handsprin gs and ' handspring to fro nt somersa ults.

The entire body li ne should be ~ traight o n a front han dspring. A stretched shoulder angle shou ld be maintained as the top leg is trave ling upwa rd . Th e drop as we ll as the leg ki ck sho uld be ve ry fa st. The handspri ng prior to a front somersa ult sho uld be rotated sli ghtl Y more and th e ches t should be ro unded as th e drop to the hands occurs.

The back sho uld remain ve rti ca l, and the kn ees should not ben d fo rward o n th e take-off pha se of a back handspring. Durin g th e snap­down pha se , th e shoulders should remain d irectl y over the hands at all times. The w hole bod y should be rounded upon land ing.

Th ere are two types o f round-oils , both of wh ich should be developed from a ca rtwh eel. The fir st is one prior to a flip-flop, the second is prior to a back o r side somersau lt. On both, a hard pu sh w ith the hands is required, but prior to a f lip- flop th e feet should be pulled more undern ea th th e bod y.

On a tu ck ba ck it is vital that the hips rotate up as th e kne es come up. Th e arms need to stretch high before th e tuck occurs. This arm stretch is more criti ca l on a somersa ult in a layout position. H ere, after th e stretch, the arms must stop quickl y to es tab lish the ax is of ro tation, then th e bod y continues to rise toward the arms. The most criti ca l part of th e more advanced twi sting som ersa ults is not ac tually the twi sting part but the estab li shment of a strong rota ti on during th e somersa ult. Side Horse:

During both front , rea r,a nd stradd le support sw in gs th e head positi o n should be neutral, not look ing down, th e ches t should be straight, not ho llowed. Th e sho ulders should sta y as high as possib le at all times, letting a natural dip occur,

. w ithout trying to ac tuall y dip. Th e hip angle should always be straight , and on the straddle support sw ing, the hips should be facing forward as much as poss ible.

High double leg circles should be an outgrowth of low doubles, or pendulum swinging double leg circles . The hips should be co nstantl y straight and pointing forward at all times. With high doub les, speed sho uld be emphasized and one should maintain a support w ith both hands o n th e pommels for the ma ximum amount of time. A sho ulder lean on both double and single leg wo rk sho uld not be stressed. One sho uld maintain th e shoulder above th e hand as much as poss ible. Rings:

During all swinging movements o n th e rings th e hips sho uld be straight and ti ght, the shoulders con stantl y ex tended , w ith the sw ing co ming from th e upper ches t. As an undersw ing approaches 180 deg rees th e rings need to be pull ed sli ghtl y to th e sid e at th e end of each swing. The sho ulders should be low and pa rtially inloca ted w ith the hee ls high on th e back swing.

A co nsistent turn of the rings is needed throughout w hen att empting a di slocate. From th e beg inning of th e hip ex tension, th e bod y needs to be tight for ma ximum co nt rol and a smooth sw in g. For inl oca tes, to tal bQd y

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 45: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

ro tation should be emphasized from th e beginning. Afte r adequate rotation is es tabli shed, th en a li fting of th e shoulders ca n occur, still maintaining swing. A back upri se to handstand is a continuati o n of thi s move ment.

The underswing shoulu be co nverted to an upward swing by k icking through the bot tom on 'a shoot to handstanu . The w ri sts should be turnin g o ut and, th ere fo re, th e rin gs para ll el through th e bottom of the swing. The body should be kept away from th e rings by pulling back w ith th e arms, fo llow ing th e kick and body rotation.

On any so rt of back somersa ult dismount th e pull w ith the arms should be in a ba ckward direction w ith the rings sw ingi ng parallel to each other after the release. Vaulting:

The best va ulters first have a good run. Th e run shou ld be o n the toes, comp lete lY ex tending th e leg on each step. The arms should be carr ied high to he lp keep more erect during the run .

The hurdle step should be low and ve ry quick. Th e trailing leg on th e hurdle sho uld never pa ss the first leg, but sho uld meet th e other and stay wit h it. Most importa ntl y, th e body positi o n o n the board shou ld be erect and th e legs should feel straight , landing high on the toes.

The under-arm swing is most effect ive o n va ults such as hecht and stoop va ults, whereas an arm throw from above the sho ulders is more effect ive for handspring and yamashita-t ype va ult s. The more adva nced va ults now require a very short, low preflight w ith quick body rotati on. Qui ckness to the horse is most impo rtan t. Parallel Bars:

On ba ck uprises there should be a definite and low si nk in the shou Iders thro ugh th e bottom o f th e swin g. However, o n a front upri se, the sink should be less so as not to delay th e pull w ith the arms. The kick on upri ses to support shou ld be either forward or backward , not up or down.

On peach baskets and cas ts, the pull with the arms at the end of the underbar swing should be ex tremely fas t. One shou ld develop this sw ing, with a st ra ight-arm pull , before eith er a peach or a cas t are attempted.

A low dip in th e shoulders through the bottom on suppo rt sw ings should be great ly emphasized. The shou lders need to relax and dip while the body is very ti ght. The inside o f the elbows should be facing forward, especiall y at the bottom, to help keep th e arms straight during the swing.

A fron t stutz should be developed from a stut z wi th a v.. turn o n th e end of the bars. The turn should be initi ated just after a sl ight kick through the bottom and th e w ho le body should turn as a unit. The supporting arm sho uld be ex tended at th e end o f the push and th e gymnast should land away from, ye t in between, th e bars.

When reg rasping th e bar on a ba ck stutz th e sho ulders should be relaxed and dipped so that one can continue the sw ing backward s. Th e back st ut z should similarl y be developed from il back stu tz wit h a v.. turn landing in between th e bars.

The swing down for a back toss should be slower than fo r a st!Jtz. Thi s slower swing

. should be contras ted w ith an ext remely qu ick chest thrust upon release of t he ba rs. A lso at th e re lease, th e body should be very ti ght. For a back somersa ult di smount , th e initi al drop ca n be fas ter so th at mo re rota ti o n ca n be deve loped.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Horizontal Bar: For perhaps 80'X, of the move ments o n

horizontal ba r, using the bar low is very benefi cial. A ll advanced in-ba r work can be first learned here.

Rotation on a free ba ck hi p circle should be initiated by pushing back from th e sho ulders and not piking from th e hips. The body sho uld be ho ll owed throughout. Th e feet and therefore th e body on so le circ les in eith er direct io n should be held away from the bar as long as possible and shou ld touch th e bar onl y momentaril y. The sa me 'prinicple app lys to forwa rd sea t circles except that the legs should be brought more forward so that the body can be col lapsed away from the bar as much as possible.

It is necessary to fee l rotat io n when first att emp ting Stalde r circles o n high bar. After the ro tation is deve loped, then one ca n trY to push sli ghtlY away from the bar over the top, making a sli ght pause in rotati o n at that point.

Pirouett es for beginners sho uld be deve loped from a hip-p iked g iant swing w ith an ex tensio n and turn at th e top of the bar. Then less and less hip pike is used along w ith a progressi ve ly earlie r turn . Wh en init ia ting' the pirouette the shoulder joint should be pu shed ou t on ly half way but by the completion of the pirouette the shou lder joint should be complete lY extended.

r~v ~ vert 5,~ple.realjy 0

It is vital on a va ult ca tch to comp tete th e swing up the back side by kicking back w ith the hee ls befo re the hips ro tate to the side for the vau lt itse lf. The legs should be parallel to the bar ove r the top and th e release of the undergrip hand shou ld be sli ghtlY prior to th at o f the ove rgrip hand.

An eag le gia nt shou ld be ve ry similar to a reverse-grip gian t. It is esse nti al to be able to attain some so rt of support over the top. The hand should neve r be d ucked at the top. When develop in g an eag le into an inverted giant, th e eag le should be very stretched through the bottom, th en a sharp lift w ith the hips along with a shifting of th e w ri sts and d ucking of the head should occur . One should fee l weight on the hands ove r the top of th e bar.

One should feel a stro ng kick ing action past the bottom when attemptin g a fl yaway . Upon releasing the bar th ere should be a hard fo rwa rd thru st of the h ips and chest to ga in added height.

Strength and Flexibility:

St rength exe rcises should be trea ted almost as an ext ra event. Th e coach should trY to relate strength exe rcises to act ual gym nas ti c skills as

much as possib le. Th erefore co rrect positi ons should be cons tantl y emphaSized. Th ere is no use in developing strength s in incorrect posi tions. A lso, most exe rcises should be done w ith acce lerating speed. Thi s helps to develop a powerfu l type of strength.

Strength exe rcises should also be co nstantl y modifi ed according to th e skill level and age of the gymnast. Very yo ung gym nasts should work on genera l strengths using large mu scl e groups. As th e skill level increases th e stren gth exerc ises should become more specifi c as spec ifi c weaknesses appear.

Flex ibilit y and " loosen ess" are different. Looseness is simpl y a great range of motion in a joint. However, flexibi li ty is how much one can contro l hi s range of mot ion . So one should have a larg e range of motion, but shou ld be able to control the move men t within that range. Rh ythm Exercises: (descr ibed by Paul liert in the M ay and June issues of Gymnast)

There are seve ral purposes of these exerc ises . First of all , they arj> to help teach basic body and lunge position s used in gymnasti cs. Th erefore, all positions should be duplica ted ve ry precise ly. Furt hermore, th ey help develop certain rhythm s, or changes in the speed of movement, which are vita l in many gymnastic movements. Finall y, they h elp develop a certain amount of coordinat ion and, after the three minutes of cont inu ous move ment , help wa rm up th e ent ire body fo r more vigorous exe rcise.

Psychological Aspects of Coaching

The coac h shoul d be co ncer ned with th e psychologica l aspects of gym nast ics since perhaps 50'X, of coaching dea ls with th ese aspects.

First of all , th e coach needs to be concerned wit h how to help motivate the gymnast. Giv ing the gymnast a co nstant new goal is very helpfu l since se lf-moti vation is easier wit h a goal to st ri ve for. A lso, the coach needs to be ab le to detect any so rt of improvement in the gymnast so th at he can ve rball y reward him for the improve ment.

Secondly, the coac h should cons ider the disciplining of the gymnast. Se lf-di SC ipline stems from how much desire and determ inati on th e individua l posesses. Di sc ipline often is a resu lt of understanding , so the coac h should always try to make th e gymnast unders tand hi s approach to gymnast ics by exp laini ng why certain things are done in a part icular wa y. Th e coach should therefore give reasons for his act ions, and have a clear understanding of why the gymnast needs to train in a certa in fashion.

