Modern Gymnast - November/December 1968

NOVEMBER路DECEMBER 1968 (Double Edition)

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m MG DOUBLE EDITION: With your editor's "Man Friday" (Dr. Dick Criley) now teaching at the University of Hawaii and our artist Ken Sakoda putting in long hours studying at the Art Institute, production at the MG office came to a standstill while your editor was in Mexico covering the Olympic Games. To catch up we have combined the November and December editions of the MG to bring you all the articles you would have received in both issues in one mailing. Th is helps us get our Olympic report to you much sooner than we could have with two separate mailings.

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OLYMPIC GAMES: As usual there is much to be said and written on every phase of the Olympic Gymnastic Competition. Just about everyone who was there in person (or watching on TV) had something to say on judging, team performance, team training, competition draw (time and group), spectator seating and TV coverage.

However, most everyone agreed the Mexican Committee did a wonderful job on the competition site, equipment, scheduling, t ransportation and practice facilities even if the ticket situation left much to be desired (how do you control ticket sales and seating when a hundred thousand people want to get into 14,000 seats).

There were over 12,000 people watching many of the practice sessions and the local, European and Asian TV coverage was very extensive. Not just of the competition but also included interviews with the top competitors (including our Kathy Rigby), coaches, and FIG officials. I was sorry to hear from individuals at home and by many letters we received at the MG office that the USA TV coverage of Gymnastics in Mexico (especially the lack of time given to the men's event) left many of our readers frustrated.

Gymnastics was indeed one of the most popular and controversial events of the games (everyone was an authority witnessing by crowd reaction to some of the judges scores). You will be reading reports and viewpoints from many different sources in this and future editions of the MG. Personally speaking we were thrilled with the competition (except for the Men's finals which was not up to par) and even though we may not have agreed with every judging decision we feel the total overall results reflected a fairly accurate picture of the competition. We may not fully agree with many of the viewpoints expressed and published in this and future editions of the MG concerning Gymnastics at the '68 Olympic Games. However, to help Gymnastics grow in America we should listen to ALL the comments and publish as many valid opinions as possible and leave some of the decision to you, the reader, to glean the wheat from the chaff as all points are brought into the open. * * * * COMMISSION: One of the most eventful happenings to come out of Olympic gatherings in Mexico was the formation of the USGF-AAU Commission (see Chalk Talk). Now we can all work together for greater Gymnastic progress in America , forgetting what we should have done or could have done in Mexico and looking forward to what we CAN DO and WILL DO in the Future.

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THE MODERN GYMNAST MAGAZINE

j

G Official Publication of the United States Gymnastic Federation

CONTENTS Volume X

November-December, 1968 (Double Edition)

Number 11 & 12

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR ...... .. ........ ...... ...Glenn Sundby 4 GUEST EDITORIAL ........_. ... . . ........Don Tonry 5 CHALK TALK .. ...... .. ....................... __................................ 6 ....... ......... ...... 8 19th OLYMPIAD . .. .... ... ........

MEXICO, MEXICO - RAH! RAH! RAH! .. ............ Jerry Wright 12 MG INTERVIEW ................. Katsu Yamanaka, Glenn Sundby 27 MG CALENDAR .. ... .. ............................... ............. ... 28 A COMPETITOR'S VIEW ... ... ....................... ....... Dave Thor 30 USA TEAM ANALySiS .. .. ..................... . .... Steve Cohen 30 THE JUDGING AT MEXICO CITY ..... Gene Wettstone 32 CANADIAN REPORT ...... ........ .................. . .. John Nooney 34 USGF REPORT ..... ............ ...................................... Frank Bare 35 MG SUMMER CAMP & CLINIC REPORT ........ .... . .. . 36 SIXTH ANNUAL GYM FEST ............ .. ........ ........... Dick Criley 39 RESEARCH & FITNESS IN GYMNASTICS Dr. James S. Bosco 40 EVALUATING ROUTINES .. ..... Chris Weber & Barry Koepke 41 ENTERTAINING GYMNASTICS COMPOSITION ...... ................. Lloyd Lingemann, Jr. 42 RINGS ... ......... .... .........Mickey Chaplan 44 WARM-UP ........ .... James Brown & Jack Pettinger 45 SIDE HORSE COMPOSITION ......

Jay E. Long II 46 FASHION .... ...... ....... ..........Walter Zwickel 47 A SECOND LOOK AT SWING . Gerald S. George 48 STUDY OF INJURIES .......... .. . .. Fred Orlofsky 50 LETIERS . ... ................... ......................... _...... ..... ... 52 COVER: Act ion scenes fro m the 1968 Olympic Gomes in M ex ico Cit y

PUBLISHER - EDITOR GLENN SUNDBY

ASSOCIATE EDITORS -Technical KEN SAKO DA, Design

ASSOCIATE EDITORS路 Feature A. Br uce Frederick, Education ; Dr. James S. Bosco, Research; Dick Cr il ey, Statistics; Jerry Wright, Competition; Frank L. Bare, USG F; Jo hn Nooney, Canada.

THE MODERN GYMNAST is published by Sundby Publications, 410 Broadway, Santo Monico, California 90401. Second Closs 'postage paid at Santo Monico, Calif. Published monthly except bi-monthly June, July, August , and September. Pric@ $5.00 per year, SOc single copy : Subscription correspondence, THE MODERN GYMNAST , P.O. Box 611, Santo MoniCO , California 90406 . Copyright 1968 漏 all rights reserved b v SUNDBY PUBLICATIONS, 410 Broadwav. Santo Monico . Calif. All pictures and manuscripts subm i tted become the property of THE MODERN GYMNAST unless a return request and sufTiclent postage are included.

C__gu_e_s_t_ed_it_o_ri_al_:_) CHOOSI NG AN I lT ER ATIONAL GYMNASTICS T EAM

By Don Tonry Physical Training Instructor, Y ale University

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Should intern ational teams be selected b y neutral judges in an officia l tri al, or b y a gr oup of coaches at a training camp ? Currentl y, we have a situation " 'hereby our gym· nasts compete fo r a place on an Ol ympic or World Ch am· pionship trainin g ·squad. The judges place the gymn as ts acco rding to their perform ances in a give n competition.

They are then sent to a tra ining camp, with several alter· nates, for additional preparati on. It is here that the coaches discover the technical errors, the fears and individu al character traits of each gymn ast.

While coaching at the training camp, one often finds that gymn as ts who seemingly had little or no difficulty performing va rious skills during the competition, in fact, have some difficulty ,,·ith these skills. This situation often co nfuses and fru strates the coaches as well as the gymnasts.

As in all coachin g situ ati ons, ther e is a tendency to develop an admirati on toward improvement and an abh orrence toward stag nancy. The problems and assets of each in· di vidu al are di scussed d ail y and opinions are slowl y formed as to who has improved the most and who will do the best job for the team. Often it is discover ed that the r esults of an official trial (the top six men or women ) do not coin· cid e with the gymnast's ability during practice. Sometimes the Gymnast's attitudes a nd methods of training do not manifest th e potential th at ea rned them their places on the squad . This situation can be attested to b y athletes in other sports by the fact that man y an Olympic champion has consistentl y performed far below par during training ses· sion s, yet goes on to break world records und er the stress of competiti on th at represents his or her ultimate goal. The stress th at accompanies th e intersquad competition is not necessaril y anologous to the stress of international com· petition . The closest association that we can make is the official final trial ,,·hereby all competitors may " peak" themselves ph ysically and emotionally in order to put forth their best effort. In short, many performers who placed high in an official trial or series of trials do not always do the best j ob in training sessions'.

In an effort to co ntinue evaluating the abilities of each

- - - - - - - -------- -- ---MG 1969

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performer, additional intersqu ad competitions are often held. These are usuall y judged by the coach or co aches at the training camp . At this point, the coaches kno w the personal errors tha t each individual makes on ever y skill.

Th ey are looking for these errors before they occur, and have probably decided on the merits of many exercises before they are performed. Are the coaches making as ob· jecti ve a judgment as th e neutral judges did during the ori ginal trial? Is their superior insight, as a result of the training peri od, a n asset to obj ecti ve judgment or a de· terent ? These are important questions because we in the USA often cho ose our co aches for training squads as a result of their affili ations with prospective team members.

In 1056, the Men's Olympic Coach had two of his com· peitors on the team ; in 1960, the Olympic Men's Coach had two ; in 1964, the Olympic Men's Coach had one and the W omen's Coach also had one. At times, many of the assistant co aches also had affiliations with various team members and alternates.

H ow ca n these possible prej udices be eliminated? The team could be chosen during an offici al trial, sent to a training camp, and then to the international match. How· ever , this system does not allow for several individuals who ma y improve enough durin g a training period to be better th an the ori ginal top six competitors. Why not have th e fin al trial after th e training camp so the final com· petiti on can be judged b y neutral judges and all of the competitors can receive the benefits of objective judgments?

The onl y change in our present system of selecting the team would be th e incl usion of neutral judges and a later fin al tri al. At present, the so·called final tri al is only a and to eventu ally judge. Our gymnasts should have every mock trial that selects a squ ad for the coaches to train possibl e benefit as a reward for g reatness in one of the m ost difficult of all sports. They should not be shuttled on and off a team at the discretion of the coach - they should earn a place and keep that place (barring injury) so th at they m ay train ,rith out the pressure of having alien coaches deciding their competitive abilities in practice sessions.

As Selected for 1968 Olympic Team

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INTERNATIONAL JUDGING COURSE An Internati onal Course for Gymnastic judges and coaches will be held at Penn State University on January 15th to 19th, 1969.

Th e objectives of the course can be listed as follows: 1. To coordinate with the new FIG Cod e of Points a course that will provide more technical knowledge for our judges and coaches.

2. To arrive at some form of unity reo gard ing rules and regulations on an internat ional level.

3. To obtain uniformity and achieve the technical discipline so necessary.

Mr. Gander, the director of this course, has set forth the re gulations based on FIG standards and has personally named the following lecturers fnr this course: Mr. Arthur Gander, President of the FIG, Executive, and Technical Committee; Chiasso, Switzerland Mr. Ivan Ivancevic, Vice President of the FIG Technic al Committee; Sombor, Yugoslavia Hellmut Rohnisch, Linqui st (10 languages) and Swedish Gymnastic Technician; Orebro, Sweden George Gulack, Vice President of FIG in charge of th e Americas, Former Olympic Champion, and I nternation al Judge; New York, New York Frank Cumiskey, 3 X USA Olympian, top USA Gymnastics Technici an; Rockleigh.

New Jersey.

Thomas Maloney, Coach at West Point, 34 years, Chairman of the USOGC, International Judge; Sarasota, Florida All the lectures have been prepared and designed by the FIG Technical Committee under the supervision of Mr. Gander; oral questions are compiled by the FIG. The entire course is based on the Code of Points and the official te xt will be the new FIG Code of Points book available in three languages (French, German, and English).

REGISTRATION BLANK FOR INTERNATIONAL JUDGES COURSE Name: ____ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ Street._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ City_____ State _ _ _ Zip _ __

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International Judge

Total Fee Includes: 26 hours of lectures and demonstrations plus materials ticket to Sports Luncheon Thursday, Jan .

16 at 11:50 a.m. ticket to the social hours at the Nittany Lion Inn ticket to the International Match . .

Penn State vs. Switzerland ticket to the Intercollegiate Match ..

U.S. Military Academy vs. Penn State 1 copy of the New FIG Code of Points Make checks payable to the Pennsylvani a State Univers ity and mail Regi stration Blanks directly to Gene Wettstone, Recreation Hall, Penn State University, University Park, Penna. 16802.

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ilK NATIO NAL GYM NASTIC S COMMISS IO N NIex ico Cit y . .. In Mexico City the r e p路 resentatives of th e U.S.G.F. and th e A .A. U. me t several tim es and at th e con clu sion of th e final mee ting whi ch was att end ed by r epr esentati ves of th e F. I.G. Ex ec uti ve and T echn ica l Comm itt ees. Si gnatures were affix ed to th e "Na ti onal Gymna sti cs Commi ssion Proposal for th e Uni ted States."

Signin g for th e A.A . were Col. Don Hull

and _Mr. J erry H ardy and for th e U.s.G.F. Frank Bare and Bill NIead e. Co nt ent s of th e agree ment which is to be formally ratifi ed by both nati onal orga ni za ti ons on December 7-8th, 1968 are con ta in ed in thi s articl e.

Certainly thi s COlllmission plan offer s an end th e long路s tanding fe ud that has been carrying on for six yea rs and simult a neously thi s point路agreement if approved by both g roup" can lead to g reat expan sion of th e U.S.A.'s gym nas ti cs program.

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PENN STATE TO HO ST I NTE R NATIO NA L COMPETITIO N On Janu a ry 17t h, 1969 th ere will be a n Internati onal competiti on betwe en The Nati ona l team from Switze rl a nd and the P enn S tate Gymnas tic team. (Th e Swiss tea m will al so exhib it and comp ete in other secti ons of th e USA. At thi s tim e we do not have th e dates or si tes . . . sorry.)

OPERATING PRINCIPLES FOR THE NATIONAL GYMNASTICS COMMISSION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1. PURPOSE: To assume all initiative, to give al l directives , to define any regulations and programs, to bring any technical contribution to the United States in the best spirit of cooperation an d progress in order to secure a full program for gymnast ics in America.

2. Th e COMMISS ION shall have the responsibility for selection and / or electio n of officials, managers, coaches and Sites, as we ll as all other representatives for all international events.

3. The National Gymnas tic s Commission will consist of five (5) members of the Am ateur Athletic Union and five (5) members of the United States Gymnastics Federation. Each organIzatIOn Will have five votes and any authorized member of the Commission may cast the votes for him or her organ izati on. Each organ izat ion will name a non-voting President.

Commission may ca st the votes for his or her organization. Each organization will name a non-voting, rotating President, on an annual basis, who will be the eleventh member of the Commission, but will not vote. The duties of th e non-vo ting President shall be to chair the meetings as called by mutual agreement and to report the action of the Commission to the President of the F.I.G. The officia l report shall be sent to the Amateur Athletic Union with copies to the President of the F.I.G. and to the office of the U.S.GJ. The official action re ga rding such a report will be delayed until the officia l report has been received by the F.I.G. 4. The National Gymnastics Commission shall consider all matters brought before it by either the A.A. U. or th e U.S .GJ. 5. Copies of all correspondence concerning internationa l matters involving U.S.A. gymnastiCS , directed towards the F.I. G. by either organ ization or member of the Commission, must be sen t to both member organizations. On Commission matters no member of the Commission will commu~icate directly with the F.I.G. President, F.I.G : officers or any affiliated member or Individual member of the F.I.G., without secu ring approval of the Commission. The Commission may, at its discretion , author ize direct commun ications. When routine administrative matters between the F.I.G. and its U.S.A. member are of such timely importance that discuss ion withi n the Commission is not possible, the A.A.U. will se nd copies of such administrative matters to the U.S.G J . and other pertinent U.S.A. organizations.

6. The A.A.U. agrees that all decisions reached by a maiority of the Commission votes cast will be accepted unreservedly as the action of the U.S.A. member of the F.I.G . and will transmit Commission decisions into action in accordance with F.I.G. rules.

7. Both orga nizations agree that they will send representatives to the Commission meeting who wil l endeavor to arrive at a decIsion In the best Interest of the sport of gymnastics, regardless of prevIous organizational procedures. When the ten commissioners cannot, in good faith , develop a precedure to organize a gymnastic ac tivity which is acceptable to the majority. this deadlock deci sion may also be transmitted to the F.I.G. President. The F.I.G. President, in turn, w!1I advise the U.S.A. member of his point of view, with a copy of t~ a t notice to the PreSident of the Commis sio n and to the U.S.GJ., recommending a pOSSible solutIOn to the deadlock which need not be binding on th e affiliated Commission members. The Commission will then consider the solution sugges ted by the F.I. G. President and endeavor to follow such a recommendation or to alter it under mutually acceptable conditions.

This Agreement shall become effective upon the approval of the administrative bodies of the respective parties hereto.

Mexico City, the 22nd day of October, 1968 For the Amateur Athletic Union: For the United States Gymnastics Federation : DON HULL, Ex. Dir. FRANK BARE, Ex. Dir. JERRY HARDY, FIG Rep. BILL MEADE, Vice-Pres .

Arthur

Gander

FIG

Presiden t V isits Santa Monica

MG GUEST S Mr. Arthur Gand er (FlG Presid ent) and H ellmut R ohni sc h fr om Swe den slopped off in Santa Monica to visit Ihe NI G off ices on th eir way fr om J\'l exico 10 the Coac hes Congress in Chi ca go. Mr. Ga nd er a nd Rohni sch were impressed with th e Gymna sti c apparatus fa ciliti es on Sa nta Monica Beach and were the g uests of yo ur editor ( and hi s wife) for a tour of Di sney land . . . Besid es NIr. Gand er and Rohni sch and th e .J apa nese team visit menlioned in th e la st MG, we al so had a tour grou p of Physica l Edu cators from Sweden, includin g our good fri end s Karl Axel R yde l (Ge n. Sec. of th e Swed ish Gym. F ed. ) and Bjarne Lan gva d (Gen. Sec. for th e EU ROPE AN CUP for W omen to be held in Land skrona, Swed en in May '69) visit our MG off ice (a nd th e Sa nl a Monica Beach ) on their way to th e Ol ymp ics . . .

Lance and Lynette 011 0 from th e Au stralian Gym . Assoc. and Dr. Richard Bedggood from th e New Zealand Gym. Assoc. paid us a vi sit on th eir return fr om Mex ico to th e land down und n .

NEW MG "Y-NEWS" EDITOR M r. Rohert Han sco m, direc lor of phy sica l edu ca ti on at the Ma rbl ehead , Ma ssachu se tl s YMCA, has laken on th e res ponsibilit y of editin g a ll news co ncerning YMCA gy mna sts. Mr. H an scom has coached boys and girl s gy mn asti cs over th e past eight years to New En gland tea m, indi vidua l a nd all-around cha mpi onships. H e is al so a mem ber of th e Nationa l Gymnasti c Judges Assoc iati on, th e New England Gy mn asti c Offi cial s Assoc iat ion , a me mb er of th e exec uti ve co mmittee of th e New E ngla nd Gymnasti c Clini c and coach of Wayne Chand ler, 1968 National Juni or Ol ympi c a ll-around Cha mpion.

Mr. Han scom urges all YMCA's in th e cou ntry, whi ch have a gy mn ast ic program , to write to him co ncerning their own progra m and any interes tin g fact s whi ch m ay see m news worthy.

(A note fr ol11 our new YMCA ed itor) " We in th e YJ\'lCA 's have th e opportunit y to introduce to boys an d girl s, the s port of gymnasti cs. We a re in a positi on to do for our s port, what alm ost no oth er gr oup or associa ti on ca n do. Thi s is. to start our yo un gsters out on th e gr oun cl floor.

We can do th e j ob - le t's get bu sy."

Send yo ur MG "Y- News" now! To: Robert Han sco m (MG "Y-News" Editor) Director of Physical Edu ca ti on YMCA 104 Pl easant Street Marbl ehead, Ma ss. 01945 Ar ea 617-631-0870

o NEW MG PI N & Boost er Button

GYM NASTl C QUEEN WED Vera Caslavska, Czechoslovakian queen o f Olympic Gymna sti cs with four gold medal s was marri ed in !VIexico City to Czech. teammate, 1500-meter runn er] osef Od lozil.

Perhaps one of the most popular and sought afte r pins at the Olympic games in Mexico City was the New MG -PIN. (looks like a piece of Jewel ry) Now you can have one of these popular MG pins that were awarded to the Olympic Gymnasts from around the World.

Just send in one or more new subscriptions (not renewa ls) to the MG and we will send you by return mai l your NEW MG PIN. We will also send you our attractive new MG Booster Button as a bonus.

PS: If all you r friends already subscribe to the MG you can purchase a MG PIN (& Booster Butto n) for just $1.00.

MG PI N (& Booster Button) Box 777 Santa Mon ica, Ca. 90406 Enclosed please fi nd one new subscription to The MOD ERN GYMNAST magazine .

Please send me my MG PIN and Booster Button . Make check payable to: SUNDBY PUBLICATIONS New Subscri be r's Name Address

City

State Zip

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State

Your Name

HOLIDAY CLINICS USGF EASTERN GYMNASTI C CLI NIC - December 26-30, 1968. The 4th Annual Eastern CIi ni c wi ll aga in be he ld in Fort Lauderda le, Florida.

Instruction will be offered at all ability ~els .

The No rth-South All-Star Met wi ll prov ide gymnasts with top level competition experience.

Contact: Dick Holzaepfel, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, or Bill Meade, Gymnastic Coach, Southern Ill inois University, Carbondale, III. NATI ONAL GYM NASTIC CLIN IC - December 25-30, 1968. Sanctioned by the AA U, the 18th annua l clin ic will be he ld in the new Sarasota (F la.l Spo rts Arena . Basic and advanced instruction, judging courses, as well as two com路 petitions, the Clinic Championsh ips and the annual North-South meet, will be provided.

For additional information, wr ite: Dr. Anthony Ricc iardi, 200 East Dudley, Westfield, New Jersey.

CALIFO RNIA WINTER GYMN AST IC CLINIC December 26-30, 1968. With the idea l fac il ities available at the University of California (Berke ley), this cl inic offers gymnasts, teachers and coaches an opportunity to learn and participate in gymnastics . A credit course in teach ing gymnastics will be taught, th rough the University's Extension Service. For additional deta il s, write: Hal Frey, Gymnastics Coach, Un iversity of Californ ia, Berkeley, Ca liforn ia.

WESTER N GYMNASTI C CLI NIC - December 2630, 1968. Held each year at the University of Arizona at Tucson, tne 8th annual Western Clin ic promises to be bett er than ever. It will featu re expert instruction fo r all abil ity levels plus the popular East-West Gymnastic Meet. Registration information is availab le from: Glenn Wilson, Gymnastic Coach, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizo na.

THE SOKO L U.S. A. GYiI'l NAS f lC SCHOOL, which will hold its first annual winte r session in the gymnas ium of the Sokol Beach Motel, Tampa, ~Iorida, from December 26-31, 1968. The motel, located on Courtney Campbell Causeway, overlooks Old Tampa Bay, and is only a few min路 utes from the Tampa International Airport.

Every gymnast attending the school will receive individua l expert instruction, with one teacher for every eight students. Men will receive inst ru ction in work on the horizonta l bars, rings, para llel bars, long horse, side ho rse, floor exercises and tumbling. Wome n will be coached in work on uneven bars, ba lance beam, vaul ting, floor exrcises, tumbling and bal let. Th e dai ly sched ul e wi ll incl ude gymnastic classes, lectures, free workouts, movies, dancing and poolside barbecues .

The school wil l be directed by Mi lan Trnka, Assistant Professor of Hea lth and Physica l Educa tion and Head Gymnastic Coach at West Chester College Pa ., and Director of the summer Sokol U.S.A. Gymnastic School at Soko l Woodlands, Barryvi ll e, N.Y. 196 9 YMCA NATI O NALS Th e 1969 Notional YMCA Gymnast ic Cha mpionships are t o be h osted by the New Or leans YMCA on April II , 12, 1969_ Th e compulsory exercises for bot h men and women are now a va ilable from: W. P. Wortman Physical Director-YMCA 936 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, L ou isia na 70130 O REGON HI GH SCHOOL GYMNAST I C RULES Th e Oregon Gymnastics Association recently pu b li shed their off ic ia l 1969 High School G ymnastics Rule Book f or both b oys and girls. If you do not h ave a Gymnastic rule b ook for yo ur state or area t his guide could be o f help t o you.

Send $ 1_00 to: Officia l Gymnast ics Ru l es Chuck Messenger, Executive Sec .

Oregon Gymnastics Association

Pin Collec t o r at Olympics

Address

Zip

11 95 W_ 17th Avenue Eugene , Oregon 97402

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THE 19 OLYMPIAD •• th

USA Men's team perform gymnastic caper on the Mexico sign in the Olympic Village

USA Girl 's team

in

opening day parade

WOMEN'S TEAM PLACINGS XIX OLYMPIC GAMES MEXICO CITY 1968 382.85 1. USSR 382.20 2. CZECHOSLOVAKIA 379.10 3. E. GERMANY 375.45 4. JAPAN 369.80 5. HUNGARY 369.75 6. USA 361.75 7. FRANCE 354.65 9. W. GERMANY 353 .85 9. POLAND 352.10 10. BULGARIA 343.40 11. CANADA 338.15 12. NORWAY 332.85 13. CUBA 311.25 14. MEXICO

WOMEN'S ALL AROUND PLACINGS XIX OLYMPIC GAMES MEXICO CITY 1968

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Casla vs ka gets v ictory t oss from t eammates as sco res indi cate no one could cotch h er in the All-Arou nd.

Country Total 78.25 Czechoslovakia 76.85 USSR USSR 76.75 USSR 76.70 E. Germany 76.70 76.55 E. Germany 76.00 Czechoslovakia USSR 76.00 Czechoslovakia 75.85 75.85 Czechoslovakia 75.65 Czechoslovakia E. Germany 75.45 Japan 75.30 Hungary 75.10 75.05 Czechoslovakia 74.95 USA Japan 74.90 Japan 74.85 Hungary 74.80 Japan 74.80 France 74.80 Japan 74.65 E. Germany 74.65 USSR 74.50 USSR 74.20 Hungary 74.15 E. Germany 74.10 USA 74.00 E. Germany 73.95 USA 73.65 USA 73.60 USA 73.05 USA 71.80 There were 101 competitors in the Women's Olympic Gymnastic competition . A compl ete score breakdown by events will be contained in a Special Olympic book to be published at a later date in the MG office ...

In the meantime see the comin g Olympic edition of MADEMOISELLE GYMNAST for a more extensive photo and commentary report on the Women 's Competition.

Place Name 1. Caslavska, Vera 2. Voronina, Zinaida 3. Kuchinskaya, Natalia 4. Petrik, Larissa 4. Zuchold, Eri ka 6. Janz, Kari n 7. Rimniacova, Bohumila 7. Karaseva, Olga 9. Sklenickova, Miroslava 9. Karajcirova, Mariana 11. Kiskolla, Hana 12. Bauerschmidt, Maritla 13. Hanyu, Kazue 14. Banfai, Agnes 15. Kubickova, Jana 16. RIGBY, CATHY 17. Matsuhisa, Miyuki 18. Mitsukuri, Taniko 19. Janosi, Ducza 19. Oda Chieko 19. Letourneor 22 . Kandori , Mitsuko 22. Starke, Ute 24. Turisheva, Ljudmila 25. Burda, Ljubov 26. Schmitt, Makrai 27. Noack, Marianne 28. METHENY, LINDA 29. Schmidt, Magalena 30. TANAC, JOYCE 31 . GLEASON, KATHY 34. MULVIHILL, COLLEEN 39. CLUFF, WENDY

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MEN'S TEAM RESULTS MEN'S TEAM PLACING FOR THE XIX OLYMPIC GAMES - MEXICO CITY 1968 Total Optionals Country Compulsories 289 .50 575.90 JAPAN 286.40 285.95 571.10 U.S.S.R .

