Gymnast Magazine - December 1975 by USA Gymnastics

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~IUlDnIGIJ~· TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume XVII / Number 12 / December 1975 5. 6. 12. 14. 16. 16. 18. 19. 20. 39. 40. 45. 45. 46. 47. 48. 50. 52. 53. 54.

55. 56. 57. I"-'I~>'.

, 58. 60. 61. 62. 64.

72. 78.

FROM THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER, Glenn Sundby 1975 WORLD CUP PREVIEW INTERNATIONAL REPORT, Dr. Joseph Goehler A SUPER C ON THE VAULTING HORSE, Dr. Joseph Goehler & Bori, i:l<ljin TWENTY WORLD'S BEST GYMNASTS THE.KORBUT FLIGHT, Dr. Goeh ler & KI. Wiemann RHN HMIC GYMNASTlCSj-A"drea B. Schmid 1975 'MILK MEET PREVIEW VII PAN AMERICAN GAMES MEXICO '75, Stephen Kubas ek ANN CARR BIOGRAPHY, Tom Wakeling POSTER FOLD-OUT, Ann Carr, 1st AA Pan American Games VIEWPOINTS,Di ck Criley GUEST OPINION: The Russians Are Coming Again and - Again, I rit l. Ke it e r GUEST OPINION: From A Beginner Coach In Gymnastic s, Loui , J. SJ mah a USGF TECHNICAL BULLETIN SEQUENCES BY SCHULZ, Dieter Schu lz RESEARCH: Beat Swing Action In Gymnastics, Jerry Calkin COMPOSITION FOR FLOOR EXERCISE AND BEAM, General Points To Be Aware Of, Caro l Leidtke A POSITIVE APPROACH TO GYMNASTICS, June Dussi a RESEARCH: The Unified Terminology The Most Powerful Aid To Teaching Gymnastics, O .J. Kudrnovsky "HELIN" OF A GYMNASTIC COACH, Gene Stowe CO-ED CAMPUS COLUMN, Gretchen Dowsing PSYCHOLOGY AND THE GYMNAST, Autogenic Training In Gymnastics, Dr. Joe Massimo CLUB CORNER BAJlET FOR GYMNASTICS, Grace Kaywell NEWS 'N NOTES, Ken ee P. Hendershott lATE SUMMER REPORTS STATE REPORTS lETTERS CALENDAR

Cover: The Golde n Girls, ludmilla Tourischeva and Ann Carr (Photo, by '1U Il Y lJufr'y) Color photo ul Kurt riwl1la s by Tom Wakeling

Editor/Publisher : Glenn Sundby Associate Editor: Di ck Cri ley Research Editor: H.J. Biesterfe ldt, Jr. International Editor: Dr. Joseph Gohler Art Director: Ri chard Kenney ProCfuctioD Assistant: Patricia L'Toile Circula,tion and Advertising Manager: Dr. R.S. Bach

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SUND8\' PUHLK.ATIONS . 410 Bro.HtWd Y. Setntd Moni("d,Cd. All

Photo !!. clOd mtlnu!ooipt .. !>ubmi ltt.·d b('(onlt.' tht.· propert y of GYMNAS 1 unlt'!>s rt.' lurn r('qu('!io l dnd !io uffi ci(,111 posldge dr('

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GYMNI\ST Dec. '75

REPORT FROM THE EDITOR/ PUBLISHER INTERNATIONAL PICTURE: Having just returned from an extended tour of Europe where we were able to cover the Sports Acrobatics "Friendship Cup " in Bulgari a, th e First Sports Acrobatics " World Cup " in Switzerland and the sensational First Official " World Cup " for Gymnastics in London , England, we just want to say w e are g l'ld to be back at the GYMNAST office and to thank our staff for doin g such a fine job whi le we were away. While in Europe we had a chance to spend some discussion time with our Internaitonal Editor, Dr. Joseph Gohler in Wurzburg, Germany about ex panding his International report to in c lud e more technical data and drawings of the type used in hi s "O lympi sc h Turnkunst " magazine (you will note further on in this edition it is already happe ning). It was nice to renew frien,dships also with Jim and Pauline Prestidge and their daughters Mary and Meg (Warren). You will be hearing more from Jim and Pauline in the next edition of GYMNAST as Jim will give us an ov ervi ew of th e " World Cup" and Pauline will report o n th e Women's competition. In future editions you will be seeing instructional diagrammed articles by daught e r M eg, who is a gymnast ic enthusiast in her own right and an artist of not e. Also in i:lul ga ria , Swit ze rland and Lond o n we developed more than a passin g aqu aint ance with Jon Atk in son, National Coach of the B.A .G .A. (British Amateur Gymnasti c Associat ion). Jon is a compu ter when it comes to Gymnastics. N!lmes, plac e,. rout in es, scores or personal data Jon remembers and quoies like pushing a button. You w ill be hearing more from Jon in future editions of GYMNAST as he wi ll b e doing a techn ical report on the " World Cup " in our next edition, along with an interesting article on an unusual coach and his successf ul program in a ,ma ll town in the middle of Bulgaria . Although ,tay ing on in London to cover the "World Cup" prevented me from attending th e Pan America n Games in Mex ico (as I had originally planned), you will see by th e fin e r£port in this issue by reporter Stephen Kubasek and, our young photograph e r TOlll Wakeling, I was not missed . By exte ndin g my stay in England I wa s ab le to get a first hand view of the competit ion , tak e a few still photos alon g with almost 50 ro ll s of Super-B co lor film of.the top Gymnasts in tbe world , for techniqu e study. I w as also able to pick up first hand co lor and black & white photo s from Gymnastic photographers Tony Duffy and Alan Burrows. Congratulation s are in o rd e r fo r Tony Murdock, BAGA Development Officer, for the fantastic job of organization he and his working staff did for the promotion and runnin g of the " World Cup " and the "Russian Display Program" that followed th e co mp etition during the next three days. (An unending supp ly and variety of po, ter s, buttons, programs, T-Shirts, Gymbags, etc. were made u'p to . promote th ese eve nts'.) I also wish to thank Frank Edmonds, president of the BAGA, for hi , friendship and personal concern for my needs in cove rin g the ~J competition . A very spec ial thanks should also go to, Peter Aykroyd , Press Officer ' \ for the competitiun and Editor of " The GYMNAST" official publication of the B.A . G. A. Ait hough, Pet er, as the editor of a competitive magazine, might have had the right to feel we we re imposing on his big competition in his territory, he did everything within hi s power as Press Officer to see I had full press privil eges, credentials and accomodat ions. (Peter, we hope you enjoy our-coverage of yo ur excellent " World Cup " and we will be looking forward to reading your report in " The GYMNAST" *). Great Britain may not now be a world threat in competitive gymnastics, however, in the la st coup le of years they have had many internation al displays and competitions, including the " European Championships" for wom en, their annual " Champi o ns All " and in this first "Wo rld Cup", they are undeniably a world power when it co m es to promoting the sport. .. with this int erest and dedication by th e BAGA, can a top compet iti ve team from Great Britain be far behind?

All in All , it wa s a good trip and all the better to know that our staff kept things going at home and TOTAL L Y produced and mailed GYMNAST magazine for the month of November without a sentence, thought; photo or decision from yo urs truly . We could say a IDlmore about th e " World Cup " and the " Pan Am Games" but it would be a bi~ 'r ed undant as our staff, under the guidance of our Art Director, Ri ch Ke nn ey, have put together what we think is one of the BEST EVER editions of GYMNAST m agaz in e. *1/ any 0/ our readers would like to subscribe to "The Gymnast magazine, the Officiol Publication 0/ the British Amature Gymnastics Federation, published quarterly ... Send $2.00 to: The Gymnas t Circulation Manager, BAGA , 230 High Street. Slough , Berks. 511 IDY. ENGLAND.

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation: GYMNAST Magazine is published by Sundby Sports Publications, 410 Broad_y, Santa Monica, California 90401. Owned by: Glenn M. & Barbara B.: Sundby. Printed monthly in Los Angeles, California. Total distribution aa of September, 1975: 19,526.

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LUDMILLA TOURISCHEVA Undisputably regains her Crown with Five 路Gold Medals.

1975 World Cup London ' Color photos by Tony Duffy, Film strip photos by Alan Burrows, ELANPIC INTERNATIONAL

GYMNAST Dec. '75

Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, presenting the World Cup All-Around Awards to the reigning King and Queen of Gymnastics Ludmilla Tourischeva and Nikolai Andrianov.

GYMNAST Dec. ' 75

WOMEN'S OVERALL COMPETITION RESULTS v 1. 2. 3. 3. 5. 6. 7. 7. 9. 10.

Touris~heva

(URS) korbul (URS) Saadi (URS) Egerva ri (HUN) Gorbik (URS) Ungurea nu (ROM) Dronova (URS) kova l (URS) Grigora s (ROM) Malulai (HUN)

9.75 9.60 9.55 9.40 9.50 9.50 9.35 9.60 9.20 9.25

UPB 9.80 9.80 9.60 9.70 9.65 9.05 9.40 9.00 9.50 9.40

BB 9.80 9.40 9.50 9.50 9. 20 9.55 9.40 9.45 9.35 9.20

FX 9.80 9.75 9.65 9.70 9.50 9.70 9.60 9.70 9.45 9.55

Tolal 39.15 38.55 38.30 38.30 37.85 37.80 37.75 37.75 37.50 37.40

Compo 9.80 9.65 9.60 9.70 9.50 9.40

Finals 9.70 9.65 9.60 9.45 9.60 9.45

Tolal 19.50 19.30 19.20 19.1 5 19.10 18.85

9.80 9.70 9.65 9.70 9.70 9.60

9.80 9.70 9.75 9.65 9.65 9.60

19.60 19.40 19.40 19.35 19.35 19.20

INDIVIDUAL FINALS Vault 1. 2. 2. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Touri s~ heva

Saadi koval Ungurl'anu Gorbik Egerv a ri

Compo 9.75 9.55 9.60 9.50 9.50 9.40

Finals 9.60 9.60 9.55 9.55 9.50 9.40

Tolal 19.35 19.15 19.15 19.05 19.00 18.80

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Gorbik Saadi Egervari Grigora s Dronova

9.80 9.50 9.50 9.40 9.45 9.55

9.65 9.55 9.55 9.55 9.40 9. 15

19.45 19.1 5 19.U5 18.95 18.85 18.70

1. 2. 2. 4. 4. 6.

Floor Exerci se Touris"heva Ungurl'anu Saadi koval Egervari Dronova

Balann ' 8e,1I1' Touris<heva Egervari Saadi Dronova koval Ungurl'a nu

Uneven Bars Touri~(路 h e\l,l

MEN'S OVERALL COMPETITION RESULTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

FX 9.30 9.30 9.15 9.05 8 .65 8.90 . 8.75 8.40 9.30 9.15 8.65 8.65

Andrianov (URS) kajiyama (JAP) Delia lin (URS) Gienger (FDR) Tsukahara (JAP) Honma (JAP) Magyar (HUN) Shamugia (URS) Salronov (URS) Szajna (POL) Grecu (ROM) Molnar (HUN)

INDIVIDUA~ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Floor (xeri('Se kajiyama Andria nov Salronov Gieng"r Delialin Magya r

1. 2. 3. 4. 4. 6.

Ring' Tsukahara Honma GrE'lu Delialin Gie ng"r Andri a no\'

Compo Finals 9.30 9.60 9.30 9.45 9.30 9.40 9.05 9.25 9.15 8.75 8.7 5 9.1 0

k ajiya ma T,uka ha", De lialin Safronov Shamugi"

SR 9.40 9.10 9.30 9.30 9.45 9.40 8.80 9.30 9.30 9.25 9.35 8.85

V 9.15 9.55 9.30 9.40 9.45 9.10 9.15 9.50 9.50 9.05 8.00 9.25

PB HB 9.45 9.60 9.35 9.60 9.30 9.55 8.95 9.65 9.35 9.65 9.05 9.55 9.10 9.20 9.25 9.30 9.15 9.io 8.45 9.35 9.15 9. 30 9.00 9.10

Tolal 56.35 56.20 55.90 55.65 55.60 55.25 54.65 54.55 54.35 53.95 53.90 53.85

FINALS

Tolal 18.90 18.75 18.70 18.30 17.90 17.85

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Pomm"1 Horse Compo Finals Magya r 9.65 9.75 Andrianov 9.45 9.55 kaji yama 9.30 9.55 Delialin 9.30 9.35 Gieng"r 9.30 9.30 Honma 9.25 9.20

Total 19.40 19.00 18.85 18.65 18.60 18.45

9.45 9.40 9.35 9.30 9.30 9.40

9.60 9.45 9.40 9.40 9.40 9.20

19.05 18.85 18.75 18.70 18.70 18.&0

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Vault Shamugia kajiyama Salronov Tsukah a ra Gieng"r Delialin

9.50 9.55 9.50 9.45 9.40 9.30

9.55 9.475 9.50 9.275 9.30 9.325

19.15 19.025 19.00 18.725 18.70 18.625

9.45 9.35 9.35 9.30 9.15 9.25

9.65 9.65 9.65 9.40 9.30 9.20

19.1 0 19.00 19.00 18.70 18.45 18.45

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

High Bar Tsukaha", Gie ngl'r kajiyama Honma De lialin Andria no v

9.65 9.65 9.60 9.55 9.55 9.60

9.80 9. 70 9.60 9.55 9.50 9.05

19.45 19.35 19.20 19.10 19.05 18.&5

Para ll"1 8",s 1. Andrianov

2. 2. 4. 5. 5.

PH 9.45 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.05 9.25 9.65 8.80 7.90 8.70 8.55 9.00

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WORLD CUP PREVIEW

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This is a preview of the first "World Cup"* held in Wimbley, Lo ndon England . Next month the Gymnast will publish full coverage of this event including repo rts from J o n Atkinson, " Na tional Coach B.A.G.A. " on the me n's competition and Pauline and Jim Prestidge on the women's competition, plus more color pictures. The competitors for this competition were the top 12 men and women gymnasts from the World Cham pionships held in Varna last year. One invited exception who did not show, was the teenage wonder from the European Cha mpionships Nadia Comaneci. For a lot more unusual and exciting de tails on this first World Cup do n't miss our next ac tion pac ked edition of the Gymnast. GYMNAST Dec. '75

One of the most sensational moments of the World Cup is illustrated above as caught by the camera of Tony Duffy. As Ludmilla Tourischeva hit .the bars for her hecht full-twist dismount , a support cable snapped. A yell from a judge warned her and Ludmilla did not do her full twist, but still landed with complete composure and came to attention as the bars collapsed behind her. Her poise under the circumstances is a reflection of a true champion. *Aftho ugh it was presented as the "First World Cup" there were two preuious "unofficial" World Cups ... The first "unofficial" World Cup was held in Long Beach. Ca/i/o rnia in 1969, Th e countries represented were Japan , Finland, yugoslavia , Ca nada; and the Unite d States. Akino ri Naka yama fro m Japan and Ca thy Rigby from the United States UJOn th e Men 's and Wo men's compe tition respec t/ul/y ... The seco nd 'unofficial" Wo rld Cup, held in Mia mi, Rorida in 1971, sa w the countries of Switzerland, Wes t Germany. Poland, Yugos la via , Japan , Norwa y, Canada, Spain and the U.S. represented. Peter Rohner fro m Switzer/and was the win ner for the men and Cathy Rigby won it again for the wom en .. . The two "unofficial" World Cups were sponso red by the United States G ymnast ics Federatio n under the sanc tion of the F. I.G. This firs t c urrent Wo rld Cup is now on o//icial F. I.G. event along with the Olympics and the World Championships.

1975 WORLD CUP . Men's All Around Champions 1st Place 2nd Place

Nicolai Andrianov Hiroshi Kajiyama

3rd Place

Alexandre Detiatin

Seemingly noU n top form, Olga made an acceptable, but not necessarily exceptional, performance as she had a few misses on beam. She still performed well enoug'h to win second and a silver medal in the All Around . Because of an ankle injury she did not enter the finals. Film strip of Elvira. Saadi, 3rd place All Around.

Color photos. by Tony Duffy路 Film strip by Ala n Burrows. ELANPIC INTERNATIONAL

GYMNAST Dec. '75

Ludmilla Tourischeva, USSR

International Report Dr. Joseph Goehler GYMNAST International Editor Wurtzburg, Germany 12

At The Beginning Of A Very Exciting Fall Season In Europe In LUlop l'. Ih e seco nd m eet seaso n of the year begins at Ih e end o f Sepl E'ml)('r .rnd goes unt il ju st before the Christmas hol id ays. During thi ; pl'1 iod n.rli olhl l championships and internation al m ee ls tak e p lace. W . G(' I m.rn y orgdn izes add iti ona l provincia l inter-stat e competitio ns, w ilh Ih (' ('xcept iu n of 1975, to avoid overwo rking of th e top gymnasts. Th e p l u noun ce d goa l in German y is Montrea l '76. In (,," ly OCloiJer th e Swiss t ea m trave led to Chin a and co mpe ted in Peki ng. I .1111 sure, o nce aga in, before a crowd of 16,000 spe ctato rs.

GYMNAST Dec. '75

While I am writing these lines, the students of lack Gunthards and the apostle Maos are meeting in competition. It should be very interesting how the Swiss wi ll do against the followers of the great chairman, and especially which new talents the Chinese might put into the battle. At the same time there was a contest between Hungary and the Federa l Republic of Germany, fourth and fifth of the 1974 World Cup. The Germans went to Miskolc w ith out Walter Mobinger and without Edgar lorek, which meant a handicap of we ll over five points. So 'this should be taken into account when interpreting the result with the apparent superiority of the Hungarian national team . With their complete team the Hungarians won 554.60 to 551.00. As for the scores we have to say that the judges were very indul gent in their ratings, say one tenth per routine, which means a total of 5 to 6 points. rhis shou ld be pointed out expressly for comparing these figures with the Peki ng scores. There were two outstanding top performers in this fair contest: Eberhard Gienger of Germany and Zo ltan Magyar of Hungary.ln the optionab Magyar won by a whisker (57.35 to 57.25), but Gienger carr ied offf the optional exercises (56.50 to 56.25) and so the guest from Germany totalled 113.75 against Magyar's 113.60. On the horizontal bar world champion Gienger was awarded 9.75 and 9.85 and Magyar, the horse wor ld champ ion, scored 9.60 and 9.85 on his favorite apparatus. The taciturn Hungarian for the first time in a big contest succeeded in doing his new brilliant element, the rhythmically fascinating " spindle" on tlie horse-end . This masterpiece of horse gymnastics w ill be presented to the readers of Gymnast quite soon in a series of photographs.

There was quite a margin between these cracks and Imre Molnar (111.50), the continually improving Ferenc Donath (110.55) and at his heel s Vo lk er Rohrwick, student of the former champion P,hilipp Furst (110.35 points). Werner Steinmet z of Germany had a black day and bungled his two horse exerc ises (8.55 and 8.15), hwerea s Reinhard Ritter had a foot injury and had to drop the two floor exerc ises and horse-vaults as well as the optiona ls on the high bar. - The German y observers were amazed at the efficiency of the junior gymnasts from Hungary and Poland who had a national meet at the same time. A s Jack Gunthard came to similar conclusion s <lbout the young talents of the Peking area, it wi ll be necessary to think training methods over in all count ri es where the young athletes are sti ll coaches the traditional way.

If we consider that the scoring in the DDR is somewhat stricter than in the USA the fact still remains that the USA at present seems to have a higher average level. In both of the rankings we miss the world champion on the UPB Annelore Zinke. As far as we have been told, Annelore has injured herself severe ly on both elbows when she fell off the the Uneven bars, that she most likely will never be able to do gymnastics again. The fact that Angelika Hellmann, the friendliest and most charming among the rather serious appeari ng gym nasts of the DDR, did not participate in the national championships may have to do with her intent

to relax h er competitive schedu le. As the senior among these masters, sh~ can easi ly afford to. Since the retirement of Zuchold and Karin Janz she certainly must be recognized as the best in the "other Germany" as we like to refer to the DDR. Women gymnasts and coaches in the USA might especia ll y be interested how the Romanian Turnkunst has developed since the sensational appearance of Nadia Comaneci in Skien and Montreal; or how Teodora Ungureanu did in Montreal and Japan (where as we will report later Donna Turnbow, USA, has done extremely well with her 37.55 and a 5th place in the optiona l aga inst Teodora Ungureanu of Romania and Larissa Komarowa - USSR who both scored 38.40 points). We have however more information of Romania"'s gymnastics centers, in Gheorghiu Dej and Bukarest ! Marilina Neascu, with a 37.65, placed 2nd behind Olga Roval - USSR, 37.80, in an international youth compet ition between Romania and the USSR in Sibiu, Romania. Carmen Leucean scored a very good 36.85 behind Maria Filatowa - USSR (37.55) and Irina Tarik - USSR (37.50). In this compet ition which was won by USSR 186.8 to 184.1 the we ll known Olympic ca ndidate Irina Primak (36 .50) and Antonina Glebowa (36.10) had severe mistakes, Irina in FX (8 .3) and Anton in a on the beam (8.3). In a tri-nation gymnastics competition between Romania , Hungary and the largest of the Soviet Republics RSFSR which was held in Constanza , and with 184.45 pts., won by Romani a. Anca Grigoras excell ed when she defeated Galina Kalopkowa - USSR (w ith 36.95) with a 37.45. The same Grigoras placed 2nd with 37.25 in the international meet of Antiles, Frame. where Kath y Howard bravoured and won with 37.30. A lina Goreac Romania's best 1974 World Games gymnast, accomplished 28.2 pts. in 3 events (without vau ltin g) and might

rotating speed: he has his hands close to the body at attention like a well-trained recruit. Here the arms have quite a different function than in the case of the backward somersault when the body is catapu lted off by the feet. Another surprise: there is nothingto be seen of the 'jack-knife' movement which usually is effected from heavy overstretching of the body in the Tsukahara vau lt. At most we can presume that it is carried out between phase 19 and

phase 27. The athlete obviously just relies on the momentum of his push-off and on the speed wh ich he still has from his approach-run and hi s take-off. rhat 's why his first flight is as low as possible, so as not to lose speed! In the second flight phase, however, due to the enormous height of his flight, the gymnast can keep his body in full concentration completel y straightened and by no means overstretch ed, up to phase 72, i.e. for 90

Poland 1. Hellmann 2. Schmeisser 3. Gerisch 4. Escher 5. Trantow 6. Kische

75.35 74.70 74.35 73.85 73.40 73.30

DDR 1. Sch mei,ser 2. Escher 3. Kische 4. Geris(h 5. Gerschau 6. Trantow

75 .275 74.825 74.750 73.500 73.000 72.350

A SUPER C ON THE VAULTING HORSE By Dr. Josef Gohler & Boris Bajin

Paata Schamugja (USSR), participant in the 1974 World Championships in Varna, surprised his spectators during the " International" of Riga in 1975 with a variation of the "Tsuka hara vault " . It pays to have a good look at it. .Boris Bajin o('Yugos lavia, at present coac-h of the Canadian team for the Olympic Games, sent us this sequence as a sample of the material which he has collected in this year in several international meets. Schamugja was awarded 9.50 points for this vau lt, which was the maximum rating in this event in Riga, as scoring was quite rigorous there. We can see from this picture why 9.70 points could not be granted: the landin g was faulty from a technical point of view. The ath lete could not bring about full stand, as the second turn around the horizontal axis was not yet terminated. So a heavy forward lean was the resu lt, and the ath lete had to do one step forward to avoid the support by the hands which would have led to still increased deduction of points. But what a brilliant body control in the straightening phase for the saito turn. In phase 43 we _al most feel. the powerfu I push-off of the hands, the right hand doing by far the harder work (see phase 27!). It should be noted that the gymnast does not bring his arms into play at ,the moment when it matters to increase 14

GYMNAST Dec. '75

Zoltan Magyar , Hung ary Photo by Hansjorg Wieland

The Medit erani an Ga mes took place in Algiers. Th e program also in clud ed gymnastics. The Fren chman Henri Borerio wo n with 109.15 ah~.ad of hi s younge r teamma te Boutard (109)

and Italian Mont es i (106.55), 4) Zucca - Italy 105.35, 5) Morj - France (junior) 104.35, 6) Delacasa - Spain 103.55 . Th e French won the team competition w ith 268.25 (o ptional only) over th e Italians (264.25) and the Spaniards (255.85) . Th e great times of th e Yugoslavians, who were liv in g fo r a decade fr o m the genius Miroslav Cera rs , are ove r and have fallen back considerably, they placed 3 with 253.85! Algeria 235.95 and Egypt 224.50 -- th e scores-speak for themselv es and are indicat ive of the poor strength of th e Arabian teams . Rita Peri, Italy convinced with a 72 pt. performance in th e womens co mpetit ion as well as Cabello - Spain 71 .30, Spongi a - Italy 71.20 and Bucci - Italy

degrees . ~or the landing, i.e. f o r the last 180 degrees of th e turn aro und the horizontal axis, he would have h ad to emphasize his stoop position (p hase 84 is still ve ry open). In this way h e wo uld have avo id ed problems with his landin g. We are u nde r th e impressi o n that the repu b ion an d th e speed of th e turn, and of th e .whole va ult from th e approach-run, would ha ve been perfectly suffi c ient to insure a safe

'stand after this vault. But we can be sure that Schamugja him se lf - he is but 23 years old - has remedi ed this relatively minor fault. In spite of hea vy co m petiti o n in th e Montreal qualifying coritests Paat a Schamugja succeeds in being on the team for the 1976 Olympics, he could be among the m eda llists w ith this "straightened " Tsukahara. Of co urs e, our man from Russ ian Geo rgi a will still have to polish up his first flight as well , as th e position of th e legs is not yet

have been able to win w ithou t her foot injury. Summarum : with Comaneci, Ungunearu, Goreac, Grigoras, Neascu, Gabor and Constantine, Romania at this tim e must be considered the 2nd stro ng es t nati o n, and a strong contender for th e silver medal in Montreal. Onl y th e DDR w ith her ex tremely young group of girl s, o r the USA, seem capable of putting it into jeopa rd y. Or Hungary ? Who with Toth and O va ri has 2 grea t talents.

CYMNAST Dec. '75

70.65. Th e women did not have a team competition . In a qualificat io n meet in Poland, Matraszek towered all other participants in all 5 events. She won the AA w ith 74.05 and all 4 other events. The progress o f the Polish gymnasts is apparent : 2nd Krawiecze k 73.1, 3rd Jankowicz 73.05; 4. Hamul ewiez 72.55. By the man Andreznej Szajna was out of luck in the compul so ri es 52.15 but had a very fine optional m eei (56.35) . H e received the only low score on th e PB (9. 15). Szajna's weakness is the side horse, th erefo re his 9.15 is normal. Scoring was rather stri ct, conseq uently the 107.55 of 'Marion Pi eczka is still co nsidereable. The 106.15 of M. Kubi ca or even more so the 104.09 of Swiet ek and th e 104.1 o f Uhma .are no great Olympic reco me ndat io ns for these athletes. I would lik e to co nclude my Europ ean report with a viewpoint o n th e trampolinests. The European trampoline championships were held in Bazil, Switzerland. The Russian domination was so ove rwh elming that they won all gold m ed als and had to share only one with the W . German women Synchrotrampoline sts. Lu xon -Roth e r tied with Starikowa-Lebina (39.7). Lebina-Starikowa had a difficulty d eg ree of 9.0! In the womens individual the champio n Lebina (71 .60!) had a difficulty degree o f eve n 9.30!! I n this event the W. German , Schelie, with a 3rd place, was able to deny th e total victo ry to the Russians. In the mens competition th e best W . German Schwebel (71.40) was no t able to do th e same: 4 Russian trampolin ests were i n front 1) Jak 74.30 (difficulty degree 10.80 twice !) 2) Lobonaw 74.20 (10.80 and 10.90) 3) Schmelew 73.60 (10.4 twice) 4) Jani s 72.50 (with a reco rd difficulty degree of 11.3 twi ce). Th ere was only a representation of 7 nations.

pe rfect an d co uld ca ll the atten tion of the judges, in spit e o f the very swift movement. It was probably also the fUFlction of the heavily fle xed knees in phas e 10 to accelerate the angular momentum after repulsion. Due to this the deduction o f at leas t o ne tenth would be all the more ju sti fi ed. . N everth eless : a fantastic performance, a new acme of gymn asti c perfection on the vaulting horse ! 15

The 20 World's Best Gymnasts of the Year Up Until October 25, 1975 MEN 1. Gienger-W. Germany 113.75 2. Magyar- Hun gary 113.65 3. Tsuk ahara-Japa n 112.95 4. Fujimoto-Japan 112.50 5. Kaji yama-Japan 112.45 6. Kasamat su-Japan 112.30 .7. Kra ssin - USSR 111.75 8. Szajna-Poland 111.65 9. Molnar-Hun ga ry 111.50 10. Yang Ming-ming-VR China 111.25 11. Ditjatin- USSR 111.15 12. Kenmo tsu-Ja pa n 111.10 12. Grec u-Roma ni a 111.10 14. Tsa i Huan-t su ng- VR China 110.90 15. Thune-DDR (no w W . Germany) 110.65) 15. Youn g-USA 110.65 . 17. Hug-USA 110.55 17. Donath - Hun ga ry 110.55 19. Shimi zu- Japan 110.40 20. Rohrwic k-W. Germany 110.35 The point s of Gienger, Magyar, Molnar and Krassin are too high co mpaired w ith the points of the Russian Ditjatin or th e Japa nese gymnasts or the two Chinese Pan Am Qualifi ca tions are not without regard because of the easier imposed exe rci ses.

WOMEN 1. Coma ne ci -R oma nia 77.550 2. Korbut -USSR 76.950 3. Kim-USSR 76.825 4. Ungureanu-Romania 76.800 5. Bitsc hukin a-USSR 76.500 6. Turi sc heva-USSR 76.400 7. Schmeisser-DDR (E. Germany) 75.900 8. Gorbik - USSR 75.875 9. Dronowa-USSR 75 .875 10. Gl ebowa-USSR 75.600 11. Saadi-USSR 75.400 12. Hellmann - DDR IE . Germany) 75 .350 12. Howard-USA 75.350 14. Carr-USA 75.300 15. Con sta ntin-Romani a 75.150 16. Dunba r-U SA 75.100 17. Egervar i- Hun gary 75 .050 17. Kowal -USS R 75.050 19. Bogda no wa-USSR 74.875 20. Anderson-USA 74.850 " The points of Coma neci , Ungureanu and Constantin are a littl e too high."

The higher leve l of the women gymnasts is reflected once again in these figures, considered wh er e th e best optional scores or the Olympic AA. One point difference equa ls ,6 score points.

KORBUT FLIGHT By Dr . J . Goehler & KI. Wiemann West Germany Some month s ago a Russian special magazine published photo grap hs o f a new element Olga Korbut and her coac h Kn ysc h are working on right now. We have submitted that series of photograph s to ou r es tee med co-worker Klaus Wiemann, who am o ng th e ex perts in this country is cons idered as th e best specia li st for biomechani cs in arti sti c gymnast ics, and we have asked him to let us have his opinion of this bold experime nt , as ce rtainly this is an experiment and not yet the realit y of a hard contest. For th e tim e being Olga is practising this high swing und er th e bar from the high bar to the low bar with a mat put on the low bar to cushion the enormous impact (if th e landing is not exact). Thi s sw ing can be don e without the help of a mat only if th e gym nast arrives exactly at the required point, w hich is not at all an easy thing as we w ill see from Wiemann 's explanation. As for th e drawings, the outlines of the uneven bars were not included in the phases 6 and 7. Here are Kl aus.Wiemann's annotations: "A straddle sa le circ le swing under the bar from the high bar leads to free flight with forward turn of th e ove rstretched body leads to horizontal position of th e hips on the low bar. The gymna st cushi o ns th e kinetic force of the downswing by a resili en t fle xion of the hips. After this, strai ghtenin g her body, she jerks off upward, for in stance to support on the low bar or into suspension on th e high bar. In this case th e amplitud e of the flight must be adjusted in such a way th at the ve locity offall of the body ce nt er of grav it y aims exactly at th e low bar. If this is not brought about, i.e. if the velocity of fall of th e center of gravity is directed either before o r behind the bar, a torque effect wi ll give th e bod y either a forward twi st or a rea rward twist. The angu lar velOCity of th e twi sting motion is additionally increased in thi s case, as by a sp ringy flexion of the hips th e gymnast ve ry much reduces her moment of in erti a w ith rega rd to the low bar. In practi ca l work th e girl 's bod y must touch the low bar eith er ap prox imatel y in the region of the groin flexor or sli ghtl y above it.ln theory it is imposs ible to specify thi s exact point and the required clea rance, as the individual physical fa ctor s playa part.

