Must be Monday

Modifying a staple exercise for little ones

Slider drills across the floor is part of the regular warm-up that many of the boys team, lvl3s, and preteam kids do.

With a new crop of preteam kids, I figured out a way to modify one of the harder exercises for them:

Santa Handstand Toy

$11 at Daiso.




I admit this will wear its welcome out really fast if you let it play on and on.  But for those first few moments?  Charming and delightful.  After those first moments....step away.  Or turn it off.  It gets older, quicker than compulsory season floor music.

Hasbro selling Daisharin Tetsubo-kun Horizontal Bar Gymnast Game

Wow. Check it out.

It looks like Hasbro has obtained the rights to produce this for sale. I bought two off eBay for $70 and $30. But it looks like you can order them from Toys Я Us for $15.99 (or $19.99)!

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This strip was published on May 15, 1973

Hat tip:  Olga Korbut

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What do you ask your team at the end of the day?

Typically, at the end of practice, we line the girls up.  And typically, aside from other discussions and comments, the stock one we ask is, "What did you accomplish today?"  Or, "What were you most proud of?"


I think I'm going to adopt these 3 questions and try it out for a while.  May last a week.  A month.  May have permanence.

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"If you must blink, then do it now..."

I arranged for a team-bonding day with some of my gymnasts, for the movie Kubo and the Two Strings.


If you must blink, do it now!  (Or hit the replay button and re-read the post....)



Decent turnout (from the pool of gymnasts I have; turnout for the movie from the general populace apparently isn't as good as it deserves).  We killed some time with some origami and am thankful no security came over to scold us for throwing this over the balcony.

The movie has a decent story and message; but is probably too intense, serious, and heavy of a storyline for young kids to follow; and not get scared.   The parents seemed to all enjoy it.

I grew up liking traditional Japanese ghost stories; and this movie evoked a certain sense of that.

I do feel that this movie is a good promotional for generating interest in origami (even though much of it has to do with magic than strict paperfolding).

After the scene with the birds, I now kind of want to fold Jared Needle's bird, whereas I didn't have a great deal of interest before.

Focus Features Los Angeles Premiere of LAIKA "Kubo and The Two Strings"

Art Parkinson seen at Focus Features Los Angeles Premiere of LAIKA "Kubo and The Two Strings" on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016, in Universal City, Calif. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)

 I wonder if any artists out there have the inclination to fold some of the characters from the movie, after seeing it?

The movie was made in stop-motion.  Not CGI.  This movie deserves respect.

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Hungry Gymnasts

And in the gym:

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Whack-a-Gymnast

Staying tight and focused:




This was my favorite ball, until I pumped too much air into it and it exploded.  I guess it's still my favorite, but it leaks air and no longer has its cloth covering.  I think the product is no longer available.  It's a shame because it was a great beach ball that I could attach Velcro to, for other drills.

When deflated at the right amount, the ball really does make a great booming sound when it impacts.

Before Chainey...

I'm reluctant to re-upload Chainey's Mr. Rogers Neighborhood appearances because my original YouTube account was suspended before on account of it (since then, eps have been posted up by others without being taken down; but I've yet to find complete footage of Chainey's appearances).

While searching for the possibility of someone else having uploaded Chainey's two visits, I made a shocking discovery:  Chainey was not the first gymnast to appear on the show.  It happened 19 years before Chainey's first appearance and 28 years before his second, back in 1967!  Bern Jesiolowski:

At the age of 18, I was dancing with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, and on the University of Pittsburgh's Gymnastics team while attending Pitt. The Director of the Pgh Ballet, Nicholos Petrov, selected me to perform with him and a younger member of the jr. ballet , a small piece he created and choreographed (called the sad monster) on the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood t.v. show. Fred and I talked after that show, and he liked me and I him. Subsequently, he asked me to do some work on 3 additional shows, and later hired me as assistant to the Director for his show a year later. Fred was every bit the terrific person off screen as he was on screen: kind, genuine, compassionate, intelligent and wanting to do everything he could to help children everywhere.This is one of the four shows I've just posted on you tube in which I was involved with the wonderful Mr. Rogers

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Stretching at the beginning of practice

Here are some preteam and excel kids and part of their warm-up across the floor:








Related post:

[Not] Stretching the Truth

Solemn Memorial Day

"Wednesday night, sitting in a pizza joint in the Bronx, watching the world go by, I was upset and couldn’t put my finger on why.

A friend said “Hey! Do you want to go to Fleet Week? It’s this weekend here in the city.”
What? No? Absolutely not. I don’t want to be in the midst of tens of thousands of people clamoring for a chance to look at a static display of Marine Corps and Navy equipment. I don’t want to see Marines and sailors dressed up, paraded around for community relations and recruiting purposes. I don’t want to watch any parades.