285.15 279.65 557.15 E. GERMANY 277.50 280.60 557.10 CZECHOSLOVAKIA 276.50 280 .25 POLANO 275.15 555.40 277.60 YUGOSLAVIA 273.15 550.75 277.30 U.S.A. 271.60 548.90 271.25 277.10 548.35 W. GERMANY SWITZERLAND 272.00 276.20 548.20 FINLAND 272.05 275 .85 547.90 269.65 BULGARIA 268.50 538.15 266.45 ITALY 270.65 537.05 264.05 271.20 HUNGARY 535.25 MEXICO 255.30 262.95 518.25 252.30 264.55 CUBA 516.85 CANADA 250.05 260.35 510.40 Other coutries competing th at did not field fuJI teams were: Algeria, Australia, Denmark, Equador, France, Great Britain , S. Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Sweden and Taiwan .

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ALL-AROUND MEN'S ALL AROUNO PLACINGS XIX OLYMPIC GAMES - MEXICO CITY 196B Place 1.

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Name KATO, S. VORONIN, M. NAKAYAMA, A. KENMOTSU, E. KATO, T. DIOMIDOY, S. KLIMENKO, V. ENDO, Y. CERAR, M. KARASEV, V. KUBICA, W. BREHME, M. KUBICA, M. L1SITSKY, V. ILJINYKH, V. KOSTE, K. 17.

NISSINEN, M. 18.

TSUKAHARA, M. 19.

KUBICKA, V. 20.

FEJTEK, J. 21.

FULLE, S. 22.

BOCKO, F. 23.

BRODNIK, J. 24.

THOR, D. 25.

BERCHTOLD, M. 26.

WEBER, P. 27.

GUIFFROY, CH. 28.

NUDRIK, B. 29.

ETTLIN, H. 30.

KERSNIC, N. 31.

KUBICA, S. 32.

ROHNER , P. 33.

CIMNAGHI , L. 34.

DIETRICH, G. . 34.

ROETHlISBERGER, F. 36.

HUG, S. 45.

COHEN, S. 57.

FREUDENSTEIN, S. BO. ALLEN, 1. K. Complete score breakdown of the a special Olympic Gymnastic Book

Country Compulsories Optionals Total Japan 57.50 58.40 115.90 57.90 U.S .S .R. 57.95 115.85 Japan 115.65 57.60 58.05 Japan 57 .10 57.80 114.90 Japan 57.10 57.75 114.85 U.S.S.R. 57.10 57 .00 114.10 U.S.S. R. 57.25 56.70 113.95 Japan 56.35 57.20 113.55 Yugoslavia 56.55 56.75 113.30 U.S.S.R. 56.70 56.55 113.25 Poland 56.40 56.75 113.15 E. Germany 56.25 56 .60 112.85 Poland 55.90 56.90 112.80 U.S.S.R. 56 .55 56.05 112.60 U.S.S.R. 55.75 56.15 111.90 E. Germany 56.20 55.65 111.85 Finland 55.70 55.90 111.60 Japan 55.45 56.05 111.50 Czechoslovakia 55 .35 55.95 111.30 Czechoslovakia 54.75 56.45 111.20 E. Germany 55.55 55.55 111.10 Czechoslovakia 54.85 56.15 111.00 Yugos lavia 55.10 55.65 110.75 U.S.A. 54.50 56.10 110.60 Switzerland 54.85 55.65 110.50 E. Germany 54.70 55.45 110.15 France 54.80 55.20 110.00 Czecholslovakia 54.10 55.85 109.95 Switzerland 54.80 55 .10 109.90 Yugosl avia 54.75 55.10 109.85 Poland 54.50 55.30 109.80 Switzerland 54.35 55.45 109.80 Italy 55.05 54.70 109.75 E. Germany 53.80 55.90 109.70 U.S.A. 54.40 55.30 109.70 U.S.A. 54.15 55.45 109.60 U.S.A. 54.10 54.65 108.75 U.S.A. 53.70 54.30 108.00 U.S.A. 51.50 53.95 105.45 117 men's Competitors by events will be contained in to be published by the M.G. office.

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however, so on e can see from thi s th e arena was huge_ The arena wa s also an excellent facility of good design and quality acou sti cs. Very impressive al so, to a fir st timer at the Olympics, was th e presen ce of the raised platforms for the competition s, permittin g only the competitors on the floor of competition_

Mexico, MexicoRah, Rah, Rah Olympic Report bi Jerry Wright First of all let me say that I personally was awe-struck and almos t completely at the mercy of my environment in MexicoI felt a certain thrill I am sure that was not altogether unlike that felt by -the competitors. That feeling of prid e and submi ssion at havin g the opportunity to witness such a spectacl e. With thi s in mind please read th e followin g with th e understandin g that what I have written was written as I saw it or as soon as my head could clear enough to write it down and I offer it to you in that manner.

First Impre ssion : It appeared that custom s were som ewhat lax durin g th e second week of the games, as I, for one, did not have my bags examin ed nor did anyon e on the plan e I was on _ I also did n ot have to have a letter verifying that I had accommodation s, lu cky for me because I did n ot have one, cau sin g my heart to skip a few beats each time I was asked for my documents.

Se cond Impre ssion: For th e most part it appeared that th e local auth orities had taken pains to insure that th e ave rage touri sts would n ot be overcharge d on most items, includin g taxi cab rid es and food. Of course there were exceptions to this. I rode in a taxi the fir st day there fur four A meri can dollars which would have cos t me ten to twelve dollars in San Francisco, so mos t rates were reasonable.

Third Impr ession: I too k several walk s (about 20 mil es in all) to try to see th e city. !VIy impressions were mi xed as one might ex pec t. On such an und ertakin g, in Mexico City, on e can see monum ental achievements and so ul searchin g poverty practi cally sid e by sid e. Of co urse thi s is 12

not unlike mo st large citi es but is more so in Mexico City.

General: For that lonesome feeling it sure wo uld be nice to have a place or area to ge t toge ther at such meets. On e could wand er around for days and not be able to contact som eone und er such conditions as were present in NIex ico . !VIay be the US GF co uld think ab out thi s.

Ti cke ts : Almost impossibl e to ge t, in spite of th e fa ct that the arena held about 14,000. Th e arena wa s packed for evelY session (10 sessions in all) , co mpulsOlY, opti onals and final s, by very enthusiasti c spectators. Ti ckets to the women' s competitions were especially diffi cult to obta in.

My personal feelin gs were that in spite of the vastn ess of th e arena th ere were no undesirable seat s, some more des irable th an others naturally, but no really poor vanta ge points. Others did n ot share thi s fee lin g

!VIE N'S COMP ULSOR Y COMPETITIO N It wa s an impress ive affair to witness the entrance of six teams to participate at one time. Six even ts were set to go at th e same time with six teams r otatin g clo ckwi se on the six events. The fir st group included the United States, P oland, Switzerland, Mexi co, Italy and a mix ed team of one Australian , two from the Philippines and one gymnast from P ortu gal. However , I co uld not kee p from watchin g and r ootin g for the American team and r ecordin g their activiti es, even though I had seen them many times_ All announcement s were made in three languages, Spanish , German and En glish and the co mpetitors were onl y permitt ed four minutes warm-up on each apparatus.

Of course they warm ed up befor e th e meet in anoth er room on id entical equipment but during the meet and even before th eir fir st event they were only allowed four minutes warm up. It was interestin g to note that th e gymna sts really hustl ed to take ad vantage of that four minutes and in mos t cases their warm-up co nsisted of going through their entire routine.

Th e Am eri can team start ed on th e hori zontal bar, whi ch would seem to me to be one of th e least desirable, about as bad as side horse_ Thor looked fair with no r eal flair for 9.05, Freud enstein was rough but had a good fini sh for 8.95, Roe thli sberge r looked good except for a wea k dismount for 9.1 , Cohen had seve ral probl ems a nd

looked choppy for 8.9, Hu g did a fin e job for 9.25, All en lost proba bly up to .5 on hi s hip circle by comin g oul level with the bar and cau sed a confer ence of the judges reo cei ving 8.9.

In th e Floo r Exercise event Hu g sta rted off with a goo d performan ce only to suffer two definite small probl ems for a good 9.0, Cohen had n o de finit e probl ems but suffered many small form breaks for 8.85, Thor did a fine routin e except he co uld not stand still b etween se qu ences and took many extra steps, for 9.15, Allen mi ssed hi s scal e, had two attempts on hi s hand stand and had to hop on hi s di smount - cau sin g a judge's conference the second on him in two events. Sid had a few small probl ems bent arms in going to handstand, extra steps one or two times but may possibl y have been underscored at 9.15. Fred suffered a major break on, of all thin gs, hi s single leg circles as his foot hit the floor and caused a very embarrassing complete stop.

making Coa ch George Szypula and Mi chigan State happy with his performance for he was the team's leadin g perform er.

On the parallel bars the team fell ap art!

Allen started off by missing hi s streili mount, missed th e peach basket, took an extra swin g prior to hi s di smount - caused a judges' co nference and end ed up with 7.7 (in th e States he would probably have go tten 5.7 ), Thor missed his mount and end ed up with 8.7, Coh en did well and received 9.05, Sid suffered a break early and appeared lost and un certain as to what to do next and r eceived 8.85. It was al so ob vious at this time that Poland was gettin g a few gift scores as their tumbling was bel ow par and they were not that strong a team though th e three Kubi ca boys were quite good.

In th e second group (C anada , Hun gal)" Cub a, Ecuador, East Germ any, an d Czec ho· slovakia ) the East German s looked es peci· ally good, in fa ct th ey were, in my estima· ti on, th e second bes t team in the meet, al· though they fini shed third . Th e East Ger· man s started on the hi gh bar (where th e U.S. had started) and reall y put on a show, the only difference betwee n them and th e Japanese on this event was th e edge th e Japan ese had on th e di smounts. Th e East German s scored 9.75, 9.55, 9.55, 9.40, 9.40 and 9.3 here, and deserved it , if not more.

On th e SH I suspect th e E. German s did not perform up to their capabilities, and on th e still rings they were slightly over· scored as were the Ru ss ians. The Hun g ar· ians had a great deal of diffi culty on th e

On the side horse Sid started off with a good routine, for him , as he did th e routine with only small form breaks but suffered major dedu ctions on his lack of technique. Fred looked very good to me but after a judge's conferen ce he came up with only an 8.85, Cohen did well except for havin g to muscle his stockli for 9.0, Allen hit the horse and almost stopped, and suffered at least a .3 form break on his dismount for a lenient 9.0, Hug did a fantastic job with only a few small form break s and a well deser ved 9.3, Thor looked perfect and after a judges' conference ( I would venture to say that th e American team caused more judges' cODferences than any other team exce pt maybe Ecuador who got scores in the 3.0's and 4.0 's) Dave reo cei ved 9.5, which was a crime.

Even though I watched the American team primarily I did observe that the Swiss team did some fine routines on the side horse and look ed generally weak on the rin gs. On the still rings Allen started but could not hold a cross and again caused a judges' conference after which he was awarded a 7.9. Hu g followed with an 8.8 after missing only on a handstand which he fail ed to hold. (It was pretty apparent by now that the scores were falling in the 8.7 to 9.0 range for almo st everyone on th e Ameri can team as well as for most teams).

Thor did a good job and received only 9.0, which was a very questionable score, Sid did so me parts well but also mi ssed some parts so was only able to come up with an 8.9, Fred did a fair job but fini shed with a weak dismount and scored a high 9.15, Steve Cohen did a fin e job but in trying to do some parts really well fell into some problems causing him to drop to 9.3 where he might have gotten over 9.5.

While the American team vaulted I was able to catch som e oth er teams and noticed that Italy did some weak tumblin g in FX with lVIenicilli injurin g himself (brok en Achilles tendon) on hi s dismount ( RO-FFBack layout) and fallin g down - his rou tine was worth about 9.1 or 9.2 wh en thi s happened and apparently they did not deduct for the fall for he end ed up with 9.3 (after all he has a nam e). Mexico luoked fairly well on th e high bar during thi s time, at least what I saw. It also occured to me at this time that th e gymnasts were not bein g r equired to raise their hand for the superior judge. The superior judge controlled an electrical lighting system that was green when he was ready and red wh en he was not ready so when the gymnast received the green li ght he kn ew he could begin hi s routin e. Now, with on e event to go , it becam e apparent that Dave Thor was 13

rings and were very weak tumblers in FX. 1 managed to watch Ecuad or a lillI e on th e sid e horse and on the parallel bars and th e routines were just over their head s.

Their scores on th e SH were: 5.50, 4.00 and 3.50 and on the parallel bars it was 7.7, 5.5 and 5.7 and in order to score below 6.0 in Olympic co mpetition you almost have to fail to show up for th e competition. Th e East Germans aga in performed excellen t routines on the parallel bars toppin g off a good performan ce on the co mpul sory ex路 ercises. It took 12 teams almost exactly four hours to fini sh their competition, a very reasonable achievement.

General: All sessions were prompt in startin g as the general feelin g of the spectators was that th ey still had n ot recovered from the fact that the opening ceremonies had started on time and that to have everything start on time was just asking too much. In the evening session West Germany , Yugoslavia, Korea (one fine competitor ), Britain, Finland and Sweden were in the fir st group. West Germany looked good except on the side horse. Yugoslavia was overscored in floor exercise ( the only event I watch ed them closely) and had trouble on the side horse but still received 9.65, 8.95, 8.85, 8.6 and 8.35 .. Th e Korean Choung-Tai Kim could have helped almost any team there as he turned in an impressive performance. Great Britain entered only two men which must have been a difficult pill for them to swallow. Finland missed on the side horse, except for Nissenen and Laiho two of the best in the world. I did not ge t to see much of the Swedish team so cannot commen t there.

Gene ral: Th e judges were seated in a very smart manner with th eir table top at about platform level so that they essentially had a worms-eye view of the competition. An entirely satisfactory arrangement.

It just occurred to me to ask each of you how you would like to sit and judge 234 stoop vaults !!!! After watching a contest like thi s it occurs to me to ask also why it would not be bett er, even on the compulsory, to require two different va ults and allow only one try at each.

In the second group the USSR and Jap an worked side by side and everyon e else was almo st ignored. The J apanese performed the compulsories with perfection, flair, and virtousity, if I may borrow a tenn. On the still rin gs the Japanese made the event the second best event of the meet, nex t to the horizontal bar which is always best. The sin gle most outstanding aspect of this event was the manner in which the Japanese executed th eir straight body inlocates, with their shoulders as high as th e rings in much the same mann er as most gymnasts are now doing their dislocates. The scores for the first two , however , were felt to be a bit hi gh as they did have difficulties, the first man up, in spit e of swinging the rings excessively, received 9.55, the second man was on the straps too much on his press and missed his dismount for 9.45. Nex t man up for Japan had one shoulder too high on his cross, had to muscle his back up rise, which no other Japanese had to do, and had too much swing and wa s posisbly high at 9.65 although n ot necessarily. The next performer had slight difficulty on the press but little other diffi culty fo r 9.7 and the next to last perform er suffered only with a flat dislocate scoring 9.75 . The last perform er did not look especially great after what had gone before him but still deserved his 9.65.

On the vaulting all scores were low and from my vantage point it was n ot easy to determine just exactly why. On th e parallel bars the Japanese did another grea t j ob 14

with Na kayama first up scoring Y.7. 1 be路 li eve Kenmotsu was up second and poss ibl y overscored as he overarched on more than one occasion to rece ive 9.6. Endo broke form on hi s peach basket and was perhaps .1 to .2 high at 9.65 . S. Kato did a grea t job and in relation to Endo was underscor ed at 9.65. On the horizontal bar the Japanese team, as a whole, was underscored as th e partial judging really sho wed its ugly h ead . Tsukahara was up first and und erscor ed at 9.5, Nakaya ma came up later and was great excep t for his dismount, the only Japan ese to mi ss hi s dismount (when 1 say miss 1 mean he did it less than perfect) scoring 9. 7. Th e crowd r eally responded to a low 9.55 whi ch Endo received, a score that 1 too felt was too low. S. Kato was great but took a hop on his di smount and received 9.6.

In th e floor exercise the Japanese t eam as a whole was the only team that was able to lower in to the chest roll out of the Japanese jump with Ji turn - routines here were scored reasonably as so me h ad trouble, Endo for ex ampl e had a lot of troubl e and scored only 9. 15, and some did excellent j obs, S. Kato for exampl e looked especially good at 9.75.

On th e side I personally was impressed with the improvement of the Japan ese in this event. Their routin es were exec uted with much more fr eedom than in previous championships and their routines contain ed good difficulty. Their scoring, however, was fair at 9.4, 9.2, 9.4, 9.4 and 9.45 and 9.45.

The Russian team was favored with many gift scores, as is th eir usual lot in these games, and were kept in the meet a s a result. After the compulsory co mp etition the Russians only trailed th e Japanese by 1.25 and it should have been at least 5.0 points. On the side horse th e fir st man up too k two steps b efore hi s mount and did a shakey routine for 9.35. Kara sev was up nex t and suffered many form breaks and was gifted with a 9.3. Klimenko and Diamodo v were up next and received 9.5's for fair rountin es. Veronin e suffered 6 small breaks that I could count and received 9. 7.

On the still rin gs the USSR looked weak on their presses and did not perform the dismount very well and received 9.4's and 9.45's when they should have had 9.l's and 9.15 's. Veronine was a possible ex ception as he r ece ived 9.75 and was pretty close to deserving it. In the vaultin g the Russian team did no better th an anyone else and every man scored 9.4 or 9.45 except for one 9.3 th ereby k eepin g pace with th e Japanese.

On the parallel bars D iamodov suffered 3 m.ajor breaks and r eceived the mo st outrageo us gift score of the entire meet ( that was until his optional which was just as bad ). Diamodov mi ssed his streili mount (bent his knees, feet came apart, to es hooked, and took steps with hi s hand s; mi ssed his peach in much the sa me man-ner and took step s after doing a poor dismount and received 9.45 and about 15 minutes of boos from th e crowd.

On the hi gh bar th e Russian tea m did fairly well and received just about th e scor es th ey deserved. On e performer was caught up in the Mex ican spirit as just as he prepared to mount the audie nce started to sin g th e Mex ican Na tional Anth em. Th e reason bein g that in som e section s of the stands people wer e watching th e swimmin g mee t on portable TV se ts and when the Mex ican sw immer won a gold medal and stepped on the victory platform to receive it th e peo ple in the gym nasti cs meet stood up and sang along. T he perfo rmer went ahea d with hi s routin e in sp ite of th e interference and did a good job. In the flo or exe rcise event th e Ru ssian s did fairly well 15

and came close to the scores th eir received excep t for Veronine who received 9.55 and had a major interruption in his routine (l can't r emember exactly what it was but it seems now to have been two attempts at a handstand a .2-.5 deduction).

General: Durin g this time I was naturally unable to watch much of the other competition but did see some of the Taiwan tea m (two members) and th ey did a respectable job as they scored in the 8.0's in most events excep t the side horse (scoring 4.5 and 3.5).

General : The Jud ges, men and women, were all dressed in maroon blazers for uniformity. The judges' assistants (score flashers as we know them) were all dressed in identi cal grey-green suits - all in all an example of infinite organization, and very im pressi ve.

General: I would like to point out that the TV camera's were placed in strategic locations affording them full view and yet they were not permitted to move a bout.

There were definitely no cameras on the floo r of competition, with no camera being within 40-50 feet of any competitor (this changed for the optionals as cameras were moved to within about 25 feet of the apparatus but still out of the way) .

General: I mentioned that the teams were allowed four minutes warm-up before starting the competition and this was true between events and it was a revelation to see these gymnasts really hustle to take advantage of every second. When the bell rang ending the warm-up the flo or was cleared - no if's, ands, or buts. A slight chan ge from some of the prima donna delays often seen at various U.S. meets. The gymnasts were, however, allowed to adjust the apparatus between contestants.

The judges scoring was greatly expediated by an excellent system whereby each judge had an electrically operated machin e that looked somethin g like an adding machine.

A judge would punch out his or her score and this score would register on a master control panel at the desk of the superior judge who received all four scores in this manner. The fin al score would then be fla shed on an electri c score flasher and then recorded on a huge scoreboar d n ot unlike a basketball or football scoreboard except that this board was not electrical. They were not terribly quick at gettin g out printed results, especially was this true after the girls team and all around finals. It took about 25 minutes for the winners to be announced but it appeared as though all 14,000 people stayed for the announcement (it took 35 minutes, after the last routine, to announce the all around winner).

Men's Optionals There were several injuries in the men's floor exercise and it occurs to me that it is about time for the FIG to start usin g a sponge mat like most of us do and get away from the wood fl oor they use (the system they use is l ike using a bunch of small size Reuther boards side by side only not as flexible) .

A Bulgarian threw a double back in floor exercise but the rest of his routin es was very sloppy. Menicelli was hoping to use one but because of his injury in the compulsories, did not compete in the op tionals, so we'll never kn ow how good it would have been. West Germany looked very good in FX with excellent tumblin g. Jaschek of Wes t Germany was injured on his first pass in FX and was unable to continue his routines, he wa s then carried to the n ex t event on a stretcher, hopped up to the SH and did one of th e fin est routin es yo u would hope to see and scored a well deserved 9.55. J aschek th en pro ceeded to spirit the 16

West German team to a fin e performan ce and drew a few sy mpath y points from the crowd and judges. H e was ca ught by th e coach on his di smount from th e rings but did not suffer an appropriate penalty, scor· in g 9.3 when he should have lost 1.0 for the assist. H e did a fin e routine on the parallel bars and received 9.5 whi ch was .1 or .2 tenth high but it was a fin e job.

To top it off he then limp ed up to th e hi gh bar and did an outstanding routin e and fini shed with a double fly·a·way landin g on his feet but fallin g forward to his hands and scorin g 9.45 - all in all a r emarkable performan ce.

Canada looked good except for on e man and perform ed quite well in some cases.

Their most memorable moment came, how· ever, wh en Gil Larose prepared to dismount from the high bar - Gil threw a full twi st· ing fly-a·way - hun g on too long and over· turn ed it - landed ba ck on the bar on hi s thighs - bounced to his waist - paused a second - cast up to a hand stand - and did a stoop dismount. Amazing!!!

An Algerian did a hecht dismount from the high bar from an eagle grip - not much lift or di stance but in no danger.

The American team did quite well on their optional routines except for side horse. Hug started on the hi gh bar and did a fin e job for 9.35, Thor pulled 9.5 Kanati 's only fault was one flat stalder for 9.5, and Cohen was possibly overs cored with 9.5 also, suffering a few form breaks and missin g his dismount.

In Floor Exercise the Americans again appeared to be underscored slightly except for Steve Cohen who even went out of the area. (I noticed during this time that Nis· senen and Laiho of Finland both did dou· ble back dismounts off the parallel bars) One the side horse the U.S. team really blew it as Sid sat down and had bad form throughout for 7.85, Fred was possibly underscored even though his form suffered and he was off balance a little receiving 8.7, Cohen suffered two complete stops and scored 8.35, Kanati sat down and appeared to leave out his front scissors but this is uncertain , Hug did a fanta stic job and reo ceived 9.4 and saved Thor's neck because now if Thor would hit they would have to give him a decent score, Thor did hit and received 9.6 and it could easily have been 9.7 or 9.8.

On the SR Kanati was gifted with 8.5 mi ssing almost every move. Hug came through again missing only on his press and fini shing strong. Thor did a very good job but spoiled it all with a back lever that was even too high scoring 9.0. Sid did a good job and after a judges' conference came up with only 9.15. Fred did some weak dislocates but an otherwise clean routine for 9.1 and Cohen finally came through with a fine job for 9.6 and the crowd showed l:~ ey felt that was too low. On the Parallel bars the Americans really shined with Allen starting at 9.05, Hu g upped it to 9.4, Cohen hit an excellent routine for 9.6, Thor missed slightly on his diamodov - back·over·bar combination and scored 9.3, Sid did a fin e job for 9.4 and Fred fin· ished up with 9.5.

That evening we were forced to watch the top 6 team s at the same time and of course I could not get many notes from this. I did see S. Kato of Japan do travels on the SH with his hands behind his back, Veronin e r eceived 9.7 on rings and was really on the straps on a press, one Russian balked on a vault and only got to vault once because of the new rules, Klimenko of Russia did a fine routin e on the PB that included a diamodov and a back somersault with a full twi st di smount, Iljinykh of Russia also did a good back full dismount, 17

Diamodov on the parallel bar s aga in was gifted as he missed his di amodov spread his fee t, bent his arm s a~d kn ees and took 4 or 5 steps and received 9.45. One Russian on the hi gh bar suffered a major break and took an extra swing and score 9.3. The East Germ ans were agaIn gr eat on th e HB with some good moves and different com路 binations, if you get to see film ~ of . this you will enjoy it. Veronine's FX routine was a laugh as he d id only three or four passes of basic moves (did most of them very well but had littl e diffi culty and m ade three mistakes of so me signifi cance) and rece ived 9.7. H e then turn ed aro und and suffered a major break on the side horse and received a score of 9.5 !!! ! (now by maj or break I mean lik e hittin g and horse and stoppin g - whi ch he did - or sitting on the horse).

Sam Baili e and H al Frey had camera equipment stolen from almost under their noses to put a damper on their enj oyment.

Women's Finals : Just a few words about the women's fin als, I am sure yo u will have an oppor tunity to read more about them fr om other reporters. The order of competition caught me a little by surprise as va ultin g was first, unevens second, beam third and fl oor exercise last.

The performan ces were first class in almost every instan ce but ther e were some unusually long delays between events as it took 4-5 minutes for the fi rst event and there was 30 minutes between competitors - the strangest part being the fact that there was a band there all thi s time and they did not play anything during the delays.

The crowd was with Vera all the way and she really had them eating out of the palm of h er hand as she was the final contestant of the evening in the final event, FX, and performed her routine to the Mexican Hat Dance. The finals took almost exactly three hours.

Men's Finals The U.S.A. had n o competitors in the final s but they had four judges - I won der what that tells us"?? ? ? The Japanese had 5 of 6 in the F X final s as Veronine did not compete but competed in the rest of the events - this sounded contrary to the rules to me but - . Karasev of Russia was first in FX and had three back somersaults with full twist in his routine (judging, by the way, in the finals was as good as you would find anywhere, mostly because there were very few Iron Curtain country's r epresented with judges in the finals) . K enmotsu of Japan started with RO-FF-d ouble twisting back somersault and missed it in the finals but hit it perfect in the prelims, there were many handspring-front somersault combinations with the front somer sault done in the pike position and some were even to a step out.

All in all the tumbling of the Japanese showed great improvement with at least three every bit as good as Freudenstein and the winner, K enmotsu was better than Sid. The meet, through the fir st few events was very listless and elicited little or no r esponse from the spec tators. The judges took a long time coming up with scor es, there were long delays between events and, all in all, too little action.