Thi rd ly, the coach needs to co nsi der how he ca n help th e gym nast overcome fear. By providing proper prog ress ions fo r stunts is the best approach to thi s probl em. Prov id ing proper strength exe rcises which helps give th e gymnast more co ntrol also combats fea r. Further, the coach should t-r y to make th e gymnast understand th e mecha nics of th e stunt and perhaps give the gymnast o nl y o ne problem to focus on when attempting a new move ment.

Finally, and most importantly, the coach needs to evoke conf idence, tru st, and resp ect from th e gymnast. Anu the only way to do thi s is to show th e gy mnast how much he ca res for both th e inuividual gymnast and hi s gymnas ti cs. II the coach does not CMe fo r the individual th ere is no way that he ca n he lp th e gymnast achieve hi s ma ximum ca pabilities. con't on pg. 50

49

Page 46: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

con'!. from pg. 49

Administrative Aspects of Coaching

Often, in o rder to maintain ex isting program , the coac h must promote gymn as ti cs outside of th e gy m. These act iviti es help prov ide funds for equ ipment and other needed faciliti es for gymnas ti cs.

But besid es the promotion of gymnastics, he must be concer ned w ith the admini stration of train ing sc hed ul es w ithin the gy m. Th ese are both dai ly and long-range sc hedu les, dealin g with th e quantit y and quality of exe rcise at a parti cul ar tim e.

Dail y sc hedules should include li ght morning exe rcises co nsisting of running, stre tc hing, and general stren gth exe rci ses. Th e type of training in the aft ernoon depends on the type of training required at th at particular tim e. Wh en trainin g is emphasizing quantity, that is, lea rning bas ics, sin g le stunts, or seque nces, the workout needs to be longer. But w hen quality is emphasized, the workout ca n be of shorter duration. Most important ly, howeve r, a dail y sched ule shou ld include a se lf-eva luation , w here th e gymnast eva luates hi s training and plans for th e following da y's trainin g.

The coach nee ds to se t up competitions for each year, but he shou ld try not to schedule compet itions too close ly tog ether. With a great number of close ly-s paced m eets, th e gymnast tends to trea t them w ith less importance so that he ca nnot perform up to hi s ca pabilities at each m eet. So major competition s should be spa ced seve ral months apart.

A long-range training sched ule depends upon the competition schedule. There sho uld be a pre-season preparation period, where th e gym na st builds up from single stunts, to seq ue nces, th en to routines. During th e competi ti ve season the gymnast needs to maintain good endurance and strength and emphasize qualit y in all routin es. Then in th e off-season the gymnast ca n return to basi c move me nts, co rrect bad habits, gain specifi c strengths, and learn new stunts. Th e off-season training need not have specific goa ls but should ha ve an overall plan 50 as not to waste this va luab le time. Overview

This report ha s superfi c ially covered some of the important co ncepts presented by Mr. Watanabe at hi s coaches clinic this summer. With more detail ed articles in subsequent issues of Gymnast I hope to clarif y some of these concep ts 50 that the rea der w ill have littl e doubt about a coach in g philosoph Y that strives to help each and every pe rson atta in his maximum pot ential , both as a gymnast and as an individual.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT-VAULTING

15 th ere a "rea l " Il eed for th e pen alt y " in sufii cient pre- fli ght up to 1.5 points" ?

If a g irl has insuffi c ient pre-flight , or board too close to th e ho rse, th e following errors cou ld occur:

1. 130dy bent in pre-flight (before hands touch) ... up to .5

2. 130dy bent w hen hands co ntact horse (before reaching th e illve rt ed positi on) ... up to 1.0

3. BodY no t ill lin e in pre-flight (arms, shou lders and trunk 110t in line) .... 5

A ny of th e above erro rs co uld occur during pre-fli ght if the board is too close. If you had penali zed for an y of th em, would yo u, as a j udge, penali ze aga in under the d eduction " in suffi cient p re-flight up to 1. 5 pOillt S?" If yo u had deducted penalti es #1 and #2 and aga in deduct ed for #3, wouldn't #3 be a form of double d educt in g since you alrea dY ded ucted for " bent bod y in pre-fli ght " and " bent bod y upon hand cO lltact "?

Double deduct illg ca n eas il y occur and we mu st , as judges, learn w here we are ove r­lapping on deduction s for erro rs and trY to over co me it.

"How 1M away from the horse sl,o uld th e board be pla ced ?" is a question commonl Y asked. '1 he un w ritt en rul e is "a pprox imatel y one bod y's length" (perform er 's bod y) . A shorter g irl , howeve r, w ill naturall y ha ve the board close r to th e horse (on th e w hole) than a tall er gi rl, l3ut in e ither case, if a va ult er h as her body "in line " in "p re-flight " be fore her hands co ntact th e horse , th ere is no reason for a deduction ullli er "i nsufficient pre-flight" .

ELIMINATE THE PAUSE IN A BACK LIMBER

When a gir l fir st learm the back limber, nine times out of ten she w ill arch ba ckward s to the brid ge, re-shuffl e her fee t a bit and then kick over.

A simple preparation for perfecting th e timin g to e limillat e th e pau se and the re­shuffling of th e feet is, as foll ows:

Fig 1 Fig 2

Fig 1 - Get into a b ridge positi on. Fig.2- Whi le in th e bridge position , push off

th e feet and let them drop do wn aga in (jump). Jump seve ra l tim es in success io n, Repea t th e se ri es 01 jumps, try in g to get th e fee t higher and hi gher off th e floo r.

Thi s p reparati o n teach es yo u how to push o ff the feet simultaneouslY alld wi ll give you an id ea 01 how stron g your pu sh w ill have to be to turn over. '1 he stiffer th e back, th e harder you

w ill ha ve to pu sh. Th e farth er away th e hands are I rom th e fee t w hen in th e brid ge positi on , th e hard er yo u w ill have to push.

Nex t Irom a stdnding positi o n w ith arm s stretched up, dl'ch backw ard s to th e bridge positi o n. H~R~ I) THE TIP: As soon as th e palms of th e hands CO llt ac t th e fl oor " jump" and turn over. With th e " jumping" preparatio n, yo u wi ll find that you w ill no 101lger pau se when in th e bridge position,

(l3efo re lea rning any kind of limbers or wa lkovers, it is w ise to wo rk o n exe rcises that w ill illcrease back fl ex ibilit y. W ith good ba ck flex ibility, th e learni ng of wa lkove rs w ill co me much eas ier.)

"BASICS"

Lea ming " ba sics' as many tim es term ed, has 01 ten been ques ti o nable to man y people . "What are th e 'basics for various skill s leve ls," a questi on olt en dsked. If th e term " ba sic trick s" we re use d in stead , it would be ve ry simple to make a li st 01 tri cks a beginner should learn, or ] li st l o r th e illt ermediat e and still another li st for th e adva nced.

However, w ith th e use of th e word " basic" by it se ll , I would illt erpret thi s to mean, a parti culJr move ment that would be use ful w hen lea ming tri c ks. A true " basic" in m y op ini o n, that I l ee l would be ve ry use ful for uneven bar wo rk is nothing more than the simple leg swin ging from a front support to a free Iront support.

• • '1' ,;,'/ "- . ,,\

• Fig 3

,;,~< Fig 1-2-3 - from a front support on the low

bar lacing out , sw in g th e legs forwa rd, then ba ckwa rd to a free front support (body away from th e bar).

Fig 4-5 - COlll e back to th e bar and again sw in g th e legs lorwa rd and backwa rd to anoth er IreI' front support.

Do 10-1 2 ill a se ries wit h no stops WITHOUT FALLING Off , SWillg ill g th e legs higher and hi gher in th e back until your legs touch the under side 01 the hi gh bar,

To m e, thi s is a truly "bas ic " movement for ' any age group as it is a " lead " fo r doing a straddle on , stoop-on , squat through , ba ck hip c ircl e, Il eck sprillg di smount , straddle over, handstand, e tc. Without the lea rning of a good SWilig to a good free support, many w ill experiellCe diffi cult y in learning some tricks, a few 01 w hi ch are m entioned above.

A co uple 01 good "basics" for the fl oo r exe rcise event is " leg stretching " and the deve lopi ng 01 a "Ilex ible back ", Once a g irl has stretched her leg mu sc les (can do all kinds of split s) and ha s a Ilexibl e ba ck, she ca n lea rn to do wa lkovers wit h littl e o r no tro uble and w ill ha ve a good separation of the legs in the wa lk overs. A ve ry fl ex ibl e back also makes it edsier to ledl'n wa lkove rs on the beam,

l a nce hea rd an adva nced competito r say th at her routin e did not score as high as she had hoped beca use she needs to wo rk on her " basics' a littl e more, such as her sea t circles. Is th e seat circ le a " ba sic" or a "basic trick "?

What M e your views on terms usin g th e word " ba sic "

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 47: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

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Page 48: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

news 'n

notes Women's Coordinating Editor

Mrs. Renee P. Hendershott 17605 Fries Avenue

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

NOTES TAKEN ON THE NEW USGF/NAGWS NATIONAL COMPULSORY ROUTINES FOR GIRLS

1975-79 USGF MASTER WORKSHOP May, 1975

By Renee P. Hendershott

BEGINNING LEYEL FLOOR EXERCISE 11-1 Arms circle back-forward-upward over shoulders, elbows bent before roll. Get hands down to mat quickly for good back extension roll. Go from tuck position to back extension. Handstand must be straight bodied. When you come down out of the handstand and drop the left leg, do not drop the right leg so that the rear sticks up. Keep extension as you come down to lunge position. Land with weight on front foot in lunge, hips squared, toes pointed and no weight on pointed toe. 11-3 Be sure rear does not stick out as you step on R leg and move arms to R. This movement is very supple and is Ii ke a side body wave. 111-3 On hurdle - body stretched, feet together. We will use this type of hurdle as a discipline in our compulsory work. Take a large supple step into the cartwheel rather than a small step. Plie after cartwheel. The question; "Can you bring arms under?" was asked . Answer: "Better not. The judges might think you are doing a dive cartwheel. IY-2 During the front att itude, the arms are forward horizontal but spread slightly lateral. IY-3 Before you go to arabesque they come close together; palms in (thumbs up) and then push out (palms pronate-thumbs down) as back leg lefts into scale. Y-1 Before Handstand forward roll, Linda came out of the turn to her heel but pushed off from 'toe and stepped into Handstand on Lefttoe. She bent the right leg slightly as she pushed off. You could stand on the toe from the turn to the kick, but a beginner is not likely to be ab le to do this well. Y-1 (2nd) Kick leg to H before handstand forward roll. You can circle arms back or straight down. Doesn ' t matter. The back leg mus~ come up before arms go down so body remains stretched (in scale position). Can step on toe. Y-2 When you come out of roll, don't separate the legs too early to go into stag sit. When you do sit, it is on only the right buttocks. Push out in Right shoulder ... as it supports you w ith hand on floor. YI-2 Dive roll may be nice high pike or stretched layout dive. Don 't put hands down on floor after ro ll to help you push off to stand up. IX-1 On roundoff the snap down with hands up fast is important. Get feet together soon enough. Keep feet together as long as ca n. just before you land bring L leg forward. IX-2 As you sit down for back roll, Left leg is extended up in front - R leg bending in support. As you come out of roll , right leg is straight in back then bends as you stand up.