As I said it (barked it, really), my friend’s eyes widened and I recognized the frustration in my tone. I didn’t know why I was upset, at first. I paused, and while I was sitting there contemplating my outburst, I heard a commercial on the radio screaming through the tinny speakers.
“Beaches, beats and BBQs!” it said. “We’re your Memorial Day station with everything you need to kick off the summer in style!”

That’s when it hit me. I’m angry. I’ve come to realize people think Memorial Day is the official start of summer. It’s grilled meat, super-duper discounts, a day (or two) off work, beer, potato salad and porches draped in bunting.

~~~

A friend reminded me that plenty of people use the weekend the way it was designed: to pause and remember the men and women who paid the price of our freedom, and then go on about enjoying those freedoms.

But I argue not enough people use it that way. Not enough people pause. Not enough people remember.

I’m frustrated by people all over the country who view the day as anything but a day to remember our WAR DEAD. I hate hearing “Happy Memorial Day.”

It’s not Veterans Day. It’s not military appreciation day. Don’t thank me for my service. Please don’t thank me for my service. It’s take the time to pay homage to the men and women who died while wearing the cloth of this nation you’re so freely enjoying today, day."

-Marine veteran, Jennie Haskamp, May 22, 2015

Saturday Morning Leg Conditioning

Vault Idle Stations Circuits

TGIM!

Get your motivation on!

Encouraging the Tap

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Tic Tac Toe Conditioning Relay Sprints

This still remains one of our current fun conditioning games:






Since we don't give them endless blocks to fill up the hoops, it creates a bit of a different strategy after you've made 3 placements than your traditional tic tac toe. Makes them do more running! :-)

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Abductors & Adductors with Resistance Bands

Today was a Great Day

Lisa's letter to her daughter:

Today was a bad day. You fell on beam. You missed your connections on floor. You didn’t reach handstand on bars. Your execution was low. Today was a day you wanted to quit. All that hard work for what? All those long hours of training, missing out on friends, missing out on parties. Getting up early, struggling with being tired. What was it all for? It was for nothing. A big fat zilch.
Today you wanted to quit. Today you wanted to hang your grips up, you wanted to wipe the mag off your rough and bleeding hands for good. You wanted to throw away all your leotards and be a “normal” kid one again. You wanted to turn your back on something that was so engrained in you, such a part of you that cutting a limb off would be the closest thing to it.
Today was a sad day. The disappointment etched in your face, the hot tears burning your skin as they tumbled down your cheeks. The hurt clearly displayed on your little face for all the world to see.
Today broke two hearts. Yours and mine.
Today was hard. Hard for you. Much harder for me to watch you fall apart. I wanted to swoop in and save you from this heartache. I watched helplessly as you fought those demons that tortured you from inside. I was powerless to stop them. I felt like a failure as a mother as I hadn’t protected you from this hurt.
Today was a struggle. The little voices in your head told you that you were no good. They told you to quit. They tormented you and filled you full of doubt. And with doubt comes failure. I watched you in a tug of war with your mind. I saw the inner turmoil that threatened to consume you.
Today was a battle. Somewhere deep inside of you a war was raging. Would you let disappointment and hurt win? Would you let those mental demons tear you apart? Would you fall and never get up again? No. You gathered your strength, you stood up to those voices. Every fibre of your being held steadfast in your resolve. I saw my little girl fight from the core.
Today was a day of hope. The flame that burns inside you, that had all but been extinguished today, flickered again. You held your head high as you watched other gymnasts, not better than you but who had cleaner routines, stand up and receive ribbons and medals. I watched you hug your team mates, congratulating them, sharing in their victory. The joy that had been robbed from you was soon replaced with the love you felt for your sport. I saw that tiny glimmer of hope light the dark place that was your heart. I saw you banish the voices in your head saying you should quit, you were a failure, that you were no good.
Today was a good day. Today you learnt things that I could never teach you. You learnt how to lose. You learnt how to fight back. You learnt the importance of not always winning. You learnt how to take disappointment and turn it in to a positive. You learnt that love prevails. You made me proud, much prouder than if you had a gold medal hung around your neck.
Today you won.
Today was a great day

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Tic Tac April Fools

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Core Posture Alignment Awareness and Strengthening Exercise/Test

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Tic Tac Toe Relay

Credit Thomas Bauer (who credits Idea by Patrekur Johannesson, Coach of the Austrian Men's Handball National Team)

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Ho Hey!

Some conditioning ideas & shaping drills

The gym owner calls this funeral music.  But the slow pace of the music is killer for strength training.

