New Years Resolutions

Gymnasts are busy people. This year I thought I would do their NY resolutions for them.

ALEXANDRA RAISMAN

Should resolve to.....

POINT HER TOES

Aly is great and has really shown how much she is worth to the USA. She is the kind of performer you just watch: you never expect her to fall, step out or even wobble (most of the time). 2011 has been a good year for her. She has solidified her status as a reliable team performer, particularly given Alicia’s unfortunate departure from Tokyo leaving Aly as last minute team captain. Plenty of people thought the USA were toast with Alicia gone, and without Anna Li’s bars, but the whole team smashed QFs and finals and that can only look good for young captain Raisman.

However, Aly is not without her problems. Artistry and graceful expression really are her downfalls. Sadly, these problems show up the most on her best apparatus: floor and the beam. Her beam acro skills are great, but her general presentation leaves a lot to be desired. A key example of this is her paltry, perfunctory low to beam work: the most pathetic of nods to the requirement in a clunking, awkward and ugly fall to the horizontal.

So the general resolution could be a more general “pay more attention to artistry”, but that is a very broad ask. I really think that a simple, classic toe point would make all the difference. Particularly on bars, where her feet would actually look more appropriate on a cartoon duck.

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Alexandra+Raisman+Artistic+Gymnastics+World+YeyQ1sBO6_9l.jpg

http://richarizard.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/daffy-duck.gif

GET CONSISTENT ON BARS

2 years. 2 botches.

I don’t even mean good. I just mean simply: learn to stay on there when it counts. To be honest (as I have mentioned in a previous post) I am dubious of the likelihood of Aly actually landing the second AA spot at the Olympics, with the potential of a back up to scratch Bross (amongst others). However, if she does, and misses bars, it would be the 3^rd time in a row that her AA hopes were botched by a bad bars set. Even if she doesn’t have the need for a bars set beyond QFs at the Olympics, and carries on her career beyond them, she could be a real hope for an AA shot in the depleted field of the fresh quad, a la Sloan in 2009. So learn to stay on!

BETH TWEDDLE

Should resolve to.....

FOCUS ON THE BARS

In my extremely biased opinion, I think Beth’s current routine is by far the best in the world at this moment. It is clean (not on the level of Komova, admittedly) but extraordinarily difficult, with difficultly built up by not just a series of big tricks, but a series of big tricks smoothly connected. I think her performance in the team finals of this year’s worlds was the best of her career by far - something very exciting to see at this point in her career with the prospect of a home turf Olympics looming.

But this is not 2008. The new code will not let her qualify to finals with a fall, or even a mistake. Beth needs to have those connections ready to do in any circumstance.

SORT OUT THE FLOOR

Over the years, various American competitors have proven that a gymnast doesn’t have to be from a balletic background with classic long lines, or even a particularly good dancer, to put together a bloody good floor routine.

Look at Jordyn Wieber. Although her current floor routine does to some degree split opinion, I think it is one of the most expressive and original floor routines around at the moment. Wieber (like Beth) is a tumbler, not a dancer. But her current choreography shows excellent detail to the music and plays to her strengths rather than exposing her weaknesses. Similarly, the show stopper at the 2008 VISA championships was totally Chellsie Memmel’s floor routine on night two. Again, definitely a tumbler and not a dancer, but that routine was perfect for Chellsie and it brought the house down.

I have no real idea why Beth’s coaches don’t try for something similar. It would be so easy! Go for more modern music with a stronger beat, get some expressive but not balletic moves that Beth isn’t visibly cringed-out by and get confident with it! I am still (perhaps naively) hoping for her to have trained up that Arabian full out by the time of London. That, with some choreography that matches her, would be fantastic.

 If she wants any chance of factoring in on the floor again, something has to change.

JORDYN WIEBER

Should resolve to......

KEEP GOING WITH THE UPGRADES

http://s1.assets.usoc.org/assets/images/article/photo/37850/full/WieberInter.jpg

Jordyn was the star of 2011. She saw of challenged for Mustafina early on, Komova later on, and will now forever be able to say that she was the best gymnast in the world.

But it isn’t going to get any easier. She had a lot of help from Komova at this year’s worlds: no amanar, car crash beam, steps on floor. Jordyn cannot count on such luck in the coming year. She is going to need to raise her game wherever she possibly can (I am thinking at least something on everything except vault). I think some real progress could be made on bars, considering how far she came in a relatively short amount of time on this apparatus. Not long ago she was labouring through staggered toe-ons and now she has some pretty impressive combination work at the top of her routine (which she did mess up at worlds, but it is there nonetheless).

I think Jordyn is a great gymnast and deserving of this year’s accolades. But it is going to take a lot of work indeed to break the curse of the world champion going into the Olympics.

JESSICA LOPEZ

Should resolve to....

