l:l.S. Gymnastics

The Official Technical Publication Of The United States Gymnastics Federation

United States Gymnastics Federa tion

1990 u.S. Rhythmic Gymnastics

National Championships Eugene, Oregon

Cover lllustration by: ,Tan Williamson

Teaching the Yurchenko

Vault

The Bail Technique

Coaching Strategies on

Vault

USGF Congress

Information

Reports & Minutes

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~--------------------------~ Name ______________________ __

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2 July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Inside This Issue

July-Sept. 1990, Volume 10, No.2

Publisher Mike Jacki

Director of Educational Services

Stephen W. Whitlock

Production Luan Peszek

United States Gymnastics Federation

Board Of Directors

Executive Director: Mike Jacki; President: Mike Donahue; President Emeri tus: Bud Wilkinson; Athlete Representa­tives: Brian Babcock, chair; Kathy Johnson, vice chair; LindaKardos-Barnett, sec; Kelly Garrison; Wendy Hilliard; Tim Daggett; jim Hartung; Peter Vidmar; USOC Athletic Advisory Council; Amateur Athletic Union: Julie Sickels; American Sokol Organization: Norma Zabka; American Turners: Bruno Klaus; Junior Boys Gymnastics Coaches Association: Bill Foster; Men's Elite Coaches Association: Jim Howard; National Association for Girls and Women in Sports: Dr. Mimi Murray; National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Men: Fred Rocthlisbcrgcr; National Associa­tion of Collegiate Gymnastics Women: Gail Davis; Na­tional Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges: Dale

~~~~~; ~:~~oM:cEe~!~e~i~~t~~~ftiFe~!:~t~~~io~f SS!~!: High School Associations: Sharon Wi1ch, Susan True; National G~nastics judges Association: Harry Bjerke; National HIgh School Gymnastics Coaches Association: John Brinkworth; National Jewish Welfare Board: Court­ney Shanken; Rhythmic CoachesAssociation: Pauline David; Special Olympics, Inc.: Kate Faber; U.S. Association of Independent Gym Club: Lance Crowley; U.S. Elite Coaches Association for Women: Roe Kreutzer, Chere Hoffman; U.S. Sports Acrobatics Federation: joe Schabacker; Young Men's Christian Association: Cliff Lothery; USGF Na­tional Membership Representatives: Men's: Dave Strobel, Bob Wuornos; Women's: Joan Moore Rice, Jeff Metzger; Rhythmic: Marina Davidovich, Jolie Barretta.

United States Gymnastics Federation

Executive Committee President: Mike Donahue; Secretary: Mike Milidonis; Vice President-Women: Sue Ammerman; Vice President-Men: Jim Howard; Executive Director: Mike Jacki; FIG Wom­en'sTechnical Committee: Jackie Fie; FIG Rhythmic Tech­nicalCommittee: Andrea Schmid; FIG Men's Technical Committee: Bill Roetzheim; Members-At-Large: Roe Kreutzer; Nancy Marshall; Athlete Representatives: Kathy johnson, Peter Vidmar. Wendy Hilliard, Brian Babcock; President Emeritus: Bud Wilkinson.

Associate Content Editors SPORTS MEDICINE COMMITIEE: Merrill A. Ritter, M.D. Frank A. Pettrone, M.D. james j . Campbell, M.D. SAFETY COMMITIEE: Gerald S. George, Ph.D. EDUCATION COMMITfEE: Susan True BIOMECHANICS COMMITfEE: Marlene Adrian, Ph.D. SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY COMMITfEE: Keith Henschen, Ph.D. EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY COMMITfEE: Pat Eisenman, Ph.D.

Unless expressly identified to the contrary, all articles, sta tements and views printed herein are attributed solely to the author and the Uni ted States Gymnastics Federation expresses no opinion hereon and assumes no responsibility thereof.

fECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Women's Technical Psychological Differences ...................................... 4 Teaching the Yurchenko Vault ............................. 6 The Bail Technique .. .. .. ........................................... 9

Boy's Developmental Coaching Strategies on Vault.. ............................ 12

USGF Pre-Congress Information ........................ 14 Pre-Congress Registration form ......................... 18

Technical

Human Third-Class Levers .......... .... ................... 19

Legal Foreign Work Authorization .............................. 21

Coaching Strategies

Determining Skill Readiness ............................... 24

Rhythmic Judging

RSG Questions and Answers ............................. 28

Men's Technical

Various Phases of Ring Swing ............................ 30

Educational Gymnastics