On the side horse Klimenko mounted with double leg circles with hi s back to the horse on the end, followed with what I guess might b e called a russian travel, and dismounted with a Chaquinian as did almost everyone. K enmotsu did back moore (hands behind back ) , back travel and Chaquinian di smo unt, Kubica star ted with Chaquinian , side lift, side lift, and Chaquini an dismount. Veronine started with double 18

leg circles in cross support (loops) to Chaquinian but in the middl e of the Chaquinian did double leg circles in rear support on the end and fini shed with Chaquinian_ Laiho started with Chaquinian , side lift, czech, czech, side lift, chaquinian and double leg circles in r ear ~ upport in middle of chaquini~n alld side lifti to chaquinian di smount. Cerar started wIth what one might call a russian mount on the end , used double russian in the middle in addition to a Shurlock (czech immediate double r ear out) but suffered a form break on his dismount, another Chaquinian_ On th e SR 1 counted several of the routines and came up with ten moves for most of the competitors and I will be anxious to see the films to verify this_ Diamidov for example L Inverted hang, 2_ dislocate, 3_ shoot to hand stand, 4_ giant, 5_ back uprise cross, 6_ kip, 7_ hollow back press, 8_ cross, 9_ dislocated, 10_ fly-a-way with full twist. Takeshi Kato suffered a major break in his routine and still scored 9.35 (by the way, the performances in the finals were not quality performances, the preliminary optionals were much better) _ Tsukahara did double dislocate to very nice double fly-away_ Veronine did : 1. Dislocate, 2_ straight arm giant forward, 3_ straight arm giant backward, 4_ bacuprise maltese, 5_ cross (did not hold either maltese or cross), 6_ L, 7_ hollowback press, 8. straight arm lower to back lever (very impressive and very well done), 9. dislocate, 10. dislocate, 11. full twisting fly-a-way . Another example was Nakayama's routine of: 1. Inlocate, 2. backward giant to handstand with bent arms, 3. straight arm forward giant, 4. lower to cross, 5. bend arms and kip straight arms to "L" support, 6. hollowback press to handstand, E. back uprise to cross, 8. dislocate, 9. full twisting fly -away. The only way to get eleven moves is to give credit for two moves on the kip to "L" or to give two moves for back up rise to cross.

In the long horse event Sawao Kato was injured warming up and was forced to drop out of the next three events. Dave Thm-, of the U.S. , who fini shed tied for fourth in the qualifying rounds, but failed to qualify for the final s because his all-around score was the lowest of those he tied with, must have felt pretty low at this point.

If someone (anyone) would have been unable to compete in the finals on the side horse Dave was the fir st alternate (7th man) and would have gotten to be in the final s, instead he was forced to sit in the stands and watch the 7th man compete in every event except the side horse and still rings-talk about pouring salt in a wound!

The judges appeared to be asleep during the LH event as it took about one hour to run it off and 12,000 people got pretty restless because of it. The gymnasts were required to perform two different vaults and were permitted only one attempt at each vault. Diomidov perform ed a hecht with full twist from the far end that was a fine vault but his yamashita from the far end mu st have pulled his score down to 9.475. Eizo Kenmotsu attempted a handsprin g with a full twist but was unable to pull it off_ Veronine perform ed a yamashita with 1f2 twist (barani) that did not show much class then follow ed with plain yamashita for 9.5 average. Tak eshi Kato performed yamashita fr om far end and hand spring from far end which I thought was against the new rules but I never was able to find an answer to this. Endo looked fairly well here although he too did two hand sprin gs from the far end, one was piked and one straight body but the rules say one has to he with a Ih turn. At th e 19

medal presentation Veronine appeared to make jest of the fact that he was named the winner feeling perhaps, as many of us did, that Endo probably should have won.

On the parallel bars at least the audio ence was spared the agony of having to watch Diamodov again and his scoring machine . . . Kenmotsu missed his mount slightly but that was about all he missed as he scored 9.55. Klimenko executed stutz to handstand three times but apparently was not penalized as he received 9.6. Take· shi Kato did a good peach to handstand (he also did three stutzkhere's and was not penalized) and fini shed with full twisting back somersault dismount. Akinori Naka· yama started with the same mount Dan Millman used last year, straddle straight arm straight leg press, 1;4 pirouette, back somersault, stutz, to upper arm, front up· rise, reverse pirouette, cast, back uprise, straddle cut " L", straight·straight press, and then my notes are unsure but I think he did back somersault to handstand, peach to upper arms, front uprise, front somer· sault dismount with Vz twist, for 9.7.

Veronine did an excellent routine in this event and probably should have taken the gold medal but suffered one of what ap· peared to be two mistakes the judges made during the finals (the judging in the finals was so much better than the prelims that it was almost easy to overlook the few mi stakes they did make). I was unable to read my notes on his routine but his mount was cast to support, straddle cut, " L", straight·straight press, stutz, peach, etc., and his dismount was front uprise, front somersault with Vz twist.

On the horizontal bar Diamidov was up first and his routine included a hecht vault to r egrasp and full twisting hecht dismount.

Klaus Kostle of East Germany was next and performed: Stemme, immediate stoop, imm ediate takemoto (very superior se· quence but his takemoto wa s tak en too straight up and he stalled on it) , then his vault was weak out of the takemoto. Kostle received a 9.5 which the crowd booed but the score was correct. Kenmotsu scored 9.7 with an excellent pirouette sequence in the middle which was too fa st for me to figure out, a vault which was executed with his feet some two feet above the bar, very high, and finished with good hecht with full. Endo had a very good routine going all the way to his dismount but had to tuck on this hecht with full twist in order to land on his feet. Veronine's score again was questionable as he mi ssed his hecht vault being too low on it to get into a pike, good double german, but eagles were fiat, full twisting fly·a-way was technically incorrect but no form break.

Nakayama finished off the evening in a prop er manner, contrary to what had preceeded during the evening, as he was not to be denied on the HB. I believe his routine was the same routine that he won with in the 1966 World Championships and it was a beauty. The only break he had was on his full twisting hecht dismount where he had to take a step and bend at the waist quite a bit for 9.8 and a tie with Veronine for the Gold medal. The men's finals, with 6 men in each event lasted four hours !!! That amounts to about 45 minutes to one hour of action and about 3 hours for awards, judging, warm-up, debates, and etc_

1936 Berlin

7.66

20

U.S. MEN'S TEAM AVERAGE SCORE PAST 7 OLYMPICS 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 London

Helsinki

Melborne

Rome

Tokyo

8.60

9.03

9.125

9.253

9.282

OPTIONAL AVERAGE (Optional Routines Only)

1968 Mexico 9.133

Rome

Tokyo

Mexico

9.292 1960

9.31 1964

9.24 1968

Kato, Sawao (Japan)

Nakayama, Akinori (Japan)

~

••

~i~~

Kato. Takeshi (Japan)

FREEEX MEN'S FLOOR EXERCISE -INDIVIDUAL FINALS

Place - Name - Country Total C&O Avg. Finals 1. Kato, Sawao (Japan) 9.825 9.650 19.475 2. Nakayama, Akinori (Japan) 9.700 9.700 19.400 3. Kato, Takeshi (Japan) 9.675 9.600 19.275 4. Tsukahara, Mitsuo (Japan) 9.500 9.550 19.050 5. Karasev, Valery (USSR) 9.400 18.950 9.550 6. Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan) 9.625 18.825 9.300 (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Ph otos by Don Wil kin son

Tsukahara, Mitsuo (Japan) 21

路1

Cerar, Miroslav (Yugoslavia)

Laiho. Olli (Finland)

Voronin. Michail (USSR)

SIDEHORSE MEN'S SIDE HORSE -INDIVIDUAL FINALS Total C&O Avg. Finals 19.325 9.650 9.675 19.225 9.650 9.575 2. Laiho, Olli (Finland) 19.200 9:600 9.600 3. Voronin, Michail (USSR) 19.150 9.600 9.550 4. Kubica, Wilhelm (Poland) 9.500 19.050 9.550 5. Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan) 9.400 18.950 9.550 6. Klimenko, Vladimir (USSR) (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Place - Name - Country

1. Cerar, Miroslav (Yugoslavia)

Photos by Don Wilki nson

22

Kubica, Wilhelm (Poland)

Voronin, Michail (USSR)

Nakayama, Akinori (Japan)

Kato, Sawao (Japan)

RINGS MEN'S RINGS -INDIVIDUAL FINALS Place - Name - Country C&O Avg. Finals Total 1. Nakayama, Akinori (Japan) 9.750 9.700 19.450 2. Voronin, Michail (USSR) 9.725 9.600 19.325 3. Kato, Sawao (Japan) 9.775 9.450 19.225 4. Tsukahara, Mitsuo (Japan) 9.625 9.500 19.125 5. Kato, Takeshi (Japan) 9.700 9.350 19.050 6. Diomidov, Sergey (USSR) 9.450 9.525 18.975 (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Ph ot os by Do n Wilkinson

Tsukahara, Mitsuo (Japan) 23

Voronin, Michail (USSR)

Endo, Yukio (Japan)

LONGHORSE MEN'S LONG HORSE - INDIVIDUAL FINALS Place - Name - Country

1. Voronin, Michail (USSR) 2. Endo, Yukio (Japan) 3. Diomidoy, Sergey (USSR)

C&O Avg.

Finals

Total

9.500 9.500 9.450 9.525 9.425 9.475

9.500 9.450 9.475 9.250 9.300 9.175

19.000 i8.950 18.925 18.775 18.725 18.650

4. Kato, Takeshi (Japan) 5. Nakayama, Akinori (Japan) 6. Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan) (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Ph otos by Don Wil kinson

24

DiomidoY, Sergey (USSR)

Voronin, Michail (USSR)

Nakayama, Akinori (Japan)

P路BARS MEN'S PARALLEL BARS -INDIVIDUAL FINALS

Place - Name - Country C&D Avg. Finals Total 1. Nakayama, Akinori (Japan) 9.775 9.700 19.475 2. Voronin, Michail (USSR) 9.725 9.700 19.425 3. Klimenko, Vladimir (USSR) 9.625 9.600 19.225 4. Kato, Takeshi (Japan) 9.650 9.550 19.200 5. Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan) 9.625 9.550 19.175 6. Kubica, Wilhelm (Poland) 9.600 9.350 18.950 (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Photos by Don Wilkinson

Klimenko, Vladimir (USSR) 25

Voronin, Michail (USSR)

Nakayama, Akinori (Japan)

Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan)

HIGHBAR MEN'S HORIZONTAL BAR -INDIVIDUAL FINALS Total C&O Avg. Finals Place - Name - Country 19.550 9.800 1. Voronin, Michail (USSR) 9.750 9.800 19.550 9.750 1. Nakayama, Akinori (Japan) 19.375 9.700 3. Kenmotsu, Eizo (Japan) 9.675 19.225 9.500 9.725 4. Koste , Klaus (E. Germany) 9.500 19.150 9.650 5. Dimidov, Sergey (USSR) 9.400 19.025 9.625 6. Endo, Yukio (Japan) (C&O Avg.-Compulsory and Optional score average going into finals) Photos by Don Wilk inson

26

Koste, Klaus (E. Germany)

(

~~ ~~~~OOW~~I: SAWAO KATO

)

By Katsu Yamanaka and Glenn Sundby

A fter a couple of phone calls from the Press center in the Olympic Village we were granted a visit to th e Japanese Gymnastic team quarters in the Village and an interview with Sawao Kato the new Olympic All-Around Champion for Gymnastics_ Katsu Y am anaka who just completed his Business co urse as a {!raduate exchange student fr om Japan (C hico State Colle{!e in California) joined m e as an interpreter for this brief interview for th e MG. We were limited in time as Sawao Kato had qualified for many of the events in the individual finals to be held that evening and his coach wanted him to rest and relax as much as possible. Unfortu nately that evening - after three events, Sawao developed a muscle spasm in his back durin!! the Lon{! Horse warm-z拢p and could not continue to compete in LH, PB and HB where he had qzwlified.

I n the spirit of fU ll durin!!, the MG interview (oth er Japanese team members were also in the room) , Yukio Endo pointed out to Sawao in the MG T okyo Olympic report that he sco red better in '154 than Kato in Mexico '68 (Endo 115.95, Kato 115.90). They were both !!reat and it's always a thrill for your editor to talk with these and other wo rld famous figures in gymnastics .

Name: Sawao Kato Age : 22 Ht. 5'3" Wt. 124 Ibs. College : A senior at Tokyo Educational University majoring in Physical Lducation Born: Niigata, Japan Honors: 1st Place AA Univ. Championships in his Jr. year 2nd Place AA Univ. Championships in his Sr. year 3rd Place AA World Student Games 1967 1ST PLACE AA 1968 OLYMPIC GAMES, MEXICO CITY How did you get started in Gymnastics?

In Jr. High School I learn ed a kip in the gym class (PE) and decided to become a gymnast. We did not have a coach but myself and about 8 other boys formed a gym nastic club in Jr. Hi . and learned some gymnastic skills on our own.

If you could start over again, what would you do different? .

I would like to have a coach in Jr. Hi to help with fundamentals.

What age would you recommend one to get started in Gymnastics?

If poss ible get started in basic floor skills in elemen tary school.

What was your first Award?

All-Around Champion for the District of Niigata when I was in the 11th grade .

Do you work on routines year-around?

I work out year-around, but concentrate on routines in the spring (about May) as the Univers ity Championships are in August. Thi s gives us a coupl e of months to practice during summer vacation with no school to interfere.

Just practice?

Yes, summer is just for prac ticin g, no schoo l, no job.

No competitions? Dual, Invitational?

We do not have many competitions in Japan, no dual meets, mai nly just the big University and the National Championships, plus some district and also International Matches.

How many days, hours per week do you work out?

Everyday 2 to 3 hours (sometimes 4 or 5 hours).

Do you have a workout program you follow?

I make up a planned scnedule that starts about three months before th e Championships and follow it quite close ly.

Would you tell your program to our MG readers?

Yes, the three month program is broken up into five parts of vari ous time periods. The sched ule may change slightly from year to year or for some speci al reason, but basically thi s is it: PART I - Stamina: A very hard workout schedule on Quantity and Quality to build Stamina and Physical Condition .

(This covers a 10 day period.)

PART II - Check: Thoroughly check individual moves and combinations.

PART 111 - Combine: Combine parts I & II toward perfection. (Parts II & III take up most of the train ing program time.)

PART IV - Competition: Workout just as if I am in the Competiti on. (covers a one week period), PART V- Relax: Workout lightly and take it \lasy. (3 days) Do you work on all events every practice?

Every day six events. However, sometimes I will spend more time and concentrate on one event more than the others if it needs spec ial attention.

Do you follow any special diet?

No. I eat anytning I like and stay in good shape from my worko ut program.

What are your study habits?

I would say about average .

Have you made many world tours?

In 1967. I toured with th e Japanese national team for 20 days to Europe and Mexico. Tours disturb my practice schedule and do not help my condition . But they do help me to meet and see other Gymnasts in action .

How long before the Olympic Games are the Japanese team members decided 路on?

The final trials of th e top 18 men (from previous eliminati ons) takes place three months before the Olympic Games Competition to decide on the 7 team members.

Is the seventh man the alternate, or is that decided later and if so when?

The seve n men go as a team and 24 hours before the actual competition it is decided who will be on ' the team and who will be the al ternate. .

(We had several more questions we would have liked to as k Sawao Kato, but the manager suggested we bring the interview to a close in order for him to res t for th e evening competition. So we th anked Sawao and the others on behalf of you the MG readers and took our leave . . . wtih just one more question.)

Do you have any suggestions for the USA Gymnasts?

Get a good training program and work hard es pecially on the com pulso ries and learn things the right way with good basics. Hard work and more hard work. Train, train and train .

(Mr. Kato also mentioned th at he thought from what he could see or has heard that everybody in the USA is worki ng for himself and it would be much better if we would work more as a team, especially th e Internatio nal compe titors).

27

9

16

23

30

15

22

29

14

21

28

13

20

27

12

19

26

2

1

8

THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY

7

TUESDAY

6

MONDAY

JANUARY 1969 3

31

24

17

10

FR IDA Y

25

18

11

4

SATURDAY

SAWO KATO from Japan 1968 Olympic All-Around Champion

5

SUNDAY

the MODERN GYMNAST magazine

Photo by Don Wilkinson

A Competitor1s View

By Dave Thor Born in Van Nuys, Calif. Started g y mnastic s at Reseda H.S ., Calif. in 1961. Attended Michigan State Univ.

(George Szypu la, coach), Member of USA Un'iversiade and Pan-Am Teams, M idwest AA champ and 3 Big 10 AA champi onships.

Three days ago I returned from Mexico fill ed with enthu siasm, hoping to start training for the World Championships in 1970. I set apart this time to write down a few of my observations of the XIX Olym' piade Gymnastic scene, while lying here in my hospital bed. During my second workout I managed to pull a few ligaments on my right an gle, landing a hecht off the horizontal bar. I suppose now I will be forced to take the rest I need.

The results of th e competition are easy enough to read, but I would like to present an informal insigh t into the training leading up to th e competition. Our own team trainin g started in Louisiana after the first trials in July. With twenty gymnasts, divided into four groups, we worked high bar, parallel bars, and rings parts the first day; floor exercise, side horse, and long horse parts the second day. The third and fourth days were r eserved for routines on the same events. We worked out everyday, usually twice a day rotating our schedule in such a manner. After the final trials, we continued on a similar schedule with eight gymnasts. During this period we went through' a series of "tests" (meets ), judged

by Jack Beckner and Bill Meade to determin e who would be number eight. Altogether, we trained together for close to ten weeks. Training twice a day, everyday in such a manner was quite taxing. I ' am sure even our coaches will admit that they were often putting us in less than desirable positions. Kanati Allen brought to my attention an interesting thought. Is it best to hand a team obstacles so that they will be able to compete well under any conditions Or, is it better to give a team a comfortable and ad equate training situation, assuming they will be able to compete in the Olympics under any conditions ? I sup路 pose one has to choose his own particular item.

The Japan ese training sessions, immediately preceding the meet, were extremely individual. After lining up in formation and giving a traditional bow to their coach, th ey all spread out to work on their own.

I don't want to mislead anyone though. It was obvious by the way they all did the rin g compulsory, that they had had close team trainin g. In addition, they went through a practice competition in uniform 30

one week before the comp etItIOn. Th ey appea red, by far, th e best team there.

The Russian team 's workout s were much more lax and individual than the Japan ese.

The Russians obviously lacked the depth of their rival s. I think that some of their gy mnasts could have been recoverin g from injuries. For instan ce, I und ers tand that Diomodov was just recovering from a shoulder injury. In any event, they did not go thro ugh as many routines as the Japanese durin g workouts. It is interesting to note, however, that several of the Russian gymnasts wer e doing strai ght路arm peach baskets on the parallel bars during practice.

Because of our trainin g, I did not get the chance to see all the tea ms work out or even compete. I did have the opportunity to see a lot of the Swiss team. Under the expert coaching of Gunthard, the Swiss di splayed a well-trained and close-knit team. They simply needed a little more time and a little more favorabl e judgin g.

I would like to take the opportunity now to interj ect a few comments on the competition and judging. The Mexican people viewed the gymnastic com petition with all the enthusiasm and fervor of a crowd packed into a bull fi ghting stadium. If the judges threw out a bad score, the crowd would r espond accordin gly. Unfortunately, the auditorium was in an uproar durin g a lot of the competition, which doesn't say a whole lot for the judging. Unfor tun ately, th e crowd was interested in the battle between Japan and Russia, between Voronin and Kato, and not between the United States and Yugoslavia.

My trip to the Olympics will certainly be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. We started in Louisiana as strangers, and parted in Mexico City as friends. Peace.

United States Olympic Gymnastic Team Analysis

By Steven R. Cohen Born in Philade lphia , Po. Started Gymnastics a Philadelphia H.S. in 1958. Went to Pa. State (Gene Wettstone, coach) and Univ. of Pennsylvania Medical School. Member of the USA World Games Team 1966 and the Macabee Games . Won 3 EIGL AIIAround Championships and 2 NCAA AIIAround

Nat iona l Championships.

The quest of gymnastic's Holy Grail has eluded the United States contingent of athletic Galahads - once again! The usual und erlying nuances of disappointment that have plagued Ameri can gymnasts for almost forty years were transform ed after this Olympic Games into a full blown symphony of discontent. The seventh place fini sh of

our squad would appear to be a rather poignant resum e of ou r progress in the sport sin ce the Tokyo ga mes. Yet, there has been undeniable im provemen t in American gy mnasts durin g the last four years, which co nfirm s a dia gnosis of some "shortin gout" of our circuit s in preparation for Mexico 1968. In rea lity, a ll pre-Olympic indica tors did indeed portend a giant stride forward (eg. sixth place in the World Champ ionships in Dortmund - 1966 ; the in creased n umber of top calibre all around gymnasts : 17 men tried out in 1964 as opposed to the 27 men who qualified for the first trials this year; realignm ent of our coll egiate program to include th e entire Olympic repetoire; extensive training program for the final team and a more ad equate sys tem of trials to selec t the members). It is not the intent of thi s writer to be a polemi st but the ensuing Olympic report should be considered an exp ose pertainin g to the difficulti es that enshrouded our tea m foll owing the final Olympic trials in Los Angeles and th e training period s in Colorado Springs and II'I exico itself.

Th e eight men who finally hurdl ed the num erou s pallisades that guard the prized Olympic berth were all quite taken aback to find they had leaped into yet another abyss of insecurity by makin g th e team.

The shock of di scoverin g that we would undergo four more intrasquad competitions to eliminate the eighth man caused di smay and protest but th ere was nothin g we co uld do to alter this plan. What was more, all previous endeavor that had been put forth to attain our present status was goin g to be disco unt ed and in essence, n o man amongst us had mad e the team! Needl ess to say, thi s created a wide ran ge of problems which bri efly, were manifest as : 1. Emotional and physical trauma of tryin g to hit peak performances under workout circum stan ces in a " do or die" situation.

This tended to derid e the cohesiveness of the team because of th e indi vidu al's insecurity in hi s own position. Dave Thor go t to th e point in Colorado, when he made the remark that, " under these conditions you begin to feel guilty for not helping your teammate, but r emember, that fellow may push you into eigh th place himself."

2. A general lack of real workout time to perfect our own parts - it should be emphasized here that one can not workout hard th e day preceeding a meet and the day following it, one is too ex hausted to accomplish a great deal. Therefore, each one of these meets required four days, and with less than thirty workout days before we left for Mexico, we were preoccupied by testing in over one-half of our sessions.

3. There was too much pressure placed upon the competitor. A program like this is exceedingly nerve rackin g and compels one to workout daily without taking time to rest. It is in cred ible to think that in the period followin g the final trials to the Olympic competition itself our team was only permitted two days of rest (traveling to Mexico and th e day before our meet).

No man amongst us, escaped either sickness, injury or both. The end result found Richard Loyd's knee completely debilitated, Sid Freudenstein suffering from a very painful injury in his elbow, Steve Hug working with a pull ed groin mu scle, and myself personally being pained by a sore kn ee. Of course, all of th ese condition s were brought on and augniented by our exhaustive schedul e. I might mention here that thi s writer did not observe a single tea m in Mexico (eg. Japan , Ru ssia, E. Germany, etc.) who fail ed to take off at least one day a week from their trainin g.

The multiple crises that faced the team durin g the preparation period in th e States

were only tou ched upon in th e preceedin g di scussion but these probl ems form ed the foundation s of our crumblin g gymnastic edifice. Had thin gs gone well from this point, no matter how di sdainful the pro路 gram was consid ered, I think that we would have had to admit that th e means justified the end. Unfortunately, thi s was not th e case, and as it turned out, the means only jusified our pli ght in Mexico.

In Mexico, we were afforded even less of a stimulus th an in L.A. and Colorado. The blatant inad equacy of our staff to function in an effi cient mann er proved to be the deciding factor when we were called u pon to reap the fruits of our efforts. There are so me who mi ght feel that th ese fruit s have now beco me sour grapes on the writer's behalf but the antagon ism wrought by our co aches, th eir failure to appear at many of our workouts and inform us of many important developments, their impolit e manners toward us and ot hers in th e gym, all contributed to the extensive di scourse and collective opinion amon gst the team members th at our staff truel y had not lived up to th eir responsibilities. As Sid Freudenstein sadly refl ected after the meet, " Our performance was a prod uct of our trainin g." If th e onus of guilt must be born by someone, let it be said that every member of our sq uad put forth a max imum effort and exhibited a genuin e concern for vi ctory. Therefore, in assay in g and di stillin g th e Am erican probl em down to a sentence, th e sa me old story rin gs true - this nation is being hampered seriou sly by the dearth of qualifi ed personel in th e sport. This defi ciency was most recently recognized and reit erated by one of Ameri ca's foremost co mpetitors, Makoto Sakamoto, in hi s interview with the Modern 路 Gym nast. In the August-September edition he said, " We have no coaches in the United States. We have non e." j\1r. Sakamo to's statement may be a bit radical, but he surely has a valid point!

Once again, thi s problem h as been exposed, but no doubt th e issue will surface in th e future. It would be naivete to assume that every coach could be a grea t technician and adm inistrator ( though th at is what we nee d) but at th e very least, a co ach should inspire confid ence in hi s men and be able to maximize th eir potential. What we have here is a type of " taxation without representation" issue. We the athletes are being forced' to adhere to the dogmatic, inflexibl e, un compromisin g and arbitrary decisions of gymn astic's hierarchy, without any say in guidin g our own destinies as performers. If thi s seems to r efl ect the current vogue of student outcry for self-expression in the acad emic world, then our solution mi ght be to draw a parallel in the athleti c world and begin to vocalize our grievances.

In spite of the frustration in the gymnasti c's arena, 1. will always consider the ex peri ence of competing on the United States Olympi c team as the acme of my athleti c career. I had the opportunity n ot only to make fri end s with my own wonderful group but also to rub shoulders with people from all over th e world. This wa s indeed a cultural adventure, whi ch coupl ed with the splendid vitality of the Mexican people could have become an even greater memory had I not gone to the gam es with th e purpose of winn in g in mind. Therefore, in the fina l evaluation of our trip , we have to admit disappointm ent; and only if som e solutions to th e problems, expo und ed upon in this article co me to fruitation, will we be able to look back wit h more sa tisfaction at the events that transpired in Mexico 1968.

FRANK ENDO 11200 SO. SERENDO AVE. LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 90044

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If selected for cover, the original negative will be requested. T"chnical data on photos should include photographer's name, camera type, any special lenses used, film. f-stop, shutter speed.

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1968 MEXICO OLYMPIC FILMS Super 8 -

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Arthur Gander FIG President Wettstone in Mex ico City.

with

Gene

The Judging At Mexico City

By Gene Wettstone U.S.A. Olympic Coach 48·56 Olympic Judge 1952·68

One of the ques tions most frequently asked an Olympic gymnast or official upon his return from th e games is usually some· thing such as "Was the Judgin g Fair?" " I~ there still politics in Jud ging?" " Is Judging improvin g in the Olympic Games?"