NOT LOSE FAITH

She was once quoted as saying that she would “keep going until she won a medal”, but has been showing signs of slowing down a bit recently. Not that I blame her, constant exhaustion and little reward and recognition has got to be disheartening. This is especially true when the judges slam her as much as they did at this worlds (as was brought to my attention by a recent thread on intlgymnast). The below routine was qualifications received a score lower than that of Alexandra Raisman. There are no words.

Full discussion on this insanity can be found here: http://www.american-gymnast.com/agtc/index.php/2011/12/23/and-the-award-for-the-most-outrageous-judging-moment-of-2011-goes-to/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AmericanGymnastTrainingCenter+%28American+Gymnast+Training+Center%29&utm_content=FeedBurner

I think Jessica is a great presence and fan favourite in the sport, and it would be a shame to see her give up now.

VIKTORIA KOMOVA

Should resolve to....

WORK ON HER SPORTSMANSHIP

Not to slam her as much as many have, but by God does that girl need a “graceful loser face”. Someone should send her a copy of Miss Congeniality on DVD.

http://fr.rian.ru/images/19150/98/191509816.jpg

TATIANA NABIEVA

Should resolve to....

CONTINUE TO VALUE QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

The biggest chucker in chucktown watered down, polished up, and won a medal. More of this please.

THE FIG

Should resolve to....

PRODUCE A CODE THAT:

1.       We all understand, from the gymnasts themselves to the seasoned fans to the people that happen to turn on a gymnastics live feed for the first time in their lives

2.       Rewards in a balanced fashion the difficulty, execution, originality and artistry of the routines

3.       Doesn’t create silly loopholes that come to characterise an entire apparatus (such as the rebound jumps on floor)

4.       Doesn’t create an unfair scoring imbalance across apparatus (such as Lauren Mitchell). 

      Happy New Year everyone!
     
      I know this is early - but I am going away tomorrow. Would love to hear any other suggestions!

Pan Ams: what did they mean for the US girls?

Pan Ams were a real post-worlds treat, and somewhat eased the misery of the annual anticlimax (when worlds are over and you realise you have another YEAR to wait, although thankfully next year is an OLYMPIC one). But what did the Pan Ams show us? I thought I would give a brief breakdown of what I think it told us about each of the three main US competitors.

Shawn Johnson

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20111027/SPORTS/111027036/0/JUICE05/?odyssey=nav|head

SJ is coming under a lot of fire from many fans. Not making the world team, having what is said to be an unreliable knee and not having floor back yet have provided lots of fuel for people who consider Shawn less than favourably.

Her performance here didn’t exactly do much to dispel people who already thought she was finished. She fell from her signature apparatus twice, firstly on her standing full and secondly (and surprisingly) on her switch split. Her vault was fine, but nothing to write home about.

Her bars, however, were good. In fact, she has even gone on to scoop a silver medal in the event finals. At first, I was surprised. But when I thought about this initial reaction, I began to wonder why.

Shawn has become tarred over the years as a bad bar worker. But what are the reasons for this? Sure, she didn’t have the most difficult of routines back in her heyday, but this (I think) was more of a bad coaching decision rather than anything specific to her as an athlete. I have actually always been quite fond of her bars. They are RELIABLE. She always hits and her execution is some of the very best. Perhaps always going up alongside Nastia made everyone think she wasn’t up to the job, but let’s not forget that she was in fact in the 3 up 3 count bars lineup for the US team in 2008. You don’t end up in that spot by being a bad bar worker.

AND she is upgrading. Nothing too dramatic, but she has a few weiler kips in her routine now, and word is that she might throw in a shaposhnikova some time soon. All in all, I think her bars are pretty impressive, and that some of the reasons she was viewed poorly on this apparatus is due to comparisons with Nastia and also as a victim of her own success (she was so bloody good on all the other apparatus that bars seemed comparatively bad).

Bars

Bit of an error at the top, but on the whole a good effort.

Beam

This competition showed that Shawn can still hit a good bar set under pressure.

As for her beam: who cares? Sure she has had a few falls, but she is upgrading here too. She could have done a back tuck in this routine and got through OK, but she is trying and showing a clear intention for upgrade. I think the switch split fall should be totally discounted because it is so uncharacteristic - her mind was probably somewhere else. Basically, there are plenty of positives to focus on: she has most of her 2008 skills back and she looks a lot more solid on her arial. Things are not bad here.

Vault is fine, nothing to write home about but she is still clearly powerful. Bross would have killed for that DTY 2 months ago.

To summarize, Shawn is still Shawn, she just needs time to tidy up. And she DOES have time, in my opinion. I think she is exactly the kind of athlete who you cannot count out until the very last minute (although is Nastia’s comeback works then she will be really squeezed to impress on floor and vault).

Bridget Sloan

http://www.indystar.com/article/20111025/SPORTS/110250345/pan-am-games-Bridget-Sloan?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

I have to admit that I really didn’t like Bridget in 2008/2009. I found her really boring and I failed to have any faith in her as a world champion. I thought she epitomized “weak field” and went onto my boring world champions pile alongside Olaru and Ferrari.