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But there is also th e possibtlity of using for other gym work th e to rqu e effect which is produced by an ecce ntric impact on the low bar. In th e present case o nl y a for wa rd turn in the way of a frontwdYs body circ le for"Yard is possible. Thi s would requ ire that the vector of the velocity of fall of th e bod y ce nter of gravity would ha ve to aim before th e low bar, so as to enable a torqu e ef fec t for a forward turn . Accordingl y, at th e m o m ent of bea ting the bar, the girl 's hip or groin must advance a litt le bit beyond th e bar. On ce more we have to point out that the exact point and the allowab le variation will have to be found out by practical work in keepin g w ith indi vidual factors. If the center of gravity is too far ahead, the rotating speed will in crease th e barby centrifuga l force. In the opposite case, if th e tw isting moment is too small , it will not be possible to obtain the angular momentum which is necessary for the circle. " That 's what prof. Kl aus Wiemann from the University of Bochum says! In short: it is still in th e stars whether this element will be performed. Or should we rather say: it is up to the gy m star Olga Korbut and her coach Mr. Knysch of Grodno who is always keen on new and original elements:

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~ GYMNAST Dec. '75

Interesting Modern Rhythmic Photo sent to us by Or. Gohler

GYMNAST Dec. '75

USGF MODERN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS FINAL TRIAL MEET FOR THE VII WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS By Andrea B. Schmid Meet Director

Thi s m ee t was the last opportunity for th e gymna sts to qua lify for the World Champion ship f ea ln . After having observed severa l MRG m ee ts one can say thatthe quality of thi s me et was by far the best seen in the U.S. The girls did d wonderful job and performed well. Th e judges did an exce llent job also. A total of six gymnasts competed who had previously qualifi ed for this Final Trial Meet. (Janelle Llennett w ho also qualified couldn't compete be cau se of an injury.) This final trial was a tn" h st.lrt for al l six gymnasts. No scores were carried from any previous compet itions. The gymnast s we re under a lot of pressure since onl y th e four highest scoring all-around indi v idual s (t hre e team members plus one alternat e) w ill repre se nt the USA in Madrid , Spain ;,t th e World Champ ionships in November 1975 . The ~"n Fr.rn cisco audience was " turn ed o n" filling th e room wi th an atmosphere of total emotiona l in vo lve ment. The crowd became easily I"mil idl w ith th e gymnasts after the first event and followed each of the six qualifiers' progr ess ill the four events - hoop, ribbon, clubs, b,,11 - durin g th e two hour meet. Mrs. ClndJc e Feinberg, Modern Rhythmic Gymna sti cs A ll Aro und Champion placed first in three events and in all-around with her original routin es and smooth performances. Mi ss Hel e n Martinez defended her second place and Miss Katheri ne Brym her third AIIAround titl e. Mi ss Nallcy Koetke , fourth in All-Around competition , pe rform ed difficult and exciting routin es. She showed a tremendous improve m e nt sin ce th e last trial meet. 1 he competition was ve ry close and young Sue Soffl' dlld Patt y Murphy sho wed great promi se for th e future. It was definit ely an excitin g meet and Mrs. Shirl ey LlrY,ln , Cha irm an of USGF Women 's Committ ee, was very proud and pleased with the con tin ued d evelopment of this relatively new wom e n 's sport. Trial Meet Results Hoop: K.rtherin e Bry m (North Riverside, 111. ) 9.00; Helen Mdltinez (San Francisco, CAl 8.90; Candace Feinb e rg (Reno, Nev.) 8.75; Sue Soffe (Woo&lnd Hill s, CAl 8.60; Nancy Koetke (Los AngE'les, CA) 8.35; Patty Murphy (Reno, Nev.) 8.25. Ribbon: Candace Feinberg 9.10; Helen . Martine z 8.')5; Na ncy Keotke 8.75; Sue Soffe & KathE'rilw LlrYIll8.65; Patty Murphy 8.05.Clubs: Candace l einbe rg 9.15; Nancy Koetke 8.90; Helen MditineL & Katherine Brym 8.50; Sue Sofie 8.45; Pall y Murphy 7.55. Ball: Candace Feinberg and Hel en Martinez 9.0; Katherine Brym & N.rncy Koetk e 8.9; Sue Soffe 8.7; Patty Murph y 6.65. All-Around: Candace Feinberg 36.00; Helcn Mdrtinez 35.35; Katherine Brym 35.05; N.rnc y Koetke 34.90; Su e Soffe 34.40; Pall y Murph y 30.50. 18

Candace Feinberg路 All Around winner

Helen Martinez路 2nd place All Around

GYMNAST Dec. '75

Nancy Koetke . 4th place All Around

Kelly Muncie, Canada路 All Around winner

1975 MILK MEET PREVIEW This years annual " Milk Meet" was held Nov. 4, in Toron to, Canada . This is just a brief preview of that meet. The results are incomplete, as we did not have them all at p ress time. Next month we will have a full report , with photos and complete results .

MILK MEET RESULTS Women : 1.

Kel l} MUll ci"

Malia I il.1l0 ll Vd

An( ~l Grigof.J S

Ann (.;" r

37.30 37.20 36.70

Men : 1. Geb('lhdn Gieng er 2. Sh inlo ~ hirhi , hi 3. Fiod ol Kul"k sesov 4. Pelf'1 Korm.1I111

56.05 55.05 54.60 54.10

Katherine Bry m . 3rd place All Around

Andrea Schmid and S hirley Bryant Eberhard Gienger , We s t Germany路 All Around winner, Milk Meet GYMNAST Dec. '75

VII PAN AMERICAN GAMES ', MEXICO '75 By Stephen Kubasek Pan-Am Photos by Tom Wakeling

GYMNAST Dec, '75

Dividing the two great oceans of the wor ld , about 2,000 miles south of the United States and a lesser distance north of EI Dorado, 6,000 feet above sea level , a cfty ; vi brant, vo latile, polluted; Mexico, cap ital of the Mexican Republic. It has more than 10,000,000 people; somebody knows a man who knows how many, but both of these persons are hard to find. It is as old as time. It has seen a visitation by the blessed virgin. Ghosts of th e ancient Aztec civi li zation still shroud the city in mystery. Everywhere is th e fee lin g of something from another world. Flying saucers cou ld have been there and may be there again . There is a legend that , long ago a brave warrior was away from home so long that his wife died of lonel in ess. When he finally returned and found her dead, he too di ed of a broken heart. The perpetually snow capped mountain peak s of Cit laltepet l and Popocatepetl, south of the city, are the eternal tears of sorrowful gods. To move it s million s from one place to another, Mexico has, for public tran sportation , the finest metro system in the world and for private tran sportation , the worst traffic problem. The city is incredibl y dirty; disea se co uld be eve rywhere, yet they wo uld never worry about doctors closin g a hospital because of malpractice insurance rates . It is a politically aware cit y, but at election time the people don ' t hear anything about opposition candidates . The PRI (Institutional Revolution ary Party) gets 99'70 of the vote every time. Mexico may be the center of th e world or one of the distant corne rs. It is a city of contrasts, and like the city, so were the VII Pan American Games.

GYMNAST Dec. '75

In Voltaire 's Candide, professor Pangloss said , "Eve ryth in g is necessari ly for the best in this best of all possible worlds" . Wh en Sau Paulo, Brazil , wa s forced , for various reasons , to decline the honor of hosting the V II Pan American Games, the invitation was passed on to Chile. Then, with the demise of Allende, the Chileans also co uldn ' t handle the game s. So, ten months before the opening ceremonies, President Luis Escheverria Alvarez of Mexico, offered his city as host for the games. "Everyth in g is for the best", and the Mexican Organizing Committee w ent to work. In ten months they built a complete Pan American Village to house 5,000 ath letes, coaches and trainers from 33 countries of the Americas. Faciliti es from the '68 Olympics wer e refurbished to handl e th e Pan Am Games . Brochures printed, street signs placed, cere m on ies arranged. It seemed like the whole co untry wa s mobilized . One secretary to a committee president had been working six d ays a week, eighteen hours a day , for months, and when she would start home from work at 1 :00 AM her boss wou ld sc ream at her for wanting to leave when th ere was st ill work to be done. Forty thou sa nd m ea ls a day had to be served. Transportation for athletes and press had to be arranged . Coca Cola came to the rescue, sponsoring bu sses and free Cokes. Tickets were printed, credentia ls arranged for delegations of participating nations. Things were behind schedu le as opening day approached, but sti ll the organizing committee worked day and night.

Pan American Games Judges from USA, L to R: Ted Muzyczko , Don Nelson, Les Sasvary and Jerry Wright .

U .S . Women's Team

Candide li st en ed atten tiv ely and believed innocentl y as the o ld philosoph er co ntinually told him about " the best of all possibl e worlds ... and everythin g is therefore necessarily for th e best ". While the Mexican Organi zing Com mittee was still working on last minute preparatiom for the Ga mes, 450 athletes 路from the United States of America gathered in Dallas, Texas, to b e formed as the U.S. delega ti o n to the 1975 edi ti o n o f the Pan American Gam es. Like Candide, th ey listened att enti ve ly and believed innocently as th eir many coaches and trainers told th em how their recep ti o n in Mexico might not be as warm as back home. Although M exico is right next door, it is indeed a foreign country and very d ifferent . Th eir way had been paved before th em by such heroes as Theodore Roosevelt, whose green coa ted soilders in Mexico added a new word t o the Spanish language, " Gringo" (green go home), and by ho rd es of tourists who made th e name a trademark. The main thin g, th e coac hes told them, was to go down there and do a good job. It"s o nl y a ga m e, and the Olympics aren' t ' til next year. But don 't take th e Pan Amer ica n Games lightly. For the rest of Ame ri ca, w ith the exception of Canada, th e Pan Am Games are th e Ol ympics. There has never been Olympic games in I South Ameri ca proper, so to Latin A merica, thi s second largest sporting event in th e world is the athl et ic show of shows. Cuba was send in g a very st rong team. They we re prepared to show off more than just athletic stre ngth in Mexico City. It was also th ei r chance to disp lay an ideology to "the impreSSionabl e Western Hemisph ere. They sent a t eam every bit as large as the United States delegation. Cuba had made a stro ng challenge to the US domination of the Pan Am Games in 1971 and 1975 co uld be their year.

The M exicans too we re fl ex ing th eir natiorialisti c mu scles, fielding the largest t eam of th e ga m es. The Latin Am erica n co untries had all h eard that the United States . might not be se nding their strongest possible team to M ex ico City and they hoped for an oppo rtunit y .. . 108,000 peop le jammed into Mexico's ultra modern Aztec路 Stadium on the morning of O ct. 12, for th e o p en ing ce remoni es of the VII Pan Ameri can Ga mes. They were treated to spectacular pagentry by thousands of school children, military units, and civi lian o rga ni za ti o ns. 3,000 fourth grade girl s d id umbrella da nces, 1,500 soldiers put o n a gymna sti cs exhib iti o n, 5,000 workers from the D ep artm ent of Socia l Security, in Azt ec ce remo nial cos tum es, performed a ritu al sun dance. 5,000 sc hoolgirls from th e n eighbo rin g city of Puebla p erform ed intricate ca rd stunt s li ke noth in g ever seen in th e " States". Whil e all this show was going o n, the th ousa nds in the stands were spinning m at racas (New Years Eve noisemake rs) and chanting " Mexico, Mexico, Rah, Rah , Rah " . 108,000 people spoke as one voice fo r four ho urs. Having on ly te n mon th s to prepare th e Games, it was hard to believe that the M ex ica n people co uld put together a show as impressive as th e opening ce remoni es. But yo u lea rn quickly that many things are possibl e in M exico. They have a lot of problems and th ere is much confu sio n, but when so mebody gives an order, things get done, fast. And th e order of th e day was natio nal pride. The parade of ath letes begins. First, Arge ntina, and the crowd applaud s po lit ely. Then Barbados, Brazil and Ca nada, until, at th e no rth end of the stadium, th e tunn el is bein g fill ed by a del ega tion dressed in white suits and red bere ts. They march up the ramp into the sunlight GYMNAST Dec. '75

and 108,000 begin th e chant, "Coo ba, Cooba, Cooba ". Four hundred _ and fifty Cuban de legates parade onto the field waving Mexica n flags and the M ex ica n peop le love th em; "Co oba, Cooba". Cuba is id o li zed ill Mexico. It is the showcase of Latin Am eri ca . A small island , o nce poor and suppressed , has thrown off the yok e and become successf ul. A nd h ere th ey co rne, marching triumphant into Mexico, mark eting th eir uniqu e weste rn life styl e. The Cubans are th e Mexicans ' vicar ious hope to defeat th e " Gringos". More nati o ns parad e into th e stad ium ; Dutch Antilles, Ecuad o r, EI Salvador, and th en ... a dea feni ng roar of boos, hoots, whistles and all kinds of abu se spit s o ut fo rm t h e mo uth of 108,000 persons. Th e next delegation is from Estad os Unidos d e Norteamerica, the United States of Ameri ca , but it 's almos t imposs ible to hear th e English tr anslati o n. The " Gring os" are here. It' s a so mber march arou nd th e stadium for th e athletes fro m th e United St ate;. Wa vin g to th e crowd , their gestures of friendship are ignored. M o re boos, whis tl es and "Mex ico, Mexico, Rah, Rah, Rah " and nobod y seems to notice th at th e young men and women from th e United Stat es d o n 't wea r gr een coa ts these days. The U.S. athletes march qui etl y to th eir plac e in th e lin e of nation s in their sharp blu e blazers. The parade co ntinues w ith Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Surinam, Trinidad-Tobago and finally , th e host co untry, Mexico and th e hom e crowd go es w ild . The M ex ica n and C uban ath let es are waving flags, the crowd is waving flags, 108,000 are screa ming " Mex ico, M ex ico , Rah , Rah, Rah ", the matra cas are spinning, "Cooba, Cooba" and right from th e

GYMNAST Dec. '75

beginnin g, the Pan Ameri ca n Ga rnes are a po litica l fiesta. Wh i le all this is happen ing, th e United States delegation looks li ke a swamped ocea n liner. But then th e anno unce r sig nals th e entrance of the honor guard with the Ol ymp ic and Pan A m erican flags. Th e band plays a stirring Olympi c march, and whi le th e Cubans arrogantly watch the show in their blood red berets and nati o nali smo, th e men from the U.S. team ; ilentl y remove th eir b eige hats and stand by respe ctfully as the internation al banners pass in review. Jesse Owens would have been prowd. The Unit ed Sta tes tea m arri ved at Pan American Village O ctob er 2, to begin th eir fin al trainin g fo r tfie games. They had to adjust qui ckly. The fir st probl em to overco m e was altitude, more than 6,000 feet. Athlet es we re ass ign ed to ba rracks styl ed quarters with st ran ge names lik e Huapa ngo, G uarc ha, Saxafon and Banjo. The quarter s didn ' t have centra l h eat in g, so th e athletes had to adjust to th e co ld b y sleeping in their warmups and ask ing for more blankets and eve ntuall y getting th em . The vill age, co nstructed in less than ten month s tim e, would b e turn ed int o low c.os t housing after the games are completed. Man y athl etes w ere sick for th e first few days after their arrival whi le they adjusted to th e M ex ica n food. There wa s ;o me th eft i n th e dormitories, so athletes had to pack and unpack th eir suitcases eve ry da y. But, soo n things got down to eve ryday living . The fri endl y co mp etiti o n sta rt ed even before th e ,games. Cuban athletes began intimidatin g th e U.S. team immediately, by cutting into food lin es o r accide ntl y throwing a hip into a " Gringo" . A co upl e of

Roxanne Pierce

nights before th e ope ning ce remonies, members of the U.S. rowin g team retaliat ed. so mehow they got hold of two strips of surgical tubing, a funnel , and so me ba ll oons; instant slingshot. Three men operating the contrapti o n from a dormitory roof had extaordinary accuracy up to 150 yards . Wh en th e Cubans crossed the courtyard, on their way home from dinner, th e water ball oo n barrange started flying . TheCubans got clobbered and had n ' t th e sli ghtest idea where it was com in g from. Within minut es, mos t of th e Cuban team was in the courtyard screaming for revenage aga in st the unseen assai lant, Russian missil es in Cuba, U.S. wat erball oo ns in Mexico. . The next day, at rowing practice, the Puerto Rican crew team was bombarded by Cuban waterballoons. That same night, the Cuban s were again surpri se d, when waterba ll oo ns came flying through their bedroom windows. . Another evenin g, by co ntra st, the US gymnasts were roused to their windows by a serenade from the Mexican gymnasts. And there was music, ni ghtly, in the outdoor theatre. The politi ca l co ntests started b efore the games also. Th e U .S. gymnastic coac hes we nt to a meeting they thought was going to b e simply for th e ar rangement o f training schedu les. When they arrived, they discovere d that, n o t o nly were they the only non-Spanish speaking p eople in th e room, but the meeting was to choo se competition sc hedul es, not training schedules. The Cuban coach p roposed that whomever won the co mpulsori es as a team would then get the benefit of the second day in optionals to start on floor exe rcise and wo rk straight through. Eve rybody knew th at the Cubans had been practicin g th e Pan American compulsories for yea rs

Kathy Howard being spotted by Bill Coco

and it took a few minut es fo r hi s proposal to b e translat ed into Engli sh. It was comp letel y un acceptab le to the U.S. coac hes. The Unit ed States coac hes made a proposal o f their own, that they all draw lot s independenty for both d ays. When th e vo te was co unted, it was al l against one in' fa vor of th e United Stat es w ith , of co urse, the Cuban voting for his own pr o posa l. It wa s tim e for th e drawing of lots. Manager Bill Roetzheim drew for the U.S. m en "; tea m . Fo r b o th the co mpulsory and optionals night h e drew #7. Po sition seve n m ea nt that the Un ited States wou ld be off th e floor on th e first ro und and then enter on the second round to work floor exerci se an d wo rk straight through, pommel horse, rings, va ult, parallel bars, and hi gh bar without a break . It was considered a very good position and th e Latin coac hes were quite happy for the U.S. sin ce it was their proposa l. Goodwill and fr iendl y co mp etition were the endeavor o f th e participant s of th e gJ llles in sp it e of hardships and political manu ever s. A lot o f peop le beli eve th at th e U nited Stat es thinks so litt le of th e Pan Ameri ca n Game s th at th ey -se nd less than their strongest team . To add to th e alr ea d y Jnti- A merica n f eel ing, this thought fans the fire. The first ni ght of compet iti on, a gro up of U.S. swi mm ers attend th e volleyball game betwee n th e U.S. and Cuban men. Entering th e aren a in the blond e hair and blu e raincoats , they are spotted imm edi atl y b y the Mexica n crowd . Th ere is a mi xup in sea ting arrangements, th e usher explain s, and th ey have to wa lk around th e arena to find sea ts on the other sid e. Th e packed h o use goes wi ld , booing, spitting, flyin g objects; it 's wo rse th an open in g day, more intim ate. Th e yo ung GYMNAST Dec. '75

Diane Dunbar

swimmers sm il e all the tim e and wave to the crowd as they make th ei r way to th ei r se;ils, but it hurts and they learn about international competition , fa st! The first few days, it look s lik e the United States might pay the pri ce for not sending it s' b es t. In the 100 meter dash , the pride of Cuba, leonardo Si lvio , is loose nin g up for the finals. A Cuban film crew is strategically pos iti o ned at th e end of the track to film just this one race. "Where's Ho uston McTeir? " asks a South American sportswriter . " Uh, well , I guess Houston co uldn ' t mak'e it. " Houston McTeir may be the on ly man in the wo rld w ho can b es t Silvio in th e 100 meters, and w ithout him for competit ion , l eonardo wins the rac e ea sil y. Th e Cuban film crew goes back to Havana with a nice little propogandd film . In fact , th e propoganda film is so short that they miss the m ost exciting part of th e rdee. Si lvio ca n ' t slow down enough at the end of the race to make hi s turn and , as th e film crew is packing its' bags, Si lvio goes over th e end of the tra ck..into. a twelve foot trench. The official word is that leonard o has a pul led muscle, but he returns to Havan a a few days lat er with .In unofficial foot fracture. A defeat ed U.S. sprint er jokin gly tells the Cubans that they can beat him everyd ay if they wa nt t o break their legs to do it. The South A mericd n Spo rt sw rit er sti ll wants to know why the United States didn't send it s best sp rint er. Tra i ning co nditi on s we re grim, to say the least. The first eleven d ays after their arri va l , th e gym nas ts co uld not workout in the nation al Auditorium as or iginall y planned, but had to make do with workouts

GYMNAST Dec. '75

wherever and whenever they cou ld find th em. Fortun ate ly CDOM (Center of Olympi c Sports, Mex ico), the training center for Me xica n National teams, was mad e ava il ab le to them for most workouts. After the openin g ceremonies, the Auditorium became available for morning and even in g workouts. By bus, the ride from the Village to th e Auditorium took anywhere from half an hour to an hour and workouts lasted just over three ho urs. So, it was five to six hours, door to door. If you worked out in th e eve ning, that meant yo u would finish about 8:00 PM, rid e th e bus back to the Vill age for an hour, grab a qui ck sna ck and try to get a good ni ghts slee p in the drafty rooms so you cou ld get up fresh -the ne xt morning, ride the bus back to the Auditorium for an hour and be ready to go on the floor by 10 :00 AM. When work o u ts were finished at 1 :00 PM, it was another ride back to the vi lla ge to wa it for your nex t workout th e next eve ning at 5:00 PM. Some gymnas ts found th e morning worko uts difficult, others did not. For at hl et es accusto med to longer practice sessions, th e offi cial three hour workout prese nt ed a prob lem at first, but it was the only game in town and th ey had to adapt. In June, th e girl s being considered for the United St ates Pan American Gymnast ics tea m we re taught the compu lsor y exercises. Until the Pan Am tri al s, th e girl s practiced the exe rci ses in their own gyms. At th e final tri als in Aug ust, the girls selected for th e tea m were measured for uniforms and aga in sent home to practice on th eir own and to beg in sc hool. The y met again in Reno, Neva da, September 22, to begin final training for th e Pan A merica ri Games. " We had a li ttle differe nt

Kolleen Casey

ph'i losoph y at our trdinin g ca mp", said coach Dale Flan saas. " W e allowed eve ry girl s' cOdc h to 'co m e if th ey wanted to. Then we had an assistant co ach, Vanni e Edwa rds, assign ed to training camp to handl e any girl whose coac h didn 't co rn e. W e did have that situati o n with fo u r of the girls out o f th e nin e in trainin g ca mp . So, the first w eek of tr ainin g came , thi s ti me, eve ry girl train ed pretty much the way she' s alrea d y trained. Our emph as is was o n makin g every girl look the sam e do in g the compu bo ri es, and h elp o ut in the optionals if w e thou gh t something compositionall y n ee ded h elp . Myself, as head co ach, worked with th e girl 's indi vidual co ach ." In Reno, th ey put press ure o n th e girls to work on routin es . Wh en they went to Dall as, Texas, o n Septemb er 29, for USOC proce ss in g, th ey still work ed on routin es, but emph as ized more the parts th ey w ere having troubl e w itlL The team moved o n to Mex ico, O ctober 2, and began work o uts o n the 3rd, at CDOM. Th e girl s start ed workouts in Me xico so w ell th at coach Fl ansaas was ,1fraid th ey mi ght p ea k too earl y if they kept go in g. After three d ays th ey to o k a f ull d ay o ff. Th en they began bUildin g part s of their routin es aga in . The normal pall ern of wo rko u ts was to disperse the girls to differen t places and th en rot ate th em around . O ccasionally the session s w ere broken up by havin g eva lu ati o n jud gin g sessions where th ey wo uld all work on th e sa m e apparatu s 路t oge th er. When t he team s move d to th e 12,000 seat Auditorio Nacional, sit e o f the actual co mpe tition , to b egin wo rking o n th e platform, th e girl s were nervou s all o ve r aga in. It was a co mplete change from w o rkin g out in the gymn as ium o f C DOM and coa ch Flansaas spent her wh o le GYMNAST Dec. '75

Debbie Wilcox

first da y in th e Auditorium ju st wa lkin g around saying, " Rel ax, we 're just practi cing". The move to the Aud itorium made the shift into high gear. With th e competition gel\i ng close, the gi r1 s responded by improving every day. The compubory co mp e,titi on began Saturday, October 18, at 5:00 PM, so the girl s had no workou ts th at day. During the days between their compeLition s, the girl s wen t through light, two hour workouts at the Universit y of Mexico where th ey co uld work on any part of th eir routines th ey fe lt needed help. Ms. Flan saas was happy with the way things went, but said that if she had it to d o ove r <rgd in, she wou ld possibly do more in ce ntive thin gs like, " on th e co mpul so ry bar d ismount for example, the kids were having trouble mdk in g th e full v.. twist high enough before th ey dropped to th e bar. Maybe I wo uld have contests to see who could get the highest. I think dllother tim e I would do that. " After losing th e tCJ m victo ry to the Cubans in Cali, Columbia, in 1971, the U.S. themc fo r men ' s gymnastics in Mexico was team victory. Al l individual and All Around victo ries were to be sacrificed, if necessary, for team victo ry. Coach Karl Schwenzfier organized a number of exercises to estab li sh d tea m feelin g, such a warmup routine that had no great benefit gymnds ti ca ll y or physically, but out of it ca me an interplay among th e athl etes. The m oves we re rather simp le rhythmic moves, but in the learni ng of th em th e athl e tes had to have some discourse and team communi cdtioll began on that bas is. The drill was deve loped th e very first da y after th e se lec ti on of the team and they added to it dai ly, The team feeling develo p ed quite rapidly even though they were not formed as a unit until Sept ember 27,

GYMNAST Dec. '75

" Practi ces are n o t geared to 'a specific kind of framework ", said coach Schwenzfier. " Obviou~l y th€ differences between Conn er and Avener, the young es t and the ol dest, the least experienced to the most experien ced , in terms o f worko ut\~ are quite different. One has to take that into com id era ti on " . . Basicall y th ey used three kin cl sofi workouts in Mexico . The first was a C&O d ay (Co mpul sory a nd Opt iOllal), where the gymnasts were required to produce a ce rtain number of routines in both Compul sories and Optionals. Second was a C&O skill improvement day, where th e gymllast didn 't h ave a set number of routines to put in, but worked on his problelTll areas. The third day was a C&O maintainance da y, wher e the id €awa s to keep a touch on the different events. Person all y, Schweillfier and Il;lall ager Roetzheim stayed very close to the athlet es, w.orki n g with thern (» n an individual basis. In a situat ion like thi , . you sta y cl oser to the athlete " Much more than if it were you r own team ", solid coach Schwen zfi€r. Indeed , with su c h J short pelicod of time to develop a team, the closeness of ath elt e s Jnd coaches worked in molding both the men 's and women ', teams into funct i on ~ ng units .

Th ere comes a time when the C~ ristians must be thrown to the lions and th e sa me is true with ath letes J the time of, competition. Th e bu sses lumber slow ly out of 'the quiet Pan American ViJl age, past the heavi ly guarded perimeter, car rying the nervou s gymn as ts to their meetin g with the mob. 27

O ctober 18, 5:00 PM; Auditorio Nacional. The women 's gymnastic compul sories. The Un it ed States is heav ily favored, but there have been rumors about th e strengt h of the C ubans, especially in the compulsories . Ab o u t 10,000 people are in the Auditorium as the teams march onto th e floor for the first round of competition. The United States has dra w n floor exe rcise, Cuba, uneven parallel bars and the hometown M exican tea m has drawn bye. Boos, hoo ts, ca tca lls and whistles meet th e Am e ri ca n girl s as they mount the platform for the floor exercise. A whil stl e blows. " Fi ve minutes warmup", says the announcer in both Spa ni sh and Eng li sh . It' s a quick five minutes. " Judges ready. Athl etes rea dy. Begin the competition." Kollee n Casey is th e first girl on th e floor for the United States. Her compul so ri e gets a 9.35. Then D ebbie Wilcox , Diane Dunbar, Roxa nne Pi erce, Kath y H owa rd , and Ann Carr. The total Floor Ex. score for the Unit ed States, 46.95 t o Cuba's 43.60 in the uneven parallel bars. Th e Cuban women have fallen behind on the first event.and will not recover for th e remainder of the compet ition. The Ameri can girls are reward ed fo r the efforts by more boos from the crowd . A s th ey leave ' th e f loor for t heir rest period , th e boos switch to chanting " M exico, Mexico, Rah, Rah, Rah ", as the Mex ica n team comes onto th e floor. In the seco nd ro und, th e Mexicans are on vault and sco re 44.00. The Cubans, on the balance beam score 44.00. The Mexica n girls are beg inning to think sil ve r. Third round. The United States comes back on th e floor for Vaulting, Cuba o n Floor Ex . an d Mex ico on Uneven Bars . The U.S. girl s are con sistent: th e lowes t sco re is a 9.05 and the highest a 9.35 and a tea m

tot al o f 46.05. Cuba 's stayi ng in there with 46.00 and Me xico in third pl ace w ith 42.55. Cuba took the fo urth period resting position while Mexico we nt to the balanc e be,lIll ,lIl d th e U nited States on the uneven parall el bars. The U.S.A. hib 44.b5 ,lilt! Mex ico, 43.40. The three top teams ha ve had their rest p el iod, ,lIld th e U.). girl s are lea ding the field by 4.15 point s with one round of cO lllfJul so ri es to go . In th e la st rou nd o f th e even ing, the U.S. girls score 45.95 on Beam, Cuba 43.50 on va ult and Mexico 45 .05 on Floor Ex. By th e end of the Compul sories the D ale Flansaas' girls have a lead of more than six point s. Th e U.S. performance has so stunned the Mexican audience that they gave th e girls a trem endous ovation as they left th e floo r. Roxa nne Pierce is th e Al l Around leader after theCompul so ri es with a tot al of 37.20 points. In fact, th e only gir ls to average more th an 9.00 are from th e United States, the lowest be in g 36.05, .10 above th e hi ghest girl from any other co untry. Two night s later, they're all back again for the Option als. With su ch a big lead ove r th e rest of th e teams, it's difficult for the Am eri ca n girls to remai n " up " for th e team co mpetition . They are to rn between th ei r team ~ pirit and th eir d esire for indi vidual m ed als. Th e let down may account fo r the tw o fa lls from the Beam and the bad land in gs on th e Vault. Hopefull y, the Latin girls will show someth ing distinctl y th ei r own in th e op ti o nals. Howeve r, o nly two Braz ilian girls, Ivan a Soares and Si lvia Pin ent , mak e any m oves o f a distin ctly Latin flavor. In their Fl oor Ex. ro utin es th ey do some dips and turns that resemble to reado res, and GYMNAST Dec. '75

so m e pa sses that have the fee l o f Flamenco dan cers. The rest of th e l at in rout in es .Ire hopelessly imitative. Th e u.s. girl s k ee p their sco re high enough to ward off any atte mpt by th e Cuud ns to catc h up. Th eC uban and M exica n girls ju st ca n ' t keep up w ith them in th e op ti ona ls. Th e Americans are more creat ive th an any othe rs, dllli o n Floor Ex. perform ing to Music that is all nati ve to the U .S.A. like A lex ande r 's Ragtime Band and mu sic from " Wests ide Story". It \ all th e U .S.A. to ni ght, winning by a total of 12.95 points over second p l,lCe, Cuba, and 14.60 over third pla ce, Mexico. A fanfa re from th e ba nd and the w inning teams march o ut to receive th ei r mcd,Ji s; Go ld to th e U nited States, Si lve r to Cub a and Bronze to M exico. Th e fldgs of the three nati o ns are raised and th e band plays th e nati o nal ant hem of th e U nited States of Amer ica . Th en, pr oud ly, the team , make their ex its. Another fanfdl'e. Th e win ners of the All Around compet ition appea r on th e p l,llform . A nn Carr, Go ld medal (73.80), Ro xa nn e Pi erce, Si lve r (73.60 ) and Ko ll een Ca sey, Bro nze (73.15). The y march up to th e victo ry stand s ;lIld receive th eir medals, bow in g their hea d s as M ada m e Nagy present> th eir Jwa rds . Then th e three Amer icans turn to th e flagpoles for th e res t of the ce rernony and, what? Only one fl ag is raised. Th e second and third p lace poles are empty! At least th e band p lays th e right natio nal dnthern. Th e Mexicdn girl s are quite bitter about the judgin g. Cap tai n of the M exican tedm , Patricia Garcia, felt that th e U.S. judges were sco ring th e Cuban, hi gh so th at the Cuban judges wo uldn ' t sco re th e Americans low, and the M ex ican gi rl s lost th eir sil ve r m eda l beca use of it. GYMNAST D ec. '75

But , the tea m and the A ll Around event is over and th e Am eri ca n g irls scored so hi gh th at th ey' re looking forward to an alm a's t co mpl e tely Am eri can fina l. Th e top six girls from each event are headed fo r the final s, but w hat ? l as t minute changes eve rybody, don 't throwaway yo ur programs. The top six girls from each All Around eve nt w ill b e in th e fin als, but no m o re th an three from each co un t ry . Ho ly Ro llerball, Batm an. In st edd of having four or five gir ls in each fina l, th e United Stat es i, onl y goin g to h ave a maximum of three. That ' s th e way it wi ll be. 1 he gred t o ne h as spo ken, so what do you do, p ack up yo ur bags and go ho m e ? It 's th e price yo u pay for being on top. So, on O ctob er 22, th e girl s, at least some of th em , are ba c k in Audit orio Nacional for th eir last appearance as compe titors . Aga in th eir are 12,000 fans scream ing "Mex ico, M ex ico". Th e red, wh ite and green is w,l v in g in th e balcony and the cheerl eade rs are having a fi eld da y. Nobody in Mexico seems to know or ca re that th e rul es have been chan ged. Th e first event is th e Va ult. Kol lee n Casey is first up and win s it with her prove n hand spri ng full for a 9.45. The Silver medal goes to D ebbie Wil cox w ith a best va ult of 9.30 and Bronze go es to Ro xa nne Pi erce with a 9.35. (Wilco x wo n ove r Pi erc e with a lower score b eca use her sco res from the co mpul sories and o pti o nals were higher). They only let three girl s Iro m the U.S.A. co mpete and they stil l sweep ali th e meda ls. That is how much th e U.S. girl s are dominating the co mpetition . Oh , yes, in thi s victory ceremony there are three U.S. f lags rai se d. Noth in g in M exico is eve r done th e sa m e way twi ce in a ro w. Th e seco nd eve nt o n th e indi vidual program is th e Uneven Par allel Ba rs. hrst up is A nn Ca rr, scorin g a 9.45. It looks good eno ugh as the

USA Men's Coach Karl Schwenzfier

second girl , Fo ncesca, of Cuba gets a 9.20 imd H otte, of Canada , a 9.25. Then , Srta. Cr uza ta, Cuban, does a good so lid routin e and sco res o nl y 9.20. 1 he 12,000 p eop le b egin screaming at the judge s, " Rat ero , Rate ro, Ratero" (En gli sh trans lati o n, t hi ef ). It is so lo ud and lasts so lo n g, t h at competit ion is halted . The next gi rl up, Dian e Dunbar, doesn't quite know w heth er to go o r not go. Th e sc reaming crowd has her co nfu se d. She ; tall s, hopin g fo r th e screaming to stop. It doesn 't. Lik e a ,acrifice on th e py ramid of th e moon , the immorta l speaks, pat; th e girl o n th e leg and tell s her to get on wi th h er rou tin e. Di ane beg in s her ro utin e with 12,000 peopl e screaming so lo ud th at no si n gle voice ca n be hea rd. In credibl y und er the co nditi o n s, Di an e doe; a 9.40. Th e crowd stops their scream ing long enough to app laud h er performance , th en goes back to their o rigin al argument with the judge;, " Katero, Katero!, Ratero !, Mexico, Mexico," - Roxa nn e Pi erce is nex t. Wh en th e crow d sees th at she too is go ing on w ith h er ro u tin e, th ey scream even lo uder. Roxa nne does a 9.45! Aga in th ere is a tr em endou s appl ause for h er performdn ce, dnd aga in for the jud ges, " Ratero! ... " But th e U neve n Parall el Ba rs are fini shed and th e six finalists, mu ch reli eved , ledve th e floo r. Two minut es later, led by Madame Nagy, all six gymn as ts retu rn to th e floor for th e victo ry ce remo ni es. Again the crowd screams fo r blood . A nd , o f co urse it is o nl y a coincide nce that, for no exp lain ed reason thi s is th e o nl y tim e durin g the entire co mpetiti o n that all 'co m pe titors are brought o ut to th e victory stand w hen medals are o nl y

GYMNAST Dec. '75

being aWdrueu t.o three. Ah, the wander .of at hl etic gaadwil l and pali t i c ~ .

thin g ya u C,Hl say far them. They we re mild campa red 'to thase .o f th e m e n '~ camp etiti an .