The quick reply usually vllries from some· thing like . . . "It still isn't perfect," or "Judging wasn't too bad," or "Judging was biased in spots." In other words, judging was not perfect and still n eeds to be im· proved for 1972. But, looking at the whole picture and glancing back at the past, this judge would have to say it was the best all·around judging performance ever experienced.

The Judgin g at Mexico City surely was a hundred times better than it was in Mr. Arthur Gander's childhood days as he described it to the U.s. coaches at their annual Gymnastic Congress in Chicago.

There was a time when a judge would leisurely sit at a table near the apparatus with a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of wine on the table. Judging in tho se days, according to Mr. Gander, was on a general impression and the judge's likes and dis· likes . . . or whether th e gymnast hailed from a small , primitive village or from a more worldly and educated big ci ty environment. You might also say that it was at least eighty times better than the judging at the 1936 Games in Berlin where the superior German atmosphere led to scores

32

in favor of the political power of the day.

There were no rules for scoring and those who were used as judges were chosen not for their competency or qualifications, but hecause they just happened to be the manager of the team without any coaching duties or were able to afford the financial expendi tures of the trip. As coach of the U.S.A. team in 1948 in England, I saw Mr. Gander, then the team leader from Switzerland, battle it out with a veteran and co urageous Finnish team. I can recall the disturbed Mr. Gander and the exasperated expression on hi s face as he thought about the inadequacies of judging and the lack of more objective ways of measuring exercises.

Mr. Gander pointed out in the new Code of Points Book that in 1948 the differences between the scores awarded by the different judges were so great that inaccurate judging was unavoidable. It was after these Olympic Games that the first definite and comprehensive set of rules were crea ted, appearing in the year 1949 under the name "Code de pointage." The booklet of 12 printed pages had separate evaluations for difficulty, combination and execution. Com· pare that, if you will, with the present Code of 167 pages.

One might also say that the 1968 judg· ing was forty times better than in 1952 when upon the arrival of the Soviet Gym· nasts, it was obvious that the progress had already surpassed these new regulation s.

Jud gin g was very biased and there was a great deal of East-West political favoriti sm.

Rules had to be formulated to meet the new trends and to com bat subj ective and nationalisti c judging. Tension still existed between Eastern ·and Western block nations in 1956, but th e International Gymnastic Federation with its fine technical commi ttee led by Presid ent Arthur Gander de· veloped furth er regulations and the A.B.C. skill values along with better und erstanding of the combination factors.

As regulations and th e fin e points of judging became more expli cit, greater de· mand s were imposed upon the judges, trainers and gymnasts. Systematic instruc· tion courses for both judges and coaches became imperative. In 1%4 the first real Code of Points book appeared and the first intercontinental Jud ges course was offered in Zurich under th e FIG Technical Committee and its dynamic lead er. T his co urse helped to prepare judges for the 1964 Olympic Games in Japan and resulted in a marked improvement in judgin g over other Games. As soon as the Tokyo Games had been completed work began again with further refinements and r evisions of the A.B.C. table of difficulty, along with other regulation s that would update the sport and offer more recognition for exercises with ori ginality, virtuosity and risk. So, four years later the present Code of Points . . . just off the press and in three languages (French, German and English) is before us . . . a magnificant guide in many ways and perhaps the most constructive text ever prepared in this field.

One cannot overlook mentioning two im· portant meetings that were conducted by the Federation International De Gymnastique Technical Committee: . . . the one was the Intercontinental Course for Jud ges held in Rome this past June and the other the review co urse and final testing of th e officials in Mexico City prior to the competition. The Rome course was well attended by judges from virtually every gymnastic Federation in the world. It lasted five days and was under the control of the F IG Technical Committee. All lectures were carefully presented by members of the

Committee and the Code of Points books was the official text. Lectures were conducted for 40 hours, followed by a practical examination lasting five hours. The oral examination concluded the week of concentrated study. Only those judges who passed this test and the one given in Mexico City were certified to judge at the Games. Further regulations were cited regarding biased jUdging and more power was delegated to the superior judges who were given th e authority to expel any judge who scored inaccurately or showed partiality. Mr. Gander emphasized in Rome that judges must not be narrow·minded but must get out and practice and continue to learn as much of the n ew gymnastics as possible. " One cannot be effective as a judge unless there is ample practice avail· able with the Code of Points," Mr. Gander declared, and "the judge must live through the compulsory exercises and know them thoroughly from beginning to end."

In . Mexico all judges were carefully checked again on their knowledge of the rules and were exposed again to various practical situations before each session.

Only those judges who proved to be the most reliable and accurate during the compulsory and optional sessions were used in the finals. Jud ges were also assigned so that there were no competitors from his own country on those events in which he wa s to judge. Mr. Gander did not mince any words with the judges. H e demanded the highest integrity from each one when he said, "The eyes of the world will be directed upon you (TV coverage). This is good propaganda for gymnastics internationally." "We require special effort from all of you and we will also review your scores following the Games to evaluate your status as a future international judge."

N ow that the Games are History and I have had time to review my thoughts, I can honestly say that as a former coach and judge I saw a marked improvemen t in unbi ased and knowledgable judging at these Games; not perfect, but so much b etter and on the righ t road to future improve· ment. There was less political pressure as a result of the Code of Points . . . a marvelous measuring stick of modern gymnastics. The national flag or names did not seem to effect scores and judges' opinions were not fla shed but were transmitted by elaborate electrical core boxes to a monitor at the superior judges desk . In other Games the usual bargaining or propaganda was quite the fa shion, but in Mexico City the emphasis was on the rules and the judging of performances not men or teams. To be sure the coach was still concerned and at times felt that perhaps his boy was underscored in comparison to someone else. However, I'm sure these coaches have had time to review their thoughts since and will agree with most all who saw the Games that it was the best over·all judging j ob ever perform ed in Olympic Competition. The :FlG Technical Committee members and President Arthur Gander of Chiasso, Switzerland, deserve a great deal of credit for the foresight, tireless preparation for greatly improved judging.

In order that the virtues of the Intercon tinental' Judges Course be made available to as many of you as can attend the one from January 15·19 at Penn State University, Mr. Arthur Gander, Mr. Ivancevic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Rohnisch of Sweden, Mr. Gulack of New York, Mr. Frank .

Cumiskey of New J ersey, and Mr. Tom Maloney of Florida will join efforts in bring· ing to you the first international judges and coaches course ever conducted in the U.S.A.

ADVANCE NOTICE CALIFORNIA WINTER CLINIC 1968 Cali f ornia W i nter Clinic Held at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif.

Third yea r of operation Dates: December 26-30, 1968 Registration: December 26th at noo n Chri stmas Classic Gymnastics Meet: At Harmon Gy mnasium, Uni ve rsity of California, Dec. 26th at 8:00 P.M .

Instru ction : December 27-28-29-30 Directors: Clinic Director-Hal Frey, Gymn astics Coach, Universi t y of California Men's Director - Bob Peavy, Gymnastics Coach, San Jose State College Women 's Di rect ors - Dolly Fel ix, Department Chairman, Kennedy High Schoo l, Richmond; Don Nelson, Gymnastics Coach, De Anza High Schoo l, Richmond Clinic Cost : Individual Rate ............................ $ 10.00 Fa mily Rates (first registrant) ____ $10.00 (Second reg istrant) ______ .. __ . __ .. __ . 5.00 (Each additi ona l r eg istrant) . __ . 4.00 Men's Staff Dan Millman-Wor ld Trampoline Champ and Stanford Unive rsity Coach St eve Johnson-Colorado State University Coach Dr . Bil l V incent-San Fernando Va ll ey State Coach (NCAA ' 68 College Div. Champs) Ken Bartlett-Long Beach State College Coach Jerry Wright-San Francisco State College Coach Peek-Sacr amento State College Ron Coach Dick Wolfe-Ca li fornia State College at Fullerton Coach Larry Banner-University of Ca lifornia at Irvine Coach Art Ald ritl-Uni v ersity of California at Santa Barbara Coach Karl Byers-Sacramento City Col. Coach Ji m Quinn-Ca lifornia State ColleQe at

and an outstanding facility has boosted the enro llment to nearly 500 .

Women' s Staff Dale McClemments Flansaas Dick Beckner Betty Bernard- San Jose State College Coach Lynda Davis Dale Shir ley Kathy She ll y-Sacramento State Coach Jim Gault Vada Crabbe Rose Ann Sayler Ba rbara Sebastian Bob Sull ivan Tina Gudge Carolyn Hacker Kerry Mc Collom Bartlett Peg Rombach Enid Ortone Wanda Obradovich Claudia Larson Peavy Don Nelson Glor ia Bel lefville Johnson Wm . La Quard Rod Hill plus 20 additional top competitors acting as assistant coa ches to the above men tioned.

THI S YEAR EVERY EQUIPMENT COMPANY IN THE U.S. HAS OFFERED TO SEND IN EQUIPMENT TO HELP MAKE THE CLINIC ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS. THIS YEAR CLOTHING MANFACTURERS, COACHES, ATHLETES, AND COMPETITORS ARE A TUNE D TO THE FAC T TH AT THE W INTER CLINIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALI FORN IA IS THE BEST GYMNASTICS SITUATI ON IN THE U.S. SEE YOU ALL AT CAL - DEC. 26th Bob Peavy-Men'. Director

H aywa rd Coach Bill H olmes-Mankato State Coach-Minn.

Jac k Smith-Diablo Valley College Coach Ray Lorenz-Chic o State College Coach Jerry Todd-Pasadena City College Coach Rich Harris-College of San Mateo Coach Irv Faria-Sacramen to State Coach Hal Frey-University of Ca l ifornia Coach Bob Peavy-San Jose State College Coach Dr. Clair Jennett-San Jose State College Coach Sid Freudenste in-'68 Olympian Ray H ad ley-past nati onal NCAA and AAU champion plus 40 top high school g ymnastic s coaches from the wes tern states plus 40 top coll egiate g y mnasts scheduled

as assistant

instructors,

demonstrating

and coaching with lead instructors.

Unique Features of the California Winter Clinic: 1. A separate room for each piece o f apparatu s 2. Six pieces of apparatus (min imum) in each room 3. Scheduled class es for each st udent eve ry day. Each student goes to seven cl asses of 45 minutes each.

4. There are six separate g roups in the men 's sect ion. Each group is di vi ded by ability. The gymnast's all -around score determines which group he wi ll be with f or the f our days of instruction.

5. Competit ion starts before the actual instruction starts (Dec . 26th is the A ll Star Gy mnastics Meet), on the 27th instru ction starts.

6. Master Instru ct iona l Cl inics are held each day r ight after the lunch hour .

On tap thi s ye ar will be Dick Wolfe, Ken Bartlett, Jerry Todd, Bill Ho lmes, and Art Shurl ock to provide instruction and special technique during the one-

hour special clinic session .

For further information, or advance registration write to :

7. California Winte r Clinic is reputed t o be the finest instructiona l clinic in the U. S. today. An abundance of new equ ipment, over 120 men and women coaches available all day for four days,

DECEMBER 26, 27, 28, 29 At Champaign, Illinois

WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN'S GYMNASTIC COACHES Sponsored by McKinley YMCA, Champaign, Illinois Di rector . ___ . _____ . ___ . ____ ___ . ________ ._ .Dick Mulvih ill Assisted By _______ __________ ______ __ __ .Linda M~theny Olympic Team ___________________ .Colleen Mu Ivih i II Mem be rs ____ __________ __________ __ _____ _______ Di ane 801 in

1. This is not a clinic, but a WORKSHOP. 2 . Limited to 20 coaches and their SINGLE TOP gymnast.

3. Progressive instruction thru the Olympic

Ital Fray . Gymnastic Coach University of California 94720

level.

4 . Complete spotting techniques.

5. Complete fi Ims of Olympic finals plus optionals.

Coaches will work directly with their individual gymnast in the all-around with individual instruction given by staff.

This Workshop is devoted strictly to presenting the General Design for the skills, routines , music and methods that ore necessary for girls who will be trying out for the 1972 Olympic team.

For further information write immediately to : Dick Mulvihill c/ o McKinley YMCA SOO W. Church St. Champaign, Illinois

ENROLL IN WINTER SESSION OF

SOKOL USA GYMNASTIC SCHOOL DECEMBER 26-31, 1968 AT Courtney Campbell Causeway 路 Tampa, FlOrida 33607 (8131 884路8495

WRITE

FOR

DETAILS-TODAY!!

33

CANADIAN

1+1

REPORT

by John Nooney 18 Lavington Dr. Weston, Ontario

ilLES ESPOI RS" Here are the reports of our National Junior coaches and the officials who represented us in Cuba.

"Chef de Mission" - Jaques Cote The first impression that I would like to give is that the trip WAS worth while in many ways. The fact that we saw the system that they use and the product of their sys tem leave us to think that we are not training hard enough, and the choice of our gymnasts is erratic and not based on a scientific method at all. The Cubans get the best possible gymnast from the mass - we take and work with whoever wants to without having the choice. We are getting good talented gymnasts, but not the most talented this way. I have seen Junior gymnasts in Cuba that were doing on high bar-eagle giant, Stalder, Voronin, flyaway full twist, " Parallel Bars"-back stimy to catch, hi gh stutz, "Rin gs"- Giants, double back or full twi sting dismounts, " Horse Vaulting"-double Yamashita_ In fact the boys were stronger than ours, and they are their Olympic hop es. Our girls were better than the Cuban girls although the score does not show it in both meets. I am sure now, that our Junior boys after what they have seen will come up with senior routines next year.

I mean at least one C move and four B's for a mmlmUnl. They won't be strong enough to make the National Team, but the next thing to it.

Men's Head Coach-Jim Hoyle The better performance of the host team reflects their better training program, stronger admini strative organization, heavier Governmental backing. Our lack of vigorous trainin g is shown particularly by the number of fall s off the appartus notably side horse and horizontal bar, and also by the facts that many moves attempted were beyond the capabilities of the gymnast, and that many standard moves were performed incompetently. On the whole however, the choice of the team from available Canadian Juniors was justified by the results_ Without doubt we need more international dual meets. The Cubans would, I feel, accept an invitation to corne to Canada next year either to Canadian Championhips or a dual meet. Their excellent hospitality will take some matching.

Competence of J - Cote in general management and handling of a difficult trip was 34

to be commended.

Women's Head Coach - Gladys Hartley I felt our teams were closely matched. It was unfortunat e that the Cuban team competed on one event or apparatus while we were on another. This gave me little chance to see their gymnasts compete.

Difficulties of the tour: Lon g waltmg to <Yet our team s through immigration offices in Mexico and Cuba; Bus trips too long and in intense heat; Sickness - most of our girls suffered a short bout of stomach cramps_ Thank You: to Auda, the Cuban coach, who tried to make our stay as comfortable as possible; to Cheeno, the organizer and coordinator of the tour; to Lilea, the Cuban head judge who accompanied the team.

Recommendations : Gymnasts should arrive in the city of competition a full day ahead; all taped music should be on individual reels (preferable a pianist to accompany team; travel blazers should be worn by all team members, also have Ulllform leotards and sweat suits.

Women's Head Judge - Faye Weiler The Cuban judges and their chi ef judge Lillia Wong were friendly and cooperative.

The technical organization was satisfactory for the most part. There were so me things which could have been better and would have improved the runnin g of the .meet. For example the even t scorers were not falI!iliar enough with their job; in some events those were also expected to pi ck up the judges slips, fla sh scores, time routines as well as do the scoring - this r esulted in the c~m颅 pe tition being slowed down, errors bemg made in calculation s, and some scores not bein g fla shed. The tape recorders were not

CUBA VERSUS CANADA Canada Janet Terr y Nancy McDonnell Susan Buchanan Tamy Martin Li se Arsenault Marie Love

Cuba Clotilde Perez

8.10 8.85 8 .25 8.40 8.65 9.45 43 .60

Lourdes Embade Mirian Villacian Nereida Bauto

National Chairman's R eport- Cal Girard I would like to emphasize that this is the First In ternational Junior Competition, and it was done by Canada. It's value to Gymn asti cs in Canada fro~ this trip and training camp are immeasurable.

J . Cote deserves a great amount of r ecognition for his untiring efforts and enthu siasm throughout the organization of the entire trip. The Juniors acted on a plan e of Canadian Representation, and undoubtedly have returned with a new platea u of aspirations. Now they are ready to work. Much thank s must also go to our Head Coaches, Jim Hoyl e and Gladys Hartley as well as our judges Faye Weiler, Valerie Nye of Vancouver, B.C. and Montreal, Quebec. It is important to follow up with more training camps and dual International competitions for our Juniors.

JULY 28, 1968

JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL Women's Competition

E. Libras 9.05 8.25 8 .25 8.20 8 .60 7.85 42 .35

Mayra V ill ancion Isa bel Larraude

se t up soon enough and were not suitable for our tapes. (Again the old familiar problem with music. A soluti on mu st be fowld.

Of course, a pianist would be idea l. However until we can afford one it might be a good id ea for each girl to have her music taped several t im es at each of two or three speeds; it mi ght also be a good idea to have her mu sic written out.) The equipment was satisfactory except for the bars which were of the old type and were very wobbly.

This trip and competition was of great benefit to our juniors. They got a taste of what it is like to represent Canada as a group. They got an idea of the good and the bad exp eriences a gymnast encounters when parti cipating in international competition.

Our gymnasts, especially the girls are to be congratulated . They were cooperative, pleasant and enthusiastic throughout the trip. They presented a very impressive picture in their borrowed outfits (the Scarboro Rota ry Winstonettes skirts and jackets) . It would have been much more impress i ve if the boys had also had uniform outfits for Iravelling.

In closing I wish to make it clear that the Cuban gro up eagerly did all th ey could to make our visit to their country as pleasant and enjoya bl e as possible. I know that they are lookin g forward to a similar visit to Canada.

Viga De 9.05 7.75 8.50 8.40 8.10 8.55 42 .60

6.90 7 .95 7.90 7 .85 8.85 9.25 4 1.80

C Saito 8.25 8.85 9.05 8.05 8 .05 8.25 42.45

B. Pa,all el as 8 .50 8.60 8.15 8 .7 0 8 .25 8 .25 42.40

Total 34 .85 33.45 33.95 33.35 33. 10 32.90 169.80

7.40 8.40 6 .60 8.35 8.05 8.05 4(.15

29.05 33.45 31.50 33.25 35.50 35.50 170.30

6.65 8.25 8.75 8.65 9.35 8.75 43 .75

JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CUBA VERSUS CANADA Men's Competition Havana July 28, 1968 Canada Paul Bo uchard 路 Darry l Howe

Elib,as 9. 10

Rick Johnson 8 .25 Lamy Mitchel 8.75 Tim Sedgewick 8.35 Jacques Thi bodeau 8.30 42.75 Cuba 9.45 Lius Ramire z Roberto Pumpida 9.60 Luis Nav arrete 9.35 Victor Lazo 9.00 Jorg e Cu e r vo 9. 15 Miguel Romer o 8.30 46 .55

C. Arzones Anillas 4.40 8.45 6 .00 8.55 5 .00 8.15 4 .00 7.90 9.05 4.95 6 .60 8 .25 26.95 4 1.45

9.10 9.00 8.85 8.85 6 .65 6 .6 5 42.45

9.25 8.95 9.00 8.75 8.50 8 .75 44.70

C. Saito B. Pa,alelas 8 .55 8 .85 8.40 9.00 8.10 8.20 8 .50 8 .65 8 .80 8.95 8.55 43.65 4 2.8 0

B. Fifo 8.30 8.35 8.50 7.10 8.05 7.65 40.85

Total 47.65 31.30 47 .00 44.45 46.85 48 .30 238.45

9 .05 9.10 9.15 8 .85 9.45 8 .55 45 .60

9.30 8.95 9.50 9.25 8.50 9.20 46.20

54.50 55.05 55 .05 52.80 51.20 50.40 270.40

8.35 9.45 9.20 8. 10 8 .95 8 .95 44.90

The United States Gymnastics Federation P.O. Box 4699 Tucson, Arizona

USGF DIRECTORS REPORT FRANK l. BARE

Executive Director

Gymnastics At Newport CALIFORNIA The inception of the program began to materialize when I made the inevitable di s· covery that basketball wa s " King of th e gy m". Therefor e, the gymnastic tea m could never expect to move into the facility until late February or early iI'l arch. In other words, never before, and often after, our last meet. The on ly place ava ilable for pre· season workout s was outside. As we had an aged hi ghbar and ce ilin g mounted rings, working these two events outside became impossible.

Gymnastics at Newport at that time wa s in its ,third year, and to ask for the many hundreds of dollars needed to remedy th e situation in which we found ourselves was out of the question. Like so many gym· nastic coaches, I found myself in a finan· cially demanding, but slightly recognized, sport.

The an swer to a large part of our equip· ment probl em walk ed into recreational gy m· nastics one ni ght last fall in the form of Brll"p. Hoppin g. After p.x prp.ss in g an interest in the sport, he asked if he mi ght watch.

As it turned out, Bruce came ba ck to watch workouts often, each time expressing id eas of improvin g youth through individual sports. As I analyzed our talks, it seemed that the basic theme was self reliance (it was on this theme that the Newport gym· nastic team based its present financial pro· gram). In essence, Bruce christened the program by offering to buy, through his New Jersey Foundation, any piece of equip· ment needed by our team. At first I wa s reluctant to accept such an offer, but, I soon found that Bruce is not only an ex· ceptional man, but, is legitimately inter· ested in furthering youth throu gh athleti cs.

As both Bruce and I believed in th e basic of self relian ce, it wasn't long before the idea was presented, and agreed upon , that the New J ersey Foundation would loan half the money for the needed equipment if the Newport team members would earn the second halL Thus, our do it yourself pro· gram began.

Truthfully, the program at first evohled very slowly. Trying to convince a group of gymnasts that the best way to acquire needed equi pment was to earn enough money to buy it themselves was not easy. I soon found that other avenues had to be used.

As there is an active, parent sponsored, athletic booster cl ub at Newport High . School, I found the best avenue available to accomplish the desired result s was the par· ents. The parents reacted very favorably.

The first step was to find a dynamic par· ent that would be willing to represent the gymnasti c team in the booster club. This man's duties turned out to be rath er exten· sive, as he personally took it upon him self to contact various businessmen in the area, selling them on the program and acquiring donations.

This seemed to be the spark needed, for when the gymnasts found how much was bei ng ra ised by Jim Buffington, our booster club representative, their interest wa s stim· ulated.

From this point thin gs began fall ing into place. Fund raising ideas, both from the parents and boys, became more numerous.

Eventually the following ideas were put into practice by the gymnasts themselves.

Candy Sales A local drug store sold three large suck· ers for a dime. These in turn were sold on camp us for ten cents a piece. Although seemingly small in scope, these sales ac· co unted for quite a bit of money.

Booster Club Plaques Our booster club had a built in method of raising funds in the form of attractive plaques. These plaques are relatively inex· pensive to manufacture but sell for a do· nation of fiv e dollars each. Th ere are also larger plaques which are priced at fifteen and twenty· fiv e dollars. Each boy was asked to handle three each.

Demonstrations From the fund s brought in by the pre· viou sly mentioned methods, we bought Gym Master's combin ation portable h orizontal bar and ring set (this set is completely portable. Not only can this se t be completely carried in a station wagon , but can be as· se mbled in a maximum of fift een minutes by four peo ple). With this se t we were able to put on demon strations for the local servo ice clubs and various shoppi ng cen ters. The donations from th ese paid for a large part of the initial cost of th e apparatus. Not only did th e demon strati ons rai se fund s, but, they help ed present gymnasti cs to the local pub·

li c as well as give the boys ex tra opportuni· ties to perform in fr ont of an audience.

Advertisement Probably the most profitable part of th e program turned out to be advertisement (see ph olo!!raph). We were able to buy three 5' by ~10' spon ge mats from the Gym Mas· ter Company. As these mats are conspi cu· ous th ey make perfect advertising material.

A check of the physical edu cat ion depart· ments showed that fifty percent of the stu· dent body was involved in some type of gymnastic program. Add to this the use of the faciliti es by the city recreation deparl· ment, visiting teams, invitational meets, out· side demonstrations, clinics, and various other gymnastic activities, and it was found that between three and four thousand people eith er used, or came in contact with these mats. It is felt that this number will in· crease as the program grows. Before space could be sold, school administrators placed certain restriction s on this type of fund rai sin g. Th e main ones were: no more than two merchants per mat; esthetic quality in preparation of the mats after the advertis· ing space was sold.

Through these four activities alone th e team was able to raise almost 2,000 dollars in less than six months (excluding the check 'from the New Jersey Foundation). This mon ey bou ght a badly needed portable hori· zontal bar· ring set, three sponge mats, a twi sting belt, and a Nissen Olympic type horizontal bar for competition, with almost enough left over to purchase a second set of parallel bars.

As to the future of the program the com· ing year look s even better than last. After th e season, a dinner for the parents of the gymnasts was held. After the meal about an hour of brain storming took place in order to come up with n ew ideas for the coming year. Some additional ideas included the sponsoring of a school dance, more demon· strations, and expandin g the advertisement part of the program.

There are a number of advantages in a fund raisin g program su ch as ours. The most obvious advantage is the purchasing of equipment. Secondly, but e qually import· ant, is that a good deal of team unity can be built. Not only do those boys who are competi ng become more involved, but, those boys who are not yet competin g are able to become participating members of the tea m. Third, by allowing the boys to be· come the major part of the program , a cer· tain degree of self reliance can be taught.

The best things to come from thi s pro· gram was Bruce Hoppin g's decision to mak e · available to any gymnastic team, through th e USGF, the sam e offer he made to New· port's gymnasts. There fore any gymnastic team that is willin g to put forth the effort to earn half the mon ey necessary to pur· chase any n eeded equipment, the USGF, through the New Jersey Foundation, will furni sh the other half in the form of a one year loan with no interest.

After a year of experimentin g with thi s type of finan cial program, I've found that it can beco me extremely envelopin g. For those that need equipment and h ave the energy needed to involve them selves, a few words of caution. Try not to let the raising oJ fund s lessen efforts toward buildin g gym· nasts. This can happen, as finan cial pro· motion of gymnasti cs can become as inter· estin g and consumin g as coaching itself.

Also, see a lawyer. Make sure the legal pit· falls inherent with the program are avoided.

I personally have experienced a great deal of satisfaction in helpin g th e gymnast at Newport Hi gh School earn th eir own equipment, and am lookin g forward to n ex t year.

35

M6 Summer Camp I Clinic Report:

REPORT ON INSTITUTE IN ADVANCED GYMNASTICS HELD AT INDIANA STATE UNIV. TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA JULY 1-11, 1968 Roger Counsil & Mrs. Grete Trieber Directors Participants from eleven (ll) different states attended the second annual Institute in Advanced Gymnastics held at the ISU Arena and featuring a staff of some of the most prominent names on the American Gymnastics scene- Sam Bailie, Grace Kaywell, Billy Rotzheim, Ed Gagnier, Jackie Uphues, Dr. Otto Ryser, Bill Meade, Herb Vogel, and Dick Zuber.

