Gymnast Magazine - September 1975 by USA Gymnastics

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume XVII / Number 9 / September 1975 5. FROM THE PUBLISHER, G le nn sundby 6. CRILEY'S CHALK BOX 6. WHAT'S HAPPENING 7. CO-ED CAMPUS COLUMN, Gretc he n Dowsin g 8. USSR/USA SUMMER TOUR, Dick Cri ley 16. INTERNATIONAL REPORT, Kasamatsu in Front 01 Tsukahara and Kenmotsu, Dr. Joseph Gohler 16. 1975 NHK CUP, Paul Ziert 18. THE 6th GYMNAESTRADA - A DREAM OF BEAUTY AND HAPPINESS, Dr. Joseph Gohler 20. A FIRST HAND FIRST VIEW OF THE 1975 GYMNAESTRADA, Sunny Magdaug 22. PRE-OLYMPIC UBSERVATIONS, Montreal, Ingrfd a nd DieterSchulz 28. THE USGF WOMEN'S PAN AMERICAN TEAM TRIALS, To m Wak e ling 32. COLOR FOLD-OUT POSTER, Diane Dunbar, Ja c k Griggs 38. SUNNY'S SIDE OF GYMNASTICS, Sunny Magdaug 39. BALLIT FOR GYMNASTICS, Grace Kaywell 40. 1975-76 NATIONAL FEDERATION BOYS GYMNASTICS RULES 40. NEW APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY, O .J. Kudrnovsky 42. SEQUENCES BY SCHULZ, Diete r Schulz 44. INSTRUCTION : Progressive Spotting: Teacher Relief a nd Aid to The Learner, Hayes Kruger 46. SENIOR GYMNASTICS, John Magg in etti 47. CLUB CORNER 48. WATANABE COACHES CLINIC, Tom Gardn e r 50. HELEN's CORNER, He len Sjursen 52. NEWS ' N NOTES, Re nee Hendershott 56. PSYCHOLOGY AND THE GYMNAST, Some Thoughts on Coaching Part II, Joe Massimo 58. RESEARCH: Cardiovascular Conditioning for Gymnasts, Ri c hard Black a nd De wayne J. John son 60. LETTERS 62. CALENDAR Cover: Kolleen Casey, 1st Vaulting USGF Elit e Nation als; 4th All -Around Pan-Am Trials. Photo by Jac k Gr iggs Editor/ Publi sher: G le llil SUlldby Associate Editor : Di c k Cri ley Research Editor : H.J. l3i es le rfe ldl , Jr . Internationa LEditor: Dr. Jo se ph Go hl e r Art Direc tor : Ri c hard Ke lliley Production Assistant : Pa l L'Toil e Circula tion a nd Advertising Manager : Dr. R.S. l3a c h

GYMNAST m.lg.uinl' is publi shl'd b y Sundb y Publi cd ti o n s, 410 Br od dw,IY, Sdnt" M o ni c.l, c." Y040 1. S{'(ond Cl,iSS Postelg 拢' p .lid At Sa nl " Mon ic.l. c.t. Publislll路d m on thl y. Pri ce SI.OO d sin g le copy. Subs( ri p li on co rrl'sp o ndl'll cc, GYMNAST 路 P.O. Box 110, Sant., Moni C"d, c., 9040b. Co pyr igh t 1'J75 t .111 ri ghts rcsNved by SUNDBY PUBLIC A liONS , 410 Broadway, Santa M o ni ca, Cd. All Ph o tos .md m a nu scripts submilh.-'d become th e prop e rl y of GYMNASl unll'5s ret urn rl' quest ,m d suffici e nt posldg e dr(' indudl路d .

FROM THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER

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

SPEAKING OF ADVERTISING: We have recently rece ived some wonderful letters from our advertisers concerning our read ers ' response to their ads. This has been especially true for the summer camps, gymwear, posters, books, records and the many special se rvices offered by o ur advertisers . We are always pleased to hear of our readers' patronage of Gymnast advertisers as our advertisers are a very important part of our sport and magazine. Most all of our adve rtisers go' out of their way to se rvice the nee ds of gymnastics and are co ntinually developing better appa ratus and related gymnastic products . With over 21,000 subscribers (with this mailing) and any where from 3 to 30 gymnasts reading every issue it is hard to even " guesstamate" the exte nt of Gymnast exposure for our adve rtisers ot her than to say it is a fantastic, captive, enthusiastic and appreciati ve audi ence well worth reaching. We thank our advertisers for their suppo rt of gymnastics and Gymnast and our readers for their continued patronage of our advertisers. SPEAKING OF LETTERS: In the dark and erratic past of Gymnast as it went through yea rs of unpredictable publishing and mailing sc hed ul es on a hand to mouth survival basis (publishing sched ul e dependin g on w hen enough new and renewal subscriptions came in , advertisers paid their bills or we sold a piece of personal property to pay up the printing bill), und ersta ndably the majority of our mail was comp laints with a few " hang in there " lette rs from diehard supporters. Today with o ur improved schedule and colorfu l magazine the pattern ha s changed considerably and although we get a few subscription complaints and an occasional critical comment from a coach or reader whose feathers we have inadvertantly ruffled, most of our corresponde nce is from excited readers who just had to take the time to tell us how much they enjoyed this or that picture, art icl e o r total edition. W e thank you all, and want you to know that beca use of yo ur support Gymnast circulation has doubled in th e past year and if you cont inue this enthusiastic attitude for Gymnastics and Gymnast magazi ne o ur circulation might just double again next year. Th e result of which wou ld be a bigger magaz in e with more pages, color and servi ce . If this is what xo u want keep those new and renewal subscriptions co min g in and we ' ll hire extra staff if necessary to get the job done better th an eve r . P.S. Hope you have all had a wonderful summer and have learned many new sk ill s to surprise your teammates ... Oh , yes, don ' t forget that OLGA and the USSR team will be touring the USA again in the first two weeks of December (see ca lendar for places and dates) and we und erstand young European and Pre-Olympic c hampion Nadia Com aneci and her teammat es from Romania will tour the USA in February '76 (if interested ... pla ces and ope n dates are sti ll being finalized by USGF Directo r, Frank Bar e - P.O . Bo x 4699, Tucson, AZ 85717) ... Have a Happy Handstand. 5

The Greeks ma y have a name for it, but the Czechs d es ign e d it. This is a sma ll, flat, wheeled dolly whi ch ca n be moved along an inclin e d board . As th e photo shows, th e inclination ca n be varied, and so too the placement and cable length of the rin gs. Th e sides of the inclined board are e leva te d to kee p the dolly from slipping off. This one is not ve ry lo ng - V2 meter (19 Y2 inches) - a nd on ly a foo t wide, but the idea is easily ad apt ed to la rge r units. Dimensions on the drawing are in milimete rs . The new whee ls which have bee n developed for skatebords could b e used but the swivel type used for appliances and furnitu re are not sui table because th ey bind. Uses for this gymnasi um aide in c lude st ren gthening th e muscles used in dislocates , shoot to ha nd, th e p eac h, free hip, and eve n the iron cross. We a re indebted to the Czech magazi ne , GYMNASTIKA, No.5 , 1974, a nd their co ntributor, E. Hroc h, for thi s idea.

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CATHY RIGBY WATCH

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION El eve n yea r o ld Stephanie Willim from Bethesda, Maryland started getting intern at io na l recog nition when she was just ten. Follow ing is a translation of an article writt e n by Dr. Joseph Gohler for Olympische Turnkunst. " In Ol ympi c Gymnast ics, the motto is: faster, stronger, and now the re seems to be anot her requirement - yo uth . Th e gym nasts are beco min g yo un ge r and yo unger . Everyone who saw 13-yea r-old Nadia Comaneci was shocke d. The coaches of the world gy mn asiums are searching the you n ger gen e ra ti on.... Something th e US coaches ha ven ' t seen is a wo nder chi ld from their own land. She is 10-year-old Stephanie Willim, coa c hed by the Weisses who have the MG Team in Silver Spring, Maryland. You ca n see her to get he r with our Eberhard Gienger in ... "Gymnast" magaz in e . We ourselves saw Stephanie a t Penn State and co uldn ' t get over our aston ishm e nt. She d id her super hi g hl y diffi c ult tumb li ng and a Tsukahara sa ito va ult, and hti s ove r a ho rse that was taller than she. She wa s as pretty as a picture and her sk ills bo o k-pe rfect. It loo ks lik e in the gymns of the world , the coaches are going ou t of their way io sea rc h o ut the yo un ge r ge neratio n." Acco rdin g to he r coac hes Margie and Greg Weiss, Stephanie a lso does a double-twistin g ba ck some rsa ult , a sk ill performed by o nl y a handfull of eve n international-ca lib er gymnasts.

ORDER FORM

NAME _ _ _ __ ADDRESS _ _ __

Cathy Rigby, Olympian gymnast and memo ber of t he Southern California Aero Team (SCATS) , presents the latest attra ct ive " I Love Gymnastics" Cathy Rigby watch . Swiss made , baked enamel d ia l, sweep second hand, gua ranteed fo r 90days. Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for processing your order. ZI~ Only $19.95 plus 6% California s ales tax· and $1.00 for postage and handling. Total $22.00. Use as a gift for birthdays , graduation, Christmas or as a thoughtf ul present for any occasion . A biography of Cathy Rigby, a nd a gift card are included, at no extra cost.

CIT'l,_ _ _ _ __

STATE _ _

GYMNAST Sept. '75

2) What is the tearn like? Would you be the be st, or maybe not rnake the team at all? Do th ey have a B t ea rn or Jr. Varsity if this should happen? Figure out what position you cou ld hand le psychologi ca ll y; if you were the best on th e tearn, cou ld you keep yo ur rnotivation? If you were on th e B tearn , wo ul d yo u feel slighted? ,3) What area of the co untry wou ld yo u like to live in? Do yo u want a large or srnall campus?

by Gretchen Sundlerland Dowsing Cornell University

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

TOUR OF EUROPE The teams from Bob Hanscom and Diane and Lou Datilio travelled for two weeks through Europe. After the compet ition in Geneva, Switzerland (w here North Shore School won ahead of Geneve Artistique and New Hampshire) they stopped by in Leverkusen, Germany for one week. Turn-Club 72 always likes to meet teams, especially from the States. Th e TC 72 tea m toured the States in 1973 and m et very nice people and friends all over the country. The North Shore School of Gymnastics is a pretty good team and you wi ll hear a lot about them in the future. The girl s were between 11 and 16 years old. With the exceptio n of vault (which w as won by Leverkusen), Bob Hanscom's tea m won al l the events. The girls do a few very good tricks, especial ly on the beam where they all do free cartw heels o r aeria l walkovers . The tea m from New Hampshire was very young (between 10 and 14 yea rs) and for that age range , pretty good.

Like many of you coaches, I've spent a very busy summer teaching at ca mps and attending and running c linics . I had the pleasure of seeing and working with many coaches in California and meeting new ones in Hawaii. Ralph Arthur (past president of the Hawaii Gymnastics Assoc.) and his w ife Helen treated us to some Polynesian hospitality before we left the Islands for home. At Ithaca, New York the AAU Juni or Ol ympics are in full force with 2,000 ath letes from all over the count ry. Before I get into my main topic fo r this co lumn , let me mention some coaches that I didn 't have li sted in the college directory. Lee . Ann Lobdill (an All-American gymnast and former student of mine at Cal. State Long Beach) will be the new coach at UCLA and will do an excellent job there . Another very good coach, Kurt Hartell (my assistant from Ca l State Long Beach) will . assist second- year coach Connie Dowd at USc. I met some of their gymnasts at camp this summer and it looks like they ' ll have strong teams in September. The following are also add iti ons to the list: Jac kie Walker - Louisiana State Un iversity; Jan dodson - Casper Coll ege, Wyoming; Carole Liedtke University of Louisville. After speak in g with many hi gh school students th is summer, I realized how littl e they know about chOOS in g a co ll ege. Sure, they hear about th e "b ig o nes" in gymnastics and immediately want to go there - not thinking about th eir own careers and where they would fit in the gymnast ics program. I've m ade up a list of things I think high school students should consider carefully before chOOS in g a co ll ege: 1) Wh at do you want to major in ? If you find out that this major is not for you, does the school have enough variety that yo u can change majors?

4) What is the coac h of the tearn like? Will you get along we ll with her (hirn) for 4 years? It's a good idea to have an interview with the coach and also talk with tearn mernbers. If possibl e, watch sorne of the tearn workouts. 5) What typ e of corn petition will the tearn have? Is there a chance for Regional and National co mpetition if you qualify? Will the budget support it ? Can you corn pete USGF age group if you want to? 6) Is there a rnen 's tearn? Do both teams get along and ha ve respect for each other? Do you h~ve to cornpete for workout tirne and area? 7) How often are workouts ava ilable ? I you want to pract ice every day and the tearn doesn 't, is th ere a place you can go? 8) Do you want to stay around horne or do you want to try living away frorn your area? Do you want to stay w it h your club all through college or try different aspects of gyrnnastics on the college leve l with rnore of your own age group? Or do you want to try to do both? 9) M any sc hools now offer var ious forms of finan cial aid . Check in to this tho rou ghl y; it ca n m ea n a sav ings of both tirne and rnoney to you and your parents. It can rnake a difference to your workout tirne if you don't have to take a job, and yo ur parents wi ll not have to pay more than n ecessa ry. Many schoo ls have a separate office of financial aid . Also, sornetirnes the tuition so unds high , but rnany uni ve rsiti es (like Corn ell ) offset the tuition accord ing to the farnil y inc orne. Choose a few colleges that interest you and apply to th ern. Don ' t get your hea rt set on just one and app ly only there. Also, app ly ea rly . Colle ges wi ll be c los in g applicatio ns in the spring , so ch eck d ea dlines closely. Rem ember, eve ryone wi ll be giving you lots of adv ice, but you shou ld rnake the final decision about a college according to what you need.

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

GYMNAST Sept. '75

USSR Gymnastics Team USA Summ(lr Tour 1975 SEVEN DAYS - SIX NIGHTS, A Russian Gymnastics Tour by Dick Criley San Diego sportswriter Wayne Lockwood, a man not easily impressed unless his subject can dribble, putt, kick, throw or hit a ball, was turning ca rtwheels over the performance of a touring Russian gymnastic team . Not only cartwheels, but he was also tossing out terms such 路as triple flyaway and full twisting gainer dismoun t, while mistaking gymnastic chalk for resin. What did it take to turn this man into an enthusiast for gymnastics, to write words not as complimentary since Jim Murray 's 1968 paen to the Olympic trials? Olga Korbut wasn't there nor was Liudmilla Turishcheva. In fact, a few of the projects gymnasts weren't there as the Soviet government had whisked them back to Moscow following the pre-Olymp ic me et in Montreal, and some new faces suddenly turned up in Tucson for the sta rt of the 7-day, 6-stop tour. Lockwood wrote, "The Russian performance was notable not because this was their best team, but because it wasn't. .. Th e Soviets showed up with a young, relatively inexperienced 13-member team that demon strated it is prepared to carryon quite well, thank you, should Olga defect tomorrow." The female gymnasts included '72 Olympian Elvira Saadi, Riga Invitational and Chunichi Cup winner Nina Dronova, Moscow News Champ and European Championship Silver medalist Nelli Kim (who was also carrying 3 gold medals from Montreal) and two exciting youngsters Antonin a Lebova and Lydia Gorbik. The men were '72 Olympian and '75 European Champ Nikolai Andrianov, USSR Leningrad Trophy winner Alexander Dityatin, '73 Champions All winner and '74 World Games team member Paata Shamugia, and Gurin Kholexi sov an d Vladimir Tikhanov. In addition, a rea l treat was provided by the presence and performances of Irena Derjuqina, whose modern rhythmic gymnastics almost stole the show, and one of the USSR's top men 's pair in acrobatics, Vladimir Makarchenko and Sergei Antonov, who were so well received that they were called back to encore performances. The polished format of the previous successful USSR tour was evident again on this tour. The gymnasts were introduced individually and were spot lighted as each performed a tumbling or FX pass. The acrobats showed a mini-routine which included a backward roll by Makarchenko while Antonov held a handstand on his feet. Following a mass warm-up by the women, variety was the key as subsequent performances a lte rn ated men 's and women 's events. Television commentator Gordon Maddux introduced the gymnasts with flair and enthusiasm and filled in the few slow spots with background information. I travelled a ll the way from Hawaii to catch this appearance and want to note a few of the interesting performances and moves. MFX: double backs from Kholexisov, Shamugia, and Andrianov and a double twister from Tikhanov for mounts; Shamugia, and Andrianov and a double twister from Tikhanov for mounts; Shamugia's back somie to back roll exte nsion with straight arms and snap down to splits; Kholexi sov's arabian dive roll with straight leg roll out to straddle stand; double leg circles from Kholexisov and Andrianov; Andrianov 's pike front, handsprin g, fu ll twisting dive roll and his double twist dismount. Just about all the tumbling had good height. WV: Saadi 's hal f-on half-off handspring and Lebova's handspringwith 11;1 saltos (albeit to her seat). 8

Warm-up

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Irena Der Jugina

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Vladimir Machanchenko & Sergio Antonov

PH: not much notable except Dityatin's high, smooth performances. He's about 6 feet tall and looks very good as he swings those long legs around . Impressive was the height of his scissor with V2 turn. Most of the other perform ances showed the fatigue associated with travelling. R: much straight arm work, including high inlocate to handstand mount from Tikhanov, Kholexisov, and Andrianov. Dismounts included double twist, high layout, and from Dityatin a handstand to immediate half-in half-out. Kholexisov showed a whippet. Hold positions tended to be short timewise. UPB: Lebova 's free hip to hand with a half turn out and stalder from high to low bar (same from Dronova) ; also her dismount was a wellexecuted cast to front saito in pike position . Nelli Kim showed good flight and twists. It was too bad we didn 't get to see Miss Saadi perform here. MV: Tikhanov's full twisting handspring; Shamugia's high handspring l V2 saito in piked position ; Andrianov's tucked Tsukahara; Shamugia 's Tsukahara in (almost) layout positio n; and Andrianov's handspring l V2 with a Y2 turn out. B: Dronova's aerial work, flip-flop to back somie dismount. Gorbik's press to handstand and stoop through to high V seat mount; she fell after an aerial walkover but remounted , repeated and continued ; also her needle sca le and RO, tuck back dismount. Lebova used the back somie in the middle of the beam and was very solid about it; also her needle sca le with her head down to hershin ; dismounted with flip-flop to layout back . Saadi was very graceful and dancelike, her movements 10

Nina Dronova

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Alexander Ditiatin

Tucson sponsors and Mayor preparing to present plaque to the Russian delegation .

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Antonina Glebova

Alexander Ditiatin

Vladimir Tikhanov

Antonina Glebova

were confident and her aerial secure; she dismounted with a n aerial with 1Y2 twists. Nelli Kim a lso was very co nfident in her attack on the beam ; she di smounted with a gainer off the end, then got back on and showed the same gainer with a full twist. PB: Kholexisov, Tikhanov, Shamugia, and Andrianov all used the doubl e back dismount. Most moves that could go to a handstand were executed with that kind of virtuosity. Tikhanov revived the one-arm handstand , but a lso fell off o n a sw inging pirouette. Dityatin mounted with a high cast to support, forward roll with flip kip to support to straddle cut , L; his dismount was a full twister. Shamugia mounted with peach to handstand , layaway, straight arm streuli. Andrianov mounted with glide kip and reverse st radd le cut in the middle, drop back and peach to handstand , diamidov, back toss through handstand , high stutz, straddle cut, L, press to handstand, double back. HB: Kholexisov used seve ral complicated grip changes, and pirouette moves, high layout dismount. Tikhanov had a bad break after his flank vault but muscled through. Dityatin's Voronin vau lt was almost laid-out, dismount on double flyaway . Concluding, the men put on a dismount e xhibition of high layout flyaway, double, triple (Tikhanov), half-in half-out (And ri anov) and full in back out from Shamugia. WFX: Lebova mounted with RO, ff, whipback, ff, fu ll , used also a handsprin g, front and RO , ff, back. Lithe and little, she reminded the crowd of Olga. Dronova showed more drama in her moves, mounted with RO, If, full ; he r tumbling was high but her dismount seem e d weak without a saito. Saadi showed good dance elements, leaps, turns, her

Antonina Glebova

Vladimir Machachenko and Sergie Antonov

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Vladimir Tichanov

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Paata Shanugia

Nelli Kim

full twisting mount was high . Nelli Kim, who has won several FX titles, mounted with RO, ff, doub le twist and showed in one tumbling pass : RO , ff, layout, somie with Y2 twist to Japanese splits. Irena Derjuqina was most graceful in leaps, turns, dance, rolls, pirouettes, all the time manipulating her hand implements. She showed great control of the ball as she rolled it from one hand to the other, up one arm and down the other, tossing it into the air and executing 2 or 3 moves to be in place to retrieve it. The Indi an clubs were handled with the ease and facility of our top baton twirlers and with some of the eleme nts of a razzle-dazzle juggler. Her ribbon exercise was very acrobatic with the ribbon constantly describing all kinds of patterns - loops, sw irls, spirals, serpentines, the crack of whip and the rhythm of a lasso. The hoop was not used as Whammo manufacturers intended it, but she performed veritable contortions into and out of it, twirling it, sending it spinning out and back, throwing it into the air and prancing gaily until it returned. The frequent changes of leotard betwee n her appearances also "added to the variety of the show. Such appearances by top Modern Gymnastics practitioners should do much to advance this creative aspect of gymnasti cs. The Ru ssians a nd their tour sponsors were delighted with the response of the more than 6000 San Diego spectators who turned out on a Monday night. The re were strong indications that this would not be the last time that th e USGF-would schedule in top gymnastics to this area. Indeed, Sports Arena Manager Phil Quinn is said to have had calls the next day from enthusiasts who thanked him for bringing the Russian s to San Diego. 14

Nelli Kim

Nina Dronova

Lida Gorbik

Antonina Glebova

GYMNAST Sept. '75

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Elvra Saadi

GYMNAST Sept. '75

INTERNATIONAL REPORT JAPAN Kasamatsu in Front of Tsukahara and Kenmotsu

The preseason beg in s at the NHK Cup which has been arranged for years by the biggest radio and TV company of Japan . Only 4 gymnasts cou ld comp lete ly satisfy (qualify), and one m ore a lmost qualified: Kasamatsu, the world master, Tsukahara, the horizontal bar Olympia winner of 1972, Kenmotsu, th e exworld mast er in the twelve event, world master on the parallel bar in 1974, and the n~w sta r, Kajiyama who raised up (appeared ) so radiant (brilliantly) at the wo rl d competit ion in Varna, and Fujimoto was fifth with 109.00, already 1.85 behind Kajiyama (110.85) . Fujimoto was also behind Kenmotsu (111 .10) and Tuskahara (111 .25), while Shige ru Kasamatsu wit h 112.30 points celebrated a great victory and made no mistake in the optional ro utin e . The sixth, Shiraishi, who now already shows an outstandin g six eve nt, stayed 1.80 points behind Fujimoto. Fumio Honma, Kawaguchi, Nishikii , Horide and Iga ras hi , all gymnasts in the top class were not yet in competition form. Also Kume , the master at the horizontal bar was disappointing and only placed 18th, with a modest 103.35. What new talent is there? This question should ha ve been answered at the East Japanese College compet iti on. But it was a disappointment, because Kajiyama surpassed the competitors so much , that the second Kume, who did the optiona l this time one whole point better, stayed almost two points behind Kaji yama , whose ser ies 9.45 - 9.40 - 9.65' 9.35 - 9.20 - 9.40 = 56.45, can well measure up to the optional ser ies of Kasamatsu at the NHK Cup, except for his parallel bar result. Kasamatsu did the optional there as follows: 9.35 - 9.50 - 9.30 - 9.50 - 9.45 - 9.55 = 56.65. Gushiken , the Highschool master 1974, kept himself quite well in Hirosaki as fifth, but o n the floor and hori zontal bar offe red still littl e (8.70 and 8.85). So the hopes of the Japanes e are resting further on the quintet of Kasamatsu, Kenmotsu, Kato, Kajiyama and Tsukahara. Those might be joined by the best of the group Honma , Shiraishi , Igaras hi , Kume, Nishikii, Fujimoto and Ho ri de. Of whom Fujimoto has the best cha nee. There is a good reason for naming Sawao Kato here: in spite of the press announcements, that the Olympia winner of 1968 and 1972 h ad quit , Kanekos master student exercises int ens ive and a lready is in good form, because in the compu lso ry of the NHK Cup Kato was in fifth place, but did not do the optional because of a li ght s houlder strain. Japanese female gymnasts proceed slowly. Matsuhisa marr ied meanwhile (her name is Hironaka now), won in Tokyo with 73 .80 points, whereby she did the opt iona l with a good 37.45 . Hayashida was se cond with 73.60 and showed a new paralle l bar optional with somersault forward , from the lower bar to the high bar (9.70). Also good was Yoshida (73.30) thereafter already a break: 4th Ishimura 72.55, fifth, Kikkawa , 72.40, sixth, Watanabe, 71.65. At the East Japanese College Competition in Hirosaki, the winner, M. Nakamura was brilliant (37.20) with a fresh option a l on the beam (9.60) . But after the champion her effort was only average. Second : Sakura i, 36.65, third, Kitoh, 36.15, fourth, Mano, 36.05. 16

+ 'S higeru Kasamatsu

EUROPE: In the Soviet Union, further forced preparati on is the order of the training schedule to beat the Japanese, who maintained the Worlds since 1960. After Kulaksizow and Asarjan, after Kryssin and Kewlischwilli, let alone the two a lready mentioned, Ditjatin a nd Tichonow, emerged now Marke low of Moscow and Azasow coached by Abukajew. Markelow won a twe lve event with 109.45 before Kewli schwi ll i (109.25) and Kul aksizow (109.05). Azasow won the six event in the scope of the Junior Country Events Rumania - USSR, which the Ru ss ians won 186.80 : 184.10, reached Kowal 37.80 points and the 13 year o ld Filatowa young star astounded as second with 37.65 points. In 1976 Rumania will be the big opponent of the USA fema le gymnasts at the fight about the bron ze medal.

1975 NHK CUP Hachiojo, Japan June 14 and- 15 By Paul liert, Gymnastics Coach University of Oklahoma The 1975 NHK Cup was really eve rything I had hoped it wou ld be! In fact, it was truly awesome watching the top thirty-six Japanese gymna sts compete the new Olympic compu lsories for the first time. Without question , Kasamatsu was in a class of his own. He had on ly minor difficulties with the compu lsori es (Al l the problems stemmed from hi s trying to do each part to its optimum.), and he has made seve ra l major cha nges in his optionals. Some of the c hanges includ e front upri se stut z handstand on parallel bars and half- in half-out dismounts from rings and horizont a l bar. Although they had major breaks. both Ke nmotsu and Kajiyama looked GYMNAST Sept. '75

JAPANESE NHK-CUP Nam e 1. Ka sa malslI, S.

Tsuka h a ra, M.

Kenmotsu, E.

Kajiya ma , K.

Fujimoto, S.

Shiraishi, S.

Shimizu, J.

Nishikii , T.

Nagai , G.

10.

Horid e, K.

11 .

Igaras hi, T.

12.

Honma, F.