Ann L.m w in s her third Ga ld meda l, and with th e sam e sca re, Ra xa nn e Pierce her secand Ga ld. Di ane Dunbar rece ives th e Bra nze medJI far her cau rageaus perfarmance. On the BJIJn ce Beam, An n Carr wins her fau rth Gald meda l .of the campetition w ith a pasitive and ca nfident rautin e tha t scares 9.50. Ka llee n Casey tak es anat her Sil ve r medal, scarin g 9.40 and Raxanne Pier( e al ~ o scores 9.40 ta win the Bronze. CainciuentJll y, Srt a. Cr uzata wa n the .on ly in dividual .or A ll Ara und medJI not ,lwJ ru ed ta a gi rl fram th e U nited States. In the last event, Flaar Ex. ~ h e ti ed Ra xan ne Pierce far the Branze medal. Ann ellT win s the Gald meda l w ith her Fla a r ro utin e .of a raund-aff flip flap, two w hip backs, flip flap ta a layau t step aut an her fi rst pass. H er ~e ("onu is J front handspring, pike frant, frant hand spring straddle seat. She fin ished w ith a rau nd-aff flip flap sammersau lt ta back hand spring. A rthur Maddax' s piana accamp ani ment w ith " A lexanuer 's Ragtim e Band " enh an ces her perfarmance ni cely as she s c are ~ a 9.55. Kath y Haward w in s the Silver meda l scorin g a 9.50. Sa enu ed th e wame n 's gym nastics .of the VII Pan Am erica n Garnes. In sp ite .of pol iti cs , th e U nit ed States swept t he meet. A nn Ca r r was the a ut ~ tJndin g ind ividua l perfarmer, w in ni ng five Ga ld med als. The rest .of th e team .of, Kal leen Casey, Raxanne Pierce, D ebbie Wilcax , Kathy H award, Didne Dunbar and Tri sh Reed alsa deserv e m uch cred it fa r th ei l contr ibu ti o ns tawa rd th e tea m v ictary in Me xica Cit y. If th e pa liti cal bat tl es .of the wame n's ca mpetitian were bad, .one

By t he time the men ' s gymnast ic ca mpetitian began , the pal itical and nati a nali stic ba ttl es .o f the VII Pan Ameri ca n Garn es w ere ca mman knawledge . Jenn y Cha ndl er had been sa harrassed by the crawd at th e Ol ympic 1'0.01 th at she d id a bell y flap a n her springbaard dive, and when give n J fa ir seca nd chan ce, wa lked .off wit h th e Gald m eda l. The Canadian socce r tea m was ready ta ga ha me because .of pe tt y ruli ngs by .officia ls. 1 he " gaadwi ll " was n' t at an all time high . But, as always was th e (J ~ e in M exico, w hen yau think ya u' ve see n it all, th ere's more. Entering A uuita ri a Nacia nal th e evenin g .of Octaber 19, far th e m en '~ compul sori es, the first thing ya u n atice is that,.a lth augh there are ~ even teams ca mpeting, there are .on ly six scarebaa rd s. The M ex ic<lm , JS hdl'u as th ey tri ed, appa rently didn ' t have th e tim e ta put u p t he seve nth scarebaa rd. There are baards far Cuba, Canada, Venez uel,l, Brdzi l and Ecuadar. Since Ecuadar ha s .on ly a caup le .of gymnJ st; compet in g in a few events, they alsa share th ei r baard w ith Ca lum bi;I, w ha alsa ca n' t pu t a ut a fu ll tea m. Th e Uni ted States? Of caur ~e th ey are th e t ea m w itha ut th e scarebaard. Far round .one, th e Un ited States has drawn a bye and aren't a n the flaar (or th e parade .of athl etes. Cuba perfa rm s impress ively an the Hi gh Bar, 46.U5 . The a th er natians are sca ring 40.25, 43.60, 34.90, terribly autclJ~ sed by the Cubans, and w ith the entra nce .of the U.S. men ' s tea m , the co mpe titi a n w ill quickl y b eca me a dual mee t. Raunu two b rin gs an th e hawls from th e crawd as the " Gr in gas" ca me a ut o n the fl aa r ta begin the evening with Free Ex. Cu ba is .o ff the

GYMNAST D ec. '75

flool lor the seco nd round, so at the end of one event each , Cuba leads th e U.S.A . by 1.15 points. Round three ha s Cuba on Floor Ex. and the United Stat es on Pommel H or,e. (o<l ch Schwenz fi er had mentioned earlier in the week th at he thought thi s pJrticular U.S. Nationa l tea m was strong er on Side Horse than an y U.S. tea m he had seen in thirty years . But suddenly the sco res start coming up; Conn er, 8.65, Korman, 8.50, Tidwell, 8.60. Schwenzfier can , tand it 110 lo nger. Hi s guys are doing well but not sco ring anything. , He protests to th e jud ges . Of course the crowd loves it , hooting it up and whi , tling Jt the Americans for being such poor sport s about it all. finally the di sc uss ion co mes to an end and it's back to co mp etition. Ama zin g! The sco res immediately start going up . Wh elan , 8.95, Av ener, 1l.1l5, Thom as, 9.20. In the meantime Cuba hits on Floor Ex. for 46.00 and ,Ift er two eve nt s, the U.S.A. is down by 3.20. A , the Amer ica n ' s h ead for the Rings, it look s like seven guys and two coache s Me in for a long battle. Things are definitely looking grim for th e Amerit-'lIlS. fhey ' re down by 3.20 points, the crowd is aga in st them , th eir '>cores M e too low, and here comes Cuba, right b ehind them , scoring 44.40 o n the Pommel Horse.

Bart Conner

All deli cdcy Jnd ses nitivity is gone. If they want to blow the Yanq uis' mind,>, the y' re Joing a good job of it. But Schwenzfier uses a few tricks. H e '>ta rt '> redctin g like a football coach in a Rosebowl gam e, hu stling his gu ys up on the Kings like Duffey Dougherty sending in plays from the bench. llwy we ren ' t r eady for it in Mexico. The U.S. gymnasts are on the Ring, <l nd through their routines before anybody knows what happens. Th e m omen tum shifts to the United States and when the

GYMNAST Dec. '75

. I

Peter Kormann

smoke cledrs elt th e end of round four, they have scored 46.70 and trail Cuba by o nl y .90 point. On th e Vdu lt, th e Un it ed States scores well again, 47.25, but at th e sa me time, Cuba hits 47.55 o n Rings. Going int o round six, th e U.S. is still trailing Cuba in team totals by 1.20 poi n IS. Round six hds U.S.A. on Parallel Bars and Cuba on Vault. TheCubans are no ted for th eir va ulting and a victo ry is beginning to look distant for the United ~ta t e s . 1 idwell is first up on Parallel Bars with a beautiful 9.40 routin e, then it 's not 9.40. Two Latin Amer ica n judges say he took too many steps approaching th e bar, and this and that, and the score is changed to 9.10! . So, the b,lse score for th e United States on Bars is low to begin w ith. In fact , it 's right down wi th the Cuban Vaulting scores; 9.10 and 9.15. It \ h<trd to beli eve that the Vaults of the Cubans are in the low nines. Every performan ce bri ngs screams and cheers of "Cooba, Cooba " from a certain se ct ion of Auditorio Nactional. Even the Mexican crowd looks in wonderment. It is the cheering sec tion of the Cuban women 's team. Imm edi<tte ly things shift. The crowd starts booing and hissing the Cubans! 1 hen , ev en worse, the next U.S. gymnast on Parallel Bars has troubl e with hi s routine and scores a 9.35 .. 25 high er th an Tidwell. Thomas goes up and does a 9.30. Thi s mu ch va riati on in the Compul sories, amaz in g. Maybe the Yanquis are just suddenl y in sp ired by a ho stile crowd turned friend ly. However, the sixth round tota ls still come out wit h Cuba gaining another .15 point on the Americans. At last , th e final ro und of the evening. Cuba on Rings and th e United States on High Har. The High Bar is a strong event for the U.S. and they

GYMNAST Dec. '75

score we ll ; Korm an, 9.25, Tidwell and Whelan, 9.40, Avener, 9.10, Conner and Thomas, 9.45, for a team scor e of 47.00 to Cuba o n the Para llel Hdrs, 46.55. The te.lm total s at the end of the Compulsory evening, Cuba, 277.95 and the Un ited States 277.05. Mexico is a distant third with 261.75. The Unit ed Stat es team was sacrificing all chance at All Around and Individua l titles for a team victo ry over Cuba. And after th e first night th ey arc trdilin g by .90 in the team, and in All Around, Tromas was the hi ghest U.S. gymnast, third behind Cuba's Leon Cu ervo. All in all , it was a rough night for the Amer ica n s. In the Optionals, two days later, the U.S.A. finall y had a scoreboard. It 's th e same sto ry at the beginning of the evening in Auditorio Nac tional. Robe rt o Leon and Jorge Cuerv.o score hi g ~ for the Cuba ns on Par<tll el HdrS during the first round, while the United States is in the bye positi o n. I n the seco nd round, t he United States scores 45.80 on Floor Ex., while Cuba scor es 46.05 o n High Bar. Leon fal ls from th e Bar and the Cuban judge still sco res him 9.20! In th e third rou nd , on Pommel Horse, Thomas scores a 9.40, and suddenl y th e U nited States is picking up th e pace. Th ey bring the sco re to with in .30 of th e Cubans. I n the fou rth round the U.S. scores 47.00 on Rings w hil e the Cubans are wading throug h dull and uncrea tive Floor Exe rcises, sco rin g o nly 45.70. At th e end of r ou nd fo ur, the United States has taken the lead for th e first time; 415 .50 - 414.50. In rou nd five, Cu ba is o n Pommel Horse and the U.S. o n Vault. Things are starting to cook for the Amer ica ns. But never! Another protest.

Cuba protests the U.S. Vaulting. And while-that discussion goes on, the Cubans draw a protest because they are using the time for practice. There 's more judges and officials running around than gymnasts. It becomes demoralizing for athletes and spectators alike. Eons of discussions later, round five gets going again . The boys from north of the border aren 't about to let anyt hing stop them once they get ahead. They extend their lead another 1.70 points to hold a 2.70 lead goi ng into round six. Things are looking good forthe U.S. men. But in round six, the Cubans show their strength in the rings, turning in a team total of47.20 with Cuervo and Lea l) piling up points in the All Around . The United Staies only scores 45.65 on Para ll el Bars. The la st event was, for the United States High Bar, and for Cuba, Vault. Both te ams do well, but the consistent depth of the U.S. team shows itself under pressure. Always a strong event for this particular Nation a l tea m, they are even stronger tonight. The lowest score is a 9.20. - Cuba is dissapointing on Vault. Arego scores only 8.80, Rodriguez 9.05 and Leon 9.20. The United States ath letes have accomplished their goal, a team victory over the Cubans, 554.95 - 553.30. It was a high price to pay. The U.S. athletes had to sacrifice their c han ces at Gold and Silver medals in the All Around, as well as make their chances in the I ndivdual finals more difficult. The team (fold goes to the Untied States, the Silver to Cuba and the Bronze to Mexico, a distant third, more than 30 points behind Cuba. The E:anadian team, fourth, would have been higher had they not sent their junior teams; but they ' ll be rough in 1980. The All Around w inn e rs are Jorge Cuervo, Gold; Roberto Leo n, Silver; a nd Kurt Thomas, Bronze. 34

The in divdua l scores show the finals to be a dual meet between the United Sta tes and Cuba, broken only by Owen Whalstrom, Canadia n, in the Vault. On O ctobe r 23rd, a new force in the world of gymnastics is discovered in Mexico City, Cuba. The Cuban men 's team captures five out of six Gold medals in the Individual finals of the VII Pan American Games. Cuervo does his littl e flip into a quick split routine on the floor, combines it with a few flip flops and his coach thinks he should take the Gold med a l. The coach of the Cuban team also thinks that Cuba shou ld have tak en th e team score too . Perhaps he 's right. After all, the United States women swept the meet the night before, and this is the " best of all possible worlds", no? Where fair is fa ir , the medals shou ld be divided the next night. That makes it good , because now there is the basis for detente and dual meets and world te nsions w ill be relieved. Oh, yes, gymnastics. There is a short gymnastics exhibition between the politica( compromi ses a nd deal making. Jorge Cuervo of Cuba does a full in full out di smount from the High Bar, and Gene Whelan of the United ~tates does a doubl e front with a full to make things even, although Cuervo is awarded 9.65 a nd Whelan 9.40. . The Padronn e of La tin Gymnastics in the Western Hemisp h ere is better tha n He nryKissinger. Although the United States, was it Peter Korman , has ta ke n the Go ld medal in Floor Ex. and Roberto Leon the gold m e da l for Side Horse, it is the Cuban serve on the Rings, and Leon puts th e boys from Havanna in the lead with a 9.40, wavering in his hand stand , shaki ng in his cross, and practically fal ling after his dismount. A bald hea d e d leade r from the FIG runs around with gle e, hoping to get a ping pong game in Peking. Three events are gone and the Cuba ns are le,a din g two go ld to one, and all semblance of respec ta bility is GYMNAST Dec. '75

WOMEN'S RESULTS Vault

MEXICO 1975 1. United States 2. Cuba 3. Mexico 4. Canada 5. Braz il

C 0 183.60 183.70 177.00 177.35 175.00 177.70 174.80 174 .00 170.95 166.70

All Around 1. A. Carr (USA) 2. R. Pierce (USA) 3. C. Casey (USA) 4. D. Wilcox (USA) 5. D. Dunbar (USA) 6. D. Howard (USA) 7. A. Sa nc h ez (CU B) 8. I. Fon;ecd (CU B) 8. H. Sa nc h ez (ME X) 10. V. Cru za ta (CU ll) 11 . T. Di a z (ME X) 12. P. Garcia (MEX ) 13. K. Keb,, 11 (CAN) 14. E. Agui lar (MEX) 15. M . H ~ rndlHJ e z (CU B) 16. W . Ha ll e (CAN) 16. M . Ganier (CA ) 18. M . Chow (CAN) 19. E. Va lde z (CUB) 20. C. Go mez (MEX) 21 . O . M an in ez (CU B) 22. D. Grimberg (M EX) 23 . S. Pin en t IBRA ) 24 . M . ParOle le e (CAN) 25 . G . Rad o m sky (BRA ) 26 . S. Anjo, (BR A) 27. T. Ma yn e (CAN) 28. E. Fl ec ha (BR A) 29. G . l o ni a l (BRA ) 30. I. Soares (BRA) 31. M . Re yes (DOM ) 32. M . Ha, b un (SA L) 33. I. Pa z min o (ECU) 34. M . Rodr ig uez (SA L) 35. G . h ill as (PRO ) 36. G . Vidill e s (SA L)

C 36.70 37.20 36.90 36.05 36.05 36.40 35.90 35.50 35.60 35.70 34.90 35.30 34.95 34.70 34.95 35.25 35.05 34.50 34.40 33.75 34.95 34.15 34.55 34.65 34.60 34.1 5 33.95 34.05 33.80 33.05 28.75 25.97 28.65 25.70 29.00 17.35

·0 37.10 36.40 36.25 37.00 36.40 35.25 35.65 35.95 35.85 35.35 35.65 35.20 35.10 35.20 34.85 34.45 34.65 34.80 34.85 35.25 33.60 34.30 33.70 33.55 33.25 33 .60 33 .65 33.00 33 .05 31.25 27.70 23 .00 19.70 11 .60 00.00 00.00

Team Total 367.30 354.35 352.70 348.80 337.65 Total

73.80 73.60 73.15 73.05 72.45 71.65 71.55 71 .45 71 .45 TI.05 70.55 70.50 70.05 69.90 69.80 69.70 69.70 69.30 69.25 69.00 68.55 68.45 68.25 68.20 67.85 67.75 67.60 67.05 66.85 64.30 56.45 48.97 48.35 37.30 29.00 17.35

1. C. Casey (USA) 2. D. Wilcox (USA) 3. R. Pierce (USA) 4. A. Sanch ez (CUB) 5. San c h ez (ME X) . 6. I. Fon seca (CUB) 7. A. Carr (USA) ' 8. D. Howard ' (USA) 8. D. Dunbar (USA) 9. P. Garcia (MEX) 11 . T. Di az (MEX) 12. E. Aguilar (ME X) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

C 9.25 9.30 9.35 9.00 9.05 8.65 9.05 9.05 9.10 8.85 8.75 8.75

Uneven Parallel Bars A. Carr (USA) 9.00 R. Pierce (USA) 9.10 D. Dunbar (USA) · 8.75 W . Halle (CAN ) 8.85 I. Fon seca (CU B) 8.90 V. Cru za ta (CUB) 8.95 D. Wilcox ' (USA) 8.80 A. Sa c h ez (CUB) 8.85 9.00 C. Case~ (USA) H. Sanc ez (MEX) 8.70 E. Aguilar (ME X) 8.65 M . Gani e r (CAN) 8.60

C&O Total 0 9.30 18.55 9.45 18.75 9.15 18.50 9.10 18.10 9.15 18.20 8.70 17.55 9.10 18.15 8.95 18.00 8.75 17.85 8.65 17.50 8.70 17.45 8.65 17.40

Finals 9.45 9.30 9.35 9.20 9.10 9.00

Final Total 18.725 18.675 18.600 18.250 18.200 17.775

9.20 9.10 9.15 8.90 8.90 8.85 9.00 8.75 8.50 8.75 8.70 8.70

18.20 18.20 17.90 17.75 17.80 17.80 17.80 17.60 17.50 17.45 17.35 16.30

9.100 9.100 8.950 8.875 8.900 8.900

9.45 9.30 9.40 9.25 9.20 9.20

18.550 18.550 18.350 18.125 18.100 18.100

18.60 9.300 18.60 9.300 18.10 9.050 17.75 8.875 17.85 8.925 17.90 8.950 18.05 17.90 17.90 17.65 17. 60 17.45

9.50 9.40 9.40 9.30 8.65 8.35

18.800 i8.700 18.450 18.175 17.575 17.300

9.55 9.50 9.40 9.30 9.20 9.10

18.975 18.950 18.700 18.700 18.500 18.400

Balance Beam 1. A. Carr (USA) 2. C. Casey (USA) 3. R. Pierce (USA) 4. O . M a rtin ez (CUB) 5. V. Cru za ta (CUB) 6. P. Ga rc ia (ME X) 7. D. Howard' (USA) 8. D. Dunbar' (USA) 8. D. Wilcox ' (USA) 10. I. Fon;eca (CUB) 11 . A. Sanchez (CUB) 12. C. Gom ez (ME X)

9.30 9.30 9.30 8.75 8.80 8.80 9.20 8.85 8.75 8.70 8.90 8.65

9.30 9.30 8.80 9.00 9.05 9.10 8.85 9.05 9.15 8.95 8.70 8.80

Floor Exercise A. Carr (USA) D. Howard (USA) V. Cruzata (CUB) R. Pierce (USA) K. Kel sa ll (CAN) P. Garc ia (ME X) D. Dunbar' (USA) D. Wilcox ' (USA) C. Casey (USA) H. Sa nc h ez (ME X) I. Fon seca (CUB) T. Dia z (ME X)

9.35 9.45 9.35 9.45 9.40 9.20 9.35 9.20 9.35 9.05 9.25 9.00

9.50 18.85 9.45 18.90 9.25 18.60 9.35 18.80 9.20 18.60 9.40 18.60 9.45 18.80 9.40 18.60 9.15 18.50 9.40 18.45 9.20 18.45 9.35 18.35

1. 2. 3. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

C&O Avg. 9.275 9.365 9.250 9.050 9.100 8.775

9.425 9.450 9.300 9.400 9.300 9.300

• Did not compe te in fin a ls d u e to three competi tor per coun t ry limit in finals. Closing Ceremonies

sac rifi ce d b eca use of some very comp licated scoring decisions that mu st be disc us se d for five or ten minutes after a thirty second routine . Let' s see; if thi s o ne is too high , and this too low, we might offend the Am eri ca ns, but they had their night last night. The boys up ther e aren't quit e co ld ye t, so more etc. etc. etc. ... and that is how the gymnastics mee tin g of th e VII Pan Ame ri ca n games drew to a close. A lot o f back room , pol iti ca l, deal making. Unfo rtun ately, the Cubans honestly believe they are as good as their scores. They w ill take their propaganda films back to Havana, and get bell er and better and better in the eyes of the Cubans, in thi s " best of all po ss ible world s whe re everything is necessarily for the best " .

* Th e clos in g ceremo nies of th e VII Pan American Games were 'a mong th e most b eautiful and spectacu lar in the history of modern sports. 100,000 p ersons again gathered in Aztec Stadium, this time by cand le light & fireworks, and this time to say goodbye, adios amigos. The Pu erto Ri ca n flag was raised and everyone hailed the next games, San Juan , 1979. Th e fl ag o f th e Un ited States made its final appearance and was booe d and hisse d for the last time. It really didn 't matter any loliger; most o f th e kids had already gO,l1e back home. You were glad th at it was ov er, and a littl e sad th at it was end in g. Those few remaining said goodbye ' to fri end s th ey might never see again. Pe rh aps th e people w ho chose to represent the United States in Int ern ation al sport learn ed th e meaning of " ath letic goodwill " . Before ' th e goodwill , th ere ha s to be understanding. If not goodwill, th e Pan Am erican Ga m es showed at least, how far apart the understanding is of the nati o ns o f the Americas. And so it was, the VII Pan American games w ere ended . GYMNAST -Dec. '75

Dunbar, Carr and Pierce, Uneven Bar Medalists

Pan Am Champion - USA Men's Team receiving gold medals , from L to R: Mars hall Avener, Glenn Tidwell, Peter Kormann, Bart Conners, Kurt Thomas, Gene Whelan.

Peter Korma nn , Gold Medal , FX

Team 1. United States 2. C uba 3. Mexi, 0 4. Ca nada 5. Brazi l 6. Ye nezu(·la 7. Ecuador

MEN'S COMPETITION RESULTS All Around 1. J. Cu ervo (CU B) 2. R. Leon (CUB) 3. K. Thomas (USA) 4. G. Whe lan (USA) 5. B. Conne r (USA) 5. M. Avener (USA) 7. J. Rodrigu ez (C UB) 8. T. Kormann (USA) 9. J. Tejeda (CUB) 10. J. Roc he (CUB) 11. G. Tidwell (USA) 12. R. Arego (CUB) 13. F. Dece na (MEX) 14. G. Araujo (MEX) 15. R. M e ndoza (MEX) 16. J. Choqu ette (CAN) 17. W. Hoeger (Y EN) 18. J. Vilchi s (MEX) 19. O . Wal , trom (CAN) 20. L. Garci" (ME X) 21. J. Sosa (MEX) 22 . J. Pannitti (CAN) 23. L. Schick (BRA) 24 . P. Carri e r (C AN) 25. N. Rothwe ll (CAN) 26. H. Abramid es (BRA) 27. B. Cari ,se (CAN) 28. J. Brandao (B RA) 29. H. Or ozco (CO L) 30. C. Agudel o (COL) 31 . C. Po rt uga l (BRA) 32. S. Ja toba (BRA) 33. E. Na jer" (ECU) 34. A. Pernia (YEN) 35. B. Fernand ez (PRO) 36. N. Ol" on (BRA) 37. 01 Sabino (YEN) 38. H. Hoeger (Y EN) 39. J. Campo s (EC U) 40. R. Penal oza (YE ) 41 . B. H eo~er (Y EN ) 42. B. Da vi a (ECU) 43 . J. Domingue z (DOM) 44 . G. Rogrigu ez (EDU) 44. J. Orbe (ECU) 46. W. M ontoy" (C O L)

C 56.40 56.55 55.70 55.50 55.60 54.95 55.35 54.40 54.05 54.90 54.40 54.45 52.65 51.95 51.95 50.65 51.70 52.80 50.60 51.45 50.75 50.40 50.70 50.45 50.50 50.05 49 .90 49.40 49.70 49.70 49.20 48.50 49.45 46.60 45 .55 48.60 48.25 48.00 47.40 47 .60 46.05 48.40 46.35 44.25 45.70 43.45

0 56.45 55.95 55.80 55.90 55.40 56.05 54.25 54.50 64.30 52.85 53.30 53.10 52.20 51.80 51.65 52.85 51.40 50.15 52.05 51.05 51.50 51.40 50.45 50.65 50.15 50.10 50.05 48.90 48.40 48.20 47.65 47.70 45.55 47.65 48.30 44.25 44.60 44.55 44.80 44.50 45.50 42.45 43.65 41.75 40.30 41.00

Total 112.85 112.50 111.50 111 .40 111 .00 111.00 109.60 108.90 108.35 107.75 107.70 107.55 104.85 103.75 103.60 103.50 103.10 102.95 102.65 102.50 102.25 101.80 101.15 101.10 100.65 100.15 99.95 98.30 98.10 97.90 %.85 %.20 95.00 94.25 93.85 92.85 92.85 92.55 92.20 92.10 91.55 90.85 90.00 86.00 86.00 84.45

Free Exercise

C 1. P. Korma nn (USA) 9.1 5 2. J. Cu e rvo (CUB) 9.45 3. B. Conner (USA) 9.40 4. R. Leon (CUB) 9.40 5. J. Roche (CUB) 9.20 6. K. Thomas (USA) 9.05 7. M . Av e ne r (USA) 8.80 7. G . Whe lan (USA) 9.00 9. J. Rodrigu ez (CU B) 9. 10 8.70 10. J. 50S. (MEX) 8.85 11 . R. Are~o (CUB) 8.85 11 . J. Te je " (C UB)

C&OC&O 0 Total Avg. 8.75 1 7~90 8.950 9.25 18.70 9.350 9.15 18.55 9.275 9.15 18.55 9.275 9.30 18.50 9.250 9.00 18.05 9.025 9.45 18.25 9.25 18.25 9.00 18.10 9.20 17.90 9.00 17.85 9.00 17.85

Finals 9.75 9.30 9.30 9.05 9.00 9.10

Final Total 18.700 18.650 18.575 18.325 18.250 18.125

Vault 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12.

C 0 J. Cuervo (CUB) 9.50 9.50 K. Thomas (USA) 9.65 9.50 M . Aven e r (USA) 9.50 9.45 G. Whelan (USA) 9.45 9.30 J. Roche (CUB) 9.30 9.35 O . Wa l, trom (CAN) 9. 10 9.50 B. Conner (USA) 9.30 9.40 R. Leon (CUB) 9.35 9.20 J. Tejeda (CUB) 9.15 9.25 P. Korma nn (USA) 9.00 9.30 J. Rodrigu ez (CU B) 9.10 9.05 R. Areg o (C UB) 9.30 8.80

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 11 .

R. Leo n (C UB) G. Wh e lan (USA) J. Cuervo (CUB) B. Conner (USA) M Ave ne r (USA) J. Te~eda (C UB) K. Tomas (USA) P. Kormann (USA) R. Arego (CUB) G. Tidwell (USA) J. Rodrigu ez (CU B) L. Garcia (MEX)

R. Le on (CUB ) K. Thomas (USA) G. Whelan (USA) J. Cu e rvo (CUB) M . Ave ne r (USA) J. Rodriguez (CUBI B. Conner (USA) J. Te je da (CUB) L. Shi ck (BRA ) P. Korman n (USA) G. Tidwe ll (USA) J. Yil c hi s (MEX)

9.25 9.20 8.95 8.90 8.85 8.95 8.65 8.50 8.80 8.50 8.60 8.40

9.60 9.40 9.20 9.35 9.35 9.30 9.00 9.00 8.55 8.70 8.50 8.55

18.85 18.60 18.15 18.25 18.20 18.25 17.65 18.50 17.35 17.20 17. 10 t6 .95

9.425 9.300 9.075 9.125 9.100 9.125

9.30 18.725 9.30 18.600 9.25 18.325 9.15 18.275 9.10 18.200 8.40 17.525

J. Cu e rvo (CUB)

C&OC&O Total Avg. 19.00 9.500 19.15 9.575 18.95 9.475 18.75 9.375 18.65 9.325 18.60 9.300 18.70 • 18.55 18.40 18.30 18.1 5 18.10

Total 554.95 553.30 521 .10 517.05 497.15 480.05 448.05

Finals 9.35 9.20 9.25 9.075 8.925 8.85

Final Total 18.850 18.775 18.725 18.450 18.250 18.150

9.70 R. Leo n (CUB) 9.60 B. Conner (USA) 9.50 G. Whe lan (USA) 9.40 R. Arego (C UB ) 9.45 M . Ave ne r (USA) 9.35 J. Rodrigu ez (CUB) 9.45 J. Roche (C UB) 9.35 B. Ferna ndez (PRO)9.20 P. Korma nn (USA) 9.30 K. Thomas (USA) 9.00 G. Tidwe ll (USA) 9.15

9.50 9.30 9.35 9.30 9.35 9.20 9.30 9.20 8.95 9.10 9.40 9. 05

9A5 9.30 9.30 9.10 9.20 8.90 9.05 9.00 8.90 8.70 8.25 8.60

18.95 18.60 18.65 18.40 18.55 18.10 18.35 • 18.20 • 17.85 17.80 17.65 17.65

9.475 9.300 9.325 9.200 9.275 9.050

9.40 9.40 9.20 9.20 8.95 8.70

18.875 18.700 18.525 18.400 18.225 17.750

9.50 9.40 9.50 9.45 9.35 9.45 9.40 9.25 9.25 9.10 9.10 9.30

9.50 9.45 9.45 9.30 9.35 9.00 9.25 9.40 9. 10 9.20 9.10 8.70

19.00 18.85 18.95 18.75 18.70 18.45 18.65 ' 18.65 • 18.35 18.30 18.20 18.00

9.500 9.425 9.475 9.375 9.350 9.225

9.65 9.50 9.40 9.20 9.20 8.90

19.150 18.925 18.875 18.575 18.550 18.125

Ho rizonta l Bar

Rings 1. 1. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 9. 9. 11 . 11.

0 277.90 275 .35 259.35 262.45 247.80 237.25 214.85

Paralle l Ba rs

Pomme l Horse 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12.

C 277.05 277.95 261.75 254.60 249.35 242.80 233.20

9.55 9.55 9.45 9.40 9.40 9.40 9.30 9.40 9.45 9.35 9.40 9.25

19.25 19.15 18.95 18.80 18.95 18.75 18.75 • 18.75' 18.65 18.65 18.40 18.40

9.625 9.525 9.475 9.400 9.425 9.375

9.15 9.45 9.30 9.25 9.20 9.15

18.975 18.975 18.775 18.650 18.625 18.525

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 9. 10. 11 . 12.

J. Cuervo (CU B) G. Whe lan (USA) K. Thomas (USA) B. Conne r (USA) J. Rodrigu e z (CU B) R. Leon (CUB) G. Tidwe ll (USA) P. Kormann (USA) R. Arego (CU B) M . Aven er (USA) J. Tejeda (CU B) J. Roch e (CU B)

'D id not (ompete in final s due to three com pe titors per count ry limit in fin als. GYMNAST Dec. '75

Ann Carr 1st Place Floor Exercise

GYMNAST Dec. '75

ANN CARR 1st Place Balance Beam

OLD CONCEPT NEW RELEVANCE IS gymnil sti cs lost its warm glow of lusiasm for you! Do you, as a competitor, ad the up-coming season and even conside r - ,pping out or taking up a " fun" sport like , lIeyba ll or bowling! As a coach do you find ;o urself impo si ng harsher discipline and demanding more ilnd more of your gymnasts? Do yo u leave th e gym edch day wishing you did not have to co m e back? Would you mi ss competit ion - the tenseness, the pressures, ' the judges, the defeats and the victories? A s a parent do you glory in the performances of lit tl e Mary and envision her about to chall enge the likes of Ann Carr, Tammy Manvill e o r Roxanne Pierce? And'do you forsee nation al o r international honors ahead when littl e Timmy brings home his first awards ribbon? If you answer yes and if you have caught th e gymnastics version of the Littl e Leagu e Syndrom e , rea d no further. Can you en vision a situation of happy workouts with gymnast s working together? Or, how about top performances with a minimum of pressure . or <l chd nce for more than 6 gymnasts to rep rese nt your club? I am not painting an im possible picture. . Good gymna stics still means hard work and dedicated gymna sts, coaches and parents (but forget the judge s in this pictur e). Believe it or

not, such progrdm s do exis t without the ' spectres of competition , ri va lri es, judges, tears after meets, etc. No t on ly, th at but there are not national organ iz<ltions telling you what yo u may and ma y not do! With th e prese nt trend towards more co -educa tion al activities, EXHIBITION GYMNASTICS is particu larly appropriate. Exhibition gymna sti cs meet s physica l needs, aids in person,i1 d evelopme nt and social interactions, and is a satisfying means of recreation , too. Among previous GYMNAST articles on the topi c WilS " The Jo y of Effort," the story of gymna stics <It Sprin gfield Co ll ege (Apri l 1971). In addition to Springfield there ex ist noted " Gymkhana" troup s at Florida State and the Universit y of Mdryland, in YMCA's such as Brookl yn Central, <lnd in so me private clubs. Many private dubs use ex hibitions as fundraising activities or <l S<l chance to involve eve ry gymnast at leas t on ce during the year, but I know of only one, Leon ard Clemmer' s School of Gymnastics and Bal let which is entirely devoted to ex hibition gy mnastics. Recent tours by Ru ss ian gymnasts have given us a ne'w appreciation of ex hibition gymnastics. Their top gymna sts took part, as much for their crowd-drawing nam es as their performances, but the addition of th eir fine rhythmic (Modern

Rhythmi C Gymnd sti cs) gymnasts and the amazing fea ts of their ac robats turned on the crowds to an une xpected degree. The December 1975 Lour promises to be no . exception for those fortunate enough to catch a live perform ance (r<lther than the edited and commerical-lilled ve rsions we 've come to expect from televisio n). We ha ve nuted th e great success of the Gymnaestradil thi s PdSt summer in drawing together gymna sts from allover Europe. There is room for more of this type of noncompetitive gymn<l sti cs in this country. It can draw togeth er our o lympic gymnasts, rhythmic gymnasts, iluubdt s, trampolinists, and tumblers. We, at th e GYMNAST, wou ld lik e to hear of exhibition gymn<l sti cs programs - the themes, organization uf pr<lct ices and presentation, special event s. and requirements for team m embers. In the m eiln tim e, if you are co nsidering trying o ut an ex hibition team format, let me recommel'ld iI book, " Exh ibition Gymnastics" by l.J . Judd, 'I .J. OeCa ri o and R.J. Kern (published by As suciation Press, 291 Broadway, New York , N.Y. 10007).