In reality the term "Advanced Gymnas· tice" was somewhat misleading in that many facets of men's and women's gymnastics were covered from fundamental through advanced. With the able assistance of skill demonstrations by Southern Illinois Women's gymnasts: Brent Simmons, brilliant allaround performer from Iowa State, Dale Hardt from Southern Illinois on trampoline, and Tom Neville, from Indiana State, lectures by the vi siting staff were made much more meaningful and interesting. Miss Kaywell spoke on ballet for gymnastics with its disciplines, including conditioning exercises and body control for movement. An extremely meaningful and understandabl e presentation by Salll Bailie on side horsebeginning through advanced- using Tom Neville, national college division side horse runner·up from Indiana State, to help show skills and their learnin g progressions. Bill Rotzheim, newly appointed coach at University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Branch, covered many unique coachin g techniqu es; the theory of composin g hi gh school boy 's gymnastics exercises; and a lecture on offici· atin g high school gymnastics.

Ed Gagnier, outstanding coach at Iowa 36

Dr. Otto Ryser instructing at the Indiana State second annual Institute in Ad v anced Gy mnastics.

State University, gave a particularly interesting lecture- demon strating on the use of the gym-cushion as a teaching aid for dis· mounts on the various apparatus. In addi· tion, he discussed meet administration for both dual and championship meets, giving some very helpful pointers.

Both IVlr. Bill Meade from Southern Illinois and Mrs. Jackie Uphues of the U.S.G.F. returned from the F.I.G. meeting in Rome and did a wonderful job of givin g the In stitute participants insight into the world gymnastic scene. In addition, Mrs. Uphues covered many of the technical as· pects of women's gymnastics with the wom· en's groups.

Dr. Otto Ryser, Head Gymnastics Coach at Indiana University in Bloomington lectured in several areas of gymnastic- rules, tumbling techniques, and officiating.

The last few days of the In stitute were climaxed with several highlights-Bill Meade lecturing on intermediate and advanced trampolining, with the able assistance of Dale Hardt from Southern Illinois and Rich Crim from Indiana State ; H erb Vogel and several members of hi s women's team from Southern Illinois, lecturing on the various women's events in gymnastics, showing learning progressions and spotting tech· niques for many of the skills ; and Mr. Dick Zuber, Educational Representative for Nissen Corp., Cedar Rapid s, Iowa, who analyzed and spoke on gymnastics from a standpoint of basic movement.

All lectures were well received by the Institute participants, and the group, whi ch represen ted both teachers and coaches from all levels, was intensely interes ted in the material. Many workout sessions were avail· abl e for those stud ents who wished to try some of their newly learned skills or just to keep in shape.

The third annual Indiana State University Gymna stics Institute will be held again in the summ er of 1969. For further information, contact Roger Counsil, Gymnastics Coach, Indiana State University. The Institute will be offered for three semester hours graduate credit and will last for approximately two weeks.

NATIONAL SUMMER CLINIC Michigan State University The National Summer Gymnastics Clinic attracted a large group of participants, including 30 P.E. teachers, coaches and judges. This last group received special instruction from Paul Fina and Jackie Uphues in judging and from Betty Meyer and George Szypula and other staff in P .E. aspects.

Besides Uphues other form er Olympians who taught were Ernie Carter, Rusty 1'l'Iitchell, who represented American Equipment, Fred Orlofsky, Abie Grossfeld. Champions on the teaching staff were Jim Curzi, lIlinois, Sam Bailie, representing Atlas Corporation, Toby Towson, M.S. U., Dale Hardt, S.LU. and Bob Dixon, Iowa.

Delene Gifford, Sharon Pirkl, Frank P erron and Jim McGraw handled advanced women 's activities. Also teaching the women were Belly Stewart, Jun e Szypula, Sara Brumgart, Rita Ryder, Barb Stark, Bark Go ode, Barb McKenzi e, Maddy Witherill and Carl and Louise Engstrom. In the men's area were three of the best hi gh scho ol coa ches in Michi gan : Chuck Thompson, Dick Shilling and Jack Frowen ; and Steve Whitlock, Al Sanders and Dick Zuber, r epresenting Nissen. Dick Richter tau ght and directed a fin e Nite of Stars show.

The competition again wa s close, excitin g

Mid-Atlantic Gymnastic Camp

So k o l Clinic, New Y ork

Michigan State Clinic

and of a hi gh calibre. Paul Blasko, W. Mifflin, Pa. starred in boys competition, winnin g A.A., S.H., R, F.X. and V. Other winners were Gene Coyle, PB, Denni s Seidel, HB, Rick Frederick, Tr. In Juniors Dave Eby won A.A., H.B., Tr and Tu. Craig Shedd wok S.H. and F.X., Kelly Harmon , PB, Joel Childrers, R. and Larry Kaplan , V. The outstanding girl was RaeAnne Mill er, M.S.U. Gym Club. She won A.A., F.X., V. and Tu.; Debbie Kastner, UPB, Sue Werlin g, B. B. and Judy Neutzke, Tr. In Seni ors Diann Nowicki took A.A., V., F.X.; Cherie Ashley, UPB; Bonnie Burrow, Tu. and K erstin Vikstrom , B.B. In novices Lisa Evans won A.A., UPB; Amy !sett, F.x., B.B.; Sandy Kastner, V. and Tu; and Sally K etner, Tr. Jack Carr prepared and administered a fin e program; Szypula wa~ clinic director.

Board members along with Carr and Szypula are Fina and Bill Meade.

REPORT-SOKOL U.S.A.

by Milan Trnka, Director Sokol USA Gymnastic School Gymnastic School Barryville, New York 1968 The past summer marked the sixth for this annual gymnastic event. The results of the previous summer's work were evid ent in the significant increase in enrollment this year. Approximately 250 stud ents par· ticipated in the program over a six week period. The majority were high school and a few college gy mnasts. Others were teacher s and coaches interested in in creasin g their kn owledge and gettin g th e latest gy mna sli c trends and teaching and spottin g techniqu es.

An average of seventy-two studen ts a wee k attended, and stayed as littl e as on e or a" many as six weeks.

This years staff of teach ers were all eith er coll ege graduates with majors in H ea lih and

Physical Education or are presently coll eg~ stud ent s majoring in Health and Phys ical Education. All were or are members of competing varsity teams.

Many who attended were impressed with th e broadn ess of the program. The fa cilil it' and amount of eq uipm ent availabl e, th e teaching and learning exchange which took pla ce in the apparatu s classes, th e lectures. demon strations on related areas such as conditioning and flexibility , gy mnastic safely. hand care, routine composition , comp~l iti ve el iquette and dress along with proper approach and retreat to and from events durin g competition and so on. Although some te chnical difficulti es were experi ence d wilh our instant television replay, th ose in al· tendan ce th e fir st few week s did ben efi t from this experience. We expect th e T.V. replay to be in full operation nex t summ er.

Many thanks to my staff of teachers for a job "well done". Special thanks to Gary Anderson and Steve Banjak for coordina · tion the men 's and women's program respec· tively, and Mike Will son, head coach al Odessa Jr. College in T exas for com ing way out east for three weeks and affording th p students his gymnasti c innovations and teaching talents.

MID-ATLANTIC GYMNASTIC CAMP Fairleigh-Dickinson Univ. Campus Madison, N.J .

Directors: Staff: Carl A. Deck Kath y Corrigan Southhampton, N.Y .

Joan York George A. KI ine Susan Duvall West Chester, Po .

Cossey Sanders The Mid-At lantic Gymnastic Camp was held on the Fairleigh-Dickinson University campus in Madison, New Jersey. It was the first year and

a trial session. With great success the camp will run f or either two or four weeks next Summer.

Twenty-seven girls and six boys, fr o m the ages of 10 to 17, attended the camp from July 14 to July 2l.

The program covered a wide variety of activities. The need to be on a ll-around performer was stressed by having all students, even the specialists, attend cla sses in all events.

Jazz and ballet were taught in a special dance closs every morning. Students were taught spotting techniques showi ng the importance of safety.

Beginners, intermediates and advanced students can attend the MID-ATLANTIC GY MNASTIC CAMP because classes are di v ided by abi lity, and, therefore, students can accelerate at their own pace.

In the boys' classes, directed by Mr. Cossey Sanders, the 6 Olympic all-around ev ents were stressed. Special emphasis was placed on st yl e, form and combination. During the f irst two days of camp all the boys were required t o learn compu lsory routines.

At the end of a week of classes, an exhi b ition was given for parents and the public. This year specia l performers were Maggie Ke sler of

State College, Po. , and Susan Rasmussen of Westhampton Beach, N.Y. (these were two of the advanced all-arou nd students ); as we ll as performances by Marrianne Baker of Chestnut Hill , Pa. , who was given " the most improved camper" award . Outstanding performers were the stoff members: Kathy Co rrigan , coach at MID-ATLANT IC GYMNASTIC CAMP and memb er of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team, performe d on the ba lance beam and free exercise; p lus Susan Duva ll , Joan York and Cossey Sanders all members of the Penn State Gymnastic Team .

The facilities at Fairleigh-Dickinson University included modern, air-conditioned dormitories, vo lleyb all, tennis courts, and Olympic-size pool.

The program includes scheduled w orkouts (4 ho urs gymnastics per day) and cl asses, and planned recreati on program. Time was ava il able for swimming , and tennis instru ction was availab le from George Kline member of the United States Professional La wn Tennis Association.

Exce ll ent cuisine served in modern College cafeter ia, fu ll insu ran ce coverage, and video tapi ng facii lt ies as instruct iona l aid.

The stoff included Kathy Corrigan (coach): winner of 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in the 1963 Pan American Gomes including 2nd place in t he all a ro und championships, member of the 1964 Olympic Team, 1965 International Gymnaestrada Team, and the 1966 Little Olympic Team.

Susan Duvall and Joan York, both outstahding all-around performers for the Penn State Women 's Gy mnastics team. Miss Duva ll is the uneven parallel bar champion from the 1968 Ma ry land Open Gymnastic Champi onships.

Cosey Sanders, member of the Penn State Men's Gymnast ic team, New York State free exercise champion 1966, 3 rd in all-around Jr. Olympics.

Northern California Gymnastics Camp Clinic AUGUST 12-24, 1968 CAMP GUALALA, CALIF.

Report by Bob Peavy The 1968 Northern California Gymnastics Camp Clinic, in its tenth year of operation, played host to nearly 250 gymnasts during two one-week sessions of gymnastics.

Guest instructors, Rusty Mitchell, Bill Holmes, Steve Johnson, George H ery, Ron P eek, Lon Arfston, Dale Flansaas, Wanda Obradovich, Rose Ann Sayler, Penny Love· lock, Dick Wolfe, and Ray Lorenz add ed a great deal to this year's camp. The instru ctional staff consisted of an additional twelve college coaches and ten top high school coaches to make the Northern Cali: fornia Gymnastics Camp one of the richest in coaching tal ent during the summer months.

The daily schedule included twenty min· utes of warm-up exercises follow ed by seven regularly sched uled forty minute classes.

With four classes in the morning, lunch hour, an hour of r est and recuperation, a master clinic presented by a gymnastics expert, and three classes in the afternoon, th e daily schedule was filled to capacity.

Master Clinics presen ted at the Northern

37

USGS The United States Gymnastics Association is a non-political body exi stin g for and supported by gymnastics enthusiasts . The USGA is in no way connected to or associated with any existing body, it is a strictly independent and free entity, The USGA stands for the sport of gymnastics and its highest ideals. It recognizes gymnastics as a discipline that developes the individual both physically and mentally. The USGA believes no other sport can measure up to the demands and rewards of "the" sport, gymnastics.

OFFICIAL USGA T-SHIRT 2 Colors (black and royal blue) Silk screened on both sides.

Available in 2 sizes only: large and extra large. Shirts are of high qual路ity and shrink res i stent .

Mai I $2.75 tax inc I. to: USGA Post Office Box 383 Baldwin Park, Calif. 91706 SPECIFY SIZE:

large or x-large

CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS? MAIL ADDRESS CHANGE TO: THE MODERN GYMNAST, BOX 611 SANTA MONICA, CALIF. 90406 Be sure to include your ZIP code.

38

California Camp were : Rusty Mitchell- Free Exercise George Hery and Steve J ohnson- Trampoline Art Aldritt- Parallel Bars Bill Holmes-Horizontal Bar Dick Wolfe- Still Rings Ray Lorenz and Jack Kenan- Vaulting Rose Ann Sayler- Dance Wanda Obradovich and Vada CrabbBalance Beam Chic Johnson and Bob Sullivan- Uneven Bars Three prominent visitors appeared briefly at the camp this summer. Sid Freudenstein (member of the 1968 Olympic team and member of the 1968 NCAA Championship team from the University of California ) , Dave Niemand (Sacramento State College graduate and hi gh ranking NCAA high bar specialist ) , and Katsuo Yamanaka (J apanese All-Around competitor and former assistant coach at Chico State College).

Former Olympian s Rusty Mitchell and Dale Me Clemments Flansaas were great inspirations to coaches, competitors, and students at this year's summer camp.

Rusty's vitality, enthusiasm, and technical kn owledge stimulated every level of gymnast. Dale's leadership in the girls program is unquestionably the fin est the camp has ever had.

Don Nelson, Clinic Director and Ernie Marinoni, Camp Director are to be commended for their organization and direction of this year's fin e camp.

6th Annual Gyrnfest SANTA MONICA A more chaotic beginnin g and a more suitable climax could hardly be imagined.

Not only was the MG office in disarray from the absence of Editor Sundby {on tour in Eu'rope until the week before} but th e Men's and Women's Olympic Trials siphoned off a few of the top gymnasts who ordi narily make the scene at the annual beach meet.

Local sports columnist Jim Murray, writ· in g in the L.A. Times opinioned that, " There isn't a man in my generation or age bracket who doesn't feel a twinge of sin· ce re regret for every chocolate ecla ir, every ca n of beer, every pl atter of lasagne he ever threw down when he sees these young men spring through the air on a set of bars, a pommel, or fl exed out in a crucifixion posi· ti on on a pair of rings."

While Murray was alluding to the Olympic Tri als, his remarks could have applied eq ually as well to the Gym Fest. Top Southland gymnasts were challenged on their home grounds {or rather, beach } by gymnasts from lIIinois, Pennsylvania, northern California, Colorado and Denmark {and who knows where else}.

Informality characterized the Men's Open on Saturday. (We weren't organized to do it any other way.) Despite cool weather (it was cloudy), a large crowd (would you believe 200 ?) turned out (at least we had bleachers, but no fire or hot drinks) to watch our young comp etitors run through th eir paces (they had to run - it was cold!) on the side horse, rings, P-bars, high bar, trampoline, and free exercise (very free just a single row of mats stretched on the sand) events.

Sunday dawned bright and clear (somewhere, we suspect) and promised {!} to be a fair day for our Women's Open competition and special men's events. A fair day it was, but a women's competition there was not (those Olympic trials again!). Instead, several young ladies volunteered (with a little arm· twisting) to exhibit their routin es on the beam, un evens, and trampoline.

On the other hand, the minitramp and swinging rings dismount contests were real crowd attention-getters (no t that the girls were not, but to day's sports fans like the prospect of a little blood or a few broken bones), and the fellows were throwing their wildest tricks. Samples: barani-out, pike double front, rudis, double twists, gainers, 1%'s and on the rings: triples, jerk back doubl e fly aways; pump-ones; full-in s; rudiin, rudi-out; and the usual line of twisters, layout-tuck doubles, and oddball dismounts that only trampolinists would conceive, let alone execute.

Traditionally, the Men's Invitational on Labor Day Monday (and everyone who comes knows WHY it is Labor Day) climaxes the GymFest. Thanks to bright, sunny weather (honest!) a large crowd (choose your own figure from 200 to 450 or count the lemonade cups left behind) turned out to provide background for an MG short short film of the competition. (It would have looked awfully silly without them!)

San Fernando Valley's Rich Grigsby took top honors in FX with a powerful display of tumbling and stren gth. BYU's Dennis Ramsey was clearly the class of the SH as he sailed through a routine which included back moore, tromlet, and a shurlock·-in, stockli, and high Olympic off. Colorado State's Del Strange performed a clean, strong ri?g routine {see also Pasadena wnte-up III June-July MG} to edge out Open winner, Mickey Chaplan. Fred Den-

nis, now an SIU alumnus, hit on P-bars with a fairly conventional, but cleanly {up to the dismount} executed exercise. Dennis also displayed a full twisting hecht for his HB dismount, but former teammate, Rick Tucker won the event, throwing a baraniout dismount. The trampolinists also got their day in the sun (they were frozen out Saturday, remember ?) as Muscle Beach veteran Steve Lerner managed to stay on the trampolin e to complete his routine for an 8.4. Another MB vet, Rusty Rock, exhibited his top-fli ght professional HB routine for the edifi cation of all (if we can't describe it, we'll snow you with our eloquence).

The meets were co-sponsored by the MG and the Santa Monica Recreation Department. Everyone got in on the work of set· ting it up and dismantling it afterwards {Note, we miss you Lou P erschke} , but we would like to thank our volunteer (as in the Army) judges - Mickey Chaplan, Fred Dennis, Dick Swetman, Rusty Rock, Dennis Paoletti, and Dan Connelly and Mr. Jerry

T odd and Mr. Frank Endo. Equipment was provided by Nissen's George Hery, trophies by the MG office, ribbons and assistance by the Santa Monica Recreation Department, and excitement by Joe Nappi who jumped headfirst off a nearby building {into a sponge rubber pit} to wind up the weekend.

Men's Open : FX: George Greenietd, Louis Moreno, Rich Sulc. SH : Dennis Ramsey, Greenfield, Rick Tucker. R : Mickey Chaplan, Robert Hu ghes, Paul Gillespie. PB: Bert Schmitt , Dan Connelly, Don Locke. HB: Tucker, Ron Grant, Connelly. Tr: John Cosgrove, Mark Randall, Roy Zecca. Minitramp: Dennis Sherman 27.50 , Jerry Smith 26.85, Roy Zecca 26 .3 0. Flying Rings Dismounts: Dennis Sherman 27.75, Steve Lerner 27.25, Jerry Smith 27.20. (Three dismount scores added for totol.)

Men's Invitationol: AA : Rick Tucker 42.90, Fred Dennis 42.55, tie between Don Kolb ond Don Connelly 39.95 . FX: Rich Grigsby 8.95, Lou Moreno 8.90, Dorryl DePue 8.55. SH : Dennis Ramsey 9.40, Tucke r 8.60, Dennis 8 .30 R: Del Strange 9. 10, Mickey Chaplan 8.95, Rich Grig sby 8.75. PB : Dennis 8.85 , tie between Tucke r ani Connelly 8.70. HB : Tucker 9.0, DePue 8.85, Dennis 8 .65 . Tr: Steve Lerner 8.4, Zecca 7 .7 , Mark Randall 7.2. (5 event AA)

39

BY JAMES S.

Bosco, PHD

SAN JOSE STATE COLLEGE SAN JOSE , CALIFOR N IA

95 114

This is the second in a series of articles dealing with the cinematographical analysis of gymnastics moves. Please send all cor· respondence to the above address .

RESEAKCH & FITNESS IN GYMNASTICS RUNK LE, R AYMON D J.: " A Cinematographic Analysis of the Fly· away", Unpublished Masters Thesis, Uni· versity of Illinois, Urbana, 1949.

PURPOSE The purpose was to study in a scientific mann er, the flyaway on the horizon tal bar.

PROCEDURES Source s of Data. Data used in this study were taken from film s of fi ve University of Illin ois gymn asts. All five were competitors on th e horizontal bar in the followin g mets : Western Conference Championships, Na· ti onal Collegiate Athletic Association Cham· pionships, and National Amateur Athletic Union Championships.

Conditions of Filming. In filmin g the r ou·

Figure Path of1.the center of

,.0''''

tin es used in this stu dy, a special effort wa s mad e to con trol as many of the condit ions as poss ibl e. Every effort was made to standa rdi ze those elem ents whi ch might va ry un der ordin a ry filmin g circumstan ces.

Th e ba ckground consisted of a dark green, velvet curt ain 16 by 20 fee l. T he curtain was hun g directl y behind the bar in ord er to provide a dark back ground for th e pic· tures. Li ghtin g co nsisted of two , number Fo ur Photofl ood lamps and refl ectors se t at a height of eight feet. These li ghts were aim ed at th e cent er of th e fi eld of exposure from a 45 degree angle. P lacement of the li ghts was arbitrarily made just outside th e camera range on either side of the bar.

Eight, on e hundred watt, frosted lamps were placed directly beneath th e bar an d refl ected up into the fi eld . The gymnasts were dressed in white sleeveless shirts mad e of worsted wool, white flann el trousers and white gym sandal s. This was done in ord er to prov id e contrast with the background.

Placement of the Camera. The camera wa s placed exa ctly 50 feet from the bar. The lens was focused directly on the bar. This condition was consid ered basic in ord er to have the action centered exactly in all film s. It also provid ed a center about which the action would take place. This stand ard center also provided a means of measurin g angles which were considered essen tial in the study.

Camera and Film. The camera used was a Bell and Howell, 35 millim eter "Eyemo", with a lens speed ran gin g from 2.8 to 22.

For these pi ctures the opening of 2.8 was used. The film s were exposed at th e rat e of 48 fram es per second . This resulted in a theoretical shutter speed of 1/108 of a second. The film used was K odak Super· XX, 35 mm. safety film.

Metho d of Projection. In order to take accurate 'measurements from the film it was n ecessary to standardize the proj ec tion tech· nique. A LaPorte delineascope of 200,watt strength was placed in such a mann er as to cast an im age on a piece of white cardboard 30" x 24". The film was turned over by hand, a single fram e at a tim e. Each fram e was ex amined and co unted and measurements were tak en directly from th e projected image.

Analyzing the Film. In reviewin g th e probl em of analyzin g the film before the pictures were mad e, the investigator estab· lished a ratio between known measurements and the fi gures on the film . The signs wbi ch were placed a t the base of the borizontal bar were cut to exactly 12" by 24". When the film s were proj ec ted on the cardboard , th e projector was placed at a distan ce of 6'3" from the im age. Th e image of the sign measured 1" by 2". Th e scale of measurement between the image and th e actual scene then became one in ch equals

~ ,

'""~ ,,'owo,

Figure 2 Forces acting on the center of gravity at the point of release , ~ ___ _ V - Velocity G - Gravity : F --, C - Centr ipetal Force AOS - Angle of Release , EOF - Angle of Rotation '

n

6~~c/

~~+~J

~ .

40

_

[OOLNlJr - - \

,

\

one foot. A11 measuremcnts could th en be taken fr om the proj ected ima ge wi th a minimum of calc ulati on.

Time Per Frame. Th e exact elapsed tim e per fram e was calculated from a strip of film whi ch was taken of a 12 pound shot fallin g at kn own di stance.

R ESULTS For th e co nveni ence of di scussin g the ac· tion, it was divided into th e followin g phases : 1. Th e Downswing - Th e swin g from a verticl e stand on th e bar to a verti cal han g under tbe bar is techni cally th c down swing. It is accompli shed with th e same speed as th e simil ar porti on of tb e giant·swin g. The sboulders are ad · va nced from a verti cal stand and tend to speed the downswin g. Body arch durin g this porti on of tb e stunt should not be over ex aggerated. The head should be in a norm al level positi on between the arm s.

2. The Upswing - The portion of th e fl yaway from a verti cal han g to the point of release is to be con sidered the up · swin g. Durin g thi s portion of th e stllnt there is slight in crease in body arch and dro ppin g back of the shoulders.

The hea d tilts back un til th e ba r is in direct line with th e eyes. This u pswi ng may be from 81 0 to 90 0 • More swin g results in a flyaway too close to th e bar. Less swing resul ts in a too low performance.

3. Release - The point of release is that instant when th e body weight leaves the bar as the hands open. At thi s point th e body arch is in creased mark· edly and th e chest is tbrust upward.

This seems to be an attempt to aid the upward fli ght of the body. This lift may be aid ed by a bending of th e knees rath er than increased arch, but results in a break in form.

4. Turn - Th e somersault whi ch is about tbree-fo urths of a turn, is a continu o ation of the backward rotation started in the down swing. It is controlled by tiltin g the bead hackward or forward fo r fa ster or slower rotation. The length of the body as determin ed by tb e amount of body arcb is a factor in determi nin g tb e speed of th e turn . Th e shorter the length of the body the fa ster tbe turn. The maximum turning speed is gained by assuming a tucked position. This, however , is a break in form.

5. A rm Action - The arm action from the point of release to the landing is a backward rotati on. The arm s circle backward and outward from their over· pOSItIOn to a sid e horizo ntal positi on and finally to a forward horizontal Figure 3 Illustration of the v arious during t he flyaway.

posit ions

position at landing.

6. Landing - The body should be lea nin g forward at approximately fiv e degrees in landin g. More body lea n result s in over balance forward and vice ve rsa.

The shock of landing should be absorbed in the kn ees and hips. The knees bend to approximately 70°. The hips bend to 45 0.

T ABLE ANG L E OF L IFT FO R A GI A NT SW IN G COMPAR ED T O AN GLE OF REL EAS E FOR A FL YAWAY Su biect a nd Ang l e of Ang l e of T r ial N umber Lift* Relea se* * Ca tvetl i I 92 ° 91 ° Dolan I 86 ° 87 ° Linder I 82° 8 1° Edwards I 82 ° 83 ° Sharp I 7 1° Cal vetli 2 86° 86 ° Do lan 2 9 1° 90 ° Linder 2 80° 81 ° Edwards 2 80° 81 ° Sharp 2 80 ° Dalan 3 87 ° 85 ° Average exclusive of Sharp)*** 85° 85° *Angle of l i ft was established as the angle f ormed by the v ertical suppa rt of the bar and in Q line drawn from the center of gravity t o the bar at the point of pronounced increase in body arch In the upswing of the giant-swing . **Ang le o f release was established as the angle formed by the vertical support of th e bar and in a I ine drawn thr o u g h the center of gravity to the bar at the point where the hands rele ase the bar.

** * Angle measurements on Sharp we re excluded from the overages beca use he did not

perform

the

flyaway

from

a

giant-

swing,

BALEY ISOMETRIC BELT Gymnasts more than any oth er athletes need strength, power, and agility to succeed in their sport. Without th ese qualities a o-ym na st mi ght practi ce intensively every day for many years and never achieve a high level of proficiency. A large number of research studi es show that the most effec ti ve methods for improv in g strength and power are through progressive resistance exercises and through isometric exercises or stati c con tra ctions.

Dr. James A. Baley, a teacher and coach of gymna stics for the past 25 years has developed a sys tem for doing isometric exercises in which all the muscle groups of the body can be exer cised in only 20-25 minutes. A compara bl e "workout" (one whi ch would produce the same r esults) would require th e ex penditure of 2% hours of tim e if each memb er of a class or team had hi s own 300 pound barbell. With Dr. Baley's method up to one hundred or more ca n exerci se simultaneo usly and n o more time is expended than would be by only one person.