A Deeper - Wider Base ...................................... 32

Congress Registration form ................................ 33 USGF Congress Information ............................... 34

Men's Technical

China Report .............................................. ........... 36

Minutes & Reports MPC minutes, 5/22 ............................................. .41 MPC minutes, 6/5 .............................................. .. 42 RSG minutes, 5/6 ................................................ .44 WPC Admin Board, 5/5-6 .................................. .45 Women's Elite Pc, 5/20-12 ................................ 46 Women's J.O. PC, 5/13-14 .................................. .48

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TECHNIOUE is published quarterly for $12.00 by the United States Gymnastics Federation, Pan American Plaza, 201 S. Capitol Ave., Suite 300, Indianapolis. IN 46225 (phone: 317-237-5050). Third class postage paid at Indianapolis, IN. Subscription price: $12.00 per year in United States; all other countries $24.00 per year. Back issue single copies $2.00 plus $1.00 postage/ handling. All reasonable care will be taken, but n o responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited material; enclose return postage. Copyright 1990 by USGF and TECHNIOUE. AU rights reserved. Printed in USA.

3

page 6

page 14

page 28

page 36

Research Results

Henschen, Dr. K., Sands, Dr. W.A., Gordin, R., and Martinez, R.

University of Utah Department of Exercise and Sport Science

One of these

projects was to

longitudinally

monitor the psy­

chological profiles

of the womens'

senior national

team at all national

training camps.

Psychological Differences Between Women Olympic Gymnasts and the Remainder of the Senior National Team

4

Introd uction In late 1984 a number of sport scientists were

contacted by the United States Gymnastics Fed­eration and challenged to implement the most current scientific technology and knowledge in the preparation of athletes for the 1988 Olympics. From this initial brainstorming session a number of scientific committees were formulated (i.e. exercise physiology, biomechanics, education and sport psychology). This program was entitled "Project 88." Consequently, the Sport Psychology Committee of womens' artistic gymnastics pro­gram developed a number of projects designed to improve international performances. One of these projects was to longitudinally monitor the psy­chological profiles of the womens' senior na tional team at all national training camps. Since each member of the senior national team was receiving training in psychological performance skills, it was anticipated that the strongest psychological athletes would eventually represent the United States in the next Olympics (1988).

Methods At each training camp the gymnasts were asked

to complete a battery of five psychological assess­ments: The Scale for Achievement Motivation in Sporting Environments (AM); the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAl); the Profile of Mood States (POMS); the Test of Attention and Interper­sonal Styles (TAIS) and the Tennessee Self Con­cept Scale (TSCS). These tests were initially se­lected after consultation with gymnastics coaches and because of their relevance to sports. It was hypothesized that gymnasts who scored within certain parameters on these psychological tests would likely be our best international perform­ers. The assumption was that an athlete who is psychologically conditioned as well as physically "peaked" would be the type of performer who has the best chance to perform to her maximum ability at the most stressful times (international competition).

The five selected psychological instruments assess unique characteristics of each individual. The AM (Rushall, & Fox, 1980) measures a per­son's inclination toward success orientation or avoiding failure tendencies. World class athletes, in almost all sports, have indicated a high success orientation no matter how difficult the challenge (Rushall, 1989). Athletes who have not reached such an elite status seem to be less success ori­ented and more avoiding failure oriented. In