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING . AGAIN - AND - AGAIN By Fritz Reiter ONCE AGAIN, in December, and for the second tim e in 1975 a Russian Gymnastics Team is coming to Los Ange les to be presented in an EXHIBITION. Th e Russians were here before, at least three or fuur times , but have never met an Am e ri ca n Gymnast ics Team in competition other th<ln in their co ntroll ab le world manifes tdtion s, such as the World Games, Olympi c G,lmes, etc. But the Russians like to come to Ameri cil . Why? The answer is very simple. Th ey co me to make money, and lots of it. It 's easy. They don't ha ve to train , and they can 't lose. CONTRARY to what is known, there is not so much money available to the Russian Gymna stics Program as one might think . So it help s to h<l ve <l side income, and the American public provides it. The Russians, in turn, go back and trJin their athletes, give them scho larships, dpartments, ca rs, TV' s, etc. In case \ you hil ve n 't no tic ed, their at hl etes stay longer , with the spurt. (Sounds more lik e the American orofess ion<ll dthletes, doesn't it ?) Theircoaches lave small er gro ups of gymnasts to coach ;omething we can't afford in the U.S. Here the be st sta y away because it means to work in one of the most demanding areas one can think of; ' t means to work ve ry long hours because you ISO have to ge nerate inco me'to afford the gym. ath letes ca nnot go to special schoo ls, th eir sc holas tic schedu le is organized I ,und th eir workouts; and our at hl etes are â&#x20AC;˘ )t tilken CMe o f by the best trainers, and "y sician s. Our coac hes have little time to do I'

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GYMNAST Dec. '75

rese<lrch or wri te about gymnastics, or promote it. THE AMER ICAN COACH has a great disad vil ntage, ye t his American women gymna sts are fdntastic thanks to the incred ible dedication of many coaches around the country and th e wi llingness of the girls to put up with ve ry demand in g schedu les and

disc iplines. The Amer ica n gymnasts are as good , if not b etter, than the best of the Ru ss ians, but n o bod y knows it, because nobod y writ es about th em, nobody shows them ofr. The Ru ssians are " the best" because the Communist block co ntrolled judges system sa id so at th e world manifestations, and becil u se th e American public doesn ' t know how good our own gymnasts are . Therefore, promoter s look for th e Russians because they fill a hou se. Th e American publi c believes that the Ru ss ian s dnd o th er eas tern block countries

have th e best gymnasts because every time they read ilbout th em they are the winners. But think il gJin , o ur ve ry own judges think the Ru ss ians arc <l lot better than au r own gymnasts (obviousl y, beca use they win!!). The top Ameri ca n judges are good, we ll trained and understJnd th eir business of judging pretty well - exce pt for one thing - they are . Am eri cans, h onest, brainwashed by our inabilit y to defea t the Russians or other eastern block cu untri es. How can they think that our own gymnast s are better than the Checks or Hungarians! Th e sa me thing takes place with mo st judges fro m other free countr ies. There is no bl ock to go aga in st the eastern block front, but their judges are under control, if by no other mea ns th an intimidation and reporting to Politbu ros: th ey can impose travel restrictions and cut oth er privileges given to them . But mo st important they think their gymnasts are better , and they find their thoughts to be correct. since th eir gymnasts. w in. The Editor-Publisher of the Olga Korbut Fan Club. wrote in one of his articles for Women's Sport s about the World Games in Varna, Bulgari a wh en th e American Team was thrown back from fourth to seventh place, mostly by the Communi st co untries controlled judging system . "Wh y should the ir on curtain judges beli eve th,i1 o ur gymnasts are amo ng the world 's be st if we, the Ame rican public, don ' t belie ve it o urse lves?" However, how can we? We don't eve n know them! We haven ' t seen them! Most girl s in our schoo ls know about Olg a Kurbut , but they don ' t know of Tammy Continued on next page

M anv il le , the Nati o nal U.S . Cha mp ion, o r D eni se Ches hi re; w hose un even para ll el bar ro utin e is eve ry b it as excitin g ,as Ko rb u t' s, and w ho rep rese nted h er co un t ry at th e Pr eOl ym pic test m ee t in Mo ntrea l. Th ere are 15 girl s t hat mdk e u p t he U.S. Team. Not onl y d o th ey se em to be a d ifferent g ro up eve ry yea r (beca use o f o ur incr ed i b ly hi gh ra te of teen age retiree s w ho return to th e good A merica n life style), b u t t hey are trem endo usly go od gymn asts dSwell. Exc i tin g, da rin g, graceful, we ll !rai ned and bea ut if u l. Have yo u seen or he ard of Ko ll ee n Casey, o ne o f t he wo rl d 's greate st va u lt ers o r Debbi W ilcox d o in g a fro nt f li p on th e Balance Hea m ? A fea t, b y far, m o re difficu lt and d arin g th an Ko rbut 's bac k flip (w hi ch by th e wa y W.1 S also do ne by seve ral gym nasts in the befo re O lga). A nd w hat abo ut Kath y Ho w ard 's gra ce in m o ti o n, o r th e bubblin g excit eme nt of a Ba rb ie Mys lak, o r th e p li ght o f 14 yea r o ld A m erican Sharo n Sh apiro getti ng ou t o f schoo l to go to th e many gym nasti cs comp et iti o ns aro un d th e co untry .

u.s.

IS TH E PU HLl C aware of t h e in credib le effo rt t his co u n try's pare nts have to ma ke to come up wi t h th e necessa ry tim e and mo ney to m ak e it po ssible to se n d th eir ch ildren ove r hundred s q f miles seve rd lti m es a year ju st to parti cip ate in th e mee ts th at mi ght give th ei r girl a cha(1 ce to make th e U.S. Team? Fo r w hat ? To be left alone by th e A merica n pu b lic? W hy do w e give t he Ru ss i.l n gym nas tics fede ratio n suppo rt to trai n th pir ,il hl etes and d o n' t do th e sa me fo r OUI kid .,! O UR GYMNASTS wa nt to m ee t th e pub lic, and th ey wan t to b eat t he Ru ss ians, bu t very few w i l l ever ge t to be in a m eet aga in st th e Russ ian s beca use t hey are not int eres ted in m ee tin g us in o u r co un try and bein g com pared by th e U.S. public. W e m igh t n o t ask th em b ack as o ften an ymo re; wh ere' wo u ld t hey get th e money and th ey wo ul d have to pay th eir own wa y. Yo u see it pays do ub le to do EXH IBITIONS ON LY. , It th erefo re beco mes in fact U nameri can to go to see th e Russ ians beca use no t o nl y d o we pay th ei r ex p ense s fo r beller coach i ng, but we also do no t help o u r own yo un g ath letes . W e stab o ur ow n co ull try i n th e bac k. I nste,](J le t 's give th e Ru ss ians a lesso n. Let 's not inv it e them back any m o re u n less t hey com e o ve r d few tim es to m eet head o n, to let Am erica n girl s b e p ut n ext to t hem i n an Ex hibiti o n to let yo u and m e, th e pub lic, d ec id e wh o are t he b es t. Thi s is t he A m eri ca n way! W e have .gym nd sts w h o are as good , if not bett er th an th e m . Let's b e pr o ud of th em . Let' s give t hem th e rec og ni t io n th ey d ese rve; let's su ppo rt o u r own gy mn as ts; let' s be Ame rica n!

FROM A BEGINNER COACH IN GYMNASTICS By Louis J. Samaha Coach Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, N .Y.

G reat co ac hes have given sp eeches on what ma kes on elit e g}'mn as t o r wha t q ua lities are needed to b ecom e a great coach. Frankly, as a beg inn i ng coach I m igh t have learned more if the topics instedd d ea lt with p rocedu res of develop ing a begin ni ng gymna sti cs team from the standpoint of wo rk o uts. condit ioning exe rcises o r p ossib ly what m y gymnasts might expect of me. Perhaps I sho u ld ex pl ain what is meant w hen I ca ll m yself a beginn er in the field. I h ave had better than average practical experiences i n gym nastics courses . no competit ive experi ence yet my interest has always b ee n h igh. The more I lea rn ed . t he more I fo und out that I h ave to learn . Slowly I w o l-.e up to th e vast amou n t of k nowledge th at w as n eeded if I was to rea ll y pursue thi s sp o rt . Certain q uesti on; ha u nted mel. Would I b e wil ling to keep abreast of the new and co nstdn tl y cha ngin g rules? 2. Wou ld I lA orl-. th e hours expected of me in m y job, or w ou ld I be wil li ng to go beyond my all o ted tim e to develo p a tea m? (Quickly was I to fi nd that g y mn a~t i cs was a nine mont h school j o b, and more if I w anted it.) 3. Finall y, I aske d m ysel f a most importan t question. Co ul t.! I dL!u dll y o ffer th e gymna sts so me thing withoL!t feeling I had shortchan ged the m? Wit h t h e above qu esti o ns r esolved I sta rted out. Im med iat ely ci rc umstances arose that I k new had to b e d ea lt wit h. D ec isions had to be made for th e benefit o f th e team. Situatio ns arose such as : -Sh o u ld I le t m y gy mn asts practice when I know theil ski ll and desire might be beyond m y capabiliti es as a coac h or spott er? To some coa ches thi s may appear to be a sim pl e deci sio n, yet to a beginner coach who fears the chance 01 ho ldi n g a tea m back it is a momentous d ecisio n. -H ow shou ld I d ea l with confl icti ng pe rso nalities on J team? -How can I I-. ee p int erest high before, duri ng or afte r the sea son? -Shou ld th e I o ut i nes be developed on the basis o f qua lity or quantit y o f di ffi culty? Fro m th e above situati o ns and requ ired decisions I fo und m yse lf es tab lishing ce rtain princi p les u p o n wh ich I could start the b uilding of m y team - ph ys icd l ly and emotionally. I read . I listened to oth er coach es with th ei r p ro b lems and solution s. I b ega n to fo rmulate ideas - id ea s I was wi ll in g to .:Ic,ept if I foun d reasonable success with m y tea m. I ke pt reminding myself th at what has bef' n <;uccess ful fo r some coaches may not be lor m e. Th erefo re, I kep t try in g new suggestions, new id eas, kept li sten ing and read ing and askin g W H Y. I found everyone had something to offe r. A s time passed I lo und m yself asking what did my gymn as ts e~ p ec t of me as a begi nner coa ch and/ o r wh at did th ey actually need f rom me Iw ('r(' these tw o o f th e same). To learn more abou t m y gymna sts - th eir person al ities and where th eir pri oriti es lay - I o ffe red t hem a questionnaire. I fc lt thi s wa s a chan ce fo r th em

to help bu il d th ei r own team. From th e questio n naire I found th e gymnasts wa nted m e to w ork in the c.lpacity o f a (a n ):

1. Authoritarian - I was the o n e to get workou ts goin g. Gymnasts have good in ten ti ons yet m an y have that need to be pushed . 2. Decision-mak e r - Reali stically p ro b lems wi ll ari se any t ime. I had to be prep ared to listen to t he situation Jnd d ecide accordi ng to t he best i nterests 01 th e enti re team . 3. Organizer - Many of my gymn asts an d possi bl y yo u rs too have that ' I' ll do it tomo rrow atti tude. This is no t d h ealthy o r w ise attitude to keep festering - rep ercussions can res u lt. I had to help th em to think syst ema tica ll y. Al t hou gh I was t he o ne 10 make the final d ue da tes for co mpleted routin es th e g ymnasts ha d to b e w illing and wantin g to acco mplish the ir own ta sks. 4. Listener - A listener was needed occasio nall y. b ch gy mnast w i ll u ndoubtedl y develop a uniqu e p ro b lem d urin g th e competi tive season. Perhaps t he' problem w ill be a p hYSical , 01 a m en tal atti tude but e ith er w ay it m ust be d ed it with . I had to be will in g to liste n an d o lle r sol utions. 5. Educator - Gymnasts generall y want to know t he ' w ho , what and wh ys' of gym nastics. I he lped to mak e th em aware of the n ew ru les, spotti ng progressio n s plu s th e social even ts happeni ng in th e fi eld . This appea red to be more work lor m e in th e b eginning, yet m akin g them m ore aware o f w hat is happe ning seemed to hel p b uild th em inlO be tt er gym nasts. W hen coac.hin g th ere are a few thi ngs I constan tly try to keep in m i nd - 'li ttl e t h i ngs th at mean a lot. ' 1 he fol lowi ng ' little t hin gs' help ed keep t h e relation ship I fe lt was best between m y gymn asts ,md m yself as a coac h of gymn astics. (1) D o not talk too much during p ractice. O ffer suggestion s .Ind criti cisms when needed. (2) M ai n tain J good se nse of h u m o r. A hea lt hy attitud c i, impera t ive to a promisin g and growing tedm (3) Let them k n o w th e team IS for t hei l benefit. (4) Remember. yo u are a co ach and friend, no t a p al. I h,l v(' ,'nj()yed rn y l i rst competiti ve season . (I adm it 1hdt hd Vl l1 g a Winning record keeps m e WOI ki ng h,1I'(1 .Inti loo king fo rward to o ur n ex season .) Vvh v l1 I t h ink about all the time an d (O n, I.l111 "'.lI ning th at is in volved , d u e to th e naIUI!' (lIth" ,>por!.1 as k rn yself if it isworth t h elf 01 1. -11" ' 11 I Idugh dnd remember .. . - w hen we li n.ll ly had t h ree gym nas competing on cdch pi ece o f apparatus - w hen Anni e hit h er first bal ance bea ~ ro utine .. . w it ho ut ,I fall - when Paul d land ed her fi rs t so m ie .. . on h feet -and wh en w e ended ou r first full-sch ed ule season with a 9-2 record! The reward s in th is sport are self-sat isfy in g. It is fun - and th.l t IS what it is all about!

GYMNAST De c. ' 75

Handsprin g 9.2 1. Bod y under horizontal i n first fli ghtphase Yamashita 9.4 up to 1.00 Car twh(,(,1 w it h turn 9.4 2. Body complete ly bent up to 0.50 WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE HECHTVAULT, 3. A lternate ; uppor t 0.30 ALL OTHER VAU LTS MUST H AVE M IN IMUM 4. Lack 0 1 repu lsion 0.50 OF V2 TWIST TO BE CLASS IFIED AS A 10.00 pt. 5. Tou chin g horse wit h t he feet up to 0.50 VAULT. Horse Vault All vaults mu st be performed w ith p laceme nt of Group II Vaults by handstand support the hand s on th e ho rse (wh ich is) pla ced Yamashita #2 and #3 1. Bod y p iked 0.30 sideways. 0. 30 For compul so ry VJ ults as we ll as op ti ona l va ults, 2. Alt ern at e ; upport o r repul sio n the gymna st is all owed to execut e 2 va ults. Th e 3. Bo d y arched or ang led at th e level of th e hips in second fligh t up to 0.50 best one co unt s. Fo r optional VJ ult s, th e two va ults must b e 4. Insufficient bend in g (p i kin g) of the body 0.50 different. In the final s, th e gy mnast m ust perform 2 Group III Vaults necessitating turns around different va ult s, one wit h at least Vl turn (180) longitudinal ax is (;;5-18) up to 0.30 around th e lo ngitudinal ax is or the w idth 1. Bod y arched in first flig h t up to 0.30 (transverse axi s). Bo th va u lts mu st have th e 2. Turn beginning too soo n 3. Turn not fi ni shed 0.50 value of 10.00 pt s. up to 0.50 An extra run (app roac h) is all owed fo r both 4. Bad form duri ng th e turn vaults, in th e co nditi o n th at th e gy mna st ha s not · Group IV: Vaults n ecessitating turns around the horizontal axis (#19-21 ) touched the horse. 0.30 If th e hor;e is to uched , th e attempt is 1. Bod y in suffi cient tu cked o r piked 2. Tec hni ca l fau lt s of th e tur ns 0.30 considered a VJu lt. 0.20 The difficult y of the va ult is fi xed accord ing to 3. Legs apart during the turn the annexed sca le. Group V Vaults necessitating combinations of The compul sory va ult is always wort h 10.00 pts. turns around one or more axes of the body USGF TECHNICAL BULLETIN If the vau lt exec ut ed is not shown in the tab le, ;#22-29) Courtesy of Renee Hendershott the terminology mu st be se nt to the Pres ident 1. Support inco rrec t 0.30 of the Techni ca l Comm itt ee o ne month prior to 2. Turn beginning too ea rl y 0.30 For immediate release the co mpetition . w ith a co py to the Secretary. 3. Turn fini shing too late 0.50 Offi cial Te chnica l Bu ll etin 4. Body in suffi cient ly tucked or pik ed 0.30 Place of the Coach 5. Legs apar t during th e turn 0.20 From: Shirl ey Br ya n, Women 's Gymnastics Th e pla ce of the COJc h is bes ide the land in g. It General Fa ults and Faults specif ic to the Certification Committee (USGF-NGWS) is forbidd en for th e coac h to be between th e apparatus th at have changed Jackie Fie, USGF Women 's TECHNICAL board and th e ho rse, to put a hand o n t he horse Aid by th e coac h during th e exe rcise 1.0 COMMITTEE or to make signs/ signa ls to th e gym nast up until Aid by t he coac h upon landin g 0.5 she begin s. Presen ce by th e coac h o n th e pod ium durin g The following rul e changes from the FIG General faults (valid for all 5 groups) t he exe rcise (bot h bea m an d floo r) 0.5 Code of Point s wil l apply to the 1975-79 1. Of the 12 va ult s exec uted by th e tea m, 6 ma y Coach tou ching appa ratu s dur in g th e exe rci se Certification Exam in at ion for Judges o f be identi ca l. If thi s to ta l is excee ded the 0.3 WOMEN 'S Gymn asti cs. d eductions for th e team w ill be each t ime 0.3 Coach between th e board and the ho rse 0.5 2.1 he execut ed vau lt not cor respo nding to the Coa c h stand in g be twee n the bars or pass in g Landing penalties: indicated m ember (Ed . believe thi s to be typo ... under the low bar 0.5 Landing pen alti es fo r all eve nt s both National sho uld redd, " number " ) 0.5 Coa c h block s view of the jud ges 0.3 Compulsory and Optional Routines 3. If th e gy mn ds t execu tes o nl y o n e vau l in th e Using supp leme nt ary suppo rt to rega in Falling onto or from the apparat us 0.5 fin al; 1.00 position o n bar 0.5 Support with o ne or both hands on f lo or 0.5 4. 1 he gymn asts fails to execute a vau lt w ith a Regainin g support wi th o ut su ppl eme ntary Fall on pelv is 0.5 turn in th e fin ,ll s o r executes o n e of the vau lts support on bJr 0.3 Touching floor with one or both hands 0.3 under th e vdlue o f 10.00. Deduction 1.00 Competitor leJvin g compe tition area w ith o ut Falling again st Jpp aratu s after land in g 0.5 5. If th e gy nllld st exec utes th e sa me va ult twice permi ss ion o f the head judge n.S 0.5 Falling to th e kn ee during th e find ls. D ed uction 1.00 Floor Exercise 0.1-0.2 Steps or jumps 6. Coach betwee n th e board and th e horse H ands to uch floor for balance 0.3 H ands supported on th e floor for ba lance 0.5 0.50 ' Distribution of Optional Exercises 10.00 7. 1 hE' cOdch to uc hes t he ho rse 0.30 Not end ing w ith mu sic 0.3 Composition 8. Aid of th e coach du rin g the va ult Piani st aid s gymnast 0.2 each time A. Value of elem ents (Difficulties) Vo id Vau lt Beginn i ng 01 exerci se mi sse d by persona l er ro r Superio r elem en ts - 3 required each worth 0.5 0.6 1.80 First Flight Phase Fault in rhythm 0. 2 each tim e M edium e lem ents - 4 required each value . 1. Traje ctory insufficien t acco rdin g to the On Flo o r Exercise aerial ca rt w hee ls and 0.3 1.20 tec hniqu e of th e va ult up to 0.5 walkovers mu st be done in a co ntinu ous se ri es Tot al 3.00 2. Body pik ed up to 0.5 of 2 or m o re w ithout ex tra steps to b e B. Originalit y and va lue of connections 1.5 consid ered ; uper io r diffic ult y. C. Value of General Composition 0.5 3. Leg; bent o r apart transve rse ly o r late rall y Balance Beam up to 0.5 Compositi on Tota l 5.00 Support 0.5 Hand su pport to m aintain ba lance Execution 1. Too long a support 0.2 Hand tou ch to mJintain ba lalice 0.3 A . Executi o n and amplitude of movement 4.0 2. Support w ith arch ed body 0.3 0.2 Fo ot against sid e of beam B. General Impress io n 1.0 3. Arms slig htl y ben t 0.2 CERTIFICATION EXAM AT THE USGF 5.0 4. Arm s complet ely bent 1.0 CONGRESS Height of Vaulting Horse Second flight phase A C ertifi ca ti on Exam in ati on wi ll be give n at applies tq USGF Age G ro up, Program 1. In suffi cient height up to 1.50 the Congress on Sunda y afte rn oon. Thi s is a 1.20m 2. I nsu fficie nt ex tensio n of body before landing Jr. Divisi o n " gold en opportuni ty" fQr those w ho wa n t to 1.20m Sr. Divi sio n test ea rl y in th e sea~o n. Pr e-r eg istra tion , up to 0.50 1.10m opt. to 1.20m 3. Bad directi o n Children 's Di visio n indicating th e level of tes t (C lass I, II , o r III ), up to 0.50 4. Bad form (Legs bent , apart len gt hwise or mu st be se nt to D elene Darst, 7678 Cat hedral Value of following vaults sidewa ys) Hill Road, Cincinn Jt i, Oh io 45244. It is up to 0.50 8.5 Layout stradd le and stoop necessary that yo u inclu de yo ur current ra tin g 8.0 Specific Faults Layout squat and to indi ca te th e level of th e exa mination you Cartwheel 9.0 Group I Vaults at the horizontal, # 1 and 2 pl an to tak e.

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T~(!~~i(!~1

~ULLETIN

GYMNAST Dec. '75

World "Games - Varna '75 -

Full In Full "Out

Veronin Vault - Wolfgang Thune, West Germany

GYMNAST Dec. '75

BE~EI1B~H•

I'~)~-:.~ It r =.

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II!.!

BEAT SWING ACTION IN GYMNASTICS: By Jerry Calkin , Ph .D. : Men's gymnastics coach Eastern Kentucky Univ. •

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Comments on BEAT SWING ACTION

IN GYMNASTICS Dr. Calkin's article is exposition of the results of study of mechanical principals, and includes the very important generalization of the results of particular studies to inferences about additional moves_ This is the sort of consideration that should give readers a lot to think about. We are not, and Dr. Calkin does not, advocating that performers adopt beat swings for everything. Rather the advantages in execution must be balanced against the possible disadvantages in appearance. Over the weekend of 12 September, this was one of the topics presented to the First International Symposium on Biomechanics, Gymnastics and Judging, and there I had a chance to watch others thrash out these ideas. So it might be well to mention a few things that were mentioned at the Sympos· ium.

First, it is not necessary that the beat be executed with pike at the hips. It is entirely possible and often preferred to use a smooth curve of the lIpper body rather than an angular curve. :. S ecand, the beat swing can be considered from an energy point of view, as follows. A hollow downswing shows very little difference compared with a straight downswing if shoulder position is unchanged. In fact the kinetic energy just before bottom is almost identical. But if for some ' reason the hollow downswing allows the performer to more naturally sink and thrust on the bars, then there will be a great increase in the energy stored in the apparatus, and returned to the 'performer in rise on the upswing. Evidence suggests that the hollow drop does increase the effectiveness of the sink/ thrust action. HJB Thi s article is a write-up of a paper presented at the USGF Convention in Chicago in November 1974. I wish to apo logize for being so late with this write-·Jp. The press of "o ther things " has kept thi s on my work due file all too long. I mu st say that this write up w ill 'also be somewhat " up-d ilted" 50 it w ill go a little beyond the origin al presentation. Before we launch off into thi s rather esoteric topic, I want to see if we can locate this topic on the broad m ap o f gy mn astics. Looking at gymnasti cs as a wh o le, I think I can identify four vital entities. Three aptitudes, and one driving force. This driving force is discipline. If I had to identify a singl e most important element it would be disciplin e. I don't know if the most

successful gymna sts bring discipline to the activity or whether gymnastics develops discipline. At any rate, d iscipline, important as it is, is not the topi c of this paper. We leave this topic in the capab le hands, of Millman, Massimo, Hinds and o th ers who have a better understanding of basic behavior than I do. The three aptitudes are: st rength, flexability, and something w e shall ca ll spacia l orientation for want of il better term. These are all aptitudes we would like asp iring gym nasts to walk in with, their first da y in th e gym. We would like them to be as strong as bulls, as flexable as uncooked pret ze ls and to have a com plete awareness of th eir spa cial orientation at all times. Unfortunately, thi s is not th e case and coal h(' ~ dml gymnasts spend a great deal of time deve loping these aptitudes. We leave the di sl u;, ion of th ese apt itu des to those who have a grea t dedi more ex p ertise than I. The third apt itude leads to four entities that fall in the scope of biomechanics. These are balan ce, blocking, twisting and beat swing acting. I mainta in that almost everything we evaluate i I] gymna stics is o ne of th ese actions or a combination of two or more of them. It is in this general area that ou r top ic falls. We are not going to talk about balance and blocking. We leave th e area of twisting to Jack Biesterfeldt and George Henry. The area we want to talk about is beat sw ing action. We have don e a ci nemegraphic analysis that was made over a tin y part of this area. We wish, however, to use this as a spring board to explore th e who le area of b eat swings throughout m en 's gymn as tics. There will be no attempt to apply this beat action concept to women 's gym nastics. This is because th e author is ba sica ll y unfamiliar with the women 's eve nts. I believe, however, that it

will be easy fo r those fam iliar with these events to see th e appli cat ion. I should say at this point that this is not a " how to do it " typ e paper. A grea t deal more research mu st be done to determine more precisely th e detail ed nature of optimum beat action. Therefore, we w ill concern ourselves with the " overall " view of beat actio n in order to understand it s importa n ce and the unity of gymnasti c movement. For thi s study we had a gymnast swing to a handstand in two different ways. (See Figure 1 & 2) In th e half beat swing the gymnast swings downward with a slight pike. H e drives his heels to the bottom of th e sw in g. This puts his body in an arch po sition wh ich is then carr ied to the top of the swing. In th e fu ll beat sw in g the gymnast starts in the same Wily but o n t he upward swing he breaks from the arch po siti o n to a very slight pike. Film ~ we re tJken of both of these and by aid of computered m ec hanical ana lys is was made to d etl'rm in e mechanical properties of each (forces, torques, angu lar ve locities, etc.). As ' might be expected, numerical values were almost id ent ica l for the fu ll beat and the half beat lor th e first hJlf of th e swing . In the second half of th e sw ing there were only two' ,significant differen ces. First, in the full beat there wa s less latera l displa ce ment of the center of gravity. Second ly, and much more importantly , ther e was a greater Y compone nt of the for ce with full beat. The reaction of gym nas'ts who try this both with a full and a half beat is always the same. " Hey, coach , it 's a lot easier to hit the handstand with th e fu ll beat." This is because with the full beat th ere is a greater lifting action and not so much force tending to swing the feet

GYMNAST Dec. '75

ovenoo far. THI S IS A KEY AC TIO N OF THE BEAT ACTION - LIFT, o r, more precise ly, translating rotati onal " sw in g" motion (around the sho ul ders) to lin ea r " li ft " motion. Now let us con sid er a forwa rd giant sw in g on the horizo nt al bar. If thi s move is done w ith a full beat there is a sli gh t pik i ng of the body (tail lead) on the down swi ng . Th e gy mn as t th en drives the h eel s through th e bo tt o m first go in g to a sli ght arch. On th e up wa rd part of the swing th e bod y is p iked aga in (t hi s tim e more sharpl y). Fin all y, th e heels are driven over t he bar first , bringing the body to a straight to slightl y arched positi on ju st before the top how mu ch before depends on the movement to follow . (See Figur e 3) Thi s move can be done w ith a half beat in o ne of two ways. Fir st, th ere is the ha lf beat where the body is only pik ed on the up wa rd swin g and is arch ed on th e down swin g. (See Figure 4) This action is often see n at hi gh sc hoo l m ee ts . A lso, we occasio nall y see the other ha lf beat. Here, t he pik e action is done on the down swin g and the arch is carr ied from th e botto m right over th e top . (See Fi gure 5) Th ese three styles illustrate so mething of fundamen ta l im portance. While we sometimes see a full beat and somet im es see o ne of the oth er of th e half b eats we never see th e move done with no bea t. Thi s is because it is impossibl e to do it w ith no beat. (Yes, I know you co uld coa st through a giant swing w ith no beat once yo u ha ve t he m o mentum and you co uld get ove r by spr eadi n g yo ur legs, but from a pra ctica l se nse yo u need a bea t. ) Now let us con sider th e rearward giant swing on the horizont al bar. Aga in , thi s move ca n be don e with a full (Sec Figure 6) or a half b ea t (See Figure 7). We ve ry co mmonly see th e hall bea t with beginn ers. At th is po int one ca n easi ly see GYMNAST Dec. '75

that this same bea t act io n ca n be app li ed to th e swing movem ent s on th e rings . Now con sider a fu ll beat back toss on t he parallel b ars. (See Figure 8) This style was effectively u sed by Klimenko in hi s back toss . Perhap s h e even over emphas ized th e beat action . It is fairl y obvio us that beat sw in g action pervades para ll el bar, hi gh bar and ring wo rk but beat swin g act ion in floo r exe rcise is not quite so ev id ent. Let us loo k at two moves whi ch at first glance wou ld ap p ea r to be very dissimilar. Ba ck hand spr ing on th e floo r and rearward giant swing o n the ho ri zo ntal bar. By looking at figur e 9, we ca n see that in both of these m oves th e gymnast start s wit h a stra ight bod y (re lati vely so) and goes to a pike, an arch, back to the pik e, and final ly back to th e straight bod y po siti o n. W hil e th e amount o f p ik e and arch are different , and th e spac ial positio nin g is differe nt the gross body action is the same. Let us look at th e back somersa ult done w ith a p ike and tu ck. Look in g at figure 10, we ca n see th e piked ba ck somm ie is an exacuated beat action . W e Cdn ca rry this execution to its log ica l extreme by bend in g th e knees and get a tucked back so mmi e. (See Figure 11 ). Of cou rse whe n vaulting is cons ide red, we see that even in路'al is event th ere is th e p i ke, arch, p ike action . " Okay " yo u say, " Wh at about the pommel horse? " Ye s, the re is bea t sw ing act io n o n t h e pommel horse too. If we look stra ight down at the horse from th e top w hil e a gy mn ast is doing doubl e leg circl es, we see there is a piking and extend i ng act ion as th e gymnast passes ove r th e end of th e ho rse. Th is, however, is co mbined with a very stro ng lea nin g and bl ocki ng acti o n from , id e tu sid e and forwa rd to backwa rd and is abo (oilluin ed w ith two V2 twists during each

swin g so th,lt o ne co rnp lete circle o n th e horse corre,pon d 5 w ith doing V2 forwa rd and V2 rearward giant swing on the ho ri zo ntal bar during th e sa m e swing. When we understa nd the extrem e comple xit y of the basic swing on the pomm el ho rse as co mpared to the oth er events, it is easy to understand why it is the downfall of so many all-around men. A lso, while so me bea t act ion is mechanical obligatory on the oth er eve nts, on the pommel horse it wou ld be possibl e to swing double leg circles perfec tl y straigh t w ith no beat acti o n . This, of co urse, wou ld require great physical strength on th e p art o f the gymnast. Fin all y, we mu st remember that it is possible, perhaps eve n desireable to do many 路 movement s with a Vl beat or ve ry little beat at all. There is n o q ues ti o n in m y mind that a full beat is the mechani ca ll y m ost e fficient way to do most moves. But , we do not necessa rily always want to do th e move in th e most mechan ically efficie nt way. For exa mple, giant swings on th e H- Bar wou ld be more efficient if the gymn ast be nt hi s knees o n th e upward part of the swing, but thi s wo uld ruin the esthetic qualit ies of the move. I feel th at th e bes t swing action is efficient and esth eti c. That is, th e gymnast by way of his flexibilit y, strength and prec is e timing has a very subtl e beat act io n so that his movements are effi cient an d sti ll es th eti c. We ha ve now seen how beat sw ing action pervad es all of gymnast ics . If we add balance, blockin g, and twi st ing acti viti es, that's all there is - from a m echanica l point of v iew. The three aptitud es, strengt h, flex i bility, and spacial awaren ess m ere ly provide th e gymnast with the tools to d o th ese mechanica l things . And disciplin e prov id es th e gym nast with the driving force to use his equipment.

