Modern Gymnast - November 1969 by USA Gymnastics

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notes FROM THE

editor: COLLEGE DATA: So far we have received 22 enthusiastic replies to our College Data request in the editorial notes of the last MG edition. This is great, but where are the rest of the colleges that should be sending us their school data to be included in our January edition COLLEGE DATA CHART. This chart will be read by high school gymnasts across the nation (and around the world) looking for a college they would one day like to attend. We know, as we received several thousand requests for this information through our MG GYM POLL we have been conducting for the past year. Starting with this edition (supplementing the coming College Data Chart to be published in January), we will publish photos and information on several different colleges in each of the coming editions as a regular continuing MG feature series.

PLEASE! If you move, notify the MG office . ... A change-ofaddress card to the post office is not sufficient to get your MG magazine forwarded unless you guarantee to pay additional postage to the post office. Your magazines are returned to us (postage due) with or without your new address. In some cases they are not returned to us at all, and we keep mailing to your old address not knowing you have moved and are not receiving your paid for MG .... Even though we try to keep up on address changes and make corrections that come in the day we are mailing the MG, it would be better for both of us; if you know you are moving, to try to send us your change of address at least six weeks ahead of time (as requested by most other national publications). Thank you.

THE MODERN GYMNAST MAGAZINE

CG Official Publication of the United States Gymnastic Federation

CONTENTS VOLUME XI

NOVEMBER, 1969

NUMBER 11

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR .... ... .. ... .... Glenn Sundby CHALK TALK ............ .. ... .......... ............. .... ... VIEWPOINTS ..... ...... ........ .... .. ....... .. Dick Criley THE QUAD ..... ..... ... ....... ...... ... Kenneth Sakoda TRAINING FOR COMPETITION IN JAPAN ... Makota Sakamoto MIDDLE EAST TOUR ................. ...... Bill Roetzheim MG COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY DATA .... .. ...... ...... ... USGF REPORT .. ... .... .......... ....... ....... .. Frank Bare MG INTERVIEW: Paul A. Vexler .......... ... .Dick Criley MG CENTER PHOTO ... ..... ........ ..... Chuck Kennedy ANYONE FOR ALL AROUND ... George, Tonry, Millman TEACHING THE GERMAN GIANT .... .william Holmes A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR TEACHING TUMBLING .. .AI Cap TUMBLING TOPICS ...... .... ... ............ ..Dick Criley JUDGING BY JERRY ... ..... ....... ... .... ..TedMuzyczko JUDGING QUIZ ........ ..... ..... .... .. .. ... ....... ... ...... A GYMNAST'S THOUGHTS WHILE RUNNING . .. Dan Millman LETTERS ... ....... ... .. ........ ... .. ..... .... .... ..... .... .. .. MG CALENDAR .... .. ... ... ... .... ..... .. ....... .... .. .. ..... MG CLASSIFIED .. ..... .. ............. ....... ... .. ..... ... ..

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COVER, Bob Dickson, top Univ. of Iowa AA performer at the NCAA Championships in Washington last April. Steady as a rock Dick路 son scored 53.00 AA Optionols (in spite of a 8.0 SH score) to spirit the Iowa squad on to the 1969 Notional team Champion路 ship.

PUBLISHER-EDITOR GLENN SUNDBY

ASSOCIATE EDITORS-TECHNICAL DICK CRILEY, FEATURE KEN SAKODA, LAYOUT

MG BARGAIN BOX 50 50 Assorted Past MG Editions for just $5.00 (1957-1968) Here is your chance to look at record , scores, routines, etc., of past national and world champions ... . Al so loads of helpful hints, instructional ideas, plus hundreds of inspirational single and sequence photos. We have found ourselves with more past MGs than space. Therefore in order to make room for new inventory we pass this "Bargain 50 " on to you .

Order from: MG Bargain Box 50 Box 611 Santa Monica, Calif, 90406 4

ASSOCIATE EDITORS路 Feature A. Bruce Frederick, Education; Dr. James S. Bosco, Research; Jerry Wright, Competition; Fronk Bore. USGF; John Nooney, Canada; Robert Hanscom, YMCA; Andrzej Gonera, European; Gerold George, Don Millman & Don Tonry, AA Instructional; Bill Roetzheim, Instructional.

THE MODERN GYMNAST magazine is published by Sundby Publications. 410 Broadway, Santo

Monico. Cal iforn ia 90401. Second Class Postage paid at Sonta Monico, Calif. Published monthly except bi-monthly June, July, August, and September. Price $6.00 per year, 60c a single copy: Subscription correspondence, The MODERN GYMNAST, P.O. Box 611 , Santo Monica, California 90406. Copyright 1969漏 all rights reserved by SUNDBY PUBLICATIONS, 410 Broadway, Santo Monica. Calif. All photos and manuscripfs sub miNed become the property of The MODERN GYMNAST unless a return request and sufficient postage are included.

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Over 14 states and Canada were represented at this year's Iowa C linic. The four-day event was held at the University of Iowa. After talking to our clinic participants and receiving their many letters of evaluation, I'm happy to report about a very successfu l gymnastics clinic. The reason for our success must go to the right people, and they are the master teachers of our boys ' and girls' programs. The girls' staff was orgariized by Sharon Zuber and consisted of what might be considered the finest foursome in gymnastics ; Dick Mulvihill, Muriel Grossfeld, Linda Metheny and Sharon Zuber. The program was also fortunate to have Dick Zuber, educational director from Nissen Corporation. Lectures and demonstrations as well as individual and group participation was an integral part of the women's program. The girls were placed into abi lity groups and worked the Olympic events. The 1968 Olympic film was shown, and the girls worked on the 1970 World Champions hip compulsories. The men's master staff was headed by yours truly and featured a young and extremely knowledgeable staff of champions. Fred Dennis - Member of the 1969 American Cup team. Sam Bailie - Former National Champion and presently the Gymnastics Representative for Atlas Ath letic Equipment Company. Rich Scorza - Former USGF Champion and the present co-captain of the University of Iowa Gymnastics team.

Neil Schmitt - Former Big Ten High Bar champion and presently an outstanding United States All- Around gymnast. Dick Hol zaepfe l - Former Universit y of Iowa gymnas ti cs coach and director of the Fort Lauderdale Christmas C linic. Assisted by the University of Iowa Gymnastics team - 1969 NCAA C hampions. The boys' program featured instruction for beginning, intermediate and advanced gymnastics. I ndividual in structio n was stressed . and special eveni ng sessions were devoted to individual coac hes' needs. The Olympic films were show n and narrated by Sam Bailie. One of the clinic highlights was an exh ibit ion by our staff members and outstanding clinic participants. Many th anks to our staff and clinic participants and , of course , A meri can, At las and Nissen.

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VIEWpoints By Uick e riley

PART I It has been my pleasure in the past several

months to talk with quite a few American gymnasts who have been in Japan, as well as wi th some top Japanese themselves. The observations which fo ll ow have been gleaned from conversations wi th Roy Davis, Makoto Sakamoto, World Cup competitors Nakayama, Kenmotsu , Oda, and their coach Mr. Okamura, and U ni versity of Oregon Coach Dick Smith and his team who have just returned from a 3-week workout and tour of Japan's top gymnastic schools. Detailed reports from all of these have appeared and will appear in the MG. You can learn some interesting things: Out of 400 all-around gymnasts at Nippon Physical Education College only six will ever get to represent the school in competi ti on. The national high school championships drew some 300 boys and 300 gi rls. In J apan, the "new" gymnastics includes trampoline, indian clubs , and free exercises. Trampolining has its own organization independent of gymnastics, but it has not yet achieved the popularity of gymnastics. Everyone has been unanimous on the hard work and long hours which go into producing Japan's elite international-class gymnasts. Workouts are 3-4 hours long every day of the week. At the high and low levels alike, 2-3 compulsory and optional routines are thrown daily on each apparatus. How does such a program get started? Japan, more than any other country , has many Olympians who are actually involved in coaching. Youngsters are introduced to the program at an early age and allowed to " play" at gymnastics until it becomes a way of life. In the junior high and high schools, gy mnastic clubs are formed which have little competition between clubs but which induce a strong team and competitive feeling within the club. At this level gymnastics is largely the learning and perfecting of the basic moves. The gy mnast performs the same moves over and over for months until they are second nature ; only then is he allowed to learn a new trick. This daily repetition is never seen in our U. S. schools where new tri cks are taught every day before complete mastery of the basic prerequisites have been attai ned. Such repetit ion is characteristic of the college gymnast as well . With no competitions except the Japanese N CAA championship and perhaps the All-Japan meet, he works hard on perfecting his routine. Each gy mnast is

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Continued on page 28

Just about ready to go for broke, Dennis chalks up.

Dennis talks it over with a friend before going for four.

"THE QUAD"

Photos and story by Kenneth Sakoda

Last August the Modern Gymnast magazine received a notice that someone was going to throw a " quad" (quadruple somersault) off the flying rings at Santa Monica Beach. This we had to see! As it turned out the notice was worth looking into. Dennis Sherman , a 20-year-old gymnast fresh out of the army , was actually throwing quads - consistently! Unfortunately , on that August Sunday, I was only equipped with a 35mm still camera, so I missed recording Dennis' quad in total. It wasn 't until Labor Day the following month that I was able to catch the entire four turns on a Robot sequence camera (see numbered photos I - I I). Here 's the rundown on a quad. Today , a double is nothing, it's done quite commonly (off the still rings). Now , a triple is something else. I've heard it said that the third somersault out of a triple is completely blind , meaning after three flips you lose up and down orientation, which means landing on your head is as likely as landing on your feet' When we start

consIdering the quad (which used to be out of the question) we are therefore talking about a trick that , in most people's opinion , is completely blind! You have to spin so fast that orientation is pretty much lost after the number two somersault. This means that Dennis depends on something besides up-down orientation to get his feet , not his face , to the sand.

I think that something else can only be described as " HAl R' " Sequence of Quad: (photos numbered I-I-I) I) Dennis at the backswing of his cast. He has reached a maximum height of approximately 18 feet and now is piking for his tap at the bottom of the swing. 2. The first somersault; here Dennis has released and is going into his tuck. He is over 20 feet in the air and at this point he is still on his way up! 3. End of number one; he has reached his peak (about 23 feet) and is now descending - fast. He's still got three to go. 4) Beginning number two , he is virtually going to spin number two so fast that he ' ll accomplish the entire somersault without any loss in height. 5) Well into number two. 6) End of two , the next two are blind and he has over half of his time gone before ground contact. 7) Beginning number three. 8) End number three. 9) Beginning number four, notice how fast he is dropping now. 10) Half way into four, the ground is coming up fast' I I) Four completed, the danger is over - at worst he 'll land on all fours ; Dennis , however, landed this one standing up!

TRAINING FOR COMPETITION IN JAPAN By Makoto Sakamoto

My one yea r in J apan was the most fruitful experi ence I have ever had in gy mnasti cs. There were so man y things I le arned th at to try to fit them into one article is a tas k I feel inca pable of. I would like, therefore , to concentrate on one area - th e training for the intercollegiate championships. The first point I mu st make is that the importance attached to thi s meet is greater than for either the All-Japan C ha mpion ships in November or the NHK C up C ha mpion ships in June. It is beca use the future internationa l gy mnas ts are chosen from the college rank s that judges , officials and administrators put the greatest effort in this meet. Before goi ng into the trai ning method I would like to give yo u a short introdu ction to so me of the top universit y tea ms in J apan. The most outstanding tea m in recent years has been the Nihon (or Nippon) Ph ys ical Education Co llege. The pres ide nt of th e co llege, Prof. Kurimoto , is also the head of the Japan Gymnastics Association. Th ere are abo ut 400 members in it s gy mnas tics club, with about 100 me mbers who wo rk earnestly to make the tea m squ ad , compose d of a team with six gymnasts a nd three individu al representatives. Outstanding gy mnas ts rom thi s college include Y a mashita , Tsurumi , Aihara , Wata nabe , Kenmotsu , T sukahara, Aiba and Konishi. The tea m which had until th e las t few years give n them the stiffest competition is the Tokyo U niversit y of Education . Th e professor of gy mn astics at thi s institution is Prof. Ka neko , one of the most knowledgeable perso n in gy mn asti cs (the others include Prof. Tsukawaki of Waseda University and Prof. T ake moto of Nihon Phy sica l Education Co lI ~ge). Of the man y great gymnasts from this school , Kato Sawao, Honma, Miki , Nagasawa, Mitsukuri , Ono a nd Endo quickl y come into my mind. The tea m th at has given the above two tea ms the grea tes t threat is Nihon University , coached by Endo a nd H ayata. Of the many outst a nding gy mnasts there today, Oh ara stand s out. He is s mall (a bout my he ight ), but he works beautifully as he mai nta ins a Shahklin-like consistenc y by balanc ing extension a nd stre ngth. Un li ke the three schools which are located in Tokyo , C huk yo Universi ty in Nagoya has posed the most formidable outs ide threat to Tokyo's supremac y. The Spartan atmosphere there is primarily due to the influ ence of N akaya ma. Ueda, Fujimori and Kosa mats u (174cm giant) are the three most-talkedabout gy mn as ts from thi s universit y. I ca nnot close this s ho rt introducti on without me ntioning my own Waseda University , Kato T ak eshi 's alma mater. Our university has th e second longest tradition in gymnastics , a nd many officials , including Mr. Kondo and Prof. Kodawaki , we re grad uates from thi s school. The five schoo ls - Nihon Physical Edu catio n Co llege , Nihon University , C huk yo U ni ve rsit y, Tok yo Un ivers it y of Ed ucation a nd Waseda Universit y - are th e to p five tea ms today , a nd the orde r in! which I li sted them is the way the y fini s hed in th e most rece nt inte rco ll egiate ch a mpion ships. The training sc hedul e we used for th e inter-