Only last tumbling pass w ill be allowed to be reversed.

BEGINNING LEYEL BEAM EXERCISE AMP: Mrs. Flansaas showed us the minimum amplitude required in the mount and other moves, but also showed us the greatest amplitude allowed for each move so that:

1. we wou ld not have ou r gymnasts go so far as to actually be chang ing the elements .. . and

2. We can show our gymnasts what they can be working toward in each routine.

52

She feels that maybe one in 200 will be able to carry each move to its ultimate amplitude and that the judge should not expect it. If the girl meets the mini­requirements under amplitude you cannot deduct if she does not work everything to utmost amplitude UNLESS there is an amplitude deduction actually listed in the book. JUDGES ... YOU HAVE JUST READ SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT . .. READ IT AGAIN! ORIG.: Mrs. Flansaas did not discuss originality at this p'oint, but I shall tell you what she did say so that you will have these two very important thoughts right tog~ther. All during the beam routines, she has given the gymnast places where arms are optional. Sometime head or body positions have been left up to her. She gave us many examples of how the various skills could be done without actually changing the elements.

She exp lained that when the advanced gymnast is ready to break into the Elite Level, she should work on originality. (Th is wou ld also apply to any gymnast who is getting the pure routines really well even if she is a beginner who will be moving to intermediate soon). The gymnast will not get extra credit for her originality used while performing compulsory work, but if she does a super routine, is really taking risk, and is doing a good job of it, she will come out ahead under general impression.

To coaches she says this: When you are working on original ways of doing things, you must consider the body structure and abi lity of each individual gymnast. Something that looks good on one girl may not suit another. Don't have "your whole team do the same thing.

Throughout the routines there are many obvious places that say opt iona l arms. There are less obvious places, ie. " Move the arms to verticaL" The pathway is not described. The rhythm is not described. The movement is not described (sharp, soft, abstract etc.)

In many places palm or head position is not described. Palms can then be up down, out etc. There was one place where the gymnast does an abstract scale. As long as the pelvis and legs are in the positions described, the upper body, head and arms have some freedom. The upper body cou ld even be contracted.

Mount: Could be done like present olympic mount, but not required . Mark 1st stag ... then turn. 1-5 In whipping up to squat, you cannot go to handstand, but can go up as high as layout. Swinging to handstand would change element to superior. 11-1 After leap, the Lies. and upper back must be held in the landing position to show control. The left leg should not drop immed iately down and forward. 11-2 The releve comes as the ' R leg swings down and back for the back sw. turn. You would be better to come down to L heel , then lunge. 11-3 The contraction comes about here

R L

then come to final

position sharplY.

The forward roll is a piked roll. Bring ankles together early. May grasp beam, but no pause is allowed. Head position in relation to arms before you go into roll is insignificant to judge. The important thing is that she roll s continuously. Would not suggest that the beginner go up onto toe in the toe to knee position following roll unless she can do it without balance problems. IY-1 R leg must be horizontal during thrust or higher. Can bring arms vert ica l in different ways as long as you bring them vertical. Pathway not defined. Y-I As she pulled arms to a crossed position the palms suppinated. IY-1 Land on balls of feet when you come out of assemble and straight jump. Leg must be thrust to horizontal or higher on the assemble (k ick jump). In plain jump, feet must be in a tight 5th position when in air. When doing the squat turn, do not start the body movement until you have almost completed the turn. You will have better balance this way. You CAN do it during the turn ... but it takes teaching. Y-2 In sca le, leg must be above horizontal. You can

be doing something w ith arms during hold as long as sca le position is held. No matter how high scale is the body must maintain arched position. You can have the hip up or down as long as the shoulders and torso remain squared. YII-1 When you step forward R on toes with 'A turn , this takes you towards end of beam. YIII-1 Legs should come together somewhere between

and here.

A tolerance is allowed. Don 't kick legs way up w.hen getting up out of roll. To do Body wave, do not lift rear first & then wave with arms. From squat, start to ri se a couple inches, then move the arms up above the head and then pull into a deeper cont raction . The seat ri ses with the body. IX-1 Kick above horizontal before roundoff. It is not required that you go up onto toe during kick, but you may. The legs must be together by the time you hit the vertical (For a beginner. .. 45° is considered her vertical) YI-1 What are we looking for in the chasses? .. The closed position of the feet in the middle of the flight. One leg must remain in front of the other. Then we look for the landing on one leg and the other shoots fo rward . The flight should be high with the toes pointed. YI-2 Curtsey arms can getto final position anyway as long as they end backward, downward, oblique. You can do deep curtsey but don't go to full squat.

BEGINNING BARS 1-1 No deduction if you take a step into mount. You must extend in front support before you beat for single leg squat thru in 11 -1. 11-1 Body ca n go to horizontal without deduction. Y-2 DedIJction of .2 for break in rhythm if you do an extra knee bend. YI-2nd 1 ... turn must be completed at horizontaL .. not below. Therefore you must ride the straddle sole circle up higher before you release feet to shoot out for the half turn. YII-2 When hips are at level of LB, begin pike. YIII-1 Knees bend simultaneously with contact with bar ... not before. Don't expect to come up to free front support immediately for beginners. YIII-2 Not necessary to swing up to horizontal.

If, after you do stem rise, you have to beat your legs forward, then backward for cast, this is an extra swing .. . deduction is .5

INTERMEDIATE LEYEL FLOOR EXERCISE 1-1 Lift chin and draw the arms back, bend knees and then step back quickly on toes. Arms should be back by 1st step. 1-2 The arched jump shows only a slight arch. . 1-3 Contract in th is position with the arms above the head . 11-1 The opening of the arms first before the BWO is abrupt. .. palms up. Step is fairly large before BWO. 11-3 Coming out of BWO arms pull slowly with strength ... then abruptly open back. 111-1 Don't kick leg too high as you go into y, turn. You shou ld be able to keep it at first height thruout the turn. Finish the turn with the leg behind you. 111-2 March is not stiff 1-2-3-4 count is skip, 8 is leap, 11 is assemble, and 12 is turning jump. IY-1 There is a slight contraction on the scoop and extention as arms move forward after turn. IY 2nd 3 The high note is the jump (before the arabesque) in the air. .. not the landing. Don't end this hip with a kick of the right leg up to the side. There should be no play in the hips during this jump. After pushoff. .. both legs go up together an equal amount. .. and then the landing 1-2. Y-1 When you step right forward leave weight on both feet. The turn is a pivot on two feet. The left foot comes up into position as you finish the turn. YI-1 After the chest roll straighten arms and throw the head up and back at the last minute. YI-2 When you do the 7,1. turn keep the left leg close to the floor. Don ' t use the hands during the turn . YII-3 soft and slow YII-4 quick and sharp YIII Tourjete .. . judge is more interested in elevation and control during turn rather than a split of the legs

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 49: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

(as in adva nced routine) at this leve l. IX You ca nnot reverse the roundoff here. After the y, turn , pull the left leg forward to split before you land to do the forward roll. XI-2 Miss Metheny did these arms in a complex manner. As the right arm circles downward and then crosses in front of body, the shoulders twist left so that the left elbow is down and arm is in suppination. At the same time the ri gh t shoulder is in pronat ion and this is what causes the back of the right hand to lead down. As the right arm continues to overhead and left arm circles up, the shoulders twist so that the left arm is in pronation (e lbow up) and leading and right arm is in suppination (elbow down) and th is part is done very fast .. . with head stayi ng left until last minute when arms come sharply to their last position. XII-2 Arms go to final position sharply.

INTERMEDIATE BEAM ROUTINE 1-1 M ou nt: cou ld put board back, but do not change to dive forward roll on. Speed is not important during the roll. The importa nt thing is to keep it moving with no stopping! Should not come to a V-sit and show. There should be only a slight hesitation before the swing up. No V-sit is required. Come up,straddle legs, (arms overhead) to get ready for whip-up.

Judges, if she stops on back, deduct up to .2 for continuity. If she shows lack of control and wiggles trying to stay on, she could lose up to .3, but do not deduct .5 for losing diff iculty if she stops.

The average intermediate will be able to get just above hori zonta l. You w ill see much variation in amplitu de. Swing up can go no higher than 'J.i handstand .. . not to a handsta nd. This would make it a super ior move and she would be deducted for addi ng an element to the routine. Legs must be together at Horizonta l. M any cast and are on there way down with one leg down and one leg on before they reach horizontal. Sometimes they reach horizontal but just have poor form. We. are not ta lking about that. 11-1 Like scissors ... Right leg moves forward like in a bad chasse. It is li ke a little warmup step to get into the leap. It is ve ry small , bouncey and on the balls of the feet. 11-2 You may very slight ly bend the right leg to get into the st ride posi ti on in the leap, but it must be stra ightened out by the time the l eg~ are in this posit ion

(45° up) so that it goes in to the sp li t wi th a straight leg. This applies both to the beginning and the

intermediate routin es. Some wi ll not bend the knee at all, but most can get a better spl it with the 1st method. The arms should go into position at the top of the leap .. . not on the landing. When you land leap, the back leg should be up momentarily to at least 45° ... then bring it forward for the step. 111-1 Drop your left arm (or both) to the side, thru the forward position as you step into the turn. Move arms over head during turn. Then drop to heel because of posit ion afterwards. Then you'may either push the left hand outwa rd or lower the arms with palm up to lateral. Eithe r style is fine . No plie as you come out of turn . Just lower to heel. IV-2 It is not necessary to hesitate with the legs together in a handstand position. No deduction if they hes itate in verti ca l as in advanced, but not required at all. The equality of split legs is important. It is more important for shoulde r and hip line to be in vertical than for the legs to show a very wide split.

Judges, she might show 90° split in each part of scissors but not be qu ite vertica l and lose about .2 for handstand not ve rti ca l. If she has trouble with both scissors and attaining vertica l, she might lose as much as.4. She could leave it out en tire ly and not lose more than .5. Gymnast should be aiming fo r a 120° sp lit.