13. Kawag uchi, I. 14. 15.

Mika mi , H.

Sugawara, H.

16.

Teramoto, Y.

17.

Maeya ma, S.

18.

Kume, T.

19.

Toshina ka, K.

20.

Suzuki , K.

FX e 9.50 0 9.35 e 9.30 0 9. 00 e 8.95 0 9.30 e 9.35 e 9.50 e 8.70 0 8.95 e 8.00 0 8.75 e 0.50 0 9.00 e 9.00 0 9.40 e 8.90 0 8. 15 e 9.25 0 9.55 e 8.60 0 8.20 e 0.60 0 0.65 e 0.85 0 0.60 e 0.85 0 0.60 e 0.50 0 8.90 e 0.45 0 0. 55 C 8.95 0 9.00 C 0.75 0 9. 00 C 0.30 0 8.65 e 0.75 0 9.05

PH 9. 10 9.50 9.05 9.05 9.25 9.45 9. 10 9.25 8.50 9.15 9.10 9.00 8.60 0.60 8.65 8.55 9.30 9.25 8.95 8.90 8.65 8.40 8.05 . 9. 10 9.00 8.05 8.90 7.55 9.15 9.05 8.60 7.00 8.25 6.95 8.15 8.00 8.40 8.40 7.05 8.75

R 9.15 9.30 9.40 9.35 9.40 9.20 9.05 9.40 9.20 9.40 8.80 8.80 8.85 8.95 8.90 8.95 9.00 8.85 8.20 0. 35 8.90 9.00 7.75 8.15 9.00 0.95 8.70 8.60 7.80 8. 25 8.90 8.90 8.70 8.75 7.10 8.70 8.75 8.95 8. 30 8.60

V 9.1 5 9.50 9.20 9.40 9.20 9.60 8.95 9.00 9.25 9.35 0.85 9.30 8.90 9.35 8.95 920 8.80 9.10 9.05 9.55 8.45 880 0.70 9.15 8.75 0.80 0.60 8.65 0.00 9.15 8.80 8.55 9. 10 9.30 8.75 9.30 8.80 8.40 8.80 9.30

PB 9.45 9.45 8.95 9.30 9.25 9.30 9.30 9.20 9.00 9.00 0.35 8.95 0.80 9.00 8.80 0.85 8.70 8.00 8.05 0.20 8.60 880 0.95 8.25 8.45 0.75 0.85 8.75 0.40 8.25 8.60 8.75 8.20 8.65 8.30 8.45 7.40 8.30 7.00 8.20

HB 9.30 9.55 9.55 9.70 8.90 9.30 9.30 9.40 9.05 9.45 9.1 0 9.40 8.95 9.05 8.75 8. 10 8.90 9. 10 8.40 8.60 9.30 9.30 9.50 9.20 8.30 9. 15 8.95 9.20 0.60 8.70 8.85 0.75 8.50 9.10 8.65 9.40 8.70 9.25 8.75 8.80

SUB 55.65 56.65 55 .45 55.80 54.95 56. 15 55. 05 55.75 53.70 55.30 53.00 54.20 52.60 54.00 53.05 53.05 53.60 52.40 51.90 53 .15 52.50 52.50 52.35 52.50 52.35 52.30 52.85 51.35 51.25 52.30 52.20 51.30 51.70 51.75 49.70 53.65 50.35 51.95 49 .45 52.70

Total

N ame

Hironaka, M:

Hayas hida, F.

Yoshida, R.

Ishimura , M.

Kikkawa, C.

W a ta na be, M .

Yamazaki, N.

Usui , A.

Sugiyama, K.

112.30

111 .25

111 .10

110.85

109.00

107.20

106.60

106.10

106.00

0 10.

Sakura i, S.

11.

M a no, S.

11 .

Kasamatsu, K.

13.

Kitou , C.

14.

Morita, A.

15.

Takagi , I.

16.

Watanabe, I.

17.

Akaba , A.

18.

Nakamoto, H.

19.

Imura, H.

20.

Kanoll, K.

105.05

105.00

104.85

0 C

104.65

104.20

103.55

0 C

103.50

0 C

103.45

0 C

103.35

102.30

0 C

102.15

V 9.35 9.30 9.20 9.35 9.25 9.35 9.20 9.35 9.20 9.30 9.10 8.60 9.30 8.60 8.90 8.70 9.1 5 8.80 9.00 9.20 9.10 8.95 9. 05 8.90 9. 10 0.90 9.25 9.15 8.90 8.80 9.10 8.55 9.25 9.3 5 9.40 9.25 8.80 9. 15 9.20 8.80

UPB 0.75 9.25 9.25 9.70 8.95 9.35 8.90 9.30 9.20 9.40 9.15 9.10 9.20 9.05 8.95 9.35 9.10 8.90 8.90 8.35 9.35 7.00 9.05 8.65 8.60 7.85 8.95 8.85 9.00 9.20 9.00 7.80 9. 00 8.95 9.20 8.40 9. 10 9. 00 8.70 7.85

BB 9.25 9.50 8.05 8.50 8.90 9.25 0.60 0.65 8.30 0.55 8.00 8.95 0.00 8.00 8.35 8.50 8.65 9. 10 0.45 0.90 8.75 9.40 0.30 8.05 0.90 0.05 0.20 8.20 0.35 8.05 8. 15 8.50 8.50 7.80 7.90 8. 15 7.90 7. 80 7.85 8.50

FX 9.05 9.40 9.35 9.40 9.10 9.15 9.25 9.30 9.25 9.20 9. 05 8.90 9. 05 9. 05 9.15 9. 10 8.80 9.15 0.40 9.20 9.00 8.75 9.00 8.50 8.85 0.75 9.05 8.35 8.00 8.65 8.80 8.70 8.95 7.45 8.75 8. 10 8.70 8.65 9.00 9.00

SUB 36.35 37.45 36.65 36.95 36.20 37. 10 35.95 36.60 35.95 36.45 36.10 35.55 35. 55 35.60 35.35 35.65 35.70 35.20 34.75 35.65 36.20 34.10 35.40 34.90 35.45 34.40 35.45 34.35 35.05 34.70 35.05 34. 55 35.70 33.55 35.25 33.90 34.50 34.60 34.75 34.15

Total

73.80 73.60 73.30 72.55 72.40 71.65 71 .15 71.00 70.90 70.40 70.30 70.30 69.85 69.80 69.75 69.60 69.25 69.1 5 69.10 68.90

EAST JAPANESE HIGH SCHOOLCHAMPIONSHIPS Na m e 1. Kajiyama, K. 2. Kum e, T. 3. Maeya ma, S. 4. Taira, T. 5. Gushik en, K. 6. Mikami , H. 6. Shimizu, J. 8. Suzuki , K. 9. Hirose, T. 10. Ogasa wa ra, J. 11. Matsuda , H. 12. Honma, O . 13. Satoh , S. 14. Send a, S. 15. Mura ta, M . 16. Satoh , T. 17. Miyazak i, Y. 18. Gotoh, K. 19. M a tsumoto, S. 20. Igarashi, I.

FX 9.45 0.80 9.25 9.20 8.70 8.80 9.00 9.25 8.65 8.55 9.00 9. 15 8.95 9.25 8.75 8.65 8.95 9. 00 8.75 8.90

PH 9.40 9.25 8.00 9.30 9.40 9.40 9.20 9.05 9.10 8.7 5 9.00 9.25 9.05 9 15 9. 15 8.75 9.05 9.35 9. 00 8.55

R 9.65 9.05 9.15 8.65 9.25 9.35 8.75 8.00 8.85 8.90 8.60 8.35 8.25 8.60 8.35 8.95 8.10 8.65 8.50 8.30

V 9.35 9.20 9. 30 9.40 9.05 8.60 9.45 9.35 9.10 9.00 9.15 8.70 9.05 8.50 8.80 8.35 8.65 7.00 9.10 9. 10

PB 9.20 8.85 8.90 9.05 9. 00 8.95 9.05 8.70 8.90 8.95 0.40 8.60 8.75 8.55 8.65 9. 05 8.70 8.75 8.35 8.55

HB Total 9.40 56.45 9.50 54.65 9.15 54.55 8.95 54.55 8.85 54.25 9. 10 54.20 8.75 54.20 9.00 54.15 9.30 53.90 9.20 53.35 9.05 53.20 9.10 53.15 9.00 53.05 8.85 52.90 9.00 52.70 8.60 52.35 8.80 52.25 9.40 52.15 9.10 52.10 8.60 52.00

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 10. 10. 13. 14. 15. 16: 17. 18. 19. 20.

Name Nakamura, M. Sa kurai, R. Kitoh, C. Mano, K. Yamamiya, T. Se nno, K.

Matsumoto, M . Murata, M Kaas hi , M. Morita, A. Akutsu, K. Yamada, N. Yagi, H. Asami, H. Ya mamoto, K. Akaba, A. Nakamoto, H. Tomikawa, K. Kubo, N. Shiroyanagi, M.

V 9.25 9. 10 9. 05 8.95 9.00 9.50 8.75 9.20 8.70 8.90 9. 10 9. 10 8.80 8.70 8.7 5 9.20 9.35 8.20 8.60 9.05

UPB 9.20 9.40 9.10 9.40 9.00 8.85 9.00 0.50 9.10 9.20 8.65 9.10 9.00 8.65 8.80 8.45 7.90 8.90 8.10 8.55

BB 9.60 8.70 9.15 9.25 8. 15 8.60 8.65 9. 10 8.75 9.00 8.70 7.70 8.80 8.90 9.40 8. 15 8.70 8.35 8.75 7. 85

FX 9.15 9.45 8.85 8.45 8.75 8.75 9.10 8.65 8.55 7.90 8.50 9.10 8.25 8.50 7.75 8.85 8.45 8.55 8.45 8.30

Total 37.20 36.65 36.15 36.05 35.90 35.70 35.50 35.45 35.10 35.00 35.00 35.00 34.85 34.75 34.70 34.65 34.40 34.00 33.90 33.7 5

CENERAL OBSERVATIONS sloppy an d poorly prepared for th e competition. Tsu ka hara and Fugimoto looked w ell train ed we ll train ed to co mpete w ith Tsukahara showi ng significant improveme nt on parall el bars and pommel horse. Fugimo to wa s very co nsistent but still lacked the poli sh whi ch on e assoc iates w ith THE JAPANESE TEAM. Although Kato did break o n th e pomm el ho rse and parall el bars compulsor ies, he did show th at his is back and wi ll pu sh everyo ne for th e top ho n o rs at Montreal. (Having sco red 53.90 in th e compulsory comp etition , he decided to scratch the op t iona ls.) Add it io nall y, Horid e, Nagai, and Shimi zu impresse d m e as up-and -co mers. (S himi zu ha s j ust begun hi s junior yea r in coll ege.)

CYMNAST Sept. '75

I wa s especi ally surprised and interested in th e relationship between th e ju dges and coac hes. There definitely seems to b e a ma ster plan fo r the 1976 Olympics, and it is w ell understood and acce pted by al l. For exa mple, th e judging of the com pul so ry vau lt sh owe d co mpl ete empha sis on the pre-flight req u irement s. M any times I watched gymnasts wh o showed horizontal and above, straight body pre- fli ght follow ed by sli ght straddling of th e leg s and weak stretch to the mat sco re in the low 9.0 ' s w hil e o th er gymnasts who showed pik ed and less than ho rizontal pre-flight w ith tremendou s distance and o pening in p os tfli ght sco red in the middle 8.0's. Furthermore, through o ut th e competiti o n, th e jud ges see med acutely awa re o f co rrect and ma ximum

exec uti on with th e result being that the gymna sts were grea tly encouraged to " go all out " o r gamba each trick. Both the films I took and m y p ersona l observatfons show that routin es performed with the objective to do each part to it s max imum eve n wh en it resulted in a maj or break co nsistently out scored the routin es w h ich were performed co nservatively with no major brea ks. I ca rne away from the meet d efi nitely fee li ng that much of the success o f th e Japn ese program co m es from the ,attempt of th e judges, under th e direction of the coac h es, to use the compet iti ons to esta bli sh th eir philosophy o f what co nstitutes a superior perfo rman ce rath er than merely to impl em ent th e FIG Co de o f Points.

6.Gymnaestrada Berlin 1975

"Now first , after I have seen your exhibition, I understand , that the gymnastics done in the Gymnaestrada will also be with apparatus. I always thought gymnastics to be ' Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics', but the concept and the application of each of the countries is indeed so very diverse. " Thus spoke the world's greatest gymnastic theorist and successful Olympic trainer Professor Akitomo Kaneko about the Gymnaestrada, referring to the gymnastic historical exhibition, " The Pathway to Gymnastics", regarding the text that I had prepared. The moving transitions of the body formation of gymnastics is to the movement training and from that to the artistic gymnast is the gymnastic competition of the International Gymnastic Federation , then to be Olympic artistic gymnasts. No one else points out the connection from simple gymnastics and complicated artistic gymnastics better than the Japanese piece performances with their synchronized gymnasts. Here eight master gymnasts demonstrated Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics so equally, that one believes the one gymnast and with seven other gymnasts seem to have been in reflected image. Nearby, the spectators of Japan's gymnasts flooded the halls, the splendid competition exercises in Berlin in drawing raving applause because of the high level performan ce made by gymnasts in transition to gymnastics and artistic gymnastics. When, for instance, all eight of them swung into the handstand landed perfectly still, and when they sprung into a flip flop or even two subsequent flip flops they did a combination between their body extentions reaching towards the ceiling in backward somersaults. The cheering of e xpert spectators continued when all eight gymna sts were in a " Japanese split" position with legs spread out, the chest to the floor and bowing forwards showing flexibility . Who are these Japanese magicians for synchronized gymnastics? They are the students of Kokushikan University. They are their country's masters in the mens' group competition, " Gymnastique Rhythmique Modern ," as it is ca lled in French and that was with the feeling of the Japanese performance. They were a big sensation at the 6. Gymnastrada , ca lling attention for the understanding of the people the reception of the mens ' performance in the program to advertise by th e Japanese performance in the program the " Gymnastics World 's Best Championship."

Scenes from 1975 Gymnaestrada

Competition Group Gymnastics in Japan long before the girls first took part in the World Championship in competition artistic gymnastics, in 1963, it was already in Japan's high school ch a mpionships in group gymnastics for boys and girls. Many young people and adults carried on this form of gymnastics in the sc hool and university clubs, the form as to the skillfulness of the Olympic artistic compe tition gymnastics in which the Japanese men are World Champions. Even though they ha ve not the offi cial blessing of the Gymnasti c Federation as well as by the "Gymnasten " who are gymnasts that practice the so call e d " Gymnastic Rythmique Moderne. " People Of All Ages at the Gymnaestrada Back to th e Gymnaestrada! There were 312 performances with more than 12,000 active gymnastic people in front of 250,000 spectators, among them , ve ry important to note, the 10,000 that had follow e d th e ir own ac tive people from 36 countries to Berlin. Most of the female

gymnasts and male gymnasts came, of course, from the German Federal Republic, around 10,000; but the Ne therlands and those from Switzerland came with 3,000 gymnasts and Norway with more than 2,000 gymnasts. Oh how attracti ve a Gymnaestrada is! And what cheering among the spectators, what feeling of happin e ss a mong all the active participants of all age s and with different levels of skillful performances. And of the male and female participants, the female participants covered just a bit more than 80 percent. Above all , th e large space performances included those groups from Holland, Norway, Sweden , Denmark, Finland , South Africa and Switzerland. The ho usewives and mothers (in these large groups) p e rformed with such carefulness and discipline that wonderful pictures were shown on th e green lawns of the Mommsen Stadium . And with this sight you could have sa id with Goe thes Faust : " linger anyhow, oh, thi s moment you are so beautiful! " Who has tak e n pictures of all that beauty? A pit y tha t mon ey wasn ' t there for an official Gymnaestrada book, as it was in 1963

GYMNAST Sept. '75

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when the Au st ri ans had published one in such a fine way after the 4th Gymnaestrada. The 6th Gymnaestrada was the most beautiful of the two existing Gymnaestradas and the most sk illfull y performed and also the best organiz ed o ne! More than four million German marks (almost two million dollars) was given to the city of Berlin alone and out of this, six thousand was spent for the decoration of the halls, th e capac ity of which was much bigger than that of the performance places in Vienna and Ba se ls (1969) . However, the places in Berlin were not big enough to keep all the spectators who wanted to see the gymnastic artists from Japan o r the six girls from Brazil whom Ilona Peuk ert had taught to perfection in rhythmi c and gym nastic style. As well as the ravishing rh ythmi c dancing Brasi lians were the Blacks in the famou s group from South Africa, almost 400 active when they performed their bush dance. Hall 5 was so crowded that it seemed at the point of burst in g when Sweden 's elderly mens' group (average age 50) demonstrated their Parodie of Rhythmic Jazz Gymnastics. That was GYMNAST Sept. '75

the frontal attack to the laughing muscles, the most humorous that the 6th Gymnaestrada offered. It was also where you could experience how the Israeli and the group of the technical high school from Munich transformed frolicisome gaiety into gymnastic forms. How free was the gaiety and the profound seriousness that could be observed sometimes in the gymnastic schools was an exception. The oldest participant was a man from Munich, the youngest was a two year old girl from Berlin, who all of a sudden captured the hearts of everyone among the 11 ,000 spectators on the last day of the exh ibiti ons in the Deutschlandhalle, because of the unconcern about the tasks of others in her group. It belongs to th e character of the Gymnaestrada that it is a show, not as a rule , to teach and learn from as well as to experience the skil lful performances in the group. As to learning and tea ching, there was also a Scientific Congress, which at the beginning of the sixth Gymnaestrada, met in the huge Congress Hall , discussing the theme, " The

Human Motion " with interested young people from 30 countries. At this Congress Prof. Brian Sutton Smith, from New York , made a speech about a very remarkable leading report " Movement, Play and Creativity " in which developed a new play theory for the child. As a teaching aid , th e exhibition, " The Way of Gymnastic" which impressed the president of the internation al gymnastic federation so much that he declared at an interview that such an exhibition ought to belong to the standard program of a gymnaestrada from now on. Then there was the theme , "The Future of the Gymnaestrada" . The 91 year-old Johan Heinrich Francoi s Sommer from Holland, the founder of th e gymnaestrada (1953), was overwhelmed as to th e sp lendid show of this world's festival of happiness and beauty. He, however, feared two things: that the gymnaestrada co uld perhaps be even (still) bigger, that such a thing as compet iti on character could perhaps creep in, something he had never wanted. There were committees that made a choi ce among the many different 19

perform ances worth seeing, enabling once again those peopl e to watch the best things fo r the last d ay. Th e idea o f the se lectio n was on equal ba sis i n o rd er no t to rank any group better than each other. Th e opi ni on of the experts, it se lf, is so dissim ilar that for instance, the half hour performances of a group from Munich was rega rded as the future of gymnasti cs by one ex pert and by another expert regarded as a fa ulty development. They sh ould have extende d the Gymnaestra da for one m o re day so that the gigantic expenses would have been worthwh ile, for 2000 people have worked, most of them vo luntarily, w it ho ut pay for this organizati o n, abo ut which, by the way, Arthur Gander sa id that it had been perfect. Another day and th e gymnastic fans co uld ha ve watched 10 to 12 more performances! In the separate countries there should be selection s made in adva nce i n ord er to show o.nly the best and thu s leave the average groups at home. This would have given a condensed program without destroyin g the sense of gymnasti cs . For what is not tota ll y good is not worth neithe r giving advice nor giving entertainm ent and ex perience. ITB-President Gander also expressed th e desire for a limitation of the number of participants. O ver 20,000 organi ze d parti cipants and spectators met in the million town Berlin . To handle the organization for more than 20,000 participants and visitors is only sti ll possible in cities with a populati on of a mi llion or more, but the fes tival suffers from 路 it. When t he Gymnaestrada was held in Basel in 1969, it was rea lly a festivity in which the whole town participated . But in the city o f Berlin you cou ld n ot notice the Gymnaestrada was goi ng on. It was a festivity around the rad io towe r in th e neighborhood of the Exhibiti o n H all. As the gymna sts made their " World 's Best," no one missed the East Block gym nasts. Only in the three shows in the Deutschlandhalle you missed th em: the Russ ian gymnastic (trainers), and Andri anov an d Magyar, th e gymnastic Champion s from Bulgaria and USSR. The free world was t here, the communist stood in absence. Seen in th e east -west persep ctive it was a victory for th e free world. The free world, is so free, t hat no one rea ll y thinks of it. "Since five days, the boycott is tota l," sa id Arthur Gander, in a press co nference the day the Gymnaest rada opened. For five days the y also knew Hungary was not allowed to co me. Seven days before opening the Gymnaestrada they learned from Yugoslavia that th ey cancelled because of the parti cipation of South Africa and Taiwan . " They have cried th e gymnasts and trainer, whe n they heard they co uld not go to Berlin," said a Yugoslavian gym nastic friend , who with 100 other private fe ll ow ci tizens recieved travel permits to visit the Gymnaest rada. W e emphasize the Yugoslavian group ha ve had sensatio nal performances in the past Gymnaest radas and were' ex pected but they were not all owed to comel This politi ca l boycott was the on ly dark spot for this 6th Gymnaestrada, th e beau tiful dream, in free Berlin . Also th e wea th er was fantastic, it turned into a festivity of " joy of life", to a festivity of beauty and charm , to a festivity o f victorious celebration of versiti le gymnastics and into a milestone on th e road to an even hi gher common body cul t ure. Th at not only the talented ca n take part of but also people with strong will and ene rgy co uld take part to ge th er or alon e and to keep form and to remain in good co nd ition up in to higher ages.

Scenes from 1975 Gymnaestrada

A First Hand First View of The 1975 Gymnaestrada By Sunny Magdaug

Th e sca ri es t thing a newly co ll ege gradua te can read on a n ewspaper in bo ld red head li nes is how bad j ob prospects are for this sum m er. I, th erefore, d eci ded not to waste tim e in fin d in g a job and b ega n wo rkin g for myself as a freelance photograp her and w rit er for gym nas ti cs . I took my chances th e week -end before fina ls and we nt to Sa n j ose State to cover th e U.5.G.F. W es tern Reg ion al ChampiollSh ips (m y first p rofessiona l assig n ment). After final s I went up to UC Berkeley to meet 1975 NCAA Coach Hal Fr ey and th e gym nasti cs team for another assignment. In prepa rin g to go to Illinois to cover th e Elite U.S.G.F . Gymnast ic Championships o n m y own , this last ju ne, I was given an opportunit y in stead by G lenn Su ndby to ass ist him in ' cover in g th e 1975 Gym naestrada in West Be rl i n, jul y 1-5 . To make a lo ng story short, I dropped the Il li no is trip and ended up going to Europe and to the Gymna es'trada alone. My

origina l on e nionth stay in Eu rope is now ex tended fo r two months. I decided th at I wou ld u se th e extra time to stu dy Eu ropean gymnastics in the d iffere nt cou ntries, aft er the Gymnaestrada . Be fore departi ng Sa nta Moni ca an d Los Ange les fo r Europe, I was we ll eq uipped wi th two ca meras; enou gh fi lm to last a year; enough posters, magazin es, bump er stickers and m agaz ine su bscr iption forms to ove r we igh my bagg age. Neve rth eless, w ith p lent y of determination and a smi le, I got through th e baggage barriers and made it in o n e pi ece, baggage and al l, in to West Berlin. However, befo re I ca m e to Berl in I mad e a quick two night stay i n Amsterdam , w h ere the y are ha vin g th eir 700 years ce leb ration. Because I was spe nding mo ney in Amsterdam , I decided to leave for Ber lin o n the train before ex hausti ng my ex p ense acco unt. It was a good thing whe n Il eft Amst erdam for Ber lin because it gave m e ext ra tim e, th at I n eeded, to start . preparin g th e coverage of the 1975 Gym naes trada . Havin g depa rt ed Am sterdam , jun e 27, ea rl y in th e morning, I arriv ed at Ber lin th at eve ning, 7 p.m. W es t Berlin is a lively modern city in the middle of Ea st Genna ny. The cont ras t of h ow E. Germa ny looks in co mp ari so n to W. Ber lin is li ke ni ght and d ay. The layo ut of E. Ge rman y 's land looks desolate with m ili tary road b locks, jeeps and GYMNAST Sept. '75

milit ary m en. One reall y gets th e fee lin g o f being in a Poli ce Stat e. It was excitin g passing throug h N urmberg beca use it loo ked exac tl y like w hat I hau see n in th e mo vies. Berlin is a rea l jewe l of a cit y w ith peo ple who are warm , co n ge ni al, h elpful and d iffere nt from th e res t of Germa n y becau se they are pr o uu to be Berlin ers. I rea ll y fe lt li ke Berlin is " w hat's happenin g" thi s sUlllmer since th e Int ernati ona l Fillll Fes ti val and th e Int ern ati o nal Ca rt oo n Ex hibiti o ll s are also go in g o n th e salll e tilll e as we ll as th e 1975 GYlll na es trad a. The 1975 Gymnaestrada Durin g th e first coup le of da ys b efore the Gymna es tr aua began , I wa lked aro und th e pr ellli ses feeling th e atlllosph ere and li stening to all th e different languages aro und lll e.1 was especia ll y im p resseu b y th e huge garde n that was fu ll of fl owe rs, p lant s and a hu ge water fouilli an fo r it s backg rou nd . So thi s IS Berlinanu I loved th at fee ling . I was excit eu for th e Gym naes trada to beg in aft er wa tchin g so m e rehea rsa ls and bit pr ev iews 01 sO llle ro utin es anu ex hibiti o ns. Th ey we re d o ne wit h such enth usiaslll th at I co uldn 't help from fee lin g ever y nati o nali sti c fe elin g for th e different co untri es. 1975 is th e year for th e sixth GYlll naes trada. U nlike th e Ol ympi cs th ere is no cOlllpetit io n bet wee n tea lll s o r nation s and m an y peop le of