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Gotta get focused- It's Monday!

Well I guess that's one way to learn focus..
Posted by Stick-It TV on Saturday, January 16, 2016

Not uncommon practice amongst college teams (although this one is a bit off the charts- lol).


I always liked this video of Mike Chaplin holding the imaginary boom camera:

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GoFundMe for Cassie Whitcomb

A former UCLA Bruin, Cassandra Whitcomb recently had spinal fusion surgery:

As many of you probably know...I finally received the spinal fusion surgery I've been needing for a while on Monday. I was no where near prepared for the recovery that it entails. For the past 5 days I have found myself in a gloomy mood feeling as if the pain will never go away. But for some reason, I woke up today and I told myself it was gonna be different. I wrote out some goals on a white board to be accomplished by the end of the day. Such as, sitting up in a chair for 15 minutes or changing my bandages. Simple but something to strive for. I realized that this is a new chapter in my life. Many times new chapters are scary and bring something new and so we don't recognize the chance to grow and learn. Well I am taking a moment today to reflect on just how far I have come with this injury, what I have endured, and how much better my quality of life will be after recovery. Anything worth having is going to require some work to get there. So I'm getting to work

Cassandra's mom:

Cassie is a former International/National Team Gymnast (about 6 years!) and was on the National Tops Team for about 5-6 years prior to that! She spent most of her young life competing in Gymnastics  (since she was 4 1/2 years old!) Her passion was always to be the best she could be. Regardless of her pain, she just kept going. When she made the National Team, she worked through many injuries to help her team win gold medals in many countries (Belgium, Italy, France, United States, etc) You can find several videos on you tube: "Cassie Whitcomb"...

Random clip I filmed of her doing an exhibition routine a few years ago:

Go here if you are able to donate; and/or help spread the word to others who might contribute.

Hollow Push-up Beam Crawls while Piggybacking Foam Block

Since we did not have all the beams, I thought I'd kill some time on the two high beams we did have with a little conditioning and concentration game. The Hot Shots loved it so much, we spent 2/3rds of our beam time on it. I figured they were getting stronger working their core and support strength. Since they were enthused about it, why not?

At first, they had trouble; then they started figuring out a certain "cheat"- foam block on the upperback and behind the head. I might have to create a rule on no resting the foam behind the neck; but if it helped them keep their round turtle back, I couldn't really complain.

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Fun Friday: 3-Person Team Cheesy Mat Race

Sound Buttons for Conditioning, Contests, Games

I wanted to find recordable sound buttons, but from what I had read, the volume on the speakers weren't that great.  Similarly, the Staples Easy Button also was low volume and would be all but inaudible in a noisy gym.

I acquired these buttons at Lakeshore Learning Center and they are pretty fun. Here are just a few uses I played around with.

You can definitely make it into a conditioning game. For example: Timed push-ups (say, 30 seconds).

- 1 point for touching the button at the bottom
- 1 point for touching the button at the top of the push-up
- Minus 2 points for any wriggling of the body

For the planching push-up challenge, award progressively higher points for each button, with the one furthest out (forcing a stronger lean) being valued with the most points.

Bungee bar candle lever

Finding body alignment on the foam rollers

All sorts of creative uses for foam rollers beyond the original intent.


Here's one:

Stinky Roundoffs

Our level 5s who just got done with compulsory season are going to try and jump right into the optional season as new 7s.  They aren't entirely ready and are still acquiring skills (*cough*giants*cough*); but they've definitely come a long way in a short time.

Last Saturday one of their return stations was round-off slams.  We once worked with putting a whoopie cushion up as a target a long time ago.  Decided to pull it back out and use it (I bought three of these, with two still functional).

I think the rec parents in the bleachers were greatly entertained.

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Gymnastics Center of Hershey, Pennsylvania: Character Counts

There are two stories at play in this post:  One is in regards to level 7 hopeful Renata- a gymnast who moved out here, briefly trained at another gym; and who eventually settled with us a few months ago.  The other story I'd like to relay is a shoutout to the Gymnastics Center of Hershey in Pennsylvania.

Our gym was at Lady Luck over the weekend.  Given we only had one level 7 entrant, I was not needed to work the session; so conveniently showed up at leisure to lend morale support.  I missed first rotation- vault (apparently it went well, as she scored a 9.325 and earned herself a 2nd place finish).

Renata had been struggling with bar giants.  For months.  She could do them well enough on strap bar.  But on the regular rail?  Fergetaboutit.

 Months wore down to weeks away from her first level 7 competition in Vegas.  Weeks wittled into days, and still no giants- perhaps 4-6 makes up until the last week before showtime.