other words, the achievement motivated athlete will take calculated gambles in order to be suc­cessful; while those who are more avoiding fail­ure prone, will reach a comfort zone, and try not to lose rather than to win. The STAI (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970) assesses two types of anxiety - state and trait. State anxiety is the amount of anxiety an individual feels at anyone point in time, while trait is a more permanent level of anxiety that a person experiences continu­ally. Elite athletes, as a general rule, manifest slightly elevated levels of state anxiety prior to competition, virtually none during actual compe­tition, and then again a slight elevated level after competing (Mahoney & Avener, 1977).

ThePOMS(McNair, Lorr,& Droppleman, 1971) indicates six mood states: tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue and confusion. These moods are more global in nature and indicate either a healthy or unhealthy mood disposition. Elite level athletes have been found to demonstrate a profile called an "iceberg profile" (Morgan, 1980). The iceberg profile is scoring below the 50th per­centile on the subscales of tension depression, anger, fatigue and confusion; but scoring around the 60th percentile on the vigor subscale.

The TAIS (Nideffer, 1976) provides a strong indication of an athletes' abilities in the area of concentration. Concentration is theorized to be multifaceted, and many attentionalstyles must be utilized effectively to be a proficient gymnast.

The fifth test to be used was the TSCS (Fitts, 1965) which provides a number of subscales de­signed to assess various aspects of self-concept. In this investigation two portions of the TSCS were used: the total self concept score and the self critical subscale. Self criticism was deemed im­portant because it is a strong indication of perfec­tionism which is a common malady of women gymnasts (Poole, Henschen, Schultz, Gordin, & Hill,1986).

In total, 228 tests of Senior National Team gymnasts were completed over the quadrennium. Some athletes took each of the tests a maximum of four times. At the end of four years, there were 204 tests from senior national girls (Non-Olympi­ans) and 24 tests from those eventually qualifying as our 1988 Olympic Team (included in theOlym­pians' tests was the alternate for the team, N=7 gymnasts).

Results A most fascina ting set of results occurred. Table

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

1 indicates the statistical similarities and differ­ences between the eventual Olympians (N=7) and Non-Olympians (N=72).

One way ANOV AS were conducted on each of the variables between the Olympian and Non­Olympian scores. The .10 level of significance was utilized. Results of the analyses of variance indicated that the eventual Olympians were sig­nificantly stronger psychologically than the re­mainder of the gymnasts. The Olympians scored better on virtu-

athletes come equipped with better psychological skills (a subsequent study will investigate this issue thoroughly).

Also, since the gymnasts that eventually be­came the United States Olympians for 1988 were stronger psychologically than those who were unable to qualify for the Olympic team; this indi­cates that the psychological skills may have an impact upon performance to a great degree.

TABLE 1 ally every test, but were signifi­cantly different on six of the 18 variables. (See table 1).

Psychological Test Results of Olympians and Non-Olympians

The Olympians were signifi- TEST NON-OLYMPIANS OLYMPIANS Subscale N MEAN SD N MEAN SD F cantly more success oriented and

less avoiding failure oriented than ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION (AM) the Non-Olympians. This means Success 204 29.520 4.630 24 34.292 2.629 35.852 that as a group the Olympians come Failure 204 16.191 6.055 24 12.417 4.323 3.782 to compete with less fear and trepi-

ANXIETY (STAI) dation than their counterparts. Although not statistically signifi- State 204 33.809 8.587 24 31.708 6.868 1.336 cant, the Olympians were less anx- Trait 204 37.284 23.703 24 30.750 5.302 1.807 ious than the Non-Olympians on MOOD STATES (POMS) both state and trait anxiety meas- Tension 162 9.815 5.501 21 7.857 4.151 2.472 ures. The Olympians were also sig- Depression 162 6.988 10.161 21 2.810 4.057 3.465 nificantly less depressed, less fa- Anger 162 6.315 3.890 21 4.571 3.627 1.749 tigued and less confused than their Vigor 162 20.611 4.926 21 5.718 0.978 .324 counter parts with regard to their Fatigue 162 8.994 7.126 21 5.048 3.708 6.201 mood states. Finally, the Olympi- Confusion 161 5.441 3.809 21 3.000 1.613 8.394 ans indicated a higher self concept than the Non-Olympians and indi- CONCENTRATION (TAIS) cated being less critical of them- 201 4.627 1.298 24 4.625 0.907 0.000 selves, although the latter variable 201 2.398 1.429 24 ~ .917 1.213 2.506 was not significant. 201 4.985 1.267 24 5.333 1.204 1.637