In onl y fou r weeks 104 stud ents im proved an average of 18 0/0 in th e back and leg lifts, co uld jump more than one inch higher, and ran fa ster. This study was reported in the Research Quarterly of the American Association jor He alth, Physical Education, and Recreation. Another stud y published in the Journal oj Sports Medic ine and Physical Fitness reported that thi s method brought abo ut 3 tim es th e improvement in physical fitne ss that co uld be effec ted through a sports program.

A 70 page well illustrated book of instruction s and an isome tri c belt costs only S6 .95. Twenty-five add itional iso metric belts for simultaneo us conditioning by an entire class or team cos ts S75 .00. Write: Dr. Jam es A. Baley R.D. # 1, Box 287 S torrs, Connecti cut 06268

of diffi cult y are used throughout, i.e. A part = 0.2, B part = 0.4, C part 0:6 points. Essentially what we have done IS as follow s : a base score is imm ed iately determin ed from the number of parts in th e ro utin e. This is th e "credit" aspect of the sys tem. From thi s scare the .de.d uctio ns .due to th e difficulty of the ITIISSlll g req u~red parts are taken. This is easily shown in t.he following table of scores for low and Illtermediate level performances.

=

A Simple System of Eva luating Hard to Evaluate" Low and Intermediate Level Routines II

By Chris Weber and Barry Koepke, Iowa Gymnastics Association (Editor's note: Mr . Weber was a collegiate gymnast in Germany in the '50's and Mr. Koepke was a protege of Hal Frey dnring his days as a coach for the University of lllinois at Chicago. M r. Weber has been a judge in both Germ.any and Connecti.Cllt and in Io wa at all levels of compet£twn, while Mr . Koepke has judged at all levels, including high school and pre-high school competition. Both are members of the Iowa Gymnastics Association.)

The judo-ino- sys tem described below was the direct bres~lt of the authors' frustration experienced in trying to give absolute sco res to routines observed during a season of judging pre-high school and high school level meets. Th e fru stration arose beca use we felt th e low and intermed iate level gym nasts deserved to be scored on an absolute basis as much as th e advanced gymnasts and that the scores received on the lower levels should have enabled these gymnasts to directly compare their performances, score-wise, with the top. This, in most instances, was impossible since they were not being judged by any self consistent method. We are, of course, talking about the " hard to evaluate" routines about which the FIG rules say so little and are the object of much "scor e throwing" on the parts of judges.

The system leans entirely on the FIG system with a few exceptions and basically enables a judge, when confronted wi,th a lower caliber routine, to immedia tely come up with a value for the routin e from which deductions for combination and execution may be taken. The system is basically a "credit system" as opposed to the FIG "deficit system". It should be emphasized that, since the FIG rules are followed throughout, the judge, when applying our syste m, must be totally familiar with them -especially in the recognition of the A, Band C parts. Otherwise, the system fail s.

Th e system, which is quite simple in principle, is given below. It is assumed that a full routine consists of 11 parts, whether A. B or C. This basis was arrived at by applying Article 7, Part B, Section 1 of the FIG rules which states, "To obtain the maximum score the exercise must be composed of at least 6 principle parts (A), 4 parts of difficulty (E) , and 1 part of superior difficulty (C). It was felt that, even on the elementary level, a gymnast should present a judge a complete 11 part routin e.

For the elemen tary gym na st, of course, this means substitutin g A parts for Ihe required Band C parts, but at least he is presenting a {nil routine; an important concep t eve n fo~ the fl edglin g gymnast. To thi s end , then, the judge is always expecti ng to see an 11 part routine.

As mentioned, the purpose of the system is to enable a judge to qui ckly arriv e at the base val ue of a routin e. The FIG values

No. of Pa rts I I 10 9

Maxim um

Base Sco re Sc ore 10.0 10.0 minus difficu lty 9.5 9 .5 minus etc.

9.0 9.0 m inus etc.

8 .0 8.0 m inus etc.

S 7 7.0 7 .0 minus etc.

6.0 minus etc.

6 6.0 5.0 m inus etc.

5 5.0 4 4.0 minus etc.

4 .0 3* 3. 0 2* 2.0 1* 1.0 * System breaks down

of

For instance, if a gymnast completed a routine consisting of 7 A parts and 1 B part, hi s maximum score would be _8.0 min us the difficul ty value of the mlsslllg 3 B parts and 1 C part, or 6.2. From -this score deductions of combination and execution are taken. It should be mentioned here that we do not generally penalize com bination as much as execution since it is felt the system already does that. Naturally a routin e composed of almost all A parts has very little combination to start.

For the "hard to evaluate" routines, then, the judge mainly has to concentrate on what was done and how well it was done, not on the intricacies of how the parts were connected.

In some instances the system is even compatible with the FIG system. For instance, if a gymnast did a routine consisting of 7 A parts and 4 B parts, our system would give him a base score of 9.4, the same as FIG. In other cases, however, the system breaks down in the limit of competent routin es. For instance, if the above gymnast did a routine consisting of 4 A parts, 4 B parts, and 1 C part, hi s base score would be 9.0 whereas th e FIG system would accord the routine a base score of 9.6, whi ch it no doubt deserves.

Let us emphasize again, however, that the system was developed for routines ra:ely scoring above 7.0 as a result of executIOncombination and diffi culty.

Throughout the 1967-68 Iowa gymnastics season we have applied the above system with much success in pre-high school and high school level meets. In only a few c as~s was it necessary to have a conference III order to agree on a score. In almost all instances th e discrepancies arose because one of the judges miscounted the number of trick s and started with a wrong base score. This is why we have emphasized that the judges must be completely familiar with the A Band C parts because one neglected p~rt accounts for 1.0 in most cases. We do feel, however, that by using this method a gymnast r eceiving 4.5 was "iven the score on an absolute basis and ~ot by "guess". In addition it is felt that the 4.5 means just what it says and tells the gymnast honestly where he stand s.

We have pointed out that the system does not work sa tisfactorily in the limit of t op Ievel performances. However, in most cas.es an experien ced judge should be able to dI Stino-uish where the system applIes and wh~re it does not quite easily. In fact, one of the advantages of the system is that a judge can maintain his basic. SCOrIn g techniqu e at all levels of competItIve gymnastIcs as lon g as he always keeps a tally of tricks.

4I

Entertaining Gymnastics Communication

By Lloyd Lingemann, Jr.

"It's full of little guys doin g hand路 springs!" This was the pleased and excited response of a young gymnast when he first looked into a kinetascope containing the drawings on the opposite page.

The device produces motion pictures through extremely economical means. A cylindrical band of black paper with the seq uence drawings pasted on the inside and separated by slots is placed on a turntabl e.

When the turntable is rotated and the drawings are viewed through the slo ts they become animated.

I have found th e kinetascope to be an unusually effective visual aid in teachin g gymnastics. Part motion picture, part se路 quence drawing, and part toy; it particu路 larly attracts young people, who also use it as a teaching machine.

You can try one yourself at almost no cost. Cut a strip of black construction paper the height of the individual drawings and long enough to paste the drawings side by side with one-eighth in ch between them, plus a couple of inch es for overlap at one end. (If your paper is not very long the strip can be made of joined pieces.)

Cut the drawin gs apart and paste them on th e stri p, leaving one路eighth inch spaces.

42

With a stencil or any similar knife cut slots the width of the spaces, stopping short of the top and bottom. Join the ends of the strip by overlapping, and cut whatever additional slots are required in the overlap.

You can cut a disc from hardboard or cardboard, making it slightly larger than the cylindrical strip. Cutting an edge of the proper size will mak e it easy to place the strip inside, or you can simply tape the strip onto the disc.

The disc can be tap ed to a plastic lazy susan , obtainable in a hou sewares ?epartment. This works very well, but If you don't want to spend 82.00 or so you can improvise a bearing. Or you may have a record player you can put the disc on. (In that case you will have to put the drawings on the strip with the sequence going from right to left.)

Instead of making a kin etascope you could make the drawin gs into a flip book or use them as a wall chart.

However , at a cost varyin g from nothin g to not over $2.50 you can have a visual aid that is equal to some that are very expensive. If you try a kinetascope I think you will be pl eased with the r esults.

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43

rings 1/ /

By Mickey Chapian, UCLA Gymnast Fijth , Rin gs - 1968 NCAA Championships

;1'\ f.

f.-!::J,.

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by Don Tonry

44

T H E FRONT KIP The front kip is one of the most basic ways of getting above the rin gs ; . it can also polish an already beautiful roulI.ne. Ideally it is either performed as a straIght armed kip to an "L" or to a straight armed swing to handstand. A kip to an iron cross to a maltese cross, etc., are generally variations on these "ideal" tricks. .

A performer is generally taught. a . kIp with a false grip. The purpose of thIs IS to " ive him the feeling of getting over the ;in"s. It also teaches the performer the proper" technique of using his strength to put him in the position where proper "kip" tech · niques (which are much more difficult to learn) usually will not propel the neophyt.e.

I contend that teaching with a false gnp is not incorrect for the first few times (un· til the performer has gotten over the rings) : after this proper kip technique sho u l~ be stressed. The performer should start In a straight body or slightly ar~h e d in~erted hang, his arms should be straIght ~o Insure a freedom of kipping motion wb lch bent arms and a false grip does not give. The performer should then pike ti g ~tly into a balanced piked inverted hang (hIpS not too much on one side of the rings or the other} and just as rhythmically as he piked, he should kick his legs straight up not forward at all. He should then push his chest into his knees. The straightening of the body gets the hips above the rings. !he pushing of the chest into the knees flIp s the per· formers body IE turns his body over in~o a straight support position. If the chest IS pushed hard into the ~n~es, t~ ~ perform~r will find himself in a V posItIOn. At th Is point the only muscle necessary f?r the tric.k is employed. The performer lIghtens hIS stomach muscles as tight as possible to keep the legs from going below an " L". An extremely strong performer ought to be able to keep his legs from dropping below a " V".

When a kip to "L" is perfected , the per· former may discover that he has learned to push the rings downward so hard that he ~o longer is kipping straight up or, for tliat matter, kipping at all. This produces a clean kip "L" which a judge has difficulty deducting but not as aesthetic a kip as can be produced. Futhermore it is almost impossible to develop such a kip into a full swingin g kip swing to handstand . The variation. that will produce a proper straight armed k IP to "L" or to swing handstand is the following.

The body should still be projected straight up, (and I emphasize straight up) but the arms, instead of merely bein g thru st in front of the performer and bein g pushed to a

locked arm support as rapiLi ly as possibl e, should be kept straight and be pus? ed togeth er and in front of the performer s chest to the full support. This produces as straI ght armed free swin"in " kip 'to " L" whi ch may be de~eloped into ~ free swin gin g kip to swin" handstand . The difference between th e kip to "L" and the kip swin g to handstand is that on the kip swin g to hand stand, after the body hits the " V" posi tion It streches into a hard arch (a victorian cross or reverse plan che), th en drives along the bottom (as the full support is reached) . as hard as poss ible in the manner of a SWIng to hand stand on the P Bars. The body must (aesthetically be kept straight on the swin g to handstand . Th erefore, the first few lImes the performer attempts this tri ck he l~lay discover that he is do ing a kIp ImmedIate hollow· back press to handstand un ti.l he ge.ts accustomed to the techniques of SWIngIn g In a support on the rin gs in the manner of on P . Bars. When the kip swing handstand be· comes free swing the performer may attempt it with strai ghter arms (in the mann er of a planche press ). .

As I mentioned before everythIng done out of a kip is merely a variation on either the k ip " L" or the kip swing to handstand. For instance, a kip to cross IS perform ed by not kicking as hard as one wo uld to get an "L" and by keeping the arms straight and lettin g them slId e outward. as the chest comes into the rings thus assumIng the cro ss position. The technique on a kip to "L" cross or kip to Olympic cross can easily be deduced from this. The kip to planche or maltese cross is I?enerally done straight body or bent body (In the mann er of a strai " ht arm straight legged bent hI p press to h: nd stand) . A kip swing to planche, althou" h easier on the muscles does not see m to hav~ the stylistic effect that a kip press to planche hold s. Mikio Sakamoto, by lookin g almost strai ght up with his head wh en his le"s hit the "L" on this kip "L" gave the kip p;ess to planche a strange power that it does not ordinarily have, (futhennore he merely showed the "L" position for a split second before pressin g to the planche.

Th e kip to inverted cross may be done as a kip " L" and press to inverted ( in any mann er th at a press to handstand) may be done, as Steve Cohen's bent arm and bent hipped press to inverted cross or may be done as a kip and swing to inverted cross.

At thi s point I will allow the performer's own creativity to help him to assume the inverted cross position . My own preference is a kip to " L" and strai ght arm straight leg press to inverted cross (Good Luck ) .

Warm-up: Some Considerations For Gymnastic Performances

By Jam es. Brown and Jack P ettin ger Indiana University Whil e th ere is a wealth of mat erial pertainin g to th e e ffec ts of different types of warm -up on ath letic performances, th ere r ema ins a grea t dea l of confusion beca use of inconsistent findings_ In addition, "ex pert" op ini on has tended to increasse th e confusion surroundin g thi s ques tion_ It wo ul d appear that the entire area of warm-up is in a state of " factual confusion" which is concerned with two primary qu es ti ons : 0) Warm-upyes or no , and (2 ) if so, what type, or to what degree?

In observin g gymnasti cs program s at various . levels throughout the country (p articularl y in the hi gh school s), one is impressed by th e variety and types of warm -u p program s which are in ev id ence. These vary from absolutely no warm-up activity to extensive systematic warm-up exec uted en masse and conducted by a skilled coach_ In talkin g wi th European competitors and co aches about the problem, it is al so apparent that even more di versity exists_ The qu esti on then ari ses : Why is there such a lack of agree ment in th e nature and des irability of warm-up systems?

We believe that the differen ce betwee n warm-u p technniques as seen by the Euro pean, and tho se which we observe in thi s co untry can be exp lained by an examinati on of th e sport itself. In Europe, where all gymnasts are all-around co mpetitors, a different and more exten sive type warm-up pro gram is needed _ The all-around co mpeti tor must be a more fl exible gym nast, and he mu st th erefore work at this qualitty before actu al participation_':' Most gy mnasti cs programs in thi s country are co ndu cted under the auspices of the edu cational systems, and generally start at th e junior hi gh school levels. By co ntrast European gy mnasti cs are co nducted within club se t-ups, with the beg inn ers bein g quite yo un g and of an age when fl ex ibility is more eas il y obtained_ However, th ese are merely some items for consideration and comparison sin ce warm-up is concern ed with much more than fl exibility_ What Is Wa rm-ILp and What Are I ts Phys iological Effects?

L Warm-ups may be defin ed as " _ .. preliminary exercises as physical and mental preparat ion for strenuous exertion_" (I.) The follow ing are so me of these physiological adju stm en ts which are desirable effects of warm-ups : 0) increasin g the muscl e and total body temp erature, (2) increasin g the blood supply to the mu scles, (3) decreasing the viscosity of the muscle, (4) in creasing th e heart rate and stroke volume, (5) increasing th e blood pressure, (6) quickening th e rate of respiration, (7) in creasin g the pulm onary and brachial blood fl ow, (8) decreasin g ability for di gestion and ab sorbti on, (9) decreas in g spl anchni c circul ati on, (0) increasing conversion of glycogen and its flow into the circulatory system, and (11 ) ( perhaps most important to th e co mpeti tive gymnast ) streachin g of conn ective ti ssue thus allowing for great er ran ge of motion and speed of movement.

Some Other Effects of Warm-up Besid es these physiolo gical manifes tati ons, th ere are several other important aspects which warrant con sid eration _ Some of the mos t important may be classifi ed und er th e

category of "skill. " Warm-up provides an opportunity to rehea rse the motor act, or skill to be perform ed. In gy mnasti cs, where timin g is of such grea t importan ce, thi s rehearsal lets th e gy mnast activate the prop er series of motor impulses in anticipation of the forthcomin g performan ce_ This allows him to get the " fee lin g of th e rout in e, and also provides a psychological reinforce ment , i_ e_ "assures" him of future success.

The effects of warm-up on emotion are unclear and appear to b e influenced by many factors. Emotio n causes th e body to react physiologicall y in much th e same manner as it does to warm-up. This phenomenon of "psyching up " is a very important part of success in many sport activi ti es where a maximum exeration is required , e.g. weight lifting, shot putting, sprintin g, etc. . . Howeve r, in gymnasti cs, where fine motor coordination is th e rule, " psychin g up " may be benificial or harmful dependin g on the individual's ad ap tation. It mi ght be reasonable to assume that, to some degree, warm-up ought to be tempered to fit each individual's emotional mak e-up. However, we should give some consid eration to the possible values warm-up may have in calmin g and soo thin g a very hi gh strun g competitor.

Biological Rh ythm and Athletic Efjiciency.

Th e body, like most machines when first turn ed on (after sleep, rest ), cannot be expected to operate at a hi gh level of effi ciency_ Studies in volvin g effi ciency rat es h ave found that effi ciency is generally low after awaking and progressively ri ses as the day goes on. While there are ebbs and peaks in th ese effi ciency curves, the tim e of day effect implies that a certa in amount of warmin g-up goes on as one progresses throuO'h hi s daily routin e. Hi gh levels of perfonnan~e would not usually be expec ted earl y in the day. Unfortunately competition is fr equ entl y condu cted at thi s tim e. Und er th ese circumstan ces, it would be advisa ble to have an ext end ed warm-up peri od. Co nversely, when co mpetition is held late in the day, a short er warm-up would be des irabl e.

Warm-up As Related To The College Coach.

Earl ier in thi s articl e th e writers mentioned the va ri ety of warm-up routin es preva lent in our high schools. Even tually, the products of these hi gh school systems find th eir way to college. Th e coll ege coach is then confronted with th e probl em of integratin g his n eo phytes into a new system, which is likely to be substantially different and, for awhile, confusin g. The new coach

has a system in whi ch he has faith, and the youn g gymnast has a system in whi ch h e probably has faith. How is this differen ce to be reconciled ? The obvious answer is for th e gy mnast to adopt to the new system sin ce the coach, by virtue of his position, knows what is best. But does he? Perhaps what is " best" for one gymnast working one, two , or three events is not what is the "best" for others on the team. The coach must recogn ize that th ere are individual differences whi ch must be taken into account. Even more important than the system to be used is that th e gymnast him self believes路 that it is the best jor him_ This being the case, it is suggested that the coach cond uct a short general warm-up program, and then leave an additional few minutes for the gymnast to fini sh the warm-up on his own.

Wann -ILp As Related To The High School Coach.

The hi gh school coach is in an enviable position. In most instances he is the gymnasts' first real coach, and is, therefore, the supreme authority in gymnastics (or just abo ut any thin g else for that matter). He ha s th e op portunity to structure a workout system whi ch will determine th e success of his yo un g gymnast.

The place of warm-up as a part of this system should be given consideration. After fi ghting for every available minute in the gym, the coach may be reluctant to " waste" valuable tim e with warm-up for practice sessions; thus, warm-up may be limited or in some cases eliminated.

It is the considered opinion of these writers that some type of warm-up exercisse is essential. The amount of time spent and the typ e of warm-up program, however, can be best determined by the individual coach.

Some important aspects which he ought to con sider are : (1) total amount of daily practice tim e, (2) nature and emphasis of the program-specialist or all-around, (3) total length of the seasons, and (4) physical condition of the gymnast(s).

SILmmary Altho ugh research related to the phenomenon of warm-up has tended to yield confli cting results, it behooves the coach to consider the effects of warm-up, and how he can relate them to his program. Some of the important considerations which have been discussed are that: 1. There are certain physiological effects to be derived from warm-up; these appear to he beneficial to competitive performers.

2. Flexibility can be increased through warm-up activities, and this is perhaps of greatest importance to the competitive gymnast.

3. The physiological effects of warm-up are similar to those which are obtained under stress si tuations.

4. Research on warm-up has tended to yield conflicting results; experts differ on th e best systems of warm-ups_ However, it is felt that warm-up does warrant a place in the gymnasts' trainin g program. The type des ired should be based on the time available and the system being used.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Wilt, Fred, RILn, RILn, RILn, Track and Field ews, Inc., Los Altos, 1964.

2. Pyl e, W_ H _, Th e Psychology of Learning, \'Vo rwi ch and York, In c., Baltimore, 1928_ 3. Morehouse, L.E., and Mill er, A.T., Physiology of Exercise, The C.V. Mosley Co., SI. Louis, 1963.

4. Lawther, J .D., Psychology of Coaching, Prentice-Hall, In c., Englewood Cliffs, 1951. ,;, On th e other hand in this co untry wh ere the "specialist" system is used, th e warmup ha s tend ed to be less len gthy and more specifi c to the activity.

45

side horse

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SIDE-HORSE ROUTINE COMPOSITION

By Jay E. Long II Past Eastern Intercollegiate Side Horse Champion

"ACROBATICS" Specialized Training

in FLOOR E XER CIS E only

JOE PRICE co 1697 Broadway

5·8877 Suite 302

New York City, N.Y . 10019

HARD BOUND MG VOLUMES Complete set Vol. I-I X $125.00 (availab le in limited supply) Vol ume VIII 1966 $10.00 Volume IX 1967 $10.00

MG BOUND EDITIONS Box 777 Santa Monica, Calif. 90406

46

The object of this paper is to help gym· nasts who work the side-horse, both specialists and all-around men, to construct better routines on the horse. The al'ea of concentration hel'e is routine composition. I have seen many routines where difficult moves have been inserted, and though the routines were executed bea utifully , the over-all image was very jerky. A good routine is not directly proportional to the number of advanced moves used. It is how these moves are combined to present fluidity and movement that co unts. A well composed routine utilizes all parts of the horse once and at leas t one part more than once. As an event , the side-horse has advanced rapidly in the last few years, especially with the increasing use of reverse work. It is no longer enough to mount on one end of the horse, make a bee-line for the middle, and dismount on the other end . This is now the minimum to be expected and no longer a goal in itself. iVlany such routines can be reconstructed to cover additional parts of the horse and very possibly with fewer total moves.

The need for fluidity has been recognized by the requirement that for most moves to be of "c" quality, two parts of the horse must be utilized. One excep tion to this is the russian moore, which has recently regained its He" rating.

J\lany people have asked llle; "11 1'm at such and such a place on the horse, how can 1 get to this other section'?" The table provid ed is an excellent tool for answerin g thi s very question. The table does not in stantly give you a smooth routine but on ly presents possibilities for you to choose IrOlll. Your own ch oices determine how good you r routine can be.

A few remarks about the table are in order. The first step in using the table is to establish a frame of reference. 1 have found that th e easiest r eference frame is the gymnast himself. If you have both hand s 0 11 the pommels then you are in the middle.

1£ your right hand is on the end with your other hand on the pommel, then you are on the right end. Same for the lett hand.

Now thi s is th e most important point. 1£ you are on the right end, say, and yo u exchano-e hand s, in other words just turn around, then you are automatically on th e left end.

You are the reference frame, not the horse.

This makes using the table veIY easy.

The table is set up for counter-clockwise circles. If your work is clockWIse tnen SIlllply exchange the R's and the L's. In the table R means right, L means left, M means middle, 0 means the opposite end from which you start at, and S means th e same end yo u start at. L-M-O for instance would mean that you 're startin g at the left end, moving to the middle, and on to th e opposite end. Consulti ng the table, th e first number in the L-M-O column is #43 . Now looking at the list of moves you find that #43 is a si de travel to the middle, half-circle, side travel to the opposite end. h.c. means half-circle, C. means circle, and im. means immediate. The " A", " B" , "e" ratings are taken from a variety of sources and are su bj ect to dispute, however, these are the values most often given by the judges. The nam es for the moves are commonly accepted but some clarifying remarks may be necessary. A "moor e" is sometimes called a "czech." A " triple-russian moore" is a russian moore with an immediate additional moore attached and was popularized by Miroslav CeraI'. A " tromletin" is wh en you start in the middle and perform a side travel with an imm ediate khere into the middle again, all on on e pommel. A " tromlet-out" is a side travel from the end to the middle wi th an immediate khere-out to the same end. An " allemand" is unlike a " walk around " ill that instead of going into a circle up on th e completion of the move, you go into a loop.

This list o.f moves is by no means complete and IS particularly inattentive to single-leg work. You will find howeve r that most of the moves are ad~anced and present a challenge. In learning such moves it is often helpful to break a seq uence into segments through the use of circles. Th e over-all time to learn a sequence is then considerably shortened.

TABLE OF INDIYIDUAL MO'YES & COMBINATIONS L I

2 8 18 46 69 78 79

M I

2 6 7 8 12 13 16 18 45 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 68

R I

2 13 17 70 73 74 75 76 77

L·M

L-M·S

L· M·O

M-L

M·L·M

M·R

M·R·M

5 42 62

64 65

43 63 66 67

3 10 14 20 21 22 23 28 30 31 32 33 47

29

4 9 19 41 44 57 58 59

60 61

R·M

R·M·S

R·M·O

"

38 40

25 27 35 37

15 24 26 34 36 39 48 71 72

I

I

1

This sam e principle applies to masterin g an advanced routin e. I have found tha t th e best way to learn any particular advanced ro utin e is to start ou t using a simpl e rou· tin e which covers the same areas of th e horse and in the same order as the advanced one. It is important to work routin es from th e very stal· l no matter how simple they are. W hile workin g on the sim ple routin e you can simultaneo usly work on individual moves and seq uences wh ich you plan to replace parts of th e easier routine with. As your proficiency increa ses you ca n then be· gi n to convert the original routin e into an advanced one, step by step. Usin g thi s pro· cedure you are prepared at any ·given tim e to perform a complete routine. Too many gy mnasts quickly grow impatient with th e side·horse and attempt to learn a difficult routin e all at once. Th ey work and work and make very slow progress and when yo u ask to see a routi ne they say they ha ven't got it all down yet.

I hope that thi s pap er has been helpful and that the criticisms will be used can· structively.

LIST OF INDIVIDUAL MOVES AND COMBINATIONS: I . double- leg circles A 2 . moore B 3. moore im. back-out C 4. moore im . khere- out C 5. m oore im. khere-in C 6 . double-moore C 7. russian moore C 8. russ ia n moore on 1 pomme l C 9. # 8 ib. side-travel C + B 10. ru ssia n m oore im . khere-out C + B II. ru ss ia n moore im. khere-in C + B 12 . triple rus sian moore C+ B 13. reverse moore B 14. reve rse m oo re-side trave l to end B+ A

15 , reve rse moore -side tra vel to midd le B+ A 16.

17 .

18.

19 .

20.

2 1.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26 .

27.

28.

29.

30.

3 1.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

4 I. 42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

4.9.

50 .

5 1.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63 .

64 .

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78 .

