SIRI the Time Keeper

"Open the pod bay doors, please SAL."

Instead of a stopwatch, I've been using the timer on my phone by voice command, during practice. The level 3s love it, during timed warm-ups and timed challenges. At the end of the countdown, instead of your typical alarm, I use customized ringtones with geeky soundclips (such as the computer voice from Star Trek with red alert warning to abandon ship or somesuch).

Today, I was timing the girls for a 30 second handstand-shaping hold against the wall for part of vault warm-up. I told Siri to launch timer; and set for 30 seconds. And this was her reply back. Hadn't heard that one before and neither had the girls. They nearly fell down from their handstands from laughing so much.

Stop thinking of the smartphone as a phone with the traditional stigma attached

Technology has really changed how we communicate and interact today.  From social media (Facebook, instagram, YouTube, etc.) to Ipads & smartphones.  It's a different world today than it was even 10 years ago.

Remember a time when you could sit in a restaurant and not be bothered by cell phone ringtones and cell phone conversations?  That there was a designated area, right by the restrooms, where you could make a call you deemed important enough to get up from the dinner table and go pay for?

 I Posted before on cell phone use in the gym.  That was a lighthearted look at how NOT to use cell phones in the gym. 

What I'd like to do in this post is to advocate the reasons why cell phones are a useful tool in the gym.

I don't know what the cellphone policy is like in other gyms.  However, the one I'm at and the one I was at before do not approve of cell phones.  More specifically, they do not allow for taking calls, answering text messages, sending calls, or checking emails.  That is reasonable.  Not only is it a safety issue for a distracted coach, but it also looks very unprofessional and can turn away clients. 

Speaking for myself, and possibly other coaches, my smartphone is used for so many things other than as a phone.   I believe that, depending on how the technology is being implemented, that the perception of smartphones as primarily phones is an archaic concept. 

As a team coach, I do "get away" with having my smartphone out on the floor.  I've never taken a phone call; nor do I have the ringtone on to alert me to calls.  There are only rare instances where I've texted:

1. Acknowledging a text  message from a team parent letting me know that her athlete was running late to the gym.
2. Acknowledge a text message from a fellow coach that he was running late
3. Answering a message sent from the front office staff, that required a timely response.
4. Sending a message to the front office staff.

  At my previous gym, they used to have walkie talkies for birthday parties so that the staffers could communicate from across the gym.  Today's smartphones are superior to achieving the same purpose.  There are times when something needs to be addressed right away; and rather than sending an athlete or another coach to fetch the front office worker, it's easier just to send a text. 

In the event of an emergency, it's quicker to reach into your pocket and dial 911 yourself than it is to run across the gym and pick up the landline; or shout to the front office.

 Better communication makes for greater efficiency.

 When I have my cellphone in my hand, I understand that some parents may think I am checking personal mail.  I am not.  I know that from a business standpoint, it may look bad; however, I think it's a matter of educating the client base; and people adapting their perception to how technology is actually being used today. 

My team parents know what I am doing:  Checking lesson plan notes; a conditioning list; using the stopwatch that's built into the phone.  Why use a traditional stopwatch when I already have one on me?  Why burden myself with a notebook and pen?  Why carry around an expensive camera that gymnasts might get chalk all over when I can just use a cameraphone?  The quality is really good today, with many even taking slow motion videos for technique analysis. 

Sometimes I might run a Google search on something I need to look up, related to the gymnastics practice at hand.  On occasion, there might be a YouTube video clip that I might want to show my gymnasts so they can see an example of something I am trying to verbalize. 

The smartphone is a tool, like any other, that can be used or abused.  Stop thinking of them as a traditional phone.  Rather than banning them from the gym coach's arsenal of training tools, take advantage of the virtues of today's technology.  Provide common sense guidelines for how the privilege can be made appropriate and inappropriate. 

With recreational coaches, I don't think there is a "need" for smartphones to be out on the floor; however, I think it is definitely a useful coaching tool when utilized properly.

Xpodz Kickstarter Campaign

Some long-time readers of Gymnast Crossing may remember videos from Santa Monica Gymnastics Center of a old school gymnast named Rodger who the club owner, Al Luber, was friends with.  Both former UCLA gymnasts themselves, Al let Rodger come in to workout and relieve stress.  His daughters also took gymnastics, with the eldest on team.

Rodger Thomason is also a brilliant product design engineer. If any of you remember Mitch Gaylord's fitness product- I think it was called the Gaylord III that, if memory serves, was like one of those strength towers with a set of rings on it- Rodger was the guy who designed the prototype.

He was also the go-to-guy who made the prototype for the Perfect Push-up. He suggested ways to improve the design; but the clients were not interested. So Rodger came up with his own invention. Ergonomically easy on the wrists, Rodger's product is accessible to a wide range of people who need to stay in shape- from wounded vets, the elderly, those in physical rehab, to the hardcore athletes and fitness buffs. Check it out and support the Kickstarter campaign by making a contribution and/or by spreading the word:

Rodger also designed the prototype for the Strongboard Balance, invented by his friend, Mike Curry.

Rise of the Machine

Not only will robots one day take over the planet; they will also dominate athletic events:




 Stuck landing.  Methinks Uchimura's met his match.  Just wait until it's doing a Kovacs with 2 1/2 flips over the bar.

Geek System:

YouTube user Hinamitetu has been perfecting this home-designed gymnastics robot and posting the tests online for over two years now. While it’s always impressive to see a little gymnasti-bot with more balance and agility than your puny human body could ever hope to achieve, the latest video in particular should totally blow you away. In it, the robot performs a quadruple backflip, one of the hardest feats in gymnastics which most people could only hope to achieve with a really springy trampoline underneath them. Let’s go ahead and add “acrobats” onto the list of career paths that will no longer be relevant after the robots take over.
To learn more about how the robot works, I asked my friend Caitlin to translate the About page from its original Japanese. As a disclaimer, neither of us are super familiar with the appropriate terminology for robot engineering, so if you’ve got a better translation then let us know in the comments:

“I used 2-axis acceleration sensors. That’s in the head and they primarily measure gravitation. That measurement value changes depending on the angle of revolution. When one sensor is level with ground, that sensor measures zero for gravitation. For the revolution, the positions are divided into four regions. For those boundary locations (up, down, left, right), it detects a signal to stand up or move down. (An up and down sensor circuit with a zero gravitation sensor value as the threshold.) Those signals combined with the pure H,L signals (H,L signal with a zero gravitation sensor value as the threshold) form the trigger. Using these signals as the base, it determines the timing of the bending and straightening the legs.”

Hat tip:  Juliaaa