COMPOSITION FOR FLOOR EXERCISE AND BEAM General Points To Be Aware Of By Carole Leidtke FIG Rated Judge USGF Region V Chairman o

,4 " ~"ttfd( ~ ~r 1. The coac h shou ld find the gymnast's weak and st ro ng points so that p oo rl y executed skills ca n be del eted o r cove red up and strong points empha sized. For exam pl e: a. gymnast has upper back st iffness on the left side, therefore walkovers Jnd handsprings are twisted, she should use tin sica and one arm elements in stead. b. la c ks leg ex tension and knees bend, so use stJg leaps and bent leg dance. c. a tend ency to work fiat-footed , so use abstract fle xed fe et ddnce. d . a very good split ca n be emphasized durin g wa lkovers by starting or ending with leg raised high and with high kicks. e. very fl ex ible shou ld ers cou ld be shown off by doing a wa lk over to sit on floor, leaving hands on bea m or floor , or front walkover to both kne es. f. powerful punch wou ld look good in mount er type elemen ts and high suspended jumps and leaps. But weak points must always be work ed on and not just com pensated for and no ne of the types of skills shou ld be o ve rd one wit h monotony being avoided. 2. Choose sty les and moods to be expressed whit h lit the gymnast's personality (a more seriou s girl should do classical ballet and slower, strong tumbling; a gigg ly tiny girl co uld do cute melodramatic dance and quick tumblin g; .I mo re ex trove rt girl would show off expre ss ive ja ZL and " sell" her routine with dramatic ex pressio n and unique tumbling combinations) . However, va ri ation of many styles could be use'd if it can be performed effecti ve ly. 3. Choose the difficu lt y eleme nts to be used that can be execu ted we ll or th at the gymnast can fea sibl y learn and can build to better combinations. The r o utine should include mdn y of th e fo ll owing: Sportive rhythmics (su ppl e movement, body waves and rotation s, wdlks , runs, hops, jumps, leaps (minimum o ne large on beam or.2 deduction), turn s (mimi mum one full turn on beam or .2 deducti o n); Acrobatics (rolls, wheels, slow turnovers, springs); Dance (ballet, modern, jazz, et hni c, folk, melodramatic); Tumbling. Try to choose as much difficulty as possible, avoiding all of th e "e asiest" elements. 4. Ma ke up so me o riginal movements. These could be In acrobatic element, dance step, variation of a basic move, different tumbling combination or unique connection' of dance and tumb lin g. It shou ld be unique, surprising

and interesting ,1Ild do ne w ithout too much prepJr'lIion. Ri sk wi ll also add to the va lue of th e ro utine, but the gymnast must be able to p erform the skill safely and smoothly. 5. Check th,1I there is no repetition of the sa me c lement , hand , head or body position ; unl ess, it is specifically for an eyecatching purpose or to refl ec t a type of move. But, don 't overdo it. The Sd me trick o r element should not be repeated more than three times in a row (-.1) with th e except io n of the flic flac. Th e element is cons id ered different if it is va ried , started or fini shed differe ntl y. 6. Use v.ni,llions of : a. 1 empo - th e speed and rhythm should va ry from slow, medium and fast. Check that the move m ent s .Ire no t heavy, but light and show co ntinuit y w ith ve ry few stops. Beam requires no more thdn three stops w ith .2 deduction for each extrd one or stops before or after acrob,lIic tri cks. Change from sharp to soft with smo o th con nect io ns, not always being abrupt. The skill techniqu e sho uld have the proper rh ythm , such JS a ca rt whee l being hand , hand , foot , foot (1-2-3-4) . For floor the mu sic is very impo rtant. It IllU St be o ne instrum ent or 1.0 deduction (e lectric piano, accordian, and organ not dll owed) and be suitable to the girl and her type of movements. The music may begin before th e gym na st moves, but they must end together. The moveme nts should follow the rhythm dnd mood of the music. b. Bod y level dnd change of center of gravity The move ment s shou ld vary between low, med ium ,!rH.1 hi gh positions and elements. One should have .I low sectio n (roll around the floor kind of thing) or two short low parts. In general good 'Implitu de must show a ri se in the center of gra vit y dnd foot moveme nts should be on th e toe. :,kill s illU St b e done in good technical alignment wi th th e center of gravity (walkover shou ld hdve ships square; sho uld ers square; hand s pldced parallel ; hips, shoulders, and head in lin e; legs in straig ht perpendicular line). (. Direction - Check for many changes from up, down , forward, backward, side and use th esâ&#x201A;Ź' to form Jll interesting pattern that covers a II 01 the are,1. ru m co rn ers or change direction with smooth co nn ection s so they don't look abrupt. Chdnge th e head focus frequ ently and be sure the tumbling is align ed . d. Di stributi o n and Combination of Element s The gymnd st must ha ve a minimum of 3

superior,> (.6 eJch ) and 4 mediums (.3 each), and a minimulll of 7 elements (superiors may repla( e medium s). There may be more elemen ts but if JII are superior th ere wi ll b e an added deduct ion of up to .3 for lack of structur,1I gro ups. A se ries of repeated skills without .I stop is o ne superior , unless it contains elemenl'> of different structures (such as a roundoff drdb idn front flip, ca rtwh eel, flic flac, bat k flip ) which w ill co unt as 2superiors but no more. I ret' ex mu st co ntain two acro batic series (.2 deduction for each o ne missing). The mount and di smount dnd part s should not be id entica l to an y co mpulsory and th e mount and dismount should be up to the level of the rest of th e routine(.2). Elem ents must reach the ideal of techniqu e dnd form for no deduction and should be p i .Ice d progressively throughout and increa'>e in difficult y at th e end. Elements should '> tem frolll a different base (not all back type , etc.) ,md co mbin e dance to dance, d an ce to tumbling , tumblin g to tumbli ng . The routine should stdrt d yndmicall y but end even stronger with b,l sic,lll y three tumbling combinations or ser ie s. I:leme nt s sho uld be connected purpo se ly so that th e re are no pla in steps to prepare for th e n ex t movement nor abrupt stop,> or chdnges of direction. For examp le on beam, run on mount to immediate cat leap V2 turn, lull tum o n back leg, swing free leg to one arm cartwheel, land sid e ward to latera l body wave. e. 1 ype of move ment and body position Check lor vJ riati o ns of soft an d floating (dream like), ndtu ral and sharp movements and look for vdriety in body positions, not just diflerences in drm and leg positions. f. 1 ime - IÂˇor floor ex 1 :00 - 1 :30 and for beam 1 :15 - 1 :35. 7. M,lke sure th e gy mnast lik es every move and have h er in ovate arm and body movem ents and h elp mdke up elements and comb inations as much .IS poss ibl e so that she feels it is her routine dnd w ill appreciate it more. 8. Di ,>c uss ge nera l impress io n with the gymna " t ~ in ce it can be wo rth 1.0. Th is category invo lves th e eJse and beauty of the moveme nt, man ner , coo rdin ation , poise, rhythm, radi ance, sec urit y, good posture, suitabi lit y of th e exercise to th e girl , neatness and appeJrance . performance with expression , gra( e, d yndmic move ment, use of hands a'nd head. pr ese ntdti on, and th e ove rall fe elin g expre,,,e d by th e gymnast.

GYMNAST Dec. '75

A POSITIVE APPROACH TO GYMNASTICS By June Dussia If you have bee n teachin g gymn as ti cs, o r an ythin g else, yo u pr o bablY have already used many o f th e prin cipl es term ed b ehavio r modifica ti on t ec hniqu es. Thr o ugh ex peri ence, we as teachers lea rn w hat mo ti va tes a stu de nt bes t co ntinuing and ex pan d in g th ese tec hniqu es to p ro duce th e best result s. Bef ore goin g int o t he spec ifi cs, let's d efin e so me b as ic terms and co nce pt s. Behavior modification is si mpl y a se ri es o f techniqu es to influ ence behav io r. Behavior is a result of it s consequences. Idea ll y we wa nt to substitut e pos iti ve b ehavio r fo r nega tive behavio r. H ow? By usin g mo ti va to rs suc h as : word s, to uch, no n- ve rbal cues, acti viti es an d lastl y, ta ngib le rewards. Studi es have bee n co ndu cted to d etermin e what p erce ntage o f ed uca tors wish to pro mo te a pos iti ve envir o nment and how ma ny ac tu all y do so. N i ne ty eight pe rce nt sa id th ey wished to do so, but o nl y five to ten perce n t we re o b se rve d as actu all y d o in g it. Our soc iety is gea red t o a nega tive app roach . Fo r exa mpl e, a po lice man wo n 't stop to tell yo u how go od or co urt eo us a d ri ve r yo u are, b ut yo u w ill enco unt er hi m q ui ck ly w hen yo u are engaged in " in app ro pri ate be havio r " . M ore speci fi ca ll y in a class roo m situ ati o n, it is th e pupil w ho is di stur b in g th e cl ass no t do in g hi s wo rk o r parti c ipatin g in o th er "o ff tas k" bahav ior th at gets th e teacher' s att entio n. In a trampo lin e cl ass, th e stud en t w ho d oes th e skill co rrectl y o n th e first att empt is to ld " th at's co rrect - good," but hi s turn is termin ated aft er hi s first att emp t. The slower o r in att enti ve stud ent exec utes i t inco rrec tl y, so he is give n a co rrec ti o n and asked to try aga in and p erh aps a third tim e and maY be eve n a fo urth o r fif th t im e. Sin ce t he st ud ent s wan t lo ng turn s, we are ac tu all y rewa rd in g an in appr o pri ate respo nse and pu n ishin g an ap p ropri ate o ne. If the teac her ca n lea rn to cor rectl y pa i r approva l and di sa pprova l w ith approp ri ate and in ap prop riate resp o n ses th ey wo uld increase th eir teac hing effec ti ve ness co nside rabl y. Thi s is no t always as obv io us as it may seem surface ly. Illustra tin g thi s cl ear ly is th e case of a child w ho grea tl y res pec ts and admires hi s fat her. Th e fath er is ve ry bu sy and d oes n 't have mu ch tim e to spe nd w ith hi s child . W hen the child mi sbehaves th e fa th er, b ein g th e di sc ip li na ri an in th e ho use ho ld is ca ll ed upo n to administe r th e span kin g. Thi s mi ght comp ri se eigh ty p er ce nt of t he int eracti o n th e fa ther has w ith th e child . 1 he chil d soo n lea rn s th at mi sbe hav in g equ als att enti o n an d sin ce he des ires att entio n it is a reward w hil e th e fat her mistakenl y think s it is a pUlli shm ent. 1 he o nl y perso n w ho ca n determin e if an interac ti o n is a rewa rd o r p u ni shm ent , is th e pe rso n w ho is receiving it , i.e., th e chil d in thi s case. Th ose coac hes w h o have com peti t ive teams are fa mili ar w ith th e temperm ental yo un g fe male gy mn ast w ho cr ies at meets. She is pro mptl Y give n th e att enti o n o f her coac h w ith perh aps an arm arou nd th e sho uld er and wo rd s o f comfort. H ere we are rein fo rcin g GYMNAST D ec. ' 75

inapprop ri ate be havio r w ith thr ee fo rm s of reinforcemen t: wo rds, to uch and no nverba l cues. Thi s behav io r, it may be no ti ce d , is more p reva lellt amo ll g tee nage girl s w ith ma le coac hes. They vie lo r hi s att en ti o n and th ey ge t it. You ca n also eas il y d raw pa rall e ls to coac h an d stud en t attitu des o n injuri es. The first th illg d teach er o r coac h mu st do is decide w hat is app ro pri ate and in ap propri ate be havior and t hen w hat consti t utes ap prova l and di sa pprova l. A teac her is usuall y hi ghl y respecte d an d a very b usy perso n w h ose tim e is always at a p r em ium . Th ere fore, they mu st rea li ze t hat any all e llti o n th ey give a stud ent is rewa rd in g. W hat mu st we d o th en to res tru ctur e th e negative co nce pt th at has bee n p ro mo ted in sc hoo ls gyms and society in gene ral ? The co ntro l is in o u r h and s sin ce we are the ad mi nistrato r of th e r ewa rds. We m ust int entl y search fo r good behavio r and rewa rd it w it h att ent io n. Fo r exa mpl e, ten stud ent s are lin ed up across th e ma t doin g hea d stands. In stead o f say i ng, "Ca r o l, po int yo ur toes", say, " Jan, yo u r fo rm is b ea utiful - yo u have such nice p o int ed toes" and yo u w ill imm ed iately see n ine ot her se ts o f t oes p o in tin g. Thi s is such a simpl e co nce pt b ut it 's n o t bein g used. Check yo ur se lf. Have so m eo ne reco rd how many app rova ls and d isappr ova ls you give du rin g a sess io ll. Th e rati o sh o ul d be fo ur approva ls for eve ry di sa p prova l to b e co nsidered a pos iti ve atm osp here. We are ac tu all y lazy. Take t he co rrecti o n th at is give n perh aps m os t o ft en in a lesson and th at is th e co rrec ti o n of for m . Do yo u say, " yo ur k nees are be nt ", and reques t th e stu de nt to d ecode th e co mm ent an d have to se nd th e message to th e b rai n as "s traighten yo ur legs" in ord er to ma ke an approva l respo nse o r d o yo u do th e deco din g and say to yo urse lf, " I o bse rve tha t her legs are bent, so I w ill tell h er to straight en her legs so she ca n execute th e skill prope rl y." Re turnin g to o ur five bas ic rein fo rce r s, le t us li st so me spec ific ways we ca n utili ze t he m in th e gy m : 1. Words - A since re and en thu sias ti c " th at 's grea t ", "su per ", "exac tl y, " "go t it " , o r an y word o r phrase yo u fee l co m fo rt abl e usi ng ca n d o m o re to m o ti va te th e stu den t th an p rod d in g co m p lainin g, bera tin g, ri d iculing o r sa rcas m . A teac her m ay ge t res ul ts w ith th e latt er t ec hniques occas io nall y, b u t in stea d o f pro mo tin g good b ehav io r fo r pos itive reinfo rce ment we are rewa rd in g th e stud ent b y esca pin g ri d icul e etc. w hi ch is a nega ti ve prac ti ce. 2. Closeness or touch - Ou r society ge nerall y shys away fro m to uc hin g except in fa mil y o r intimate relati o nships. Perh aps thi s m ag nifi es eve n greate r th e signifi ca nce o f a p at o n th e head, a to uch o n th e sho ul de r, a cl as p o f th e arm to show approva l. To uch o f co urse sho uld be used d isc rimin ately, but it sho uld b e used. 3. Non-verbal - A nod o f th e hea d , a wi nk of th e eye, an o kay sign - a smil e, ca n all be used to signify ap pr ova l. Lik ewise, a frow n, furrow in g of th e eye br ows, shakin g th e hea d - po intin g th e fin ge r, etc. ca n be used to signify di sa ppr ova l. 4. Activities - A n ex t ra tu rn at th e apparatu s, th e op port unit y to pe rf or m at a show, a chance to co mpete in an away mee t are all ac ti v iti es th at are at yo u r disposa l to give or w ithho ld as co ntinge ncies fo r app ro pri ate o r in appropri ate ' behavio r. 5. Tangible Rewards - Th ese are perh ap s th e mos t obv io us and wi d ely u se d - - a ch eck-o ff o n a prog ress chart , start s o n a wa ll chart , ri bbo ll s. trop hi es , etc.

1 he teJc her sho uld rccog ni Lc th at Ilo t Jll int erac ti o n co uld o r sho uld b e positi ve. Th e re mu st be so me n ega ti ve to make th e pos iti ve sig ni fican t. also n o di scr imi na ti o n is lea rn e d if o nl y appr ova l is give n. W hen dea lin g w ith a specifi c beha vio r prob lem, th e fo ll ow in g p roce dure sho uld be used: 1. Pinpoint - sp ecify th e beh avio r th at is t o be changed or eli m in ated. Dea l o nl y in o bse rvab le an d meas urabl e b ehav io rs - no t intangibl es. 2. Record - kee p an accurate reco rd in tim e int erva ls o f respo nses. 3. Con sequate - Li st yo ur con tin ge n cies (a tt enti o n, t o uch, stars, ribbo ns, ac ti viti es, e tc.) 4. Evaluate - co mpare befo re and alter be ha vio rs to de termin e eff ecti ve ness. Fo ll ow in g is an exa mpl e o f a ge n era l o b se r va ti on fo rm t ak e n fr o m Parents / Children / Discipline / A Positive Approach, by Ma d se n an d M adse n. (A ll yn and Baco n, Pu b li shers) ham pili 9

Pin point : Record :

Complai fling . (8-yea r-old girl)

Complaints ;werOlgo:d <)U'; of the time fol!\w. ing par~'nla l a~:'lgn

me nl of any lask. (Do I have 10 now? I'm too tired. Can"' I do something I want? 1 hale thai job anyway. e lc.) Consequ:lte :

Each complain t resulted in addition of on~ more assigned [ask C h ild assigned ci!!ht ~'X l r;1 jobs lir~1 da y (normal asslgnm.:nl two) . Mothe r ma n er-of-factly stated. " 1 am ~vrry thai )ou ha\'c to do anothe r job. but when you complain you get one more ."

E\'a luale :

Afte.r three days average number of eura jobs dectined to one pe r day. Six monlhs fo llow-up indicalcd ii\'e rage of 2.3 jobs per day ( mother's records) .

Not.: :

Mother reported a sli£hl relapse Ol ft er three months when the gi rl wasn't feeli ng well (one day chi ld assigned five cxlra jobs) . Mother also r.:poned that the girl cont i nue ~ to recei\e mone~ for her jobs a nd no eAlra al lowance. T he authors concur ill t his philosophy as Ihey think th at money pa id for gelling seve n d ays olde r is a ve ry weak continge ncy, indeed . Gene,ol Obletvol io n FO/m

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1 1 "'· I\\ il l..:"nduCI ~M,·t>~'·f\·Jli'1I1~ p<-'r,~:fJ:'~L~ ( \" ry (~ l (,'r '1~~ "'-(" T,' c,'n, <!.qu:lI inf

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Repr oduced from pare nts/Childre nlPi scipl i ne, Madse n a nd Ma ds en. Albyn and Bacon.

Thi s b ook is st ro ngly recomm end ed fo r a ve ry reada bl e ex pl anat io n o f b ehav io r mo difica ti o n in i ts prac ti ca l appli cati o n. Al so Teaching / Discipline, by Mad se n and M ad se n, A ll yn and Bac oil , Publi sher s. It is tru e that reco rd keep i n g m ay be tim e co nsu mi ng and ce nso rin g o ur auto ma ti c, nega ti ve comment s and r eco nve rtin g th em to pos iti ve o n es takes effo rt , b ut o nce yo u m ake th e decisio n to e mbark u po n a beh av ior mo difica ti o n p lan and fo ll ow thro ugh you will mee t success alm os t eve ry tim e.

----------------------

bl'" '" '' I. -b. ,lIld ltl.-19. in T' not:

•-• • •• •

THE UNIFIED TERMINOLOGY THE MOST POWERFUL AID TO TEACHING GYMNASTICS

•• -

---------------------By. O .J. Kudrnovsky

For th e bes t success in learning or coac hing gymna sti cs, on c mu st lea rn and master all the categori es of th e unifi ed term inolog y'. To substanti ate this assumpt io n let us exe mplif y the intera c tion of terminology and teal hin g method s: A t prese nt, th ere are three m ethod s used m os tl y for teaching the appalatu , , kill s. 1. lhl' lorm,d , Il1d SS teac hing m ethod . 2. 1 hl' hercise ropic, horizontal plane progl {' ,>ion m e th od. 3. 1 hl' Irdn sfer-training, ve rtical plane progll',s ioll m e thod. Using till' forll1a l m eth od , one instructor usua ll y ,don e, conducts th e e ntire c la ss. Three or mof'{ ' IHIJ.lil s follo w in g hi s commands or signal. p('rlorll1 Oil three o r more pieces of appal<liu , .It the sa m e tim e. Exampl(' of d lesso n o n HB sho-hi. 1. Flom hg- std: un- sw.dism . 2. Jump to kip pos: fOI + ba( k-sw: di sill. 2 X. 3. From spt: back-dr. to kip po,. lor + Ihl c k- sw: dism. 2 X. 4. Kip Uprs. 5. From 'J.l t : b"ck -dr k ip uprs. 6. From hg-std: forrun via , q-h g-s td to fn-Ig-po s. 2/ 1 foot take off + kip upr,. X 1 - 6. in Terminotation:

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ili :: A

II.

SoH 1. a. R-I('g \i-cir. b . R-Il'f~ lor-cir. e. R-I('g , i-c ir.b -w. 2. a. R+'I -I('g lor- sq-thru -c ut b . R+l - I('g bd ck-sq-thru-cut

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T i le or

1 hl' ,(,I ", tioll 1)1 th e beginning sql: V\ hl'1l t h ( ~ Il1J stc ry of gymnast in this assig nnl('llt (hip -cir- uprs progress ion pattern) end, up w I! h ' <11.110 .2. th e n, his beginn ing sq. to be m ,"t,'r,'" is IW .]; th e mastery of sql.3. leads to ' qI.4. : tllI'l1l" ster y of sql.4. leads to sqi.5., and so on. ulltil the desired sqi. is reached and m a,I{'I(' d . In ddditi(JIl, th e hip- c ir-uprs progress ion palll' lll Oil P- Il led d s to hip-cir -uprs pl Ogll'"io ll 1)'llIe rn on H-I:! and R-R . 1 hu , 11(J lll th e hip-cir-uprs progression palll'lfl (Jil th e P-I:! , one single exe rcise p Yl amlll, t(J Itl or In o re exe rcises ; to 3 or better on tlw H - Il. ,111( 1 II) 11 or better on the R-R. And in tot ,d.thi , "li e exe rci se lea ds to an incredible numb{ '1 (JI 32 '~xerc i ses , (g iv e o r take a few) on Ihl €'l' pi", '" (JI JppdI'alu s.

9~6

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Elb For-A

Tumbl 1. Hnci -' pl . 2. Hd -' pl . 3. Nl'( k -' PI'.

1 h€' LXl'rci se r op ic m eth od refers to the prol ('duf'{' b y w hi c h all appa ratu s exercises nom€'n( Idted in the terminology, are divided into tOJ.li c, o n " progressive sca le, and in relati on to th e sk ill de ve lopm en t of the indiviciudl, lor whom the y are se t. bampl(' of d lesso n for one sq uad ; three appal<liU': u<; in g squ ad ro tati on plan.

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3.a·~A

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I. H - B. Jump hi. 1. Hip (II -upr s

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III.

2. Ba( k -hip -c ir. 3. a. 11,lI lk -v "u lt b . IOI -v"ult

1 hl' '1Idll, lcr - tr"inin g method is based on the ass ump tio ll th " t J previous ly lea rned COOI cillldti(J1l pJt tern dnd knowledge of th e way bod) produ ces "nd co ntr o ls force to produce th €' d{', il I,d success o n th e low leve l of the ski l l d eH ,lo pnll'll t, C,1I1 be th e n transfered to the high{'1 I( 'wl (JI th e skill d eve lopment. In other WOld ,: II" , IlIJ stery of eas ier and simpler eX€' 1{ ,,{' h, 'lps to Il1J stery of more difficult and co mpl( ', ,'x,'rcise . ~ampl,' pr(J ce dure : All {' ''' I (' i ,, ~s in th e te rminology stemmed from th (' "mil"r bd sic skill patterns, are placed o n th(· ,lSI "llIling difficulty sca le in numerica l sequl,l" imt.lll ce : liip-cir-uprs progress ion fOI palll'lfl Oil I'-Il: I. P-bMS e nd , outgr: Hip-cirup". L. 1' - 1>,11" e nd , ingr: Hip-cir-uprs. 3, Midbals . ou tgr: Ilip-cir- uprs to un- a.spt. 4. MidbaIS . Ill gl: Ilip -c ir-uprs to un-a.spt. 5. Mid-bars, outgl : fllp -' ir -upr s to Sp l. 6. Mid-bars, ingr.: Hip-(" -upr, to spt ; th e co nclu sion of this palll' l n ' <II. 7 to Hl o r high er, cons ists sqls of inlll'a,lIl g dilli cult y suc h as , hip- cir-uprs into va l iou, h,d ,lIl ces, <lI1d in comb ination with tUI ns. ~ <lI. Hl i, probabl y a top exerc ise in the pIOgl{ ''' 'OIl p"tl ern. Sq l. 19 is hip-cir-uprs pIOgl{ '''''''' I'''tlern o n th e H-B and R-R.

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= And

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Hd Neck S ho C hest Ab d H ip Thi Kn L-Leg Ank Foot Heel

= S ho- hi

6.-=Jum p-hi = Times

1 hl' "" Y t(J I efillil1otdtion and Term-shortipt : A: 'I'd lnl. Il: bd ck + b- w.=backward, C : cil ={ "' I" . I) : di sll1 =di slllount , dr=drop, F: 101 = IOl w",,1. I 1'1 =1I'U 11 I. I~ : H-B=horizontal bar, hd= h(',I(1. " g =""" g, hi=high, I : ingr.=inside gl ip . I. . 1,1('11 , Ig=lyi l1g. P: pos=position, 0 :' outgl ,' Olll, ' r grip . I{ : r=right. 5: sho=shoulder, si= sldl', ' I H='IHill g, sjJt=su pport, s=squat, sql=,(·q lll'l . , td =Sldlld, sw=sw ing , U: un=under, 5(1

"I" ''''.

uP"= A blll'l "' v iew 01 such r er lllin o logy has been publ " llI'd ill the :'eptel n ber issue of Gymnast. G YMNAST Dec. '75

"FEELIN" OF A GYMNASTIC COACH By Gene Stowe

Chri s stood on th e beam in that semi -relaxed, but erec t, elega nt way th at is typi ca l of the reall y talented gymnas t and as ked me, " Shal l I throw it by m yse lf Mr. Stowe? " Well , I sa id to m yse lf, there it is. The big que stion , and boy, are you on th e hot ~eat... if you can ' t make these kind of deci sions I .guess you had just bett er drop out of coac hin g right no~ . Chri s ha s thrown a back handsprin g on the that 4 inch w ide beam over and over with minimum spotting, ac tuall y, no spotting at all reall y. Ju st being th e re read y to catch in case of a bad throw. She wants the tri ck , yo u want her to ha ve it , she knows that she ca n do it and yo u know she can do it. A gy mnast of Chris' abilit y can throw almost perfect back handspr in gs evert ime, the catch is, is she r eady menta ll y to throw th e trick? I think she is ready, yea h, I' m really quite sure o f h er, but wha t about m e? Am I ready to take th e respon sibilit y of say in g to her, " Go ahead Chr is, throw it. ", then stepping ba ck, completel y bac k away from the beam and watch in g her throw a trick , a dangerous tr ick, a trick that if not do ne properly, if panick strikes in th e middle, if sweaty palms slip, cou ld res ult in a ve ry se riou s injury? I am a retired A ir Force office r, marri ed w ith three children , 42 ye ar s o ld. I ha ve been in combat. I ha ve held respon sible positions for Years. I am used to makin g decisions th at may have far reachin g e ffects upon other p eop le. I have worked as a Safety Engin ee r in our space program. I work wit h high ex plo sives, high pre ss ure gas sYs tems, ex tremel y toxic poi sion o us liqui ds, liquid m aterials so co ld that the y co uld fre eze a human bod y almost instant aneou sly. I ha ve b een respon sibl e for establi shing safe ty rul es and criteria for perso nn el working in th ese sys tems. I'm used to mak ing decision s, it ' s m y job. I know that C hris has b ee n thinkin g abo ut thi s m ove for a lo ng time. She ha s developed a reall y elega nt b ea m routin e, but n eeds one more hi gh diffi cult y move in the routin e for her to brea k out of th e 8's and into th e ma gic 9's. Several judges ha ve spok en wi th me abou t it and Chri s and I have discu ssed it at length. Even though Chri s wa s reall y up tight about a beam ba ck handsprin g we d ec ided to ge th er that it wa s th e tri ck th at she reall y had to ha ve. From

th e first tim e she thre w thr路trick it was appare nt to me that sh e cou'ld do th e trick easil y, she never reall y had a probl em w ith it except th at she was rea ll y afra id of that back ward, blind thro w. Chri s and I talked it over agai n and I fin all y suggested, as gently as po ss ible, that we should stop work on it and try and come up with so mething else. Chris rej ected the sugges tion hot ly and declared that she wan ted th e move bad ly and by golly she was going to get it , she would just have to overcome he r fea r. We con tinued th e work. Now, judging from her ju st asked qu est io n, " Shall I 'throw it by m ysel f Mr. Stowe? " , it would appear that she ha s succee d ed. I feel quite sure that if I give the go ahead Chr is wi ll attempt th e tri ck. Everyo ne on the team ha s been encouraging Chris, they rea ll y want her to ha ve this tri ck. They all kno w how hard she has worked and how afraid o f th e move she was wh en she first start ed to learn it. I know also that Ch ri s feel s a great responsibility to the less experienced girls on the team . Sh e is aware that the y all look to her for leade rship. If she gets the back handspring it will be an in spiration totheother members of th e team . Right now, it's quiet in the gym for a change, all of th e girls are stand in g aroun d watch in g and waiting to see what I wiil say and Chris w ill do. I have n eve r . ha d a girl throw a ba ck hand sprin g or an aerial on the beam. I ha ve o nl y been coac hing for two years and Chris is my very fir st, really fin e gymnast. I wonder , does the pressure that I am feeling right now eve r go aw ay? Do es a coach ever fee l co mpl etel y co mfortabl e making th ese kind of decisions ? Does that]ut wrench in g, heart poundin g. kne e knoc king, dry mouthed fee ling every get any bett er? I's' so quiet in th e gy m that I ca n hear th e clock ti ck. Inside my hea d there are a milli o n questions sc reeching' aro und . I look up at Chri s and say, " Hon ey, yo u ha ve th e trick so lid , go on and throw it :'" I step ba ck with m y pounding hea rt and dry mouth and watch Chris throw th e most beautiful hand spring I have ever see n. She jumps off th e bea m laugh in g happi ly and says, " I knew I cou ld do it '" A nd that 's the secret. ..

Two 16" x 20 " original prints by John P. Dickson of this photograph were given to the Romanian Olympic gymnastic team by the Oregon coach while they were visiting in Eugene.

CYMNAST Dec. '75

GYMNASTIC AIDES

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ORDER FORM PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHING SYSTEMS BASIC SYSTEM (charts with tea ching manual ) Girls (6) ........... 10.00 Boys (8) . ..................... ... 12.00 Teacher's Ma nua l only 2.00 (specify Girls' or Boys) GYMNASTICS CHARTS Men's Int. Parallel Bar (5) 7.00 Int. Rings (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 Basic to Int. Side Horse (2) 4.00 Basic to Adva nc ed Tumbling (4) . . 6 .00 Advanced Parallel Ba r (4) 6 .00 Adva nced Rings (3) 5.00 Basic to Advanced Horizontal Bar (6) 8 .00 Girl's In t. to Ad vanced Bala nce Beam (6) 8.00 Basic to Ad va nced Tumbling (4) . 6 .00 (sa me as above) Competitive Vaulting (3) . 5.00 In t. Uneven Parlle l Bars (5) 7. 00 NEW Adv . Uneven Parallel Bars (4) 6 .00 RECORDS AND CASSETTE TAPES Music from the Olympic Games Vol. 1 . Re co rd .. . . . . . . . . . . 8 .00 Cassett e. 5.00 NEW Vol. 2 . Record . . . 8 .00 Cassette. 5.00 1972 OLYMPIC GYMNASTIC FILMS Me n's Finals .. 40.00 Women's Final s .... 40.00 BOOKS Gymnastics Ill ust ra ted 9 .50 3.50 The Side Horse .. AIDS Meet Adverti sing Posters 1.00 - - Girls - - Boys Scori ng Kits . 1. 50 - - Girls - - Boys NEW Swiss Embroidered Emblem . . 1.50 Gymnastic Emblem ......... .... .75 NEW Duffle Bag 4 .95 NEW Tra vel Bag . 9 .95 Add Postage and Ilandling 50~ for orders under $10.00 $1.00 for orders over $10 .00 Total $- - - Order fr om Gymnastic Aides , Box , Northbridge , Mass . 01534 Name475__________________________ __ Street _______________________ Cit y ______________ State __________ School

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way of staying in shape. As a health teacher he knows the dangers of obes ity. Fred also points out that gymnastics either made him somewhat different from the no rm al person, or that he was somewhat different and was attracted to gymnastics. I had to agree w ith him when he pointed out that on ce yo u we re an all around competitor, it is hard to just quit. Robert Diamond, a thirty o ne yea r old attorney, readily adm its that he ju gg les his entire schedule to be ab le to work out three nights a week. Bob says that he just enjoys the SENIOR entire scene. Working out, lear ning new tricks, staying in shape, watch ing other people GYMNASTICS change and mature. " You gotta do something, it might as well be gymnastics." He also compared it to any ot her endeavor that you By John Magginetti must put so much time towa rd . Bob got me looking into a memory trip that I had forgotten . He reminded me how hard it was when our co ll ege years were over. What to do with your tim e. Where did the friends go? etc. I ques ti oned some recent graduates and Charlie Ri chards , pommel horse man extraordinar from Cal State Northridg e, put his thoughts mo st succ inct ly. Hi s reflecti ons dealt with what to do now that NCAA finals were gone for the las t time. Charlie felt that surely better tim es were ahead. That the past was Why, in an international magazine, directed great, but to dwell there wo uld leave him there. toward readers in volved with competing Space stops m e from publishing hi s highly gymnasts, is there space for a non com petitor emotional yet perfectly rational beliefs about article? Why are there non-competing what to dowith the ex tra time and energy. How gymnasts? The sport is one of the most to fi ll the vo id s left by graduation. demanding both physically and mantally the Preparing for this art icle naturally made me adult can take up. And yet, each gym, each city, ask myself the same questions. For the most has senior gymnasts. What drives the gymnast part I came up with the same answers: stay fit, that ha s used his coll ege eligibility! Why does a have fun, see friends, do as good as I can, etc. man or woman with children and jobs with . But I though t further. I really do spend as much other forms of gratification , find themselves in time abUSing my body as I do wo rking out. So, it the gym severa l nights a month? really couldn 't be just for the fitness. Fun? Who After rece iving several letters from readers enjoys compulsories? Two broken fingers and a around the country, I have come to realize that hurt thumb and I still ca n't do a back stutz, the senior gymnasts are out there. They have swinging pirouette. Having fun with fri ends is always been in th e Southern California area. I something done better other places than the grew up wondering, why after three Olympi c gym . So, why do I cont inue? Games, several natio nal championships, a Since earl y adu lth ood I have felt that I was broken ba ck, a wife and family, University living in a rear view mirror. It seems that education, a good job and head coach at nothing is forever. College came and went, as U.S.e., did Ja ck Beckner work out at my high did marriag e, friends , Viet Nam, John , Martin school. I have spe nt the last few months and Bob. Each time I thought I had a clear corresponding with ot her sen ior gymnasts picture of what was happening, something trying to piece together the answers to these happened to let me know th at my decisions on questions. the present were based on what had already Richard Pascale, who is to free exercise what passed . Lik e driving forward whi le looking in a Chuck Berry is to Rock and Roll, is still going at rear view mirror. After taking my masters, I the age of twenty-nine. Why? Rich ard says went back int o a gym. After two years layoff, it simply that he likes winning. Winning in floor was just the sa me. Sure, I was fat and tricks were exercise is not enough. H e is now a national harder. No way I could do a comp lete set. But, force on parallel bars and approaching still, it was the same. A kip was still a kip. greatness on hori zon tal bar. He does win his Nothing repl aced sw ing . Th e same physical share of meets, but why is h e in the gym every laws that had worked before worked once day for hou rs , when as a senior he can only again . On ce again li fe was the way it was enter a few m eets a yea r? supposed to be. I made decisions on what I Garrath Burke, a twenty-five year old knew, and they worked . If somet hing went married graduate fro m U.S.e. and former J.e. wrong it was because I had viola ted a known National Horizontal Bar Champion says rule . Sure, the D.N.A. trave led a little slower. gymnastics is fun now. While in high \chool and Tricks did not have th e extension they once college, Garrath felt pressured . Gymnastics was had, but still it was the sa me. mostly fru strating. Now he has found the parts To me gymnastics is reality . I ad mit it. I really of gymnasti cs that are fun for him and do not per ce ive li fe the way it actually is. concentrates on these areas. Good for you Friendships, jobs, sty les, spo uses, all seem to Garrath. But why then are yo u working the change. Onl y after the changes, are the realities compulsori es? visible. But gymnast ics does not work that way. Fred Robl es, All Around champ of the Senior There is cau,e and effect. One physical Olympics, is a twenty-eight year old high school maneuver leads to the same co nsequ ences no coach and health teacher in the Los Angeles matter who is presid ent of the United States. So area . He ha s two children, a good job, wife, but until I find a world where th e rul es of the game spends several ho urs a week working out. Fred do not change without my k nowledge, I will points to the physical area . he says that it is his continue to push this tired body gymnastically.