collegiate championships , according to Prof. Tsukawaki ,' is representative of the schedul e used in most of the universities . Although th e differences in time of compet iti on, the perso nality of the tea m leader and the c haracter of th e team are three factors which may change s lightly the training schedule of each team , the ge neral outline is, nevertheless, ide nti ca l. Because the team squad" is se lected by at leas t the fifth week prior to the meet, I will concentrate o n the last five weeks of the tra ining. On the first week th e nine competitors and the tea m leader live together in a dormitory and partic ipate in what the Ja panese call "gasshuku. '" The training is the most strenuous during this week due in part to th e numerou s a mount of routines and to the lac k of experience in ~o in g through them. If the gasshuku lasts for seve n days, a ll the days are about the same except the fourth day when it is used for recuperation . Below is an outline of a typical day from the first and last three days of the training camp: I. Ri se 7 :00 a. m. A. Jog for haif a mile. B. Morning group ca li st henics I. Flexibi lity exercises 2. Strengthening exe rci ses C. Morning indi vidu a l cali sthe nics II. Breakfast at 8:00 a .m. (Rel axation , stud y, free time between breakfast and lun ch) III. Light lunch at 12:00 p.m. IV . Commen ce pract ice at I :00 p.m. ' A. 10-20 minute s for warmup B. 20 minutes for group tumblin g C. Six tentative tea m membe rs begin warmup on the first eve nt of the co mpetiti o n I. After one or two wa rmups two compulsory and two optional routin es a re performed : 2. Wh at time left of the 30 or 40 minute s allotted is free practice. D. Same pattern for the five remaining events V. C losing cali sthenics and termin ation of practice VI. Dinner at 6:00 p.m. VII. 9:30 p.m. curfew exce pt on days when th e captain or tea m leader ca ll s for a meeting" VIII. Light s off at 10:00p.m. On the fo urth day we start th e day wi th the same morning sc hedul e . but in the afte rnoon we practice freel y for only abo ut two hours. The work load for th e second week is less tha n th at for th e fir st week , but we mu st st ill complete a t leas t one co mpul so ry a nd one optional routine s. Un lik e gass hu ku we do not live toge th er, a nd alth ough the tea m leader reco mmend s everyone to do his morn ing ca li sthenics. mos t of th e gym nas ts fail to do th em. As in the first week the fourth day is re served for light prac ti ce, but depending upon our condition the tea m leader o r capta in may force us to continue th e high pace for as lo ng as ten days. On weeks whe n we have no rec uperati on

day, the las t half of the week is terribl y difficult. In retrospect I was able to endure the ro ugh training only by trying to compete with th e other gymnasts who worked so te nac iou sly.' Th e third a nd fourth weeks are simil ar to the first , but again the gy mnasts do not li ve in th e dormitory. On the fifth week we e nte r gass huku for the second time, but beca use it is the week of th e competition the prac ti ce sc hedul e is li ght. Two days before the mee t we must go through at leas t one full comp ulsory a nd o ne opt iona l routines on a ll six eve nts. The day befo re the meet is called "choseibi " (adju st ment day) , and the gy mnast is free to do a nything he wants after doing the morn ing group cali steni cs. Usua ll y in the evening of the choseibi (also the day before th e meet), diluted w hi s key and snac ks a re se rved by the tea m leader to ease th e mind s of the gymnas ts , a nd the light s go off aro und II :00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m. Before closing thi s short arti c le I mu st mention somet hing abou t the " s higika i" (practice mee t). Th ese meets are held at leas t two time s ' during th e fi ve weeks unde r identica l co ndi tion s as in the actua l co mpetiti o n. U nder ac tua l compet itio n co nditi o n means bowing to the superior judge, taki ng three minutes for warmup and no repea ting of routin es . After co mpleting the routines th e j udge s comment individua ll y o n his weak spo ts, and it was in their technicall y deta iled and artisticall y fine criti cisms that I found most fruitful during my one-year visit to J apan. The co ndition s he re in the United States are not the same as in J apa n and thus the program I have introduced may no t be wholl y app li cable. But I hope that our tea ms will try out so me of the thi ngs I have mentioned here , and if it helps th e tea ms to perform better in the meet s . then I urge you to let everyo ne know what aspec ts of the J apa ne se tra ining sc hed ule you found most beneficial. , Ke io U niversit y has the longest tradition . , Prof. Tsukawa ki was team leader (same as coach ) for 1964 and 1968 O lympi c Games a nd 1966 World C ham pionships. , The ninth ma n is reg istered as indi vidua l co mpetitor severa l weeks before th e meet , but the final s ix members of the tea m do not have to be registered until the day before the me et. 'The two characters fo r th e wo rd are a u , to meet . and yado. meaning inn. Roughly tra nslated it mean s " to board together," but in spo rt s terminology the phrase " training camp" is o ft e n used. , The Japanese gy mn as ts form a huddle before and afte r prac ti ce during whi c h time no one is a llowed to eat, smoke or ta lk except about gy mn as ti cs. " Usua ll y two meetings are anno unced during gass huku a t which time the tea m leader offers suggestions to eac h gy mnas t. , Un less a n injury is seve re the gym nast fo ll ows th e schedule to the letter. O ur captain wi th a swo ll e n left wri st th e size of a lime worked ind efatigab ly eve ry day, beari ng pain which I doubt I cou ld have e ndured.

MIDDLE EAST TOUR Report by BILL RO ETZ HEIM , Coac h It is diffi cult for me to proj ect to you a meaningful desc ription of our Middle East Tour, for it was too fabulous to lend itself to a deta iled report with only the written word as th e conveyance. I' m no neophyte when it com es to flyin g the pond with a group of athletes , but thi s was the joys of my two Olympic tea ms , and numerous overseas competitive adventures rolled up into one big glorious package. Wh y do I fe e l thi s tour was such a great success? It wo uld be nice if I could say " it was the coaching" or the " organi zation ," but thi s would be untrue. The reason I could begin thi s story with such lofty superlatives was the great bunch of kids th at co mprised this tea m. Sure they ' we re excellent gy mnast s, but above that they were great to be aro und . Up until that time I had never see n a group of athletes of that hi gh s kill leve l th at did not have at least one prima donn a. They cer.(ain ly mi sproved the say ing that " nice guys fini s h las t. " I think a ll coaches a nd administrators of international tea ms mu st remember why they a re there. As a competitor it always see med to me th at coaches a nd ma nage rs fe lt that it was their show , and the gy mnasts were merel y along as supporting casts of players. We worked out, slept and lived our dail y lives at the co nveni e nce of the administrative personnel. We didn ' t fall into th at pitfall. The coach is not th e one that will act ua ll y rep resent th e U.S. in competition or th e one that the crowd clamors to see in action . How many of you know wh o coached OJ. Simpson? S ure th ere has to be order and direction , but w herever poss ibl e this shou ld be carried out by attack ing th e probl e m cooperativel y rather tha n displaying an unbending autocratic behavior. Thc one thing to always keep in mind is that a lthou gh th e gymnasts training method s might differ from yo ur co nce pt of what they s hould be , th e me thod s a pp are ntl y wo rk e d we ll enough to make the m one of the top U.S. gy mnas ts. You may polis h or impro ve an int e rnationa l tea m membe r, but he is the product of hi s own coach 's sweat a nd toil which makes each performer quite uniqu e a nd differe nt. Don 't try and fit them all into the sa me mold. After a n on-aga in , off-again summer we all breathed a s igh of relief as we assemb led in Was hington , D. C. The United States Collegiate A ll Stars repre se nted a ll geographical areas , so the first three days we re spent getting acqu ainted . We worked out mornings and sweated out the trip' s cancellation afternoon s. Ju st before leav ing, the Is land of Cyp re s cance led our contract. Rat her tha n holding us three more days in Was hington th ey se nt us o n to Athens to rough it for a weekend , plus a day. If you ' re go ing to kill time , take my word for it. Athens is the pl ace to do it. After thi s leisure life the bubble finally burst, a nd it was on to Izmir, Turkey , for de mon stration s and clinics. Our air fare was paid by the State Department, but our room and boa rd was ta ken care of by th e local gymnast ic federation s. The shows were not onl y put on to s how off our ab ilit y but to help defray costs. In Iz mir we worked with the city tealT] a nd also the outstanding gy mnasts from the area. Although they a re in their formulative stage of development , th eir enthusiasm was unrestra ined. The ni ght of the last show we said goodby to our students. I n th e morning we were fl ying to A nkara. To our a mazement when we stepped off the plane th e nex t aft e rnoon , there were our friend s from Iz mir waiting for us at th e airport. They had spe nt the e ntire night on a bus so th ey cou ld be with us in Ankara. Ankara is the hotbed of gymnastics in Turkey . Although they are weak by Ame ri can

Top , John Ellis, George Greenfield, Dove Swetmon, Bob Emery, Brent Simmons. Middle, Sorah Brumgort, Kothy Gleason, Joyce Tonoc, Barbaro Porker, Terry Spencer. Bottom, Gale Davis and Bill Roetzheim, coaches.

standard s, with proper coaching they could ad路路 vance rapidly . At present there isn' t a ny coaching, and their gymnastic federation is a paper organization. It must be remembered that we were not sent overseas to show how much bette r our gy mnasts a re than theirs but rather to promote good will through helping them develop as gy mnasts. Everyone in our gro up time a nd time again sacrificed their own workouts in order to help teach their gy mnasts a nd coaches. Our kids also learned a fo lk tune in the language of each of the countries we visited. George Greenfield a nd Dick Swetman accompanied on gu itars while John Elias played along on his newl y purchased drum . Thi s so impressed everyone to think that we took the time to learn something in their language th at they practically made nationa l heroes of our kids, and from the n on we could do no wrong. From Ankara we moved to Konya, where we performed to a ca pacit y hou se. Then on to Istanbul for our fin al show in Turke y. It wasn ' t all work. In Istanbul the admiral gra nted us the use of hi s yac ht for a cruise on the Bosphoras. Altho ugh the Lebanese were pl anning to compete with us, after viewing the tea m in two practice meets it was quite obvious they needed more time to develop. They dec ided instead to ex hibit with us. To show you the caliber of the men 's All-Star Team, I will give you the irscores in th ese two practice meets . You will have to remember that we had been on th e road for three weeks and had a complete lack of adequate training facilities most of th e time. In Leba non they have hired an outstanding Egyptian coach. Rather th an working with their best gymnasts he has sta rted abo ut 60 high school-age boys in gy mn as tics with the hope of building to the future . We he ld three clinics in Beirut and a lso put on two demonstration s. Performance s were also held in Brummano. Lebanon is in the process of hav ing a power struggle for control of the sport , which is definitely hurting their development. Our nex t stop was Amman , Jordan. We prob-

ably reached indirect ly more people here than in any other country we visited. For our first demon stration they bused in the school-age chi ldren from all over the country . It was not only the first time in the hi story of the country that bo ys and girls sat in a stadium or any public pl ace at the sa me time but a lso the first time in Jordan that women athletes worked in front of an audience. I thought to myse lf as our girls' tea m worked , "The y couldn't have seen a better gro up or a nicer-looking team than th e girls belonging to our outfit. We also held c lini cs with their P.E. teache rs who were brought in from a ll over Jorda n. When you di ss eminate your teaching philosophy to a student, you affect his thinking , but working with their coaches we probably were indirectl y reaching thous and s. Everyone in Amman was talking about our last performance to be given in the new stadium in conjunction with the Royal Jordani an Band. Everything was set for the big night st ill two days off with not a first-cl ass ticket to be had. Fate interrupted our pl ans' and gave us our only rea l big di sappointment of the trip . On Thursday morning the EI Aqsa Marque in Jerusa lem began to burn. The show was canceled , a nd the Mosle m world went into mourning. This Mo sque , the third most religious pl ace 1ST MEET X

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9.5 8.2 8.9 8.4 53.7 8.6 8.5 9.3 8.2 52. 9.3 8.0 8.0 8.6 51.9 8.9 8.1 8.6 8.2 51. 1 9.4 7.3 8.6 8.9 50.9 2ND MEET Emery 9.4 9.2 9.3 9.3 9.0 8.4 54.6 Swetman 9.1 8.8 9.4 9.2 8.6 9.3 54.4 Greenfield 9. 4 8.6 8.9 8.7 9.4 9.2 54.2 Elli s 8.5 9.0 9.2 8.5 8.5 8.8 52.5 7.9 8.3 6.0 48.3 Simmons 8.9 8.4 8.8 Note, Bren t Simmon s hod been il l for two days prior to thi s meet. Emery Greenfield Simmons Elli s Swetman

to all Moslems, now unde r Israe li control , caused immediate demon strat ions. As a precautionary meas ure the State D epartment evacuated the tea m. It was only through the aid of a troop esco rt that we managed to push through the crowded streets to the airport. This unfortunate incide nt , however, afforded us the opportunity to relax for three days in Rome. Our las t sto p was Morocco. With proper coaching those kids could be an inte rnation al powe rhou se in three or four years. Th eir body structure is exce lle nt for our sport , and I' m sure yo u will doubt the accuracy of my next statements. We were working with a gro up of eight young Rabat gy mnasts who had never tried German gian ts, eagle giants or fu ll twist s regrasps. At the e nd of 45 minutes the majority of these boys were performing the above skill without any mech anical ai d! In our sport the gy mnast isn' t given too man y opportunities to sound off. I am practicing what I preached a t the beginning of thi s artic le and have as ked each of the participants of thi s trip to have on uncenso red pa ragraph , so take it away:

BRENT SIMMONS The trip was undoubtedly the single most fortunate thing th at has ever happened to me as a person. There were so ma ny unforgett able experie nce s a nd pl aces that it is imposs ible for me to remember everything about a ll of them. I just hope that I can remember a littl e about some of them. We were treated extremel y well with much friendship and courtesy from ma ny people wherever we went. Our C. A.O. officers in each country did a tremendou s job arranging our performances and other activities. Our coaches did an outstanding job. Especi all y in the clinics where the most progres s could be utilized . I hold the highest rega rd s for both of them as coaches and as individu als. As a group the tea m members got along tremendously. Everyo ne see med to rel ax with the group and reall y have fun just being aro und the group. I think th at a ll of the gy mnasts are dedicated to their sport and find a common joy in participating in gymnastics. Through this common element , we were a ble to have fun both in and ou t of the gy m. The on ly weak point in the tour was in the administrat ive pa rt of the tour. I know th at our manager tried very hard to do a real good job. I reali ze th at there are ma ny, man y problems that occur on a tour such as this and th at our ma nager did hi s best to solve these problems. However, I do fee l that in such an important position a perso n should be se lected because of hi s administrative background and experience. I do feel th at thi s tour was our manage r's first ex perience at s uch a position, and I' m sorry to say th at it showed up bad ly. Th e one point of the trip that I s incere ly regret is that we were unabl e to perform fo r the Jordanians after the y had gone to so much trouble and expense to make our stay e nj oyable. Other than th at all I can say is " wh en do we leave for the next one. "

ity to pull a tea m together. He is ve ry ade pt a t creating an atmosphere where th ere is goo d mora l, a nd I think ri ght here is th e key toward s a mo re successful national tea m. C hoose a coach who has thi s abi lit y, and I believe th at tea m will o ut s hine any other. A tea m th at has th at inn er strength th at on ly ce rt ain me n can ge nerate will win and e njo y winning.