GYMNAST Sept. '75

all ages ca n participat e as o ne group, if so de sired. Gr o ups that p erforlll ca n con tain as Illan y as 400-600 peopl e at a tillle or 20 people and less. Berlin just h app en s to be th e cit y where Dr. Freide rich Luuwig jahn founded th e original forlll of gYlll nast ics Illore than 150 years ago . Accoruing to Art hur Gardner, president o f Intemation al GYlllna sti cs, lllallY co untri es later adop ted thi s forlll and develo ped gYlllnastics to what it is touay. GYlllna sti cs in Europe is distinguished in two ca tego ri es; rh ythllli c and cO lllpetitive. Th e GYlllnaestrada see m s to fea tur e rhythllli c gYlllna sti cs more than the cO lllpetitive. During th e first da y of the GYlllnaestrada I founu o ut th at the rea so n th e Ea st Bl ock Co untri es did no t cOIll'e wa s because th ey were havi ng a gymna sti c ex hibiti o n of th eir own and wrot e a let ter to Ga nu er explaining th e reason for th eir abse nce . G ande r sa id th at he wou ld no t p enali ze th e East Blo ck co untri es for not parti c ipatin g since h av ing rece ived th eir lette r. A ll th e o th e r Europ ea n countires, though , we re well re prese nt ed . Oth e r co untri es lik e South Africa, japa n, So u t h Alll erica and Ca n ada jo ined in w ith th e GYlllna es trad a. I w as a bit ui sa ppoint ed that th e U.S., did no t se nd Illore peop le ove r. Kyle Gayn er and Bart Co nn ers we re th e o nl y U.S. gYlll nas ts th ere. Though China had no gYlll na sts , SOllle o f th ei r represe nt at ives we re th ere o bs erv ing . Th e sixth GYlllnaes trada openin g cere lllon y took place th e eve ning of jul y 1. It was h eld at Berlin 's OI Ylllpic Stadiulll th at was built in 1936 by th e Na zis. Th ey held th e OIYlllpics that year Illainl y fo r th e purpo se o f exliibi tin g th eir sport s tealll s for all th e wo rld to see. One ca n alm ost h ea r th e ec hoes of the 1936 OIYlllp ics there ju st by wa lk ing through the elllpty stadiulll. Th e opellin g ce re lllony was a rea l ' spectacul ar sight sin ce I 've n ev er seen anything qu it e lik e it befo re. I eve n had to run frolll one side of th e stadiulll to th e othe r side in o rder to se e w hat was rea ll y hap p enin g. Eve ryo ne frolll all the co untries march ed around th e stadiulll. It wa s an ove rwh ellllin g ex p eri ence to h ea r th e cheers from th e audi ence crowds anu th e participant s w ho sa t o n the o th er sid e of th e stadiulll (a ft er Illarc hing) to mat ch t he audi ence's enthu sia slll. Lat er I found o ut that th ere was a total of 22,000 peopl e, 18,000 part icipant s and 4,000 g ues ts, th ere for th e GYlllnaes trad a. Th e Ge rman Spo rt s Sch ool did a giga nti c ex hibition th at ni gh t fea turin g " Ge rlll an gYlll nas ti cs fre e tim e used we ll.路 ' Al l groups frolll youngsters, tee ns and adu lt s did th eir routin es and skit s separa tely and together. It was Illore pure family ent ert ainlllent and a cultural expe ri ence than anythin g else I ha ve eve r see n in ill Y life. Openin g ce remoni es co n clud ed w ith th e li ght s of th e stauium be in g turn ed off and th e li gh ting up of ca ndl es o r Illatches frolll around th e stadiulll to sy mboli ze cO llllllo n bond and fri end ship for all the wo rld . I was in th e Illid st of the Swedis h group sharin g m y li gh t w ith them and all th e world. Th e nex t four d ays we re fill ed w ith gY lllnas ti c ex hibitiom frolll gro up ages six to over 60 and each eve ning was a specia l ni gh t for th e different co untri es. Two or three shows wo uld go o n a night in th e ex hibiti o n h all s. It was hard to see all o f th em , but w hat I sa w , I lik ed . On e gro up , espec iall y popular at th e GYlllnaes trau a was j apa n. It co st Ill e a call1 era leme cove r and allllos t ill Y life w hen I was fighting thro ugh th e crowd s ju st to get to th e door. I t was wo rth a str uggle th o ugh because their ex hi bit ion co mpe titi o n training exe rcises

we re trul y u o ne b ea utifull y and if you were close eno ugh, yo u co ulu feel the power in th eir bouy thru sts. Perfo rming w ith abo ut 20 m en in th e gro up at a tilll e th eir exac t tillling and sy nchronizeumotions we re beyo nd beli ef. An es peciall y ent ertaining group was Sweue n 's " Rythmgubbarna " (tr anslationRh ythlll Old Man ). Rangin g fro lll ages 33 - o ve r 60 (with Illany of thelll in th eir 50 's) th ey can rea ll y d ance rh ythm j azz or rock and roll better th an th ose w ho are yo unger. Seelllingl y age less and refreshing th ey w ere an exc iting group to watc h . South Afri ca IllUSt h ave b ee n th e IllOS t di ve rsifi eu group at th e GYlllnaestrada . The y we re u ec keu out in eve ryt hin g from Af rican tribal costulll es, Ill o u erll dan ce leo tard s, and uiffere nt va ri ati o ns of gree n and blu e sweat suits. It loo ked as if there were at leas t a thou sa nd o r m o r e represe nt ati ves from S. Afr ica. Their uiffe rent r ou tin es and skit s we re illlpress ive anu seelllin gly broke so me of th e monoton y w hen thing s started to look th e sa me towaru s th e fin al da ys of th e GY lllnaestraua. Th e "Worlu 's Bes t " exhibitio n, I hea rd was exciting by so me and no t-so-exciti ng by o th ers. I Illi sse u it sin ce n o o ne frolll th e East Block co untri es were th ere. Gerlllan y's Gi enger, world high ba r challlpi o n, I Illan aged to see during German ni ght and he was illlpressive on th e hi gh b ar eve n in regul ar str ee t clo th es. When I go to Frankfurt , in a co uple of we e ks, I w ill ho pefull y get t o see hilll there again. I wa s al so im presse d by th e Scand in avian , N eth erl and s anu Swiss wOlll en groups. In large gro ups cont aining as Ill any as 450 wOlllen of all ages, th ey uiu rh ythllli ca l exercises to Illu sic and sy nchro ni zeu t'p ge ther gracefully. It was def init ely a treat to see thelll all use their hoops and ball s. Th ey rea ll y d id sO lll e pr etty things . I felt that th e Swe di sh rh ythllli ca l wOlllen ' s group was abso lut ely "sllla shing. " They did a rea ll y cute skit of gy mn as ti cs a 100 yea rs ago and gymnas ti cs now. Th e South Alll eri cans added th eir flair of rh ythmi c gY lllna sti cs w ith a to u ch o f th e Latin flair , of co ur se ! Th e gY lllnas ts a nd p eop le who were wa tc hing th e GY lllnae strad a int eract ed with eac h o th er so c lo se ly th at sometillles I wo nd ered who was hav ing a bett er tilll e, th e pe rforlll ers o r th e audi ence. Neverthe less th e GYlll n aes tr aua pro v id ed th e sh arin g ex p eriences w ith o ne anoth er no Illatter where yo u w ere or w hat yo u we re doing at an y give n tilll e. SOllle of th e partic ipant s I talked to sa id th ey pre fer ed th e GYlllna es trad a to th e OI Ylllpi cs becau se th ere was no press ure to ou t-d o e ach o th er to o r be th e winn er. It is rea ll y hard to relate in wo rds w hat a GY lllnaes traua is all abo ut unl ess on e ca n ex peri ence it for himse lf. On e d escription co mes I ro m Germa n Republi c Presiu ent Wa lt er Sc hee l. in hi s speec h at th e ope ning ce remon y, " Thi s great fes ti ve occas ion is int end ed to h elp us enj oy sport , e nj oy life and enjo y li v ing tog eth er w ith peop le from all over the wo rld ." Many of th e p eo ple at th e Gy mna es trada took au va nt age of th e opportu nit y to make fri end s w it h p eo pl e in t he different countries. Th e Gymnilest raua co uld h ave gon e on forever and I was ve ry sa d , but happ y, w h e n it all enu eu. A ve ry hon o reu gues t j .H. F. Summ er, fo unu er of th e Wo rlu GY llln as ti cs Fes ti va l from H o llallu anu 91 yea rs yo un g, co m e fo r th e Gy mn aes tr ada in Berlin. It's rea ll y nea t fee lin g w hen I think o f il ll th e peopl e thi s occas io n allrac ts. con 'I. on pg. 55

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

Tammy Manville

PRE-OLYMPIC OBSERVATIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - Dateline: Montreal by Ingrid and Dieter Schulz There were 80 gymnas ts, 46 girls and 34 men from 17 di fferent co untries who took part in the pre-Olympic competition in Montreal July 3rd thru August 1st. Czechoslovak ia and the Netherlands on ly brought girls teams. Notabl y missing w ith no exp la nation were teams from Switzerland , Eas t Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria , Den ma rk, No rway and Sweden. In keeping with th e c urrent int e rnational trend most of th e gym nasts we re quite young even in the men 's co mpetition such as 17 year old Bart Conner from th e USA, Alexander Detiatin - USSR, a nd Philip Delesalle of Canada all of who took pa rt in the finals. The girls were even young e r with Spai n sending a coup le of 13 year olds and of co urse Nadia Comaneci from

Romania the AA winne r sti ll on ly abo ut 13V2 or 14 (depending on whi c h press release you get at the mom ent) a lo ng with her teammate Theodora Ungureanu of the same age not to forget the two littl e Russian g irls Koval and Glebova. The o ld est male gy mn asts were Mitsuo Tsukahara of Japan a nd Steve Mitruk of Canada both 28 . Hironoka Miyuki of Japan was the oldest wom a n gymnast at 30 a nd did well on the floor, uneve ns a nd vault, but a fall from the beam kept her fro m p la cing better AA. In the co mpul sor ies for women it was very close between Nadia Comaneci of Romania and Nelli Kim o f th e USSR w ith Kim missing a bit of h er b ea m rout in e . Littl e Theodora Ungureanu of Ro ma nia (no o ld e r than Nadia and the same body type) won against the two

young USSR gy mn asts Antonina Glebova and Olga Koval. Th e Hunga rian g irl s agai n were strong and the American a nd German girls did pretty good. In the wom e ns Option al Ro utin es, Kim (URS) and Comaneci both d id very we ll and again the little Ruma n ian g irl beat a ll t he ot her participants w ith he r ve ry good va ult (Tsukahara ) and h e r ro ut ines at the other apparatu s whi c h are we ll known since the Europ ean c hampi ons hi ps. Theodora Ungureanu, th e ot her Rumani a n su rprise seems to be as stro ng as the b est girls a nd scored 37.95 po in ts in the op tional routines. Koval (URS) mi ssed h er un eve n bar routine (8.45) b ut she did not lose h e r 4th pl ace. The Hungarians again do pre tty good . Trish Reed GYMNAST Sept. '75

Tammy Manville, USA, 4th beam

Nadia Comaneci, Tsukahara Vault

(USA) scored 9.40 points for her Tsukahara vault and got into the finals. Tammy Manville (USA) did a very good and original beam routine (also in the finals). Denise Cheshire (USA) the best American girl in the compulsory hurt her hand , (later found out something was broken) and because of that she didn't do well at the uneven s (8.85) normally one of her strongest events, she placed only 14th. (She was not able to take part in the Pan Am trials one week later in Miami.) Kelly Muncey (California) . who competed for Canada came in 12th place and was the best Canadian girl. The Canadians are very excited to take part in the Olympics with a team (we wish them success) . The German girls look pretty good. Uta Schorn couldn't co mpete because of a kneeGYMNAST Sept. '75

accident but th e other girls seemed to be stronger now. The Czec h girls did not do as well as everybody expected com pared to their success in Varna . (TCH 5, USA 7, RFA 8th place) This time, the Germans and Americans looked much better. Th e gymnasts from Poland made a good impression (talented & hopeful) but missed at the vaulting (Matrassek 8.05). The girls of Belgium made progress especially de Keukeleire and the French girls looked better than before. In the Wome ns finals Nadia Comaneci seemed to be a little bit nervous (she missed a few things in the warm-ups). So everybody could see even when a girl is able to do 14 (I)

routines easily on eve ry eV'2!nt in the workouts a week before the competition (everybody talked about this and was very impressed) that competition maybe is another thing (Don 't do 15 routines!!!) But no doubt about it, Nadia is a marvellous gymnast and shows us the possibilities of gymnastics! In vaulting the little Russian can do a Tsukahara and handspring front somersault but not high and wide eno ugh . Nadia did a very good and hi gh Tsukahara (the best one in this competition) and was with 9.5 points, a little but underscored. But Nelli Kim did a Tsukahara and then a surprising handspring with one and a half(l) twist in th e second flight and own her first title , a ri ght decision . Trish Reed got a 9.45 score for her Tsukahara and came in 4th. 23

Comaneci d o mi nated the un even bars w ith a beautiful ro utine, w ith a ve ry high somersault from the hig h bar to regrasp th e high bar - her free hip circles to handsta nd and th e sole circle to underswing w ith half tw ist and to the back somersault as he r d ismo unt. Theodora Ungureanu dem o nst rate d a new move: a back stalder at the hi gh ba r in to a handstand o n th e lower bar. Beam fin als started w ith a surprisel After the mount Nadia Comaneci fe ll off th e beam score 9.1. By nothin g impressive Theodora Ungureanu as the nex t gy mn ast d id her ro utine with a nice fu ll turn in a ha ndsta nd pos ition 9.6. Th e same score fo r Nelli Kim w ho did her back somi s on the b ea m, tuck full twi stin g gainer dism o un t an d got her seco nd titl e.

Tammy Manville m ade a o ri ginal exercis e with a surprising mount and a good tuck jump into a front walkover, aga in a 4th place for an American girl. On the floo r o nce again a deci sion between Comaneci, Kim and Ungureanu who took part in al14 final s. But Frid ay, th e final day, was a day for Nelli Kim. Sh e wo n th e fl oor fi nal and got her third titl e. Coaching Note: In th e rul es of th e F.I.G . no male or femal e coac h is all ow ed to go up on the platform to spo t th e girl s. Some tea ms (TCH, ROM, URs) onl y had th e mal e coach brought over to Montrea l. Th ey spot d uring the hour before th e competiti o n starts - during th e competition th ey run aro und th e arena - why?

Is this necessa ry? In all intern atio nal competition yo u see som e girl gymn as ts (especially of th e bett er tea m s) looki ng into the spectators. Somewhere was th eir co ach and he made some signs to assist in t heir decisions. In Montrea l th e Am eri ca n g irls w ere in o ne group with the Rum anians. So metim es USA Coach, Muriel Grossfeld go t angry beca u se th e Rumanian girls overtim ed th eir w arm-up seconds but th ey wo uld b e qu ic ker if th ey . didn 't have to move fo r exa mple th eir springboard by th emse lves. But th eir coac h wasn ' t allow ed to go to t he b ea m to help them ... Eve ry bo dy kn o w s th at th ere are ve ry few girl-gymnasts w ho grow up in to a nati o nal team and don ' t have th e help o f a male coach. So why the y aren ' t all owed to sp ot th e girls o r to

GYM NAST Sept. '75

Nadia Comaneci

give moral support during the international competitions? The F.I.G. should think about it. In the compulsories for men Andrianov did not compete because of a shoulder injury. The first surprise was not that the internationally famous Tsukahara ranged first after 6 events, but the other Japanese Fujimoto. Besides Tsukahara who missed the routines at the pommel horse (8.95) and vaulting (8.55) other top gymnasts like the Ru ss ian Detiatin (vaulting 8.80 and parallel bars 8.45), the Polish Szajna (high bar 7.95) and the German Gienger (high bar 7.60) showed that th e co mpulsory routines were weak and as yet not sure enough. Gienger made a little mi stake (like Korbutat the uneven in Munich ) he dropped his foot against the bar so that he loses swing and had to jump down. GYMNAST Sept. '75

So only four gymnasts scored over 54 points: Fujimoto 55.75 ; Tsukahara 55.50; Zoltan 54.25; Szajna 54.15. Optional Routines W'ith very good optional routines Mitsuo Tsukahara got 57.45 points (9.60 / 9.30 / 9.70 / 9.50 / 9.65 / 9.70) and beat Shun Fujimoto (56.75). The young Russians Detiatin and Tikhonov did mu ch better in the optionals than in the compulsories (56.50 p . and 55.75 p.) so that they came up from the 5th and 7th rank finally to the 3rd and 4th place . Zoltan Magyar (HUN) showed a triple twist on the floor but lost points at the rings (8.65) and the Polish Andrej Szajna lost his chances for a better place because of his pommel horse (8.15) and the

high bar (8.80). If Szajna could be more constant he would be easily one of the top gymnasts at the world , but every big international championship he made mistakes in one or two routines . From the West German team only Edgar Yorek with his 6th place could do well , but the compulsory still was not good enough . (Gienger did not feel quite good after the Mexican trip (before Montreal) so he did not compete in the optionals.) The USA sent a young team : Tom Weeden (21), Tom Beach (20) and Bart Conner (17), who got the 5th place in the optional s (55.15) but also with 52.40 in the compulsories not good enough for a better place. But nevert heless the good optional routines and to take part in the parallel bar and high bar final s was a big achievement for this 25

Tsukahara doing

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

Men Finals Floor Exercise: It looks li ke everybody is trying to use a d oub le back somersault in the first tumbling row and to finish his routine with a double twisting some rsa ult. If the men would use musi c for their routines it would be much better. Some routines look good enough to be performed with music. Probably in 10 more years every man will perform his floor exercise to music. What do they wa it for? Pommel Horse: The best routine to be seen in the finals was done by 17 year old Philip Delesalle / Canada. He got a 9.50. Detiatin / USSR was second best in the finals, but he won the final because Magyar / HUN missed his routine and Delesalles preliminary score was not high enough to win. Magyar tried to start his routine with an unusual move but he missed

Yz in Yz out as seen from the side.

it. He starts with circles on the en d and during doing the circles he turns around (half twist) and did circles in a backward position. He did this trick well in warm-ups.' Rings: The two Japanese Tsukahara and Fujimoto showed good routines and both double somersault with full twist as dismount (half in ha lf out). Szajna came in third with his original dismount double front somersault. Detiatin did wide swings with straight arms exact into the handstand positions. He seemed to be a littl e underscored. Vault: Some real nice va ults co uld be seen during the warm up section. But to make the finals or to get a medal depends on sta nding it up or not. Some vau Its are worth to remember : Szajna: handspring front somersault piked; GYMNAST Sept. '75

PRE-OLYMPIC RESULTS WOMEN

MEN All-Around 1. Tsukahara, M itsuo (JP N) 2. Fujimoto, Shun (JP N) 3. Detiatin, Alexander (URS) 4. Tikhonov, (URS) 5. Magyar, Zo ltan (HUN) 6. Jorek, Edga r (RFA) 7. Szajna, Andrzej (PO L) 8. Molnar, Imre (HUN) 9. Donath, Ferenc (HUN) 10. Conner, Bart (USA) 11. Boerio, He nri (FRA) 12. Naosaki, Masaaki (CAN) 13. Beach, Tom (USA) 14. Pieczka, Marian (POL) 15. Weeden, Tom (USA) 16. Boutard, M ic he l (FRA) 17. Cepoi, Sorim (ROM) 18. Koloko, (F RA ) 19. Steinmetz, Werner (RFA) 20. Delesalle, Philip (CAN) 21. Carter, Keith (CAN) 22. Luli, Dubi (ISA) 23. Oprescu, Nico lae (ROM) 24. Milane tto, Maurizio (ITA) 25. Delacasa, Juan (ESP) 26. Leclerc, Pierre (CAN ) 27. Butler, Gl e n (CAN) 28. Medd, Bru ce (CAN) 29. Bertrand, Fernando (ESP) 30. Walstrom, Owe n (CAN) 31. Neale, Ian (GBR) 32. Mitruk, Steve (CAN)

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

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

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

Individual Events

All-Around C 1. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 38.10 2. Kim, Ne lli (URS) 37.90 3. Ungureanu, Teodo ra(ROM ) 37.55 4. Koval, Olga URS 37.40 5. Glebova, Anotn ia (URS) 36.90 6. Egervari, Marta (HUN) 36.85 7. Matulai, Zsuzsa (HUN) 36.55 8. Reed, Trish (USA) 36.40 9. Wohrle, Gisela (RFA) 36.35 10. Manville, Tammy (USA) 36.40 11. Keleman, Marta (HUN) 36.30 12. Muncey, Kelly (CAN) 36.40 13. Bieger, Andrea (RFA) 36.20 14. Knopova, Jana (TCH) 36.35 36.45 14. Cheshire, Denise (USA) 16. Kralova, Eva (TC H) 35.85 17. Arsenault, Lise (CAN) 35.90 18. Hironaka, Mi yuki (JPN) 35.70 19. McDonnell, Teresa (CAN) 36.10 20. McDonnell, Nancy (CAN) 36.10 21. Schubert, Tra ud e (RFA) 35.70 22. Matraszek, Lucja (Pal) 35.55 23. Smolikova, Drahomira(TCH)36.10 24. Audin, Nad in e (FRA) 35.15 25. Murphy, Kathy (CAN) 35.45 26. Bucci, Stelani (ITA ) 34.70 27. Audin, Martine (FRA) 34.55 28. Seggiaro, Chan tal (FRA) 34.40 29 . Van Ravenstijn, Jea n (HaL) 34.45 30. Krawieczek, Judyta (PO L) 34.50 31. SI. Laurent, Sylvie (CAN) 34.45 32. De Keukeleire, Joe ll e (BEL) 34.30 33. Mayne, Tanya (CAN) 34.55 34. Broderick, Lisa (CAN) 34.60 J5. Lennox, Avril (GBR) 34.25 36. Peri, Rita (ITA) 33.35 37. Spongia, Va le ntina (ITA ) 34.00 38. Freres, Monique (BE L) 33.40 39. Kos, Jok e (HaL) 33.45 40. Wilcox, Merr ie-E llen (CAN) 34.15 41 . Dulresne, Ginette (CAN) 33.30 42. Marcos, Elo isa (ES P) 33.55 43. Cabello, Eli sa (ESP) 33.15 44 . Mendizabal, Susana (ESP) 33.15 45 . Nilis, Rita (BE L) 32.95 46. Velema, Margo (HaL) 33.40

o 38.75 38.60 37.95 37.00 37.30 37.20 37.30 37.25 37.25 37.00 37.05 36.80 36.90 36.25 36.15 36.50 36.25 36.40 35.95 35.30 35.65 35.60 34.85 35.70 35.30 35.30 35.40 35.50 35.40 35.30 35.25 35.30 34.30 33.80 34.05 34.85 34.15 34.40 34.05 32.85 33.55 33.20 33.20 32.85 32.90 31.35

TOTAL 76.85 76.50 75.50 74.40 74.20 74.05 73.85 73.65 73.60 73.40 73.35 73.20 73.10 72.60 72.60 72.35 72.15 72.10 72.05 71.40 71.35 71.15 70.95 70.85 70.75 70.00 69.95 69.90 69.85 69.80 69.70 69.60 68.85 68.40 68.30 68.20 68.15 67.80 67.50 67.00 66.85 66.75 66.00 路 66.00 65.85 64.75

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

Final TOTAL 9.500 19.000 9.450 18.800 9.450 18.750 9.350 18.600 9.200 18.525 9.050 18.300

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

Final TOTAL 9.400 18.725 9.500 18.625 9.350 18.550 9.300 18.500 9.050 18.450 8.950 18.075

C&O Avg. Rings 1. Tsukahara, Mitsuo UPN) 9.675 2. Fujimoto, Shun UPN) 9.450 3. Szajna, Andrzej (PO L) 9.375 4. Detiatin, Alexa nder (URS) 9.300 5. Naisaki, Ma saaa ki (CAN) 9.225 6. Donath, Fe renc (HU N) 9.200

Final TOTAL Vault C&O Avg. 9.500 19.175 1. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.500 9.500 18.950 2. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 9.425 9.500 18.875 2. Koval, Olga (URS) 9.425 9.250 18.550 4. Reed, Trish (USA) 9.325 9.150 18.375 5. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.325 8.850 18.050 6. Egervari, Marti (HUN ) 9.325

Finals 9.600 9.500 9.500 9.450 9.350 9.300

TOTAL 19.100 18.925 18.925 18.775 18.675 18.625

C&O Avg. Tsukahara Vault _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Milsuo ___ _ _ _... 1. Szajna, And rzej (POL) 9.175 9.125 2. Magyar, Zoltan (HUN) 3. Jorek, Edgar (RFA) 9.250 9.350 4. Fujimoto, Mitsuo (JPN) Fujimoto: Hand spr in g front somersa ult with 5. Boutard, Mi c hel (FR A) 8.975 6. Walstrom, Owen (CAN) 9.00 half twist; Tsukahara who did in the optionals a

C&O Avg. Final TOTAL Uneven Parallel Bars 9.650 9.425 18.600 1. Comaneci, Nad ia (ROM) 9.300 18.425 2. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.500 9.125 18.375 3. Egervari, Marta (HUN) 9.475 8.875 18.225 4. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.425 8.275 17.250 5. Matula, Zsuzsa (HUN) 9.400 9.375 8.075 17.075 6. Bieger, Andrea (RFA)

Final 9.850 9.750 9.550 9.550 9.400 9.400

. TQTAL 19.500 19.250 19.025 18.975 18.800 18.775

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

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

Final TOTAL 9.600 19.150 9.600 19.125 9.100 18.775 9.400 18.725 9.200 18.625 9.100 18.350

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

Final 9.700 9.600 9.550 9.400 9.100 9.050

Final 9.800 9.800 9.550 9.500 9.350 8.700

roundoff ba ck so mersa ult layo ut decided to forgo the finals. Parallel Bars: Nothing rea lly exciting was to be seen . It seems to be possible to get a high score and to make the finals w ith a clean but normal routine. Everybody would like to see some new moves at th e parallel bars! Some tricks : Szajna: He starts with a glide kip straddle back to a pl anc he, stiff arms st iff body press to handstand. High Bar: The Japa nese gym nasts dominated in front of the two yo ung Russians who had good swing. Tsukahara showed aga in his dismount doubl e somersau lt with full twist (half in hal f out) . GYMNAST Sept. '75

TOTAL 19.275 19.000 18.950 18.800 18.225 18.125

Individual Events

Floor Exercise C&O Avg. 1. Kim, Nelli (URS) 9.700 2. Comaneci, Nadia (ROM) 9.675 3. Ungureanu, Teodora (ROM)9.475 4. Matulai, Zs uzsa (HUN) 9.400 5. Glebova, Ant o nina (URS) 9.350 6. Koval, Olga (URS) 9.500

TOTAL 19.500 19.475 19.125 18.900 18.700 18.200

THE USGF WOMEN'S PAN AMERICAN TEAM TRIALS August 8-9, 1975 Miami Jai Alai Fronton - Miami, Florida Report and Photos by Tom Wakeling The women 's Pan American team tr ia ls were carried out through the thoughtful e fforts and direction of Bruce Davis. Many people gymnasts, coaches, judges, the press a nd spectators alike - owe a vote of gratitude to thi s man. He worked hard to satisfy the needs and wishes of each group. The trials were scheduled as a double meet in that, of the two day period sixteen events had to be comp leted . All sixteen scores were then totaled a nd their sum determined the outcome. The top six gymnasts and two a lternates wi ll represent the United States at the VII Pan American Gam es in Mexico City this October. (The first nine finishers were invit ed to ahend the Pan Am training camp in Ren o.) Twenty -four girls actu a ll y qualified for these trials but four of them, for their own reaso ns, did not part icipate. Those who were missed are Jeanette And erso n, Den ise Cheshire, Nancy Thies and lody Yocum. The competitors were di vided into two equa l groups, (as were the judges). Two events ran simu lta neo usly - Beam with Vault fol lowed by Bars and Free Ex. COMPULSORIES Durin g th e first day the gymnasts treated the compulsories noti ca bly with caution, pl ay in g it safe by pe rforming the routines in a rather low

key fashion (particu larly on beam). But what should be known is ihat it was their first competitive experience using the Pan Am cOlT)pulsories. At the second day 's comp ul sory eva luati on the overall performance quality had greatly im proved . This increase in their leve l of execution ~an perh aps be attributed to the probability that the gymnasts were more confident as a result of the first days experience, or perhaps some may hav e believed that it was necessary to perform with the UTMOST of their capabil iti es if they hoped to make the cut. Whatever the encouragement it proved worthwhi le ... especia lly for e ight or nine gymnasts . Beam: The scores that were awarded during the second day compu lsory session were for th e most part higher than those evaluations of the first. This could have resu lt ed from an added input by the gymnasts to extend thems e lves by execut in g the e lements mainly wit h greater amplitude and cha racter. Averaging th e two days scores, Kathy Howard 's averages out as a 9.425 (9.35 & 9.50) which is followed by Diane Dunbar's 9.375 (9.35 & 9.40) . What we have done here, as we have throughout th e rest of this report, is to average the scores from the first session with those awarded at the second in orde r to perhaps more accurately eva lu ate th e performance le vel and co nsistency. Vault: The compulsory va ult (s tra ddle - coming in at horizontal) would appear to man y, to be sure, a relativel y simp le va ult. But in actuality its Tex t con't. on pg. 37