SENIOR PSYCHOLOGY

Coed Campus Column Cornell University Ithaca, New York Gretchen Sunderland Dowsing GRADUATE STUDENTS COMPETING: YES OR NO? In order to answer this question, I think it is importa nt to look at some of the goals of the college coach. Obviou sly, we do not expect to coac h our women forever; they are usually enro ll ed in school for two, four, or five yea rs. They workout hard un ti l graduation, and then what? Suddenly they are eli gible for graduate school but not for their former team. They have maintained a high level o f fitn ess for yea rs and now must lay-off - the rules say that they are too old to compete. Som e, but not many coach es will let th e grad studen t work-o ut with the team , but m ost coac hes fee l that th ey do not want to spend tim e with a non-competing student. The grad studen t is then asked to spot or help teach, neither of which maintains the high level of fitn ess and begins to agree with the rules that perhaps she is too old. Doe s this image fit in wi th an educato r's goal - to get a person to a certa in level of competence , then ret ire her, make h er feel " over the hill "? Most of o ur gymnasts have not even peak ed by th e age of 21 or 22. I have former gymnast s, now 23-27, who are still active and enjoy learni ng new skills (i.e. ae ri als on the beam) . Th ey wo uld have lo ved to compete their fifth year, but were not all owed . What are we <Jfraid of in letting graduate student s compete? Th ey can only add maturity and experience to the team. One arg um ent might be that you n eed space for talented , incoming freshmen. But tryouts for the team shou ld co nsider all students - not according to age. New students need time for adjusting to th e total co llege experience; grad students obviousl y have th ei r time wellorgani ze d already and ca n be a helpful example to younger students. The trend to quit ea rl y in this cou ntry disturbs me and a lot of othe r coac hes. Why do many of our top gymnasts ret ire at 16, 18, or 19? That' s very young co mpared to European not to mention co llege standards competition . Are we gu ilty of putting too much press ure on th em? How can it be that some of them vow to never to step foot in a gym aga in? What have we done as coaches to make them turn against thi s beautifu l sport ? If one of our goa ls is to enab le our students to love activity, to enjoy stayi ng in shape, then we must do somet hin g for our o lder students. Letting graduate students compete co uld be part of the answer. Th e o th er solution is a club type of gymna stics, much li ke the Turn ers and Sokol>, w here peop le of all ages ca n work-out together . H ow many p lace s li ke this are there? Where ca n 'y o u go to ledl'n gymnas tics after the age of 22? Perhaps our co ll eges should be providing this service to the co mmunity - o r we should put pressur e on V's and other groups to help out. But let 's not <Jba ndon our older students. They 've helped us get our team where it is why can 't th ey still be an active part of it? Perhaps it is our ru les that are " ove r the hill" . GYMNAST Dec. '75

PSYCHOLOGY th~ GYMtifiST and

AUTOGENIC TRAINING IN GYMNASTICS A PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONING FOR PERFORMANCE CONDITIONING Dr. Joe Massimo From tim e to time some notions about psychology appear in print which, if taken at face va lue, would turn the gym into a psychiatric clinic and the gymnast into a bundle of nerves looking for salvat ion. Such panaceas are to be passionately avoided. Methods for training the mind as related to sports performan ce must be carefu ll y eva luated and very few have survived the test of time. There are a number of se lf-discip lin e type of mental activities which have, however, proven quite valuabl e for some athletes. It should always be remembered that a basic premise of applied psychology is that all individuals are unique alth ough there are specific developmental and environmental aspects of the human equat ion that appear uni versa l. For some people hypnosis is very effective, while for other.s it is a total bust. It all depends on attitude, moti va tion , readiness and other personal conditions as wel l as the ability of related professionals and a co nsiderable amount of faith in the procedure under cons iderati on . One of the more successfu l techniques is referred to as autogen ic or psychotonic training. Quit e simp ly this is a method of selfconditionin g whi ch ha s had some r emarkab le effects in improvin g performance. One ca n utilize the method by oneself (auto) or it can be accomplish ed individually or in a smal l group utilizing a traine r who verba ll y facilitates the program. The sma ll group or indiv idual sessions which employ a faci litator (trainer) seem to be most effect ive. It is crit ica l that the trainer be famili ar wit h th e sport at more than a passing level since such experience w ill maximize his/ her effectiveness. In gymnasti cs this procedure can be useful in several ways: 1) improve specific performance, 2) overcome mental blocks o n specific skills, 3) reduce "breaks " in specific routin es and, in some cases , 4) totally re-orient the athletes to an event. Perhaps the most effici ent way to explain how autogeni c training functions is to describe it in direct terms . The process can be accomplished non-verbally or verbally depending on th e indi vidua l( s) involved and the preference of th e trainer. It is usually wise to try both to see wh ic h appears the most effect ive. In the non-verbal method the trainer (if one is being used) gives limited cues during the process whi le in the more verbal ly oriented procedure the trainer is quite active with spoken gUidan ce and suggest ion. For exampl e let 's take an individual sess ion between o ne or two gymnasts and a trainer. . The procedure goes something li ke the following: 1. The gymn asl(s) li e on the mat or some other comfortable area on their backs. 2. They are enco uraged to take deep breaths in an attempt to get them somewhat physically and ment all y re laxed but not enough to encourage sleep. The trainer assists in this process by helping th em monitor the rhythm of the breathing through ve rbal suggestio n. 3. The train er in structs the gymnasts to maintain thi s relaxed co ndition throughout the exercise as appropriate. (There wil l be times GYMNAST D ec. '75

when the opposite is necessary and such tension is aga in suggested by the trainer depending on th e situation.) 4. The gyni'nasts are told to begin to mentally , prepare for the eve nt. e.g. Still Rings - the trainer says, " W e are now ready to perform on the Rings. Picture yourself chalkin g up. You are now standing below the ring s. Your lifter now has his hand s on your wa ist. You are lifted and grasp the rin gs. Try to feel them in your hands. Adjust your grip. You are ready to begin." 5. At thi s point (depe nding on purpose of the session) the train er indicates that they should piCture the mount and contin ue into the routine. Each element sho uld be seen and felt without tensing the muscle groups. This flow is important. Th e trainer ' s know ledge of terminology etc. is invaluable. (This may be done several times.) add iti ona l run- throug h is 6. An " performed " but this time the gymnast(s) are encouraged to tense appropriate muscle groups as they " pi cture " their routines in their minds . They shou ld attempt to "v isualize" each element executed to its max im um. The focus is on perfection with coordinated muscular emphasis. 7. The pro cess co ntinues with va ri ations : A . Focu s on difficu lt segments: providing the gymnast ha s executed a particular segment correctly in t he past and " knows " what it "fee ls" like. The effort here is to reproduce that " feeling " through a psychological recreation of the kinestheti c ex perience at the same time the correct execut io n is "seen" in the mind. B. Foc us on co nsistent areas for breaks (minor and / or major): This is most successf ul on one to one b as is a nd when t he trainer knows the routine being worked on. In this case the gymnast continu es the mental run through but pictures the break as it is usually enco untered. This should be followed immed ia te ly by a run through with th e break eliminated. The trainer's rol e in thi s si tuation is more active. It is often help fu l th at the ind ividua l ve rball y express th e error (d idn ' t direct the force at the right moment , dropped the head etc.). In the "co rre cted" run the gymnast sta tes the negotiation of the section in positive terms as he pictures th e successful passage through the area where th e brea k had (has) occurred. C. Focu s on flow of ent ire exercise: This variation ha s prove n quite successful in totally non-static perform ance events such as Side horse or Uneve n Bars. The technique is the same as pr evious ly described except emp hasis is placed on th e gestalt of th e routine with particular focu s on the fluid ity of sw in g. (I have seen athletes actua ll y begin to rhythmically move their bodi es durin g this drill although they are lying flat o n their backs!) D. Focus on mounts and dismounts: Again the same ba sic tec hnique is utilized but the emphasis is on stabilit y and confidence. Time is spent on th e in sta ntaneous " preparation" for the landing and co ntro ll ed disc harge of e nergy employed at the mount. Talking through this, pha se is most h elpful as an adjunct to the mental " movie " acti vit y. E. Focu s on proper breathing: The runthrough process is ca rried out as before but

with major conce ntration being placed on specilic breJthing patterns as they relate to the execution of each sk ill or cluster of skills. Verbal expression an.d actua l ove r-emp hasized breathing is encouraged as the routine is seen in the m ind 's eye . There are obviously addit ional variat ions of this process which I wi ll discuss in upcoming articles. It would b e easy to dismiss such procedures as " rubbish " or too mystical for our liking. Surely not worth the time and effort. This would be most unfortunate indeed sinc.e. there is growing resea rch evidence that such mental and psychological efforts under disciplined, contro ll ed condit ions can and have improved overt performan ce. As a matter of fact one only has to think about the eastern cultures and philosophies (for example, the Japanese) for an illustration of how the marriage of mind-matter (in this case at a builti n religious level) can, along w ith other factors, promote th e development of excell ence.

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SIMPLIFIED METHOD OF JUDGING COMPULSORY EXERCISES Learn how 10 judge women's compulsory exercis路 es (uneven bars, floor exercise, balance beam, vaulting) with a method that is so simple, fast and accurate. Exercises cannot be mis-sc ored using the "simplified" method of judging. The best routine will receive the highest score whether performed first last or wherever. Also includes sources for orderi ng women's gymnastic rules books. Cost $1.70. Order from : Helen Sjursen. 46 Poplar Place, Fanwood , N.J. 07023 . Check payable to Helen Sjursen. must accompany order. No foreign orders.

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Parkette Gymnastic Club

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Top center - Jodi Yocum. Clockwise from Jodi - Kathy Gackenbach, Stacy Werner, Doreen Marcks, Deanna Hertzog (bottom center), Sandy Wirth , Joanne Belte, Mary Heidenwolf.

Allentown is a sma ll city located in the great Lehigh Valley of Eastern Penna ., whi'ch is famous for it s rolling hills, rich farmland, heavy industry, (Bethlehem Steel and Mack Trucks) and the hard working , dedicated Pennsylvania Dutch Peopl e. Among the hard es t working _ and most dedicated peopl e in Allentown is a group of young girl s, toge th er with th eir coac hes, their parents and their friends, col lectively called the Parkette Gymn as ti c Club. About ten years ago, Bill and Donna Strauss started working with a few girl s in a tumb ling club after school, where Donna was a physical education tea ch er . This was the humble

beginning of th e Par kette Gymnastic Club which now ha s ov er 250 girls i nvolved in classes six days a week and over 30 girls on three different levels of compet itive t ea ms. During tho se formative yea rs, th e Parkettes practiced in man y places including a barn w ith no heat, a dimly lit basement of a church and in the summer, th e Strauss's back yard . Fin ally, last year, the Park ett es obtain ed a pl ace of their very own, the seco nd and third floor of Allentown ' s Symphon y Hall in the downtown area. The roomy , cheerful and we ll-lighted facilities giv e th e Parkettes a pleasant atmosphere for th eir long hours of practice.

For the first tim e th ey have th eir own free exercise mat and thre e se ts of bars which they don' t have to take down every night after practice ... so met hin g new for th e Parkettes. In addition to th e free ex . mat and bars, they have a trampoline, va ultin g area, and office on the third floor. On th e seco nd floor ar e ten beams, one set of bar>, parent 's wa iting room, Parkette Store, and storag e fac iliti es. Bill and Donn a Strau ss are del ighted with their new gym co mpl ex, and have an xiously' been devotin g th eir tIm e to th e d eveloping of girls into good gymnasts and fine young women. Their " elit e" group o f three girls is led by Jodi

GYMNAST Dec. '75

GLENDALE FAMILY YMCA GYMNASTICS MARATHON

Jodi Yocum

Yocum , a 15 year o ld junior at Exe ter High School in St. Laurence, Pa. Jodi was with the U,S, team in a three week tour of South Africa last Nov . and D ec. , and competed with the U,S. team that defea ted th e West Ge rm ans at Penn State last j anuary. As th e yo ungest p erformer on the U.S. team, j odi showed her ski ll on the balance b ea m , un eve n parallel bars and free exercise to fini sh fourth al l-around for the women ' s di vision of the international meet. Last April jo di represented th e U.S. along with Ann Carr and Barbie Myslak in the Moscow N ews Games and the Riga Invitational Meet in Ru ss ia. Along with j odi, th e Parkettes also have Mary Heidenwolf and j oan ne Beltz compet in g on the elite leve l. Th is past August Miss Heidenwolf , 14 , was in vit ed to attend a clin ic in Miami , Fla ., a, a guest of th e U.S.G.F. as one of a group of 20 yo ung gymnasts showing much promise for th e future. The Parkett es pla ced three gi rl s on the Penna . Stat e Team this yea r with Mary Heidenwolf and j oanne Belt z coming in 1st and 2nd respecti ve ly all .!round in the 12-14 age group, and Deanna H ertzog first all-around in the 10-11 age group. D ea nna also p laced first in the Eastern Champion ships h eld this yea r in Farmingd ale, Long IslJnd, New York. Roundin g out th e Parkette Na ti ona l Team are Sandy Wirth and Doreen Marcks who placed 3rd and 4th resp ecti ve ly, all-around in the Penn a. Championsh ip s, 10-11 age group, and Stacy W ern e r who qualifi ed for Regionals in her first year of co mp etition . The Park elt es arc on th e mov e and if they continue to grow i n th e n ex t ten years as they have in the pas t ten, th en th e dream of Bill and Donna Strau ss sho uld co me tru e. The dream the Allentown , a sma ll cit y located in th e Great Lehigh Vall ey of Eastern Penna., is famous for the Parkett e Gymnast ic Club and oh! yes ... they also ha ve rolling hill s, rich farml and, Mack Trucks and Bethl ehem Stee l, etc., etc.

Th e bottom s of th eir feet are so re - and their hand s and so me muscles th ey may not have even known they had befo re. But the sense of accompli shment of the 19member Glend ale Fam il y YMCA's Women 's Gymnastic Tea m far o ut we igh s any physical discomfort. The girls se t a gymnastics maratho[1 record by performing 3,092 ro utin es in a 51-hour period. The marat h on launched th e team 's seaso n and was success ful not on ly as a r eco rd-setter, but as a fund raising eve nt as wel l. The girls raised about $1,000 to be used to defray expenses of n ew warmup su it s and piano music to accompany th em in performing routines. The team wa s divided into four groups of four to five girl s per hour. They performed about 16 routines , apiece, eac h hour. All routin es were USGF -FI G Class II and III compulsor y and op ti o nal routines. They included floor exercises and routines on the beam and bar s.

The Gl endal e Fami ly YMCA , 140 N. Loui se St., has offered cla sses in beginn in g through intermediate leve l gymnast ics for seve ral yea rs . The competitive team is a recent additio n to the "Y" program. Linda Scott , assistant physical director at the Y and coord in ato r of the marathon, was pleased at th e event 's success. " The positive att itu des that were displayed de sp ite so re hands an d mu sc les made all the coaches and th e parents ve ry proud to be part of such an effor t. ·' she sa id.

Girls who part icipa t ed included: Christi Norton, Dani ell e Norton, Cindi Sunnarbourg, Lis Chambers, Sharo n Sine, Debbie Hendy, Lynn St evens, Dore e W il so n, juli e j ense n, Sari Garnes, Kath y Owens, Kathy Rya n, Ca mi · Rosenb lum, Carol Weeshoff, Stacey Sheperd, Sandi Sheperd , Sheri Sheperd and Nancee Slayback.

Tid Bits On Sept ember 21, 1975 th e l uxurious Richmond Olympiad o p ened in RiChmond, Virginia. 1he 12,000 squJre foot area is brand new and bea utilull y deco rdted w ith quantities of eq uipment , p.l ce d in such a manner that hundreds 01 p.nti cip.ttn s ca n be act ively involved and ye t rcnl.lin rdth er remo te from one another. 1 he direc to rs are judy and Gordon Shaw, who hd ve been in vo lve d on the local , statE'. 1l.ltiOlldl and international gymnastic s , c('n e lor th e past ten yea rs and were th e Il'a I pi oncer s of gy mna stics in Virginia. Be st of lu ck to judy and Gordon! The Freeland Gymnastic Team o f Freeland, Michigan ju,t purchd sed th eir most ex pensi ve piece of eq uipm en t ye t. rh ey purc hased a brand new 40 loot by 40 foot floor exercise mat. Head coal h Alice Buchalter, feels th e unobtainabl e me.lll s only practicing a littl e patience, as d ('mo nstr.ll ed by the huge strides of this all- vo luntl'er , li o n-p rof it o rga nization. She is th e lirst to point out th at all these accompli shm('n i'> cou ld never have taken place without the gem'rou'> , upport of the p arents of the gymn as ts gi ving th ei r tilll e and tal ents as well as somp lindl lCi.d ,]ss istdn ce from va ri ous

clubs and org.llliLd tion s int erested in th e program . 1 hi s , how, thdt w ith work a vo lunteer program su( h." tl H~ Freeland Gymnastic Team; can accompli, h when you have people who care . ConglJtuldtioll5 dnd keep up the good work.

From th e' " Texas Gymnastic Reporter" we heard .ilJou t d n ew club open in g up. The Metroplex Gymnastics Center has b ee n form ed, director of the club is Sandy Streeter, who wa s th e hea d coac of the Tumbling ! <!xans for eleve n yea rs. The team name is the Mets, th EY h ave approximately 25 girls making up th eir compe titi ve team , and th e progr am con sists of classes for girls and boys, ages 4 and up, plu s specia l chee rl ead ing classes. A iding in th e management of the .new school will be Virginia Tusa. Two male instructors w ill also be on th e staff , jerry White and Charlie Drake. From the " Florida Newsletter" we heard that former Big Ten, NCAA, and AAU Trampoline Champion, larry Snyder has opened a Trampo li ne and Tumbli ng School in Miami, Florida.

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Ballet.. ::~:: Ci mn1.~(icr Kaywell

l!!;

JOHNSTOWN PITTSTOP.

GRACE NOTES FROM THE PITT AT JOHNSTOWN When I returned from the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 I reso lved to "se ll " gymn astics to the ballet world in t he USA, and ballet to the gymna sts. I think yo u ca n see that I have done just that. But I wasn 't the first to do this . Nata li a Roslavleva from th e Soviet Union told us this had been done in Ru ss ia b efo re 1960. Soph ia Golo vkin a, director of the Bo lshoi School and one of its pr incipa l teachers, noticed th e outstanding eq uilibrium of the Soviet girl gymn as ts wh il e she was still a ballerin a of th e Bo lshoi theate r. Like myself, Golovki na was always seek in g to learn something new from any fi eld, so she went to watch th e gymnastic training sess ions and wound up tak in g lesso ns. Sh e discovered some of our "secrets" - fo r exam pl e, how we attain balan ce on o ne leg on th e toes in any direction and at any ang le by t ightening th e muscl es of the thigh , and th at all important PLACEMENT wherein we balance the center of gravity so that we ca n reach this equilibrium in ANY position of the body, in any direc tion . U ntil ballet d ancers find thi s p laceme nt, th ey have much diffi culty wh en th ey work in th e ce nter away from the ball et bar re. So yo u can see how ' the sport and ball et ove rl ap. The ballet dancers gained greater bread th of movement, stronger masters of their bod ies, es pec ially in va rious turns and strong tak e-off jumps. That is one part of the story - and it has happened here in the USA also: balle t learned someth ing from gymna stics. But we have lea rn ed mu ch from ballet, probabl y mo re. According to Roslavleva the champion Russian gym nast s all include some ballet exercises in th ei r daily t rainin g. They resort to ba ll et an d to " plastiqu e" from subtle and gra ce ful mo ve m ent s of hand s and arms, learning prin cipl es of mu sica lit y and inspired perform ance from the Russian school. When .Miss Ros lavleva att ended the Palace of Spo rts she w as impressed by th e instru cto r say in g: " Besid es p erformin g th is exe rcise o n th e bea m with perf ect poi se and ease , you should have a pleasant express io n o n yo ur face. Don ' t forget that the sp ectato rs have come to see a spectacle, not a m ere d isp lay of st rength ." Sport never sta nd s still. Th ose w ho are good will be repla ce d by those who are better. W e now see 13 yea r o lds p erforming things unheard of in th e 60 's. The ball et influen ce is still there, but we are using all forms o f dan ce jazz, modern , character, musi ca l co medy ... but the STYLE and FORM and MUS ICA LITY must be there . Have a H appy Pli e! Ciao

Attitude Deva nt (Front) note relations hip of head and arms.

2 Attitude De rriere (behind) side view. Look over s houlder through open space of arms.

3 A front view of attitude Derrier . It must look good from all 4 sides of the gym .

4 Figures 4-7 Transitional moves showing line, slyle and (orm .

GYMNAST Dec. '75

NEWS 'N NOTES By Renee P. Hendershott

17605 Frie s Ave . Lakewood . Ohio 44107 Standard s for Offici als rating in Gymnastics ••• Effective Sept ember 1, 1975

GYMNAST D ec. '75

USGF NEWS August, 1975 Minimum ,)(, sc ore for both theoretical and p ract ica l examinat ions mu st be met as stated . In the eve nt the pra cti ca l exam in at ion is not required; th eo reti ca l minimum sco re app li es. Procedures for Rating Judges: •• Applies to those exam inees who received certification prior to September 1, 1975 NATIONAL - CLASS I 1. Minimum Grad e : •• Theoretical and practical 85')(, 2. Eligibility: 20 year s of age . •• Must have previously atta in ed a Sta te, Regional, or National ratin g. 3. Duration : U ntil De ce lllber, 1980 (throughout the Olympiad ). Must jud ge three meets per year and fi le report s to Illaintain stat us. 4. Recommend ed Illinilllulll fees: $20.00 per session, tramportdtion, and $20.00 per diem (food and lodging) or Illeal all owance in the event lodgin g is not requir ed. 5. Examination Content: a. Practical - optional exe rcises in all four events. b. TheoretiGd - 50 questions Class (Advanced) Com pu lsories; and 50 questions general knowl edge. 6. Qualifi ed to j udge any Class I co mpetition in any geographiGd .Ire,]. REGIONAL - CLASS I 1. Minimum Grdde: •• Th eo ret ica l and practi cal 80')(, 2. Eligibilit y: 1B yedf'S of age . •• M ust have previously at tained .I minimum of State rating. 3. Duration: U ntil Decelllber, 1980 (throughout the Olympiad ). Must judge three meets per year and file report s to maintain stat us. 4. Re commended Illinimum fees: $15.00 per session , t ransportat io n, and $20.00 per diem (food and lodg in g) o r m ea l all owance in the event lod gin g is not re quired. 5. Examination Content: a. Practical - op ti ona l exercises in all fou r events. b . Theoreti ca l - 50 quest ions Class I (Advanced ) COlllpu lsories; and 50 questions general knowledg e. 6. Qualifi ed to jud ge dn yC lassl compet iti o n up to and in cludin g the Regional leve l in any geographi ca l 'Hea. STATE - CLASS II 1. Minimum Grdde: •• Theoretical and practical 75 '1.. 2. Eligibilit y : 1B yedf'S of age .•• Must ha ve prev iou sly attained J Illinimum of Assoc iate rating. . 3. Duration : U ntil D ece lllber, 19BO (througho ut the Olympiad ). Must jud ge thr ee meets per year and file rc'port s to m aint ain stat us. 4. Recommended fees: $10.00 per sessio n, transportati on . .Inti $20.00 p er diem (food and lodging) or medl ,dl owance in the even t lodging is not reljuir eti. 5. Exa min at ion Co nt ent : a. Pra ctical - opt io ndl exe rci ses in all four events. b. Theoretic,d - 50 qu es tions Class II (Intermediat e) COlllpu lsories; and 50 questions general know led ge . 6. Upon at tain in g ~ tdt e Rating-Class II , a judge

must maint ain act ive Stdtu S at that level for one Certification Year before bein g eligible to take the class I ratin g eX dl1l inJt io n. 7. Qualifi ed to judgeCi,lss ll co mp etition s up to and includ ing State leve l in any geog raphical area. ASSOCIA TE - CLASS II 1. Minimum GrJd e : •• Theo ret ica l and practical 70 ')(, 2. Eligibilit y: 16 yedrS of age . •• M ust have previousl y attain ed a Illinimum of App renti ce rating. 3. Duration: U ntil D ecember, 1980 (thro ughout the Ol ympi ad ). Must judge thr ee meets p er year and fil e repo rt s to maintain stat us. 4. Recommended Fees : $7.50 per person, transportati on , and $20.00 per diem (food and lodging) or mea l all owance in th e eve nt lodging is not reljuired. 5. Exam inati on Conte nt: a. Pract ica l - opt iona l exe rcis es in all four events. . b. Theoreti ca l - 50 questions Class II (Intermediate) COl1lpul sories; and 50 questions general knowled ge. 6. Upon attain in g an Assoc iate Rating , a judge must maintain act ive statu s at that leve l for one Certification Ye,lr be fore b eing el igib le to take the Class I rating e xalll in ati o n. 7. Qualifi ed to jud ge any Class II sectio nal , local , or stat e co mpetiti o n in any geograph ical area. APPRENTICE - CLASS III 1. Minimum Grad e: Theoretica l o nl y 70'Yo 2. Eligibilit y: 16 yeJ rs of age. 3. D'uration : Unti l Decelllber, 1980 (t hro ughout the Ol ympiad ). M ust jud ge three meets per year and fi le report s to maintain status. 4. Re co mm ended " ees: $5 .00 per sess ion, tran sportatio n. ,1l1d $20.00 p er diem (food and lodging) or fil ea l ,dl owance in the eve nt lodging is not reljuired. 5. Examin ation Content: Th eoret ical examination con sisting of 50 qu es tions on Class III (Beginning Level ) COlllp ul so ries. 6. Upon attainin g .In Ap pr entice Rating , a judge must maint ain acti ve statu s at that level for one Certification Year before b ein g eli gible to take th e Cld S, II eXd lllination. 7. QU 'lliiied to jud ge any Class III meet in any geogr<'1Jhicdl drea . SPECIAL NOH: 1. Any ind ividu dl w ho Jttained a rat in g prior to Septemb er 1 .1<J7S dnd fail ed the t es t and re-test in the 1975-76 Certifi ca tion Year w ill be permitted to take th e eXd mination at Class II o r I, provided th ey l11e et eli gibi lit y req uiremen ts, in the 1976-77 Certificdtion Year. Thi s " grace period " w ill ex pir e A ugust 31 , 19 77. 2. Any indi v idu,d who h as heve r attained a rating pri or to ~1'p t el11be r 1,1975 must enter the Certification pro grdl1l at Class III. 3. In order to jud ge .II I thr ee levels, th e judge must attain a ratin g for all leve ls. Cla ss I o r " rated judges ma y judge at C lass II and III , but are requir ed to tak e the theoretical (Compul sory) eXdl11illJtion and attai n sco r e requirement s for lower leve ls. 4. An examin ee mu st illdicat e to th e TA the Classlevel( s) of eX dmillJt iOIl sh e intends to take prior to th e admilli strJti o ll of th e exarn in ation. 5. A session is 10 be defill ed as a rna ximurn of 3.5 hours.

LA TE SUMMER REPORTS SOKOL WOODLAND GYMNASTIC SCHOOL By Ellen Kovac One of th e o ldest and most successfu l gymna sti c cJmps in the Un ited States is Sokol Woodlanu s GYlllnastic Schoq l, located near the Delaware Riv er in Barryville, New York . This schoo l ha s ju st comp leted its twelfth season under th e direction of West Chester (Pa.) College COdch Milan Trnka. A fu ll, eight-week season is run each summer, wit h its solid, progre ssion-oriented program further refined each ye,lr viJ J combination of experience and input from staff drawn from different gymna sti c circle s. Th e ph ysic.d facil iti es at Sokol Woodla nd s are exce ll ent. fe,lturing a huge (14,000 sq. ft.) field house full of modern equipme nt, all owing plenty of workout space regardless of the weather out siu e. A modern pool, above par dorms. me,Ji s geared to the requirements o f a demilnuing gymnastic program, and a wide variety of recreationa l and "free time" activities are ali l actors in the appeal of Sokol Woodlands th rough the years. Although w e are not able to advertise extensive ly (uue to a tight budget) we know we offer an excellent " product" at Sokol Woodlanu s. We uo invest to keep ou r facilities up to uate, we se lect staff who are primarily concern eu about the development of each student . we drrange our program for maximum work -out tim e as we ll as oppo rtunities for other i1ctiv iti es, and we are proud that our repu tiltion is such that word-of-m o uth from former , tud ents is out best form of advertising.

Woodland Gymnastic School

Woodland Gymnastic School Campers

THE 4th ANNUAL TEXAS NATIONAL SUMMER GYMNASTIC CLINIC

Th e 4th Annua l Texas National Summer Gymnastic Clini c was held july 30-August 1 in th e Birdville Co li seum located in the HaltomRi chard area of Fort Worth, Texas. The spa cious co liseum which seats 5,000 provided the gymnasts with ample room and the latest gymnast ic equipment. Also ava ilabl e was overh ead spotting apparatus and a video tape syst em to eva lu ate performance of skills. The 3 d ay event was co-sponsored by the Birdville Schools and the Gyros Parents Club. Attending the clinic were 135 dedicated gymnilsts who came from Colorado, Louisian a, Illinois, Mississ ippi as well as the metroplex area. The 12 class sessio ns and a special two hour tumbling se ss ion the first night furnished an abundance of knowledge--all the young gymnast s could absorb. In addition, coaches were given specia l time each day to lea rn and exchange coaching and spotti ng techniques. O ver 20 in structors provided the know-how that h elped the boyd and girls perfect their skill s and d evelop new ones. Special instruction was given daily on the n ew comp ul so ri es. The clini c staff included such outstand ing clinicians as former three time Olympian, Armando Vega , many National Champions including Tom and Jan Hienka,janisand Hutch Dvorak. Richard Loyd (1968 Olympic team), Stev e Snow; Other lead instructors were Barry Keel ey, Arno ld Didomenica, Allen Walker,

The 4th Annual National Summer Gymnastic Clinic Staff

H erb Kirkpatrick , Tom Steele, Randy Snow, jani s Brehm and many others. Dance instruct ion wa s pr ovid ed by Ca rolyn Riehl. A staff show was held on the 2nd night. Arnold Diuomenica in his colorfu l caj un dialogu e annou nced the events of the show. Th e performan ces ranged from Olympic ca liber uemonstrations to slap stick comedy. Th e clinic d irector and Gy ros coac h, Robert

Cowan perfo rm ed his hilarious " Brigette Bardot " routin e o n the uneven bars with assistiln ce from his helpful " German instru cktor ", To m Steele. Hutch Dvorak and partn er ent ert il in ed th e crowd with their daring but com ical high bar act. Other staff stars ex hibit ed skills in vau lting, rings, floor X, and un even bar s. It Wil S for ce rtain a SUPER summer clinic!

CYMNAST Dec. '75

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GIRLS GYMNASTIC CAMP By J . Darrell Gallant

Special bar session, Virginia Tsoukalas . Instructor

The 1975 sess io n o f The New Hamps hire G irl s Gymn as ti cs Camp saw an enro ll ment of betwe en 75 and B5 girl s pe r week fo r five weeks. We had a staff of 18 coac h es and gymna sts from th e New England area. Th e Camp was in it s' second yea r and both ca mp ers and staff had a trem endous lea rning experien ce t hro ughout th e short five weeks. The camp incl uded six 45 minut e classes w it h a ma ximum of 12 girl s t o a cl ass and two instructors. Each day spec ial sess io ns we re held which includ ed prob lem so lving, new mo ves, trampolin e lessons e tc. The nighttime sess ions were reall y great w ith th e staff taking a ve ry active part in th e sk it shows, sp las h parties, recreati o n acti viti es e tc. Surpri sin g to me were th e number of gi rls from outside th e New England area w ho attended th e ca m p and also th e num be r of weeks th at the girl s at te nded. Th e ca mp is a rea l down to ea rth c;) mp w he re we tri ed to teach moves and co mbin at io ns t o girl s so th at th ey can go ba ck h o me and work o n them w ith their own coach es, We ha ve six weeks pl ann ed for n ext yea r and through a survey questi o nnaire sen t o ut to all campers we have new id eas fo r class wo rk and special sess io ns so th at we can improve the level of th e girls th at att end and hopefull y th e overall level of gy mn as ti cs in th e G rea ter New Hampshire Ar ea, w hi ch is o ur prim ary goa l.

PROGRESSIVE GYMNASTICS CAMP Summer of 1975 mark ed a debut year for " PROGRESSIVE GYMNAS TI CS CAM P", held at an exclusiv e 110 acre pri va te ca mp in the Lake George area of New Yo rk . Th e ca mp ran a 10 day session from A ugust 20 through Aug , 30, Using the equipment and faci liti es of Camp Echo Lak e, PGC we lco me d ca mp ers from all over the New York and Ca nada area. Among those prese nt we re represe ntatives from Long Island, Westche ster, A I ba ny, Plattsbu rgh , Montreal , New Ham ps hire and Glens Falls, Th e camp program was d es ign ed to fit the needs of th e beg in ner leve l gy mna st up to the advanced by providing th e developing gymnast with an at mosph ere co nduci ve to learning and relax ed recr ea ti o n, Th e si x (6) gymna sti c sess io ns thro ugho ut the da y strived toward perfect io n o f pr ese nt skills, and exposure to n ew skill s w ith an eye toward analysis and und ers tandin g o f those co nce pts through ma ster classes, clini cs, and films , Each day ended with an additi o nal sess ion of strength and endurance co nditioning supervised by "sa rgea nt Sullivan " , The setting betwee n th e mo untains and lakes of the beau tiful Ad iro nd acks len t itse lf to working out of d oo rs as ind oo rs! Directors Linda Quitoni (coac h at Nassau Community College) , and Jaso n Qu ito ni guid ed an excellent staf f w hi ch spec iali ze d in new and innovative coac hing and t eaching technique s. Speciali sts included Ca th y Foge rty, pr evio usl y from Towso n Stat e Co ll ege and Marvateen Gym School , M arge H o d as fro m To wso n State, Carol Sulli va n, prev io usly from East Stroudsburg State Co ll ege and coac h of division champs from Mamaroneck, New York , and Andre Prok 05, assistant coach of Brookside Long Island t ea m, Coaches and ca mpers were sorry that Di ck Zuber o f Marva tee n Gymnastics School in Maryland , was detained ' due to illness, Man y of Di ck's techniqu es and id eas were utili zed , and we thank h im. GYMNAST Dec. '75

Ever yo n e built u p qu ite an appetite during the da y and the food at PGC was exc eptional! Second s and Third s in the mai n co urse were common , and no o ne eve r passed up dessert! Though th e gym nas ts wo rk ed at least four (4) hours a da y o n eq ui p ment and dance, there were also swim sess io ns, test periods, and open workout hours for rela xa ti o n, Evening hours were filled w ith many different activiti es including flashli ght sin gs aro und th e campfire, skits and songs from ca mp ers and staff, roller skating, Dut ch Aucti ons, Mov ies, and Tenni s and Arts and Craft s, Th e arts and cra fts craze was " plaqu e mak in g" , made by cuttin g p ictures of fa vorit e gy mn asts out of old and new Gymnast Ma gazi nes, and laminating th em onto wood, Our thank s to Gymnast Magazine, for sending us ex tra cop ies! Many of our campers asked for Gymnast subscription s for themsel ves after makin g pl aq ues, Two spec ial p erformances we re planned during th e ten day prog ram, In one excitin g exhibition we shared the billin g w ith anothel' camp who p erformed a dance conce rt fo r us. Our show in cluded giant pyramid s, fire torch drills, sy nch ro ni ze d tumblin g, and rapid fire vaulting , w hil e we enj oyed wa tching other campers perform " sce nes from th e W iz". The seco nd ex hibiti on preceded a tea rful departure o n Sat urday mo rnin g, bringing to a close 10 da ys of hard work, ac hes and pains, and lots of new f ri end s and fun. Ca mpers parents and friend s enj oyed the performances of their children and th en o bse rved each child perform in mini- sessions o n each appa ratu s.