JOYCE TANAC All th e s ight s we saw, places we visited , ex hibition s we did and people we met were very impress ive, but the one thing whi ch reall y made the tour successful was the close feeling whi ch eve ryone on the team dev eloped. With a group of 14 people from all over the Un ited States , traveling and living togeth e r for six weeks , I would have ex pected a few persona lit y conflicts to be displayed. Amazin g as it may seem , there we re no such time s on thi s tour. There were a few difficult moments , but there was always so meone to make the situation see m funn y. I think a major factor in creating thi s type of a tmosphere was the coac hes . They were just as concerned w ith thi s aspect of th e to ur as th ey were with th e actu a l gy mn as tics. Eve rything possi ble was done to see that the group got a long in the best way poss ible. One thing I think should be given more thought is th e selection of uniforms. It seems as though a pre cedent has been set for gray sk irts a nd blue wool bl azers. During the selection of uniform s cons ide ration should be give n to the style fac tor. Th e cu rrent Ame rican style s hould be presented to the rest of the wo rld . Another important point in decidin g th e uniforms is the climate of th e countries to be vi sited , and the time of yea r the tour takes pl ace. Traveling and attendance of offi c ia l function s could be made much more comfortab le with a little conside ration along thi s lin e.

BARBER PARCHER We were a success whereve r we were, wha teve r we did , th e people were pleased. As a group we had so mu c h fun and enjo yed being with one a noth e r so much th at I beli eve it actu a ll y madc people fee l good to be aro und u s, and thi s was certain ly a prime objecti ve. The group had so mu ch s pirit and e nthu s ias m th at it see med to s pread to others. It was beca use of th e high morale th at we easily passed over the rough spot s like trouble with equipment , facilities , etc. Persona ll y, I feel th e most di sa ppointing thing was the small number of pa rti cipants in the women 's clinics . I think so me of us did not rea li ze there wou ld be such a s mall number, a nd we were ex pecting ma ny more participants. Ju st becau se some of the co untries lac ked numbers, they certainly did not lack e nthu sias m a nd th e willingness to learn. I believe th e Turki sh gymnasts were the mo st eage r to lea rn and make fri e nd s. One thing gym nas ts chose n for a tour might keep in mind as they prepare fo r the tour is to review th eir old s tunts . Equipme nt and fac ili ties will not always all ow the gy mnast to perform hi s co mpetitiv e o r even the sa me routine twice in a row. It is good to be a bl e to put several combinations of mo re bas ic sk ill s togeth e r. All in a ll it was great. We had a cha nce to trave l, to learn from eac h other, to represe nt our country and to s ha re with so meo ne else the pleasure we get from being gy mnasts. It was wo nderful to go , but it 's great to be home aga in.

GEORGE GREENFIELO I feel th at pa rticipating on the int ernationa l le vel w ith the nation al tea m should be an enjoyable experience for the gy mnas t just as local or nationa l co mpetition is. One point that man y peo ple lose sight of is th at we athl e tes in th e U.S. do perform because we want to. We have a hi story and a tradition of being free, and thos e of us that have attained nation al statu s have done so out of our own free choice. We choose to devote three hours a day or so to a s po rt. We choose to give up man y things , although I'm sure we didn ' t look at it thi s way at the time. With this bac kground I see a potential U .S. nat ion al team of very dedi cated yo ung men. Men , who under the correct leadership , wi ll give their all. There should be no reason for complaining or gold-bricking because th ese me n are w here the y want to be, doing what th ey want to be doing. Why the n have our past nation al tea ms been so di sco ntent a nd thi s tea m so co ntent as to personify what I have been say ing? I ca n attribute thi s on ly to on e thing, the co rrect ma nner with w hi ch th e tea m was handl ed. Bill Roet zhei m is first a good gym nast ic coach. H e has a th orough background in int ernationa l co mpetitio n and has coac hed for seve ral yea rs assemb ling an impress ive re cord . But more importa nt is hi s ab il -

JOHN ELLAS Thi s makes my second U.S. State De partme nt-s ponsored gy mn as tic tou r. The first was to South A meric a. Accompanying me we re fo ur ma le gy mn as ts who did not make th e final c ut Continued on page 28

THE MODERN GYMNAST MAGAZINE

CG COLLEGE & URIVERSITY DATA Colleges and universities are invited to send in recruitment information, photographs, etc., care of the Modern Gymnast magazine. Two 14-story dorms rise over Ithaca's 3,700-student campus.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY ANTIGONISH, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA HISTORICAL SKETCH: The University is located in Antigonish (population 5,000) a small college town two and a half hours drive from two cities in Nova Scotia (Halifax and Sydney). Founded in 1853 at Arichat , Nova Scotia, as a Diocesan College, St. Francis Xavier's College was transferred to Antigonish two years later. In 1866 , an act of the Provincial Legislature of Nova Scotia conferred upon the college full university powers. St. Francis Xavier University is widely known for its work in Adult Education and its excellence in Athletics. The university is considered to be the " University of Notre Dame" of Canada. The university is a Roman Catholic, Coeducational institution (s tudent enrollment approx imate ly 3,000). FACILITIES AND SERVICES: The university is build on several hundred acres at the entrance of the town of Antigonish . There are six teac hin g buildings , a Library ( 110,000 volumes), a Chapel, a Physical Education Complex (Oland Cen ter), a rink , fourteen men's residences , seven women 's residences (Mount Saint Bernard College) , Student Union Building (to be completed by 1971) , and an Arts Complex. Student services include a medical se rvice, infirmary , Bookstore, canteen , and barber shop. Voluntary military training , qualifying for commissions , is provided by the Navy, the Army , and the Air Force. COURSES AND DEGREES : ARTS (B.A. - M.A.): Economics, English , French , History , Latin , Music, Political Science, Sociology. BUSINESS (B.B.A.): General business, Economics , Accounting. EDUCATION : (B.ED .. M.A. in Teaching - M.A. in Guidance - M. ED.) ENGINEERING : HOME ECONOMICS (B. Sc.): NURSING (B. Sc. N.):q PURE SCIENCE (B. Sc. - B. Phys. Ed. in Science M. Sc.): Biology , Chem istry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics , Arc hitecture , Premedical , Predental.

SECRETARIAL SCIENCE (B) CDm.): SOCIAL LEADERSHIP (DipIDma): SOCIAL WORK (M.S.W.): ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS: ARTS - Junior Matriculation SCIENCE - Senior Matriculation GRADUATE STUDIES - A Bachelor's Degree GRADING SYSTEM : I n Honors Degree Programme , Pass : 50%, in General Degree Programme , 55 %, C lass I. 80% - 100%; C lass II: Below 80%. FEES AND COSTS : Tuition Fees/year - Arts and Science $548.00 (in Canadian dollars). Board and room/year - $818 .00 (in Canadian dollars). VARSITY GYMNASTICS PROGRAMME The Degree Program of B. Phys. Ed. in Science began in 1966, first class to graduate 1969. The Physical Education Co mplex (Oland Ce nter) was completed in 1967. The complex includes complete Recreation and Athletic facilities for 3,000 stude nt s. It includes Basketball , Handball , Squash , Badminton , a nd Volleyball Courts as well as Social Recreation and Kitchen Facilities. It is the Headquarters of the Physical Education Degree Program and Varsity Athletics , and includes classrooms and offices, football stadium, soccer field , field hockey and an intramural area, Weightlifting room. The center actually houses two Gymnasiums of which the main one seats 2,200 spectators. The auxili ary Gymnasium is the home of Gymnastics and Fencing. There are two sets of equipment (for both men and women) in each of the Olympic events plus Trampoline. Gymnastics instruction began in 1967 upon the arrival of Mr. Geza Martiny from Oakland, California. Mr. Martiny organized the first National Ca nadian Intercollegiate Gymnastics C hampionship here at SI. Francis Xavier University in 1968. The St. Francis Xavier U niversity Women 's Gymnastics team placed second in the team event at this National Championship, with top honors in individual events. Bringing this brief history of Gymnastics a t SI. Francis Xavier University to a close , one must note the Eastern Canadian C hristmas Gymnastics C lini c held ann ually here in Antigonis h.

ITHACA COLLEGE Ithaca Co llege Ithaca, New York Blue and Gold Ithacans , Bombers Gordon Eggleston (607-274-3320) 9 years GYMNASTICS AT ITHACA COLLEGE: HOME GYMNASIUM (capacity) : Light Gymnasium (2600) OVERAll TEAM RECORD (9 years): Won I I, Lost 36 SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR : Phil Langan (607-274-:3233) ALUMNI OF NOTE D arry l Waterman - Coach of Ithaca High School team which has lost only one dual meet in five years and which has won Regional District Championship all five years that Ithaca High has had a team. STUDENT ASSISTANCE There are a limited number of gran ts- in-a id avai lab le. ' HOUSING There is none better for a college this size. No dormitory is more than seven years old, and they all offer the student a real " home" away from home. Two showpieces of the Ithaca campus are a pair of 14-story high-rise dorms which overlook Cay uga Lake and Cay uga Valley. FUTURE OF GYMNASTICS Excellent facilities , a fine Coach (Gordon Eggleston) , and a long-awaited-for supply of talent will combine this year to make the I.e. gymnastics team one of the most improved in the East. ABOUT THE COLLEGE Since its origin in 1892 as a one-building conservatory of music, Ithaca College has grown to a large and diversified institution serving 3,700 students on a new 36-milliondoll ar campus. The college offers educational opportunities to students who wish to acquire a solid background in arts and sciences as a basic for pre-professional a nd graduate study. It continues to offer courses in its long-established and highl y professional Schools of Music, Health, Ph ysical Education and Physical Therapy, its new Division of Health Administration and through its departments in the communicating arts. Every student , regardless of the degree of his speciali zation , is introduced to the humanities , sciences , social studies and communications ski lls. Sixty-two per cent of the college's 3,700 student body is enrolled in the College of AI1s and Sciences.

NAME OF SCHOOL: LOCATION: COLORS : NICKNAME: VARSITY COACH:

Students come to Ithaca Co llege from a ll over the world. A tota l of 32 states are represe nted as well as Puerto Rico , the Virgin Isla nds and the District of Columbia. Sixty-six percent are from New York State. Athletics play an important role in the life of the Ith aca College student. Varsity competition on a n intercollegiate level is conducted in football , soccer, cross country , basketball , wrestling, gy mnastics , swimming, hocke y, baseball , track , tennis , golf and lacrosse. Freshman teams repre se nt the college in man y of the same sports. Intramural activit y is extensive. A karate club and a weight-lifting program have also been organized. Ithaca College is currently celebrating its 77th anniversary as a college dedicated to preparing the student for a productive a nd interesting life.

came South Dakota State Un iversity in 1964. S ix colleges - Arts a nd Science. Agricu lture , Engineering. Home Economi cs. Ph armacy and Nursing - comprise the universi ty. Nickna me - Jack rabbit s; membe r North Ce ntral Interco llegiate Athletic Conference (cha rter me mber joining in Inl). 3. Enrollment: 6.000 - fall. 1969 estima te. 4. Gymnastics Coach : Peter Torino. 5. Gymnastics Program: Twenty-five individuals 12 men a nd 13 women - on 1969 competition team. Rrecord in North Ce ntral Co nference competition - 1st in 1967* a nd '68* (*unofficial conference sport): 2nd in 1969 (beca me an official conference sport th at year). Women 's gymnast ics tea m won co llege divi sion championship in 1967 . '68 a nd '69 at the Co ll ege Women 's State Gymnastics Meet. 6. Assistance Available: Work S tud y Assistanceships and National Defe nse Loans.

tea m c ha mpionsh ip. TERRENCE (TERRY) ORLICK Head Coach Orlick has an ex te nsive bac kground in gymmas tic s. At fifteen years of age he won his first national titl e a t Sarasota, Florida (J unior Olympic All-Arou nd C hampion ship). He captain ed hi s high school gymnasti c sq uad. Henry Hud so n Regiona l (NJ ) and won a New Jersey Sta te C ha mpion ship. The former captain and mo st out standing gymnast at Syracuse University, Orlick captured both Eastern I nt erco llegiate a nd N at ional Co llegiate Athletic Assoc iat ion regional titles. Before coming to Montclair State , he coached at William and Mary Co llege. STUDENT ASSISTANCE The state of New Jersey has a n ex tensive work scholarship program ava il abl e for stude nt s in addition to federal loans and grants wh ich a re also avail able.

GYMNASTICS HAS ARRIVED! MONTCLAIR STATE COLLEGE UPPER MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY Founded in 1908 Enrollment: Men 1,628 , women 2,687 Coach: Terry Orlick Founded in 1908 as a two-year normal school , it became a four-year State Teachers C ollege in 1927. The first four-year graduating class was in 1932. Four hundred feet above sea level , the campus in Upper Montclair, N ew Jersey , looks over broad valleys to the sky line of New York C ity. The original 25 acres have grow n, through subsequent purchases, to 90. The school 's firs t building, a multipurpose structure of Spanish Mission de sign , is still a ca mpus landma rk. It is now one of26 buildings, including a modern gymnasium with indoor sw imming pool , a 1000-seat auditorium , library with space for 150,000 volumes, a con vertible little theatre , suitable for both prose nium and arena productions. When Montclair Normal School opened its doors for the first time, it welcomed a student body of 187 , a lmost all of them women. Today there are approximately 4 ,300 unde rgraduates , Ross Johnson, Sph., Bemidji Stote College close to two-thirds of whom are women. Montclair State is primarily a commuter college. A large percentage of its enrollment BEMIDJI STATE COLLEGE is drawn from the counties of Northern New Bemidji, Minnesota Jersey. The intercollegiate a thletic program of I. Bemidji State College, Bemidji, MinneMSC now includes II sports. Teams on the sota . Located on the shore s of Lake varsity level are fielded in football, soccer, and Bemidji. The northern pl ayground of Mincross-country in the fall ; basketball , fencing , nesota. School colors: Green and White. gymnastics and wrestling in the winter; and II. Date Founded: baseball, track , golf a nd tennis in the spring. A. June 23, 19 19 The athletic program is under the direction B. Gymnastics started in 1960 on club of the Montclair Athletic Commission, a body basis - intercollegiate competition composed of faculty and students. The program 1962. is administered by the Director of Athletics, Ill. Enrollment - 4500-5000 students. Willi am P. Dioguardi. IV . Coach: Jim Selby , graduate of Iowa State At present , the Montclair State faculty University. Started 1968 - season record includes a number of prominent educators, 7-3. a mong them Dr. Russell Krau ss , a C hauceri an V. Housing avail able: scholar of world renown ; Paul C lifford, a leadA. 9 dormitories ing quality control expert; Dr. Sampson McB. 4 dorms overlook the lake Dowell, authority on oceanography ; Dr. VI. Member of the N.A.I.A. We have placed Bertha B. Quintana, well-known anthropoloas high as 5th in the N .A. I.A. nationa ls. gist ; and Dr. H arold M. Scholl , a pioneer in speech therapy. GYMNASTICS Montclair State College has made major GYMNASTICS PROGRAM strides in gymnastics since it was introduced SDSU, BROOKINGS, S.D. on the varsity level in 1963. Last year, the first Information for MG Series on College and University under Coach Terry Orlick, the Indians posted Gymnastics Programs: a brilliant 9-2 mark in dual match competition 1. Name and Location of School: South Dakota losing only to nationally ranked Southern ConState University, Brookings , S.D. necticut State and the United States Merchant 2. Date Founded and History: Land-grant school Marine Academy. founded in 1881 as South Dakota State ColTaking part in the first annua l North Atlantic lege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; be- . Gymnastic Meet, Montclair State won the

Gymnastics is now a full time project with our compa ny. We who have specia lized in wrestling and weight training for many yea rs, now turn our full attention to gymnastics. To prove that we are gymnastic special ists too, we have just printed our long awoited gymnastics catalog. Need further proof? - Our stock of shoes is now sev路 era l thousand and our available gym uniforms, number in the hundreds, twenty five size combinations. The new catal og features these products, o 4 different gymnastic shoes, including three of the fam ous Tiger models and a Swiss "waffle" sl ipper. (We are US distributors for Tiger wrestling & gym shoes). o 7 different gym pants from a $6.00 practice pants to a $30.00 luxury competition pont, and several gym shirt designs in white or colors. The top port of our uniform line is American mode and extremely well tailored as evidenced by bei ng chosen by the 196B US Men's Olympic team. o Dress Warmups from Japan, Switzerland, Germany, USA. o Leotard s created for American Women gymnasts, all st retch nylon. o And all the extra s - mot tape, chaul k, palm guards, mat tran sporters, Vitamins for Athletes, Resilite Mots (east only) o And all the extras - mot tape, chaul k, palm guards, mat transporters, Vitamins for Athletes, Resilite Mots (east only) All products are in stock except the warmups and colors. Write for a 1969-70 catalog and price sheet. Samples available for schools and clubs.