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Kathy Howard

~~~~~..................................................~~~..............~................~....________________~~~_ ' ~ 1~ ~ ..•

___ ._ ~

:_~: ~ _ \

Roxanne Pierce

Debbie Wilcox

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

GYMNAST Sept. '75

J eanne Be adle

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Ta mmy Ma n vill e

Archer and Ta mi Ma nvill e. Donna johnson scored a 9.45 at th e first n ig ht 's optionals and at the second optio na l meeting she appeared to be on her way towa rd a nother such score. She was exce ll e nt on b ea m but to the amazement o f th e c rowd she scored 9.3 . However th ey did not real ize that she ran he r routine two seconds short which cost he r a .10 dedu ction . Another 9.4 it co uld have been . Another e lement worth a mention is Wil cox's fr o nt on to an immediate front off - tremendous!

Floor: Ann Carr is a " hot " tumbler w ith g reat amplitude and that tale nt coupled with he r ni ce ly designed free exercise pu ll e d a 9.50 and this averaged with he r seco nd night's 9.60 gives her a relativ e ly impr essive 9.55. Howard graced th e floor for a 9.45 ave. Compi lin g the sa m e average score wa s th e ve ry ta le nt ed Tami Manvill e. jeanne Beadl e showed what I beliexe d to be one of the brightest and personable routines of the tri a ls. She designed it, for the most part, herse lf. Very well done . She ea rn e d a 9.5 with it for h er second night effort. Bars: Leslie Wolfsburge r sw un g a 9.50 point average with her bar ro utin e. She seems to ha ve comp lete control of those rails promoting her rhythm , ski ll a nd knowledge of technique. Dunbar was Les li e 's threat as Dian e manu ve red a prove n and polished routine also for a 9.50 ave. Wilcox certa inl y has herse lf together when it comes to bars (a nd vaulting). She is part ic ularly strong on the eve nt which is proven b y her average score of 9.475 (9.45 & 9.50).

Ann Carr

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

Ann <::arr fin ished with the highest AA total of 149.85. She did it with solid consistency res ulting from so lid ability. Ann is an a ll- a rounder, and that m y friend s, is the name of the game . She always look ed good and I am sure she w ill in M ex ico C ity. We can be proud of her. As we should with each member of th e United States Pan Ame ri can Nationa l Team . Speaking of pride, we sh o uld have it with al l our gymnasts - they deserv e it. Th ey worked hard to earn it. An introdu ction of the Nationa l Team : TEAM: Ann Carr, Di a ne Dunbar, Kathy Howard, Kolleen Casey, De bbie Wilcox, and Ro xa nn e Pie rce. ALTERNATES : Trish Reed, jea nne Beadle and Ta m i Ma nville COACH : Dal e Flansaas MANAGER: Grete Treiber Best Wishe s to th e m a ll. RESULTS PAN-AMERICAN GAMES TEAM TRIALS WOMEN

Floor: Kathy Howard exec uted the compulsory with an e lequent style with which she averaged a 9.55 . The crowd " turned on" to Kathy during the second day as she e nte rtained the audience quite effective ly with a compulsory - a Pan Am compu lsory! She was alive and one could sense that she loved wh at she was doing . The people liked seeing that. So did the judges (9. 65 that d ay). And the next perfo rman ce following Kat h y's was that of Carri e En g lert, he rself di splaying just how mag es tic a compulsory ca n be. Bars: What wa s particul a rl y amazing was Roxanne Pierce's compu lsory bars. She dem o nstrated grea t se nse of rhythm as she worked them straight forward with smooth and sound precision . She compiled an average score of 9.50. Following Roxanne was the dyn a mi c Debbie Wilcox averaging a 9.45. OPTIONALS Many gi ri s prove d a spetia l ability during th e optiona l sessions displaying or igina lity, diff ic ult):, courage, sk ill and personality. For example would be Roxanne Pierce, she worked he r se lf choreographed floor exe rcise to the tunes of West Sid e Story. It was fabulous .how she cou ld te ll a story w ith a ll its emotional content so beautifully throu g h a gymnast ic eve nt. Other ex.amp les would be: nicely executed Tsuka haras or handspring fulls, a front o n bea m or an imma culate bar e ffort. Th e gymnasts let go and showed, to a ll tho se who witnessed the m ee t, tha t they are first rate athletes and art ists. Vault: Trish Reed , De bbi e Wilcox, Ann Carr a nd Kolleen Cas ey were int e nt on displa ying th e ir fine vaulting capabilities, and judging by th e scores awarded and by the crowd 's reaction, they succeeded . Tris h ca me in with Tsuka haras- tu cked (9.45 & 9.5) ave raging 9.475, Debbie with roundoff pik ed backs (9 .45 ave.), Ann with a cartwhee ll V2 p ike d (9 .45 ave .) and Koll ee n with some incredible handspring fulls (9.4 & 9.35) for a 9.375 average. Beam: Kathy Howard 's bea m was characterized by good amplitude a nd sur e form which th e judges fe lt wo rth y of the 9.525 ave. (9.45 & 9.60). Ann Carr was not all too fa r behind w ith a strong and prec ise routine which included a back on. Cons iste nt high performances were chara cte ri sti c of Beam. Dunbar ea rn ed a 9.425 ave. and some indi vidual singl e performances we might mention were those performed by Su sa n CYMNAST Sept. '75

Ann Carr

0 M a nn ettes

0 2.

Dia ne Dunbar Diablo Gym C lub

Kath y Howard Okla . Twist ers

Kolleen Casey St. Pau l Turn e rs

Debbie Wilcox Flye rs G ym LTD

Ro xa nne Pierce M a nn e tt es

Trish Reed De nver Sc h. G ym

jeanne Beadle Unatt.

V 9.15 9.30 9.10 9.60 9.45 9.15 9.35 9.35 9.15 9.15 9.20 9.10 9.35 9.40 9.20 9.35 9.65 9.50 9.55 9.40 9.20 8.90 9.35 9.25 9.40 9.50 9.30 9.45 9.10 9.10 8.90 9.15

UPB 9.35 9.40 9.35 9.40 9.30 9.45 9.40 9.55 9.10 8.85 9.55 9.25 9.30 9.30 9.40 9.40 9.40 9.45 9.50 9.50 9.45 9.35 9.55 9.30 9.10 9.25 9.20 9.40 9.25 9.10 9.25 9.20

BB FX 9.10 9.300 9.45 9.500 9.35 9.400 9.50 9.600 9.35 9.300 9.35 9.000 9.40 9.250 9.50 9.300 9.35 9.450 9.45 9.400 9.50 9.650 9.60 9.500 9.00 9.100 9.10 9.200 9.30 9.400 9.30 9.300 8.90 9.000 8.75 9.050 9.00 9.050 9.15 9.400 9.25 9.200 8.80 9.300 9.30 9.300 9.25 9.300 9.00 9.000 9.30 8.950 9.15 9.250 9.40 9.350 9.30 9.300 9.15 9.200 9.30 9.350 9.30 9.500

Prelim Total 36.900 37.650 37.200 38.100 37.400 36.950 37.400 37.700 37.050 36.850 37.900 37.450 36.750 37.000 37.300 37.350 36.950 36.750 37.100 37.450 37.100 36.350 37.500 37.1QO 36.500 37.000 36.900 37.600 36. 950 36.550 36.800 . 37.150

FINALS C&O Totals

FINAL TOTAL

74 .550 75.300

149.850

74.350 75.100

149.450

73.900 75.350

149.250

73.750 74.650

148.400

73.700 74.550

148.250

73.450 74.600

148.050

73.500 74.500

148.000

73.500

73.950 147.450 Additional Competitors Tammy Manvill e (Ar iz. Tw iste rs) 147.250; Leslie Wolfsberger (SCATS) 146.850; Donna Jo hn so n (M iss iss ippi) 146.500; Susa n Arc he r (K IPS) 146.200; Jan A hten (Seatt le G ym C lu b) 145.550; Barbie Myslak (So. Co nn. Gym Club ) 145.500; Cat h y Shotwe ll (Gymmi a mi) 145.000; Ca rrie Englert (O r. Acad. of Gym) 144.825; Donna Pa yto n (Loui sv ill e Sch. Gym) 144.600; Pauline Litowsky (Mississipp i) 144.200; Ga le Wycoff (SCA TS ) 142.750; Jan Anthon y (Ma nnettes) 52.000 (Ian Anthony co mpe ted only in th e first nights compulsories and optionals, then scratched due to illness.

Nippon M e n's Gymnastic University Club, Kokushikan Vigoro usly w ri t ill g away at the Deut sc he (Ge rm an Spo r ts Schoo l) in Co log ll e, w he re I am stay in g, I am te m p ted to go jOgg il lg, sw im m in g, p lay te nni s or wo r k o ut in th e gy m . But he re I mu st stay g lu ed to m ysea t a IllI w rit e. A n yway, fo r the past co up le of days d u r in g m y stay here I have go ne to th e lake, parti ed all d goofed off a b it. The peop le at the ~po rt esc h u l e have bee n g rea t and I've enj oyed std yin g he re w ith th em . I was lu cky eno ugh to ta l k w ith Sei j i, here at ih e Sportesc hul e and he gave m e so m e m o re backg ro uilli o n th e co mp eti tio n group gym nasti cs perfor m ed by j ap an at th e G ym naes trada. It was th e f irst tim e in m o re th an thirt y yea rs that j apa n has ex hi b it ed g ro u p gymn as ti c compe titi o n exerc ises o ut side th eir co untr y un til th e Gy nlllaestrada in Ber lin . Du r in g th e 1936 O ly m p ics was th e las t tim e j apa n pe r lormed co mpeti ti o n gro u p gymnas ti cs o n dn i ll te rn at lo lla l leve l. Prese n tly, j apa n ho lds nati o nal compe tit io ll S in g ro u p gym nas ti cs and th eir lederatio n wo uld lik e to see it come back as an int e rnat io nal co m pet iti o n eve nt. As yo u mig ht have guessed, co m pet iti o n gro u p gym nas ti cs is no t new. It o ri g in ated in Gerlll dll Y <lIld was pro m o ted by Hitle r beca use he li ked to see bea uti f ul m oveme nt o f peo pl e toge th er. O ill y afte r WW II it was disco nt i nu ed as a co mpe titi o ll eve lll in gymn ast ics beca use th e res t of t he wo rld wo ul d have bee n re min ded 0 1 th e Naz is. j apa n, howeve r, has co ntinu ed it in it s o ri g in al fo rm .and has de ve luped it in to o n e of the most bea uti f ul art lorms in gY ln nds ti cs, today . Sei ji sa id th at in j apan, th e yo un g boys li ke gro u p gy mn as ti cs be tt er than compe titi o n gymn as ti cs o n th e si x eve nt s. In a gro u p th ere are si x m em bers w ho mu st do free exe rc ise toget her in th ree o r t hree and a half min utes . In that tim e t h ey in c lu de ap paratus in th eir ra utill e like j u mp ropes, sti cks and ke ul s (s hap ed lik e a bo ttl e w ith a lo ng skinn y n eck). 'I hey alsa in c lude free-exe rcise w ith o u t appa'rdtu s ill th eir ro utin es. In jud g in g co mp etiti o n g ro up gy mn as ti cs, the re die two di ffe re llt se ts of ju dges and fo u r ju dges ill eac h set. O n e set of ju dges eva lu ates .o nl y th e c ho reog rap h y of th e g ro u p and th e o th e r se t of jud ges eva lu ate o nl y th e di ffi culty dnd .o ri g in alit y of th e ro u ti nes. Th e hi ghest pass i b le p o in ts a g ra u p <;a n ea rn is 60 p o int s to tal in c ludin g pa ill ts o bt ain ed by th e fo ur in d ivid ual ca m pe tit ors w ithin th e gro up. I ,1 m tha ll k lul to 5e iji fo r all hi s h elp and for hi s ca nce n l abo ut m ak in g sure I get all th e inl a rm ati o n I need. Incid entl y, w hil e I was wr it ing my great essays he came wa lkin g in th e roam w ith a top japa nese r in g m an . H ow m an y p laces in t he wo rl d d oes th at usuall y happe n dnd in Eur ope at th at! Not to me n t io n hav in g a ~we d ish g ymn as ti c champ io n wa it i ng o ne al te rll ao n , allli I m isse d hi m beca use I fe ll dsleep. Lu ck il y, I me t him the nex t day at a Ju nio r C hamp ia nshi p m ee t be twee n No rway and Li ve rku se n , a loca l Germa n gym nas ti c cl ub in a neig h bo rin g tow n . W e ll , al ter m y stay in the Sportesc hul e in Ca l ag I H~ , in a d ay or twa, I w ill p roceed to ~ra n kl urt alld t he n to Sca nd i nav ia. I ca n 't wa it ta ga ta th e gy mn as tic ca m ps in No rway and ~wede ll beca use I hea r th e cou ntry is bea utiful in th at pa rt .0 1 th e wo rld. As ya ur r epo rt er- at- Iarge, trave li ng the tracks an d streams of Eu rope - Later! ~porte sc hu l e

SIDE OF GYMNASTICS By Sunny Magdaug Gymnae strada Berlin 1975

Note: A few days ago, I le ft Berlin a nd arrived at Cologne in Wes t Germany. I began writing this column on a Thursday morning while I was waiting lor some friend s to meet me at th e train station. However, since I have several hours to wait, I found a spot under th e tree near Cologne's famous Gothic Cathedral a nd while ov e rlooking the Rhine River, I wrote. It was ju st my lu ck, the day before th e Gy nlll aes t rada , t o rUl l int o C hin a's Gy mn asti c Assoc iati o n De legat io n. Tho u gh th ere were no gy mn as ts rep rese ntin g C hin a, th e Delega ti o n was th ere obse rvin g gymn ast ics. De lega tio n me m ber and int e rpr ete r, Ch e n Fay was ve ry he l pf ul in exp lainin g t he f un ction s of th eir assoc iatio n in promo tin g gy mn ast ics in C hin a. The Ch in a Gym nas tic Assoc iati o n started in 1952 . Eve ry fo ur yea rs it is reo rganize d and a new p res ide nt e lected. It is d ivided in to si x admin is tr ati o n ; refe ree; ma in d ivisio ns: gy mn ast trainin g; co nt es t ; int e rn ati o nal re lat io ll s; and n ews b u reau . 'I he Associat io n p romo tes gy mn ast ics o n all levels of C hin a's sc hoo l system and e ncou rages gro u p gy mn ast ics as we ll as in d iv id ual gy mn ast ics. D uri ng su mm er and w int er vaca ti o ns th e re are sem in ars fo r gy mn as t and re l eree tra il l ill g; t hey h ave nati o nal gym nas ti c c hamp io nshi ps and are now encourag in g th e fo r ma ti o n of littl e leag ue gro u ps. Th ey h ope tha t by pro m o tin g gy mn ast ics from eleme nt ary sc hoo ls an d up th at eve ryo ne w ill k now gym nas tics. Th ey think th at it is a goo d sp o rt all d wou ld lik e to h ave eve r yo n e in the ir co untr y do it. C hin a's top m an gym nas t is Lin - D e n- Yu and th eir top wo m an gy mn as t is She-Hui- Fo n g. C hin a's Spor tsday w ill be h e ld Sep te m ber 9t h where t here w ill be gy mn ast ic ex hi b iti o ns.

Inte rview with Nippon leader Prof. H. Suzuki H . ~ u z uki is t he lea d er of th e wo rl d fa m o us N IPPON Me ll 's U ni vers it y Gy mn ast ic C lu b o f Ko ku shika n U ni ve rsit y, To k yo, as we ll as a p rofe sso r of p h Ys ica l ed uca ti o n at th e uni ve rsit y. Su zuk i has bee n a teac her o f gymn as ti cs for 30 years at Tokyo Edu ca ti o n al U ni vers it y. Belore com ing to Kok ushi ka n U ni versi ty, he taught at Na ti o nal Tu k ul ea U ni vers it y. H e is also a teac her of sw imm ing in t he su m m e r and sk iill g ill th e w int er. H e lik es to sk i o n Mt. ZaoYamaga ta, w h ich is ve r y famo u s in j apa n becau se it has ve ry ni ce sce n ery in th e w int er. Wit h all d w it hou t the aid of an int e rp reter I was ab le to co ndu ct an int erv iew w ith Su zuk i d urin g IUl lCh t ime by a hu ge bea utiful garde n

o n t he pre m ises of th e G ymn aest rada . Lu ck il y, he is ab le to read alld w rit e En g lis h and th o ug h it was slow we were ab le to co mm u ni ca te w it h pe n an d paper. H owever, a littl e later Seij i Nagase , fo rme r j apa n ese gy mn as t, i n te rp reter and gym nast ic in st ructor in Colog n e, he lped me fini sh m y int erview w ith Su zuk i. But befo re I co ndu c ted m y ilite rview, I co ul d not help wa tch i ng Slj zu ki 's fasc inat io n w ith all t he peo pl e arou nd him . H e was filmin g and tak in g pi ct u res of all the peop le . I was ju st lasc in ated wa tc hin g hi m. A s I int erviewed Suzu ki , he exp lai n ed th at in j apa n th e boys start gym nas ti cs at age si x o r seve n . Du r in g sc hoo l they mu st have three ho urs of req uir ed gy mn as ti c lesso ns. A nd aft er sc hoo l whe ll t here is rec rea ti o n for all sp o rt s, the trainin g of gym nas ts is in cl ud ed in th e recrea ti o n prog ram . Though j apan does n o t have an y p ri va te gym nas ti c c lubs o r g ro u ps, th e sys tem of gym nast ics in t he sc h oo ls is very good. There are th ree reaso ns why th e j ap anese co nt ai n so m e of th e bes t gymn as ts and best gy mn as ti cs tec hlli q ues in th e wo rl d. Fi rst of all , the y have be tt e r bo d y p roport io n t hat ma kes ,i t possib le to do d iff icult m oves. The seco nd reaSO ll be in g all ow in g m o re trai nin g ti me to th e gy mn as ti c spo rt and thi rd bei ng th ei r p hil osophy of gy mn as ti cs and it s re lati ollS hip to bo d Y and to sp ir it. Th e way th ey relate to gym nas ti cs is by thin k in g o f gy mn astics and l ee lin g gym nas ti cs. Gy mn ast ics in japa n has bee n a pa rt o f li fe fo r th e peop le m an y, ma n y Yea rs. Fo r exa m p le, it is a custo m fo r yo un g an d o ld ali ke to do " m or nin g gym nast ics" eve r y si n gle m o rnin g. W he ll I asked Suz uki how t he habit s of gy mn as ti cs re late to j apa nese customs and eve ryday li fe, he b roke ou t int o a bi g d isc uss io n wit h Se ij i and some of the N IPPON team me m be rs. H ow I w ished to u nderstand th e Japa n ese lang uage. I co ul d have w ri tte n at leas t 10 mo re pages o n th at su bj ec t alo n e. 1 hey talk ed abo ut th e ir gymn ast ic s w ith e nergy . Though I co ul d n 't vigo ro us co mpr ehend exact ly w hat th ey were say in g, I co ul d lee l th e d ep th of th eir mea nin g of gymll as ti cs. It does no t m att er th at Seiji ca nn ot tra nslate w hat Suzuki says abou t habi ts of gym llds ti cs ill re lati o n to th eir eve r yday li fe and c ulture. Th e fee lin g is what is im po rt an t. And i f Olle co ul d h ave felt th at fee lin g th e n t here sho ul d n 't be n eed fo r words. Alte r t he ill'terview an d before leav in g, ~ u zu k i took the littl e mon key he had ti ed o n to hi s gear bag and tied it o n to m y came ra bag . 1 hat was very ni ce of hi m and now I have a lit tl e compa ni o n to trave l thro ug h Eu rope wi th me.

SUNNY GYMNAST Sept. '75

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

~JOHNSTOWN

o ~

PITTSTOP

~ CT ' c ~

Readers ha ve asked why I am now living in Johnstown , Penn sy lva nia in stea d of Palm Beach , Florida. How cou ld I give up the ocean and palm trees for ice and snow? Th e answer is simpl e. M y children are all grown and I do not need a fi ve-bedroom house. I wa s offered a position at th e University of Pittsburg at Jo hn stown as P.E. Dance teach er and Ballet Coach for th e Panthers Gym Tea m . Our Head Coach is Ernie Fetze r, a remarkabl y talent ed young man , so don't be surpri se d if yo u hea r that the Panth ers m ake gymn as ti c news. Ernie is young and strong and hand so m e, girl s" . and h e really can get yo u to do most anything on tho se bars without fear b eca u se he creates confidence and spot s 50 well. Thi s is the first year the UPJ will ha ve a Gym Tea m and our . c lasses begin September 2nd. Ernie Fet ze r is also Head Coach for th e Johnstown Turn ers Gym Tea m. Di c k Rigby is there, too. He is th e founding Coach and has been teachin g for so m e 15 yea rs. Yours truly is there, al so, as Ball et Coach. Il aving worked with Ernie for severa l month s, yo u do n' t have to take my word for it that he is a great coach. His gi rl s, the Johnstown Turners, won the team trophy for th e Acti ve Ladies Upper (Advanced) Division at th e N ational Turnf est in St. Lou is, Mo. , June 24-29th! Out of 400 co ntestants Lynn Port ze r pl aced 4ih all-around, Ca th y Drosja ck, 7th, Beve rl y Drosja ck, 8th , and Stephanie Matolyak , 10th. In the Junior Girls (14-17) Middle Divi sion , our girl Tamm y Rishell, 14, won the all-around! It was a fun M eet and 51. Lo uis was a grea t place to visit. Th e Conco rdia Turne rs w ere great host s, and as usual I k ept running into o ld friends. Jim Fark as of th e Milwaukee Turners looked younger than ever, whi c h says a lot for gymnastics. Jim was a pion eer for the

'"o 3'"

Federa tion , writing o ur first Age-G ro up Gymnastics Workbook for th e USG F, wh ich was a muc h-n eeded aid at th e time. W atch th e cl imb of St ephanie Matolyak. She is a Fre shman at Pitt and a m emb er of our Panthers Gym Team. I took her to Palm Beac h thi s Ma y to work o ut w ith Kim Chase, who was on our Ol ym pi c Team co mpetin g in Munich. Kim is hard at it , tryin g to get ready for th e Ol ympi c trial s to mak e the Tea m aga in and co mpete in Cana d a. Th e Cha se family ha ve a larg e gymnastic sc hoo l in Ri vie ra Beach, Florid a and helped our Steph ie ve ry Illu ch. Up to h er co mp etition in th e ad va nced division , Stephie was co mpet in g only in th e Middle Di vision. Th ank s, Kim , and good luck!

"o o :T

The Johnstown Turners girls gymnastics team won the national championship in the senior (ages 1830) upper grade June 26-29 in the national Turnfest at St. louis, Mo. Awards were given to the top 10 gymnasts and their points counte the team championship. the champs and their placings are shown: Front row, left to right - Beverly Drosjack,8; and Kathy Drosjack , 7; back row - Stephanie Matolyak, lOth; lynn Portzer , 4th; Robin Bost, lIth , and Tammi Rishell , first in the junior girls (ages 14-17) middle grade all-around. In the center is coach Dick Rigby. Missing from the photo are Nancy Petrosky, 12th place senior girls , and coaches Ernie Fetzer a nd Grace Kaywell .

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

GRACE NOTES From The Pitt At Johnstown Readers have written in and asked me to describe some "connecting" ballet or dance steps for their free exercise or beam routine_In this issue we have chose the Sissone. Thi s step g e t ~ it s naille Iro m th e d ance r who ' made it up. 1 here Me mdny different kinds o f 'sisso nes as th e gynH IJst spring s into th e air either 10rwMd ~, sid eway s, or ba ckwards , and s imultan ed u ~ l y pu shes hilllse lf away from one leg, which he str etch es after him . Th e legs ma y bea t b efo re openin g. and as h e land s th e raised leg quickl y c l o~e~ to th e other , givin g a subtl e impre ss ion o f ~y n copa t ion. Illu strated i ~ th e s i s ~om~ to th e back (fe rm e) closed. Sta lld in tlw filth po siti o n , p li e and spring backward into tlw air. at th e same tim e raising th e Iro llt leg as high as poss ibl e, pointing both lee t alld straight enin g both legs. GYMNAST Sept. '75

2 A good arm po ~ iti o ll wo uld b e th e ballet third. th e sam e Mm to th e sid e as th e rai sed leg , th e o th er ann o v('rh ead . 1 he h ead may remain erect and lorward or illClin e it to th e sid e. Land so ltl y all th ÂŁ' b dCk l oo t . Illdkill g sure to land firml y ill th e d C' mi-pli e (toes to uch lirst . th eli th e ball ~ 01 th e 1('C' t dlHI th t' 11 th e heels pre ss ed

3 lirllll y int o th e 11001'. ) 1 here should be 110 so und as th e dem i-pli e " c u ~ h i on s" the bod y. See that your bod y does 1I0t bl'lId 10rw,lI'd ur br edk in th e middle a ~ you (o n1<' dOWIl. Ke ep .I good li ft ou t 0 1 th e hip ~ dl ld the rib .. . w ith o ut hUll c hin g s h o uld e r ~ .

NEW APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY By O.J. Kudrnovsky

. 1975-76 NATIONAL FEDERATION BOYS GYMNASTIC RULES . tohstantly striving to provide equitable, safe ~ri~ stable rules the National Federation Boys Gyrtlnastics Rules Committee recently revised the rule book. .: In an effort to make the book more useable, the event requirements have been clarified (not c hanged) - they are now "spelled" out as ;i,b;c, - - - etc. . Additional activities of the rules committee involved the development of a new officials bam, an official score sheet and the establishment of an Early Season' Questions iiyer. The latter item is an attempt to help judg~ s and coaches interpret the rules more elfedively. A situation is stated and then a fuiin,g made. Qf special concern to the committee is the re~e ht development of equ ipm ent that does npi meet the specifications or has not been approved by the NFSHSA. As a result of the concern the committee has established a d iirinite policy for the adoption or alteration of the pfesent specifications. Said policy has been fbrwiird ed to all concerned parties. It is reco mmended that all high schools purchasing pew equipment review the rule book to make ce rtain that their purchases have the NFSHSA approval or meet the NFSHSA specifications. Some of the rule changes made are: . :1; Judges are to flash their scores ~ iihllitaneously and the head judge is to sign the officia l score sheet. 4. When vaulting lines are to be placed on ihe路f1oor marking the position of the long horse ~ritl to indicate the 4/4 and 5/ 4 vault ing distances. 3. NissHyde as a synethetic leather has been ~ pprov ed for use. ; 4: The specifications for the length of the hori zon tal bar have been raised to 100-7/ 16" pius br minus Y/' and the height for the parallel bd-(s has been raised to 68-15/ 16'': plus or minus 3/ 16" : .路 5: On the trampoline, touching anything tither than th e bed will now be treated like bihd events. The deduction wil l be relative to the . skill performed. Addit ional items were atl.d ed to help in judging trampoline. Fina ll y, th e rul es committee recommends th a t all sc hool s, where possible, compete in the reserve leve l and use the USGF compulsory routines. 40

From the very beginning of the entry of gymnastics on the American scene, we are plagued with a mess of hodge-podge terms, describing the app (apparatus) xx (exercises). And ever since, this situation is not improving any, in fact it is growing worse . Through numerous new gymnastics books and publications, and through constantly increasin g gymnastic competition, especially on the international level, a multitude of obsolete, no order, no system terms are creeping in our daily use . You can open any of these books, and at once, you are confronted with terms like "Czechwende", "Streuli", "Braglio", "Carmanuci", and a dozen of different kinds of " Moores", and others and others, one thousand and one such "nothing to go on " terms. To counteract this unsound trend, I have worked out a uniform standardized terminology of the app. xx . This new terminology is based on Dr. Miroslav Tyrs' monumental scientific study. (Dr. Tyrs was the founder of Sokols.) In this work Tyrs analyzed the entire scope of the app. exx. from the standpoint of physical laws of human body, its spatial patterns and kinetics. Through such procedure he found similarities, relations, common characteristics and other data of the app. xx. In accordance with these findings , - he established definite criteria to define, identify and categorize any app. x or movement. The counterpart of the original terms in this new proposed terminology were carefully selected from a great variety of existing and already Widely known English terms. For space limitation on these pages, only the main classes, subc lasses and a few examples of "stem-xx" are included, in the Terminology Table. For the same reason all definitions except the one of the I. Class are omitted . All app. xx are arranged in five classes, subclasses, orders and suborders. Note: For space limitation on these pages, only the main classes, subc lasses and a few stem-xx are listed on the terminology table . For the same reason , all definitions, except the one of the I. Class, are omitted .

Terminology Table: I. Class - Statics : Basic x pos (positions). Hang is a pos in whi c h the perf (performer) hangs on the app by high or low limbs, singly or in combination by both. The perl's shoulder axis is below the app axis. The hang is sustained chiefly by the flexor muscle groups. A.l . Free hang. 2. Combined hang. 3. Hang isometrics. B. Support = a position in which the perf is upheld on the app by his arms, chief ly by the extensor mu sc le groups . His shoulder axis is even or above the app ax is. B.l. Free support. 2. Combined support. 3. Support isom e tri cs, ba lances. C. Sitting pos = are maintained by resting on one or both thigh s. The body weight rest wholly on one or both thighs .

Cl. Fore-seat. 2. Straddle seat. II. Class - Linear, curvilinear and circumrotary movements: A.l. Hand trave l. 2. Hand climbing. 3. Step climbing B.l. Body pendulum swing. 2. Flying swing C. Longitudinal body axis turns, facings. III. Class - A. Ascending, + B. Descending movements. A.l. To app emp lacement. 2. Rise from full to fractional hang and from fracitonal full support. 3.a . Hip circ le uprise. b. Seat circle uprise . 4.a. Pull upruse . b . short swing uprise . c. Kip uprise. d . Back swing uprise . e. Fore swing uprise . f. T-hang uprise . g . Flag lever uprise. B.l. Displacement from the app. 2. Lower from fractional hang to full hang and from full to fractional support. 3. Lower from support to hang . 4. Drop from support to hang. 5. Castoff from support to hang, or from higher support to lower support. IV. Class - Rotary movements around the transverse axis of the body. A. In-or out locate. B. Body rolls. C. Body springs. D. flips. E. Body circles. V. Class - Circulatory leg movements on the diagonally side-fore-back-upward path, and angular-linear body movements. A.l. Fractional leg c irc les. 2. Full leg circles. 3 . Scissors. 4. Transfer circ les. 5. Transfer-turn circles. B. Vaults