701 Beta Drive Cleveland, Ohio 44143

GREAT STYLES FOR ACTION For the tops in style and quality for dancers, gymnasts, skate rs and sports "persons" . . . even records and instructio n manuals for teachers, write for Taffy's great list of catalogs and brochures and join Taffy's great mail ing list .

ATLANTA BOSTON CLEVELAND DALLAS

PGC experienced a ve ry success ful fir st summer and is bo un d to an eve n bigger and better program fo r 7 6, I nt erested gymnasts should writ e to Box 233 , Dee r Park , New York, 11729.

STATE REPORTS If you have important material that should be included in your State report please send it directly to your State representative for coming editions of GYMNAST. .. If you do not see a named representative for your State it may be that the assignment has not been formalized or that we have not received a request from anyone in your state applying for the position ... This is just a start of what we feel will build into a most important feature and service of GYMNAST magazine. Support your State reporter with materials and ideas that will help stimulate Gymnastics in your area.

AZ Arizona Lois Bernhardl 3414 N. 63rd SI. Scottsdale . AZ 85251

AR Arkansas Ldrr y G. We lch

177 Pike Ave . Jacksonville. AR 72076

ARKANSAS STATE REPORT After returning from Philadelphia where gymnastics is a way of life (one need only to watch Ann Carr to be advised of this), Arkansas would indeed be like going into the deepest wilds of Africa. Well , "I'm here to tell ya'" that happily "i t ain't so!" Gymnastics in Arkansas is "alive and flipping!" Gymnastics is in the primary stages but its growth, and potential for growth in the next few years , is great indeed. Where then is all this interest conce n· trated, so you say? I wish I could say in every high school and college in the state but alas this is not the case. It is the hope of many teachers that as Gymnastics becomes a greater and greater focal point in the public's eye these schools will take a more active part in participation , as well

as training. There is a great concentration of gymnastic instruction in the central part of the state; namely in the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock. As one goes throughout the state gymnastiCs is sure to be seen in the larger cities (Fort Smith , Hot Springs etc.), but for those th'at live in the smaller towns .. well, don't worry we'll get to them soon . The promising aspect is that in all clubs and teams one will find girls and boys starting at a very young age. It is the writer's wish to take some space to elaborate on a few of these teams and club;. North Little Rock Community Center Here one will find one of the largest (650+), and best , programs of instruction in the. state. The Comm. cente r is headed up by Kerry Williams, a native of Ark. Kerry has 2 able helpers who are students. at The Unversity of Ark . at Little Rock: Larry Taylor and Larry Ward. Upon first observing Kerry's "Elite" team this reporter was amazed indeed. The "Super· stars", as they are called, consist of nearly 20 girls ranging from age 10·13, the youngest member being Sharon Dees. Sharon's sister got her started in "the beautiful sport" at age 3 and Sharon's

been turning cart-wheels ever since , not to mention front flips , flip flops , back hand · springs .. well, let it sufice that as the season continues the "Superstars " will be a team to reckon wi th . Thimbles Gymnastics "Thimbles" is located in Little Rock and is run by a New Mexico native, Bob Smith. His aids in teaching are: Debra Dyx and from India, Annand Kadam. The program stresses the steady work on tech nique and the need to really explore the basics. Dance instruction (Debra's Dept.) in Ballet is a large part of the program and required by all team memo bers. Bob's "Elite" team consists of 10 girls who , in their coaches words , "will be trouble for the 'Superstars' as the year progresses." The team members range from age 7·16andare spending a lot of time

CALIFORNIA STATE REPORT California State Unviersity, Northridge should field the finest gymnastics team in its histor y thi s year. Returning Division II National Ring champion , Larry Bilow will lead the Matadors as they take on all the fine Div ision I te ams in the Southern California area. Losses from last year's squad include: two time Pommel Horse All American Charlie 'Richards and also, two time All American All Around man , Noboru Miyagi. Larry Bilow, now an excellent all around man will be complimented by a whole field of other all arounders: Charlie Fujikawa, Neil Resnick , Mike Washlake , Gordon Clarke , Jack Torrey und Steve Luce. Also , helping round out the team will be specialists: Tony Buras, a Jr. on rings , freshman Ron Bell, pommel horse and rings, soon to work all around and Frank Perrino , a sophomore pomm · el horse man.

working on com puisories at present.

"Thimbles " consists of 300+ "Gymnastically Crazed" people and is growing every day. Tumble Jungle & Y.M.C.A. Two relatively new programs in the state are T .J. and the West·Side Y.M.C.A. in Little Rock. T.J. is owned and operated by Lavon Pryor and his wife Karen. They are presently instructing 150+ gymnasts. The Y . M . C.A. program is under the guidance of Ms. Jan Jacoway and she has 100+ young gymnasts under her wing. Colleges In her first year at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Ms. Sherry Medley is working hard with her 10 yo ung ladies in hopes of shaking up the sports program a bit and grab some of the football crowd. Her girls are young but definately eager to learn and with the likes of SaJ.li Starnes and Jean Block they may attract the "pigskin rooters". Both of these girls are instructing other young gymnasts as well as participating on the team. The men 's team at U.A.L.R. is not large but one fellow by the name of Pat Wisen· hunt may change that very soon , Pat is a former 1973 nationally ranked gymnast (3rd on the Bar and 4th on the Floor) who has recently transferred to U.A.L.R. from Louisiana. It is Pat's sincere hope to help Sherry turn a few heads this year. Space will not permit the mentioning of all clubs and teams but don't worry I'll get to you. The big event for October was a Clinic sponsored by the N.L.R. Community Center on the 25th featuring Vannie Edwards. That 's all for now , so remember " Gym· nastic Nuts ": When in doubt Flip Itl

Colorado

California Mark Davis cl o GYMNAST P.O . Box 1IO Santa Monica.CA 90406

Larry Bilow John Draghli sent in some belated , but appreciated scores from last seasons California State Junior College Champion · ships. Long Beach won its 7th consecutive championship with Golden West upsetting Pasadena for 2nd. This was the first time in Golden West's histor y that they beat Pasadena. CALIFORNIA STATE GYMNASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS Long Beach City College May 3 , 1975 Team Champions: Long Beach 168.60; Golden West 158.99; Pasadena 155.72; Deablo Valley 142.70. AA: Martin (LBCC) 50.29; Cruz (LBCC) 49.27; Parades (Har) 46.19. FX: Searles (GWC) 9.35; Parades (Har) 9.30; J. Johnson (GWC) 9.05. V: Searles (GWC) 9.35 ; Abrams (Val) 9.15; Parades (Har) 9.15. PH: Maghe (LBCC) 9.25; Seymour (GWC) 9.20; J ames (LBCC) 9.00. PB: Martin (LBCC) 9.10 ; Cruz (LBCC) 8.90; LaRue (LBCC) 8.80. HB: Hart (LBCC) 9.50; Martin (LBCC) 9.05; Strickley (LBCC) 9.50; Martin (LBCC) 9.05; Stricley 8.80. R: Schnee (LBCC) 9.55; Egan (lBCC) 9.30; Camarillo (GWC) 9.30.

Doug DeWit! No . 2 Tamaral Lane Englewood. CO 80110

Connecticut Ron Brown Koinonia Sc hool

of Sports. Inc. Rt. 21. P.O . Box 321 Thompson. CT 06277

Delaware Palsy I. Knepper 2030 PinehurSI Rd . Wilmlnglon. DE 19803

Florida Jack Miles 2030 Sunset Strip Ft. Lauderda le. FL 33313

FLORIDA STATE REPORT The first boys compulsory and skills clinic was great. Held in Ft. Lauderdale , 45 boys from all·over Florida were instruct · ed by Mike Jacki , Nick Alise , Don Gutzler and Dan Gatsinos. Six invita· tional meets within the state ha ve been set up. SE USA gymnasts are welcome to enter. Boys from Ft. Myers , Tallahassee Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Stuart , and Clearwater. Jacki, the expert from AMF American Co. really impressed the boys with his knowledge of techniques. Great Clinic. The girls clinic we held was great. There were 175 people there· gymnasts and coaches. Girls came from as far NW as Tallahassee , NE as Jacksonville , all over the place. The reason it was so great was the coac hing staff · all persons who had been to the masters clinics to learn the compulsories. Our USGF Direct ress , T. Bailie; our judging lady, Betty Davis, Bruce Davis , Ray Octavia no , Bev Martin , L.c. Chace and R. Marshall. Bill Chace is compiling a state club directory. contact Bill if you know he does not have your club name , address, etc. P.O . Bo x 9584 Riviera Bch. 33404. Larry Snyder will be representing the state in all Trampoline matters. The FGA is establishing meets in trampoline, mini tramp and tumbling (More on that in the future FGN news) However , let Larry know if yo u ha ve any of this type stumbler in your gym. 620 Majorca Ave. , Coral Gables 33134. Ann Quirk has started a program of Community School Recreation Gymnast· ics meets in the Broward county area. It 's a clever idea. They use comp ulsories only. Short cuts from Central Florida · Repor· ter Dan Thro - A few new schools have sprung up in the middle of Florida this summer; The Appolo Gym of Clearwater coached by Tim Carr , The Brandon School of Gymnastics coached by Laddie Vanac , The South Brevard Academy of Gymnastics dire c ted by Fred Martinez , and GYMANIA - John Robinson's school of Gymnastics (whose Gymaniacs re ce ntly placed 4th, wit h a 1st Honorable Mention , out of 900 contes· tants at the Ted Mack Talent Search in Tampa.)

GYMNAST Dec. '75

GA Georgia Karen Kolman

511 Lee Boulevard Savannah. GA 31405

Hawaii David Dale 1634 Makike ~ 905 Honolulu , HI 96813

HAWAII STATE REPORT Hawaii was fortunate to have Abie Grossfeld , former 1972 Olympic coach and coach of Ihe 1975 NCAA college division c hampions, to teach at a gymnast· ic clinic held August 4·5. Clinic directo rs we re Paula Tarikas of Punahou school and Brad Cooper of Kamehameha school. T he program was divided into sessions concerning:

1) lect ure-demon-

strat io n, theory of mechanics and spotting and 2) problem·solving, general workout for boys and girls. H awaii is moving up in gymnastics.

Coach Paula Tarikas took two girls to represe nt Region V to the AAU Junior Olympics held at Cornell University , August 6·11. Keri Baird , age 16 , took third place all·a r ound scoring a 66.20. Hawaii Gymnastic Association (HGA) held the ir e lections of new officers for the 19 75·76 year. They are as follows: President - Paula Tarikas; VP - Dave Marold ; Sec. - Pam Hiquera ; Tres. Stephen Ching; Men's Judging Chair.Don Heafner; Men 's Division Chair. Brad Cooper; Women's Div. Chair. Linda Hoogs ;. Women 's Judg . Chair.Lala Strandtman. Hawaii gymnastic teams are interested in setting up meets with mainland teams. Coaches if you are inte rested in a trip to Hawaii, Contact: Paula Tarikas HG A 27 Wylli e Street , Hono lulu , HA 96817.

Heavor received a 9.90 out of 10 points in 1975. This mark sta nds as the highest single score ever to be awarded an Iowa State Gymnast on any event. Good Luck to Coach Gagnier! Iowa State has a new coach for their womens team this year. Karmen Booth comes from Indiana State Universit y. Her season 'begins December 6 with an invitational hosted by ISU. Under the coaching of Char Christisen last year , the women won the Big 8 championship and qualified for the Nationals in California. Karmen mentions Margie Hudelson as one of her outstanding gymnasts for the 75·76 season. Hudelson won all around champion in the Big 8 in the 74·75 season. Vickie Kirk and Elaine Bechwith are seniors, and Gwen Whisler, a freshmen , shou ld be outstanding this yea r, especially since I have seen Gwen perform when our Clinton team competed against Bettendorf during the 74·75 season. I have received a note of acknowledge· ment from the University of Iowa public relations director. I should be receiving in fo soon. . My two assistants Shell y Carpenter a nd Karen Locke are doing a great job for me. They sent me the newspaper article about Judy Pauley from Grand View College , which I men tioned in my last article. According to Grace Smith, coach of Bettendorf H .S. girls gymnas· tics, Pauley's back was broken in three places and she is paralized. We hope she is doing as well as possible . Well , only three weeks and 4 days until November 4t h and girls High School Gym· nastics will begin. My girls are getting very anxious and I am even getting pre· pared for a super season. I will report on Girls and hopefully Boys H.S. gymnastics next month.

80.0; and Lawrence , 76.45. Indi vidual winners were: AA: Jill Carter (Derby) 8.45; Kari Nett (Wic hita South) 8.33; Donna Armstrong (Wichit a South) 8 .16. UPB: Donna Armstrong 8.8; Jill Carter 8.7; Kari Nett 8.65. V: (Tie) Kari Nett and Debbi e Theno (Shawnee Mission North) 9 .0 5; Jill Carter 9.0. FX: Jill Carter 8.5; (Tie) Donna Armstrong and Debbi e Theno 8.3 . BB: Debbie Theno 7.65 ; Jill Carter 7.6 ; Sandi Balot (Shawnee Mission South) 7.45. The 74·75 boys gymnastic high sc hool practice date is December 1st. Competi· tion will begin January 26th. Regionals are to be held March 22 and the State Meets April 3 . T he 5A schoo ls will meet at Wichita South with t he 4A and sma ller sc hools sched uled for Topeka West. The Boys State Meet scores were published in the August GYMNAST. Several Kansas YMCA's have join ed together to form a girls gymnastics league. Dave Halverson , a former University of Wisconsin gymnast , and Barbara Miles , a former KSU gymnast , both from the Topeka Y have been busy setting up the league competition brackets and rules. The league plans to begin competi· tion in November winding the season up wit h a League Meet next February or March. a meeting to fi nalize plans has been sc hedu led for October 27 at the Salina YMCA. The Kansas State Unviersity gym· nastics team lost their schools' financial suppo rt. We are happy to re port that the girls team has made plans to compete as a club. We hope they can keep the activity going a nd regain . their official standing with the University. The Topeka YWCA gi r ls gym nastics classes presented a demonstration at the Highland Village shoppin g center on October 18th. Their performance was

Pam Goodman made in conjunc tion with the Octoberfest , a month·long celebration of the Arts in the Topeka area . Here and There· We regreat the loss of Tom and Jan Heineike from the Kansas gymnastics sce ne. Th ey will be missed greatly. We wish them the very best in their new home in th e great state of Texas . Congratulations to Gerald Carley on the open in g of hi s ne w "Elite Gymnastics Club" in Lawrence. A big Kansas welcome is exte nded to Ginger Temple and Dave Black, both former SIU gymnasts, who have taken over the reins of the Wichita Gymnastics Club . We understand t he very talented and personable Pam Goodman has tra n s· ferred to Southwest Missouri State. We

Kansas

R. Dean Stamm 2553 S.E. Alexander Dr Topeka, KS 66605

Idaho

Ms. Diane J . Ostrander 325 Montv ue Drive Meridian. 10. 83642

Indiana Mrs. Lorie Walke r 220 South Guyer Hobart. IN 46342

IA Iowa

Leah Eberle 399 Myra Place Clinton . IA 52732

IOWA STATE REPORT I have a full report from Iowa this month wit h the excepiion of a report o n Boys Hi g', School Gymnastics. I have not received any letters from 't he coaches , which disappointed me. Hopefu lly, I will be hearing from them soon. I have reports from some colleges and I would like to first comme nt on Iowa State Universit y,

Ames, Iowa. Coach Ed Gagnier wrote and se nt me some information . In his years

of gymnastics, Ed has been three times honored as National Coach of the Year, serves on the Olympic Gymnastics Com· mittee, and in 1970, he coac hed the U.S. World University Games team. He also turned out te n years of be ing num ber one in the Big 8 team championship. This year Ed a nd his Cyclone team will have a n all around strong team with Keith Heavor being the rings champion for two yea rs. GYMNAST Dec. '75

KANSAS STATE REPORT The girls gymnastics - college season begins in mid November and runs through the State Meet which is held in March. Five colleges we re represented at the 73· 74 State Meet hosted by the University of Kansas. Wichita State University (86.65) took the team championship followed by Kansas University (79.90) in 2nd and Washburn University (76 .50) of Topeka in 3rd place. Following are indo ividual wi nners: AA: Pam Goodman (WSU) 33.25 , Widge Swartz (WU) 25 .00; Carol Kroening (WSU) 24.55. UPB: Pam Goodman (WSU) 7.8; Trudy Tucker (WSU) 5.75, (Tie) Jana Parker (WU) 5.45 and Candy Carttar (WSU) 5.45. V: Jody Manzon (KU) 8.6; Pam Goodman (WSU) 8 .3; Laurie Propet (KU) 7.85. BB: Pam Goodman (WSU) 8.5; Karen Smith (KU) 8.25; Karen Fleeger (KU) 7.9. FX: Pam Goodman (WSU) 8.5; Laurie Propst (KU) 8.35; Karen Smith (KU) 8.25 . The girls gymnastic s high school season will be moved to Fall next year. This year the practice date is November 15t h wit h competition to begin January 12t h. Reg· ionals are scheduled for March 12 and the State Meets will be Ma rc h 20. Th e 5A sc hools will meet at Shawnee Mission North while t he 4A an d smaller schools will be competi ng at Wichita-KapaunMt . Carmel. The 73·74 State Meet was held at Washburn Rural in Topeka. Wichita South High , 92.0, sucessfully defended their Kansas State Team Title with 2 nd going to Shawnee Mission South, 90.0, followed by Wichita-Kapaun-Mt . Carmel, 85.85; Newton , 85.5; Topeka West, 82.65; Shawnee Mission Northwest , 80.0; Wichita Southeast ,

Kan sas State Report cont inued from p.. 65

wish her the best of luck and contin ued success . Many coaches, judges and gym· nasts made the USGF Kansas Compulsory Workshop a big success. Rumor has it the Region III USGF Champio nships may be headed for Topeka . This reporter would like to invite those of you interested in gymnastics in our State to participate in this report. If you ha ve gymnastics news which you would like to see pub li s hed in this c o lumn , please call me at (913) 235-5075 or send it to me at the above address. You mayalso contact Robin Lynn T e rre ll, 513 Columbus, Newton , Kansas, 67114 , who has consented to be my assistant. We are compiling a list of gymnastic activities in Kansas. If you manage , coach or participate in a gymnastic club , class or activity , please let us know the who , when and whe re of your acti vity.

Ke n t uc k y Gail Mal o ney 703 Wa terford Road Louisville. KY 40207

ME Maine

Lu( !e Ta rdi f 39 Whipple Stree t Winsl ow. ME 04902

MAINE STATE REPORT Waterville 's girls gym nastics team is probably the most phenomenal item ever to be recorded in Maine sports history . The phenome non is t hat they are the only a thlet ic team in the state to ever win si x consecutive state championships. They wo n them in Waterville, Bangor ,

Waterville again , Gardiner twice, and Brunswick , respectively from 1969 to 1974. Their streak ended in Farmington in 1975 when the previous year's hosts set re venge for being beaten in their own gym; Waterville placed second. Anyo ne who was on Waterville 's team during those six years earned praises for her efforts. But nine specia l persons were partic u larly ef fe c tive in the growth of Waterville 's championships. Dorie Hawkes , could probably be the "queen " of Maine schoolgirl gymnastics. She coached three undefeated champions hip teams at Waterville from 1969 to 1971, skipped a year , then stuck another winning seaso n in for good measure . Prior to her involvement in gymnastics she was a ph ysica l education teacher in Oakland . Although no longer coaching, she is currently president of the Maine Gymnastics Association and one of the most prominent judges in the state . Ginger Stone was there in 1969 when Waterville took its first championship. She tied for third in the state in vaulti ng a nd took sixth in bars . She attended Dean e Junior College in Mass . and returned in 1972 to rep lace her former coach , kept the winning ways of Waterville , and once again they were state champs. Now Mrs. Ginger Lord , she has do ne some' coaching at the Bangor " Y" and t he Waterville " y n gym nastics camp and clinic . Ginger will be head in g the gymnastics program at the Waterville " Y" this year. Margot Kempers , t he other tie for third in '69, graduated in 1970 and did not go empty handed . She took the champion· ship in beam and bars and 6th in vaulting. She continued her education at Brandeis U . in Waltham, Ma ss . , and is n ow coaching at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. She also headed the " Y" gym camp in Waterville this past year. By 1971 , Waterville's freshmen a nd sophomores we re making their debut in Maine gymnastics. One of them, Laurie

Hawkes, da ughter of Dorie , was prob· ably the most daz zling of the new girls. At the '71 state meet , she took fifth in vaulting and beam and 6th in fl oor, but how s he did it was the c lincher. A week ear li er she had injured her leg in a car mis hap ; but her spirits remained undaunted. The fo ll o wing year she won beam, placed second in floor . She left Waterville in '73 with a fift h in floor and went on to major in biochemistr y at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. She was offered the coaching position at Brunswick High whil e a sophomore in college, took it and found herself the mentor of the team that dethroned her alma mater , all in her first and only season as a coach. Laurie is curre ntl y doing a semester at the University of Nigeria and will return in time to participate in Bowdoin gym nas tics ; but Brunswick will go witho ut her this year. The r~mai nin g gymnasts include Peggy Jabar , former c hampion in beam , bars and floor (in o ne year) and ' 74 graduate , is now o n the Springfield Exhibition team and has coached at Olympic training ca mp s ; Patty Winters , '73 g rad an d former vaulting c hampion , is competing o n the UM at Augusta team , assis tant coach at Winslow High (Waterville's arch rival) and now coac hing junior high and high sc hool at the "Y"; Paula Connatser, '74 grad a nd three time floor champ , has been involved in dancing for several years, assi~tant taught at a local dance sc hool and is now work ing in Boston ; Nancy Nason , '73 grad, vaulting champ in her senior yea r; 2-time cha mp in college, one for UM Presque Isle and one for UM Farmington , is now considered the most prominent vaulter in Maine colleges; a n d Debbie Boardman, '69 grad of Skowhegan High and ' 73 grad UM Presque Isle , coached- Waterville for the past 2 yea rs.

Michigan Paul S. Shedlik II 048 Morley Taylor. MI 48 180

Michigan State Reporter Paul S. Shedlik is 37 years old the husband oj Georgene, and Jahter oj Sandra 13, and Gregory 9. He is liuing in Taylor, Mich igan and is emp loyed by General Motors Techn ical Center, Warre n, Mic higan, as an experimental technician. His hobbies are photography, and golf. lnuo/· ued in gymnastics the past three yea rs, photographing euents thot his daughter competed in.

MICHIGAN STATE REPORT One of the most needed and interesting gymnastic sessions held this past su mmer in Michigan was hosted by Steve Whitlock School of Gymnastics (Bloom-

Maryland Margie & G reg Weiss 180!> Gamewell Road

Silver Spring, MD

Phot o at left is of Waterville's 1973 State Championship Team (photo by George Baines ) Photo at right is of Waterville's first State Championship Team in 1969 (photo by Dic k Maxwell).

MARYLAND STATE REPORT El ite compe tit ors fr o m Maryland will trave l to Pennsylvania fo r the first pre-elite qua lif ying me e t to be h el d in Monessen o n November 1 and 2. The Metropolitan League , a group of several teams from the Washington a nd surr· ounding area, will start competitions n"xi month, with an open meet scheduled for the Baltimore a rea. An open meet sponsored by the MG Gymnastic Team will take place in December, o n the 14th. Both of these meets a re compulsory·oriented. The Ma ryland Association of Health a nd Physical Education and Recreation held it s an nual 'co n ven tion in Baltimore at Lockraven High School late in October. The new school provided excellent facilities for all sports, including gymnastics. Representatives fr om the various ap paratus co mpanie s we re p resen t , and the gymnastic instruct ion was offered by Greg & Margie Weiss. Says arepresentative of the Baltimore cou nty sc hool recreation department ih gymnastics , "Gymnastics has grown so muc h in the Baltimore area that the rec department and the local private teams cannot keep up with the demand, especially in girls' gymnastics." Elementary sc hool gymnastics was covered by ~r . Gary Smith.

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City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ State _____________ Zip _____ Club/Camp _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ GYMNAST Golden Hundred r.o. Box 110 Santa Monica, Ca. 90406 GYMNAST Dec. ' 75

field Hills). It was held the last week of Augus't , at the National Summer Palaestrum Camp, near Traverse City. Attending the sessions we re the Plymouth Gymnastic Team , and coach John Cunningham , Flint Olympians and coach Judy Fryhite . Assisting Steve Whitlock were his instructors AI David , and Charles Morris. Steve's effort and purpose of his ses-

Missou r i Randy R. Nelson 3931 Taravue tiC . St. Louis. MO 63125

sion was to:

New Hampshire

• Standardize age group compu lsory routines throughout Michigan, (In the past compulsories have been taught different ly, causing disputes during competition.) • Have state-wide uni ty between teams . (The c hance for teams to get acquainted a nd have a socia l relationship.) • Benefit from the technique of other coaches. AI David stated: Although time did not a ll ow for advanced publicit y and more team part icipation, t he purpose of t he session was accomplished with those teams that attended. The U.S.S.R. National Gymnastic Team featuring Olga Korbut will be at Olympia Stadium (Detroit) , Dec. 14 , 2:00 P.M. Don't forget I Send me yo ur news-

Jack Jablonsk i 489 Pine Street Manchester. NH 03104

NJ New Jersey Albert Kowalski

88 Iroquois Ave. Lake Hiawath , NJ

07034

New Me xico Graham E. Bartlett

5505 Acoma Rd. SE Albuquerque, NM

87108

worth y items on gymnastic events in your

area. New Mexico State Reporte r Graham Bartlett has a BS in math and physics from U of New Mexico and an MA in Counseling from the same insti· tution . He owns Gymnastics Unlimited, which has been in existence for 5 years. He started age group gymnastics in New Mexico. It is a fact that % of the age group coaches in the state were trained either as gymnasts or as coaches by him. He has pushed the USGF program in the state and has run most of the AAU meets. He is a founder of the USA IG C, which is now a member of the USGF. He is in the sport because he enjoys it so much. It is obuious from his educational back'ground, that he could get a job in a rnore lucratiue profession , but frankly he is hauing fun. He has been married 7 years and has a daughter, Mandy, who is 4 and two sons, Brandon and Ryan, both 6 months.

Minnes ota

Mrs. Marlys Binger

3921 Avondale 51 reet Minnefonka, MN 55343

Minnesota State Reporter Marlys Tennyson Binger began her interest in gymnastics at an early age,

when she became a student orthe dance (acrobatic· ballet!. This led to the position of teacher of dance. She became actively involued in gym~ nastics about three years ago, when her youngest daughter became a gymnast. To learn more about gymnastics, she enrolled in a class to become a judge. She also accepted the position of handling publicity for her daughters club the Mini-Hops . It was then that she became an ardent admirer of the sport. She is married, the mother of three teenage daughters and a professional poet. In addition to gymnastics her interests include: reading, writing poetry, needlepoint and knitting. She is also a novice sailor and cross-country skier.

NEW MEXICO STATE REPORT New Mexico , the ·Iand of e nchantment ; the land of high forested mountains, clear lakes , clean mountain streams , prarie grasslands that stretch for miles and that ever present , golde n sunshi ne. And in the middle sits Albuquerque , like a n island in the expanse of open space. To the east ,

t.owering a vertical mile above the city , are the Sandia Mountains; to the west, tlie volcano cliffs and then miles of ro lling grass land ; to the south the Rio Grande and its series of small towns; to the north , the Indian Pueblos . Before last year, outside of the schools , there were only a few scattered programs throughout the state , most of them on a recreation basis. None of them worked compulsories and only one competed in optionals outside of the state. Progress was very slow, and for years , a good solid basics program in the state was missing. Gymnastics' fantastic growth hit Albuquerque and last year there were three programs willing to run Cl~ss III programs for girls. We set up a state c hampionships and dug in to prepare our girls to win the tit le. With this incentive , the three clubs qualified 80 gir ls to state. The Class II prograrrriast yea r was small , but this year looks to be a good size program also. Also, we are bringing other clubs throughout the state into the class III program. New Mexico's basic program is on its way! Growing even faster is the boys' program. We are trying ve ry hard to set up a USGF program with the boys. last year, we used an AAU type set up , with the age determining the level of compulsory. This year , we hope to set up a class III program at all age levels. Next month , I will cover gymnastics in the high schools and the universities .

New York Vincent Savastano 3759 Wildwood 51. Yorktown Hgt s .. NY 10598

OK Oklahoma Laurann Rogers 4324 S. Braden Place Tu lsa. OK 74 135

OKLAHOMA STATE REPORT Oklahoma has had a surge of interest in girls gymnastics in the past few years. Our boys gymnastics is not growing as rapid ly. There are beginning girls teams over a ll parts of the state and clinics to learn the new compulsories are well atte nded. Over 75 girls atte nded the Oklahoma University Clinic conducted by OU Gymnastic coach Pa ul Ziert and Oklahoma City Twisters coach Mary Welin . The first fall meets have been mainly compulsor y meets at the beginning level in order to get girls ready for qualifying meets for the state USGF meets. Many more teams will have C lass II and 1 gymn asts t hi s year as the teams progress state wide. The Phillips 66 Eighth ,Annual Gymnastic Championship was our biggest fall meet wit h 180 girls from Oklahoma , Colorado , Kansas, Missouri a nd Texas compet in g optiona ls in 3 age brackets. Rated officials were broug ht in from 5 states to make this a smooth meet. All four events were going at the sa me time with · o ut crowding in the large arena . A separate warm-up gym was available at all times adjace nt to the arena. The boys compe ti tion was held separately on Friday night with about 50 gymnasts e ntered in it. This meet required the girls to h ave a 6.5 ave rage to enter w hich made it a very fine meet. Thanks to Randy Schumacher for hosting such a large well run meet.

North Carolina

Oregon Dean Berry 148 West 12th Ave Euge ne, OR 97401

Elissa Fine 2611 Old Kanuga Rd . Hendersonville, NC 28739

OH Ohio

Bob Sherman 1217·0 Loc khursl Rd . Columbus. O H 43207

OREGON STATE REPORT Nearing the half way poi nt of Oregon's fall high school gymnastics season , two schools a re well on their way to establis h: ing themse lves as the top duel meet teams in the state. .

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Oregon Stale Report conlinued from p. 67

The boys team from South Eugene has won all six of their meets this year. They re cen t ly defeated number two ra nked Park rose 126.01 to 111.38. In girls competition North Eugene has a 9·0 season record as well as a 103.88· 95.00 wi n over defending state champion David Douglas. The top all around effort in the state is held by North Eugen e's Danna Hopper at 34.40. Vernon Albert of South Eugene leads the boys race with a 42.50 all a round Score . State High School Championships will again be held at Portland State Univ. A lo t of new faces will be seen o n the awards stand whe~ the boys meet Nov. 28 and the girls follow on Nov. 29. In addition to the loss of state all arou nd champion Jim Kelch to Japan for trai ning it was learned that girls state all around c hampion Denise Hansen of North Eugene has moved to Seattle, Wash . The newly founded Oregon Club Coaches Association has been estab· lished to promote , o rgani ze and regulate independent club competition . It's first president is Paul Thompson of the Jewish community Center in Portland. Imp ortant dates for club coac hes to remember include the West Coast qualifying trials , Dec. 5 a nd 6, the week· end of Dece mber 13th will see the state heading in three differe nt directions for maj or co mpetiti on. Th e Multnomah Athletic Club of Portland will host the State USGF Class III championship. The Tigard School of Gymnastics and the Nat iona l Academ y of Artistic Gymnstie s from Eug e ne will send junior teams to the Can-Am Champions hips in Bellview, Washington . The fina l camp· etition will be in Phe oni" , Arizona by the National Academy and six o ther West Coast teams as part of the city's sponsor· ship of the 1975 Fiesta Bowl.

Pennsylvania John R. Buo ni

R.D. "3 West C hes ter, PA 19380

UT Utah Greg Ma rsden cIa College of Health University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 8411 2

Gynt

Sticks U.S.A.

