Why is it that some athletes are able to generate huge success even if they aren’t the most talented? What is their secret? I’ve often wondered this, both about top-level athletes, as well as about successful people in pretty much any area of life. What are they doing differently than the rest of us? Here’s […]
It’s officially time for the new compulsory routines! As of August 1, 2021, the routines have changed. The old routines from 2013-2021 are no longer allowed in competition. With these changes, the level system will still stay the same. There will continue to be five levels of compulsories and five levels of optionals. Level 4 […]
The Olympics have officially been postponed, and the new date of the Opening Ceremony is July 23, 2021. Clearly, it’s the right thing to do. I was really hoping it wouldn’t happen, but once training facilities began to shut down all over the world, it was inevitable. It wouldn’t be safe to hold the Olympics […]
The acro series on beam – it’s a requirement that can make or break the routine! If the series is not connected, it’s an automatic 0.5 off the start value for the routine, in addition to any execution deductions, balance errors, or falls. But what is necessary to consider a series connected? For a forward, […]
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve written one of these news posts. It didn’t really make sense to me to write about gymnastics news when no competitions were happening and the only news was about cancellations. To be honest, it was all just a little depressing. But this week I realized that things […]
“Being a gymnast means always striving to do things you think you cannot do.” -Aly Raisman I recently read this quote and felt it was a great quote for gymnasts. In fact, it applies not only to gymnastics, but to other sports, and to life in general. “Always striving” made me think of grit, […]
Going stir crazy because you aren’t in the gym? Social distancing can be tough on everyone, especially gymnasts who really want to practice. So what’s a gym family to do? Well, they need to find some fun ways to incorporate gymnastics at home! Here are a few ideas to get you started. Conditioning Ok, maybe […]
Well, it’s official. The gymnastics season is over for all gymnasts in the JO and NCAA Programs. Given the situation with COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, I completely understand the decision, and I fully support it. We must take care not to unknowingly infect others, especially those who are the most vulnerable, to a potentially deadly […]
NCAA Gymnastics News: Long Island University is adding a gymnastics team for the 2020-2021 season! NCAA rankings for the week: 3/9/2020. It’s pretty tight at the top, with the season nearing its end! NCAA updates from last weekend’s meets: Collegiate recap from USA Gymnastics’ site Live blogs from The Balance Beam Situation: Friday, Saturday, and […]
What skills make up a great Level 10 beam routine? At Level 10, the requirements are much more rigorous than other levels. Judges have deductions available, called composition deductions, to reward gymnasts who perform higher level skills. In 2018, those deductions became a LOT more specific… and a lot more confusing. Modeled after the collegiate […]