If she has a full sp lit on one side and doesn't have quite as fu ll on the o ther, but it is at minimum requ irement, don't deduct. Lei her show the one she does have. She doesn't have to cover up the full split on one side to make both sp li ts the same. V-l Step together on toes V-2 Perform tuck jump wi th body straight, legs tucking underneath as in picture. The right leg can remain slightly in front if necessary because this is the position for take-off and landing. Deduct only if way apart. She cannot arch legs back ... she cannot do it with knees way up forwa rd in a contraction . If yo u see this, deduct up to .2 for body position error .. . not.5 for changing the element. If feet hit seat lightly there w ill

GYMNAST Sept. '75

be no deduction. If this ca uses a jerk ... deduct a tenth. The gymnast should not go to big extremes to produce a sty le here because she will be hurt by it rathe r than helped .

The elbows should be shoulder width away frorr, each oth er in squat. Back track a bit: V-l The sissone is large V-2 The kick jump is not large ... but high enough so she can complete ly point her toe. About two inches off the bea m. VII-l I n this sca le, different degrees of turn out are tolerated . Does not have to be like a ballet attitude. If a gymna st has had da nce and ca n do an attitude, she may - - as long as toe is not below knee line. The pelvic gi rdl e is horizontal, but the rest of the body ca n be UP, or even cont racted. VII-2 Arms optional on chasse ... can be moving or in a still position. The chasse can be long or short. This is one place in the routine where you can adjust the pattern. There will be no penalty imposed either way. VIlI-l M ovement w ill carry you back toward center of beam to allow room for back roll for the taller girls. This is another p lace where the pattern can be adjusted . A long o r short step may be taken without penalty for amplitude fo r a short step. VIII-3 In 1st st ick you ca n be either on toe or flat ... bu t toe preferred. Keep front leg up above the beam as you sit down for roll. Same tolerance is allowed in getting legs together as in beginner routine. The right leg must drop to the beam right away and it must be bent. Bring the left leg down quickly ... do not hold .

As you shoot to the si ngle leg squat, your head should be coming off the beam. You do not get cred it for the 45° position of the back leg if your head is on the beam ... and then you lift the head off as you put the leg on the beam.

Must not shoot both legs above 45° then drop down to position. Cou ld be a shoot. You could hit 45° ... then drop foot to beam.

Rise during the turn. IX-l Stay up on toes ... do not let heels drop IX-2-3 Can remain o n toe or come down before stepping out of turn as long as you do turn on y, toe. A cont inuous y, y, turn. Would be no break. IX-4 Land bendi ng left knee slightly, the relieve to kick as soon as possible. You can bring right arm to front thru any path as long as you get there. X-l Si nce dismount can be reversed, you can step on R and kick L X-2 You shou ld pivot on supporting arm more like the advanced d ismount. When you land, your arm which is ho ldin g on to beam should be directly to the side of your .body. You shou ld not land in back or in front of your hand. You should mark Handstand before you come off. Put most of the weight on ri gh t arm.

INTERMEDIATE BAR ROUTINE 1-1 Glide w ith legs together. Ded uction is .5 for st raddle glide. 11-1 You ca n lift your right leg as high as you wish as long as you keep moving. IV-l No ded uction for going above horizontal in cast. May go to ',4 handstand but not to handstand (thi s would be changing it to a superior element) . V-2 You do not have to go to a layout before squatting r ight leg over bar. VII-l Look at 1st stick. If you re -arch your body from here before you do stem rise, the deduction is for a break in rhythm up to .2. VII-2 If you have to bring your legs forward before cast ing fo r di smount, this is an extra swing. Deduct .5

This is a lead up to a free back hip circle. Do not touch bar on wh ich you are circli ng with your body or deduct ion is up to .2

ADVANCED LEVEL FLOOR EXERCISE 1-4 In tuck jump, legs are under body. Knees should not be tucked to chest, o r legs t hrown back to a body arch. 1-5 Keep feet together until you reach handstand position in back handspring . 1-6 After landing back handspring, keep weight forward on the left leg. 11-1 Begin stag early so that you see both the stag position and the spli t. In side lea p both legs should li ft evenly in to the sp lit . If there is a slight knee bend in beginning and both legs are even in the sp lit position, this is all right. Both legs should lift at same time. You can bring legs d irect ly up to side or very slightly

forward , but not actually piking. (More of a forward straddle Sitting position) . 11-2 The third step of the turn appears to already be putt ing the gymnast into her run for the front tumbl ing. It is a very smooth transition . 111-1 The hands must be side by side, in line with each other, and a shoulder width apart on both the handspring and the mounter. As the hands hit, the legs are split in the mounter. In the hurdle for the handspring, the upper body should be slightly contracted w ith hips tucked under. The body teeter totters down . The back legs comes up very fast. If you pike into it, you bring hands too close to feet. The legs should come together slightly before or very slightly after the ve rtical handstand position. The legs straighten as you land with toes pointed for a punching act ion into mounter. Pull feet thru backward a bitas you land front handspring so you get a fo rwa rd flight momentum for the mounter. Pike for mounter is slig ht. Your body should straighten just before the vertical. Land on hands with body slightly behind vert ica l to avoid a flat after-flight in mounter. When you la nd out of mounter, your leg must be above horizontal and straight. 111-2 In turn to front attitude, the left leg pulls thru rather easi ly du ring the turn, not particularly turned out, and the turn ends in attitude. The arms come forward to a slight ly spread out horizontal position. 111-3 The step onto the left leg to next position is sharp. IV-l Steps cou ld be done on balls of feet IV-2 The sca le is more to show balance than split. Do not raise leg so high that you lose placement and balance. IV-4 Keep back up in pose after turn. V-l There are many possibilities for different arms. Remember, they are optional and do not have to move in unison. They ca n do something different during each gallop step. V-l The li ttle develope starts very quickly as the toe points, but ends in a sustained opening each time as the left foot replaces the right foot. There is no flight involved in this step. If you take out the word "gallop" and do just as the description says you will have a better chance of doing the step as required . V-3 The side kick just before the cartwheel doesn' t have to be a big one. Knee should be facing the ceiling (turned out) V-l,2 The work on the floor is done very qu ickly and smoothly. Go into handstand without putting much weight on the fi rst ha nd so you shift the weight right away from the 1st hand. You don't have to hold the handstand at all. As you straddle down, the legs would not touch the floor at all. VI-2 Not a held position at all. VI-3 Ca n do right o r left legged split or straddle split. VII-l As you do split leg circle, keep both arms above head .. . looks better. VIII In arabesque turn lock leg and pelvis into position and do not allow it to lower during turn. VIII-2 The cont raction is started by doing a sinking movement w ith the head back ... then body and arms forward in to a very deep contraction almost touching the floor. As the palms move up and then push out, the push starts with streng th and ends lightly with a slight pa use . Acce nt up. VIII-3 etc. A short girl may go straight across the floor here

L The curved floor pattern

is for the tall girl. L VIII-4 M ove the left leg forward to split as much as possible before landing the tourjete. IX-l Step on right toe okay as you put the left leg down and r ight arm lowers to side of body, the left arm rea lly goes w ith it into the "stretch out forward and sideward, palms up" movement during the grapevine. IX-2 As you finish grapev ine, the arms continue to behind the body to do the sweep to the forward position at the end of pose. IX-3 There is time in music for LIFT ... 1-2-3-4 count on the Tinsica back ... and " push" arms back in pose after tinsica . (Fingers were forward when Linda did tinsica.) But then the hopping turn comes suddenly and you run right out of it for the next tumbling pass. The roundoff may be on either side in this routine. con't. on next page 53

Page 50: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

After the roundofi pull feet thru so weight will be back for flat backhandspring flight. From handstand position, think of pushing hands forward to make you go back to land on feet. Bring arms up with head. Step out should be as soon as possible so you can do turn for front walkover with good placement. Keep back in arabesque on way down into walkover. You can begin and end walkover on toe but not required . X-1 The backhandsprings are NOT high bounding ones. They are regular fast tumbling. If you do not do rhythmical fast flip flops, you may get a rhythm deduction . (For example, if first one is fast and second is high and bounding ... the deduction would be up to .2) XI-1 The floor pattern was drawn this way so you could read it better, but the gymnast really goes straight back toward center on the same diagonal. XI-2 Really a one-armed hurdle XI-3 When you go into the tinsica, your left knee is slightly bentwith a body pike. The arms will assist you

. in lift (Throw you into an arabesque arch position for the tinsica). Hands can be placed side or forward. 1-2 placement is necessary.

There are two methods of teaching the Tinsica. 1. Oblique Method-Turn with Ya turn. You maintain

' that Ya turn thruout the entire movement. When you are coming up on support leg at end, you square your

. hips forward. The dive is more fluid if you maintain the oblique position thruout and this is the method required.

2. The other way which they don't want is togo into it as a pure side movement with a cartwheel. Then while you are inverted, you do a 'A turn and walkover out. XII-1 When you lift body weight forward, you do have to leave right knee on the floor.

ADVANCED BEAM 1-1 The mount is only the step on to the squat. This is the only part you can reverse. The left leg does up in the scale whether you reverse the mount or not unless you reverse entire routine.

You may move the board back and do the mount like the 1972 olympic mount, but don't stop when you bring the left leg forward. The front leg lifts up and has to bend early to come into the squat, but the back leg stays stretched as in a leap, swings thru to horizontal and then is placed in front. Not required to do it in this way. There should be a slight arch in the upper back as you come into the squat position. The shoulder blades should be pulled together.