UNIVERSAL-RESILITE (formerly Olympic Products)

43 Polk Avenue Hempstead li, N.Y. 1155 (516) 483-3700

TWO COLOR FILMSTRIPS The Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation has just released two interpretive filmstrips, Art and Sport and Your Association Is You. The first illuminates the bond between art and sport with more than 50 color slides of art works depicting athletes and sports activities. Desig ned for secondary school use, its approach is also appealing to students preparing to teach. Diversity of media and subject matter give the filmstrip visual interest, with the total effect of increasing awareness both of the artist's intent and the athlete's art in motion. Among the art works pictures in the film strip is the 2,000-yea r-old Greek amphora decorated with sport scenes which Sports Illustrated gives in replica for its Sportsman-af-the-Year award. Others are Andrew Wyeth's "The Hunter," Homer's "Skating in Central Pork," and R. Tait McKenzie's "The Plunger." Your Association Is You gives a comprehen sive view of MHPER activities with emphasis on the role of the professional associations - state ond regional as well as national. It has specia l impact for the student and young professional who may not be aware of the part he can take in professional affairs. The film strip is available for professional meetings from the MH PER Membership Director in each state. Both new film strips may be purchased from NEA Publications-Sales, 1201 Sixteenth Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20036, for $8.00 each.

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

USGF DIRECTORS REPORT FRANK l. BARE

Executive Director

DENV E R, COLO RADO . .. The fifth a nnu al USGF GYMNASTI CS CO N G RESS got und e r way at the beau tiful Denver Hilton Hotel o n November 1-2 . 1969. It was a weekend fill ed with gymnasti cs meetings a nd reports. Highlight s were the naming of a nation al coac h a nd di scu ssions of staff and plans for improving gy mnastics at the nation al and int ernat ional level. It was a well-received plan , a nd although it will be some month s in bringing it int o ac tion , nonetheless I can foresee the plan havi ng great success a nd influencing the A merica n inte rn ational image considerably. The U.S.A. Gymnastics Co mmi ssion met Frida y eve ning (Oct. 31 st) . and the delegates to that meet ing as we ll as the men 's Ol ympi c Gymnastics Games Co mmittee (w hic h met Sunday afternoon ) also attended the several sessions of th e Congress thi s year. Mrs. Mi ldred Prchal reported o n her trip to Va rn a , Bulgaria . a nd the world 's c hampionship s in Gy mn as tique Moderne. The 1970 World 's Game s compulsories were di stributed,

and it was good to have th e m ready in time for the Congress . . . the y were in booklet form with the deductions , stick figures and routines all in one pamphlet. Thanks to C hri s Weber of Iowa State for the help with the men 's routine 's tra nslations , and th a nks to Dale Flansaas , Ernie Carter and Jackie Uphues for getting the women 's routines tra nslated quickl y and out to the women in attendance. Gene Wettstone , longtime great coach at Penn . State Univ. , was na med national coach for the U.S.A . for the ne xt three years . He is busil y screening candidates for staff positions and helping to pave the way for a workable program for the three years facing us before Munich in 1972. Mrs. Dale Flansaas was selected as women 's national coach , and she, too . has begun the task of fin ali zing names and positions of respon sibility for her staff.

(Editor's Note: Mrs. Flansaas, Cath y Rigby and Joyce T anac are now in Japan and taking part in competitions and exhibitions for a period of two weeks involving lale November, early December.) Next year's congress will be in Kansas C ity, Missouri. 1971 will be in Chicago , III. , a nd 1972 will see us back in Denver. Several excellent comments received rel a tive to sessions for coaches at the congress , and at least one innovation will be utilized next year. We will feature small-group sessions with a pa rticul a r coach leadi ng the discu ssion on trai ning a nd progre ssions, then rotate the groups, etc. , as we did one year in Denver. We look forw ard to hearing from Gene a nd Dale as to their plans for national development and projects that will involve all of us in the sport. Watch the Modern Gymnast for developments.

(

Paul A. Vexler

by Dick Criley

Editor's note: Our readers tell us that we pay too much attention to the all-around men in our interviews . In an effo rt to remedy that, we managed to become involved in a length y discussion with Penn State's rings specialist Paul Vexler at the 1969 NCAA Championships in Seattle . Paul offers some counterpoints to the notion that all gymnasts are strictly dedicated to gymnastic s, morning , noon and night. In fact, we had a difficult time sticking to the subiect, but some thought-provoking (o r iust provoking, depending upon your attitude) opinions did emerge. After a II, iust what is a gymnast in college for anyhow?

Age : 21 Height: 5' W' Weight: 1251b. High School : Freehold 'Regional High School , Freehold, New Jersey. Started out jumping trampoline in the 7th grade, continued to HB as a freshman , and on to AA. High school honors include twice state AA champ, PB 3 years, also HB, R. College : Penn State. College honors: 1967, 1968 2nd on lH in EIGl, 3rd lH in 1969 EIGl; 1968, 2nd lH NCAA; 1967 R 3rd EIGl, 1968 1st R EIGl, 1969 2nd REIGl; 1968 1st R NCAA.

You worked AA in high school, but you are regarded as a specialist now. Do you continue to work out on the other events? No, I don't work out on other events because I only work out in preparation for and during the season. I spend the rest of the time recuperating and getting everything I didn't wont in my system aut of my system. Why is it then, that you work just the rings and long horse? I have a gymnastic scholarship and the easiest was for me to be in the sport is to put myself in a position where no one will bother me. How do you get people to stop bothering you? Well the only thing is to leove them with nothing to soy. No one tells me I have to get better on rings or thot I have to work a lot harder than I am becau se they have no complaints about what I do. So I just do whatever I wont to do. I work out an hour a day, four days a week. For some reason college competition has ruined gymnastics for me. I used to really like gymnastics; I sti ll do like it, but I really don't like the competition. Somewhere, something has spoiled it for me. I could try to explain some of the reasons 'if you'd like. I was curious when you said you don't want to be bothered by people. When you are on the rings, do you ever have something inside you which drives you to try to try to improve something that you have done? I'm always tryi ng to improve. But, and here's on interesting point, when you get to where I am, competition is stifl ing. There are lots of interesting things I can do, lots of interesting things I'd like to

learn, but I have to stick to thi s routine which I know is giving me the maximum. I could throw a lot of other moves in there and become like other specialists who have so much stuff in there - they have 15 moves. But I know that doesn't really get a high score- to do so many tricks, to fill it up with everything you can do. I know there are certain moves which I can do well that give me a minimum of deductions so that's all I practice. I'm not encouraged to learn a full twist because I know a double back flip is better than a full twist; not only that, I can do it and it fits my routine nicely. So I never have the desire, in terms of what I am doing, to learn a full twist. Do you think you would have more interest in it if you were working AA? Yes, AA would be more interesting. I am anxiou s now, in a very strange sort of way to go and learn the thing s I was working on when I was in AA. I wont to learn a full twist on the floor, a stutz on the parallel bars, germans ... but I don't want to become on all-around performer. Here's the problem with competition: Th e only way you can show something to yourself, the only way that you you rself will believe it, is to get up there on the winner's stand. What kind of busine ss is this - that the only thing s you will believe about yourse lf are those things which are completely acknowledged by everyone else? That you are completely dependent on the tim e and the place that they are going to voice th eir subjective opinions about what you are doing : And that's the only thing you will accept? In some of our interviews, we bring up the question of gymnastics as a team versus an individual sport. You are here with a team. Does this make any difference? Yeah, going with a team makes a difference for sure. I know for sure that I'm not doing this for the glory of Penn State. Yet I do have some sort of feeling for the team. The only thing I can figure out is because I know the guys on the team. They all wont to do we ll; they're all going to do well. It seems like a rotten thing for me to screw them up when they need me ... they wont to win so badly. If I can do it, I'll do it because they wont me to, but I cou ld co re le ss whether we are Notional Champions or not.

Do you get a thrill out of the packed houses, like at Penn State? Yes, you can't escape that. Once you are in it, it is very difficult to become aloof. I ca n soy I don't core, now, whether everyone or no one is watching me, but when I get out in front of 8,000 people it makes a difference; you can't escape that. Once you're competi ng, you're co mpeting, you know. I'm a competitor, I'm a good competitor - I would rather not be a competitor, bu t since I am now, I go along with it and do what competitors are supposed to do. But I can still soy that I'd rather not be a competitor; I'd rather just learn gymnastics which I enjoy. The activity itself is enjoyable, but not the competition. I would rather learn gymnastics on my own with no pressure in a good atmosphere. Do you think that many gymnasts share this opinion? Not the majority, but a lot of people I talk to realize exactly what I'm saying. For instance, a high school student is interested in gymnastics. So he chooses a unive rsity where he'll best be able to develop hi s skills. And what happens? He finds himself in the middle of a system where they are giving him money to do the things that will benefit them and if he can benefit by it, all the better. But a lot of times he's not benefitted by it. He's caught up in everyone elses' motives. He went to college to develop himself and suddenly he's doing sta le things because he con do them well. I should soya couple of other things as for as gymnastics is concerned. You know as well as I do that Wettstone's a good coach. The prablem with a lot of coaches is that they don't realize that gymnasts also have other interests. My problem has to do with other things; I don't have any conflicts with him over gymnastics. When I walk ou t ' of the gym, he has nothing to say about what I do. He can tell me about gymnasti cs because I know he knows about it; I accept what he says. About the universities, the individual competitor becomes a pawn to the university which is extending itself in terms of its athletic deportment for beyond the needs for a good physical development program, you know. They are doing this because they wont to have a good reputation . They want money from their alumni. They wont to be able to perpetuate their athletic pragram by having winners. Is this bad? Well, insofar as people who love it - fine, but if people are forced to assume on image that they don't wont to put forth ... you're forcing people to be false with them selves. Just one last question, we 're always getting inquiries about hand care. Do you have anything that you do? I'm not sure if what I do is possible because I've been working ring s for 9 years now. After about 4 yea rs of trimming my hands, sanding them, and putting hand cream on them every night, and being very carefu l with them, I was able to completely forget about them. I don't do anything now for my hands. They look pretty raugh, but they never hurt me. If you give your body a chance to toke care of itself, it will. I know you just can't start out like this. You can't tell a high school freshman not to do anything for his hands. But a lot of the time you can just leave the calluses on. You real ize I don't do that much work on the rings, but whatever I do, I try to make it count with minimal work. The best way to take co re of your hands is to use them as little as possible. 15

ANYONE I!I EI FOR mJIEI9 ALL AROUND 1m GERALD S. GEORGE, Coordinator DON TONRY DAN MILLMAN We would like to invite all of the MG readers to send in any a nd a ll reque s t s for particul a r skill anal yses, teac hing and coaching points, problem a reas, etc. that you feel would help to clarify a nd fac ili tate quicker and more accurate learning a nd understa nding of the various gy mnastic events . Our primary objective in providing a serie s of thi s nature is to se rve your gymnastic needs. You are the very pulse of thi s operation. So let us know what you want to see and we'll do our best to pre se nt it in a most meaningful way.

iii FLOOR EXERCISE By DAN J . MILLMAN Gymnastic Coach, Stanford University Last article we covered some philosophical, aesthetic and compositional ideas a bout free exercise. Now we can get closer to the nittygritty. The bas ic body positions are too important to summaril y dismi ss . We have much to learn from women's gymnastics about perfectionistic body line. The women know exactly where their arms and legs are, whether the arm is pa rallel to the leg and in wh at direction the fingers a re pointing. The men 's hands often look like palm fronds , ha ngi ng askew from crooked branches, pointing nowhere in particular. A tuck position should be tight and quick and definite. Legs together, toes pointed. A piked position ta kes more flexibility , since the legs must be locked straight. The back should be fairly straight rather than rounded , the head in line with the bod y. The pike, like the tuck , should generally be a momentary position ; that is, one should first extend, then immediately tuck or pike, then kick out to an exten sion again. The straight or layout posi tion is the most difficult to perform. The body line is the same as in a correct handstand. ]\~ext time you do a handstand , have so meone chec~: Are yo ur a rms shoulder width or less? (Mos t al~ too wide.) Is your head closely in line with your body , not too far up or down ? Are you fu lly extended in the shoulders? Think of pulling the chest in a nd up , rather than sticking it out and thus causing an arch (most rings ha ndstands). Are your buttocks tighte ned ? Is you r stomach tight , helping to prevent a rch ? The layout position is much the same in thc air, and it is necessary to be able to control a ll the movabl e joints to ensure a straight line - the toes, the knees, th e hips, the lower back , the chest, shoulders, neck and elbows. That takes energy. If you are re sting in a handstand , chances a re you 're not performing it correctly. In a layou t back so mersault , every important muscle around the se joints should be tight. The "L," split a nd straddl e posit ions a re being used more in free exercise a nd can add inter18