Utah State R eporter Stephen (Greg) Ma rsde n was the 1972 AAU A rkansas State Champion in Floor Exercise, 1973 runner·up State AI/· Around Champion. Greg coached both Women's and Men's Gymnastics teams at Arkansas State Uniuersity in 1973 and is Women's Gymnastics Coach at the Uni· uersity of Utah . The past year he taught gymnastics at the Uniuersity of Utah and at Utah Academy of Gym nastics and he was assistant meet director at the USGF Region I Championships. He will be has · ting the AlA W Regional Championships this March. UT AH STATE REPORT In Utah as in most areas of the country, due to bette r television coverage given gymnastics at the '72 Olympics and the enact'ment of Title IX , which forced public educational institutions to upgrade their wome n 's a thl etics pro gr ams, women 's gymnastics has mushroomed in popula r· ity. Altho ugh isolated somewhat geogra· phically, gymnastics ent h usiasts in the Salt Lake Va lley, which cont ains about 80% of Utah's tota l population, have in the last two years fought desperately to bri ng quant it y a nd more importantly quality gymnastics to this area. Results of their work became evident this past year. Over five hundred high school girls competed in their s ta te meets at Class I, II and III levels. Thirteen Class I gymnasts, represe nt ing four private clubs within the Sa lt Lake area , qua li fied for U.S.G.F. Nationals , in the first Class I Region I Women 's Champ· ionship meet eve r held in Utah . Shannon Coleman placed fifth and Tammy Has· ler placed sevent h in fl oor exercise and bars, respecti ve ly, at U.S .G. F. Jr. Nat· ionals. Internat ional gymnastics took root with a visit by Japan ' s Nippon Gymnasti cs Club. The summer was high · lighted by what is always a spectacula r and excit in g exh ibition via the So viet gym· nasts. As encouragi ng as thi s past year has been for us here in Utah, we feel even greater excitement as we look 'forward to the yea r to come, "the year of the O lym· piad." Five Utah gymnasts will be attemp' ting to qualify Elite , to reach that elusive plateau in the climb towa rds gymnastics excellence. We who face the magnificence of the great "Rockies" daily rea li ze that gymnastics, like the mountain , is unfor· giving of error. We accept the c hallenge and worship our oppo rtunity to attempt the cl imb. And climb we must , all of us, state by state , together approac hing the summit and perhaps one day leading the climb whic h rea ches ever nearer gym· nas tics perfection .

VT Vermont

Ho lly C. Szabo 12 Dian 51. Win ooski . VT 05404

VA Virg ini a Carolyn L. McGhee 8917 Elm Rd . Richmond , VA 23235

Virginia State Re porter Carolyn L McGh ee became interes· ted in gymnastics in high school in 1964. She then attended Easter Gymnastic Clinic in upstate New York ; there was no gymnastic training in the south at that time. After high school she had no access to equipment, so she dropped out of troining, but her interest didn't. A year and a half ago she started working at one of the four branches of Richm ond's YMCA , She went from teaching gymnastics at one YMCA to teaching at 01/ the YMCA 's. She is in the process of setting up a competitiue team,

Gymnaestrada with Rick Joy, and the Virginia Beac h Flyers . Not too far away is Hampteens of Hampton , a nd New· port News Recreation. Coming inland a little more we come to the city of Franklin with their YMCA. Karon 's come from North e rn Virginia, and the Southside Gym Club comes fro m Hopewell. Here in Richmond we have Gordon and Judy Shaw with the Ri c hmond Ol y mp ia d , World o f Gymnastics. The Olympiad team also toured England and Wal.e s this past summer . That's another story 'in itself. Last year was the fi rst year for Richm ond's YMCA invol ve ment in gym· nastics, but this yea r t he Tuckahoe branch is going all out to make up for lost time. Th e private c lu bs, a long wit h a ll the other gymna sts, are hard at work learning compulsories, periecting techniques , a nd 'developing new skills. We should have a fantastic year here in Virginia and yo u'll be informed of all our happenings from pri vate clubs, to High School and College.

and also teac hing gymnas tics at South

Washington

Richmond YMCA . She worked with Judy Shaw and Ric hmond 's Olympiad Gymna sti c Camp this past sum'm er, and hopes to be working with her this winter in the Olympiad Club.

Mr. James H. Adams 11929 198t h Ave . S.E. Issaqvah, WA 98027

VIGINIA STATE REPORT In searching out all of Virginia's gym· na s ti c activities , I have found th at her gy mn as ti c p r og ram s have been hidd en from the national public so long, that I have my work cut out for me to bring you up to date. So much is happening at this time that I'll write about the pri vate clubs, and la ter I'll te ll you abo ut the High School League a nd college competitions . Int erest in gym nastics has grown so rapidly th ese past few years tha t our private clubs have been hard at wo rk to keep up . T hey have d evelope d already talented gymnasts into hi g hly sk ill ed athletes by learning the newest tec hniques and perfecting the basic ones. Jud y Shaw of Ric hmond's Oly mpiad says that there will now be compe tition for all age groups in the three AAU classes. The compulsory clini cs are already in action through out the state. The list of clubs involved in AAU camp· etition has grown so that I'm sure I wo n't be able to list t he m all . In Roanok e there is Andrea's Gym Club wit h Andrea Moore also being the AAU state chai r· man. Virginia Beac h has two top clubs,

Washington State Reporter Jim Adams is a Nationally Rated Gymnastic J udge (Me n's), secretary of the Washington Gymnastic Judges Asso· ciation, coach of a small gymnastic club (for boys and girls) , and the Boy's Age Leuel Coordinator for Washington . WASHINGTON STATE REPORT The fall is a slow time for gymnastics in Was hington. Most of the activity in the sport li es in the private club ac ti vi ty, with limited age level competitio n. There is limited ac ti vity for Junior High School Girls, wit h a few organized league compet· iti ons held on a local basis during Sept. and Oct. The High School girls' seaso n extends through the middle of February and the boys' season extends fro m March through Ma y. both the g irl s and boys seasons are culminated by a State Level competition. There are curren tl y approximate ly 115 High Schools in the sta te wi th gi rl s' compe titive progra ms , and 20 with boys's teams (current school funding problems have eliminated 14 boys teams that camp· eted during the last season). There are more than 25 private clubs in the s tate, mostl y with girl's competitive programs. Currently , there are fewer than six clubs offering programs for boys. At the Call · Slate Reports cant. o n p. 72

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State Reports continued egia te level, th ree schoo ls have Men's teams , a nd six o ff er in g Women's pro · grams.

Upcoming events of interest to gymnas· tic followers include: Was hington Gymnast ic Clinic - Dec . 27·29, 1975 (will be held at Sammamish H igh School , Bellevue , Wash .) and Washington Gymnastic Open Competition for Men and Women - J anuar y 3·4, 1976 · (will be he ld at Kent Meridian High School, Kent , Washington .)

West Virginia Garnet Robinson 80 1 Universi ty Ave. Morgantown , WV 26505

Wisconsin Tom Sisulak Gymnastics Coach LaFollette High School 702 Pflaum Road Madison . WI 53716

During the 1974·75 gymnastics season , De nnis was a senior at Madison La Follette Hig h School, Madison , W isco nsi n . Denni s qualified as All America n on the Still Rings. In order to qualify as an All American, D e nnis had to average 8.45 or higher in a total of at least five meets .. T wo of the five meets had to be large meets, such as invitationals or champions hip meets. De nnis had a final ave rage of 8.47. As the head gym nastics coach at LaFollette , I was very happy for D e nnis when he received the final confirmation of his All American rating. Dennis did not com· pete in gymnastics as a freshmen and had never participated in gymnastics at all unt il his sophomore yea r. H owever, he rea ll y made up fo r missing his freshmen yea r by building a set of st ill rings ont o a hickory tre e in his backyard. H e is an excellent example of a dedicated gym nas t! He is definitely deserving o f this All American Award in its truest meaning! D e nnis practices six days each week for abo ut three hours or more, and when the gymnasium is c losed, he will practice out· side on his own ring set. He will practice whether it is 90' in the summer or 32' in the winter. He is an exce llent athlete to coach and has been a tremendous pro· mater of our sport of gymnastics . T o

[ETTERS NO INTEREST? Gentlemen: Boys interest in gymnastics in this area is almost non ·existant . I find men coaches would rot her take the higher coaching jobs of soccer, football at $1 ,000 instead of th e gymnastic team at $160 per season . Can't blame them··how would you sug · gest this situation be remidied? (lnteres· ting the women are never offered the opportunity to coach the "ba l/" games). Sincerely, Dolores Burns Scarsda le, NY. Ed: Perhaps the rapid growth of the private gymnastics clubs are a direct response to this evident lack of vision on the part of public school administrators to the popularity of the sport. Readers comment would be welcomed in regards to promo ting the growing importance and popularity of our sport to the public education administrators.

GENE WHELAN Gymnast· Teacher · Friend Some gym nasts compete well Some gymnasts tea ch well Some gymnasts are just plain good guys. Just like the Pan Am Trials , Gene Wh elan wins the all·around on gym nast · teacher & friend competition. Gymnasts are athletes but mainly just plain people. Gene works for his ability. Not a "natu ral " child prodogy but a struggling adult. He nat only works out twice as hard as most guys. He also gives of himself to others. More completely and sincerely than any other male gymnast of his caliber. Watchin g him train for the past 2 summers, I must say the Glee in childrens eyes when he takes time from a busy work·out schedule to pat them on the back. Recognizing that being a teach · er is more than mumb ling tec hniques. Gene gives time to build self confidence in 15 yr. old NO· BODIES. Gene is a friend to those children who need one and reinforc · es positive attit udes in those who ha ve

none. Someone like Gene is a complete asset to any international squad. A joy at any

camp or clinic. And a great friend to those who know him. I wish to remain unknown

Dennis gymnastics is no t just a sport ,

WISCONSIN STATE REPORT By Tom Sisulak History was made during the 1974·75 Wisconsin Boy's High School Gymnastics Season with the recent confirmation o f Dennis Baal as the very first National High School Gymnastics Coaches Asso· ciat io n All Ame rican from the state of Wisconsin. Prior to the 1974·75 season , there had ne ver been a N HS GCA All American from Wisco nsin . Dennis Baal received the officia l notification in Sep· tember from the NHSGCA .

it is part of his life. He is a n excellen t student in the classroom and a fine c iti zen in his home co mmunity.

Dennis is now attendi ng the University of Wisconsin in Madiso n a nd plans to continue his gymnastics career with the varsity gymnastics team. Congratula· tions and best of success, D e nnis .

PEN PAL I was reading some of your le tters and one was talking about pen pals. My name is Mary and I am 11. I would be very inter· ested in having a gymnast for a pen pal. I go to "Heck's" gymnastic center and I like gymnastics a lot. Sincerely, Mary Coons 222 E. Lincoln Orange, Calif. 92665

No te: T o fut ure All Ameri ci\n Gym · nasts , we will write articles similar to this one eac h year for those qualifying as NHSGCA All Ameritans.

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PUZZLED Gentlemen: I give up. I tried to get this in voice into the envelope yo u supplied without cutting or folding. It must be a gymnastic trick · my son is the gymnast· I'd ask him but he's away .. Can you please show me how?

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NOT ENOUGH JUNIOR OL YMPIC CO V ERAGE To the Editors: I have been involved in the gymnastic world for the post three years, and I have . enjoyed reading Gy mnast magazine during th is time. I realize that gymnotics has really grown in this country within the past few years , and that there are more campet · itions now than ever before . I also realize that most people enjoy reading about the progress of the papular . and well known elite gymnasts in the United States . However, I do not feel that all ot her gymnasts should be passed over, and I find your magazine doing that more now than ever before. The advanced and inte rmediate gym na sts are also dedicated and hard working, and I do believe they deserve some publicit y for their accomplishments, especially on the National level. I was greatly disappointed that Gymnast m agazine failed to cover th e USGF Junior and Senior Nationa ls, the USGF Junior Olympics or the AAU Junior Olympics . The girls w ho competed in th ese nat ional competitions did an outstanding job, and they should have received some recognition , even if it was only a listing of the final scores . Th ere are many more non e lite gymna sts in the progrom than there are elite gymnasts , and it isfun for them to be able to read about their contempora ries climbing the ladder to success. I hope you will consider this in the fu ture . and give more coverage, os you have done in th e past , to the non elite gymnast. Sincerely, A Co ncerned Fan

CROSSROADS: REBUTTAL Dea r Mr. Sundb y: I rea lize I am a state report e r and that it might not be right for me to write a lett e r to your "Lette rs" column . But afte r seeing the le tters sent by Laurie Carlson, Roxanne Mathie u, M.R. Blaisdell, D.Leis and Rae Ballassi , all published in y our Oc t. issue and concerning your August sto ry, " Cro ss road s " , I just could not re s is t writing. 0. K. people, cut it outll! First of all, Olga Korbut is not a spoiled brat (and she IS cute ). I'd lik e to se e you , Rae , try to outdo the accomplishments this girl ha s performed. If you bomb o ut in a gymna s t· ic s m e et, like Olga ha s a few tim es , wouldn 't you ge t upset and c ry? And, yes, I think s he WAS crying in anger at herself for no t doing a s well as she s hould have. And when you see that brilliant smile of hers , who on eart h care s about her cry ing and pouting ? (By th e wa y, when have yo u seen he r pouto) Nadia Comaneci. Here 's Q girl. who at 13 years of age , comes from Romania (a rath e r s mall country if y ou a sk m e ) go es to the Europea n meet, takes three out of 4 gold medals and det hrones the 21 (22?) year·old champ from the great c ountry of Ru ssia . And you dare to ask where she come s off badmouthing Olga ? Believe me, lady, she con afford tOI/! At 19, I can't even do a cartwheel a nd S HE'S winning European championships. True , she had no right to declare h e rself better than Olga , but seeing th e c onfide nce with whic h she won the Europeans , may be we s hould take heed to what sh e sa ys c on cerning '76. And finall y, I really and trul y admire L udmilla Tourischeva . S h e is an exceptional gymnas t and athlete and has done well. I really doubt she'll be o ut of the ru nn ing in '76.

BUT. fo lks , tak e a loo k -see a t what's coming: Ko rbu t , C o maneci, Tourisc heva, L y dia G o rbik , El vira Saadi , Anne lore Zinke and Nelli Kim. Don 't wa s te you r tim e try ing to fig ure o ut w ho's going to win what . Ju st think of how muc h fun YOll 'lI ha ve wa tc hing th e Olympics come J uly 18. I m yself am just going to sit bac k and watc h my fa vo rite spo rt for 10 da ys! Likes 'e m all, Lucie Tardif S tate Re po rt er for Maine PA TRIO TIC SUPPORT D e ar M r. Sundb y, and a ll res pe c ti ve readers.

In read ing a lett er in th e Oct. '75 issue of GYMNAST I find the fa ct tha t COllntr· ies like Russia ha ve a mllc h highe r level of g y mna s t ics. Th e rea so n being that th e R ussian gove rnme nt s upport s its athlet es. If o nl y o u r Un it e d Stat es g o ve rnm e n t wOlild loo k a t this facti In s tead of trying to outwit the U.S .S .R. by means of more nuclear power plants , we should o ut wit th e m w ith s t rong e r will e d a thletes and more b e allt ifull y bu ilt gov' t s upported gym s . Slipp ort ing a t hle te s t o my con c e rn m eans s upporting earnest U .S. citizen s, ra ther than the idea of political violence. It would fee l great to kn ow that th e United States go ve rning bod y has enough intellige n c e to unde rs tand th e meaning and purpose be hind it s own a thlet e s. Then , willI be convinced that this is actually the BEST country to live in. Athletes displa ying self·discipline , and devotion to th eir country and th e ir sport is a most beautiful s ight to see . Re m e mberin g that we are fr om th e s ame co untry le t s work to geth e r and change it s fault s. We mus t be united in re presenting ou r country w ith cOllrage rather than fear . W e should act now, because time is truly

of th e essence. Fo r ho w long will it take o ur gove rn ment to realize tha t it ha s mode Q mistak e in no t doing what o thers have do ne. lo ng ago ; Lis te n to th e people. Than k -you for th e space to express my fee lings . Sin cerely You rs , Sh aUll N oelle Poppe gy mnas t and citizen Irvine G ymnastics Park , Ir vine, CA. P.S . If I ha ve go tt ell off the trac k of gym nastics I a m truly sorry. It is ha rd holding ba ck one s thoughts, es pecially if they are means to be of some importance. T o a ll concerned w it h GYMNAST Ma gazi n e, " K eep LIP th e fin e jab · it's grea t!" VAU LTING I'm nOI too go od aI vaulting , A s man y peale might kn ow. It jus t seems kinda ha rd for m e . I g ues s I'm kinda slow. Coa c h trie s to explain Ho w 10 do it right. I I hink a bout il e ve ry da y . And practice it ai night. I a lso have the problem Of nOI going lip very high. He explains how to hit the boa rd . And tells me 10 reach fo r the ceiling or the sk y. . A no ther problem I have. Is a rching my back too mllch . Then h e explains fa me Ho w to pike jllst to the slightest touc h. These are jll s t a few Of the th ings I do wrong. I c ould s ii here fore ver A nd go o n and on . I have some trouble w ith vaulting A s Y Oli ca n clea rly se e. BUI 1'1/ n euer give LIp. I'll keep on trying. You ca n cou nt o n me! by Sharon Nicklow Kn oxville . Te nn .

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Le tters co nt inued from p . 73

TV COVERAGE Dea r Editor, I'm a gy mnastic fan beside s participating in the sport, I love watching it. If it 's at all possible , could you include information regarding whether or not any meets on yo ur colenda r will be on Nation al tele vision? I wish gymnastic s could be on TV more often and a s it is I sometimes miss the oc c asional meet that is televis e d . If it is too difficult to put the information o n the cale ndar, could the GYMNAST Magazine possibly announce any meets that will be televised the /allowing month? I hope you can help me, and all the other gymnastic fans who enjoy watching meets on TV. Than k You Kim Svevo Palos Heights, IL ED. We don't usually find out in enough time which me ets will be covered on National television. As for as we know, the only station to broadcast gymnastics on a National level is "A BC's Wide World of Sports" and that s hould be listed in your lo ca l TV guide.

SMALL HEARTS? To All Co ncerned: Wh y are yo u so upset about Nadia Comaneci? Nothing will change the fact that s h e defeated Turischeva . People c ried , " But she ha s n't enough e x perience!" That sure made a lot of difference when she become the European Champion, didn 't it ?

I won 't sa y that s he is THE BEST, because I dislike makingje rky value judgements - eve n if I had a set of values put forth by the universal fe deration of gymna stics headed by the all-mighty creator himself. Personally, I like T urischeva and Korbut . Ho wever, I avoid their fan s like the plague, because they act like mortal enemies {unlike their idols who are just th e opposite and have great mutual respect for each other}. Now these fans who are too s mall-minded to appreciate o ther gymnasts are attacking Comanec i. Are their minds {or perhaps their hearts} so small? . I'm sorry that this is such a long letter, but brevity is not always the soul of wit. Philip Shinkai San Francisco, Ca .

HIGH SCHOOL AND PRIVATE TEAM COMPETITION Dear Gymna st, This last summer I tried out for a better gymnastic team. As soo n as I began to train for this season , school started and the high school coach asked me if I wanted to join the team. "Gee, I'd love to ," I thought . I wont to compete for my school but ... I can't. Wh y is this private busines s and interschool clash and I'm caught in the middle. I'll probably have to get into a bunch of red tape because it's "illegal." I want to stand up for my rights. Help! A high school and private team

Unhopeful

A GYMNAST!

SUPPORT

Try to put yourself in her place, standing near the judge with a smile on your face. You hop and leap with pointed toes, roundoff, bockhandspring, backhandspring and pose. Right now, no one in the world could tell just how you feel, oh look! Russian splits and on aerial cartwheel. To get this routine just right you've got to get into the mood, wow, a back sammie, did you see that amplitude? The crowd seems to love you, and you continue by doing flipflops , you gracefully move along the floor and at last the music stops . The audience applauds loudly and some say oh isn't she cute? You walk away very pleased and then put on your warm up suit . You 're sweating and you 're nervous and in the gym it hotter than heck, and the tears roll down your cheek as they place the gold medal around your nec k.

As we all have read in the previous GYMNAST magazines about the "man ipulated scores" {GYMNAST Jan . 1975, pg. 15} and " grossly unfair judgin g " {GYMNA ST Dec. 1974, pg. 18} that the Communist influences exhibited, quite explicitly, we felt how alone and helpless the US . officials were in protesting these matters. The distance of the 18th World Games Championships was primarily the reason for this helplessness. We had little or not support present from the US., and thus, the voices were mere whispers that accomplished nothing, score wise. Our girls teams wa s obviously deprived of an actual chance to show what they could accomplish. we were predestined to fall into the 6th or 7th positions . At least this seems to be the view of the Comm路 unist nations that are so well represented in the form of head judges and officials of these world championships. Next year, however, w e must see to it that this does not happen. Are we

Gymnastically yours, Alice Dahlke, 12 Troy , Michigan

gymnasts s upposed to devote ou r lives to practising and perfec ting o ur perfor ma nces to achieve 6th place at the most? Is it worth it ? Not if the system isn 't overhauled and some sort of eq uilibrium is attained as to the Eastern and Western influences in the s e co m pet itio ns _ And nex t years Olympics is the ideal time and place to make o urselves kn own. Being in Canada, the presence of US . supporters should be considerably higher than in past meets. We must ha ve total support and involvement from everybody from the USA in the upco ming Olympic Games. When our representative gymnasts are performing, we shoud let the m and the judges know we are behind the m_ When , or if, they are not given impartial judging and sufficient scoring, we will not let it pass unnoticed. Our displeasure will be heard, and depending on the d uration and amplitude , s hould influen ce th e officials substanciolly. I, for one, wil be there and see to it, a s long a s my voice holds out , that our gymnasts are not deprived of the scores they truly deserve. I urge any and all gymnastic suppo rters to be present and vocally let the Co mm unist nations know that we will not sit back and allow such injustices , and especiallv that we are a potentially first class gymnastic country_ That politics has entered into the sport is truly sad, but it's a fa c t that must be acknowledged and one that must be dealt with accordingly. If we are to keep this beautiful sport from becoming totally consumed by the ugly grips of economics and political influence, then we have to make sure it ends, or at least ceases to become a major factor, at the ' 76 Olympics. Id ealistic? Yes , but I feel it is very possible. Let's hope it won't be necessary for such a demonstration of power, and that everything runs smooth. Sincerely, Jim Moore _Aspiung gymnast, ASU Tempe , Arizona

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1976

Nov. 7-10 "The Challenge of the Sexes" Linda Meth e ny aga ins t Mako to Saka mo to in gymnastics at Mi ss io n Vie jo, Califo rni a. Nov. 21-22 USC Open Uni ve rsit y o f South e rn Calif. Los Ange les, Ca. Nov. 22 Windy City Invitational, Chicago. Nov. 28-29 Midwest Championships, C hi cago. Nov. 29 CSUN Invitational, California State University at Northridge, Ca. Nov. 30 - Dec. 1 National AAU Committee Meetings (Gymnastics) Braniff Pl ace Ho te l, New Orl e ans, La " for more in fo. writ e AAU Ho use, 3400 West 86th Street, Indian apo li s, Indi ana 46268. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.

USSR/ TOUR 1975 7 New Yo rk , NY 8 Cl eve la nd , O H 9 C hampaig n/ Ur bana , IL 11 Los Ange les, CA 12 San Fra nc isco, CA 14 De t ro it , M I 15 C in cin na ti , O H 17 At lant a, GA 18 Wa shing to n, D.C.

Dec. 12, 13, 14 Asian Youth Games, Ma nil a, Phillipines. Dec. 12, 13 California Open, Uni ve rsity of California, Berk e ley , Ca lifo rni a. Dec. 12-13 Rocky Mountain Open, De n ver, Colorado Dec. 19-20 America Team Bicentenniallnv. Class 1& Elit e - Final s, Co nt ac t : Pat Alexa nd e r, P.O, Box 55035 Hou sto n , Texas 77055 Dec. 21-22 Gulf Coast National co nt ac t Pat Alexa nder, Box 55035 Ho uston , Texas 77055 Dec. 26-30 Titan Gymnastics Development Camp CSUF - Full e rt o n , Ca . Co nt ac t Di c k Wolfe Dec. 26-30 National Gymnastic Clinic (AAU), Robarts Aren a, Sa ra so ta , Fl o riua. Dec. 26-30 USGF Eastern Gymnastic Clinic, Fl. Lauderda le , Flo rid a.

Jan. 10 Kips Invitational CSU F - Fullerto n, Ca. Jan. 16, 17 Elite Program Second Regional Qualifying Meet, Sit e und e te rmin e d. Jan 29-30 US-USSR Gymnastic Meet Penn . State Feb. 6, 7 Elit e Program Second National Qualifying Meet. Sit e u nd e te rmin e d . Mar. USGF Elite National Championships, Site und e te rmin e u . Mar. 4, 5, 6 Pacific Eight Gymnastic Championships, Univer; it y o f O rego n, Eu gene, Oregon. Mar 5, 6 NAIA National Gymnastics Tournament, Univer; it y of Wisco nsin-LaCrosse , LaCrosse, Wi sco nsin.

Mar. 12, 13 NCAA East Regional Gymnastic Meet, Penn State Uni ve rs it y, Uni ve rsit y Pa rk, Pe nnsyl vania . Mar. 18, 19, 20 Western Athletic Conference GymnasticChampionships, Colo rad o State University, Fort Co li ins, Co lo rad o . Mar. 19, 20 Big 8 Gymnastic Championships, Univer;i ty of Co lo rad o, Bo uld e r, Colorado , Mar. 19, 20 NCAA West Regional Gymnastic Meet, San Jose St ate Uni versit y, Sa n Jose, California. Mar. 25, 26, 27 NCAA Division II National Gymnastic Championships, Uni ve rs it y o f No rth e rn Iowa, Cedar Fall s, 10 w;1. Mar. 26, 27 Big 10 Gymnastic Meet, Mi c higan State, East Lansin g, M ic hi ga n. Mar. 27 California Youth Invitational Optionals only, eligibilit y: 14 yrs and yo un ge r, 3 supe rior ea . event, 2 vault s 10.00 pt s. e ,1. Hoste d by Gymn astics Olympica, coac h Frit z Re it e r, Va n Nuys, Ca. Apr. 1,2,3 NCAA National GymnasticChampionships, Templ e Uni versit y, Phil ad e lphi a, Penn sy lvania. Apr. 8, 9, 10 USA Gymnastic Championships for Women, Si te und e te rmin e d. Apr. 10-11 YMCA Nationals, m e n and women , Beth esda-Ch evy C hase YMCA, Ma ryland Apr. 15-17 National AAU Junior Gym . Championships, Men and Wo me n, Ce ntury School of GymnastiCS, Pomona , New Yo rk. Apr. 23, 24, 25 National Gymnastics Conference and Workshop (Fo rm e rl y So uth wes tern Regional Gymnas ti cs Co nfe re nce a nd Wo rkshop), Las Vegas Convention Ce nt e r; Las Ve gas, Nevada, Hilton Internati o na l co ntact : To m Ed son , Physical Edu cation

Testing Coo rdin ato r, Ri ve rsi de County Sc hools Office, 401 5 Le mo n Stree t, P.O . Box 868, Ri versid e , CA 92502, Ph o ne : (714) 787-6431. Apr. 29, 30, May 1 National AAU Senior Elite Championships, M e n and Women, Exact site no t determin e d as ye t but will be he ld in Philadelphi a, conta ct AAU. May 6, 7, 8 Age Group Program USGF Junior National Championships, Site und e te rmin e d . May 13, 14, 15 USA Olympic Womens Trials at Los Ange les Sp or ts Are na. . May 20 and 22 Men's Olympic Trials, University of Cali forn ia. Berke ley, Ca lifornia . August 6-9 National AAU Jr. Olympic Championships, Boys a nd G irl s, M e mphis Stat e Uni ve rsit y, M e mphis, Tenn . cont act : AAU. Unofficial Schedule For the USGF Elite Program 1975-76 Oct. 31-Nov. 1 1st Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Dec. 5-6 1st National Elite Qualifying Meet. Jan. 16-17 2nd Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Feb. 6-7 2nd National Elite Qualifying Meet. Mar. 4, 5, 6 USGF Women's Committee National Elite Championships. Apr. 9-10 Master Elite Meet. May 13, 14, 15 Olympic Trials. July 5-14 Departure for Olympic Games. CLASSIFIED PO~1l10N AVAILABLE M,11l o r wo man 21 years; SA in ph ysical

£'du( ,111 011 d .I IlLl' o r f eul'Jli on pre ferr ed but no l required ; m ln( ' 1 II I .. , IIIl l' ve r y helpful. Cornpetiti ve gymn asti cs at al h.1I 1I I,d I.. vd IH rCdsu rlJbl e l eaching ex p eri en ce. $600-$800 P(" n l(lot h d epenu in g u n b<l ckg ro und o r ca pabiliti es; state hul,d.I Y"': \v tl r k lll ,IIl '~ cu.n p en sa lio n ; V4 time pO Siti o n fo r m'llllt'd I lI'htlll o r grJ u uJ te stu de nt. Duti es: Ass istant co ach to IJl H'l n ll'd i, IIt , .Jlll i ,JlJ vdlll:C'U girls (C la ss I & II ); head coac h bq': II!l1I'1 gir l-, : ( !)llIeSI r cs ~ ollS i b iliti es; so me tin y tots (4-5 ye ar old .. , .11 111 "n nll' .ul ull d JSS leJu ership exp eri ence desir abl e. \,\ ,11 \0\ ( 111., w illl t)W11Cr lu d eve lo p b eginner program s and II() l lbl{, " hnlli. .\ pru iJlelll so lving job w ith c halleng es in bLJ ~I I II ''''. ' I',wili ng .Inu publi c relati on s. M ust b e capabl e of ~1I("1f..: p o "il ivl! ClI lo ti o llJI .1 tt achlll enl to children and 1( · ( · ' l . l ~ t 'h. L. Jrgt~ g)'I llIlJs ti l:s JCJdem y and sat e llite studios ( ' qlll jlI H·d to r q l)' tnp ic ~ t y l c gymn asti cs fo r both men and \0\ u n It'll II I ') d u . lI ll c n tu. A ppl y to : Di c k and Janelle Burril.1. ~i.J( I , .n Il ' lllo ( ; ~' IIl Il" ~t i<.:,:> & Hall et Acad em y 5108 Ard en \:t,I~ ._~ ell n i l! h,II '1. C. 1. lJ5GUH. Ph o ne: (916) 48 2-5377.

FIRST NATIONAL GYMNASTICS CONFERENCE & WORKSHOP (Formerly Southwestern Regional Gymnastics Conference and Workshop) Hilton International Hotel, Las Vegas and Las Vegas Convention Center · April 22, 23, 24, 1975 THEME: Workshops in Techniques and Approaches (Skills/ Spotting/ Techniques/ Judging) in Gymnastics for Junior and Senior High School girls, Primary (Early Childhood) and Elementary Teachers, Physical Education Instructors, University Teachers, students and Private Club Programs. Separate seminars for coaches, teachers and students in JUDGING, SPOTTING, and SKILLS DEVELOPMENT for Beginning, Intermediate and Elite Compulsory and Optional routines plus Participation sections. In addition there will be participation and demonstration sections separate from the coaching seminars for elementary, junior and senior high school students in attendance. More participation sections will be added this year in lYz hour sections, than in previous conferences .

• LECTURE·DEMONSTRA nON • PROBLEM SOLVING SESSIONS • WORKSHOP SESSIONS • WORK·OUT SESSIONS • "NIGHT OF STARS" Some of the Workshop Leaders: Bud Marquette, Dale Flansaas, Marion Duncan, Jim Fountaine, Scott Crouse, George Hery, Liz Holey, Rod & Debbie Hill, Dick Gakell, Jo Ann Pasquale, George & Jo Kreutzer, Jack Medina, Fritz Reiter, Rodney Poindexter, Norbert Hill, Ed Franz, Vic & Gayle Krumdick, Elizabeth Stevenson, Cheryl Wagner & Tom Williams . For Additional

REGISTRA nON FEE: $25.00 - Coaches, teachers, college students (18 and over) $15.00 - Students: Elementary, Junior High, Senior High (18 and under) $5.00 - For late registrants after April 3, 1976

information please write to:

Mr. Tim Waldron 6655 Palm Ave., Apt. =71 Riverside , Ca. 92506

GYM - A - TARDo CUSTOM MADE COMPETITION WEAR 620 "THE SPRITE" Wed~e neckline, long sleeves, no zipper. Double trim collarette of 2nd and 3rd colors. Sleeve bands sewn 1" apart from bottom of sleeves. Adults: $9.50 Girls : $9.00

615 " THE CHEVRON " Notched V-front and back , with a chevron insert in front. Zipper fronl , long sleeves . Trim, zipper and insert of a 2nd color. Adults : $11 .75 Girls: $11 .25

622 "THE REGIONAL" V ·front, high back, long sleeves, no zipper. Athletic type armnole inserts in front and back of 2nd color. V ·trim on neck and bottom of sleeves of 3rd color. Adults: $11 .75 Girls: $11.25

600 "THE MAJESTIC" Circular neck· line, long sleeves, no zipper. 2Y," diagonal sash from left to right with y," trim around neckline and bottom of sleeves of 2nd color. Adults: $9.00 Girls : $8.50

623 "THE MANDARIN" Zipper front stand·up collar of a 2nd color wi th 2 stripes sewn around collar of 1st and 3rd colors , also on bottom of sleeves.

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

Adults: $11.25

Girls : $10.75

WRITE FOR CATALOGUE ON OFFICIAL STATIONERY TO: DEPT. C-1

MANUFACTURERS SINCE 1930

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

Here's how to bring vour trampoline up to A"STM safety standards! Recently the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) developed new safety standards for trampoline equipment. These standards have evolved, not only for safety of the performer, but for the protection of the instructor. The three items below are mandatory for all new trampolines furnished to schools. Bring your trampoline up to ASTM standards now by ordering these items!

Spring Hook Covers

Frame Pads

Cautionary Labels

All exposed spring hooks must be covered. Nissen has designed a flexible vinyl cover that slips on the exposed hook of the spring to help prevent skin cuts and abrasions. Covers remain on the springs permanently and do not hamper spring action. per set . . . ... . ... . ... ... . ... . . ... $5

The frame and part of the suspension system (spring ends connected to the frame) must be protected by frame pads No. 8890-C Goliath Standard Frame Pads (set of 4). . ...... .. ... $179 No. 1790-C Regulation Standard Frame Pads (set of 4) ... .... $173

Cautionary labels must appear on both sides of the trampoline frame and both sides of the bouncing bed. If your trampoline is not equipped with these labels a full set will be sent to you free upon request.

,-----------------------------------------1 I

ORDER FORM: Please send us the items we have checked below as soon as possible.

SPruNG HOOK COVERS

FRAME PADS

CAUTIONARY lABELS

_ _ Complete set for frame. bed and frame pads at NO CHARGE

I I I

__ Set(s) for Goliath Trampoline at $5 set

_ _ Set for Goliath Trampoline at $179

_ _ Set(s) for Regulation Trampoline at $5 set

_ _ Set for Regulation Trampoline at $173

SChool ________________________________________________

I I I I I

Narne _________________________________ Position __________

Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State __________________ Zip Code ______ Purchase order no. (if necessary) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Signature ________________________________

II __1_______----'1 IL

THE RELIABLE ONES

930 Ave. Cedar Rapids. 52406 Phone 319/365-7561 ___________ _27th __ _SW. __ __ _ _Iowa __ __ __ ______________