But I was wrong. I grew to really like Bridget with time and as I learnt more about gymnastics I gained a lot of respect for her. I especially grew to enjoy her floor: her piked full in has to be my favourite of the decade and her 1.5 to triple was really nice too.

I also liked her bars. She changed the routine up a lot and I respect a gymnast with a good variety of skills. Some combinations, such as the full pirouette into a DLO, were great even thought they didn’t stick around for very long. I loved how she kept working to improve her routines: one thing I hate in a bar routine is stop and start bar work. I would far rather see a tkatchev connected to or from something than a series of stop and start high bar releases.

Sadly the foot injury confined her to two events, but I think a lot of what we saw was positive. One serious point though is that she looked worn out. Everything seemed a bit laboured. I hope this was due to the foot injury (which sounds mean - I of course don’t “want” her to have a painful injury but at least that would mean her fatigue would be temporary: if it is just the way she is now I can’t see her faring well given the stresses that the Olympic road would bring).

Having said that though, her bars were still good. I love that toe on forward giant on the low bar and it looks better now that when she first competed it. Her floor wasn’t half bad, either. Her double pike is still one of the best in the world and the girl can still do a front double (once would have been fine Bridget).

Bars

Floor

First pass is missing, allegedly a 1.5 to triple as in the past. The second pass should have been a 2.5. 

I think, although she didn’t make as much of a splash as she perhaps would have liked, this appearance was mainly positive. I don’t think we have seen the last of her yet, but I also think it will take something serious on bars for her to be in big time contention. Nice to have her back, though.

Bridget Caquatto

http://www.gymnastike.org/article/8875-Bridgette-Caquatto-of-USA-wins-2011-Pan-American-Games-All-Around-Title

I am super happy for her that she managed to take the all around. This title must be a real boost for her and I hope she is really pleased and proud of herself.

Everything looked pretty solid, but there are some built-in gripes. Probably just me being picky, but as mentioned about I hate a load of release-kip-release messing around on the high bar. Also, staggered toe-ons are just not nice, and she catches with SUCH bent arms on her releases (the below video shows this really well). Having said that she got EF gold so well done her.

In terms of the future, and looking to the Olympics, I doubt Caquatto will be anything of a threat. I don’t think this is a defeat though: expectation and goals are surely different for all gymnasts and I doubt that Bridget thinks she would make the team any more than I do. I think she will make a fantastic college gymnast and should take this win and move forward with that. 

Waiting for "The Sacramone"

Picture: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/6/68674823_a37f28fec7.jpg

During the next few days, somewhere in Houston, Texas, a piece of gymnastics may be performed that the world of die hard fans waits for with baited breath. I am talking, of course, about what may come to be known as “The Sacramone”, the first eponymous skill of the fantastic vault world champion Alicia Sacramone.

I would be surprised if fans of the sport have yet to hear about this, but if not, check out this training video which surfaced a few weeks ago:

As we can see, “The Sacramone” is a handspring straight 1 and a half somersault with two twists: TWO TWISTS. Thats the same number as a DTY, but flipping forwards and set up only by a handspring entry. You can see why this person chose to put Katy Perry’s firework over the top of this video: to even attempt this vault would require huge levels of explosive power, but luckily that is one of Alicia’s strong points.

But that isn’t all Alicia has to her name. In a time where we see freeze frames of gymnasts blocking on difficult vaults resembling squashed insects, Alicia has impeccable form – pencil straight from head to toe. Matching such explosive power with such control and attention to detail is what makes Alicia such an exciting vaulter to watch. Even in this training video her form is great....imagine what it looks like now (if it is still being trained).

At the moment I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. There is nothing better than watching gymnastics coverage, crisp quality and good commentary, and knowing that the next thing a gymnast will throw is something you have never seen before. It is hugely exciting. Take, for instance, the 2000 Olympic team finals when Khorkina first threw the Khorkina II - what a moment. I am never reserved about my less than favourable opinions on NBC commentary, but in this moment I have some fondness for them and their excitement.

Now let’s just hope, if Alicia does submit this vault, that it gets the huge D score it deserves. Bringing this to worlds would most definitely help Alicia’s cause of repeating as vault world champion: something I would love to see happen as I am sure would fans of difficultly and preciseness the world over. Good luck, Alicia!



Challenger Cup Qualifications

Getting very excited about this weekend Challenger Cup in Ghent: what a lineup! The highlight has to be young wonder Viktoria Komova, a girl whose gymnastics has to be described as amongst the most simultaenously difficult and beautiful I have ever seen.

Her beam:

Although not without its problems, her lines are just exquisite. It is so refreshing to see such great execution on layout stepouts. Shame that the super hard Patternson dismount is missing, but I realise she has been injured. Hoping it will be back soon!

Nice to see Jiang Yuyuan and Wu liufang back too! Lots of excitement for the finals later.