In a li ke man ner, next month 's column will esting variety a nd virtuosity to the routine. Be s ure th e move ments fit yo ur gy mn as tics person- give sugges tion s on bas ic tra nsi tion mov ements, whil e the remainder of this articl e will alit y and your body type. di sc uss ge neral ways transitions shou ld fit into Now let 's talk tumbling. It's the name of the the routine. game, really: quick , light , flowin g tumbling. Transitions are the ligame nts of the free exerThe perfo rm e r s hould g iv e the illu sio n he cise routine , whi le tumbling is the mu scle. For we ighs about 20 pounds. a n effective whole , they must both be effective. Because this writer will on ly be ab le to write one or two more articl es in this se ri es, the T he F.I.G . Code of Points states , "Floor exerscope will not cover a detailed descript ion of cise must form a harmoniou s rhythmical whole individual mov e me nts; rath er, we will cover alternating a mong move me nts of balance , hold pa rts, strength parts , leaps, kips , hand springs basic assumptions a nd so me specific tips on and tumbling moveme nt s." Thus , it is desirable performing certain common , basic seq ue nces. to mi x our routine with different types and One may categorize tumbling into three types of move ment: horizontal move ment (o r along for ms of tumbling as we ll as kips and leaps. We have a ll see n free exe rci se routines th at th e mat), verti cal move ment (or height ) and looked like tumbl e, stand and turn , tumble , rotational move ment (or so mersa ult). What sta nd a nd turn , tumbl e, lun ge sta nd and turn makes the moveme nts interes ting and c ha ll eng(for "variety"), di smouni. A nov ice gy mnas t ing is the consta nt compromise necessary may be ab le to get away wi th so meth ing like amo ng the three ele ments. For a certain a mount this , but a supe rior gy mnast cannot. The rouof ene rgy (furni shed by leg push or mo mentum tine needs interesting, dynamic transitions. Yet from our run or both) , we must decide how th ey mu st not be too comple x or risky because much of each eleme nt we des ire. For example, th ey are used on ly to su ppleme nt the mov ein a roundoff, fli c-flac, back layout, whe n we ment of the routine. The requirement of interpunch the layout , we can either trave l very far , est , variet y and just the ri ght emphasis of time rotate very fas t or go very high - but the more a nd complex it y make the tra nsitions a chalheight we want, th e less di stance we will travel lenge! It sho uld be noted that most deductions (usuall y good) a nd the less rotation we will are received for or du ri ng transitions. Practice achieve (not always so good). Naturally, to get th em over and over! more of a ny desired element, we can add more The tumbling and transitions in a routine energy by a faster run , a stronge r kick and more should have rhythm. Try practicing seque nces effi cient timing. Some tumbling ele men ts a re primari ly leg to a record or a met ronome. One can almost hear the J apanese as they do a lunge, turn or push ones ; e.g. , a sta nding back , diving flicother transition , count " one two threefour, one fl ac, straddle jump and sta nding front. two threefour." Other moveme nt s use a block ing action ; that When compos ing routines and practicing sets, is, they gain height from stopping hori zont al keep in mind the purpose of the movement movement (w ith a powerful leg kick) and sending the body in a vertical direction . Rotation al you're performi ng and aim aggressively at it. Don't co mpromise thi s aggress ivene ss wit h mome ntum from previous moves is also used timidity, or yo u may find yourse lf topsy when here ; e.g., roundoff, flic-fl ac , ba ck - front ha ndyou should be turv y. Through mechanicall y spring,front. correct , goa l-directed repetition, yo u can open Some movements are des igned for di ffere nt the road that moves slowly but su rely towards purposes. A roundoff is used to turn the body elegance and mastery. aruumJ while continuing hori zo ntal move ment and adding a rotationa l element. The roundoff should not be particularly hi gh - just e nough to overrotate into a flic-fl ac. The flic-flac is so metimes used by itself in a high, diving-type effect. Usually it is used to build rotationa l and horizontal mome ntum in preparation for a high saito. F lic-flacs of this By DON TONRY type should be quick and lo ng. Gymnastics Coach , Yale University The saltos are des igned to go up. Howeve r, we sho uld allow the body to travel some di sWhenever I' m asked to give a lect ure demonta nce for a more aesthetic, flowing effe ct. Too stration on th e side ho rse, I' m always careful much lea n on takeoff will render a saito too low to include several of the various types of scis- it must be at leas t he ad high. sors with twists a nd hops. I do thi s because I It should be noted that there are also two did not become aware of many of the possibilitypes of cartwheels and front handsprings. One ties in thi s area until very late in my own of each is designed to go up , to float a nd fl y. competitive career. G. C. Kun zle, in his book The other is designed for rotat ional s peed a nd ca ll ed Pommel Horse, ment ions th e Forward shou ld be only high enough to set up for the Scissor with a Half Turn ("This movement side or front saito. classifies as a difficulty ... It is ra rely seen in The writer is desc ribing what may see m obint ernational work at the momen t, although vious to many readers, yet many gy mnasts thi s is mai nly due to fashion " ), the Forward don 't see m to ap pl y the general ideas to their Scissor with a Full Turn ("This movement is tumbling. For exa mple, many performers turn extremel y hard - it classifies as a superior a front handspring with relat ivel y lazy heel rodifficulty a nd is seldom seen. It is not actually tat ion, then find their front lack ing. So gy ma full turn of the whole body ... but involv es nas ts, decide : should thi s trick travel and turn o nly a rotation of the hips through 360 deover rapidly? The n work for thi s qualit y. If the grees") , th e Forward Scissor Trave l ("The move should go up , then concentrate o nl y on Fo rward Scissor Travel is a difficu lty wh ich thi s! Many gy mnasts lose effectiveness on back is also seldom tried but is most impressive if saltos, for example, because they are worried fluently done" ), the Backward Scissor with about sufficient rotation instead of goi ng up. H alf Turn (" ... worth learning to fit into your Put a crash pad down and go for height. The . backward scisso r combination and to provide coach can make sure you turn over. Once height a point of unu sual interest in a part of the exeris attai ned, you ca n worry about rotation. cise that is often rather humdrum") and other It is hoped th at these general description s of variations worthy of consideration. th e purpose of certain bas ic movements will There is a natural tendency for most gymhelp the reader to relate th e m more effectively nasts to avoid scissor variation s because it is in weaving them toget her. The descriptions are in thi s area of side ho rse work th at the judge certainly not intended to tell specificall y /rOIV receives most of hi s fuel for deduction s. to perfo rm the movemen ts. The next column Movements to and from single leg ski lls on will deal solely with tips o n performing the the horse have always presented more probbasic movements. lems in terms of trans ition th an most other

ElThe Side Horse

types of skills. Presumabl y the F.I.G. has noted this problem and appare ntl y gives B or C credit for scissor variations in order to promote variety in single leg work as well as to demonstrate their recognition of the difficulties. As a gymnast , coach or judge you s hould be aware of the following scissor variations: Bock Scissor Bock Scissor with mixed grip on one pommel Bock Scissor from feint position

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action of shooting or ri sing with the legs well beyond the lowest level of execution. This, of course, is vital fo r direction and power; however, we should not neglect to mention that the arms mu st also be thought of with reference to "follow through. " The arms pull and push during the performance of all shoots and rises. The body , generally , rotates backward or forward a nd the arms move from an action of pulling to pushing. If there exists a pause between these two phases or a lack of continued pull during the first phase , the result is a weaker upward thrust. All of the skills that fit into this category can be improved by placing the arms out to the side of the body during the ascent. This action enables the performer to bear downward earlier in the rise providing that the rest of the body parts are in the correct position. I n this way unneces sary slack can be eliminated ; thus, accelerating the speed of the asce nt. h'm,l"

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KI P - The arms pull into a sideward pattern, thus eliminating the necessity of waiting until the hands are below the shoulders before the push may occur. BACK KIP-Sa me as the kip but with obvious modifications to accommodate the difJerence in final position.

Front Scissor

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BACK RISE-The arms must bear downward continuously as they are placed out to the side in preparation for the pushing phase. SHOOTS-Same as the rise. {")