Just before you go to scale, arms go down, bending supply ... then sharply to high as you rise. Go to toe in scale. Arms should go sharply to vertical. You can get them there in any way. 11-1 Back leg must be stretched up to at least 45° when you land. Don ' t stop, but continue it thru. No hold is necessary. As the girls get into Intermediate and advanced, they are required to do bigger split leaps and they can't land and really hold the leg back. All they are required to do is have the leg stretched back in correct position upon landing (at the 45° angle) then they can bring it immediately thru. In the beginner routine, she lands with the leg higher and actually marks the position. Even the beginner does not have to hold and mark the position as long as the landing position is correct. It is better in training the gymnast to have her mark the position upon landing, but if it causes her to create a form break, this will be deducted. 111-1 As long as turn is on toe .. . fine ... but looks better to stay on toe between turn and lunge. Practice leap to turn to lunge. Continuity will be difficult here. Since leap must be on right leg, only one step left will be necessa ry to get into the turn. IV-1 To get into handstand you can swing arms forward and down or to up- back-forward and down. Important thing in split is that both legs are even. Judge will look on Adv. level for 120° to 180° split. In getting into handstand it is important to raise the leg as the torso lowers so that the back maintains its stretched position. Coming out of the handstand it is important to maintain that same scale line on the way down or judge will deduct for poor body position. IV-2 Back toe and arms should arrive into position at same time. So whole body and leg is in one line coming down. V-1 When stepping together before sissone, this is not a hop or assemble. No flight is involved. Step together and explode up as high as you can go. You may force bottom leg forward in flight as a dancer

54

would. No extra credit will be given because this is not required. The leg should be up to 45° when you land sissone. V-2 In all three routines, the lifted leg should be horizontal in the kick jump. This is not written into the text, but the au thor assumes you will get this from the pictures. The arm s come down sharply in the squat. V-3 Beat jump ... beat is not done with ankles. The thighs are what do the beating. If the knees are perfectl y stra ight ... the thighs will be involved. VII-1 In the sca le, the pelvic girdle is horizontal. A very flexible girl cou ld have her torso erect. When you stand from the squat to the scale, do not stand up straightening right leg and then bend it for scale. Keep it bent. VII-3 Step left out of chasse and lean the body slightl y forward, start to twist with the upper body high, start the drop into a contraction. Pull the right arm curved above the head slightly, back arm behind and dip your body over a little bit... head down. It 's your choice as to how high or low this will be . VIII-1 You may not do a bent kneed turn unless specified in text ... in any of the routines. Don 't fall into step ... show control in turn first. When you extend the back leg forward , it can be on or off the beam ... but no kick is allowed. It is only in prep for the turn. Keep hips squared forward. The support leg must be straight in turn . You can get into the turn by .stepping in plie and releveing onto toe orstep directly onto toe. This is one spot where the adva nced gymnast can work on originality. VIII-2 Right leg does not necessarily have to be turned out ... although it does look better. Arms should be relaxed in switching. Do not use stiff arms. When legs land in lunge, it is better to have the arms in final posit ion at same time. A little tolerance is allowed. If soft style, arms can be a little late. Hop can be a contraction and landing an extension as long as arms go to prescribed positions. In lunge, toe must be on beam ... not hooked over the side. This is to make pivot to side position smooth. IX-1,2 Can use different rhythms during body wave. But keep movement soft and pretty. IV-3 Then explode into the kick IX-4 Start the cartwheel sideways ... reach out as much as you can (you can use a straight or bent knee.) Arms must hit 1-2 and leave 1-2. Keep feet turned forward. IX-5 H it position at top of hop. Plie at end in position, then kick. X-1 When you kick right leg you can relieve ... looks best. Kick doesn't have to be high before the cartwheel to dismount ... just stretch. Pivot on the right hand. Not to show flight off. Straight body important. See noies on Int. dismount. If you want to reverse, do it after you relieve in right-legged kick. As you come down, press down toward beam with body and lift shoulders and chest. Head stays neutral. Like a one­armed press down.

ADVANCED BARS 1-1 Legs together on glide or deduction is .5 for straddle glide. 11-1 There will be no deduction if you put seat on bar, but no stops are allowed during routine. 111-1 A horizontal body position is not required before the long-hang kip. IV-1 You can turn either way because whole routine uses the legs working simultaneously. V-1 If she falls on Eagle 1.0

a. If she never " popped" eagle also deduct .5 for losing difficulty.

b. If she goes with a " pop" for eagle just deduct 1.0 for fall

c. If she pops eagle, falls, then grips LB and glides, deduct .5 for no drop. She can do a little pump to get into the drop from the high bar and she can be lifted in an overgrip to the HB for the drop.

ADVANCED VAULT This was not in Mrs. Darst's corrections, but Jackie

Fie said this at the clinic. pg. 77 If the arms are completely bent to a 9'0° bend she assumes that the girl has no chance of straightening them and the penalty would be 2.5 in this case. They did not put in the penalty for not going thru the vertical because at the advanced leve l they have not seen too much of this. Howeve r if we do see the error, we may deduct for it according to FIG Code.

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Page 51: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

Gymnaestrada con't. from pg. 21

On Ju ly 5 was the conclusion of the Gymnaestrada. That morn ing I watched the final exhibiti o ns by the German, Swedish, South Afr ica n and others in th e Eislaudhall e. During the aftern oon final performances and ceremonies we re held at Berli n's O lymp ic Stad ium. It was more of the hi ghli ghted features performing their last time.

The Gymnaestrada came in a perfect time since it gave me a quick review of gymnastics around the world. It helped me prepare and plan my Europe trip for thi s summer.

Ori gina ll y, I had made an agreement w ith G lenn that I wou ld start a co lu mn and work with Gymnast by the time I return, but after meet ing interesting people and finding information about China and Japan (without goi ng there) I decided that I was ready to begin now.

A very important part of my assignment was to meet with Prof. Josef Goh ler, Gymnast's Internati ona l Editor. I am indebted to him and M rs. Goh ler for maki ng my experiences at the Gymnaestrada en joyable and for their patience in help ing me " sp recht Deutsch. " I hope to see them aga in in Frankfurt.

My all ni ght danc ing excursion with the Norwegians in Berlin is somet hing I w ill never forget. I even had the p leasure to meet Gand er and Gunther Hein, presid'ent of the sixt h Gymnaestrada Committee.

The people at the press center were great in helping me fi nd my way around the press rooms and faci lities.

The magaz ine and subscription promotion was slow to begin w ith . I' ll never forget what Glenn sa id to me before leaving that how I wi ll go to the Gymnaestrada to rep resent th e U .S.A. and Gymnast, the largest circulated gymnastic magazine in the world (20,000 subscr ibers). I was already awa re that the Gymnast had international d istribution and I was naive enough to t hink that everyone wou ld know about t his magazine.

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It turned o ut that many people from th e Netherlands, Scandinavia , South Africa , Mex ico, Brasil and China have not heard of Gymnast before I asked them . A lthough, Hungary, an East Block nat io n, had no gymnasts at the Gymnaestrada , I sti ll managed to turn some Hungarian lit erary critics in Berlin for the FilmFest on to the magazine. Who knows Gymnast may still break more barriers of th e East Block ! There stand s a good chance to even infiltrate Chin a.

Review Conclusion

With all my picture taking , interviews and side businesses, one would wonder if I even used the press room. As a matter of fa ct , I hardl y did. And whenever I came in to check my press box for messages, I was given a sleuth of press releases all written in German. It was a painfu l expe ri ence in trying to make heads or tails of all the li tera ture I received.

Those were the times I missed Glenn the most. But in order to sooth my anxie ties, I kept th inking that the expe ri ences in Berlin wou ld be good for me. I hope so.

As I had sa id ea rli er about hard ly spendi ng time at the press ce nter, whenever I stopped in between runs, I sti ll managed to meet seve ral wonderful press people and most of them from Germa ny.

Marjut Svahn, sports jo urnalis t for Finland's largest newspaper, has become my mother, lawyer and fri end. I' ll always remembe r the Itali an resta urants in Berlin (German spoken with an Itali an accent) and the jewe lry and herb book exchanges.

Despite the awkward first meeting w ith A lbrecht Gaebe la, wo rl d rek nowned German O lympic spo rts photographer speciali zing in gymnastics, we still managed to become respected fr iends. When I asked him how he felt the last day of the Gymnaestrada, he said that he was sa ti sf ied with a tired look on his face.

My column th is month will feature China and Japan and next month I w ill feature some of the highlights of my tr ip from Germany, Sweden and Norway.

Unti l then - Auf Wieder Shon.

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Page 52: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

PSYCHOLOGY Some thoughts on Coaching

will answer out of affection, cohersion etc. only to hear the vo ice inside say: " dam it I didn't want to say that. " Be care ful of this for yourtrue feelings will come out later usually in a destructive way. Think about the inquiry of a gymnast carefully when it is of the "ca n I" type, make up your mind, and then rest secure about your dec ision . Don 't hem and haw! and

the GYMtifiST PART TWO

Dr. Joe Massimo 11 . Be a consistent spotter. This builds

confidence in your gymnast. When you say yo u are going to be there or you've got them-be there and get them. Obviousl y, no distractions allowed in this aspect of coaching.

In the following list I haue elaborated where appropriate. In many cases the guideline is self­e x planatory and requires no comment. Here then, with your indulgence, are Massimo 's big twenty!

1. Establish your authority ear ly, be definite about it, have the limits and controls apparent to everyone.

2. Relate to your gym nas ts in a warm, natural way but never as a peer.

3. Minimize verbage. As I have pointed out in previous art icl es

comparing the Russian and Amer ica n coachi ng styles, we have a predisposition to chatt er in the gym. Observe your gymnasts caref ull Y and comment on their wo rk on ly whe n you reall y have somet hing of va lue to communicate. Make sure that w hat error you see is not just a single miscalculation, don 't comment each time, look for a pattern to max imize lea rning.

4. Have a sense of humor but don ' t make a joke out of gymnastics.

Nothing w ill de-contaminate a destructive . situation quicke r then a good sense of humor.

You will help yo ur kids keep themselves and their work in perspective.

5. Never utilize sarcasm in coachin g. Show the gymnast respect.

6. Be enthusiastic in you r work and encourage the sa me thing among the

presents

gymnasts. En courage sp irit. It is contagious. I n my gym the kids app laud each other for

jobs wel l done. 7. Be fair - - rotation to events, number of

turns up etc. Most coaches ha ve " fa vo rites" in the gym.

You must guard against ha ving thi s natural ci rcu msta nce interfere w ith yo u r se nse of equal treatment.

8. Gi ve each yo ungster your complete attention w hen you are work ing w ith them.

Often we wi ll be speaking w ith a kid and out of the corne r of ou r eye spot something someone else is doing. Don 't allow this distraction to occur - - at that moment the o nl y person in th e 'Norld as far as yo u ' re co ncerned is the gymnast you are add ressing.

9. Don't tdl a gymnast her wo rk is "good" when it isn' t. Gymnasts know when they have done a good job. They w ill not trust your criti ca l judgement if you praise them w hen th ey know in their hearts that the performance was inadequa te. At th e same tim e, encouragement is important-sa y such things as, " better" , " it 's coming" , " not bad" o r " yo u nee.d to- - -" .

10. Say NO without feeling guilty about it Say YES without resenting it. These are ve ry subt'l e but impo rtant matters.

Very often as coac hes a youngster w ill as k us somethi ng (e .g. ca n I do anoth er etc.) and we

Attention:

12. Don 't be afraid to say "I'm sorry". Don't be afraid to say "I don't know". From time to time as coaches we make

blunders. Nothing w ill cemen t your relationship quicker w ith your kids then your willingness to apologize for your poor behavior. I ha ve done this and the rewards and va lue is written on the faces of you r gymnasts.

