Page 9

Volume 7, issue 1

NOTES FROM 9, 10 & ELITE TRAINING CAMP

 

The following notes were taken by the following judges who attended Training Camp in Atlanta in October.         THESE NOTES ARE UNOFFICIAL but felt they would be beneficial to the judges in Alabama who were unable to attend.  The judges who sent their notes were Jarrett Ezell, Diane Peeks, Maria Ross, Wendy Seabrook, Phyllis Thompson and Mary Ann Wallace

 

Rene Nicolai talked about floor dance and artistry.

When evaluating artistry, Rene asked us to look for the gymnast’s projection, focus and expression throughout the exercise.  The gymnast’s projection should begin with proper body posture and the ability to captivate the “audience.”  Next, the gymnasts should keep a focus that is generally up and away from the floor, unless the choreography intentionally requires otherwise.   We were also asked to consider the gymnast intent.  The judge shouldn’t have to guess what dance combination the gymnast is trying to perform.  The gymnast should be able to maintain proper posture, projection and focus during difficult gymnastics series giving a feeling of effortlessness.

The gymnasts working on floor dance made a noticeable improvement by the end of the lecture.

 

FX Dance-Rene’ Niccolai

 

All dance should:  1) never feel inhibited 2) work on toes 3) have focus---*this pertains to actual dance skills (ie. jumps, leaps, turns) as well as choreographed movements in routine.

 

Tour jete’, switch and switch side:  all should show first leg position before switch, should face forward on take off, and have a” WOW” factor.  Otherwise incomplete element deductions would apply.

 

Focus and foot form should remain constant during prep moves…(ie. chasse’ in preparation of leap, etc.)

 

Jumps should show and maintain straight line from top of head to base of spine.

 

Gymnast should use quads and arms to lift in a leap – not shoulders.

 

Turning jumps- watch arms and torso as well as feet for cues to short landings or lack of exactness.

 

Diamond shape of legs should be maintained from beginning to end on all cat leaps.

 

Floor – Dance:  Rene’ Niccollai

*For jumps, plie’ with butt under not stuck out

*On switch side, the gymnast must begin the switch forward before

         Turning

 

 

Uneven Bars- Gene Alexin

Watch head alignment as well as bodyline.  Head out is an indication of later body posture faults.  Gymnast with chin back (military chin) generally have better lines.

 

Straddle cast to hand, uprise to hand, front giant with ½ turn (straddled), stalder to hand, toe shoot to hand ---body line easy to be deceiving- remember line from shoulders to lowest body point…feet may be at vertical…but depending on body position (arched/piked) amplitude may be deficient.

 

Bail (long swing forward ½ turn over low bar)…. there was discussion about the coaching technique of having gymnast to release one hand before the other as a way to facilitate the turn especially when attempting a bail to hand.  I wasn’t clear on the results but didn’t see a problem with slight alternate release provided the skill was recognizable.  All the deductions I found regarding turn didn’t seem to apply to this skill.

 

Salto dismounts with twist---applying the same coaching principle as mentioned above to these skills would result in insufficient twist deductions…much like a short jump on BB and FX that is cheated at the beginning of the jump.

 

Invert giants- easy way to recognize the grip is to look at elbows and shoulders…they appear greatly rotated…easy to recognize using this principle.