79.

re v erse moor e-trom let-in B+ B reverse moore-trom let-out B + B bailey ( loop on pommel) B+ B ba iley im. khere-out C + B front- o"t B front-out im . loop C front- out im . wa lk around C + B front-out im . allemand C + B front-in B front-in im. back-out C fr ont-in im . moore C fr o nt-in im. moore im. khere-out C + B khere - out B khere-out h.c. khere-in C khere-out im . wa lk a round C kh ere- out im. loop B+ A khere-out im. o llem and C +A khere-out im. oly mpic C khere-in B kh ere-in im . side tra vel C khere-in im. moore C khere-in im. m oore im. kher e-out C + B kh ere-in im. m oo re im . side travel C + B khere-in- im. tromlet C khere-in im. trom let im . si de trave l C + B side tr ave l t o end A side travel to middle B side tra ve l t o middle h.c . side travel to end C side tra ve l to end im. loop B+ A tromlet-in B tram let-out B+A reverse-side travel to end B r everse -s ide tra ve l to middle C front scissor A fr ont scissor % twi st B reverse sc isso r A reve rse scissor V2 twist 8 2 front scissors-I rev erse sc issor B+ A 2 r everse scissors-I fro nt scissor B+ A 1 circle on I pommel B circles on I p omme l C back-out B back-out im . h op C back-out im. reverse loop C back-out c. side travel C bac k -out h .c. back-in C back-in B back-in i. khere-out C back-in h.c. back-out C back- in c. side trave l C back- in h .c . reverse -side tra ve l C+ B back-in im. reverse moore -s ide trave l C + B hop in middle B hop on end B wa lk around B wa lk around im . khere-in C wa lk a round im . re verse moore-side t ro ve I C +B a llemand B+A al lemand im . olymp ic C loop A 2 loops-o lym pic C olympic B reverse loop B reverse loops C

Fashion by lIIa ll e r Z wickel

In this colu mn we will try to answer some of the questions that are most commonly asked.

What is the best way to wash a pair 0/ form. pants? Let's start by sayin g that if )'ou have wool for m pants or a wool bl end , yo u do not wash them . . . yo u dry clean th em. The washable form pants are th e ones that are mad e of nylon, co tton, span· dex or bl end s th ereof. Yo u would wash th~~e the same as you would wash any syntheti c fabri c. That is, use luke warm water that yo u can co mfortably pu t your hands into without feelin g excessive heat.

Any mild soap or detergent, squeeze the sud s gently thru th e pants, do not wring, scr ub or twist, and han g u p over a towel or wood en hanger to- c\rip dry. If they n eed any ironin g use a steam iron set at a low temperature. Synthetics have a low melt· ing point, and a hot iron can ruin them.

A word of ca uti on: DO NOT use bleach on nylon or helenca nylon pants. Bleach used this way will cause the pants to yel· low.

If you want to wash yo ur pants in a washin g machine make sure that it is a machine that you can set the temperature of the water low, and that it is an agitator type machine. If you want to use a dryer use a high air volum e and low temperature.

Take the pants out before they are fully dry and let them fini sh dryin g over a towel.

H ow do YOll care for wool fo rm pants?

Although knitted wool pants can be washed in woolite the s·ame as any fin e sweater, it is a tedious process and you are better off send in g your pants to the dry cleaners.

A word of caution here, make sure that the cleaner uses new solvent or freshly di s· tilled solvent. Usin g an old or dirty solvent can cause the pants to yellow.

Can fo rm pan.ts be altered? Any gar· ment can be alt ered. It is just a matter of usin g the right type of thread and th e right type of stit ch. Stretch pants have seams that stretch with the pants. Th ere· fore, if you alter the stretch pants, the seam that you put in for alteration must be one that stretch along with the pants.

Otherwise, the seam will break the first tim e yo u put any stress on it. Ther e are two basic ways to sea m a stretch fabri c with ordinary eq uipm ent. That is, a stand· ard sewing machine of the type that co uld be found in the home.

1. Standard stitch : thi s is the type of stitch that all sewing machines can make.

To do this use an un stressed nylon thread.

This is a thread that has a definite s tretch to it. It can be purchased at mo st tailor supply stores and notion shops. Set both the bobbin and needle tension controls loose, and set the sitch size for the small stitch.

When sea ming stretch the pants as you seam. This way you get the maximum amount of nylon stretch thread into the se am and put a minimum strain on th e thread when you stretch the pants.

2. Zig zag machin e: many of the newer mod el home machin es are capable of a zig zag stitch. To do a gym pants sea m yo u se t the size of th e stitch so that it is approx im ately 1/16 of an inch from zig to zag and approximately 1/16 of an in ch fr om stitch to stitch. Then yo u sim ply stitch normally without stretchin g th e pant s or usin g any special type of thread . Th e accordian action of the zig zag gives yo u

the stretch that you need. You can mak e a sea m even stronger by usin g the sam e nylon thread as above.

A larger zig zag stitch , abo ut '\4 in ch from zig to zag, makes a very attractive and effective hem, when shortenin g forlll pan ts. Also, the smaller zig zag sti tch descri bed above can also be used in puttin g stitched creases into your form pants.

It will stretch enough so that th e crease will not break.

I've noticed many foreign warm. IIp suits labeled with sizes' sllch as 95. How do I kn ow what size to order ? The nu mbers in for eign make warm up suits represent size in cen timeters. To convert to inches divid e by 2.54 and then order the nearest size that equal s your chest measuremen ts. Or, ,·e· verse the process, multiplyin g yo ur ch est measurement by 2.54 and order the nearest round number that is divisable by 5.

Example: If your chest measures size 40 yo u would come out with an answer oJ 101.6 cent. , by multiplying by 2.54. The fore ign size to order would be size 100.

I have a wann llP suit made of nylon and I have n.oticed that there are little balls of fllzz forming all, the surface . What is it, and how can I get rid of it ? This cond ition is known as pilling or beardin g depending on whether you have a forma · tion of little balls or just general fuzzine ss.

It is a condition that often happens· with synthetic fiber and very little can be don e to avoid it. Many times garments mad e from the same bolt will react differently, one developin g pills and oth ers not. They generally form at points of abrasion.

The term beardin g is particularly fittin g since the form of treatment for hoth pillin g and bearding is the sam e treatment that yo u would use for an ordinary beard . . . you shave.

Lay he garment on a fl at hard surface such as a table and lightly stroke the pilling off with a razor. A few strokes brings the area back to its original fini sh.

Make sure that you use one of the new continuous band type razors su ch as the Gillette techmatic. This will avoid snaggin g or cutting the goods as could happen with an ordinary blade having ex posed corn ers.

That should be enough for this column.

Write to me . . . ask me quest ions.

----"==------",1; •

..

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>

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47

A SECOND LOOK AT SWING ©

By Gerald S. George Gymnastic Coach Louisiana State University

An interestin g variable in learnin g lies in the fact that no two people interpret the same material in exactly the same way.

This postulate has plagued th e minds of men for centuries. Our discipline, gym· nastics, seems to fall special prey to this malady. All too often have we heard the " how's" of a skill without givin g equal con· sideration to the " degree" to which the gymnast comprehends the concept of the " how's". This process of men tal assimila· tion of motor skills is the very essence of gymnastic learning.

Valid interpretation of motor skills is an awesome req uirement for the gymnast at any level. It entails the ability to conce ptualize, both acutely and correctly, that which is kinesiologically occuring. This con notates that the learner must mentally " feel" the given movement in its entirety.

Such an ability is indeed difficult to acquire. However once acq uired for anyone skill , there is an increased tend ency of easier acqui sition for subsequen t skills rega rdless of difficulty level.

I can offer but one significant guideline to the learner in in terpreting motor skill s.

Seek out and discover any and all RELATIONSHIPS of the new skill to th at of all previously learned skills. You will find that in the main , these relati onships will signifi: cantly facilitate your interpretation of the new skill.

Allow me to exemplify the point. In this issue of the MG, the mechanics and techniqu es of the German Giant Swing are il· lustrat ed and explained. In a previous issue, th e basIc Overgrip Gian t Swing was pre· sented. What are their similarities ? First of all, both are "giant" swin gs; both are initiated from th e top of the bar ; both accelerate on the descent, attain greatest velocity at the bottom of th e swing, and decelerate on the ascent. Extension of the shoulder gi rdle is apparent in both skills throughout their entirety . "Foot lead" (sli ghtly decreased hip angle) is prevalent durin g the descent in both skills. Th e hip s

48

precede the feet durin g th e " bottomin g effec t" in both skill s. The fee t precede th e hips ( progressively decerasin g hip angle) durin g the greater part of the ascent in both skills. The hand s are in an overgrip posi· tion and the hea d remain s in normal sym· metry with the trunk throughout both skills.

Let us look now to their differences. The "castin g acti on" off the bar obviously differs, the fin al aspect of th e ascent differs, and the pos ition of th e arm s in relation to the trunk differs. THE SI GLE MOST IMPORTANT F ACTOR THAT ATTRIBUTES TO THESE DIFFERENCES ARE ANAT OMICAL IN NATU R E . . . YET THE MECHANICS OF THE SWI NGS THEIvISELVES ARE INEXTRICABLY RELATED! Thus th e only additional learnin g factors center about placing the body in its co rrect anatomical position relative to the German Giant itself. The swin g aspects of the two skills are nearly iden tical. Correct conceptuali zat ion of the formar and accurate inter pretation of the former to the latter result in greater learnin g ease of the latter . . . i.e. th e German Giant Swing.

H erein lies a meaningful and sc ientifi c beginning. Such an observation of natural and inherent relat ionshi p serves to characterize the " process" in interpretin g motor skills from " within". This process I speak of has been the callin g card of champions eve r since Old Man Adam failed to take his Second Look!

Send in yo ur requests for skill illustration-explanation either to the MG or di rec tly to me.

Illustration A displays the direct result of th e Overgrip Reverse Kip to a rear sup-

port pOSItIOn. Th e lower back is arched or cocked as in an Archer's bow rea dy to r elease its potential force so as to direct the body to an ove rgrip inlocated handstand position. The slightly backward lean of the upper body across th e bar together with the arched wrists provid e the necessary supp ort for th e wei ght of the body. lIIustrations B - C - D pro gressively dem-on strat e the imm ediate release from th e above mentioned arched body position. Observe fir st that the hip an gle b egins to vigorou sly decrease followed by a forceful r earward exten sion of the should er angle.

A steadfast back-d ownward push against the bar helps to minimize the natural tend ency of th e upper body to over-lean in the rearward direction .

Th ese acti ons are continued un til the hip an gle is totally decr eased with r eference to its specific anatomical ran ge of moti on, th e shoulder angle is extend ed rearward to its fullest ran ge in view of the overgrip han dgrasp, and the entire body uni t is so positioned that its gravitati onal line lies slightly to the side of the in tended direc tion of movement. This " moment of truth " is r evealed in Illustration E. Immediately upon attainin g the above described position , the hip an gle begins a vigorous increment to a degree such that the legs form a forwa rd-openin g angle with the trunk. Precise observation reveals that the aforementioned forcefu l rearward extension of the should er angle is steadfastly maintained. Illustration F demonstrates the hip angle increment in action.

Illustration G relates the fin al phase of the hip angle increment. This forwa rd-open -

Gymnastic Classics @ Vo lume 1 -

H or izonta l Bar

Section "AU -

Number 5 -

Basic Giant Sw ings

Germ an Giant Sw ing

I

1

1 H

@ Copy right

in g angle of th e hi ps prescr ibes the " foot lead ", a n ecessary pos ition in preparing the body for the oncoming bea t. The " foo t lead" position is maintain ed throughou t Illustration s H · 1. lIlustration J depicts the initial aspect of th e bea t or " bottoming effect" in that th e hip and lower ba ck segments are extended slightly beyond a direct straight·line relation ship. T he forceful angular velocity realized in the descent serves as th e prime fa ctor in placin g the body in this sli ghtly arched position. Th e gymnast is thereby prepared to utili ze such potential force in coordination with the upward circular sw in g.

Th e "bottoming effect" of the bar serves as a cue in releasin g th e previously men· tioned sli ghtly arched bod y position. Th e gymn ast mu st immediately follow up this action by vigorously drivin g th e fee t and legs in a for-upward direction whi le still maintainin g total l'earward extension of the should er angle. Illustration s K - L . M demo onstrate th e " foot lead" position.

As the body approaches the apex of the German Giant Swing, the hip an gle con· tinues to decrease in direct proportion to the upward circular sw in g. This action yield s a feeling of weightl essness, almost as if one were being pulled above the bar.

It is d urin g thi s feelin g of weightlessness that the slip·grip act ion of the hands is reali zed. T he wrists are arched onto the top of th e bar to provid e support for th e onco min g body weight. Refer to Illustrations M·N. Illu strati on 0 relates a second " moment of truth " in that all actions have been timed and direc ted so as to position the body in an inloca ted hand stand with an overgrip.

The gymn ast is now in an ideal position for , exec utin g additional German Giant Swi ngs or any of its seq uentially related sk ills.

Wh en anti cipatin g a " di sengage' 'from a German Giant Swing, refer ba ck to Illus· tration N . At this poi nt th e aforemen tioned rearward ex tension of the shoulder an gle will begin to progressively decrease, allow· in g th e hips to be directed between the arms.

Ji m Curzi, form er Michi gan State Uni· versity champ, has by far the best tech· niqu e of exec utin g thi s skill , .. bar none.

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49

A Study of Injuries in the Sport of Gymnastics in Selected Schools and Colleges and Proposed Standards for Improved Safety

by Fred Orlofsky Gymnastics Coach Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan .Summary oj Master's Thesis

The following are the results of a Master's study relating to injuries received in gymnastics.

Need - Safety and injury prevention in gymnastics needs more investigation as more participants become actively engaged in this sport. One of the many reasons why some gymnasts do not achieve National or International fame is because of the different injuries which are received at some time during their careers. A large percentage of the injuries could have been prevented if the proper teaching methods and safety measures had been used.

Analysis and Interpretation 0/ Data - A questionnaire was developed with 24 questions varying from personal data such as age, weight, year started gymnastics, workout schedule, to a listing of injuries received while participating in gymnastics. A total of 225 questionnaires were sent to approximately 57 gymnastic teams at Universities, Colleges, High Schools, YMCA's, and Gymnastic Clubs throughout the United States.

Of the questionnaires distributed 135 or 60 0/0 were returned. Many of the individuals surveyed have represented the U.S. in Olympic, World, Pan-American, and International lVleets. The average age is 22.6 years. Of the group 87 are considered all-around men.

Conclusions - Work-out Schedule Most of the gymnasts worked out 5 days per week, 51.10/0, with the largest total falling in the 5 to 6 day range 85 0/0 . Injuries seem to be just as frequent among gymnasts who worked out 4, 5, 6, or 7 days per week or a total of 10, 15, or 20 hours per week of workout time. There may be a sli ght tendency toward more injuries when the performer worked out a total of 21 or more hours per week because of the extra contact hours. No significant results have been found to limit the number of injuries by decreasing the amount of participatio~ time and still have the gymnast progresslllg at a reasonable pace.

Wannups - Only 7 gymnasts expressed a desire to avoid warmups before gymnastic practice. No injuries were received by these gymnasts because of a lack of warmup. Five of these gymnasts live and practice their gymnastics in the warmer semi-tropical climate of the Southwest and Southern California. Most gymnasts felt a period of 15 to 20 mins. of warmup exercise is needed to prepare the performer physically and mentally for practice or competition. The shoulder area received the most warminoup by 84.30/0 of the gymnasts. The shoulde~ area also contributed to the largest total amount of injuries, 71. The still rings alone were responsible for 40 shoulder injuries.

Gymnasts Predictions - Most of the gymnasts indicated the high bal," as .the event where injuries ,vere most likely to occur.

The long horse and the side horse as the least dangerous. The actual results as compiled in the study confirm this opinion.

Th e still rings which recorded the second hi ghest numb er of injuries and the highest 50

av~rage of days lo st per injury was indicated as being in sixth position in the predictions. The same applies to trampolin e which was given a high rating in the number of injuries expected but only totaled 36 for sixth place in rank of inj uries. The gymnasts predictions of the events with th e most to the least injuries proved to be invalid.

Weight Training and Conditioning - It was found out that 97 or 71.10/0 of the gymnasts supplemented their workouts with some phase of weight training. Popular exercises include bench presses, curls, chest and shoulder exercises with dumb ells, cross machine pulley weights, handstand dips, planche push-ups, isometrics, and many other types. Running seemed to be a popular activity for overall endurance in a very small percentage of the gymnasts.

Work Out Area - Work out areas at a large majority of the colleges were termed as excellent in regard to equipment and work out location. Equipment is rated as excellent at most high schools but other activities are in session at the same time which makes the practice area crowded.

Forty-three colleges or 630/0 have a floor exercise pad on which to practice. Among the colleges and universities, the amount of overhead spotting rigs per school averaged four. The six high schools reporting data stated an average of five overhead spotting rigs. It would seem most important to have adequate safety and spotting equipment at this level because the gymnast usually begins his career in gymnastics in the high school. Most of these spotting rigs were used more frequently during the non-com路 peting season.

Safety Checks - Many of the gymnasts agree there is a lack of periodic safety checks of the equipment by the coaches.

Fifty percent of the schools surveyed rated their coach in the category of "seldom or occasionally" in their practice of making safety checks on equipment. A large percentage of the gymnasts expressed a "safety first attitude" toward the equipment by giving fr equent checks such as tightening and adjusting the parallel bars, prop er placement of the mats, using spotters if necessary, etc.

Injuries - High Bar This event recorded the largest number of injuries with 117. The flyaway dismount accounted for 19 injuries to the wrist. More wri st injuries were received on the high bar than the comb in ed total of wrist injuri es received in all the other seven events. Poor spotting, lack of readiness for the stunt, and takin g the stunt out the belt too soon are the chief

causes of th ese injuri es. The use of wr ist ~traps for the lea rnin g of giants resulted III one severe injury. Fatigue and too much chalk on the bar are the chief causes for this injury. The individual dislocated hi s wrist when the strap failed to turn because of the heavily chalked bar. Hand guard failure due to improper care on the part of the gymnast and faulty manufacturing of hand guard s contributed to few needless injuries.

Parallel Bars - Most of the injuries on this event occurred while the gymnast was performing a stunt above th e bars, i.e. a stutz or back som i to support. Only 9 injuries occurred on below the bar movements. The chest, fingers, and shoulders were the areas most involved. Fatigue, poor technique, and attempting movements off balance were the most common reason for injuries.

Still R ings - This event contributed to the average days lost per injury with 37.3 days. Forty路three of the 78 injuri es involved a strength move. The iron cross and back lever cross pull out caused the most injuries. Of th e 4 performers n eeding surgery, all agreed the inqury resulted from an insuffici ent warmup.

Tumbling - This even t was largely responsible for inj uries to the ankles, fin gers, and knee. The ba ck handspring, full and double twisting back, and the double back somersault were the stunts causing the largest percentage of IIlJuri es. Lack of warmups, poor landings, failur e to complete the twist, attempting too difficult a stunt. improper mechanics, and poor spotting wer~ the major reasons for injuries in thi s event.

Floor Exercise Performing tumblin g movements on the hard floor contributed to many injuries mainly to wrist and foot areas. Muscle injuries resulted from improper warmups while executed pressing movements or the split.

Trampoline Fewer injuries resulted than predicted. Many of the injuries were the result of carelessness and horseplay fatigue, poor technique, and not being read ; for the stunts were other reasons.

Side Horse - The base of the side horse caused 3 serious ankle injuries while the performers were executing a loop dismount.

Prolonged work resulted in sore wrists and forearm splits in many cases but did not prevent practice although limited traininofor various lengths of time. " Long Horse - The ankles and the knees were affected most. Improper landings and poor mat placement were major causes of inj uries. The side horse and long horse events recorded the fewest number of injuries.

In general all the injuries received in the various gymnastic events were the results of poor spotting, of improper knowledge of stunts by coaches, and by attempting to perform movements the gymnasts are not prepared to execute. Of the 135 gymnasts surveyed, no significant r elationship has been found between the performers' injuries and his least favorite event. Many gymnasts avoid a particular event because it is not their fa vorite and tend to work the other events more frequent.

Recommendations: Equipment and Workout Area 1. Only regulation equipm ent which meets all internationd specifi ca tion s should be used. Under n'; circumstances should a department sacrifice individual safety by cutting corners to save mon ey when purchasing equipment.

2. Efforts mu st be made to improve the base on some American designed sid e horses or to provide improved mats so as to limit the possibilities of inj uries.

3. A rubber non路 slip mat should be used for the perform er for th e approach to th e lon g horse. That mat will al so serve as a safety preca uti on to remind peopl e not to cross over th e pad while a performer is approa chin g.

4. Cut out, slip over, or la il ored mat s should be ]hlrchased for the parallel bars and sid e horse events. Th ese full sized, on e pi ece mats elimin ate th e dan gers of th e poorly placed sin gle mats.

5. Sin ce th e hi gh bar event was responsibl e for the most injuri es, a full width mat is recommended. This should be at least 8 feet wide, 30 feet long, and 3 112 in ches thick.

6. Double mats should be provided for the landing of dismounts off the hi gh bar, parallel bars, rings, and long horse events.

7. A free exercise pad or mat be provided in all gymnastic competitions and work out areas.

8. All rebound tum b lin g equipment should be supervised when being used and locked when not in use.

9. All gymnastic equipment should be used only when qualified personnel are present.

10. All gymnastic are a s should be equipped with at least 4 overhead spotting rigs with at least one being a traveling tumbling rig. They should be used as frequently as needed either the off season or competing season.

II. The gymnastics workout area should be restricted to gymnastics alone.

12. The manufacturers of leather handguards should inspect and test their products for flaws before shipment.

Gymnastic Courses I. The teaching of correct spotting and safety techniques should be emphasized in our methods and materials courses in gymnastics at our universities for all physical education majors and minors and all students in the general gymnastic classes. The teaching of the basic fundamentals, proper instructional methods, and spotting techniques should be stressed.

Coach's Responsibilities I. Coaches and trainers must make every effort to improve their knowledge of the sport through attendance at gymnastic clinics, workshops, and other similar type meetings. Findings show that improper execution of stunts on the gymnastic events contributes to a large percentage of the injuries. At these meetings coaches can exchange 路 ideas pertaining to instructional and spotting techniques on these stunts where injuries are more apt to occur.

2. Coaches should be encouraged to give their gymnastic equipment periodic safety checks.

3. A coach should check for signs of fati gue or a " run-down" condition in his performers and organize the workout schedul e accordin gly. A co ach should realize th e capabilities of his performers and not push them beyo nd this limit. According to international rules, a gymnast performing stunts improperly or far above his capabilities will be severely penalized. The safety of th e gymnast is more important than winning any meet.

Conditioning and Training I. Strength training should be used to develop th e weaker parts of the body mainly the shoulder, wri st, ankle, arm , or kn ee areas as determined by a seri es of strength tests. Th e use of weight training involvin g isotoni c movements or th e use of an isometri c program may be helpful in develop路 in g these weaker areas. A pulley or cross machin e may be used to develop strength for a particular stunt or area of the body.

The use of the rubber inner tube or surgical tubing should be encouraged as an aid while workin g on the cross or pull out on the rings.

2. A worko ut schedul e should be adapted to mee t the needs and capabiliti es of the gymnast. A reco mmended schedul e consists of 5 or 6 worko uts weekly with 15 to 18 hours of practice. A r est day or light stretching da y is recomm end ed so as to provide the body with time to recuperate.

3. Double sets of identical gymnasti c equipm ent should be made available at all competition s. Tbe equipment should be located in another gym or area which will insure the gymnast of suffi cient warmup time without slowing down the competition.

The Performer I. Every gymnast sho uld warmup before practice and before attempting the more difficult stunts. The performer should experiment and find the exact amount of warmup time needed. This will vary from gymnast to gymnast. A pre-workout warmup period of 15 minutes is recommended.

2. Do not attempt a movement when very tired or fatigued. Injuries are more likely to occur while the performer is in this condition.

3. Always use a competent spotter when attempting stunts where risk is involVed. Spotters should always be used around the trampolin e and high bar events.

4. Never stop or "chicken out" in the middle of a stunt. More injuries result from the performer stopping halfway through a movement than by executing the complete stunt.

5. Learn all the basic fundamental movements properly before advancing to the more difficult stunts.

6. A performer should not attempt a difficult stunts until he has some basic idea of the stunt's mechanics. Do not incorporate this movement or any stunt into a routine unless it is properly mastered.

7. Use a spotting or safety belt when attempting difficult movements when risk is involved.

8. Have confidence in and respect for your coach but do not be pushed into attempting tricks above your capabilities.

9. A performer inust learn to spot, to teach, and to analyze gymnastic stunts.

10. Carelessness or horseplay should not be permitted in the gymnastic area.

These recommendations have been stated in an attempt to limit the amount of needless injuries and to improve the existing safety measures. If used, they will not eliminate all injuries in gymnastics but will make the gymnast, coach, teacher, and administrator more conscious of safety and will reduce the number of injuries.

GYM MASTER PEGLESS CLIMBER This Peg less Clim ber is extremel y useful for both boys and girls. It eliminates any problems in handling the pegs of a standard peg board, yet prov ides the same act ivity and ph ys ical benefits. This climber is ideal not only for elementary classes, b ut for junior and sen io r high schoo l, too.

The

all-steel

tubing

is constructed

in a

welded unit, with no nuts, bolts o r screws protruding. The tubing is the correct size

in

for the best possible grip. The climber unit measures 32" x 32", and is easily mounted a gymnasium , multi-purpose room or hallway.

By : GYM MASTER COMPANY Englewood, Colorado 80110

GYM MASTER CROSS-OVER CLIMBER AND CHINNING BAR This is ane of the most versatile gymnastiic units for any size school. It is ideal for upper-body development. The unit can be used as a one-station activity unit, or a four-station unit, with 2 persons using the chinning bar, and 2 an the ladders. The chinning cross-aver bar can be adjusted to various heights by simply rotating and lifting the bar and inserting it onto anather set of ladder rungs . The entire unit, 4' high X 9' wide, is constructed of welded all-steel tubing in the correct size for the best possible grip.

The unit is easily mounted on any wall.

By: GYM MASTER COMPANY Englewood, Colorado 80110

SEND FOR FREE COMPLETE CATALOG OF TRAMPOLINE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

SIDLINGER TRAMPOLINE CO. P.O. Box 2 Garland, Texas

75040 Indjsputably th e f ines t nilme In trampo linin g - sin ce 1948

51

LETTERS ON DEVELOPING SELF-CONFIDENCE D ea r Gle nn : I ::Ull \ v I"fting- in rega rd to a muc h llnd e r"m ph" ~ iz e d s ub.iec t, t h at of sel f- co n f id e nce in gY llllHl Stic s. I ::un a ~tu d e nt at the eniYersti~r

o f South ern Cal if orni a, 111ajorinp: in P h ysica l Ec1tlC"Rt io n to pr epnre fOI' a l)os i-

ti o n ::ts a ('oac h . I hn ve run into a g rent ll ulllb e r of hi g"h sch ool p e rfo rm e r ~ rec'e ntlv t h "t I f eel h a'-e a pro bl e m in t hi ~ a r ea.