~~)b ElThe Vault

Traveling Hop Front Scissor with above menlioned lurns

~Traveling Hop !Jock Scissor

with the above menlionedlurnsllrw:lhandplaa!menls

~~~ mlThe Rings By DON TONRY Gymnastics Coach, Yale University " FOLLOW THROUGH " ON RISES AND SHOOTS " Follow through " is the term tha t is used in most sports to characterize movement beyond that which is necessary to perform the bas ic skill. On the ring event, we generally think of " follow through " in terms of continuing the

By DAN J . MILLMAN Gymnast ics Coac h, Stanford University

With few exceptions, learning the ha ndspring vault is learning all vaults. Correct hecht s, stoops , scissors, straddles, doubles, cartwheels, and even squat vaults are based ideally on correct mechanics that are identical to , and inherent in, the handspring vault. Some readers may feel that it is not practical to teach beginners the ha ndspring vault first thing. I agree. It isn't. Yet, beginning vaulters should not lea rn squats or stoops or straddles either. . Beginning vaulters should first understand what they a re attempting to do , and have a good mental grasp of what they are to do with different parts of the body. A few of the major points should suffice , for it's impossible to concentrate on more th an one or two things at a time anyway. One recommended procedure would be : \. Teach them to run! Fast, la rge strides. 2. Teach them to hurdle and dive into a crash pad. 3. Teach them body positions. 4. Get the m to feel the correct mu scles which come into play. 5. Let them see the progressions and see the completed vault, done well.

When the beginner can run fast , agress ivel y, leap high into the ai r in a correct swan position into the crash pad , he or she is then ready to vault to a handstand onto a mat laid on a tra mpoline. Then comes high swan dive roll s onto the tra mpoline. Then put the horse in front of the tra mpolin e. Then remove the trampoline a nd lay down a crash pad. Then work for height , flight , sticking and begi n refining. It should be stressed that it is never wise to skip any steps in the progression or go from one step to the next unless the student masters each step first. For example, if the gymnast does not achieve appropriate heel lift a nd a good swan position into the crash pad, he should not go to the next step until he feel s it consistent ly. So much for the progressions. Now for some mech anics: Each part of the handspring is dependent on the preceding parts. The landing should be good if the post flight is good , if the punch off is correct, if the pre-flight and take-off angle is accurate, if the hurdle and spring is proper ... if, and only if, the run is smooth, confident, and fast' That brings us to the first part of the vaultthe run. THE RUN

I. You ca n pace off steps if you want , but think about it. a. You never run exactly the sa me speed from vault to vau lt. b. You never run on precisely the same floor , with the same moisture or traction. c. You run under different conditions, sometimes more exciting than others. d. Your strides may vary slightly. So why step off an exact run? All it can do is contribute towards " psyching. " As long as the vaulter runs fast a nd smooth , he or she can do a beautiful vault even if it's necessary to ta ke a few inch longer or shorter hurdle , or even hurdle from the other foot! It really doesn't matter unle ss you are a "psych ," and no one is a born " psych" . .. you hav e to practice diligently to be one. Measuring your run precisely is one way to practice. No other word on run except practice the fift y yard dash, If the run is right , the vault is "set. " If the run is slow, or if the steps become jerky and short , the run is bound to failure or mediocrity before you ever hit the board. It's always better to lengthen steps at the end than shorten them. THEHURDLE

The only purpose of the hurdle is to put both feet together for the spring, and set the body on the take-off board at the right angle, and get the arms driving upward. The longer time the hurdle is in the ai r, the more momentum {" speed-energy"} you will lose. Thus , make the hurdle low, short , a nd fast. Think of planting ttie feet in front of the body for ta ke off. Try hard not to be leaning forw ard . Over-concern with getting "all the way over" the horse with a concurrently gross forward lean is perhaps the most common fault in handsprings. It keeps the center of gravity too low and " kills " the vault. Keep thi s in mind: If you run fast enough, all you need to travel twenty feet on your vault is heig ht. The vaulter should never concern himself with reaching the end of the horse. Think of one thing only' - going lip - a nd you'll always easily reach the end of the horse. Those I and 2 point zone deductions are not caused by lack of "forward drive"; they a re caused by too slow a run and by insufficient concern with height. Now we are getting into the handspring .. . we a re just leaving the board. Let's leave the body frozen in space for a moment and .talk about an important mechanical point in somersaulting: 19

A II somersaults, or fractions of somersaults , from a stomach drop to a triple front on the trampoline, to a back-hand on parallel bars, to a handspring on the horse, should be turned over by the lower body, not the upper body. The most common mistakes of all beginning, intermediate and advanced performers in somersaulting is usi ng the upper body (head and shoulders) to so mersault. This invariably works, but at a loss of control. Also, thi s keeps the center of rotation low. So remember this: UPPER body lifts for height LOWER body lifts up and over upper body for rotation. Further ... LOWER body should momentarily remain in a stretched position, then shorten appropriately (tucking or piking). I'll leave it to Jerry George to explain this point technically; all about moment arms, shortening radii , etc. This applies to front and backward rotation. Turning backwards , we should feel our lower body working as one unit, from hips, through thighs down to pointed toe s. Turning frontwards , we should feel first heel lift, carrying around straight legs , thighs , and hips. Granted, this takes much more energy than throwing the head and arms down to somersault forwards , for throwing head , arms, and shoulders backward , but it's the correct way. Most beginners do not have the mu scle tone or discipline to tighten the hips, legs and lift properly. Thus, they "mickey mou se" the rotation by leaning and dropping the upper body. Coaches, watch for this, because even advanced performers often do this!

The Handspring

Which brings us back to the handspring. Taking off the board, the gymnast should be driving the arms upward so hard, that the arms form a straight, extended line from the hips, to shoulders , to fingertips well before the arms are ready to punch off the horse. " If I do throw the arms up hard," the reader may ask , " how will I turn over forwards ?" Answer: Explode those heels up hard! (Some technicians believe that the hips precede the heels for a fraction of a second, then the heels go up . .. that is possible) . Nevertheless , think of immediately driving the heels up and letting them pull the legs, hips, and rest of the body up and over the hand s. Often, a poor vault is not necessarily the re sult of bad mechanics . . . rather, it's simply not doing the right things hard enough. So give it all you have! CONTACT WITH THE HORSE I. The center of gravity should still be risin g when the hands contact the horse; e.g. , it's possible to go too high and be dropping down onto the horse before the hands punch off.'This makes for poor post flight and heavy landing on the horse. 2. The angle of contact should be approximate-

Iy 30 degrees short of vertical, but thi s depend s upon the speed and heel lift of the vault. Don't worry abo ut thi s, only remember to be short of a handstand on contact. Explanation of " blocking effect. " Whenever you are moving in one direction and you want to suddenly go in another direction ; e.g. , horizontal - run to vertical lift, as in hand spring, running front , roundoff, back, you must block yo ur horizontal speed, that is , partially stop it and transfer your energy upwards. That is why yo u stretch forward and reach in front of you on the handspring. You block your forward speed , punch the horse, and go up. You don 't want to completely block (in which case you would go way up , but have no distance) , and you don 't want to block too little, in which case you would go a good distance, but lack height. Learning to block right comes from practice, as does everything eles. It should be noted that you are getting momentum from your angular rotation (heel lift) as well as your horizi ntal momentum (your run). The same thing happens out of a good traveling flic-flac. (And that 's why flic-fl acs should turn over fast , but travel far also . . . but that's another sto ry.) 3. On any " punching, explosive" movement in gymnastics, whether tumbling or vaUlting, for example, the shorter time it takes to punch, the more power you will ga in . Punching off the board: Stay on the balls of the feet with the calf muscles tensed ; don 't let the heels ever touch the board. Practice springing up and down on the ground. Get off the ground in a millisecond. Punching off the horse: Punch with straight arms and a shoulder extension (explosion!). Bent arms slow the punch and don 't kill the rotational force enough. This is the most common fault for low , over-rotated vaults. 4. The body should be slightly arched just before the hands punch the horse (that means strong heel pull right until you hit !). Then, as the hands hit the horse, the body straightens forcefully. This increases the punch off. On the Yamashita, the body moves rapidly from the slight arch, through the straight position, to a tight pike, then extends before landing. This has several advantages which will be discussed in a later column. THE POST FLIGHT I. As in the rest of the vault, keep good form. a. Body stretched in a good line. Toes pointed. Legs together. b. Though it's a bit scary at first, try and keep the head in a good line with the body. There is a tendency to snap the head forward too early and begin looking for the ground ; another reason for overthrown vaults. 2. Stretch the feet forward to a stuck landing. Don't try to put the feet down underneath you . .. remember, you are still traveling fast

and mu st stop yourself. 3. The body should not be arched at all ... it should be straight as an arrow. THE LANDING I. Be thinking about stretching for th e ground and landing before you actually hit. 2. The foot should land in this order: a. Touch the balls of the feet. b. Imm ediately sink to heels . In fact, if the mats are soft enough, land almost flat footed. A soft , gentle landing doesn 't apply here. Hit the ground with your feet hard. Make noi se! (It's the only way you 'll stop yourself.) Flat feet make for a dead landing ... that's what you want. c. Keep the arms fairly sideward. Don't go reaching forward with them. d. Stick the rear out behind you slightly as you take up the shock with your knees. e. Make sure you are stopped before straightening the knees - eventually , you 'll be able to straighten then soon after landing, but if you straighten too soon, before the vault is absolutely stopped , you'll have the " bouncing effect" we see so often. For a while th en, stay in a semi-squat. When you are all stopped, count to three, then stand at attention. Like anything else in gymnastics, to be a good vaulter, you have to vault. Understanding the mechanics isn't enough in itself. Yet, the beginning gymnast through the advanced should make it their business, like their coaches, to know why their bodies are doing as they are. They can then understand and correct themselves, and prevent bad habits from forming. Last, here are some useful exercises which help aspects of the vault: I. Bouncing on the hands on the trampoline with arms straight. Helps build shoulder push, body line, and balance. 2. Same exercise on the ground for powerful spring. Have spot at first. 3. Layout front on the trampoline for correct heel lift and arm lift. 4. Practice somersault or free bounce on trampoline and stick it. Also, bounce off trampoline and stick. Concentrate on sticking every vault! The handspring, while seemingly a difficult vaUlt, is actually little more difficult than a correct stoop, or straddle. It should be learned first to ensure proper mechanics.

B Parallel Bars GERALD S. GEORGE Gymnastic Coach Louisiana State University RE: From a Handstand PositionLAY AWAY FRONT UPRISE Illustration A assumes an extended handstand position with all body segments in a direct straight-line relationship. The fordownward push against the bar depicted in Illustration B serves to offset the gravitational line toward the intended direction of movement. As the body begins its pendulum descent , Illustrations C - D , observe that the shoulder angle begins to decrease slightly with the corresponding " foot lead" position. The continued descent reveals that there is a slight, yet very neces sary , lateral decrease in the elbow angle. This elbow decrement should be only to a point which allows adequate power in the upperarm support position. In an attempt to adhere to my concept of " pendulum amplitude," it is suggested that the shoulder region remain as far as is mechanically possible away from the hand grasp. Refer to Illustrations E - F - G. As the upper arms make contact with the

parallel bars', 'the hip region is vigorously driven forward a nd the leg region begins to tra il. Illustrations H . I - J relate that the leg-trunk region is cocked as in a n archer's bow ready to release its potential force in coordination with the upward pendulum swing. An important point is that the gymnast mu st maintain a forceful and steadfast shoulder girdle depress ion aga inst the bars throughout the entire upper-arm support position. This consideration will significantly facilitate the recoiling action of the oncoming " bottoming effect " and thereby a llow for a greater upwa rd pendulum sw ing. The rigid shoulder girdle depression and legtrunk fixation will aid the gymnast in attaining a true perpendicular " bottoming effect" from the pendulum swing. The double vertica l arrows included in Illustration K depict that thi s " bottoming effect " causes the bars to bow downward slightly and to recoil vigorously as the body unit ri ses up the pendulum swing. Illustrations L - M - N - 0 - P - Q - R relate the reactionary phase of the Front Uprise. The aforementioned slightly decreased elbow angle begins to increase to a direct stra ight-line relationship as soon as the upper arms are no longer in contact with the parallel bars. The steadfast back-downward push against the bars in addition to the slight but observable " foot lead " drives the arm unit forward toward s the upper vertical line. As the shoulder angle progress ively increases to its maxi mum anatomical range of movement , the arm regions simultaneously begin to rotate in an outward direction (refer to Illustrations Q - R). This rotation allows for the aforementioned maxi mum shoulder angle extension , a consideration of utmo st importance for reali zing a total and complete execution of the Front Upri se. Illustration R is indeed a " moment of truth " in tha t the gy mnast is idea lly posi tioned for a ny of the sequentiall y related skills. Ye s, I know it's one hell of a front uprise ... but. after all , that's the na me of the game ... just ask any Jap.

will rend er the bod y unit in a " foot lead" position. As the bod y unit approaches the apex of the upward circular s-ving, the aforementioned decreased shoulder and hip a ngle s begin to inc rease si multa neou sly and proportionately with each other. Of prime importance is the fact that the longitudinal weight of the body is maintained directly between the crossed ha ndgras p throughout the entire One-Half Turn. Such a consideration will serve to facilitate proper body alignment upon completion of the Backward Piroette. Upon transce nding Illustration I, the bo'd y will sense a feeling of weightlessness, almost as if one were being pulled above the bar. It is during thi s feeling of weightlessness that th e slipgrip action of the hands is realized . The wrists are arched onto the top of the bar to provide support for the oncoming bod y weight. . Illustrations J - K depict the One-Half Turn (Piroette) Backward in action. The actual

One-Half Turn is initiated slightl y before the aforementioned increas ing shoulder and hip a ngles presc ribe a direct straight-line rel ationship with each other. Such act ion is often referred to as "cork screw" twist ing. Throughout the entire One-Half Turn , a vigorous for-upward push agai nst the bar with the attached arm will help to avoid the tendency of turning too late. I n order to remain congruent with my concept of "F ULL ANATOMICAL RANGE ," the piroette mu st be initiated. executed. a nd co mpleted within th e limits of th e upper left-hand quadrant. A final point is that the One-Half Turn mu st be executed as a single action. The entire motio n must be instantaneous and coordinated with respec.t to the total bod y unit. Hence the piroette is completed. as depicted in Illustration L , before the body tra nscend s the upper vertical line. Such a consideration will ins ure greater continuity relative to those sequentially related skills. GYMNASTICS CLASSICS Volume 2 - Swing - ONE HALF TURN (PIROETTE) Section B - BACKWARD - to on Undergnp Hand stand Number 2 - Position

101 Horizontal Bar RE: From a Crossed Double Overgrip Giant Swing - ONE HALF TURN (PIROETTE) BACKWARD - to an Undergri p Handstand Position .... Illustrations A - B - C are omitted in order that a more vivid presentation of the One-Half Turn (Piroette) Backward can be realized. However, observe the graphed illust rations depicting the initial body position in the frontal and sagitta l pl anes. The total body unit prescribes a direct stra ight-line relationship while still maintaining the gravitational line such th at the effective body weight lies directly between the crossed hand grasp. The omitted illustrations , in addition to Illustrations D - E - F , are identical to the re spective illustrations depicted in the basic Overgrip Giant Swing (refe r to MG June-July 1968) notwithsta nding, of course, the crossed double overgrip ha ndgrasp. Hence, the underlying mecha nic s and techniques relative to these two skill s a re thu s far one and the same. Illustratio n F relates the initial aspect of the " buttoming effect" of the bar in that the bod y is cocked as in an archer's bow ready to release its potentia l force in coordination with the upward c ircular swing. Illustrations G - H - I displ ay the release of the previously mentioned slightly arched body position. The gymnast mu st immediately follow up thi s " bottoming effect" first by decreasing the shoulder angle slightly and the n by decreas ing the hip angle in direct proportion to the upward circular swing. These actions