Manner of the Terminology Interpretation. By using the following formula; Stem-x + Basic-x pos = Mode/ Modes; which is a combination of stem-xx in al l classes and basicxx, and variety of modes, used as denominators, modifiers, all possible and impossible app xx can be formulated. Note: To save time , effort and print, a system of Tss (term short script) and T'not (terminotation) has been developed. This abbreviated system may at first seem too difficult, but after working with it for a while, it becomes a second nature . Why T'not? To anable any person without a special drawing skill to record any x; to facilitate markings of even the most comp li cated x in the most economical way; to standardize various methods of nomenclating physical activities, and finally to preclude the language barriers.

APPARATUS

EXERCISE

TERMINOLOGY

TERMI NOTATION I. Class - A.l. Hang: hg. 2. Hand-knee hang : Hnd-kn-hg. 3. Hg fr't lev. B.l . Support: Spt. 2. Front lying support: Fr't Ig spt. 3. L-support: L-spt. C.l. Fore seat: For s't. 2. Straddle seat: Strdl s't. II. Class - A.l . Hand travel: Hnd trav. 2. Hand climb: Hnd cli . 3. Step climb: stp c1i. B.l. Fore-swing: For-sw. 2. Back-swing: B'ksW. 3. Prep sw in g: Prep-sw. 4. Short swing: Sh't SW. 5. Under-swing: Un-sw. C.l. 'Is turn : '1s t. 2. v.. turn: Y4t. 3. '12 turn : '12 t. 4. 3,1.0 turn: 314t. 5. 1/ 1 turn: 1/ 1 t. 6.1&Ya turn plus: l&Ya+ . Ill.Class - A.1.a. Jump to pos: I'm to pos. b. Mount to seat: M ' nt to s't. 2.a. Pull up to bent-arm hang : P'l to b't-a hg. B. Press to support: Pr's to spt. 3.a. Hip-circle uprise : Hip c'cl uprs . b. Seatcircle uprise: S't-c-cI uprs. 4.a. Pull uprise: P'l uprs. b. sho rt swing uprise : Sh ' t-sw uprs . c. Kip uprise : Kip uprs . d.l) Back-swing uprise: B' k-sw uprs. d.2) For-sw uprs. e . T-uprise : T-uprs. F. Flag lever uprise: Flag lev uprs.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

B.l.a . jump off: I' m off. Dismount: Dism 't. 2.a. Lower to ha ng: Lo to hg. b. Lower to bent arm support: Lo to b 't-a spt. 3.a. Lower backward : 10 b'w. Low erforewa rd: 10 forw. 4.a. Back drop : B'k dr. b. Fore drop: for-dr. 5.a. Back castoff: B'k c-off. b. Fore castoff: For c-off. IV. Class - A.l. Outlocate: O-Ioc. 2.lnlocate: Inloc. B.l .a. Fore-roll: For-r'l b. Shoulder foreroll : Shou for-r' l. C.l. Head-spring : Hd spr. 2. Hand-spring: Hnd-sp r. 3. Back hand -spring L B'k hnd-spr. D.l . Fore-f lip: For-fl. 2. Back-flip: B'k fl. 3. Back tuck flip: B'k tuck fl.4. Back layout flip: B' I I-out fl. 5. Fore-swing back flip: For-sw b'k fl. 6. Back-swing back-flip: B'k-sw b' k fl. E.l. Ba ck hip circle: B'k hip c-cI. 2. Fore hip circle: For hip c'cI 3. Back crotch circle: B' k crotch c-cI. 4. Back rear circ le : B'k r' r c-cl. 5.

Back giant-circle: B' k g'nt c'cI. 6. Fore giantcircle: Fo r g'nt c-c l. 7. P-Bar; Back hip circle: B'k hip c-c l. 8. Back hip circ le to handstand: B' k hip c-cI to h-std. V. Class - A.l. Right sideleg V2c irc le: R't si-Ieg Y2 c-cI. 2. Right sid eleg circ le: R' t si-Ieg c-cl. 3. Flank scissors: FI scis. 4. Transfer left f lank circle: Tr ' fer fl-c-cl. 5. Right transfer-turn Y2 circle: R' t tr ' fer-turn Y2 c-cI. ' B.l. Squat- vault: Sq-v ' lt. 2. Flank Vault: FIv' lt : 3. Back-vault : B' k-v ' lt. 4. Stoop-vault: Stoop v- It. 5. Sheep-vault: Sheep-v'lt. 6. Lon gvault: Long-v' lt Mode of ExecutionL 1. Directions of movement. 2. Relation of gym 'st & app. 3. Relation of axes, gym' st & app. 4. Leg hand relation . 5. Grasp. 6. Range of movement. 7. Body & parts posture. 8. time. 9. Body & parts participation. 10. Hand span .

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

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

APPARATUS EXERCISE TERMINOLOGY TERMINOTATION

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GYMNAST Sept. '75

Jaeger, East Germany - Back uprise front saIto cut catch

Eberhard Gienger , West Germany - Stalder with eagle grip 42

GYMNAST Sept. '75

\--- -

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Instruction:

Progressive Spotting: Teacher Relief and Aide to the Learner By Hayes Kruger Assistant Professor and Gymnastics Coach Madison College, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Interest in gymnastics has grown tremendously in recent years through the television exposure of such world class gymnasts as the Russian, Olga Korbut, the American , John Crosby, and the latest, the exciting young Romanian wonder, Nadia Comaneci. The clamor has spurred the growth of gymnastic clubs that put a premium on the development of talent such as that displayed by the former Cathy Rigby. American gir/s, particularly, are hungry forthe opportunities to learn the intricacies of the body management that make gymnastics the excit in g and beautiful sport that it is. Pressures to include more gymnastics in the schools have put a strain on the limited talents of many physical educators who grew up in an era when gymnastics consisted of an annual unit of stunts and pyramids. Gymnastic literature has not been able to keep pace with the need expressed by teachers at both the school and beginner c lu b level for information on modern progression and instructional methods. How does one teach a large beginning group when assistance is limited? One of the answers is to teach progressive spotting techniques along with progressions in stunts and connecting movements. Every learner becomes a coach, too. Spotting is a gymnastics term meaning to assist a performer in the execution of some stunt that, otherwise, would be beyond the learner's ability to p erform correctly or safely. A "heavy spot " means a large amount of manual assistance while a " light spot" refers to help as little as a gentle touch during the critical part of a movement 's beginning, middle, or ending. Progressive spottin g is a term the author uses to identify the series of steps from " heavy" to "light spotting " . Th e stunt to be learned is subjected to ana lysis with a view toward the use of manual assistance by student spotters. A way of proceeding is to establish the stunt as the terminal objective or target skill by describing in detail not only the action but also its standard of quality and amplitude (size or height). This target ski ll is then converted to a sequence of enabling objectives or steps wh;ch describe specific behaviors to be achieved in an ascending order of difficulty beginning with the most fundamenta l of required behaviors for both the performer and the spotters. Progressive spotting techniques describe a) the actions of the spotters from the moment of contact with the performer to the break in contact, b) what they are to look for and be sensitive to during each part of the action, and, c) what to do in providing corrective manual assistance and verbal feedba ck. As manual assistance is progressively reduced, verbal corrections and reinforcements as accurate as they are specific to the situation become increasingly important to correct and safe execution. The general gu id eline for a two spotter progression is as follows :

1. Involve all th e students by teaching them the first step, enabling objective number one, in which the spotters have very specific directions to follow apart from those specified for the performer. Grouped in threes, the entire class starts off together and periodically reviews this step so that th e success of all at this level is guaranteed . 2. Identify th e quality standard to be achieved before proceeding to enabling objective number two for both the spotters and the performer. The major stress must be placed on accuracy of spotter behavior so that the performer has as little to worry about as possible. His safety is completely in their hands. 3. Follow this procedure for each step or enabling objective up to the point where two spotters are no longer needed. Identify observational c ues that pinpofnt trouble and describe corrections that are needed. Have the group or groups in volved review the previous step to give additional emphasis to a critical point. Do not p ermit learner progression to the next step until both performer and spotter performance meet the minimum standards which should be high enough so that mistakes are not practiced. 4. Continu e with single spotter progressions until no assistance is required but continue to use the spotter as the observer to supply appropriate feedback on technique and qua lit y. I nstru ctor review is essential to success. In practice this means that the entire class start s out tog ether. As the readiness or need for additional information is demonstrated, the instructor holds mini-instructional sessions for groups th at have attained the minimum standard s of acc eptance or that have specia l probl em s requiring instructor attention. Each of th e enabling objectives is introduced in this mann er to permit learners to progress at their own rat e. A s soon as a learner is ready, the spotte rs are taught the required modifications whil e the performer assumes a proportionately great er share of the work required to achieve eventual independence of spotter assistance. To h elp the lea rners acquire the confidence and skill demanded by these progesssions, the instructor is care ful about organizing the groups of three in a manner that will facilitate learning and maximize safety. Ability grouping is des irable with a minimum of disparity in the heights and w eights of the members of each group. The students will usually follow direc tion s for grouping with such criteria in mind . Tru st is built through repeated safe performances of basics. Carelessness cannot be tolerat ed nor any " horseplay" whatsoever. If the sp o tters are not strong enough, careful enough , or consid erate enough to meet the instructor 's min imum standards of learner condu ct, progressive spotting shou ld either be postpon ed until more favorable circumstances are in e ffect or th e enabling objectives should be subjec ted to further analysis. Perhaps there is a simpler form that w ill assure success and safety for all .

The benefit of student work in threes are several. In addition to freeing the instructor from the demands of a few to the needs of the many, attention can be given to individual progression at all the steps along the way through instructor reinforcement , clarification , and correction as the situation warrants. Personal attention can be given in the form of direct assistance to any group in difficulty. Learner perception of the possible is clarified through progressions that describe the process as well as the action sequence that enable the learner to acquire desired skills. This is particularly true for those learners eager to grow in gymnastic ability . But, even those not destined for competitive gymnastics enjoy the thrill of the new and different. Also , it is fun and ego-enhanc ing to be included rather than excluded , to be given the opportunity to learn rather than being designated as untalented . Even if they n ev er learn to perform without spotter assistance, much has been gained and nothing lost. Many exc ellent spotters will be developed who will ac hieve great satisfaction in being able to help others attain competence. A final set of benefits inc ludes those associated with learning to coop erate and to share in the fruits of cooperative endeavor. The " I" of individual gymnast ics performance is put into the framework of the " We " of shared learning. The manual assistance techniques for the front handspring and the back handspring have been selected by the author for the purpose of illustration. It will not be possible to go into every detail of every step but experience has shown that on ce the instructor understands the basic principl es, he is able to fill in the details himself. These two skills are among those frequently taught badly or too exclusively to a few daring indiv iduals. Other skills in tumbling and apparatu s are equally amenable to ana lysis and progressive spotting development. To make them work , it is necessary to determine and then to develop the requisite skills, understandings, and soci al behaviors required by the first of th e series of enabling objectives. co n't. on p g. 47

The pictures in series E illustrate only the initial step in the two-spotter progression . A similar

sequence to that of the back handspring follows performer demonstration of increasing compe-

tency to assume responsibility for the safe and execution of the front handspring. the hazards of error are not so great but correct execution takes persistent practice with spotter assistance and

verbal feedback concerning such errors as lifting the head upon pushing from the hands.

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

GYMNAST Sept. '75

A-}

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

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

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

CYMNAST Sept. '75

A-3

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

E-4: The rotation to the feet is almost complete. A push with the elbows against th e rear of the hips will complete the transfer of weight. Note the E-3: The body is turned forward while the performer maintains the stretched arm position of the performer which body shape. Note the strong support provided by the upper arms permitting asures the maintenance of the stretc hed shape. a slow forward turn to improve kinesthetic awareness.

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

SENIOR GYMNASTICS By John Magginetti

gymnasts are simply wrapping tape around elastic (or a cut rubb er band) until it is the desired diameter. The tape itself is more form fitting and excellent for first learning to have a foreign object behind the grip. I have experienced no breaking of the Va inch dowel. One gymnast I work out with is using copper tubing. It is not fl ex ible, but I must admit, it works fine for him. Try it. If it works, use it. By the way, some of the local University guys are using the dowels on the horizo ntal bar. They work fine when doing giants, but when releasing and regrasping , th ey tend to move.

A WORD FROM JAPAN

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

Tim Shaw, now li ving in Japan and at age 24 only one year fro m officially being a Senior, sends this new dismount from the Horizontal bar. Wyler kip , Brannie-out. Could he have meant a Branni e out of the Wyler kip or is he really doing a Brannie-out? Tim promised to be home for the Beach meet and show it to the Weste rn World.

WHERE IS HE NOWl

Cut a piece of Va inch doweling wood the width of the gymnasts third and fourth finger. Place a three inch piece of elastic ne xt to the dowel. Now wrap the two together with gymnastics tape. Tie the two ends of the elastic together, leaving a sma ll amount of space. Place the wrapped dowel behind the first knuckels of the grip fingers. Now put on the grip. (See above pictures .) The doweling materi al will make the grip and your hand form an almost unbreakable grip on the ring. If you have never worked rings with the grip on th e first knuckle, this will feel uncomfortable at first. Might I suggest wearing wrist bands of some type and pulling the grip almost as tight as it will go. Gymnasts with larger hands (Tim Shaw for examp le) usually do not find when doing giant work that they slip past the first knu c kle. With the doweling behind this knuckle, even a gymnast with short fingers will soon ha ve th e confidence of hitting the bottom and not coming off. I see these ' dowels' as I have co me to call them , made of different material. Some

After last months results of the Senior Olympics, several readers wrote asking, Where was Bobby Diamond? Well, Bobby was hurt. The week before, the Cal. State Northridge power ring man and all around competitor was warming up for the Monroe Invitational when he cut a one and one half twisting Arabian dive just a little too close. Bob is O. K. now and can be seen spending the Summer months trying to reinjure himself. After graduating from the then San Fernando Valley State College, Bob went on to Law School and is now an attorney in the Westwood area. He works out several days a week and at age 31 is still learning. (Like how to take a one and one half twisting Arabian up before twisting.) Bob usually has time only to work Horizontal bar and is improving. He is using a very nice pik e-open, full when his newly acquired double twister is not working. He of course still has a nice double flyaway if all els.e fails . He, like all the rest of us older gymnasts has had to learn to stretch in the shoulders. He is presently re-Iearning Russian giants with the late stoop. Bob has promised to go into the beach meet on Labor Day, but says that his law practice and art work come first. Bob is preparing for a one man art show, (he is very good with oils) and is arguing several cases this summer. If you are at Valley College in Los Angeles and you see a face that you grew up with on television (or one from the present J-wax commercial ) you are right . Bobby still looks the same . Go up to him and say " Hi ." If you know Bob, it will probably be your only words of the conversation. NOTE: Sr. Olympics Gymnastic Chairman John Magginetti would like to hear from other areas in the USA (or Foreign) concerning Sr. or Master 路 Class gymnastic programs and individuals in order to start a regular activity column in GYMASTfor the out of school gymnast. WRITE: John Magginetti , c/ o GYMNAST Box Santa Monica, CA 90406.

no,

GYMNAST Sept. '75

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •~ con 't. fro m pg . 4S

TED PRITCHETT

SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS & FITNESS 4343 Industrial Center San Antonio, Texas 78217 While autstanding clubs exist and many fine gymn asts ha ve been produced, Texas has aptly been described as a " sleeping giant af gymn astics." After private clubs first introduced the spart, the " Y' s" and jewish Cammunity Centers started pragrams and finall y sam e af the mare pragressive schaal system s. In 1974, the Trans-Texas Federatian was farmed cansisting af 20 teams to. pramate friend ship, encaurage spartsmanship amang the gy mnasts and to. pravide an appartunity far USGF cahlpetitian. Naw in the summer af 1975 San Antania has expladed upan the gymnast ic scene with the apening af GYMEX, Ted Pritchett Schaal af Gymnastics, a 15,000 sq. ft . facility which cantains 13 balance beams, 4 uneven bars, 4 irampalin es, 2 gald carpet aver ethafaam flaar ex ercise area s, 2 vau lts and 2 complete sets af men 's equipm ent. A physician and nurse are an call at all times. Starting as a canverted warehau se, it has been transfarmed into. a bright calarfu l gym with skylights to. pravide natural da yli ght lighting to. encaurage the growth af the many plants and trees in the gym, as we ll as the yaung gymnasts! Ted ape ned his gym with 300 gymnasts and expects to. dauble the enrallment with the beginning af the fall sessian .

Jan and Tam Heineke, farmerly af Wichita Kan sas arri ve d in july to take aver the girls campe titi ve programs. Tam Heineke is a farm e r natianal vaulting champ ian with a gymn as ti c backgraund af 15 years . Mast knawl ed geabl e in the area af wamen ' s gymna sti cs , Tam is natianally recagnized as a ma ster clinician and ane af the United States' b es t wam en 's caaches . Alang with his wife, jan, he ha s praduced the United Gymnastics Federatian Kansas State Champianship team twic e and three natianal champians. jan Hein ek e, a United States Gymnastics Federatian natianall y rated judge, cames to. San Antani o with 18 years gymnastic experien ce. P.K. Kralik, a Czechaslavakian gymn as t af 15 years experience is the bay' s caach. Th e phi lasaphy an which Ted runs his schaal is " Eve ry ch il d is aur best student " . Each child , wh eth er he ar she has the patential to. became an Ol ympian , ar enters the _schaal with "Faurt een left fee t " is encauraged to. be proud af that whi ch they are capable af accampli shing and to. develap a lave af the spart. With a schaa l and staff af this magnitude and phila saph y like this , we might laak farward to. the sleeping giant af Texas awakening with a raar.

In the case af the handsprings, the basic handstand with spatter assistance shauld shaw a strang, stretched shape. The ability to. maintain a stretched shape while the body is manipulated by the spatters is essent ial to. success. Far the back handspring, it is necessary, also., to. have the ab il ity to. return the feet simultaneously to. the flaar from a stretched handstand pasitian in a manner similar to. ending af the raund-aff. These prerequisite ski ll s are develaped thraugh repititians af mule kicks, inverted balances, particularly with assistarice to. correct alignment prablems, and maximum isametric stretches af the bady to. get the "feel" of the stretched bady shape . Once this stretched shape can be assumed at wi ll , cansideration can be given to. pragressive spatting in graups af three, ather requisite behaviars having been acquired tao. , af caurse. Step ane can be managed by chi ldren as yaung as the secand grade. Pragress will be slaw, af caurse, but these chi ldren have the time to. learn wihtaut pressure. By the time they reach the faurth .a nd fifth grade, they will be aperating an steps clase to. the terminal abjective. The main paints far the spatters to. remember is that the perfarmer is engaged in maving his center af gravity from place to. place and that spatter assistance must be cammensurate with the perfarmer' s needs to. assure hi s safety and the proper sequence af all the parts within the mavement pattern. Spotter cantrol af the pasitian and mavement of the hips, therefare, is vital for each af the enabling progresses from ane step to. the next, he assumes an increasing amo.unt af respansibility far praducing the farce required to. mave his center af gravity and far the techniques essential to. proper execut ian af the ski ll. Only as he demanstrates praficiency can the spotters release cantral to. him . These mutual respansibilites must be we ll understaod by everyane so. that ratatian fram spatter to. perfarmer can pracede withaut difficulty. Occasianal repetitian af key paints, cues, ar the entire set af instructians may be necessary to. assure accident free learning. The authar assumes that the reader knaws what back and front handsprings are but has difficulty teaching them to. lar ge graups. Simplified versians af descriptians af these twa skills identify the shapes and rhythms that make understand ing by the learner easy. Back handspring: From stretched standing, bend at the hips and knees to. site the hips back to. an aff balance pasiti an. (Caunt ane.) Immediately stretch exp lasive ly at the hip and the knees by exerting a strang push aff the feet while laaking rearward in the directian of the hands. Land in a "handstand ". (Caunt two.) Let the hips cantinue trave lling far a mament and snap bath feet dawn when they have passed beyand the vertical ar gravity line, accampanying this actian with a strang push aff the hand s. (Caunt three.) Frant handspring: Lunge step farward with the arms already in the stretched averhead pasitian . Tip the bady farward vigarausly and place bath hands farward af the shaulders an the flaar with a blacking ar punching actian. (Caunt ane). Push aff the hands immediately to. direct the hips upward as if trying to. tauch the ceiling with the faat and quickly bring the rear leg to. the lead leg. (Caunt twa.) Maintain the stretched bady in flight whi le rotating to. a landing an the feet. (Caunt three .)

Gymex, San Antonio, Texas

GYMNAST Sept. '75

WATANABE COACHES CLINIC June 16th thru June 27th, 1975 By Tom Gardner

This article is designed as a preliminary report on the information given at a coaches clinic by Mr. Masayuki Watanabe, coac h of the 1975 NCAA Gymnastic Championship Team, the University of California at Berkeley, and director of American Gymnastics Center in Concord, California . The two-week clinic was held at the center for four hours per day between June 16th and June 27th, 1975. By most standards "this seems an adequate amount of time for such a clinic, but it was generally agreed that Mr . Watanabe had still only scratched the surface on his unique approach to gymnastics. The clinic was attended by coaches from Northern and Southern California , and Oregon. It dealt 'with psychological and administrative aspects of coaching but was particularly designed to help solve everyday technical problems that the coach might encounter. Among the demonstrators for the clinic was 1975 USGFall-around co-champion Tom Beach, and other members of the University of California team. During the first week of the clinic, Mr. Watanabe covered technical aspects of the basic movements on both men's and women's events, with progressions and typical faults included. The second week contained a more in-depth coverage of the men 's events and sess ions on different aspects of coaching outside the gym. Here, psychological problems, training schedules, training methods, and Mr. Watanabe's approach to spotting were discussed. General Coaching Aspects The coac h shou ld co nsider each gy mn as t as an ind ividual. He sho uld atte mpt to make each in divid ual unde rstand him , and he sho uld be concern ed Wifh proh lf' ms no t on ly insirle fh e gym but outside as we ll. H e shou ld try to help th e gy mn ast mo ti va te h im se lf and sc hedule his training . Basica ll y, w hat thi s bo il s down to is: he should tr y to teac h " how to learn. " Technical Aspects of Coaching First of all , the coach nee d s to be aware of th e ge neral prin cip les of movement. H e need s to kn ow th e ax is of ro tation , th e po int about w hic h the cente r o f grav it y moves, an d if thi s po int shift s during a m ove m ent. He needs to be aware o f th e length o r rad iu s of th e sw in g, th e di stance from th e ax is of rotation to the ce nt er of grav it y. Furth er, he n ee d s to be awa re of bod y angles wi th res pec t to th e apparatus and jo in t ang les of th e different seg ments of the bod y. H e nee d s to know th e speed of a mo ve ment and how thi s sp eed ca n be changed A lso, how mo mentum ca n b e co nse rved o r changed to help acco mpli sh a ce rtain move ment. Secondl y, coac hes nee d a common techni ca l _goa l for each st unt , t hat is, it s bes t techni ca l executi on. A nd t hey nee d a c lea r pi cture of thi s goa l in th eir mind. Th en th ey n eed a tec hni ca l know led ge of ba sic m ove m ent s and progressions in orde r to attai n th ese goal s. But more th an a techni ca l knowl edge of bas ics is need ed . It is m o st im portant to kno w how to stress basi cs. Th e coach needs to let th e gy mn as t kno w th at co rr ec t bas ics are initi all y ve ry imp o rtant. To deve lop th e co rr ect stre ng th s and co rrect tec hni ques, ba sics need to be st ressed over a lo ng perio d of tim e. But af ter an in itial emph as is, bas ics should be stre ss ed co nstan tl y, but more adva nced stun ts ca n be att empt ed. Th en o ne' s ba sics and in div id ual stunt s ca n be built up s imult an e o u ~ l y. Thi s approach need s to be modifi f'd for f'J ch indi vid ual, but str ess o n