The coach who says he or she knows eve ryt hing is to be passionately avoided. You will gain the respect of your gymnasts if you are willing to admit that your technical knowl edge is not ex hausti ve. They w ill not put you down for that especially if you indicate that you intend to find out and even sea rch for the answer wit h your gymnast. If you fake it, not only do you ri sk the injury to the youngster but yo u diminish yo ur image in their eyes very quick ly.

13. Allow time for the gymnasts to socialize. This should not take place during the workout. But each day th e yo ungste rs should know that this is poss ible within a particular situation. (Prior to warm-up, mid-workout break , after conditioning etc.)

14. Provide a forum for listening to your gymnasts.

At least o nce a month the coach should sit down with the kids to discuss any issues releva nt to the smooth running of the training

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Page 53: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

prog ram, group morale issues etc. Th e rul es fo r this meeting are:

1. One pe rson speaks at a time. 2. No o ne has to spea k 3. A nything ca n be brought up. 4. Wh en one person is spea ki ng the others

w ill look at he r. 5. There w ill be no p ut-down . 6. Yo u q ues t ion another o nl y to clari fy

th eir po in t of view no t to cr itique it. 15. Work ext remely hard yo urse lf. 16. Whenever possib le and appro pri ate

delegate responsibility. It helps the emo ti onal cli mate in a gy m if the kids fee l some se nse o f ownership of decisio ns and that th ey can complete tasks ot her then ro utines.

17. Be predictable. Coaches, as athletes, ca n be ve ry moody and

gymnasts ca n accept this but fo r best results a ce rtain consistency of response is imperat ive. This is essenti al so th e girl s fee l thai ex tern al matters w hich effec t intern al attitud es and consequentl y output, are being monito red. This respo nsiveness prov ides an important se nse o f securi ty fo r them. (e.g. w hen they test my limits and slack off o n wo rk they know just about how long it wi ll be before th e roo f falls -- what matters is t hat they know it w ill fall! )

18. Be a model at all times especiall y d uring competitio ns when th e p ressure is th e highes t. Remember to practice what you preach!

It is easy to over-roma ntize th e coaching relatio nship, it is equall y easy to underestimate your influence o n the lives o f th e yo ungsters under your charge. There is such a th ing as " identi fy formation " and you ca n be a key facto r in its develo pment particularl y during the ado lescent Yea rs.

19. Male coaches - - be very careful not to oversexualize your interacti o n w it h your gymnasts.

20. Be real, be careful, be sensitive. Do n 't p lay w ith your kid 's lives o r emoti ons.

They may be " tough " in many rega rds but th ey are no t adults and their ex ternal phYsical resilience and psycho logica l end urance m ight lea d yo u to fo rget t hat few latency and adolescent age yo ungsters have emoti onally mature egos w hich ca n manage and cope with anythin g.

In essence, the coaches job is to direct th e spirit not break it. Be a genuine person to your kids, one who is capa ble o f laughing, crying, sharing and, above all , caring. Remember, when the history of man is written chances are that your coaching activities won' t be recorded so keep things in perspective and enjoy the mutually satisfying rewards of working relationships with young artists and your sense of participation in the creative process.

Befo re cl osing I wanted to add a note about " discipli ne " w hich is def ined by W ebster as a form o f " learni ng" . I have known coaches whose di sc ipline was irrati onal, harsh, overd ete rmined and destruct ive. If I make a demand o r decision w hich, in rea lity is unfair in terms of the ind ividual o r tea m it wi ll erode prod ucti v ity in an insid ious manner. There is nothin g wron g w ith changing o nes mind if it is in the context of rat io nal behavior and not the result o f weak ness o r manipulati on. The gymnast w ill admi re thi s f lex ibili ty fa r mo re th en a ri gidity w h ich is impenet rab le rega rdl ess of circumstances. On the other hand fair demands must not be subjected to the w hims of th e gymnast but m ust be stri ctl y enforced. M ost athl etes w ill du ti full y, albeit somet imes reluctant.ly, fo ll ow th ro ugh o n such demands since th ey respect and accept a coach w ho has demo nstra ted h is earned authority.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Each year the Gym Master Company presents its coveted diamond mounted

14-carat gold insignias to a select group of champions for achievements

in gymnastics.

This Diamond Award is also presented to outstanding

coaches for their exceptional contributions

to gymnastics.

NCAA CHAMPIONS All Around . .... . ... .. Wayne Young Floor Exercise . . . . . . . . . . Kent Brown Pommel Horse ... . . .. . . . Ted Marcy Still Rings .. . . . . . . . ... Keith Heaver Long Horse .. . .. . . . .. .. Tom Beach Parallel Bars . . .. . . . . . Yoichi Tomita Horizontal Bar . ... ... Richard Larsen

USGF CHAMPIONS - MEN All Around . Tom Beach, Bart Conner Floor Exercise . . . . . . . Peter Kormann Pommel Horse . . . . . . . .. Bart Conner Still Rings . . . . .. . . . . .. . . Tom Beach Long Horse . ... .. . .. ... Tom Beach Parallel Bars . . . . . . . . . .. Bart Conner Horizontal Bar .. . ....... Tom Beach

THE GYMNA STIC EQUIPMENT SPECIALI STS

USGF CHAMPIONS - WOMEN All Around . . .. . .... Tammy Manville Vault . . .. .. ... . .. .. . Kolleen Casey Uneven Bars . . . . . Leslie Wolfsberger Beam . ................ Kyle Gaynor Floor Exercise .. .. . . . Kathy Howard

COACHES OF YEAR National . ... .. . ... ... . . .. . Hal Frey Eastern ... . . .... . .. . Abe Grossfeld Mid-Eastern . . .. .. . . . Roger Counsi! Mid-Western .. . . .. . . . .. Jeff Bennon Western . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Bob PeavY Div II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Abe Grossfel9 Honor Coach .. ... .. . . . Newt Loke"

• (;~""a4tbi(Jb:'M".' r 3200 South Zuni Street • Englewood, Colorado 80110

Page 54: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

RES E 11 R C H········C·AliDioVA·S·ciJLAR·········~·· t '~' CONDITIONING FOR ~;. ,~ .~ GYMNASTS .-

;t _.

By Richard Black & Dewayne Johnson .•................................................................. , •••••......•.•....

.................. ~..... . DR. H.J. BIESTERFELDT, JR.

"GYMNAST" RESEARCH EDITOR Athletics Department- SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois 62901

• • • ~

USA : ..................................... ~ .. Richard Black is a high school gymnastics

coach in Setaul<et, New York, and a Doctoral student in p'hysical education at George Peabody College.

Dewayne Johnson is Assistant Professor of Physical Education at George Peabody College for Teachers.

Traditional ly, coaches have tri ed to indenti fy th e characteri sti cs and training methods o f th e good and successfu l ath lete. This info rm ation is . th en utili zed irl training programs for beg inners. As th e bodY o f knowl edge increases co nce rning th e desired chara cteri stics, supervised and scientifica lly based tra ining program s are bei ng des igned for younger and yo unger athl etes, resulting in a co nstant strin g of reco rd breaki ng performan ces in all sports.

In gymnasti cs, thi s is also true, w ith spec ifi c phYsica l character isti cs o f champion gymn as ts being identifi ed . They includ e less superfi cial fat , a higher ce nter of g ravi ty, mo re strength, more flexibilit y, bett er bal ance, more agi lity, mo re explosive power, a fa ster reac ti on tim e, a lower heart rat e, and a lower b lood pressure (1 ).

Thi s paper d ea ls spec ifi ca ll y w ith heart rate as it relates to cardiovascular fit ness and its im portance in gymn asti c trai ning. Mo re research needs to be done in thi s area to determine the degree of cardiovascu lar fitn ess needed by th e beg inn ing gymn as t. It is the purpose of thi s study to determin e if a vigorous tumbling wo rkout and / or a speciall y design ed interva l train ing progra m ca n induce a ca rd iovascular training effect.

Ca rdiovascular fitness has received a great amount o f publicit y and interest lately due to th e effects of exe rcise in reducing sorn e of th e ri sk factors of ca rd iovascular disease : tension, high b lood pressure, high bl ood cholestero l, and over-weight (5). A cco rding to Mann and Ga rrett (9) interva l training is the most effic ient method of training to achieve card iovascular f itness. In thi s method o f trainin g, th e bod y is pu shed to it s limit fo r short periods wi th recove ry time all owed bet.ween in terva ls. Karvonen (6) has stated that the hea rt w ill rece ive a trainin g effect if th e hea rt rate is incja sed at leas t sixty percent from res tin g to max im um. Dohert y has suggested that th e hea rt rate should reach 160 bea ts per minute or more whil e runnirlg and th at res t period s should last until recovery rate reaches 120 beats per minute (4) .

Since champio n gymnasts are shown to ha ve lower hea rt rates and blood pressures (1), and si nce thi s seems to be o ne of th e o utcomes of cardiovascular fitness induced by interva l trainirlg, th e questi o n ar ises as to th e need for thi s type of tra ining by th e beg inning gymnast.

58

It shou ld be poi nted o ut that the rev iew of one arti cle by Hosco (2) state. ·that gymn as ti cs w ill no t improve ciculatory fitn ess signi fi ca ntl y and that highlY trained gymnasts are no t no ti cea bl y supe ri o r to sa mples of untrained subjects in circulatory fitn ess. It seems that there is a need fo r more scienti fic research in this Mea .

It seems that a type o f interval tra ining is bei il g do ne by adva nced gymnasts as they do se ri es 01 routin es in wo rkouts to prepa re for meets. Kozar (7) used radio telemetry to monitor an experienced gymnast 's hea rt rat e at the Uni ve rsi ty of Michi ga n. He found increases in hear t rate during th e practice o f competiti ve rou tin es on the high bar, side horse, and sti l l rings l ell between 160 and 165 bea ts per minute. He did not tes t floor exe rcise. These rates increased from a rate of about 120 to th ese ma ximum leve ls w ithin fifteen to thirt y seconds.

Fari e and Philli ps (5) reco rded hea rt rates during twe nty minutes o f gym nas ti c acti vity for thirt y boys and th irt y gir ls between th e ages of seven and thirt ee. Th ey found mea n exe rcise hea rt rates fo r boys as high as 177.S fo r the rope climb and 179.9 fo r exe rcises on th e trampoli ne. The lowest exe rcise hea rt rate was reLu rd ed fur exe rcises on th e va ulting ho rse w ith the mea n hear t of 140.3. No sign ifi ca nt sex differences were observed in hea rt rate response. Th e autho rs co ncl uded th at thi s part icular prog ram was strenuous enough to be co nsidered a contributor to ca rdiovascular fit ness. Th eir data;·however, did no t show any

. mea n exe rci se above 160 on any of th e Olympi c events.