©Copyrighl GymnastiC Classics® Volume 1 Horizontal Bar Section B - Changes in Direction Above the Bar Number 3 From a Crossed Double Overgrip Giant

Crossed Double Overgrip Handstand Position

"I .I

J.,

©Copyright

TEACHING THE GERMAN GIANT By WILLI A M R . H O LM ES Gymn astics Coa ch Ma l/ka/o S ta te Col/eRe M al/ka/o Minl/ es o /a

Th e Ge rm a n g ia nt is by no mea ns a new pa rt . I first o bserved thi s pa rt exec uted with rela ti ve effici e nc y in 1948 . A num be r of peo pl e were pe rforming thi s stunt in So uth e rn Ca lifo rnia a t a bo ut the sa me time. ho weve r. it was be.ing e xecut ed from a cas t ben ea th th e ba r ra the r than fro m a pit c h or a back kip fro m a sitting pos iti o n o n the hori zo nt a l bar. The G erma n is a rel ati ve ly easy pa rt w he n a pproached from a mech a ni ca l standpo int. The G e rma n as in oth e r pa rt s sho uld be lea rne d in a ma nne r of progressio n. The stude nt. of course. mu st be a bl e to perfo rm bas ic moves well eno ugh to inc lud e the Germ a n in hi s catalog of pa rt s. I suggest th a t th e gy mn as t be s trong in kip s. both fro nt a nd bac k. hip circ les. seat circl es . both front a nd bac k. a nd gia nt s. bo th fro nt a nd bac k. Man y gy mn as ts ca n pe rfo rm th e Germa n with th e a id of a compete nt te ac he r a nd spo tte r. Howe ve r. if he is no t ve rsed in sound bas ic mo vem e nt s as mentio ned a bo ve. he will be unable to pe rfo rm thi s pa rt in a n exerc ise. Th e in stru c tor mu st have some ty pe of teac hing sta nd o r ta bl e to sta nd on while teac hin g a nd spo tting the Ge rm a n. There a re a number of tumbling o r s po tting ta bl es ava il a ble on th e ma rke t today . The in stru cto r. whe n purchas ing a ta ble. s ho uld con sid e r the t ype th a t has adju stabl e he ig ht s on the legs. Th e in stru ctor should talk with the gy mnast ex pl a ining thorou g hl y to him o n th e na ture a nd mech a nics of the Germa n. Thi s pa rt is usua ll y the first move ment th e gy mn as t learn s tha t is blind. In o the r word s you a re unable to see fro m the beginning to th e end of th e tri c k. After pe rfo rming the Ge rma n ma ny times. th e gymn as t is a bl e to see pa rt s of the bod y. Second . th e instructo r sho uld ex pl ain the fo rce a nd mome ntum o f th e Germ a n as rel a ted to the regul a r

gia nt s. In th e Ge rma n gia nt th e cas t is perfo rm ed by dec reas ing the radiu s of th e body a nd re turning to the bar aft e r the swi ng the radiu s is aga in dec reased. T he instructo r mu st rela te to th e stude nt th a t th e head is t he key in th e exec uti o n of thi s pa rt. It is necessary to exp lain in de pth to th e yo ung gy mnas t whe n teac hing thi s pa rt. I fee l it is mo re im porta nt to have th e gy mn as t fee l th e tri ck whe n pe rfo rming it. Thi s me th od of teach ing th e Ge rm a n is safe. a nd a co mpe te nt instruct o r can ass ure th e gy mn as t o f alm ost 100% success. No ted ill .figure I , th e gy mnas t s it s o n th e h orizo nt a l b a r w ith a rm s s tr a ig ht. head in a neutra l pos ition . legs stra ight w ith toes point ed. He is sea ted a littl e bit hi ghe r th a n a no rma l sitting posi tio n a nd a t a bout th e ce nt e r of th e glute us maxi mu s. Th e sho ulder s ho uld be sli ghtl y be hind o r lea ning bac k. I in stru ct thi s pa rt from the ri gfil-hflnd side a nd will di scu ss thi s in stru cti o n as a ri ght -ha nded s po tt e r. At thi s time yo u di sc uss with th e gy mn as t exac tl y wh a t fo r ce a nd mo mentum h e is to u se. Y o u re la te to him tha t he is to cast bac kwa rd s. hi s hips raisin g from th e ba r in a vigorou s mo tion w ith o ut le a nin g tou fa r ba c k. a nd e mph as iz e th a t he is to kee p hi s head down a nd wa tc h hi s kn ees a t a ll times. Noted in .flRllre 2 is the pos it io n o f th e h a nd s o f th e in s tru c tor . T h e ri g ht ha nd gra bs th e left wri st in a n inverted pos ition with th e thum b do wn . Th e left hand is pl aced on the gy mn as t's bac k a bout wais t leve l. Prior to th e gy mn as t's exec uting t he pa rt. the instru cto r aga in re la ted to th e gy mnast tha t he is to cas t vigoro us ly bac kwa rd s, hip s ro ta tin g o ve r th e s hould e rs , not lea ning too fa r backwa rd s , a nd kee pin g th e hea d do w n, a nd wa t c hin g th e knees. In .fIRllre 3 the force a pp lied by the instru ctor's left ha nd is c lea rl y e vide nt. Thi s is th e ke y to th e suc cessful cas t of th e gy mn as t. I f the ins tructo r does no t punch th e hip s out as fa r as po ss ib le to e na bl e the gy mn as t to co me t o a n ex te nded pos iti o n rot ating a ro und hi s sho ulde rs, he may ex pe rience a je rk o r a bo ttoming out e ffec t. I f th e gy mn as t lift s hi s h ea d to a bac kw a rd mo ti o n hi s bod y w ill p la ne t o a n a rch ed pos it io n a nd will effec t a bott o ming o ut fee ling a nd e xpe rie nce di sco mfo rt in the c he st a nd sho ulde rs. O ne o ther mi sta ke th a t the gy mnas t ca n ma ke a t thi s tim e is th a t he may le a n

too far be fo re castin g th e hips o ve r th e sho ulde rs. F iRllre 4 shows th e c ha nging of th e left ha nd f r o m th e h ips to th e s ho uld er to prov id e th e fo rce a nd mo me ntum needed to co mpl e te th e gia nt. It is a lso necessa ry to in stru c t th e gy mnas t no t to a tt e mpt to a rc h o r stre tc h during th e move. I t is na tu ra l fo r th e gy mn as t to st retc h d uring th e Ge rma n gia nt whe n th e fo rce of th e swi ng pul ls him int o a s tre tc h posit io n. It is a t thi s time th a t th e in stru ctor is sw it c hing hi s le ft ha nd from the hips to th e shou ld ers. F iRllre 5 re la tes th e pos it io n of th e ha nd s re turnin g to th e hi ps of th e gym nas t to a id him in re turnin g ove r th e ba r th ro ugh th e sitting pos itio n . A t thi s time mos t gy mn as t s e rr o r by puttin g th e ir h ea d s bac k. stre tc hin g. a nd a tt e mptin g to lean th e ir s ho uld e rs over th e ba r to re turn to th e ba r fro m th e innloca ted swinging pos itio n. I have no ted ma ny ad vance d gy mnas ts us ing th is tec hnique. Thi s is tec hni ca lly in co rrect. The in stru cto r sho uld teach th e gy mn as t to force hi s hip s vigoro usly fo rwa rd . lowe ring the hea d. a tt e mpting to to uc h th e nose to th e kn ees. S tretc hing th e a rm s away fr o m th e bo d y is n ecessa r y t o p ro v id e a g rea t e r a ng le from th e bac k to th e a rm . Thi s e ffec t decreases th e r a diu s of th e sw ing a nd e na bl es th e gy mnas t to return fro m the o rbit a l pos ition. T hi s is what I ca ll a " hairpinned " pos iti o n. Figure 6 rel a tes th e c ha nging of the right ha nd from in front of the ba r, und e rnea th th e ba r. regras ping th e wri st a nd spo tting th e hip s fo r a safe ty meas ure at th e fini sh of th e pa rt. In clos ing. I would like to re la te th e co mmo n mi sta kes th e gy mn as t will make when atte mptin g to lea rn thi s pa rt. I ) I niti a l cas t is not vigorous e no ugh. 2) Lea ning too fa r backward s o n th e initi a l cast. 3) Cas ting with th e head bac k. 4) Res tri ctin g th e tra nsfe r of mo me ntum from the hips to th e sho ulde rs o n the initia l cas t. 5) Returning o n th e fro nt sid e, th e gy mnast a tte mpt s to st re tc h , putt ing the head back a nd lea ning th e sho ulders over th e ba r. F ollow ing thi s meth od of in structi o n. the in struct o r is a b le to pro vide a full meas ure of safe ty plu s so und mec ha ni ca l teaching. T he gy mnas t w ill learn th e pa rt mo re readil y a nd e na ble him to includ e th e Ger ma n in hi s ho ri zo nta l ba r exe rci se.

ANEW TECHNIQUE FOR TEACHING TUMBLING by AI Cap. Gy mn as tic Coac h Pe te rs Township Hi gh School McMurray. Pe nn sy lva ni a

I n a n e ffort to be tt e r th e exec uti o n of common tumbling stunt s. I have found a different a nd effect ive-met hod of teac hing tumbling. To m y know led ge thi s exac t tec hn iq ue has r; eve r bee n use d before a nd co mpe nsa te s fo r th e di sad va nt ages of the use of a so ft-land c us hi o n in tumblin g. The softla nd c us hi o n is a ve ry va luab le tumbling a id b ut is c um be rso me because of its in co n ven ie nt hei ght above a tumbling surface. A ft e r us in g thi; me thod for approx i':: ma te ly two mo nth s. I a m co nvi nc e d th a t it tremendo usly fac ilit a tes th e learning process in tu mb ling. Thi s new ap pa ra tu s is co nst ructed by usin g six fo lding ma ts (Nissen) a nd one soft -land c ushi o n (G.S.c.). A ll mat s a re bound toget he r w ith a thl et ic tape to prevent se paration. ' Stunts s uch as running fro nt ha nd sp rin g. running front sa ito headspring. s ta nding back hand s pring. sta nding back sa ito a nd tin sica ca n Folding Mat

be do ne from the run way directl y in lO the so ft la nd c us hi o n. The fo lding mats provide a firm a nd leve l surface on w hi c h runs. roundoffs. handsprings. forwa rd rolls o r any ot he r lead- up stu nt s in sequ e nce tumbling ca n be performed. T he ha rd er stunt s in th e se quen ce are done int o th e softla nd cus hi o n. With new mat formation. th e necessary judging of di s tance de ve lop s very easi ly a nd excess app roac h s teps a re e limin ated. I have found th a t gy mn as ts will pick up hea dspri ngs (s tra ight leg) . handsp rin gs (fo rwa rd . backward. stepout) . s ta ndi ng back sa ito and runn ing front sa llOs ve ry rap idl y w he n exec ut ed directl y into the soft -land cus hi o n. Fo r beg in ning gy mnas ts. th e re is no fear o f keep ing th e head back in a front ha nd sp rin g. Seq uen ces s uc h as: I. forward roll. front headsp rin g , round o ff. back sa it o 3. roundoff. back flip fl op. back sa it o 4. front ha nd sp ring. front sa it o S. ca rt w hee l. sid e sa it o can be done re la ti ve ly free from inhibition s. Form see ms 10 develop much mo re effic ie ntl y w he n th e gy mna s t is no t res tri c te d b y ove rprotec ti ve hand s potting. spo tting be lts and ropes. T he o nl y draw back of thi s met hod is sid eward deviations. Th ese ca n be pa rti a ll y e limi nated by setti ng up thi s appa ra tu s o n a w id e s trip of w res tling ma t: howe ve r. thi s da nger

Folding Mat

Runway

Folding Mot

Fold ing Mot

Folding Mat

would on ly occ ur in ve ry lo ng tumbling sequences. a nd probably it would be best not 10 use thi s method for s uc h a d vanced sequ ences (i.e .. a lt e rn a tes). I have found the run way to be ve ry adequate for se qu e nc es s uc h as roundoff. rip fl op back sa it o: a nd EXCELLENT for front ha nd spring . front sa it o. Hand spott in g ca n be app lied if the coac h stand s near a rea o. I o n the above diagram: however. the coac h 'sjob he re is on ly to m ,~ni p u 颅 late th e gy mn ast's bod y into th e co rrec t positi o n rath er than conce ntra ting on pre ve ntin g hard la ndin gs. Time is a factor in a ny gym nast ic practice. a nd I have found that in two ho urs of practice eight to 10 gy mnas ts ca n pe rform up to 20 ha ndsprings forward. 20 ha nd sp rin gs backward. 20 running fronts. 20 headsp rings a nd 20 tumblin g sequ e nces wi th a mpl e time for exp:a natio ns. demonstrations a nd res t. Thi s a mo unt of exec ution wo u ld be imposs ible w ith co nve nti o nal techniqu es. A lso. thi s appa ratu s ca n be asse mb led in less tha n four minute s. Afte r a few weeks gymnasts learn to s pot the mse lves mak ing it possible for a coac h to s pend so me of hi s practice tim e elsewhe re o n th e o th er appara tu s. If you have fo ldin g mat s a nd a soft -la nd cus hion . tr y thi s me th od: th a t' s the onl y way yo u' ll know if it wo rk s.

Soft-Land Cushion

-路 ----------------1~(.;;"...-------

Landing Area

----------;>~I

Folding Mot Soft-Land Cushion

Folding Mat

(,1

TUMBLING TOPICS by DI C K CRILEY

/0'

5. Roundoff , back ha ndspring. (A difficulty). ote particularly the a rm act io n through th e trans iti o n between ro und off a nd th e ha nd sp ring - a quick push o r rebound from the fl oor. the offba lance position created by snapp ing the feet down so th a t th e hip s a nd center of gravi ty co ntinu e in the direction of momentum (not upwa rd s as in a blocking type of ac ti o n w hi c h lead s to a diving or fl oat ing ha nd sp ring) a nd th e a ngle a nd extension of legs and body (fina l pu s h rearwards from toe s) as the a rm s reach bac kward for the fl oor. I n beginners. watc h for a blocking ac tion by th e legs a nd fee t (characterized by hips ahead of feet at th e mom e nt

of co nt act). bending a t the knee s 10 b ring th e hip s forward a nd towards bala nce (particularl y if th e tumb le r is too mu c h o n hi s toes) a nd failure to con tinue a rm act ion a ll th e way a rou nd to t he fl oo r. The seque nc e can be used to gai n momentum by bringing the legs a round s ha rpl y an d " cutti ng in " or to di sp lay a hi gher, lighte r effect by ex tending a little more in the ro undo ff. la nding s light ly mo re forwa rd on th e toes a nd throwing the a rm s less vigoro usly. In th e la tter case. the hi ps wi ll be a t abou t s hou ld e r he ight.

Next : Th e rOlllldoff. back sOlll ersa lllt.

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ZWICKEL GYMNASTIC TAILORS 24

"JUDGING by JERRY," an MG feature series edited by Jerry Wright to help keep our readers up-to-date on National and International (FIG) judging codes and to subjectively analyze changes and problems, is not a oneman, one opinion project. Jerry will be calling on other qualified officials to contribute reports based on their technical knowledge and experience. If you are a qualified official and have a point of fact you would like to contribute or a question you would like clarified, drop a card or an article to: JUDGING by JERRY, P.O. Box 611, Santa Monica, California 90406. Jon Culbertson, judging article contrib'u tor for this edition is a past top caliber Gymnast, alternate on the 1962 USA World Games team and a dedicated official of note.

By TED M UZYCZKO In beginning this short monthly column I would like its readers to consider it in the sense ofa semi nar where state ments and thoughts expressed are looked at as questionable, not dogmatic , a nd at best temporarily correct if only by definition . For instance today's "C" move may be tomorrow 's " B" move and next year's " A" move. Intermediate swings once tolerated are now heavi ly penalized. Certai n innovati ve moves once deprecate d as being " unsuited for the event" are now awarded extra points under the originality category. Yet we need so me code of points to follow or decisions could never be made without large point spreads or long interruptive discussions. Such a code now exists in the FIG and despite its inadequacies and inconsiste ncies, this code is the best offered to date. We shou ld therefore follow it. being fully aware of its inconsistencies and changeable nature. Unless we keep this frame of mind we will find ourselves accepting this code too blindly and needed changes will be hard to make w hen a more favorable mood prevails over tho se now in power to make changes. From my sta ndpoint gymnastic s is a sport for gy mn asts , not an expedient of communications media, camp followers and aficion ados. And the first duty of a judge is to be fair to the competitors by making impartial judgements from objective observations as allowed by current rules. Accordingly a judge must keep up with rules changes a nd be aware of rule interpretations or limitatio ns. In summary , I hope these monthly ar ticle s and quizzes will stim ul ate thou ght and encourage participation. If you have any comments or suggestions based on these arti cles or related topics , wri te me and perhaps they may be a source for more extended future discussions. Eac h month I w ill pre se nt a question ab le judgi ng point for discussion. I wi ll also include a short general quiz. EXPANDING OUR SCALES? In looking over the resu lts of almost any international meet we can quickl y see that the top ten to twenty gymnasts, depending on the type of meet, are bunched in between scores of 9.2 to 9.8. Although this point is not too often questioned , I can't help but feel that there is something fundamentally wro ng here. In top level competition this scori ng system is like an ice-

berg we see the top ten percent being pretty unaware of the submerged and unavailable ninet y percent. The question is this: " WOU LD IT BE MORE ADV ANT AG EOUS TO USE MORE OF THE NOW UNAVAILABLE SCALE. " Some good features of this expansion wo uld be: I) More decisive separations could be made, 2) Better placing wou ld probably result , i.e. , fewer ties , 3) All-around scores would be more accurately be computed , i.e., in the Olympic Games competition any half decent exercise wou ld not get the automatic 8.7 or some such score, 4) The current rules could be more effectively and " honestly " be used , i.e., full prescribed deduction s could be universally applied. Some undesirab le features would be: I) Greater point spreads may be a pparant - especially among inexperienced judges , 2) Previously highly scored performers or performances would now receive lower scores. What do you think?

jUdging qUiZ Part 1 - On Falling I. Falling onto an ap paratus , i.e. , noticeably sitting, is penalized by _ _ _-'-_ __ 2. I nterrupting a side horse or para llel bar routine by falling with full weight on the floor withollt loss of grasp is penalized by _ _ __ 3. Faiiing from an apparatus (rings , parallel bars , side horse or horizont al bar) with loss of grip and remounting wit hin 30 seco nd s is penalizedby _ __ 4. A second spotter appears at the end of a horizontal bar exercise to assist in spotting a gy mnast dismounting with a layout fly away below the height of the bar. The correct deduction is . 5. A second spotter appears at the end of a horizonta,l bar exercise to help a gymnast dismounting with a double twisting flyaway. The correc t deduction is _ _ _ __ Part II - Swinging Moves 6. A double back somersault di smou nt from the parallel bars meets the "swinging C move requirement" for final performances in championship meets. True or False? 7. Give the part vaIue~ for moves shown in Figures A & B. Fig. A

~t~~~rL~=1B I<'/~~

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8. A mi ss in g " Swinging C" mo ve in a still rings pelformance in the fina1s of a championship meet is penali zed by _ _ _ 9. If a gy mnast performs a sti ll rings exercise in which over 45 % of his moves are in the stre ngth . ca t egory s hould be penalized Answers on page 28