bas ics shou ld be co nstant , n o matt er w hat leve l the gy mn as t happens to be. A ft er a ce rt ain level o f co mp etence in basi c mo ve ment s is acco mpl ish ed, th e coac h should know th e progr essio ns for each adva nce d skill. He need s to know the mo st ef fec ti ve, e fficient , and techni ca ll y co rrect way to lea rn a stunt for m ost gy mnas ts, th en he mu st d ea l w ith spe cifi c prob lems of each in dividual. If th e co rrec t pro gress ion s are used, th e gy mna st ca n deve lop th e co rrec t streng th s and co rrect positi o ns and th erefore be techni call y co nsistent throu ghou t hi s gymnastics. Add iti o nall y, w ith proper progress io ns, th e gy mn ast ca n develop mo re co ntro l and need not rely on spo ttin g to any grea t ex t ent. Correct prog ression s make th e attempt of a new stunt a ve ry natura l process an d th ere fore keeps fear and injury to a minimum. Technical Highlights of the Events Th e purpose her e is to go ove r each of the eve nt s cove red at th e clini c and prese nt som e of its hi ghlight s w hi c h mak e Mr. W atanabe's approac h par ti cul arl y uniqu e. Tumbling: Basic roll s, both fo rward and backward, sho uld be done eve ry day no matter what leve l o f gy mna st. Forwar d roll s w ith hand stand pirouettes are direc tl y re lated to piro uett es o n o th er apparat us. A lso, bac k ro ll ex ten sions are rela ted to shoot mo ve ment s on rin gs, stem ri se o n high bars, and peaches on para ll el bars. To maintain a smooth rh ythm o n ca rtw heels, th e leg, , ho ul d be sli ghtl y bent w hen pu shing of f th e floor and upon landin g. Th e fing ers sho uld b e pointin g towa rd eac h other w hen th e hand s are on th e floor. Thi s enab les th e gymna st to pu sh more efficientl y, w hi ch is criti ca l w hen ca rtwh eels are deve loped into more advanced stunt s such as ro und -offs, di ve ca rtwh ee ls, and ca rt w heels to sid e so mersa ult s. To deve lop a cilr tw hee l in to an ae ri al ca rt w hee l a o ne-arm ca rt w hee l sho uld be used first. Th e far arm shou ld th en prog ress ive ly be '

pl ace d clo se r to th e firs t foot , and entire move m ent sho uld b e don e w ith m or e and more speed. When att emptin g a hea d sprin g, a stro ng arm pus h, co upl ed w ith a vigo ro u s hip ex tension shou ld be emph as ize d . Also , th o ugh, an in itial strong leg ext ension be fore th e head is placed o n th e floor sho ul d also be str essed. Co ntinuous headsp rin gs, w ith out b endi ng the hip s upon landing, sho uld b e pra cti ced as a progress ion tawards two -foot hand sprin gs and ' hand spri ng to fro nt so mersa ults. Th e entire b ody li ne sho uld be ~ traig ht o n a front han d sprin g. A stretche d sh ould er angle shou ld be maint ain ed as th e top leg is trave lin g upwa rd . Th e drop as we ll as th e leg ki ck sho uld be ve ry fa st. Th e hand spri n g prior to a front so mersa ult sho uld be rotated sli ghtl Y more and th e ches t should be ro unded as th e drop to the hands occ urs. Th e back sho ul d remain ve rti ca l, and the kn ees should no t ben d fo rward o n th e take-off pha se of a back hand spring. Durin g th e snapdown pha se , th e sh o ulders should remain d irectl y over th e hands at all tim es. Th e w hole bod y sho uld be rounded upon lan d in g. Th ere are two types o f round-oils , both of wh ich should be develo p ed from a ca rtwh ee l. The fir st is one prior to a flip-flop , th e seco nd is prior to a back o r sid e somersau lt. On both, a hard pu sh w ith th e hand s is req uired, but prior to a f lip- flop th e fee t should be pulled more unde rn ea th th e bod y. On a tu ck ba c k it is vital that th e hips rot ate up as th e kne es co me up. Th e arm s n eed to stre tc h hi gh b efore th e tu ck occ urs. Thi s arm stre tc h is more criti ca l on a so mersa ult in a layo ut positio n. H er e, aft er th e stretch, the ar ms mu st sto p qui ckl y to es tab li sh the ax is of ro tation , t hen th e bod y co ntinu es to rise tow ard th e ar ms. Th e most criti ca l part of th e more advanced twi sting so m ersa ults is not ac tu all y the twi stin g part but th e est ab li shment o f a strong rota ti on during th e so m ersa ult. Side Horse: Durin g both front , rea r,a nd stradd le support sw in gs th e head positi o n should b e n eutral, not look in g down , th e c hes t should be straig ht, not ho ll owed. Th e sho ulders should sta y as hi g h as poss ib le at all tim es, letting a natural dip occ ur, . w ith o ut trying to ac tu all y dip. Th e hip angle should always be straight , and on th e straddle support sw ing , th e hip s should be facing forward as much as po ss ibl e. Hi gh double leg circles sh oul d be an outgrowth of low doubles, or p endulum swinging doub le leg circles . The hips should b e co nstantl y straight and pointin g forward at all tim es. With hi gh doub les, sp eed sho uld be emph asized and o ne should maintain a support w ith both hand s o n th e pomm els for the ma ximum amount of tim e . A sho ulder lea n on both do ubl e and sin gle leg wo rk sho uld not be stressed . On e sho uld m aintain th e sh o ulder above th e hand as muc h as poss ibl e. Rings: Durin g all swin gin g move m ent s o n th e rings th e hips sho uld b e straight and ti ght, the shoulders con stantl y ex tend ed , w ith th e sw in g co ming fro m th e upper c h es t. As an und ersw in g approac hes 180 deg rees th e rings nee d to be pull ed sli ghtl y to th e sid e at th e en d of eac h sw in g. Th e sho uld ers should be low and pa rti all y inloca ted w ith th e hee ls hi gh on th e back swin g. A co nsistent turn of th e rings is n ee ded thr o ugho ut w hen att empting a di slocate. From th e b eg innin g of th e hip ex te nsi on, th e bod y nee d s to be ti g ht for ma ximum co nt rol and a smooth sw in g. For inl oca t es, to tal bQd y GYMNAST Sept. '75

ro tation sho ul d be emp hasized from th e beginning. Afte r ad equate rot ation is es tabli shed, th en a li fting of th e should ers ca n occur, still maintaining swin g. A back upri se to hands tand is a co ntinu ati o n of thi s mo ve ment. Th e und erswing shoulu be co nverted to an upward swing by k icking through the bot tom o n 'a shoo t to hand stanu . Th e w ri sts should be turnin g o ut and , th ere fo re, th e rin gs para ll el thro u gh th e bottom of th e swin g. The body shoul d be kept away from th e rings by pullin g back w ith th e arms, fo llow in g th e kick and body rotation. On any so rt of back somersa ult dismount th e pull w ith th e arm s should be in a ba ckward direction w ith th e ring s sw in gi ng parallel to each other after the release. Vaulting: The bes t va ult ers first have a good run. Th e run shou ld b e o n the toes, comp lete lY ex tendin g th e leg on eac h step. The arms sho uld b e carr ied hi gh to he lp keep more erect during th e run . Th e hurdl e step should b e low and ve ry qui ck. Th e trailin g le g on th e hurdl e sho uld never pa ss th e first leg, but sho uld me et th e other and stay wit h it. Most importa ntl y, th e body pos iti o n o n the board shou ld be erect and th e legs should feel straight , landing hi gh on the toes. The und er-arm sw ing is mo st effect ive o n va ults suc h as hec ht and stoop va ult s, whereas an arm throw from above th e sho ulders is more effect ive for handspring and yamas hita-t ype va ult s. Th e more adva nced va ults now require a very short, low preflight w ith quick body rotati o n. Qui ckness to th e horse is most impo rt an t. Parallel Bars: On ba ck uprises there should be a definite and lo w si nk in th e shou Id ers thro ugh th e bottom o f th e swin g. H oweve r, o n a front upri se, the sink should be less so as not to delay th e pull w ith th e arms. Th e kick on upri ses to support shou ld be either forward or backward , not up or down. On peach baskets and cas ts, the pull with the arm s at th e end of th e und erbar swin g sho uld be ex tr emely fas t. One shou ld develo p this sw in g, with a st ra ight-arm pull , before eith er a peac h or a cas t are attempted. A low dip in th e shoulders thr o u gh the bottom on suppo rt sw ing s should be great ly empha sized. Th e shou ld ers need to relax and dip while th e body is very ti ght. The in sid e o f the elbows sho uld be facing forward , especiall y at the bottom , to help keep th e arm s straight during th e swing. A fron t stut z should be developed from a stut z wi th a v.. turn o n th e end of the bars. The turn should be initi ated ju st after a sl ight kick thro u gh th e bottom and th e w ho le body should turn as a unit. Th e supporting arm sho uld be ex tended at th e end o f the push and th e gy mn as t should land away from , ye t in be tw ee n, th e bars. When reg rasping th e bar on a ba ck stut z th e sho uld ers should be relaxed and dipped so that one can co ntinue th e sw in g backward s. Th e back st ut z should simil arl y be developed from il back stu tz wit h a v.. turn landing in between th e bars. The swin g down for a back toss sho ul d b e slower th an fo r a st!Jtz. Thi s slower swing . should be co ntras ted w ith an ext remely qu ick chest thru st upon release of t he ba rs. A lso at th e re lease, th e bod y sho uld be ve ry ti ght. For a back so mersa ult di smount , th e initi al drop ca n be fas ter so th at mo re rota ti o n ca n be de ve loped. GYMNAST Sept. '75

Horizontal Bar: For perhaps 80'X, of th e move ments o n horizontal ba r, using th e bar low is very benefi cial. A ll advanced in-ba r work can be first learned here. Rotation o n a free ba c k hi p circle should be initiated by pu shing back from th e sho uld ers and not piking from th e hips. The body sho ul d be ho ll owed throughout. Th e feet and therefore th e bod y on so le circ les in eith er direct io n should be held away from the bar as long as possible and shou ld touc h th e bar onl y momentaril y. The sa m e 'p rinicple app lys to forwa rd sea t circles excep t that the legs should be brought more forward so that the bod y can be col lapsed away from th e bar as much as possible. It is necessary to fee l rotat io n when first att emp tin g Stalde r circles o n high bar. After the ro tatio n is de ve loped, th e n one ca n trY to push sli ghtl Y away from the bar over the top, making a sli ght pause in ro tati o n at that point. Pirou ett es for beginners sho uld be deve lo ped from a hip-p ik ed g iant swin g w ith an ex tensio n and turn at th e top of the bar. Then less and less hip pik e is u se d alo n g w ith a progressi ve ly earlie r turn . Wh en init ia tin g' the pirouette the shoulder joint should be pu shed ou t on ly half way but by the co mpletion of the pirouette the shou lder joint should be co mpl ete lY exte nded.

much as possib le. Th erefore co rrect positi ons should be cons tantl y emphaSized. Th ere is no use in developing strength s in i ncorrect posi tion s. A lso, most exe rcises should be done w ith acce lerating speed. Thi s helps to develop a powerfu l type of str ength. Strength exe rcises should also be co nstantl y modifi ed accordin g to th e skill level and age of the gymna st. Very yo ung gym nasts should wor k on genera l str ength s using large mu scl e gro ups. As th e skill level increases th e stren gth exerc ises should b ecome more specifi c as spec ifi c weaknesses appear. Flex ib ilit y and " loosen ess" are different. Loo seness is simpl y a great range of motion in a joint. However, flexibi lity is how mu ch one can contro l hi s range of mot ion . So one should ha ve a larg e range of motion , but shou ld be able to co ntrol th e move men t w ithin that range. Rh ythm Exercises: (de scribed by Paul liert in th e M ay and June issues of Gymnast) There are seve ral purpo ses of these exerc ises . First of all , th ey arj> to help teach basi c bod y and lunge position s used in gymnas ti cs. Th erefore, all position s sho uld be duplica ted ve ry pr ecise ly. Furt hermore, th ey help develop ce rtain rh ythm s, or changes in t he speed of move ment, which are vita l in man y gymnastic movements. Fin all y, the y h elp deve lop a certain amount of coordinat ion and, after the three minutes of cont inu ous mo ve ment , help wa rm up th e ent ire body fo r more vigorou s exe rcise. Psychological Aspects of Coaching

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It is vital on a va ult ca tch to comp tete th e swing up th e back sid e by kicking back w ith the hee ls befo re the hips ro tate to the sid e for the vau lt it se lf. Th e legs should be parallel to the bar o ve r the top and th e release of the und ergrip hand shou ld be sli ghtlY prior to th at o f th e o ve rgrip hand. An eag le gia nt shou ld b e ve ry simil ar to a reverse-grip gian t. It is esse nti al to be able to att ain so me so rt of support over the top. The hand should neve r be d ucked at the to p. When develop in g an eag le into an in ve rt ed giant, th e eag le should be very str etched through the bottom , th en a sharp lift w ith the hips along with a shifting of th e w ri sts and d uckin g of the head should occ ur . On e should fee l weight on the hand s ove r th e top of th e bar. One sho ul d feel a stro ng kick in g action pa st the bottom when attemp tin g a fl yaway . Upon releasing the bar th ere should be a hard fo rwa rd thru st of the h ips and chest to ga in added height. Strength and Flexibility: St rength exe rcises should be tr ea ted alm os t as an ext ra eve nt. Th e coac h sho uld tr Y to relate strength exe rcises to act ual gym nas ti c skills as

Th e coac h sho ul d be co ncer ned w ith th e psychologi ca l aspects of gym nast ics sin ce perhaps 50'X, of coac hing dea ls w ith th ese aspects. First of all , th e coach need s to be concerned wit h how to help motivate the gymnast. Giv in g the gymnast a co nstant new goal is ve ry helpfu l sin ce se lf-moti vation is easier wit h a goal to st ri ve for. A lso, th e coach needs to be ab le to detect any so rt of improveme nt in the gymnas t so th at he can ve rball y reward him for the improve ment. Seco ndl y, th e coac h should cons id er the disciplining of th e gymnas t. Se lf- di SC iplin e stems from how muc h desire and determ in ati on th e individua l posesses. Di sc iplin e often is a resu lt of understanding , so the coac h should always try to make th e und ers tand hi s approa ch to gymnast gymnast ics by exp laini ng why certain things are done in a part icular wa y. Th e coach should therefore give reaso ns for his act ions, and have a clear understanding of why the gymnast needs to train in a certa in fashion. Thi rd ly, t he coac h need s to co nsi der how h e ca n h elp th e gym na st overcome fear. By pro viding proper prog ress ions fo r stunts is the best approach to thi s probl em. Prov id in g proper stre ngth exe rcises which help s give th e gymn ast more co ntrol also co mb ats fea r. Furth er, th e coach should t-r y to mak e th e gymna st unde rstand th e mecha ni cs of th e stunt and perhaps give the gymnast o nl y o n e problem to foc us on when attempting a new mo ve m ent. Finall y, and most importantl y, the coac h needs to evoke conf id ence, tru st, and resp ec t from th e gymnast. Anu the only way to do thi s is to show th e gy mna st ho w mu ch he ca res for both th e inui vidu al gymna st and hi s gymn as ti cs. II th e coac h does not CMe fo r the indi vidu al th ere is n o way that h e ca n he lp th e gymna st ac h ieve hi s ma ximum ca pabilitie s. con't on pg. 50

con'!. from pg. 49

Administrative Aspects of Coaching Oft en , in o rder to maintain ex istin g program , the coac h mu st promote gy mn as ti cs outside of th e gy m. These act iviti es he lp prov id e fund s for equ ipm e nt and other needed faciliti es for gy mn as ti cs. But besid es th e promotion of gymnastics, h e mu st be co ncer ned w ith th e adm ini stration of train i ng sc hed ul es w ithin the gy m. Th ese are both dai ly and lon g-range sc hedu les, dealin g with th e qu antit y and quality of exe rcise at a parti c ul ar tim e. Dail y sc hedul es should in clude li ght mornin g exe rc ises co nsisting of running, stre tc hin g, and ge neral str en gth exe rci ses. Th e typ e of trainin g in th e aft e rnoon depends on the type of trainin g required at th at particular tim e. Wh en trainin g is e mph as izin g qu antit y, that is, lea rnin g bas ics, sin g le stunt s, or se qu e nces, the wo rkout needs to be longer. But w he n qu alit y is empha sized, th e wo rkout ca n be of short e r duration. Most imp ortant ly, howeve r, a dail y sched ule shou ld include a se lf- eva luation , w here th e gymna st eva lu ates hi s training and plan s for th e following da y's trainin g . The coach nee ds to se t up co mpetition s for each year, but he shou ld try n ot to sc hedule compet itio ns too c lose ly tog ether. With a great numb e r of clo se ly-s pac ed m ee ts, th e gymnast tends to trea t th e m w ith less importance so that he ca nn ot pe rform up to hi s ca pabilities at eac h m ee t. So major co mp etition s should b e spa ce d seve ral month s apart. A long-range tr ainin g sc hed ul e depend s upon the co mpetition sc hedul e. Ther e sho uld be a pre -seaso n preparation period, where th e gym na st build s up from sin gle stunts, to seq ue nces, th e n to routines. During th e competi ti v e seaso n the gymnast need s to maintain good e ndurance and str ength and emphasiz e qualit y in all routin es. Then in th e off- seaso n the gymnast ca n return to basi c move m e nts, co rrect bad habit s, gain specifi c strengths, and learn new stunt s. Th e off-season training need not have specific goa ls but should ha ve an overall plan 50 as not to waste thi s va lu ab le tim e . Overview This report ha s superfi c iall y cove red so me of the important co ncepts pr esented by Mr. Watanabe at hi s coac hes clini c thi s summ e r. With more d etail ed articles in subse qu ent issues of Gymnast I hope to clarif y so me of the se con cep ts 50 that the rea der w ill have littl e doubt about a coach in g philo soph Y that strives to help eac h and every pe rso n atta in hi s maximum pot ential , both as a gymnast and as an individual.

MODERN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

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by Helen Sjursen

FOOD FOR THOUGHT-VAULTING 15 th ere a "rea l " Il ee d for th e pen alt y " in sufii cient pr e- fli ght up to 1.5 point s" ? If a g irl ha s in suffi cie nt pr e-fli g ht , or board to o close to th e ho rse, th e following errors cou ld occur: 1. 130d y bent in pr e-flight (before hand s tou c h)... up to .5 2. 130d y bent w he n hand s co nta ct horse (befo re reac hin g th e ill ve rt ed p os iti on) ... up to

1.0 3. Bod Y no t ill lin e in pre-flight (arms, shou ld e rs and trunk 110t in lin e) .... 5 A n y of th e above e rro rs co uld occur during pre-fli g ht if the board is too clo se. If you had pe nali ze d for an y of th em , wo uld yo u, as a j udge, penali ze aga in under th e d edu c tion " in suffi cient p re-flight up to 1. 5 pOillt S?" If yo u had d educted p enalti es #1 and #2 and aga in deduct ed for #3 , wo uldn't #3 be a form of double d edu ct in g sin ce you alrea d Y ded ucted for " b ent bod y in pr e-fli g ht " and " be nt bod y upon hand cO llt act "? Doubl e d educt ill g ca n eas il y occur and we mu st , as judg es, learn w h ere we are ove rlapping on d edu c tion s for e rr o rs and trY to over co m e it. "How 1M away from the horse sl, o uld th e board b e pla ced ?" is a qu es tion co mmonl Y asked. '1he un w ritt e n rul e is "a pprox im atel y one bod y's length" (p erform er 's bod y) . A short er g irl , ho weve r , w ill naturall y ha ve the board clo se r to th e horse (o n th e w hol e) than a tall er gi rl, l3ut in e ith er case, if a va ult er h as her bod y "in lin e " in "p re-flight " be for e her hands co nt act th e horse , th ere is no rea so n for a deduction ullli e r "i nsufficie nt pr e-fli g ht" . ELIMINATE THE PAUSE IN A BACK LIMBER When a girl fir st learm the back limb er, nine times out of te n she w ill arch ba ckward s to th e brid ge, re-shuffl e he r fee t a bit and then kick over. A simpl e preparation for perfec ting th e timin g to e limill at e th e pau se and the reshuffling of th e feet is, as foll ows:

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w ill ha ve to pu sh. Th e farth er away th e hands are I rom th e fee t w he n in th e brid ge positi on , th e hard er yo u w ill have to push. Nex t Irom a stdndin g pos iti o n w ith arm s stretched up, dl'c h bac kw ard s to th e bridge po siti o n. H~R~ I) THE TIP: As soon as th e p alm s of th e hand s CO llt ac t th e fl oo r " jum p" and turn o ver . With th e " jumpin g" pr eparati o n, yo u wi ll find that you w ill no 101lger pau se when in th e brid ge position, (l3 efo re lea rnin g an y kind of limb ers or wa lkove rs, it is w ise to wo rk o n exe rc ises that w ill ill crease b ac k fl ex ibilit y. W ith goo d ba c k flex ibilit y, th e learni ng of wa lk ove rs w ill co me mu ch eas ier.)

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 1 - Get int o a b ridg e po siti on. Fig.2- Whi le in th e brid ge po sition , pu sh off th e feet and let th e m drop do w n aga in (jump). Jump seve ra l tim es in success io n, Rep ea t th e se ri es 01 jump s, try in g to get th e fee t high e r and hi g he r off th e flo o r. Thi s p reparati o n teach es yo u ho w to push o ff the fe et simult aneo uslY alld wi ll give you an id ea 0 1 how stron g yo ur pu sh w ill have to be to turn over. '1h e stiff er th e back, th e harder you

"BASICS" Lea min g " ba sics' as m an y tim es te rm ed , has 01 te n been qu es ti o nabl e to man y p eople . "W hat are th e 'basics for various skill s leve ls," a que sti on olt e n ds ked. If th e te rm " ba sic trick s" we re use d in stead , it wo uld be ve ry simpl e to m ake a li st 01 tri cks a beginner should learn, or ] li st l o r th e illt erm ediat e and still another li st for th e adva nced. H oweve r, w ith th e use of th e wo rd " basic" b y it se ll , I wo uld illt e rpret thi s to mean, a parti c ulJr move m e nt that wo uld be use ful w hen lea ming tri c ks. A true " ba sic" in m y op ini o n , that I l ee l wo uld be ve ry use ful for un eve n bar wo rk is nothin g more than th e simpl e leg sw in gin g from a front support to a fr ee Iront support.

'1' . ,;,'/ ,,\ •

•

Fig 3

,;,~< Fig 1-2-3 - from a front support on the low bar la cing out , sw in g th e legs for wa rd, then ba ckwa rd to a free front support (body away from th e bar). Fig 4-5 - CO lll e bac k to th e bar and again sw in g th e legs lorwa rd and bac kwa rd to anoth er IreI' front support. Do 10-1 2 ill a se rie s wit h no stop s WITHOUT FALLING Off , SWill g ill g th e legs higher and hi g he r in th e back until yo ur legs touch the und e r sid e 01 th e hi gh bar, To m e , thi s is a trul y "bas ic " mo ve ment for ' an y age g roup as it is a " lead " fo r doing a straddl e on , stoop-on , squat through , ba c k hip circl e, Il eck sprillg di smount , straddl e o ve r, hand stand , e tc. Without th e lea rning of a good SWilig to a goo d fre e support, m an y w ill expe riellCe diffi c ult y in learning so me tricks , a few 01 w hi c h are m ention ed above. A co upl e 01 good "ba sics" for the fl oo r exe rcise eve nt is " leg str etc hing " and the d eve lopi ng 01 a "Ilex ibl e bac k ", On ce a g irl has str etc hed he r leg mu sc les (can do all kinds of split s) and ha s a Ile xibl e ba ck , she ca n lea rn to do wa lk overs wit h littl e o r no tro ubl e and w ill ha ve a good se paration of the legs in the wa lk ove rs. A ve ry fl ex ibl e back also make s it edsier to ledl'n wa lk o ve rs on th e beam, l a nce hea rd an ad va nce d competito r say th at her routin e did not sc ore as high as she had hoped b eca use she n ee d s to wo rk on her " bas ics' a littl e more , such as her sea t circl es. Is th e seat circ le a " ba sic" or a "basic trick "? What M e your views on term s usin g th e word " ba sic " GYMNAST Sept. '75

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notes Women's Coordinating Editor Mrs. Renee P. Hendershott 17605 Fries Avenue Lakewood, Ohio 44107 NOTES TAKEN ON THE NEW USGF/NAGWS NATIONAL COMPULSORY ROUTINES FOR GIRLS 1975-79 USGF MASTER WORKSHOP May, 1975 By Renee P. Hendershott BEGINNING LEYEL FLOOR EXERCISE 11-1 Arms circle back-forward-upward over shoulders, elbows bent before roll. Get hands down to mat quickly for good back extension roll. Go from tuck position to back extensio n. Handstand must be straight bodied. When you come down out of the handstand and drop the left leg, do not drop the right leg so that the rear sticks up. Keep extension as you come down to lunge position. Land with weight on front foot in lunge, hips squared, toes pointed and no weight on pointed toe. 11-3 Be sure rear does not stick out as yo u step on R leg and move arms to R. This movement is very supple and is Ii ke a side body wave. 111-3 On hurdle - body stretched, feet together. We will use this type of hurdle as a discipline in our compulsory work. Take a large supple step into the cartwheel rather than a small step. Plie after cartwheel. The question; "Can you bring arms under? " was asked . Answer: "Better not. The judges might think you are doing a dive cartwheel. IY-2 During the front att itude, the arms are forward horizontal but spread slightly lateral. IY-3 Before you go to arabesque they come close together; palms in (thumbs up) and then push out (palms pronate-thumbs down) as back leg lefts into scale. Y-1 Before Handstand forward roll, Linda came out of the turn to her heel but pushed off from 'toe and stepped into Handstand on Lefttoe. She bent the right leg slightly as she pushed off. You could stand on the toe from the turn to the kick, but a beginner is not likely to be ab le to do this well. Y-1 (2nd) Kick leg to H before handstand forward roll. You can circle arms back or straight down. Doesn ' t matter. The back leg mus~ come up before arms go down so body remains stretched (in scale position). Can step on toe. Y-2 When you come out of roll, don't separate the legs too early to go into stag sit. When yo u do sit, it is on only the right buttocks. Push out in Right shoulder ... as it supports you w ith hand on floor. YI-2 Dive roll may be nice high pike or stretched layout dive. Don 't put hands down on floor after ro ll to help you push off to stand up. IX-1 On roundoff the snap down with hands up fast is important. Get feet together soon enough. Keep feet together as long as ca n. just before you land bring L leg forward. IX-2 As you sit down for back roll, Left leg is extended up in front - R leg bending in support. As yo u come out of roll , right leg is straight in back then bend s as you stand up. Only la st tumb ling pass w ill be allowed to be reversed. BEGINNING LEYEL BEAM EXERCISE AMP: Mrs . Fl ansaas showed us the minimum amplitude required in the mount and other moves, but also showed us the greatest amplitude allowed for each move so that: 1. we wou ld not have ou r gymnasts go so far as to actually be chang ing the elements .. . and 2. We can show our gymnasts what they can be working toward in each routine.

She feels that maybe o ne in 200 will be able to carry each move to its ultimate amplitude and that the judge should not expect it. If the girl meets the minirequirements under amplitude you cannot deduct if she does not work everything to utmost amplitude UNLESS there is an amplitude deduction actually listed in the book. JUDGES ... YOU HAVE JUST READ SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT . .. READ IT AGAIN! ORIG.: Mrs. Flansaas did not discuss originality at this p'o int, but I shall tell you what she did say so that you will have these two very important thoughts right tog~ther. All during the beam routines, she has given the gymnast places whe re arms are optional. Sometime head or body positions have been left up to her. She gave us many examp les of how the vario us skills could be done without actually changing the elements. She exp lained that whe n the advanced gymnast is ready to break into the Elite Level, she should work on originality. (Th is wou ld also apply to any gymnast who is getting the pure routines really well even if she is a beginner who will be moving to intermediate soon). The gymnast will not get extra credit for her originality used while performing compulsory work, but if she does a super routine, is really taking risk, and is doing a good job of it, she will come out ahead under general impression. To coaches she says this: When you are working on original ways of doing things, you must consider the body structure and abi lity of each individual gymnast. Something that looks good on one girl may not suit another. Don't have "your whole team do the same thing. Throughout the routines there are many obvious places that say opt iona l arms. There are less obvious pla ces, ie. " Move the arms to verticaL " The pathway is not described. The rh ythm is not described. The movement is not described (sharp, soft, abstract etc.) In many places palm or head position is not described. Palms can then be up down, out etc. There was one place where the gymnast does an abstract scale. As long as the pelvis and legs are in the positions described, the upper body, head and arms have some freedom. The upper body cou ld even be contracted. Mount: Could be done li ke present olympic mount, but not required . Mark 1st stag ... then turn. 1-5 In whipping up to sq uat, yo u cannot go to hand stand, but can go up as high as layout. Swinging to handstand would change element to superior. 11-1 After leap, the Lies. and upper back must be held in the landing position to show control. The left leg sho uld not drop imm ed iately down and forward. 11-2 The releve comes as the ' R leg swings down and back for the back sw. turn. You would be better to come down to L heel , then lunge. 11-3 The contraction comes about here