It is quest ionab le, based o n the ava il abl e resea rch data , w heth er gymnast ics is an acti vit y w hich requires ca rdi ovascular endu rance. However, th ere is ano ther co nsiderati on th at must be in ves tiga ted co ncernin g the need fo r ca rdiovascular t ra in ing. Ma ny of th e gym nastic stunt s w hen executed, require static muscle contraction , w it h ef fort made aga inst aclosed glo tti s, thu s crea ting a Va lsa lva effec t. Thi s type of exe rcise ca n ca use th e blood p ressure to increase 45 / 44 mm Hg. (8). In add itio n to thi s affect, gymnasti cs also in vo lves a large number of small mu scle groups, such as the arms, which also ca uses an increase in th e blood pressure (4). Th e additive affec t upon th e ca rd iovascular sYs tem of these it ems co uld c reate a ques ti o nab le situati o n for th e untrained sys tem. Therefore, it appears th at the gymnast should receive ca rdi ovascular t raining to strengthen and conditi on th e cardiovascu lar sYstem aga inst bo th th e endurance and blood pressure fa ctors unt il more detailed research is ava ilab le.

Based on thi s assumption, it was the purpose o f thi s paper to studY a strenuo us tumbling wo rkou t for beg inners an d its effect on heart rate. A lso, an attemp t was made to determine how stress ful an interva l training program for gymnasts wou ld have to be in o rd er to ach ieve a training ef fec t, and to recomm end a prog ram that gymnas ts could fo ll ow.

METHODOLOGY

1 um b ling is th e p redominate acti vity in 1I00r exercise and is used as an act ivity wh en worki ng out fo r that event. Acco rd ing to Faria and Phill ips (5), tumbli ng and floor exe rcise ac ti viti es increased the heart rate more than an y o ther Olym pi c events tes ted, however, th e mea n increase for th e boys and girl s in their stud y was no t enough to achieve a training ef lec t. Despite th e findings of Faria and Phillips, thi s act ivity had th e most potentia l o f building a training effect , especiall y for beginners, and th erefore , a vigorous tumbling program was designed in an attev t to ach ieve this e ffect.

The vigorous tumbling worko ut co nsisted of ten co nsecuti ve tu mbling sequences. Freedom wa s give n as to the beg inn ing tumblin g moves included by each part icipant. Most of the part icipants included ro und-offs, cartwheels, handstands, fo rward ro ll s, backward ro ll s, and dive ro lls. Severa l moves had to be performed in each sequence and the moves had to cove r at least twent Y-four feet o f mat space. The only recovery allowed aft er each sequence was th e time req ui red to walk back to the start ing pOSiti on, about ten seconds. Immed iately after completion of t he tenth sequence, the subjec t 's hea rt rate was reco rd ed. Thi s data is report ed in Table 1.

An att empt wa s also made to determine how stress ful an interva l training program for gym nastics wo uld have to be in order to achieve a training effect. Th e following sequence was d es igned fo r gymnas ts in an at tempt to simulate compet iti ve routine pra cti ce. The program consisted o f five thirty seco nd exerci se bout s with a thirty second rest between bouts. Hea rt rates were taken at the end 0 1 each bout. Subjects completed these bout s as vigorous ly as poss ible. Th e following sequence of exercises was completed by each subject: (1) standin g jumps fo r fi ve seconds, (2) alternate toe touching for five second s, (3) wo rking a sp lit for two and o ne-half seconds on each side, (4) hea dstand fo r fi ve seconds, and (5) squat thrusts with a pu sh up for ten seconds. Th e hea rt rates reco rd ed during this interval sequence are presented in Ta ble 2.

A seco nd sequen ce of exe rcises to be used lor interva l training was developed, this sequ ence included exe rcise per iods las ting for one minute w ith a thirty second rest between each of the f ive bout s. H ea rt rates were aga in recorded after each o f th e bouts af are presented in Table 3. Th e fo llowing routin e was included in th e one minute interval wo rkout: (1) runn ing-in-place for ten seconds, (2) standi ng jumps fo r ten second s, (3) altern ate toe touch fo r ten seco nds, (4) headstand for ten seconds, (5) sit ups fo r ten second s, and (6) squat thrusts w ith a push up fo r ten seconds. Th e number of repetitiops of each of the movements in the program would be determined by the speed and endurance of each subjec t.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 55: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

CONCLUSIONS

The resu lts of th e work conducted for th is paper indica te that either the tumb li ng program or th e o ne minu te interval sequence were strenuous enough to be considered a contributor to canJ iovascu lar fitness. Du ring th e tumbl ing program, mean heart rates reached 167.6. Howeve r, i t w id be d ifficu lt to repat th is tYpe of response, especia ll y w ith th e beg in nil lg gymnastic workout. Also, some of the gym nasts compla ined abou t being d izzy fo ll owi ng th e tenth sequence. Norma ll y in workouts there is a wait ing li ne and the gymnasts do 110t push themse lves. A coach that was co ncerned w ith this aspect of fitn ess cou ld, howeve r, shortell the lines and all ow on ly m ini mal rest periods.

The second interva l t raining program of one minute exe rcise bouts cou ld be used to bui ld cardiovascu lar fit ness in gymnasts, with mea n hea rt rates reachi ng 169 .2 during the fourth bout. W hen the in d iv idua l data sheets were ana lyzed for the gym nas ts wi th a heart rate below 160 0 11 the fourt h bout , it was fo und that these gym llasts would also have had a train ing effect accord ing to Karvo nen 's formu la (6), beca use of thei r low rest ing heart ra tes . Thu s, i f a coach wanted his beginning gym nas ts to ha ve the muscu lar and ca rd iovascu lar endura nee necessa ry to comp lete diff icu lt routines successfu lly, and with m inima l effect of the static muscl e contractions involved , these in terva l tra ining exe rcises cou ld be used as a va luable aid w hil e va ri ous gymnast ic moves are being mastered and ind ivid ual rout ines put together .

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Re ferences

TABLE 1 MEA N HEART RATE AFTER A VIGOROUS TUMBLING

SEQUENCE

1. BOSCO. lAMES S. ·· The ph ys ica l and personality characteri sti cs of champi on male gymnasts.' Doctoral I uiSSen Jl io fl , U ni vers it y of Ill inois, 1962.

Restin g Hea rt Rates Post-Exercise Hea rt Rat es

N=15

TABLE 2

Range Mean SD

63-107 83.3 13.2

150-192 167.6 11.5

2. BO~CO, J AME~ S. " The effect of gymnJs ti cs on va riou s physical f ilness component s: J review." Gymnast 15:26-27, January 1973.

3. DI:: NK, GERALD R. " The changes occurin g in strength and fl ex ibil ity during a competit ive gymnJsti cs seaso n invo lving high school boys." ," ' asler's th esis, Universit y of Kansas, 1969.

4. DtVRIES. HERBERT A. Ph ysio logy of Exercise. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Compa ny Publishers, 1966.

POST-E XERC ISE HEART RATES FOR THI RTY SECOND INTER VA L TR A IN ING PROGRAM

s. f AR IA. IRVIN; and PHI LLI PS, ALICE. ··A stud y of telemete reo ca rdiac response of young boys and girl s during gymndsl ic pJrlicipatio ll. ·· Jou rnal o f Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 10,1 45-50. 1970. Ra nge

First Bou t 84-144 Second Bout 90-150 Third Bout 108-144 Fourth Bout 114-144 Fi fth Bout 11 4-144

N=5

TABLE 3

Mean 120.0 130.8 135.6 135.6 135.6

SD 19.7 20.9 14.0 11.1 11.8

6. KARVONEN, M.J. "EHecy of vigorou s exercise on the hea rt ." III Work and the Hear t, editors F.F. Rosenbaumand E.l. Be lknap. ew York : Pa ul B. Hoeber, Inc., 1959.

7. KOZAK, ANDRE W 1. "Tele metereu hejt rates recv rded during g}' rnnJ stic routines." Resea rch Quarterly 3<1: 102-6, March 1963.

POST-HEA RT RATES FOR O NE M INUTE INTER VAL 1 RA IN ING PROGRAM

6. LI ND . A. R.; alllJ MCN ICOL , G.W. ' ·Muscular factors which d e termine the card iovasc ular responses to sustained rhythmic exercise." Canadian Med ical Associatio n Journal 96 :706-13, 1967.

Range First Bou t 150-180 Secondmout 144-186 Th ird Bout 150-204 Fourt h Bou t 156-204 Fifth Bout 150-204

N=15

Mean 162.4 164.0 168.8 169.2 168.8

SO 7.7 9.7

13.7 13.3 12.7

9. MAN N, GEORGE V.; and GA RRETT, LEO N. Over 30-An Exercise Program for Ad ults. Nashville: Auro ra Publi she rs; 1969.

This pa pe r was published in the August, 1974 " Te nnessee Jo urna l of Health, Physical Educatio n and Recreatio n" -e d.

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59

Page 56: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

lETTERS~ I PEN PALS

.,,1 read that some members would like to see a pen pal club for the Junior gymnasts. My 2 girls are Patricia aged 9 and Justine aged 7 ... They would like to write to any of your girls who wish to exchange their ideas. We are members of the Leys gymnastic club in Auckland, who at the moment has 2 members in each of the male and female national teams.

Yours S~cerely Bob Garrard 77 Glenmore Rd. Pakuranga Auckland New Zealand

ED: We are sure many young gymnasts here in the states would be interested in writing to your girls about gymnastics. We often receive letters from young gymnasts looking for pen pals in . other countries.

FROM ENGLAND Dear Sir,

Far be it from me to correctOr. Joseph Gohler (in your June issue), but I must point out that Gheorghiu Dej is not the name of Nadia Comaneci's coach. It is in fact the name of her home town - formerly Orasul, now renamed in memory of the late Romanian Communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.

Yours faithfully, Pete Shilston Stafordshire, England

ED: Our apol ogi es, it is very possible that the mistake was make in our translation from German to English of Dr. Gohler's article.

VALID CRITICISM Dear Glenn,

I have been a very appreciative subscriber to your excellent magazine for many years and have always found the pictures very goOd, the articles informative and worthwhile.