She hit a couple of giants 7 days before the Lady Luck meet.  A couple more over the weekend.  Then the week of the meet, beginning last Monday and her final practice on Wednesday, she finally began making around 30% of her giants.

When I walked into the competition site Friday morning, she was on her 2nd rotation- bars, and did not miss a single giant attempt during warm-ups, as far as I noticed.

As she prepared for her competition routine, I was handed her cameraphone to film.  Since I also wanted to film her routine with my phone, I held both phones in both hands.  Renata being our only level 7, we shared the rotation with another team from the Gymnastics Center of Hershey.  One of their gymnasts noticed me holding both cameras and kindly offered to hold one of them and film.  I felt much obliged to her.

As Renata went through her bar routine, the girls from Hershey Pennsylvania were all cheering for her.  Such sportsmanship certainly isn't a rarity- but I was still impressed as they cheered pretty vigorously- as vigorously as many teams cheer for their own teammates.

Renata hit the best level 7 routine she's done thus far (even her low bar clear hip had some life) and nailed her one giant in the routine.  4th place with a 9.250 which isn't too shabby for someone who didn't have giants 8 days ago, let alone any consistency before the big day.

Success on vault and bars was followed by disaster on beam.  I'm glad I filmed it, because as emotionally embarrassing and painful as it may have seemed to Renata at the time with 3 falls, it really deserves a place of honor in her video scrapbook as a blooper hallmark when she fell on her mount.  Life should always be taken with humor; and Renata was able to laugh about it, later on in the day.

During the beam routine, the Hershey gymnasts invested themselves in Renata's performance, cheering very loudly their support.  It wasn't just a token gesture- they watched with interest from beginning to end.  They cheered for her by name.  They displayed the exact kind of sportsmanship and conduct that I wish to cultivate within my own gym.  It is not easy for many gymnasts to compete as a lone member of their team; and these gymnasts gave Renata the support she needed in the absence of her own teammates.  For that my coworkers, Renata, and myself are entirely grateful to the coaches and gymnasts of the Gymnastics Center of Hershey.  They are not only building strong athletes but building strong people of moral fiber and character.  My deepest admiration for their program.

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Shocker of the Day

The following was relayed to me by my coworker during our level 3 session at Lady Luck in Vegas:

Annabella, Taryn, and Danielle G.- first gymnastics meet ever- upon watching some of the other teams: "THESE GIRLS HAVE THE SAME ROUTINES AS US!"

New level 3s, folks. Still a little wet behind the ears; but a wee bit less so, after today.

Bungee Bar Handstands

Time is not an infinite well

Anne Josephson:

What if this was your last day in the gym?

If you are a gymnast: your last tumbling pass? Your final routine?

If you are a coach: your final day calling your athletes in to practice? Giving your last correction or compliment?

If you are a parent: watching your child’s final routine? Saying goodbye to the other parents, your child’s coaches or the front desk staff?

What would you do differently?

Am I being morbid? Maybe. But that’s not my intent.

After reading an excellent op-ed piece in the New York Times, “To be Happier, Start Thinking More About Your Death” I started to think about the author’s idea: “Without consciousness, we mindlessly blow the present moment on low-value activities.”

We complain. About the conditioning assignment, the lack of effort of an athlete or the amount of time the coach spent with one child in favor of ours.

We gossip. About our teammates, our coworkers, the gym management or other parents.

Read more.

Live and breath every moment.  The last one will inevitably come, often without warning.

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International Gymnast magazine Dec 1990

Safety Slams

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International Gymnast, June 1988

"Coach is Coming!"

We had a makeup practice New Year's Eve (for those still in town over this holiday weekend).  When the 3s and 3/4s arrived, we ended preteam practice with a couple of games.

Most of the girls were new to this game (or at least this version of it):

 This is my version of "Ships & Sailors"/"Captain's Coming". I substituted and added in a number of commands that are specific to our sport. I wish I could have gotten through all the commands as example, but I was really rusty, as we don't get to play this that often and it's been a while.  I can't remember when I thought this up.


I must have hit the stop button by mistake on my camera at 6 minutes in; fortunately Lindsey's mom was filming from the peanut gallery. Poor level 3/4 Mischa was cracking me up at the end. I suppose this was like a 9 minute workout.

Another means of elimination-- Get super picky. So if "Coach is coming = standing at attention like a proper gymnast", eliminate 'em if their heels are apart, not standing with good posture, not looking straight ahead, etc.- if they so much as have an eyebrow out of place.





If it's "grandma in a rocking chair", announce that you're going to knock off the gymnast with the least correct form and shape.

Here's a list of commands I wrote out 2 years ago (needs updating):