th en com e to final positi o n sharpl Y.

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

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

A tolerance is allowed. Don 't kick legs way up w.hen getting up out of roll. To do Body wave, do not lift rear first & then wave with arms. From squat, start to ri se a couple in ches, then move the arms up above the head and then pull into a deeper cont raction . The seat ri ses with the body. IX-1 Kick above horizontal before roundoff. It is not required that you go up onto toe during kick, but you may. The legs must be together by the time you hit the vertical (For a beginner. .. 45째 is considered her vertical) YI-1 What are we looking for in the chasses? .. The closed position of the feet in the middle of the flight. One leg must remain in front of the other. Then we look for the landing on one leg and the other shoots fo rward . The flight should be high with the toes pointed . YI-2 Curtsey arms can getto final position anyway as long as they end backward, downward, oblique. You can do deep curtsey but don't go to full squat. BEGINNING BARS 1-1 No deduction if you take a step into mount. You mu st extend in front support before you beat for single leg squat thru in 11 -1. 11-1 Body ca n go to horizontal without deduction. Y-2 DedIJction of .2 for break in rhythm if you do an extra knee bend . YI-2nd 1... turn must be co mpleted at horizontaL .. not below. Therefore you must ride the straddle sole circle up higher before you release feet to shoot out for the half turn. YII-2 When hips are at level of LB, begin pike. YIII-1 Knees bend simu ltaneously with contact with bar ... not before. Don't expect to come up to free front support immediately for beginners. YIII-2 Not necessary to swing up to horizontal. If, after you do stem rise, you have to beat your legs forward, then backward for cast, this is an extra swing ... deduction is .5 INTERMEDIATE LEYEL FLOOR EXERCISE 1-1 Lift chin and draw the arms back, bend knees and then step back quickly on toes. Arms should be back by 1st step. 1-2 The arched jump shows only a slight arch. . 1-3 Contract in th is position with the arms above the head . 11-1 The opening of the arms first before the BWO is abrupt. .. palms up. Step is fairly large before BWO. 11-3 Coming out of BWO arms pull slowly with strength ... then abruptly open back. 111-1 Don't kick leg too high as you go into y, turn. You shou ld be able to keep it at first height thruout the turn. Finish the turn with the leg behind you. 111-2 March is not stiff 1-2-3-4 count is skip, 8 is leap, 11 is assemble, and 12 is turning jump. IY-1 There is a slig ht contraction on the scoop and extention as arms move forward after turn. IY 2nd 3 The high note is the jump (before the arabesque) in the air. .. not the landing. Don't end this hip with a kick of the right leg up to the side. There should be no play in the hips during this jump. After pushoff. .. both legs go up together an equal amount. .. and then the landing 1-2. Y-1 When you step right forward leave weight on both feet. The turn is a pivot on two feet. The left foot comes up into position as you finish the turn. YI-1 After the chest roll straighten arms and throw the head up and back at the last minute. YI-2 When you do the 7,1. turn keep the left leg close to the floor. Don ' t use the hands during the turn . YII-3 soft and slow YII-4 quick and sharp YIII Tourjete .. . judge is more interested in elevation and control during turn rather than a split of the legs

GYMNAST Sept. '75

(as in adva nced routine) at this leve l. IX You ca nn ot reverse the roundoff here. After the y, turn , pull the left leg forward to split before you land to do the forward roll. XI-2 Miss Metheny did these arms in a complex manner . As the right arm circles downward and then crosses in front of body , the shoulders twist left so that the left elbow is down and arm is in suppination. At the same time the ri gh t shoulder is in pronat ion and this is what causes the back of the right hand to lea d down . As the right arm continues to overhead and left arm circles up, the shoulders twist so that the left arm is in pron ation (e lbow up) and leading and right arm is in suppination (elbow dow n) and th is part is do ne ve ry fast .. . wit h head stayi ng left until last minute when arms co me sha rpl y to their last position. XII-2 Arms go to final positi o n sharply.

INTERMEDIATE BEAM ROUTINE 1-1 M ou nt: cou ld put board back, but do not change to dive forward roll on. Speed is not impo rtant during the roll. The i mporta nt thing is to keep it moving with no stopping! Should not come to a V-sit and show. There should be o nly a slight hesitation before the swing up. No V-sit is req uired. Come up,straddle legs, (arm s overhead) to get ready for whip-up. Judges, if she stops o n ba ck, deduct up to .2 for continuity. If she shows lack of control and wiggles tryin g to stay on, she co uld lose up to .3, but do not dedu ct .5 for losing difficulty if she stops. Th e average intermediate will be able to get just above ho ri zo nta l. You w ill see much variati on in amplitu de. Swing up can go no high er than 'J.i handstand .. . not to a handsta nd. This would make it a super ior move and she would be deducted for addi ng an element to the routine. Legs must be toget her at Horizonta l. M any cas t and are on th ere way down with one leg down and o ne leg on before they reach horizo ntal. Sometimes they reac h ho rizontal but just have poor form . We. are not ta lking about t hat. 11-1 Like scissors ... Right leg moves forward like in a bad chasse . It is li ke a little war mup step to get into the leap. It is ve ry small, bouncey and on the balls of th e feet. 11-2 You may ve ry sli ght ly bend the right leg to get into t he st ride posi ti on in the lea p, but it must be stra ighte ned o ut by the tim e the l e g~ are in this posit ion

(45° up) so that it goes in to the sp li t wi th a straight leg. This applies both to th e beginning and the interm ediate routin es. Some wi ll not bend the knee at all, but most can get a bette r spl it wit h the 1st method. The arms should go into position at th e top of the leap .. . not on the landing. When you land leap, the ba ck leg should be up momentarily to at least 45 ° ... then bring it forward for the step. 111-1 Drop your left arm (o r both) to the sid e, thru the forward position as yo u step into the turn. Move arm s over hea d during turn. Then drop to heel because of posit ion afterwards . Then you'may either push the left hand outwa rd or lowe r the arm s with palm up to lateral. Eithe r style is fine . No pli e as you come out of turn . Ju st lower to heel. IV-2 It is not necessary to hesitate with the legs together in a handstand position . No deduction if they hes itate in ve rti ca l as in advanced, but not req uired at all. The equality of split legs is important. It is more important for shoulde r and hip line to be in ve rtical than for the leg s to show a ve ry wide split. Judges, she might show 90° split in each part of scissors but not be qu ite ve rti ca l and lose about .2 for handstand not ve rti ca l. If she has trouble with both scisso rs and attaining vertica l, she mig ht lose as much as.4 . She co uld leave it out en tire ly and not lose more than .5. Gymnast should be aiming fo r a 120° sp lit. If she has a full sp lit on one side and doesn't have quite as fu ll on the o th er, but it is at minimum requ irement, don't deduct. Lei her show the o ne she does ha ve. She doesn't have to cove r up the full split on one side to make both sp li ts t he same. V-l St ep together o n toes V-2 Perform tuck jump wi th body straight, legs tucking underneath as in picture. The right leg ca n rem ain slightl y in front if necessary because t his is the position for tak e-off and landing . Deduct only if way apart. She can not arch legs back ... she cannot do it with knees way up forwa rd in a co ntraction . If yo u see this, deduct up to .2 for body position err or ... not.5 for changing the element. If feet hit seat lightl y there w ill

GYMNAST Sept. '75

be no deduction. If this ca us es a jerk ... deduct a tenth. The gymnast shoul d not go to big extremes to prod uce a sty le here because she will be hurt by it rathe r than helped . Th e elbows should be shoulder width away frorr, each oth er in sq uat. Back track a bit: V-l The sissone is large V-2 The kick jump is not large ... but high enough so she can complete ly point he r toe. About two inches off t he bea m . VII-l I n t hi s sca le, different degrees of turn out are tolerated . Does not have to be like a ballet attitude . If a gymna st has had da nce and ca n do an attitude, she ma y - - as long as toe is not below knee line. The pelvic gi rdl e is horizontal, but the rest of the body ca n be UP , or even cont racted. VII-2 Arms optiona l on chasse ... can be moving or in a still position . The chasse ca n be long or short. This is o ne place in the routine w here you can adjust the pattern. The re will be no pe nalty imposed either way. VIlI-l M ovement w ill carry yo u back toward center of beam to all ow roo m for back roll for the taller girls. This is another p lace where the pattern ca n be adj usted . A long o r short step may be taken without penalty for amplitude fo r a short step. VIII-3 In 1st st ick yo u ca n be either on toe or flat ... bu t toe preferred. Keep front leg up above the beam as you sit down for roll. Same tolerance is allowed in getting legs toget her as in beginner routine. The right leg mu st drop to the beam right away and it must be bent. Bring the left leg down quickly ... do not hold . As you shoot to th e si ngl e leg squat, yo ur head should be coming off the beam. You do not get cred it for the 45° position o f the back leg if your head is on the beam ... and t hen yo u lift the head off as you put the leg o n th e beam. Must not shoot both legs above 45 ° then drop down to position. Cou ld be a shoot. Yo u could hit 45° ... then drop foot to beam. Rise during the turn. IX-l Stay up on toes ... do not let heels drop IX-2-3 Can remain o n toe or come down before stepping out of turn as long as yo u do turn o n y, toe. A co nt inuous y, y, turn. Would be no break. IX-4 Land bendi ng left knee slightly, the relieve to kick as soon as possi bl e. You ca n bring right arm to front thru any pat h as long as you get there. X-l Si nce dismount can be reversed, you can step o n R and kick L X-2 You shou ld pivot on supporting arm more like the advanced d ismo unt. When you land, your arm which is ho ldin g on to beam should be directly to the side of your .body. You shou ld not land in back or in front of your hand. You sho uld mark Handstand before you co me off. Put most o f the weight on ri gh t arm .

INTERMEDIATE BAR ROUTINE 1-1 Glide w ith legs together. Ded uction is .5 for st raddle gli de. 11-1 You ca n lift your right leg as high as you wish as long as yo u kee p moving. IV-l No ded uction for going above horizontal in cast. May go to ',4 handstand but not to handstand (thi s would be changing it to a superior eleme nt) . V-2 You do not have to go to a layout b efore squ atting r ight leg over bar. VII-l Look at 1st stick . If yo u re -arch your body from here before yo u do stem rise, the dedu ction is for a break in rh yt hm up to .2. VII-2 If you have to bring yo ur legs forward before cast ing fo r di smount, t his is an extra swing. Dedu ct .5 This is a lead up to a free back hip circle. Do not touc h bar on wh ich you are circli ng with your body or deduct ion is up to .2

ADVANCED LEVEL FLOOR EXERCISE 1-4 In tu ck jump, legs are under body. Knees sho uld not be tucked to chest, o r legs t hrown back to a body arc h. 1-5 Keep feet together until you rea ch handstand positi o n in back handsp ring . 1-6 After landing back handspring, keep weight forward o n the left leg. 11-1 Begin stag early so that you see both the stag position and the spli t. In side lea p both legs should li ft evenly in to th e sp lit. If there is a slight knee bend in beginning and both legs are even in th e sp lit position , this is all right. Bo th legs sho uld lift at same ti me. Yo u can bring legs d irect ly up to side or very slightly

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

The curved floor patte rn is for the tall girl.

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

After the roundofi pull feet thru so weight will be back for flat backhandspring flight. From handstand position , think of pu shing hands forward to make you go back to land on feet. Bring arms up with head. Step out should be as soon as possible so you can do turn for front walkover with good placement. Keep back in arabesque on way down into walkover. You can begin and end walkover on toe but not required . X-1 The back handsprings are NOT high bounding ones. They are regular fast tumbling. If you do not do rhythmical fast flip flops, you may get a rhythm deduction . (For example, if first one is fast and second is high and bounding ... the deduction would be up to .2) XI-1 The floor pattern was drawn this way so you could read it better, but the gymnast really goes straight back toward center on the same diagonal. XI-2 Really a one-armed hurdle XI-3 When you go into the tinsica, your left knee is slightly bentwith a body pike. The arms will assist you . in lift (Throw you into an arabesque arch position for the tinsica). Hands can be placed side or forward. 1-2 placement is necessary. There are two methods of teaching the Tinsica . 1. Oblique Method-Turn with Ya turn. You maintain ' that Ya turn thruout the entire movement. When you are coming up on support leg at end, you square your . hips forward. The dive is more fluid if you maintain the oblique position thruout and this is the method required. 2. The other way which they don't want is togo into it as a pure side movement with a cartwheel. Then while you are inverted, you do a 'A turn and walkover out. XII-1 When you lift body weight forward, you do have to leave right knee on the floor.

ADVANCED BEAM 1-1 The mount is only the step on to the squat. This is the only part you can reverse. The left leg does up in the scale whether you reverse the mount or not unless you reverse entire routine. You may move the board back and do the mount like the 1972 olympic mount, but don't stop when you bring the left leg forward. The front leg lifts up and has to bend early to come into the squat, but the back leg stays stretched as in a leap, swings thru to horizontal and then is placed in front. Not required to do it in this way. There should be a slight arch in the upper back as you come into the squat position. The shoulder blades should be pulled together. Just before you go to scale, arms go down, bending supply ... then sharply to high as you rise. Go to toe in scale. Arms should go sharply to vertical. You can get them there in any way. 11-1 Back leg must be stretched up to at least 45° when you land. Don ' t stop, but continue it thru. No hold is necessary. As the girls get into Intermediate and advanced, they are required to do bigger split leaps and they can't land and really hold the leg back. All they are required to do is have the leg stretched back in correct position upon landing (at the 45° angle) then they can bring it immediately thru. In the beginner routine, she lands with the leg higher and actually marks the position. Even the beginner does not have to hold and mark the position as long as the landing position is correct. It is better in training the gymnast to have her mark the position upon landing, but if it causes her to create a form break, this will be deducted. 111-1 As long as turn is on toe ... fine ... but looks better to stay on toe between turn and lunge. Practice leap to turn to lunge. Continuity will be difficult here. Since leap must be on right leg, only one step left will be necessa ry to get into the turn. IV-1 To get into handstand you can swing arms forward and down or to up- back-forward and down. Important thing in split is that both legs are even. Judge will look on Adv. level for 120° to 180° split. In getting into handstand it is important to raise the leg as the torso lowers so that the back maintains its stretched position . Coming out of the handstand it is important to maintain that same scale line on the way down or judge will deduct for poor body position . IV-2 Back toe and arms should arrive into position at same time. So whole body and leg is in one line coming down. V-1 When stepping together before sissone, this is not a hop or assemble. No flight is involved. Step together and explode up as high as you can go. You may force bottom leg forward in flight as a dancer

would. No extra credit will be given because this is not required. The leg should be up to 45° when you land

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

ADVANCED BARS 1-1 Legs together on glide or deduction is .5 for straddle glide. 11-1 There will be no deduction if you put seat on bar, but no stops are allowed during routine. 111-1 A horizontal body position is not required before the long-hang kip. IV-1 You can turn either way because whole routine uses the legs working simultaneously. V-1 If she falls on Eagle 1.0 a. If she never " popped" eagle also deduct .5 for losing difficulty. b. If she goes with a " pop " for eagle just deduct 1.0 for fall c. If she pops eagle, falls, then grips LB and glides, deduct .5 for no drop. She can do a little pump to get into the drop from the high bar and she can be lifted in an overgrip to the HB for the drop.

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ADVANCED VAULT Thi s was not in Mrs. Darst's corrections, but Jackie Fie said this at the clinic. pg. 77 If the arms are completely bent to a 9'0° bend she assumes that the girl ha s no chance of straightening them and the penalty would be 2.5 in this case. They did not put in the penalty for not going thru the vertical because at the advanced leve l they have not seen too much of this. Howeve r if we do see the error, we may deduct for it according to FIG Code. IN ALL ROUTINES ... WHEN IN DOUBT ... FOLLOW THE TEXT!

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Gymnaestrada con't. from pg. 21 On Ju ly 5 was the conclusion of the Gymnaestrada. That morn ing I watched th e final ex hibiti o ns by the German, Swedish, South Afr ica n and others in th e Eislaudhall e. Durin g the aftern oon final performances and ceremonies we re h eld at Berli n's O lymp ic Stad ium . It was more of the hi ghli ght ed features performing their last time. The Gymnaestrada came in a perfect time since it gave me a quick review of gymnastics around th e wo rld. It helped me prepare and plan my Europe trip for thi s summ er. Ori gina ll y, I had made an agreement w ith G lenn th at I wou ld start a co lu mn and work with Gymnast by the tim e I ret urn , but after m eet ing interesting people and finding information about China and Japan (without goi ng there) I decided that I was ready to begin now. A very important part of m y assignment was to meet with Prof. Josef Goh ler, Gymnast's Int ern ati ona l Editor. I am indebted to him and M rs. Goh ler for maki ng m y experiences at the Gymnaestrada en joyabl e and for their patience in help in g me " sp recht Deut sc h. " I hope to see them aga in in Frankfurt. My all ni ght danc ing excursion with the Norwegians in Berlin is so met hing I w ill never forg et. I eve n had the p leasure to meet Gand er and Gunther H ein, presid'e nt of the sixt h Gymnaestrada Committee. The people at th e press ce nter were great in helpin g me fi nd my way around the press room s and faci lities. Th e magaz in e and subscription promotion was slow to begin w ith . I' ll never forget what Glenn sa id to me before leaving that how I wi ll go to the Gymnaestrada to rep resent th e U .S.A. and Gymnast, the largest circulated gymnastic magazine in th e world (20,000 subscribers). I was already awa re that the Gymna st had international d istribution and I was naive eno ugh to t hink that everyone wou ld know about t hi s ma gazine.

It turn ed o ut that many people from th e Netherlands, Scandinavia , South Africa , Mex ico , Brasil and Chin a have not heard of Gymnast before I asked them . A lt hough , Hun gary, an East Block nat io n, had no gym na sts at th e Gymn aestrada , I sti ll managed to turn some Hungarian lit erary critics in Berlin for the FilmFest on to the magazine. Who knows Gymnast m ay still break more barriers of th e East Block ! There stand s a good chance to even infiltrat e Chin a. Review Conclusion With all m y picture taking , interviews and side businesses, one would wonder if I eve n used the press room. As a matter of fa ct , I hardl y did. And whenever I came in to check my press box for messages, I was given a sleuth of press releases all written in German. It was a painfu l expe ri ence in trying to make heads or tails of all the litera ture I received. Those were the time s I missed G lenn t he most. But in order to soo th my anxie ties, I kept th in king that th e expe ri ences in Be rlin wou ld be good for me. I h ope so. As I had sa id ea rli er abo ut hard ly spen di ng tim e at th e press ce nter, whenever I sto pped in between runs, I sti ll man aged to meet seve ral wonderful press people and m ost of them from Germa ny. Marjut Svahn, sports jo urn alis t for Finland' s largest newspaper, has become my mother, lawyer and fri end. I'll always remembe r the Itali an resta urant s in Berlin (German spoken with an Itali an accent) and the j ewe lry and herb book exc hanges. Despite th e awkward first meeting w ith A lbrecht Gaebe la, wo rl d rek nowned German O lympi c spo rts photograp her speciali zin g i n gymnastics, we still managed to beco me respec ted fr iends. When I asked him how he felt the last day of th e Gymnaestrada, he said that he was sa ti sfied with a tired look on his face. My column th is month will feature China and Japan and next month I w ill feature some of the highlights of my tr ip from Germany, Sweden and Norway. Unti l then - Auf Wieder Shon.

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PSYCHOLOGY and the

Some thoughts on Coaching

GYMtifiST

In the following list I haue elaborated where appropriate. In many cases the guideline is selfe x planatory and requires no comment. Here then, with your indulgence, are Massimo 's big twenty! 1. Establish your authority early, b e d e finite about it, have the limits and controls appare nt to everyone. 2. Relate to your gym nas ts in a warm , natural way but never as a peer. 3. Minimize verbage. As I ha ve pointed out in previou s articl es comparing th e Russian and Amer ica n coachi ng styles, we have a predisposition to chatt er in the gym. Observe yo ur gymnasts caref ull Y and comment on their wo rk on ly whe n yo u reall y ha ve so met hing of va lue to co mmuni cate . Make sure that w hat error you see is n ot ju st a single miscalculation , don 't co mm ent eac h tim e, look for a pattern to m ax imi ze lea rning. 4. Ha ve a sense of humor but don ' t make a joke out of gymnastics. Nothing w ill de-contaminate a destructive . situation quicke r then a good sense of humor. You will help yo ur kid s keep themselves and their work in perspective. 5. Never utilize sarcasm in coac hin g. Show the gymnast respect. 6. Be enthusiastic in you r work and encourage the sa me thing among the

PART TWO Dr. Joe Massimo

gymnasts. En courage sp irit. It is contagious. I n my gym the kids app laud each other for jobs wel l done. 7. Be fair - - rotation to eve nt s, number of turn s up etc. Most coaches ha ve " fa vo rites " in the gy m . Yo u mu st guard against ha ving thi s natural ci rcu msta nce interfere w ith yo u r se nse of eq ual treatment. 8. Gi ve eac h yo ungster yo ur complete attention w hen yo u are work in g w ith them. Often we wi ll be speaking w ith a kid and out of the corne r of ou r eye spot somet hing someo ne else is doing. Don 't allo w this distraction to occ u r - - at that m oment the o nl y person in th e 'No rld as far as yo u ' re co ncer n ed is the gymnast you are add ressin g. 9. Don't tdl a gymnast her wo rk is "good" when it isn' t. Gymnasts know when the y ha ve done a good job. The y w ill not trust yo ur criti ca l judgement if yo u praise them w hen th ey know in their hearts that the performance was in adequa te. At th e same tim e, e nco urage ment is important-sa y such things as, " better " , " it 's coming" , " not bad" o r " yo u nee.d to- - -" . 10. Say NO without feeling guilty about it Say YES without resenting it. The se are ve ry subt'l e but impo rtant matters. Ver y often as coac hes a yo ungster w ill as k us so m ethi ng (e .g. ca n I do ano th er etc.) and we

will answer out of affection, cohersion etc. only to hear the vo ice inside say: " dam it I didn't want to say that. " Be care ful of this for yourtrue feelings will come out later usually in a destructive way. Think about the inquiry of a gymnast carefully when it is of the "ca n I" type, make up yo ur mind, and then rest secure about yo ur dec ision . Don 't hem and haw! 11 . Be a consistent spotter. This builds confidence in your gymnast. When you say yo u are going to be there or you've got them-be there and get them. Obviousl y, no distractions allowed in this aspect of coaching. 12. Don 't be afraid to say "I'm sorry". Don't be afraid to say "I don't know". From time to tim e as coaches we make blunders. Nothing w ill cemen t yo ur relationship quicker w ith yo ur kids th en yo ur willingness to apologize for yo ur poor behavior. I ha ve done this and the rewards and va lu e is written on the faces of you r gymnasts. The coac h who says he or she knows eve ryt hing is to be passionately avoided. You will gain th e respect of yo ur gymnasts if you are willing to admit that yo ur technical knowl edge is not ex hau sti ve. Th ey w ill not put yo u down for that especially if you indicate that you intend to find out and even sea rch for the answer wit h your gymnast. If you fake it, not only do yo u ri sk the injury to the yo ungster but yo u diminish yo ur im age in th eir eyes very qui ck ly. 13. Allow time for th e gymnasts to socialize. This should not tak e place during the workout. But each day th e yo un gs te rs should know that thi s is po ss ible within a particular situation. (Prior to warm-up, mid-workout break , after conditioning etc.) 14. Provide a forum for listening to yo ur gymnasts. At lea st o nce a month the coach should sit down with th e kids to discuss any issues releva nt to the smoo th running of the training

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GYMNAST Sept. '75