However, l ately I have been disturbed by many of the comments by your editors regarding the organization and judging of the USGF Elite competitions this year, I would personally disagree with the statements about the judges not being able to recognize good technique in the Yamashita - vault; most national judges are fully attuned to a correct Yamashita.

There are always complaints about judging, from the lowest level meet to international competition, and some of the complaints are warranted; however ninety-nine percent of the judges are doing a very creditable job. If coaches, gymnasts, judges, spectators, etc. constantly hear n othing but unpleasant criticism, they will begin to expect incompetence and meaningless scores even when this situation does not exist. Criticism is good and useful when it is valid. However when criticism becomes habitual it is no longer valid.

Sincerely, Sandy Thielz USGF National Chairman: Teacher Education USGF National Judge Women's Gymnastic Coach at West Chester State College

ED. Judges like gymnasts and editors come in all sizes, shapes and abilities ... often wide open to criticism when they miss the mark, but go unrewarded when they do a good job because that is expected of them. (Even if a judge over scores a gymnast his/ her coach isn 't about to complain or compliment their good judgement for fear of a lower score next time). Thank you

60

for your positive comments. Although we may not agree that judges are 99% pure we agree the vast majority are high ly qualified and doing a much better job of judging than may have been inferred by our editors in recent editions.

THE LAST T IME 1 SA W PARIS

Dear Mr. Sundby, I don't know if you still have your "happy

handstand" section of the Gymnast magazine, but if you do I thought you might be able to use the enclosed picture.

It shows me doing a handstand on the Arch of Triumph in Paris where I toured with approximately 20 studen ts from my high school this past spring. The -Arch was finished by Napoleon in 1836 and dedicated to his Grand Army. The wall where I'm doing my handstand is more than 50 yards above the ground below, and the famous Eiffel Tower (built for the World's Fair of 1889) is in the background.

I'm a floor exercise specialist and have been studying gymnastics ' a nd dance since elementary school from private instructors, Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Oldfield of Romney, West Virginia. This fall I will attend Penn State.

Sincerely, Richard A. Mathias

TO URISHCHE V A FANS ARISE!

Dear Gymnast Editors: . I am writing to you about your article on the '75 European Champ ionships in your June issue of Gymnast. In my opinion it was totally unfair to Ludmilla Tourishcheva! Is it really fair to toss someone aside, say they're through, and not the best anymore just because they lose one competition? She has won and will win so many more! You can 'tsay she'sgetting"0Id", 23 isn't old for a Russian gymnast, and besides she just won the World Championships 7 '12 months ago. and no-one drops 4 places because their 71/2 months older! She slipped and was unnerved for the rest of the meet and if you remember she had a back injury and was out of practice. Where's the o ld saying "even the best make mistakes"?

In my opinion. magazines, etc. haven't been fair to Ludmilla. She 's never given any credit! Whenever she wins a meet all that's talked about is Olga. and if she should have won instead of Ludmilla. Ludmilla had to win the '70 World Championships, the '72 Olympics and take a sweep of the European Championships in '73 before she was called number one, before that she was "one of the best competing". I'll admit you've done good lately , then this artic le on the European! Nadia Comeneci wins one competition and she's ' a "wonder", from what I've seen. she needs more work. I think, for example. doing the same moves Zinke looked better. And Nadia didn't beat Ludmilla, I know slipping counts. But what if Ludmilla had shown the poise and grace we know she has? The day. she does and Nadia wins, then she is better, but even then only at that one competition. Ludmilla, if anyone, ended her own era. defeated herself. I am sure Ludmilla will come back stronger than ever. And even if she never wins again, I will g ive her the credit and respect she deserves for being unequaled in her own time, and for being, next to Larissa Latynina and maybe Vera Caslavska, the greatest gymnast ever to be. That is why I want this printed in your next issue of GYll1llast. to see what you've to say about it and to say let's give credit where credit's due! Hail to Gymnastic's Queen, Ludmilla!

Sincerely . Marie Dalali a n

NO PLACE TO TRAIN

Dear Mr. Sundby, I'm writing for a little information and to

express a few views. I was a gymnast in high school and have just graduated this past spring. I've been a gymnast for only two years and despite my late start I did pretty well. My

- problem and probably - the plight ,-of _many gymnasts around the country is finding a place to continue my training in gymnastics. Gymnastics used to be fairly strong here in Phil adelphia. The Y's here used to have it and Temple University used to let high school and younger gymnasts come to their gym and train with the coHege group. But all of that has been discontinued years ago. I was reading the July issue of Gymnast and took special notice to the article. "Psychology and the Gymnast". In it w as mentioned that working out from time to time in the morning just for experience was a good idea, just in case you ever had to compete at some unearthly time of the morning. This ideal was tailor made for our gym team in high school.

We had only one gym, because it waS an ail boys school, and since ti).e basketball team had run of that we had to practice in the halls, auditorium , etc. The only problem was is that you can 't hang a set of rings in these locations. And to have access to them, we had to have practice at 7:00 a .m. , an hour and a h a lf before classes. Fortunately for me I lived only five blocks away from school, but for other students who had to travel eight or nine miles to get there, this mean't getting up considerably early no m atter how convenient the transportation. It took our coach, w ho is also a college judge, an hour just to drive there. So even for him it mean't a lot of doing to give our team the practice it needed .

But I can honestly say that I never looked forward to anything more rewarding than gymnastics practice after school. One time my physics teacher caught me daydreaming in class and said "Remember Vann, when you're on the rings centripetal force is greatest at the bottom of the sWing." He really used to break me up. Unfortunately the college I'm attending this fall , Drexel Univ. doesn't have a gymnastics team so if you have any knowledge of any organization where I could continue my training in Philadelphia please let me kl.low.

Sincerely, Vann Clark con'!. on pg. 62

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 57: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

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ELITE FX SCORE CORRECTION

Dear Editor. I have just finished reading your July issue

and have found several mistakes on pages 27 and 58. Elite Championships for women on F.X. placement.

Jeanne Beadle's scores were 8.95 and 9.35 averaging 9.15 not 9.55. She came in 6th place not 2nd.

Denise Cheshire 9.1 and 9.3 for a 9.2 not 9.3. Roxanne Pierce 9.0 and 9.3 for a 9.15 not 9.3.

I believe it was Howard. Thies. Manville. Pierce & Cheshire tie and then Beadle. Not Howard. Beadle. Thies. Cheshire. Pierce. and Manville.

Tha'nk you Gymnast Reader

MRS. TREIBER'S SUMMER CLINICS AT ISU

Dear Sir. I was so pleased to read the appreciation

accorded to Mrs. Treiber and her husband Bob on the occasion of their hosting the master clinic for the new compulsories. I am sure this will be a great help to the many who find the compulsories is difficult to understand to master .

This was indeed a gathering of the finest coaching and judging stars in our country but I would like to add that Mrs. Treiber's graciousness and flair for organization is not just reserved for the stars and the big names in this business. I have found over the years in attending her summer clinics that she is equally attentive and helpful to the beginners and minor bodies in the gymnastic galaxy.

So all you brave people who may be entering this intricate field whether in private clubs or in a school system where you may be expected to teach the mysteries of gymnastics to a large number of assorted talents and ages - a truly formidable task; I urge you to take your problems to Mrs. Treiber in her summer clinics at ISU.

There she gathers round her the best coaches, judges, and teachers, not to mention herself, and you will not only have a good time but you will come away greatly enriched and ready to tackle the seemingly impossible.

Sincerely. Reginald Webber Yates Center. Kansas

HAPPINESS IS

Dear Mr. Sundby, I am a great fan of every Gymnast. I wanted to

write to you to tell whatagreat magazine this is it is worth every penny. When I got this as a present (the subscription) I was so happy. It's the best present I ever got. Since then every month I wait for the mailman to come so I can read it. I h ave a special wall downstairs in our family room it is full of fold-out posters I get from the Gymnast magazine. Everyone who comes to my house asks me who they are! I get sick of saying their name though I never get sick of them. Keep up the good work!

Lorraine Stomski Glen Falls, N. Y.

Olympic Trials?

Dear Mr. Sundby . Would you please send me a schedule of the

Olympic Trials? Thank you.

Sincerely Shelley Carpenter Des Moines. Iowa

JUST IN!!! The U.S.A. Olympic Trials will be held May 13-14-15 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Hotel accomodations can be made at the nearby University Hilton, make your reservations early!

Sept. 5-Dec. 14 Chinese Acrobats ofTaiwan, USA Tour Co-sponsored by the Republic of China, tour of US with stops in British Columbia. Sept. 28 Massachusetts USGF State Gymnastics Congress, Woburn , Mass. The congress will have meetings of the Massachusetts National Women's Judges Association; Gymnastics Judging Association (men); High School Coaches Associations; Independent Gymnastics Clubs; New England Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (Men and Women) and many other groups. Oct. 11 Qualifying meet for World Championships in Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics, San Francisco State University. Oct. 12-26 Pan American Games, Mexico City Oct. 27-29 Daily Mirror World Cup, Wembley, London Oct. 30-Nov. 1 USSR Display Team, Wembley, London, sponsored by the Daily Mirror. Nov. 14, 15, 16 USGF Congress, Denver, Colorado, at the Denver Marriot. $25.00 early registration fee . 1975

USSR/TOUR 1975 Dec. 7 New York, NY Dec. 8 Cleveland, OH Dec. 9 Champaign/ Urbana, IL Dec. 11 Los Ange les, CA Dec. 12 San Francisco, CA Dec. 14 Detroit, MI Dec. 15 Cincinatti, OH Dec. 17 Atlanta , GA Dec. 18 Washington, D.C.

May 13, 14, 15 USA Olympic Trials at Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Unofficial Schedule For the USGF Elite Program 1975-76

Oct. 31-Nov. 1 1st Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Dec. 5-6 1st National Elite Qualifying Meet. Jan. 16-17 2nd Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Feb. 6-7 2nd National Elite Qualifying Meet. Mar. 4, 5, 6 USGF Women's Committee National

Elite Championships. Apr. 9-10 Master Elite Meet. May 13, 14, 15 Olympic Trials. July 5-14 Departure for Olympic Games.

We would like to publish a calendar that is Gymnastically compete - if you have any additions please send them to :

GYMNAST Calendar P.O. Box 110 Santa Monica, Ca. 90406

WRONA'S

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GYMNAST Sept. '75

Page 59: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975

THE AMERICANS

ARE COMING!

Sorry Paul, the Americans have already arrived. AMF American gymnastic equipment is used allover the world.

~o matter where you are, or what level your program IS, AMF American has a complete line of gymnastic equipment designed to bring outthe best in you.

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Page 60: Gymnast Magazine - September 1975