AGymnast's Thoughts While Running Dan J. Millman Gymnastics Coach Stanford University Picture a gymnast running five miles. It's dawn and the air is sti ll biting cold. Tennis shoes stride over dew-speckled grass. You can see his figure mave, Silhouetted against the arange morning sky. He's draped in a torn "1" shirt And drenched in sweat. Focusing mare closely You see a piece af cloth tied araund his t",<>n,,,u,, But still the sweat stings his eyes. Laok at his eyes; They are busy. He is thinking of last year's seasan And the ane he's now preparing far .

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Why am I doing this? Ta get in shape for the season But who's seasan? Mine? Coach's? The Athletic Departments? My seasan .. My season! " Still he lopes across the grass. Far acrass th e field You can still hear his straining lungs And see the misted breath Spew through gritted teeth . .. "Keep gaing Remember what coach says 'Success is farming the habit of doing what failures don't like ta do' Success is sweat! Inhale 02 Exhale CO2 Inhale more 02 Mare! More!

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. I hope! . . courage is the canquerin9 of fear . . . not the absence of It ... .' ... for caach because I respect him . . for me .. . . .. fo r my spo rt . .. my art . . . my way of life .. Finally, the race aver. A gymna~t drops to the grass that is St~1 echOing The slosh Of strang legs. The gnl y saunds in the air Are ir\ls greeting the sun And qUiet breathing AS~ gymnast sits alone An Begins to stretch .. An he s grinning a si lly grin Through clenchea teetn.

and inaccurate information, a pitfall this writer intends to avoid. Th ere may well be some legitimate explanation for this administrative abortion and I for one believe it would be a displa y of wisdom if some kno wledgea ble spokesman could set the record straight in regards to this incident. What was th e original com mitment to Miss Sims and Miss Corrigan ? Wh y were these girls dropped from th e team ? H ow were th eir replacements chosen and by whom ? Etcetera . "THE GREAT EUROPEAN TOUR CAPER" Ha ving been associated with th e sport for Sometime in th e late spring of 1969 th e a number of years I am not naive about the coach of the University of Massachusetts political shenanigans and, for lack of a better women's gymnastic team received a call from concept, "personal interests groups" which a Mr. Ron Ortley inquiring into th e availability permeate th e gymnastic hierarchy. This is true of Miss Margie Sims , Univ. of Mass. national for many sports-it is par for the course, unlevel A.A . competitor, to take part in a summer fortunate , but alas, historically inevitable. European trip. Th e purpose of this event was My foreign colleagues indicate that th e same to furth er the promotion and development of is true east and west of our shores. A certain our national gy mnastics program via the inter- amount of such underground action is stimunational scene. Apparently several other girls latin g and ca n be helpful but th e boundary had already been contacted including another between this type of decision-making apparatus Massa chusetts national level A.A. competitor, and overt corruption is easily blurred. If this Patti Corrigan of Springfield College. Things b,' the irreversible case, then my only public looked good for Miss Sims at this point and plea is that in the fiiture we try to negotiate she accepted th e invitation, being assured by it with grea ter dignity and somewhat less Mr. Ortley that it was a definite thing and not clumsily, with some attempt made to create the contingen t on th e competitive record compiled illusion of integrity, and, at the very least, a during the remainder of th e year. Margie re- toktll gesture of our awareness for the feelings ceived papers to complete from the State De- of others . Youn g, aspiring women gymnasts partment, information relevant to schedules have been hurt in th e past and no doubt will be and uniforms, etc., all suggesting that she again . The price for such "errors" as was made could make plans to participate in this exciting here seems high. One of th e girls involved f elt venture. Somewh ere between that time and the so strongly about this experience that she has conclusion of th e National A.A .U.'s something disassociated herself from th e sport- surely a went very wron g. Both Miss Corrigan and Miss loss wt' cannot continue to precipitat e or Sims were dropped from the tour team . Patti, endure. Sincerely, whose leg was in a cast, had not been able to Dr. J . Massimo enter th e National A.A.U. meet and there Massa chusetts appeared to be some question as to her recovering in time to make the trip . Miss Sims entered the Nationa l meet and, although she was unable to finish th e competition because of a AMERICAN CUP DIFFICULTIES minor leg problem , she did compete in a majority of events. Apparently, however, counter to Dear Glenn : I was particularly interested in the article what Mr. Ortley had said, the competition record did indeed make a difference. Mr. Ort- written by Jerry Wright about the America Cup ley can only be held partly responsible for this T eam and competition and th e difficulties disunfortunate incident since he is unfamiliar cussed in th e story . . .. Conditions such as th e with women's gymnastics and obviously ad- one mentioned should not exist and all means ministratively inexperienced. Quite likely he and efforts should be directed to alleviate any found himself caught in th e middle of a behind recurrencefor the good ofu YMNASTIC::;. Sincerely, th e scene maneuver or, if you will, "caper." Isadore Wa sserman, Problems were also encountered in relationChairman -AA U Gymnastic Fund ship to the selection of the coach so it would appear va lid to assume, and it is only an assumption, that pressure was being brought to bear on Mr. Ortley and more was occurring SAD NEWS than meets the eye or ever will! It is this un- D ear G lenn : disclosed activity wh ich concerns this author ... a bit of bad news - Jim Yon gue, one of and should all of us who are interested in the character reputation of the sport at many our fine trampolinists, was accidentally shot in levels. It is easy to become paranoid in this the head . . . . H e is alive and recovering, but it regard and go off on a tirade with inadequate will probably be a long time before he bounces

LETTERS

again . I am sure he would like to hear from his many friends. (His address is: Jim Yon gue, Solomon St., Breaux Bridge , La. 70517.) Sin cerely, Jeff H ennesey Un iv. ofSo.W. Louisiana Lafayette , Louisiana Ed. We are sure all our readers along with the MG staff wish Jim a speedy and complete recovery.

"The Twis t?" .Allon Blockmond, Old Dominion College

"GYM TWIST" Dear Glenn , Thought this photograph might prove interesting. Turn photo upside down and it looks like someone dancing the "twist!" J erry George

BROKEN UP D ear Mr. Sundby, My husband and I just received th e AugustSeptember issue of "Modern Gymnast" and completely broke up reading the article by Dan Millman on page 20 about Gymnastic Types! It really hits home if one has ever had anythin g to do with gymnastics. Sin cerely, Mrs . Mary Chmura Polish Falcons of America Pittsburgh, Pa .

ENROll IN WINTER SESSION OF

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Continued from page 11

Continued from page 7

for the U.S. Olympic team. We traveled without a coach or adult manager. The goodwill tour turned out quite well but unorganized. I can confidently say that a coed group with manager and coaches makes a world of difference. We had excellent pre-demonstration planning from our coaches and efficient work from our manager. Another key factor for the tour being so successful was the compatibility of the group. The tour could only be chalked up as a great experience.

expected to help those below him in capability. By the time a gymnast reaches 54-55 all-around total he knows how to practice without a coach because he has mastered all of the basics. The coach's role is hard to define because he is not really involved in a physical manipulation of the gymnast nor does he make frequent oral comment. Often the coach observes a gymnast doing a move 10-20 times before offering a suggestion. When the coach does speak, he is listened to. If the gymnast is asked to perform his routine three times in a row , he does so - no complaints or excuses. When the gymnast is told to execute a move in a given fashion , there is no questioning; he throws the move as directed. The Japanese believe that once you have learned the move there is no need to ask how or why because you understand it. This is possibly one reason their coaches are effective : they understand gymnastics and can instruct a gymnast so that he can readily grasp what it is he is told to do. This , coupled with the gymnast's mastery of his own body, must be regarded as one important element in their program. So many times I have heard it said that we (the U.S.) should try to be more like the Japanese. Close observers say that it will never work to copy their whole program because our system of education is too different. Our high schools do not have the coaches, the time, or the facilities ; our colleges are more demanding of the students' time ; and our gymnasts do not care to master the fundamentals and are not willing to make gymnastics their way of life. What then can be done to raise the standard of U.S. gymnastics? In my next column, I shall discuss some possible solutions.

.., 1 .

'. ,~~, . ' , ",

It was simply a great experience! I'm left speechless in attempting to describe the tour any further. I saw so much, learned a lot and became a little more aware of life away from home - being fascinated each minute. The team worked together beautifully ; I was proud and so fortunate to have been a member of it. I shall forever be grateful for this opportunity of having represented the United States in sharing good will and my own personal thrill and enjoyment of gymnastics with foreign friends. Thank you.

KATH GLEASON This tou r was by far one of the most enjoyable and well-organized trips I have ever taken. As a whole, everything was tremendous , and any faults or mistakes are actually too trivial to mention. The team members all displayed such team spirit and unity. The coaches and manager all did an excellent job organizing our workouts , clinics and travel arrangements. We were all received very well in each coun路 try, and our State Department provided us with an Embassy guide in each country that helped tremendously in adding to our knowledge of the places we saw. Again, I have never enjoyed a team as much as this one, and it will always remain as one of the highlights of my gymnastic career.

BOB EMERY

DICK SWETMAN The tour, gymnastically speaking, was even with a few unavoidable disappointments, a great success. In all of our contacts with the gymnasts of each country we encountered overwhelming eagerness to learn. The Turkish gymnasts appeared intimidated by ou r appearance and did not even perform with us during our main exhibitions. During the clinics, however, they were willing to work out with us . Lebanon proved to have a similar situation to that of Turkey ; that is, the talent and gymnastic pride was not there. The public did not respond even as well as it did in Turkey. Jordan started out to be the most organized and most ecstatic country to have us with them. Because of an untimely political event, however, we were forced to leave the country, thus cutting short our stay and a few exhibitions. This was very unfortunate because much planning, time and money had gone into our stay. The Moroccans greatly surprised me with their talent. We taught eagle giants, full twists, regrasps, back somersaults (P. Bars) and back Moores (on sidehorse) to mediocre gymnasts in two days. With their ability , the Moroccans with some better coaching could become a fairly strong national team in a few years. As it stands now, they will stagnate unless some fresh gymnastic blood is somehow pumped into the country. The tour proved again the importance of personal contact on the part of gymnasts and coaches with those of teams of other nations for the purpose of encouragement , learning and better understanding both in gymnastics and in all human affairs.

For the tour, I can only offer my highest praise. This goes especially for the coaches who in my estimation were the perfect choice gymnastically, socially and diplomatically. Throughout the minor difficulties encountered during the tour, we were kept on our toes and ready to go. The only suggestion I have to make a possibly better tour in the goodwill sense is that there be more clinics and less exhibitions. The most productive portion of the trip in the sense of better relations was accomplished at the clinics. At the exhibitions we were a novelty for the majority of spectators who came to see the Americans and not the gymnastics in some cases of less than optimum working conditions. I would finally like to recognize the outstanding jobs the cultural Affairs Officers and U .S.I.S. officials are doing in the cities we visited. Their work and the men themselves are doing much to dispel the image of the "Ugly American" abroad.

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TERRY SPENCER Visiting many places and meeting many won路 derful people has been an experience I never want to forget. The group was a great one to be with. From the beginning to the end of the tour, there were no arguments whatsoever. I feel this is what made me appreciate my sum路 mer gymnastic tour. It was a terrific summer, but it was great to get home.

ANSWERS TOJUDGES QUIZ Note, the page reference to those in the FIG Book in which explanations may be found . 1.. 5-.7 p. 20 2.. 8 p. 22

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December 5·6, 1969. Gymnastic Workshop for Men and Women, University of Missouri. December 13. Iowa Open Gymnastic Meet, U. of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. December 25-31, 1969. Notional Gymna stic Cli nic, Sa rasota, Florida. December 26-31. Eastern Gymnastic Clinic, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. December 26-31. Western Gymnastic Clinic, Tucson, Ari· zona. December 26·31. Texas Notional Gymnastic Clinic, Corpus Christi, Texas. December 26·31. Winter session of the Sokol U.S.A Gymnastic School, Sokol Beach Motel, Tampa, Florida. December 27, ·28, 29. Midwest Christmas Gymnastic Clinic, Louisville YMCA, Louisville, Kentucky 40202.

1970

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March 5, 6, 7, 1970. Big 10 Championship, University of Minnesota. March 7, 1970. North Atlantic Gymnastic Championship, Westchester, Pennsylvania. March 12, 13, 14, 1970. Eastern Intercollegiate Championship, Syracuse, New York. March 14, 1970. Southwest Conference Gymnastic Championship, Texas A&M, College Station, Texas. March 19-21, 1970. NAIA Gymnastic Championship, Stout State College, Menomonie, Wisconsin. March 19·21 , 1970. Big 8 Gymnastic Championship, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, Kansas. March 26-28. AAWW Gymnastic Championship, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, Washington. April 2-4, 1970. NCAA Gymnastic Championship, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 8-9·10, 1970. Championships of the U.S.A Los Vegas, Nevada. April 11, 1970. Central Atlantic Area YMCA Championships, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey. April 17- 18,1970. Notional YMCA Gymnastic Championship, Oklahoma Ciiy, Oklahoma . April 24-25, 1970. World Cup Invitational, Long Beach, California. April 25·26, 1970 ... Second Annual WORLD CUP. Long Beach, California . International Judges Courses for Men and Women. Tentatively scheduled for Long Beach, pending approval of FIG Officials involved. Course for all English-speaking women ... Men from Canada, U ... Men from Canada, U.S.A. and Mexico. October 22·27 , 1970. WORLD'S GAMES ... Ljubjlana, Yugoslavia.

1969 AAU TRAMPOLINE COMPETITION SCHEDULE November 29, 1969. USA Trampoline Championships, Springfield, Illinois. December 20, 1969. Houston Invitational, Houston, Texas. December 25·31, 1969. Notional Gymnastic Clinic, MidWinter NAAU Championships, Sarasota, Florida. January 10, 1970. USL Invitational Championships, Lafa· yette, Louisiana. January 24, 1970. Memphis, Tenn. February 14, 1970. SAAU Novice, Junior, Senior Championships, Lafayette, Louisiana . February 28, 1970. First USA Team Trials for World Team, New Orleans, Louisana. March 7, 1970. Notional Age Group & Open Championships, Lafayette, Louisiana. April 11 ·12, 1970. NAAU Trampoline Championships, Houston, Texas. April 18, 1970. Final·USA Team Trial s for World Team, Memphis, Tennessee January 24, 1970. Texas High School Compulsories Clinic, John H. Reagan High School, Austin, Texas.

New Arrival Past Olympian Ron Barak and his wife, Barbara, had a package dropped off by Mr. Stork, one Mark Joseph by name weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces, 181.1 inches on the 18th day of October 1969. (Congratulations.)

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Wor" Games Compulslries. Anila.le !I'III S•• ~.y P•• licatilllS, P.O. 811 117, SlRta Mllica, Califll1lia

91140&

Better Not Take Safety Standards For Granted When You Buy Gymnastic Apparatus Nissen doesn't. In fact, most new safety and convenience features for gymnasium apparatus in the last decade have been developed by Nissen. Who else would think of putting a Floating Counterbalance device in each apparatus upright to make height adjustments almost effortless? More importantly, the counterbalance prevents the parallel bar, for example, from suddenly dropping, possibly causing pinched fingers or bruised foreheads. Who else but Nissen would develop an almost unbreakable Perma-Wood top bar for parallel bars, fusing hardwood laminations together under extreme heat and pressure? Noone insisted these changes ... except Nissen. Heavier gauge materials, interchangeable parts so improvements or innovations will fit equipment in the field, streamlined, protrusion-free design - Nissen has engineered new safety into gymnastic equipment, on its own, without an outside organization requiring it. Some equipment buyers take safety standards for granted. If you're

that way, your best bet is.to buy equipment from a company that doesn't. Like Nissen, for instance. Nissen Corporation, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406 A floating counterbalance is installed inside each upright of Nissen parallel bars to keep the pistons at static tension. Only a slight hand pressure is required to raise or lower the bar.

BOX 111

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JEFFERSON. IOWA 50129

AMERICAN ATHLETIC E,Q,UIPMEN"l