prog ram , gro up mo rale iss ues etc. Th e rul es fo r thi s mee tin g are: 1. On e pe rson speaks at a tim e. 2. N o o ne has to spea k 3. A nythin g ca n be brought up. 4. Wh en one perso n is spea ki ng th e o th ers w ill look at he r. 5. Th e re w ill be no p ut-down . 6. Yo u q ues t io n ano th e r o nl y to cl arify th eir po in t of view no t to cr itique it. 15. Work ext remely hard yo u rse lf. 16. Wh enever poss ib le and appro pri at e delegate responsibility. It helps t h e emo ti o nal cli mat e in a gy m if t he kids fee l so me se nse o f ow nership of d ecisio ns and th at th ey can co mpl ete tasks ot her th en ro utin es. 17. Be predictable. Coaches, as athl et es, ca n b e ve ry mo od y and gymna sts ca n accept thi s bu t f o r best res ults a ce rtain co nsistency of respo n se is impe rat ive. Thi s is esse nti al so th e girl s fee l th ai ex tern al m att ers w hich e ff ec t intern al attitud es an d co nse qu entl y o utp ut, are bein g mo n ito red. Thi s respo nsive ness prov ides an impo rtant se nse o f sec u ri ty fo r th em . (e.g. w hen th ey test m y limits an d slack o ff o n wo rk th ey kn ow ju st abo ut how lo n g it wi ll be before th e roo f fall s - wh at matters is t hat th ey kn ow it w ill fall! ) 18. Be a model at all tim es especiall y d u rin g co mpetiti o ns wh en th e p ress ure is th e hi ghes t. Remember t o practice what you preach! It is easy to over-roma nti ze th e coac hing relati o nship, it is equ all y easy to und eres tim ate yo ur i nfluence o n th e li ves o f th e yo un gsters und er yo ur charge . Th ere is suc h a t h ing as " identi fy form ati o n " and you ca n be a k ey facto r in it s develo pm ent parti c ul arl y durin g th e ad o lescent Yea rs. 19. Male coaches - - b e very careful not to oversexualize yo ur interacti o n w it h yo ur gymn asts. 20. Be real, be careful, be sensitive. Do n 't p lay w ith yo ur ki d ' s lives o r emo ti o ns. Th ey may be " t o ugh " in many rega rds but th ey are no t adults and th eir ex tern al ph Ysical resilience and psycho log ica l end urance m ight lea d yo u t o fo rge t t hat few latency an d adolescent age yo un gsters have em o ti o nall y m at ure egos w hich ca n manage and co pe with anythin g. In essence, th e coac hes j o b is to direct th e spirit not break it. Be a genuine person to your kid s, on e wh o is capa bl e o f lau ghing, crying, sharing and , above all, caring. Remember, when the history of man is written chances are that your coaching activities won' t be recorded so keep things in perspective and enjoy the mutually satisfying rewards of working relationships with young artists and your sense of participation i n the creative process. Befo re cl osing I wanted to add a no t e about " di scipli ne " w hich is defined by W ebste r as a form o f " learni ng" . I have k nown coach es wh ose di sc ipline was irrati o nal, harsh, ove rd ete rmin ed and dest ruct ive. If I m ake a demand o r decisio n w hic h, i n rea lity is unfair in term s of th e i nd ividual o r t ea m it wi ll ero d e p rod ucti v ity in an in sid io us m anner. Th ere is no thin g wron g w ith changin g o nes mind if it is in t he co ntext of rat io nal be havior and not th e res ult o f weak ness o r manipulati o n. Th e gymn ast w ill admi re thi s f lex ibili ty fa r mo re th en a ri gidity w h ich is impenet rab le rega rdl ess o f circ um stances . On th e other hand fair demands m us t no t be subject ed to t he w him s o f th e gy mn as t but m ust be stri ctl y enfo rced. M ost athl etes w ill d u ti full y, al beit so m et im es relu ctant.ly, fo ll ow th ro ug h o n suc h d em and s sin ce th ey respect and accept a coach w ho has dem o nstra ted h is earned authorit y.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Each year the Gym Master Company presents its coveted diamond mounted 14-carat gold insignias to a select group of champions for achievements in gymnastics. This Diamond Award is also presented to outstanding coaches for their exceptional contributions to gymnastics.

NCAA CHAMPIONS

USGF CHAMPIONS - WOMEN

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

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

USGF CHAMPIONS - MEN

COACHES OF YEAR

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

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

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.................. ~..... DR. H.J. BIESTERFELDT, JR. "GYMNAST" RESEARCH EDITOR Athletics Department- SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois 62901 USA ~

It shou ld be poi nt ed o ut that th e rev iew of on e arti cle by Hosco (2) state. ·th at gymn as ti cs w ill no t impro ve cic ul atory fitn ess signi fi ca ntl y and th at highl Y train ed gy mna sts are no t no ti cea bl y : su pe ri o r to sa mpl es of untrain ed subjects in circul atory fitn ess. It seem s th at th ere is a need fo r more sc ienti fic research i n thi s Mea . Richard Black is a high school gymnastics It see ms that a typ e o f int erval tra ining is coach in Setaul<et, New York, and a Doctoral bei il g do ne by ad va nced gymn asts as the y do student in p'hysical e ducation at George se ri es 01 routin es in wo rkout s to prepa re for Peabody College. mee ts. Kozar (7) used radio telem etr y to Dewayne Johnso n is Assistant Professor of monitor an experi enced gymn as t 's hea rt rat e at Physical Education at George Peabody College th e U ni ve rsi ty of Michi ga n. H e fo und in creases for Teachers. in hear t rate during th e practice o f co mp etiti ve rou tin es o n th e h ig h bar, side horse, and sti ll Traditional ly, coaches have tri ed to inde nti fy rin gs l ell betwee n 160 and 165 bea ts per th e charac teri sti cs and t rainin g m ethods o f th e good and successfu l ath le te. Thi s info rm ation is . minut e. H e did n ot tes t floor exe rcise. These rates in crease d fro m a rate of about 120 to th ese th en utili zed irl trainin g programs for ma ximum leve ls w ithin fifte en to thirt y b eg inners. As th e bod Y o f knowl edge in creases seco nd s. th e desired chara cteri stics, co n ce rnin g Fari e and Philli ps (5) reco rd ed hea rt rate s supervised and sc ientifica ll y based tra ining during twe nty minut es o f gym nas ti c acti vit y for program s are b ei ng d es ign ed for yo unge r and yo un ger athl etes, resulting in a co nstant strin g thirt y boys and th irt y girls betw ee n th e ages of of reco rd breaki ng p erforman ces in all sport s. seve n and thirt ee. Th ey found mea n exe rcise hea rt rates fo r boys as high as 177.S fo r th e rope In gy mna sti cs, thi s is also tru e, w ith spec ifi c phYsica l characteristi cs o f champi o n gy mn as ts climb and 179.9 fo r exe rcises o n th e bein g id entifi ed . T hey includ e less superfi cial trampoli ne. Th e lowes t exe rcise hea rt rate was fat , a hi gher ce nt er of g ravi ty, mo re strength, reLu rd ed fur exe rcises on th e va ultin g ho rse m o re fle xibilit y, be tt er bal ance, more agi lit y, w ith th e mea n hear t of 140.3. No sign ifi ca nt se x mo re ex plosi ve p owe r, a fa ster reac ti o n tim e, a differences were observed in hea rt rate lowe r heart rat e, and a lower b lood pressure respo nse. Th e autho rs co ncl uded th at thi s (1). part icul ar prog ram was str en u o us eno u gh to be Thi s paper d ea ls spec ifi ca ll y w ith heart rate as co nsid ered a co ntributor to ca rdiovascul ar it relates to cardi ovasc ular fit ness and it s fit ness. Th eir data;· h oweve r, did no t sh ow an y im port ance in gy mn asti c trai nin g. Mo re . mea n exe rci se above 160 o n any of th e Ol ympi c research needs to be done in thi s area to eve nt s. de termin e th e d egre e of cardio vascu lar fitn ess It is qu est io nab le, based o n th e ava il abl e neede d by th e beg inn i ng gymn as t. It is the resea rch d ata , w heth er gy mna st ics is an ac ti vit y purpose of thi s study to d etermin e if a vigorou s w hi ch requires ca rdi ovascular endu rance. tumblin g wo rkout and / or a speciall y d esign ed H oweve r, th ere is ano th er co nsiderati o n th at int erva l train in g progra m ca n induce a must be in ves tiga ted co nce rnin g th e n eed fo r ca rd iovasc ul ar trainin g effect. ca rdio vasc ul ar t ra in ing . Ma ny of th e gym nastic stunt s w hen exec ut ed , require static mu sc le Ca rdiovasc ul ar fitn ess ha s received a great co ntrac tion , w it h ef fort made aga in st aclosed am o unt o f publi cit y and int erest lately du e to th e e ffec ts of exe rcise in red u cin g so rn e of th e glo tti s, thu s crea tin g a Va lsa lva effec t. Thi s type ri sk fac tors of ca rd iovasc ul ar disease : tension , of exe rcise ca n ca use th e blood p ressure to increase 45 / 44 mm H g. (8). In add itio n to thi s hi gh b lood press ure, hi gh bl ood cholestero l, affect, gy mn asti cs also in vo lves a larg e number and over -weight (5). A cco rding to Mann and of sm all mu sc le groups, such as th e arm s, whic h Ga rrett (9) int erva l trainin g is th e most effic ient meth o d of trainin g to achi eve card iovasc ul ar also ca uses an in crease in th e bl ood pressure f itn ess. In thi s me thod o f trainin g, th e bod y is (4). Th e additi ve affec t upon th e ca rd iovascular pu shed to it s limit fo r short periods wi th sYs tem of th ese it ems co ul d c rea t e a qu es ti o nab le situati o n for th e untrain ed recove ry tim e all owe d bet.wee n in te rva ls. Karvo nen (6) has stated th at th e hea rt w ill sys tem. Therefore, it appea rs th at th e gymnast rece ive a trainin g e ffect if th e hea rt rate is sho uld rece ive ca rdi ovasc ul ar t rainin g to in cja sed at leas t sixty percent from res tin g to strengthe n and co nditi o n th e cardiovascu lar max im um. Doh ert y has suggested that th e sYstem aga in st bo th th e endurance and blood hea rt rate sho uld reac h 160 bea ts p er minut e or pr ess ure fa ctors unt il more detailed research is more w hil e runnirl g and th at res t p eriod s ava il ab le. sh o uld last until recovery rate reac hes 120 beats Base d o n thi s ass umptio n, it was th e purpose p er minute (4) . o f thi s pape r to stud Y a str enu o us tumbling Since champio n gy mna sts are show n to ha ve wo rkou t for beg inn ers an d its effect o n heart lower hea rt rates and blood pressures (1), and rate. A lso, an attem p t was made to determine si nce thi s seems to be o ne of th e o ut co mes of how stress ful an int erva l trainin g program for cardiovascular fitness induced by interva l gy mn asts wou ld have to be i n o rd er to ach ieve trainirl g, th e qu es ti o n arises as to th e need for a trainin g ef fec t, and to recomm end a p rog ram thi s typ e of tra inin g by th e beg innin g gymna st. th at gy mn as ts co uld fo ll ow.

.....................................

• ~

METHODOLOGY

1 um b lin g is th e p redominate acti vity in 1I00r exercise and is u sed as an act ivit y wh en worki ng out fo r that eve nt. Acco rd in g to Faria and Phill ips (5), tumbli n g and floor exe rcise ac ti viti es increased t he h eart rate more than an y o th er Ol ym pi c eve nt s tes ted , howeve r, th e mea n increase for th e boys and girl s in th eir stud y was no t en ough to achi eve a training efl ec t. Despite th e findings o f Faria and Phillips, thi s act ivit y had th e most po tentia l o f building a trainin g e ffect , especiall y for beginn ers, and th erefore , a vigorous tumbling program was designed in an attev t to ach ieve thi s e ffect. The vigorous tumblin g wo r ko ut co nsist ed of ten co nsec uti ve tu mb ling sequences. Freedom wa s give n as to th e beg inn ing tumblin g moves included b y each part icipant. Mos t of th e part icipant s included ro und -offs, cartw h eels, hand stand s, fo rward ro ll s, backward ro ll s, and di ve ro ll s. Severa l m oves had to be performed in each sequ ence and th e moves had to cove r at least tw ent Y-four fee t o f mat space. Th e only recovery all owed aft er each seq uence was th e tim e req ui red to w alk back to th e start in g pO Siti o n, about ten second s. Immed iately after co mpl etion of t he tenth sequ e nce, the subj ec t 's hea rt rate w as reco rd ed. Thi s data is repo rt ed in Tabl e 1. An att empt wa s also mad e to determine how stress ful an int erva l training program for gym nas tics wo ul d have to be in order to achi eve a training effect. Th e following se qu ence was d es igned fo r gym nas ts in an at tempt to simulate co mpet iti ve routine pra cti ce . The pro gram co nsisted o f five thirty seco nd exerci se bout s with a thirt y second rest betwee n bouts. Hea rt rates were taken at th e en d 0 1 each bout. Subjects comp leted these bout s as vigorous ly as poss ible. Th e following se qu ence of exercises was compl e ted by each subj ect: (1) standin g jumps fo r fi ve seconds, (2) alternate toe tou c hin g for five seco nd s, (3) wo rking a sp lit for two and o ne-h alf seco nds on eac h side, (4) h ea d stand fo r fi ve seco nd s, and (5) sq uat t hru sts with a pu sh up for ten seco nds. Th e hea rt rates reco rd ed during thi s interval sequ ence are prese nt ed in Ta ble 2. A seco nd sequen ce of exe rcises to be used lor int erva l trainin g was developed, this se qu ence included exe rcise p eriods las ting for o ne minut e w ith a thirt y secon d rest between each of the five bo ut s. H ea rt rates were aga in r ecord ed after eac h o f th e bout s af are pr esented in Table 3. Th e fo ll owin g routin e was in clu ded in th e o ne minute interval wo rk o ut: (1) runn ing-in-pl ace for ten seconds, (2) standi ng jumps fo r t en seco nd s, (3) altern ate toe tou ch fo r ten seco nd s, (4) headstand for ten seco nd s, (5) sit ups fo r ten second s, and (6) squat thru sts w ith a push up fo r te n seco nds . Th e num ber of repe titiop s o f each of th e moveme nt s in th e program w o uld be d etermin ed b y th e sp eed and endurance of each subj ec t.

GYMNAST Sept. '75

Re ferences

CONCLUSIONS The resu lts of th e work co nd ucted for th is paper indica te that either t he tumb li ng program or th e o ne minu te interval seque nce were str enuou s enough to be cons id ered a contributor to canJ iovascu lar fit ness. D u ring th e tumbl in g p rogram, mea n heart rates reached 167.6. Howeve r, it w id be d ifficu lt to repat th is tYpe of res pon se, es p ecia ll y w ith th e beg in n il lg gymnastic workout. Also , some of the gym nasts compla i ned abou t being d izzy fo ll owi ng th e tenth sequence. No rma ll y in workout s t here is a wait ing li ne and the gymnasts do 110t pu sh them se lves. A coach that was co ncerned w ith this aspect of fitn ess cou ld, howeve r, short ell t he lin es and all ow on ly m ini mal rest period s. The sec ond interva l t raining program of one m inute exe rcise bouts cou ld be used to bui ld cardiovascu lar fit ness in gym nasts, with m ea n hea rt rate s reachi ng 169 .2 during the fourth bout. W hen t he in d iv idua l data sheets were ana lyze d for the gym nas ts wi th a heart rate below 160 0 11 the fourt h bout , it was fo un d t hat these gym lla sts would also ha ve had a train ing effect accord in g to Karvo nen 's formu la (6), beca use of the i r low rest in g heart ra tes . Thu s, if a coach wanted his beginning gym nas ts to ha ve the mu scu lar and ca rd iovascu lar endura nee necessa ry to comp lete difficu lt routines successfu ll y, and w ith m in i ma l effect of the static mu scl e co ntractio ns in volved , these in terva l tra inin g exe rcises cou ld be used as a va luable aid w hil e va ri ou s gymnast ic moves are being ma stered and in d ivid ual rout in es put together .

TABLE 1 MEA N HEART RA TE AFTER A V IGOROUS TUMBLING SEQUENCE

1. BOSCO. lAMES S. ·· Th e ph ys ica l and personalit y c haracteri sti cs of ch ampi o n m ale gymn as ts.' Do c toral I ui SSe n Jl i o fl , U ni vers it y of Ill ino is, 1962.

Re stin g H ea rt Rates Post-Ex erc ise Hea rt Rat es

Range

Mean

63-107

83.3

13.2

150- 192

167. 6

11.5

N=15

BO ~CO, J AME~

S. " The effec t of gymnJs ti cs on va riou s

physical f iln ess component s: January 1973.

review." Gymnast 15:26-27,

3. DI:: N K, GERA LD R. " The changes occ urin g in stre ngth and fl ex ibil it y during a competit ive gym nJsti cs seaso n invo lving

hi g h school boys." ," ' asler's th esis, Universit y of Kan sas, 1969. 4.

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

TABLE 2 POST-E XE RC ISE HE ART RAT ES FOR THI RTY SECOND INTER VA L TR A IN ING PROGR AM Ra n ge Mean 84-144 120.0 90-150 130.8 108-144 135.6 114-144 135.6 11 4-144 135.6

First Bou t Second Bout Third Bout Fourth Bout Fi fth Bout

SD 19.7 20.9 14.0 11.1 11.8

N=5

f AR IA. IRVIN; a nd PHI LLI PS, ALICE. ··A stud y of telemete reo ca rdi ac re sponse of yo ung boys and g irl s during gymndsl ic pJrlicipatio ll. ·· Jou rn al o f Spo rts Medici ne an d Physica l Fitn ess 10,1 45-50. 1970.

6. KARVONE N, M. J. "EHecy of vigo rou s exercise on the hea rt ." III Wo rk a nd the Hear t, ed itors F.F. Rosenbaumand E.l. Be lkn ap. ew Yo rk : Pa ul B. Hoebe r, Inc., 1959. 7. KOZAK, AND RE W 1. "Tele metereu hejt rates recv rded durin g g}' rnnJ sti c ro utin es." Resea rch Qua rterly 3<1: 102-6, March 1963. 6.

TABLE 3 POST-HEA RT RATES FOR O N E M INU TE IN TER VA L 1 RA IN ING PROGRAM

LI ND . A. R.; alllJ MCN ICOL , G.W. ' ·Muscular factors which d e termine the card iovasc ular responses to sustained rh ythmic exe rcise." Canadia n M e d ical Associatio n Jo urn al 96 :706-13, 1967.

First Bou t Secondmout Th ird Bout Fourt h Bou t Fifth Bout

Rang e Mean 150-180 162.4 144-186 164.0 150-204 168.8 156-204 169.2 150-204 168.8

SO 7.7 9.7 13.7 13.3 12.7

MAN N, GEORGE V.; a nd GA RRETT, LEO N. Over 30- An Exe rcise Program for Ad ult s. Nashville: Auro ra Publi s he rs; 1969.

N=15

This pa pe r was publish e d in th e Au gust, 1974 " Te nn essee Jo urna l of Hea lth, Physical Educatio n a nd Re cre ati o n" -e d.

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GYMNAST Sept. '75

lETTERS~ I

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

PEN PALS .,,1 read that some members would like to see a

pen pal club for the Junior gymnasts. My 2 girls are Patricia aged 9 and Justine aged 7 ... They would like to write to any of your girls who wish to exchange their ideas. We are members of the Leys gymnastic club in Auckland, who at the moment has 2 members in each of the male and female national teams. Yours S~cerely Bob Garrard 77 Glenmore Rd. Pakuranga Auckland New Zealand ED: We are sure many young gymnasts here in the states would be interested in writing to your girls about gymnastics. We often receive letters from young gymnasts looking for pen pals in . other countries.

this printed in your next issue of GYll1llast. to

see what you've to say abo ut it and to say let's give credit where credit's due! Hail to Gymnastic's Queen , Ludmilla!

FROM ENGLAND

Dear Sir, Far be it from me to correctOr. Joseph Gohler (in your June issue), but I must point out that Gheorghiu Dej is not the name of Nadia Comaneci's coach. It is in fact the name of her home town - formerly Orasul, now renamed in memory of the late Romanian Communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. You rs faithfully, Pete Shilston Stafordshire, England ED: Our apol ogi es, it is very possible that the mistake was make in our translation from German to English of Dr. Gohler's article. VALID CRITICISM

Dear Glenn , I have been a very appreciative subscriber to your excellent magazine for many years and have always found the pictures very goOd, the articles informative and worthwhile. However, l ately I have been disturbed by many of the comments by your editors regarding the organization and judging of the USGF Elite competitions this year, I would personally disagree with the statements about the judges not being able to recognize good technique in the Yamashita - vault; most national judges are fully attuned to a correct Yamashita. There are always complaints about judging, from the lowest level meet to international competition, and some of the complaints are warranted; however ninety-nine percent of the judges are doing a very creditable job. If coaches , gymnasts, judges, spectators, etc. constantly hear n othing but unpleasant criticism, they will begin to expect incompetence a nd meaningless scores even when this situation does not exist. Criticism is good and useful when it is valid. However when criticism becomes habitual it is no longer valid. Sincerely, Sandy Thielz USGF N ational Chairman: Teacher Education USGF National Judge Women' s Gymnastic Coach at West Chester State College ED. Judges like gymnasts and editors come in all sizes, shapes and abilities ... often wide open to criticism when they miss the mark, but go unrewarded when they do a good job because that is expected of them. (Even if a judge over scores a gymnast his/ her coach isn 't about to complain or compliment their good judgement for fear of a lower score next time). Thank you

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

Sincerel y . Mari e Dalali a n NO PLACE TO TRAIN

THE LAST T IME 1 SA W PARIS

Dear Mr. Sundby, I don't know if you still have your "happy handstand" section of the Gymnast magazine, but if you do I thought you might be able to use the enclosed picture. It shows me doing a handstand on the Arch of Triumph in Paris where I toured with approximately 20 studen ts from my high school this past spring. The - Arch was finished by Napoleon in 1836 and dedicated to hi s Grand Army. T h e wall where I'm doing my handstand is more than 50 yards above the ground below , and the famous Eiffel Tower (built for the World's Fair of 1889) is in the background. I'm a floor exercise specialist and have been studying gymnastics ' a nd dance since elementary school from private instructors, Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Oldfield of Romney, West Virginia. This fall I will attend Penn State. Sincerely, Richard A. Mathias TO URISHCHE V A FANS ARISE!

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

Dear Mr. Sundby, I'm writing for a little information and to express a few views. I was a gymnast in high school and have just graduated this past spring. I've been a gymnast for only two years and despite my late start I did pretty well. My - problem and probably - the plight ,-of _many gymnasts around the country is finding a place to continue my training in gymnastics. Gymn astics used to be fairly strong here in Phil adelphia. The Y's here used to have it and Temple University used to let high school and younger gymnasts come to their gym and train with the coHege group. But all of that has been discontinued years ago. I was reading the July issue of Gymnast and took special notice to the article. "Psychology and the Gymnast". In it w as mentioned that working out from time to time in the morning just for experience was a good idea, just in case you ever had to compete at some unearthly time of the morning. This ide al was tailor made for our gym team in high school. We had only one gym, because it waS an ail boys school, and since ti).e basketball team had run of that we had to practice in the halls, auditorium , etc. The only problem was is that you can 't hang a set of rings in these locations. And to have access to them, we had to have practice at 7:00 a .m. , an hour and a h a lf before classes. Fortunately for me I lived only five blocks away from school, but for other students who had to travel eight or nine miles to get there, this mean't getting up considerably early no m atter how convenient the transportation. It took our coach, w h o is also a college judge, an hour just to drive there. So even for him it mean't a lot of doing to give our team the practice it needed . But I can honestly say that I never looked forward to anything more rewarding than gymnastics practice after school. One time my physics teacher caught me daydreaming in class and said "Remem ber Vann, when you're on the rings centripetal force is greatest at the bottom of the sWing." He really used to break me up . Unfortunately the college I'm attending this fall , Drexel Univ. doesn't have a gymnastics team so if you have any knowledge of any organization where I could continue my training in Philadelphia please let me kl.low . Sincerely, Vann Clark

con '!. on pg . 62

GYMNAST Sept. '75

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Dear Editor. I have just finished reading your July issue and have found several mistakes on pages 27 and 58. Elite Championships for women on F.X. placement. Jeanne Beadle's scores were 8.95 and 9.35 averaging 9.15 not 9.55. She came in 6th place not 2nd. Denise Cheshire 9.1 and 9.3 for a 9.2 not 9.3. Roxanne Pierce 9.0 and 9.3 for a 9.15 not 9.3. I beli eve it was Howard. Thies. Manville. Pierce & Cheshire tie and then Beadle. Not Howard. Beadle. Thies . Cheshire. Pierce. and Manville. Tha'n k you Gymnast Reader MRS. TREIBER'S SUMMER CLINICS AT ISU

Dear Sir. I was so pleased to read the appreciation accorded to Mrs. Treiber and her husband Bob on the occasion of their hosting the master clinic for the new compulsories. I am sure this will be a great help to the many who find the compulsories is difficult to understand to master . This was indeed a gathering of the finest coaching and judging stars in our country but I would like to add that Mrs. Treiber's graciousness and flair for organization is not just reserved for the stars and the big names in this business. I have found over the years in attending her summer clinics that she is equally attentive and helpful to the beginners and minor bodies in the gymnastic galaxy. So all you brave people who may be entering this intricate field whether in private clubs or in a school system where you may be expected to teach the mysteries of gymnastics to a large number of assorted talents and ages - a truly formidable task; I urge you to take your problem s to Mrs. Treiber in her summer clinics at ISU. There she gathers round her the best coaches, judges, and teachers, not to mention herself, and you will not only h ave a good time but you will come away greatly enriched and ready to tackle the seemingly impossible. Sincerely. Reginald Webber Yates Center. Kansas HAPPINESS IS

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

Dear Mr. Sundby . Would you please send me a schedule of the Olympic Trials? Thank you. Sincerely Shelley Carpenter Des Moines. Iowa JUST IN!!! The U.S.A. Olympic Trials will be held May 13-14-15 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Hotel accomodations can be made at the nearby University Hilton, make your

reservations early!

Sept. 5-Dec. 14 Chinese Acrobats ofTaiwan, USA Tour Co-sponsored by the Republic of China, tour of US with stops in British Columbia. Sept. 28 Massachusetts USGF State Gymnastics Congress, Woburn , Mass. The congress will have meetings of the Massachusetts National Women's Judge s Association; Gymnastics Judging Association (men); High School Coaches Associations; Independent Gymnastics Clubs; New England Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (Men and Women) and many other groups. Oct. 11 Qualifying meet for World Championships in Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics, San Francisco State University. Oct. 12-26 Pan American Games, Mexico City Oct. 27-29 Daily Mirror World Cup, Wembley, London Oct. 30-Nov. 1 USSR Display Team, Wembley, London , sponsored by the Daily Mirror. Nov. 14, 15, 16 USGF Congress, Denver, Colorado, at the Den ver Marriot. $25.00 early registration fee . 1975 USSR/TOUR 1975 Dec. 7 New York, NY Dec. 8 Cleveland, OH Dec. 9 Champaign/ Urbana, IL Dec. 11 Los Ange les, CA Dec. 12 San Francisco, CA Dec. 14 Detroit, MI Dec. 15 Cincinatti, OH Dec. 17 Atlanta , GA Dec. 18 Washington, D.C. May 13, 14, 15 USA Olympic Trials at Los Angeles Sports Arena. Unofficial Schedule For the USGF Elite Program 1975-76 Oct. 31-Nov. 1 1st Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Dec. 5-6 1st National Elite Qualifying Meet. Jan. 16-17 2nd Regional Elite Qualifying Meet. Feb. 6-7 2nd National Elite Qualifying Meet. Mar. 4, 5, 6 USGF Women's Committee National Elite Championships. Apr. 9-10 Master Elite Meet. May 13, 14, 15 Olympic Trials. July 5-14 Departure for Olympic Games. We would like to publish a calendar that is Gymnastically compete - if you have any additions please send them to : GYMNAST Calendar P.O. Box 110 Santa Monica, Ca. 90406 Thank You

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