I b e li eyp it is th e re s p o n ~ ibilit y nf <l n y coac h to d e '-e lop a g,ood "tt it ude a n (1 there f ore self -co·n fidence in h is l)E'l'f() l' rner~.

I r e fe r th ose inte r ested in t h i~ s ub .i ect t o t h e F ebrua !')' 1%5 e diti o n of th e iII.G. in '''hie h th e re i ~ :1 n a rt ice e ntitl pcl "Po~ i­ t ive Thi nking" wr it ten b y D a n l\[ illm a n o f

t h e U ni ve r s ity of Cal iforni a a t Be rke ley.

In thi s art ic le Dan s tates so m e ve r y imp OI't an t point s a nd I " rill I·est;!. t e t h e 1"l1 hree: th e re a re rea so ns fo r cornpe tito l'S not b e in g a b le t o come thro u g h "'h e n tl", pressure is on a nd h e th e n qu()tes El ements of P sycholoqy: "If t h e con~t ru pt i ve e ffect~ o f fru s trotion a nd co nfli ct fail t() b rin g abO \lt g oal-"ttainm ent, the te n s ion continues to in c rease . . . eventua ll y it lll ay beC0 111 e n o lo nger fac ilita ti ve ' bu t di s ruptive . . . reason s: in c rease d n~ob ili ­ za ti o n of e ne rgy Inay b econl e so g rea t a s to exceed wha t i s appro prin te fo r th e ta s k." At thi s p oint I w o ud lik e t o a dd [) quo t e fr om m y K in e~ iolo gy book. Kinesi0 10gy and App lied An a t omy : "Excess ive gen e ra l ten s io n , associa t ed with enlot io n al s tress can m odify t h e r eflex in hi b iti on of t h e a ntago ni s t mu scles . . . f ea r , e mba rrassll1 ent, a nd inten se l11 otivatio n C:111 result in indi scril11in a t e cont ractio ns of mu scl e g r o up s, thus i nte rfe rin g w it h s mo oth a nd e ffec ti ve p e rfo rm a n ce ." Th e r e ~ore, a lth o u g h it is b e n efi c ia l a~ well as Illlporta nt t o a dre nali ze a nd build up a degFt:e of ten s ion in pre pa ra ti o n fo r co nlpet ItIo n, a n ex cess of thi s tens io n nU1V ca u se inhibiti o n o f certa in mu sc les an(l th u s poo r p e rfo rm a nce may b e th e r esult .

In Dan 's a r ticle h e says that t h e m odel se t by M a lwto Sak a mo to a nd Ru st" lIIi tc h e ll in th e ir at titud es are goo d o n e ' s to e mu late a nd D a n' s nam e ca n b e acldecl to t hi s li s t. Wh e n o n e of th ese p e rfo rm ers e nte r s the r e is n ever a compl a i nt abo ut rips, l ittle ac h es a nd p a in s or a lac k of s leep . Th ese p eop le s h ow th e ir confid ence t hro ugh th e ir a ttitude a nd it car ri e~ Oye l' to th e a ppa r a tu s. Th ey p lay a r ol e. w h e th e r it's f,or r eal or n o t act co nfi d e nt !

A l so, s t a nd up str a ig ht. Ea c h p e r son h as a uniqu e " ray o f s tanding and th e \vay one 's t a nd s r efl ec t s t hat person' s a tt itude.

Stretch ing I h ave found th a t gymn asts in th e U nited States do n o t s tre t c h a n d o r warm up w ell e n o u g h. Th e r e cann ot b e e n o u g h em ph as is put on s tre t c hin g. Stretc hi ng: not o nl y d evelo p s f lexibility but puts a mu s cl e in a stat e -of increased mu scle ton e and th e r e fore in c r eases e ffi c ie ncy of pe rfornlance. A ls o, stretc hin g ,,,arms up a mu scle a nd it is a known f act in Kin es iology th a t mu scl es p e rform m u ch more eff ecti vely at hig h t e mperat ures t h a n at low on es. W e in t h e Uni ted S t ates h ave th e b est equipm ent in th e w orld , a nd it is th e r ef ore, at tim es, a g r eat temptat io n t () f-o r get a b o u t warming up a nd ge t o n th e a pp a ratus. One must r e m e mb er t h at bv s tre t c hi ng t h e wO I'kout w ill b e much Illl.)]:e e ffec ti ve. Thi s is true not onl v for t h e a ll- aro und m a n but the sp ec ia li s t as well f~ r exampl e, it \v ill improve t he rin g' l nan'~ clt s loca te an d h a nds tan d a nd th e s ide h o rse man' s s ci sso rs.

Lastly, and t his is o noth er re s pon s ib ili ty t h a t the coach h as t o hi s t ea m members nl l1ch . ln ore e 111phas is nlu s t be lJlaced o ~ t e<;hmqu e. Pragmat is m mu st b e pu s h ed aSlCl e a nd re placed ,v ith axiology. Is it ( a tri c k) b ei n g d o n e rig ht mu s t ' b e as k e d a nd one s h o uld not h ave as a n ob jec ti ve m e r ely learning a trick bu t r at h er l ea rning it mech a ni cally co ~r ect.

In co n clu s ion I w ill s t ate th e t hl'ee impOl·tant p o ints m ade by Dan in h is a r t ic le in r ega rd to d evelo ping t h e gymnas t into a better p e rform er b o th phys ica ly and menta ll y. Th ey a r e : 1. Try to h ave you r r o utin e down cold. D o n ot add tri c l{s unless t h ey can b e incorporated eas il y a 11(1 f lawlessly in to the r outin e. 2. P laya r ole.

52

(This is impo rta nt) Wh eth er yo u com pl etely b eli eve thi s o r not g ive it a t r y.

P r e t e n d that you a r e 100 % s tro n ger , f ast e r , lig hter and more confid ent. Comp e t e to w in. No matte r how n ervous you Inay b e face t h e judges a nd look s ure. 3. When co mp e ting ac t a bit overconfide n t, s h ow t h e judges yo u a r e proud of yo u r rout in e .

Yo u can n o t a l ways c onlpare :-"Ol1r ro utin e t o t h e very b es t until it i s the b es t . Read t h ese ond practice th e m in m eets a nd prac ti ces t oo . Th ey r eally h e lp, t a k e it from o n e w h o knows.

Gymnas ti cally yours, D a n Connelly L os Angeles, Californi a INVISIBLE GY MNAST Dear Gl e nn: H e r e is a pict ure that I h ave meant to send to yo u fo r SO lll e liln e . It is a very unu s u a l photo o f " The Invi s ib le Ma n taki ng 5t h Pl ace." It is a n offi c ial pi c tu r e of th e Easte rn Co ll eg ia t e C h amp ionship 1967 in t h e Ri n g eve nt a nd we didn't r ealize until ,veek s a fte r it "vas develo pe d a nd m a ile d out th a t a s h a do w cast by P a ul Vex le r fr om a n oth e r photograph e r 's f lash bu lb m ade thi s s h o t look as if a n in v is ibl e m a n was standing o n the 5th pl ace sta nd a nd cas tin g a s h a d o w.

I t h o u g ht th at thi s pho t o m ay be u nus u a l e n o ug h t o m er it con s id er at io n to a ppear in a futur e Mod e rn Gymnas t .

Sincerely yours, Fra nk Wolcott, C oach Springfi e ld Coll ege NECES SARY COMMENTS D ea r S ir : A fe w CO lll 111 e ntx a re n ece::;::>a ry on 1\'11".

Jaeq uin's ar ti c le, " ' Vh at Ca n Th e Coll eges Do For T h e Hi g'h Sc h ools'?" a ppea rin g in t h e A ug us t- Septe m be r , 1969 , iss u e o f Th e Modern Gy mnas t. Mr. J acq uin th es is s u g gests t h a t the oollege coaeh es se rio u s ly co n s id e r h ow th ey can h e lp t h e hig h school pl'ogTanl. H is co nclu s io n a s fa r a::> I can ::>ee i s t hat they s top lllaking rul e c ha nges a nd in c lud e a hi g h school coach on the :\1a ti o n a l Collegiate Ru les Co mmittee. I think we s h o u ld make a ca r e ful co nside ra ti o n in thi s co untry to what gy mnas tics actua lly is. I s this a SI)Ort w h e r e loca l g roup s co n s ide r t h e ir n eeds o n ly, d eve lop th e ir own fOl'rn a ts as to eve nts a nd sco ring sY!::i tenu;? In every ::;ec ti on of our co untry , vh e re hig h l5ch oo l gy mn al5 tics is p o pula r, loca l comm ittees h av e see n f i t t o m a k e up t h e ir own com p e titi ve rules. C ite t he a reas ,vh e re gynl nastics is stro ngest s uc h as so u t h e rn Ca lifo rn ia, nort h er n Calif o rnia, Arizona, Colorado , Illin o is, a nd Pen n!'Sy lva ni a . No t on e o f th ese gY 1111Uls ti cs areas use th e !'Sa In e ru e!'S e ith e r o n fo rnlat, sco ring sys tenlS, a nd s y ste nl of a ll -aro und comp et ito r s. At leas t th e coll ege p eo pl e, lik e it o r n o t, h ave a ru les comm it tee that attempts to a l ign the forlllat , o rd e r of even ts, jud g in g' procedure::; in o rde r that a ll of t h e NCAA in s titut io n s h 'H"e a n opportun i ty to C0111pete on a n eq ua l ba:si:s .

Most of our h igh sch ool eoac h es seem to be rather prov inc ia l , vh e n it co m es to a lig'nin g hig h sch oo l gy nlnast ics nat io na lly. vVh a t i s gym n asties"! Accord in g to t h e FIG , lll e n's g ynln a::::; ti cs inelu d e~ :-; ix eve nt s .

Th ey al so stat e tha t each m a n will comp e te i n th ese events for a tota l scor e, o r t h e a ll- around. I f eel the r e are so m e d e finite r easons for t h e ir thinking. Firs t of a ll, it g ives an indi vidual a n a pport unity t o become a comple t e at hl e te a n d d eve lop hi s e ntire b od y thro u g h t h e di scl iplin es of th e s ix eve nts. Second, inte rnation a l s tyle ex poses th e at hlete t o th e c r o wd s ix tim es ; h e n ce i t g ives t h e c han ce t o t h e fa n s t o bec om e acqua inted w i th th e a bilit ies of the at hl ete. I s this tru e whe n we compete s p eciali sts? T h e cod e of poi nts w as de veloped to scor e gymnas ti cs ob j ectively by th e judges. Study th is code of points from a philosophical p Oint o f v ie w, a nd I think yo u w ill find th a t th e p eopl e w h o wro t e it h a d in m in d t h e indi vid u a l an d the t eam . I n this li ght, indi v idual events or s p ecial events h ave no nl ea ning·.

Th ey a r e a ll in te r-re lated to th e total pic ture of gymnastic s . 'l'h e re are s till :S0111e people coachin g in t hi s country that feel they deser ve a c r owd in the ir gym jus t b ecau se t h ey have tra in e d a t eam and are c o mp e ting with anot h e r sch ool to w in . Like it o r n o t, yo u 'r e not going to h ave a cro\vd in your gym until you can s ho w s p or ts fa n s that y ou are good in yo ur s p o rt. L et's face it - m e d iocr e o r poor gymnas ti cs is h o rrible to w a tch. ' Vhen y o u h ave a wi nne r y our c r o wd will come to your gym . All th e gimmicks a nd e nticem en t s a nd s ide s h ows wil l not h e lp yo u o n e bit. Exce lle n ce is the o nly k ey to s u ccess - i t's th e o nl y t hing that w ill sav e Our spo rt. Our s p ec ia is t type gymnas tics h as fail e d mi ser a bly in thi s c o untry . P icture t h e spec ia l is t va u l ting - h e stands a t th e e nd of t h e runway, takes a ni ce lo n g' run , explodes o ver t h e long horse, a nd s ti c k s a la nding. Sco r e , 9. 16. The c r owd cheers, th e vau l t e r dis a ppea r s to th e b e n c h. End of va u l t e r. How can a cr owd g et excited over thi s on e spec ia li st? N ow if the va ulte r were conl p e ting in th e a ll - a r o und a nd h a d two m o r e eve nts to compe t e in maybe we could see jus t h ow g ood a n at hl e t e h e r ea lly wa s .

S ure ly h e would b e du a ling it o u t fo r th e a ll- a r o und title with a boy from a n oth er t eam. C a se in point for in tern a ti ona l gy mnastics.

In r esponse to Mr. Jac quin 's qu es tio n, w h at can the colleges do f or th e hi g h sc h ools? I certain ly f eel it is n ecessar y to place a m a n fro m hig h s c h oo l on the NCAA R ul es Comm i tte e , but on ly a ft e r t h e hig h sch ool coach es ag ree t o fo ll ow t h e sam e rules thro u g h o ut the c ountry. I don ' t thi nk it is n ecessary to s t o p m ak ing rule c h anges - this i s the o nl y way o ur s port h as progressed froln the un orga niz ed nl e~s t hat it was a few y ea r s ago. It seem s to me tha t th e co ll eges d o everythi ng p os s ibl e to h elp the hig h sch ool coac h es. Th ey h ave a ba.sic se t of co mpetitive r ul es th a t t h e hig h sch ools h ave d r awn upon. T h ey in no vat e d th e US GF a fe w years ago in an attempt t o s tra ig h ten o ut o ur inte rna ti o n a l a nd nationa l inl age . In In a ny caBes th e co ll eg iate coach es have b een t h e o n ly so urce of o uts id e info rma t io n a v a il able to t h e hig h sch ool coach es. The coll ege coach es h ave led th e ,yay in ilnp le 111 e n t in g th e much n eed ed cod e of p o in ts fo r jud g ing . Most of the big c li n ics t hat a r e prov id e d durin g C hri s tnlaH vacat iOI1H an d SU111 111el' vacati OI1 B a re o rga niz ed, finHnc e cl , an d h osted by t h e co ll eges a nd uni ve ,'s iti es

of our co untr y. Th ey h av e p l'ov id e d m an y

fin e sc h o la r s hips 1'0 1' t h e he t te r at hl e t es tha t t h e hig h s c hoo l coac h es h av e t r a in e d.

T h ey off e r to the young at hl e t e a n o ppnrot lH~r t e anlS o f o ur n at io n w hi e h e nab le!-i tu ni ty to tra vel a nd co mpe t e . w it h ~h c t h e indi v idual to b ecome a c qualllled w it h more people and pa r t s of our co unt r'y . Th e.y al s o t r ain th e high s ch ool c oach es. I don t ac tually kno4\v j u s t ,,' h at nl o r e t~1 ey c o uld do. C onversely I think that th e hI g h s chool c oac h es s h o u ld fo ll ow th e e xa mpl e se t by t h e c oll ege coach es.

V e r y tru ly y otl r s, B ill Hal m e s Gymna s ti c Coach M a nk ato , "N l in n.

Mankato State TOO AESTHETIC Dea r M r . Sundby, I app r ec iate t h e aes thetic ph o tog r a ph s publi s h ed in "Th e Modern G y mna s t Maga zine", ho \vever it see n1 S appa r e nt t h a t t h e r e is add i t io na l knowl ed g e to be ga in ed f I' a m v ulg a r p h otography.

Gy mn asti c stunts conce rn movements e x ec uted at c ritical moments in tim e. Many of t h ese c rit ic a l moments o cc ur wh e n th e gymnas t r e ac h es a n a est h e ticly di s pl ea s ing position.

Your photogra phy s e e m s to c onstan tly p o rtray a gym n ast at t h e "to p " of' hi s s tunt. What I am interes t ed in is w h at the gy mna s t d oes to reach hi s height. Th e c rilical 1110111ents w hi c h I s p eal< of Inay bes t b e expla ined by ci ting a f ew exam p les. Som e of the at r ociou s ph o togra ph s t h a t I would lik e to s ee in y our m a gaz ine wou ld be: l. vV h e r e d o a gymnas t 's hand s leave the bar on a flyaway or d o ubl e bac k from the high bar or rings?

2. What does a tumble r do wh e n hi s f e et hit the floor th e la s t tim e b e fo r e th e ex e c u t io n of a back doub le or full t wist?

3. What is th e position of the rings a nd b ody pre ced in g a n d f o ll owing th e e x a ct b o ttom of t h e front a nd back g iant s \\' in g s on t h e rings ?

4. W h at d o e s a cros s look like fro m the rear? I have bee n inform e d that a c r oss is best ex ec uted w i th a p ec uliar t yp e o f locki ng action in t he rear s hould e r ana tamy.

Actu a l ph otogr ap hy in t h ese c a s es w ill b e more m ea nin g ful th a n dra wn o ll ustrat ion s .

What are t h e possibi li tie s fo r di s playin g s t r obosc opi c n ho tography in yo ur Ilu lgazin e?

Sin c erely, Allen Cap Slipp er y R ock, Pa.

Ed . A Stroboscopic flash unit would be very benefici a l for MG instruction a l photos, we a gree . In fact our MG photo t ec hnician , F rank Ganges is in the process of d e veloping a s p ecia l s trobe unit for our use . The phot o shown illustrates the typ e of photo work he is experimenting w ith .

WANTED CLINIC RIGHTS D ear Editor, The gym na s t s of th e sta t e ,o f Il li n o is a r e c onside r ed by many as one of t h e best of t h e country. A lth ough I b e li e ye t h at the Illin o is gynl n as tie prognuTI is a g ood one, I a ls o beli e ve t h at a n i mportant c h a n g e must be nlarl e co ncernin g t h e r es trict io n o f t h e Illino is gy nlnast attend in g a gym nastic c linic .

Whil e oth e r s t a t es e n cou r age c ljni c~ a nd th e a tt e n dance of th e ir gym n asts, " ' e

t h e g ymn ns t s ft' Onl Il lino is a r e n ot a ll o w e d t o >,!,tte nd t h eRe wo rth -\\'h il c c li n ies . If \\'e a r e t o ('ontinu e t o imp r ove :H; w e h n ye d o n e in t h e past , we 111 Us t b e g iY e n th e d g h t tn "tte nd t h e c l in iCR, Rin c e t h ey p r ov id e u ~ with an e xc e ll e n t c h a n ce to m ee t a nd to le arn f r olll t h e mo s t e xp e ri Pl1 ced g Y1TI na ~ t s in OUt' co untry.

T s in ce r e l.\' h o p e t h at thnse m e n r espon s ihI e fOt, t h e g ynlna s ti c r egu la ti o n s in our !-itat f' n n d t h e 'coa c h es fr o n1 nul' t eanl S ,vi II r ealize that this iR n o t my o pin in n on ly , but that of whnt I beli e \' e to be ever y g ynl nas t fr o nl t h e ~ t a te of Illin o is .

S incer e ly, Rob ert Qu inta n n les Illi noi s Gym n a s t S k ok ie, m ino i ~ 60076 JAPANESE COACH AVAILABLE Dea r Gle nn : I wou ld like to ca ll yo ur atte n t io n to a nd h a \'e t h e fo ll o wi n g ite nl p la ced i n your M .G. A J apane se gym na s t an d ph ys ical ed uc a tion teac h e r, TvIa s ay ul<i vVn.ta nabe , and hi s w if e h ave e xp r e s sed a n Inte r est and d es ire t o come t o t h e U ni t e d Sta t e s.

T h e in t e nti o n of M r . \ Va t n n a b e is t o ,vi t h and c oach a g y nl n as tic t e anl on t h e nat io n a l , univ e r s ity, c oll ege or g y nlnasti c c lub l evel. He is e un'e n t ly a t ea c her at the rippon Phys ical Ed u cali o n co ll e g e in TOkyo.

U p until t h e fina l Olympi c trialR I",t Ju l y, IV[r. \\Tata nab e \Va !' in nU111.be r nin e po s ition o n t h e J a panese O ly n.,p lc t eam: howeve r , du r ing t h e f o urth o ptl,[) n a l e v e nt of the fina l tr ia ls, h e s uffe r e d a sel'lou s mi s h np and was fo rced t o dr n p from th e ll1eet.

Mr. Watanab e w ill b e a v ail a b l e for em p loyment in June, 1969. Inte r est e d pnr t ies ln ay ,,' ri te di t'eetly to : MI'. M asay uki Watanab e 15-31-1 ch om e Sakurashinmach i Se t agaya K u Tokyo, Japan .

O t' co n tac t ll1 e at the f0110 Wlllg add r es~ : Sincer ely , P e ter P. Du sek , Jr. 26450 Eu c lid A ve . # 311 0] Euclid , Ohi o 441 32

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T V OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS COVERA GE Dear S ir, En c lo Red is a COpy o f a le tter I Re nt t o th e Un ite d S t a t es Oly mp ic C ommitt ee concer ning th e A .B.C. Network' R coy ernge of th e Olvnl0 ic GalTI e s. I anl s ure you ""'1 11 ag r ee ,,,i th me in t h e in ad e quate han d lin g a nd di~app o inting c over ag-e . I ' vQu lrl hl<e i hi~ le tt e l' publ is h e d s o t h nt e v e ry s P()j'ts lninc1 e d A lll e ri can is a,,' are o f t hi B inju ~­ ti( ·f> . I w o uld appr ec iat e :111 :V t im e ::l ncl c o n ~ i c1 e l 'Rt i o n yo u c a n g ive th i ~ 11latte r.

Sin cerely y ou r s, J ay Gei s t Philad elphi n , Pn. U .S . Olymp ic Committee D ea r SI~ .

A s a member of the T e mpl e Uni verS ity Gymn as t ics T ea m , I consid er myself a dedic a t e d a thlete who works ou t h a rd for three hours a d a y , 365 d ays a ye ar . t o ac hie ve perf ecti o n ' in the spo rt . Most of o ur team is dedic a t e d and thi s is how we won fourth pl ace in the 1968 N .C.A .A .

Gymnastics Ch a mpionships. S o you cou ld probably imagine h o w h a ppy I w as when I looked a t the television proqr a m a nd saw a lot of gymna s tics schedul.e d o ~ th e Ol y mpic bro a dcasts f ro m MeXICO . Since I a m a student , I was a bl e t o w a tch eve ry A. B. C. broa dco s t . E ac h time I turn e d on my television set , I expected to see what was scheduled for th a t tim e period. T o my dismay, gymnastics, a s well as some other sport s , was n ot covered a d equately.

Alth oug h th e schedule sugqested a " full co v e r a ge" of gymnastics, it w as r are ly s hown.

Wheneve r gymnastics ca me on , reco rded th e a mount of tim e it was given .

Me n' s gymna s tic s (6 events with 24 med· a ls) was given 13 minutes a nd women 's gymnastics (4 events with 18 med a ls) was g ive n 29 minutes . This adds t o a grand tot a l of 42 mniute s of gymnastics co verage w ith a tot a l of 42 med a ls . If A.B.C. gave every s p o rt this typ e of coverage ( 1 minute of cover a Qe for e a ch medal in the sport), it would 't a ke thern a ppro xima t e ly 8 h o urs t o cov e r the two we e k s of competition . There are five s ports th a t a cou ntry is r equi red to have when they hold the Olympic Ga mes (Track & Field , Swimming & Diving , Gymn as tic s, Com b a tants , a nd Mo dern Pent a thlon ). S o we see th a t gymn a stics is considered b y ~he Olympic C o mm ittee as a major s port , giv ing 1/ 10 of a ll Olympic med a ls in gymn as ti cs . A.B . C. only g ave gymnastics 1/ 60 of their 50 hours of "full coverage" to gymnastics . Gymnastics wa s not th e only s port that I feel th a t was " s hort c h a nged "

by A . B. C. I saw very little s occe r and

fe n ci ng , an d I d id n ot see a ny wrestin g, G reco- Rom ", " wr es tlina, s h oo tinq, wa t er po lo , field ho c k e y , o r ya c hting . As far as I a m co n ce rn e d , A . B .C .'s Olympi c broadcas t s we r e more o f a n "all U.S.A ,'s medal cove r age" th a n a " full a ll sport s. coverage." I think th a t A.B.C .'s OlympIC coV · erage shou ld be eva lu a ted by th e Ol ymp IC Commi tte e w ith m a ny change s to be made as far as the sc heduling of th e s ports t o be covere d o r the Olympic rights s h o uld be give n t o anot h er n e twork in 1972. I h ooe you w ill c on s ider th is letter in the intere st of a ccurate re porting of futu re Olympic Games.

Sincerely yours, Jay Geist VOODOO PINS Dear G le nn: Abou t thre e w e e k s ago, I saw t h e n ew e st copy of t h e MG on Hal l~r e y ' s desk.

(The iss u e co vered the Olym pI C trIa ls). I was anxious to rece ive my copy . 1 waite d.

I waited. And wait ed . I'm s till waiting . I h av e n ' t received the 1\1G y e t. In addit i.u n, I h ad Stanfor d s ubs cri b e to t h e MG. S till w a i ti ng o n that too!

I s th e r e a p lo t against me? D o you wa n t t o d e llrive me of intellectual gymnastic s s timul a tion ? Are y o u o ut to g e t me?

P r ove your good fa ith by s e nd in g m e m y c opy befor e I Lose touch w i t h th e gym nas tics world ( er g o , reali ty).

I hate t o threaten , bu t if I d u n 't r e ceive both Ca lli es 8 00 n , I ' ll s t ic k voodoo pin s through s ome of my e dition s !

Othe r t hall occas ional forgetfuln ess, you are doing a tre m e ndou s j o b , Gl e nn! Ke e p up t h e good work .

Bes t regards, Dan J. M illman Gym n astics Coach Stanford U nive rsity ED: Sorry Da nny we had a hang up in the MG mail department . . . We ru s h ed the Pre -Olympi c e dition to press and h a d a few advance copies rea dy to t ake to Mex· ic o. (Th is is where H a l got his copy.) The tota l product ion c a me off the pre sses later.

Then t he hang -u p . . . o u r e n ve lope s up plier (after we had a lready w a ite d a month for our order) informed us they h a d not rece ived our shipment from their eastern office and it would be in a ny d ay . . . we w a it e d and they did not ar r ive a nd th e MGs sat in the off ice for week s waiting to be s tuffed a nd m ai led. Needl ess t o say t h is threw off o ur schedule consi d erab ly (w hi c h h as n ot had a very g oo d record to start with), b ut w e are working h a rd t o ca t ch up o nd ho pe to be in better s h a pe by J a nuary.

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53

Now your team can practice with complete confidence that no matter how they land they'll be caught in the soft, soft cradling depths of a SOFLAN GYM CUSHION. Anyone, yes anyone, can make a mistake-and when it happens, there's nothing like a SOFLAN cushion to make them forget it.

Protective SOFLAN practice cushions are 5 feet by 10 feet, with 8 thick inches of soft foam rubber filler, covered · by a nylon breather fabric that lets the performer sink right in for a weightless stop.

ANNOUNCING! THE NEW SOFLAN-3 MEET MAT Recently used in Olympic trials at UCLA - now being put into production for competition use.

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Gray supplied unless otherwise specified.

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