The only psychological area in 201 2.562 1.240 24 2.292 1.601 0.955

which the Olympians and Non- 201 2.856 1.354 24 2.792 1.414 0.048

Olympians were even remotely SELF CONCEPT (TSCS) similar was that of concentration. Total 184 363.495 32.420 24 376.500 20.500 3.662 Both groups displayed good con- Self Critical 91 41.780 15.567 10 36.300 5.559 1.213 centration skill; although, here again the Olympians were slightly ·Significant at .10 level. better in almost all of their concen-tration skills.

Discussion Summary

PROS

.000*

.003*

.249

.180

.118

.064*

.188

.014*

.004*

.995

.115

.202

.330

.828

.057*

.273

What does all this really mean? Obviously, it indicates that, as a group, our Womens' Artistic Gymnastics Team was comparatively in excellent psychological shape. It appears that they mas­tered the psychological requisite for international performance a little better than the rest of the gymnastics pool from which it came. These re­sults and the finding that the gymnasts on the Senior National Team had very good psychologi­cal skills is a credit to the programs and training provided by the Sport Psychology Committee of the USGF. This Committee attempted, from 1985-1988, to teach all of our Women's National Team members a variety of psychological control skills which would help them perform to their abilities in crucial situations. It appears that this endeavor was at least somewhat successful; or that the best

After conducting a longitudinal investigation of the psychological characteristics of the Wom­ens' Senior National Team, between 1985-1988. it is safe to say that psychologically the 1988 Olym­pic Team was significantly different (better) than the pool from which they qualified. The Olympi­ans were more success oriented, less fatigued and confused, and had overall higher self-concepts than the Senior National Team members who were unable to make the Olympic Team. It also appears that the psychological training provided to all national team members has helped them develop into stronger psychological entities than is expected from a normal population the same age. Finally, it is apparent that when raw physical talent is equitable then psychological abilities provide a competitor with the edge to succeed.

NOTE: the

references for this

article are listed on

page 23.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990 5

Women's Technical

Joanne Mitchell, B.P.E. Hons. Bruce Elliott, Ph.D.

The Department of Human Movement and Recreation Studies University of Western Australia

2.40

1.80

0.0 0 .3

Figure 1 - Path of the center of gravity dur­ing the vault.

Teaching the Yurchenko Va ul t: A Biomechanical Perspective

Only a small number of the multitude of skills in the sport of gymnastics have been subjected to a biomechanical analy­sis. Of the studies conducted, many are no longer relevant as they were not on

techniques currently used in this rapidly evolv-ing sport. It is apparent then that research has not kept up with the sport and there are many unan­swered questions pertaining to the mechanics required to perform many of the skills in this sport. The Yurchenko vault, which was first per-

0.6 0.9 1.2

y

c o o R o I N A T E

C.

o F

G.

1.5

formed in 1981, is considered a 'standard' for the aspiring fe­male gymnast (Carlton,1988). It is not only a vault currently used by gym­nasts in Inter­national com­petitions but also provides a base from which more com plica ted vaults with multiple rota-tions or twists of the body can be learned.

Un til now, sparse coaching advice on this vault has evolved from qualitative information based on visual observation. An increase in the knowledge of Yurchenko vaulting technique will provide coaches with a theoretical basis to this activity so they can modify an experienced vaulter's tech­nique to gain higher scores or teach the mechani­cal fundamentals to young aspiring gymnasts.

Because of the complexity of this vault, gym­nasts must progress through a series of drills each of which prepares the performer for different as­pects of the total vault. Two such drills which are advocated by Carlton (1988) in the Australian Gymnastic Coach as being skills that should be mastered prior to attempting the Yurchenko vault are:

1. A round-off onto a beat board layout one and one quarter salto onto mats, and

2. A round-off back handspring up to a deck of mats at vault height, snap down onto the feet and back salta to land.

The first teaching drill prepares the gymnast

6

for the all important take-off phase of the vault, while the second drill emphasizes the take-off, pre-flight, hand-support and push-off phases of the vault.

The purpose of this study was therefore to de­termine whether selected biomechanical variables in two Yurchenko vaulting teaching drills were similar to the same variables measured from the competition Yurchenko vault and to develop a mechanical model of this vault.

Methodology Six female gymnasts from the Western Austra­

lian Institute of Sport, all with Yurchenko vault scores of greater than 9.00, were filmed at a rate of 100 frames per second using a 16 millimeter (mm) Photosonics high speed camera. The camera, which was secured to a tripod, captured a lateral view of the gymnasts performing the vault and the drills.

After processing, the vault that received the best score from an elite judge and the best of each of the two drills as determined by the gymnast and coach were chosen for detailed analysis. The film images of the selected performance were pro­jected by a motion analysis projector, via a mirror onto the horizontal surface of a digitizer (this is used to determine coordinates of body landmarks for the biomechanical analysis).

Results The vaulting performances of each gymnast

were broken down into five phases to enable detailed analysis. These were the take-off, pre­flight, hand-support, post-flight and landing phases. In general, mean data for the group will be presented, however, where this varies sub­stantially from the data recorded for the best vault (9.45 score) then both these values will be dis­cussed.

Take-off Subjects approached the board (out of a round­

off) for the Yurchenko vault with a resultant veloc­ity of the center of gravity of 5.4 m S-I, which was a similar level to that recorded for the teaching drills. The best vaulter (9.45 score) however, had an approach velocity of 6.4 m S-I. One of the primary aim? of both teaching drills is therefore, to teach the gymnast to impact the board at as high a velocity as possible while still attaining an optimal body position for take-off.

At take-off from the board during the vault the I head was not in line with the trunk (hedu angle =

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

)

49.3° and trunk angle = 62.6°: segment angles are given with reference to the floor, an angle of 90° representing the verti~al and 0° the ~or~zontal line drawn to the landmg mats). At thIS hme the trunk was also arched and the knees were flexed . All these poor characteristics of the Yurchenko vault were observed by Kaneko (976) as being common problems in the back handspring.

The angle at the shoulder joint did not reach 180° for either the teaching drill or the vault. By not fully extending the shoulder joint angle at take-off from the board it was unlikely that a fully extended shoulder joint angle could be attained at hand placement, which is imperative for optimal push-off from the horse (Fukushima and Russel, 1980 and McCreary, 1984). In the Y urchenko vault, the average shoulder joint angle was 160.6° at take-off and 165.8° at hand placement which was not significantly different from that recorded for the second teaching drill (a joint angle is the angle between two adjacent body segments).

Due to the larger contact area for hand contact during the second teaching drill compared to the Yurchenko vault there should be a reduced fear from the gymnast of over extending the shoulder joint and missing the horse. The coach ~~st there­fore emphasize the need for a shoulder JOInt angle of 180° at both take-off and hand-support in this drill, if it is to be of maximum benefit in develop­ing the ideal characteristics in the Yurchenko vault. Only at the hip joint 082.6°) was a fully extended line recorded at take-off. At take-off for the Yurchenko vault the knees were bent to a mean angle of 165.6° (best vaulter 172S) which was significantly more extended than that for the second teaching drill 059.4°). The general body alignment at take-off must therefore .be improved in both drills as they do not reqUIre the same complexity of movement after take-off, as is re­quired in the vault.

A mean take-off velocity of 5.1 m S·1 and a tra­jectory of the center of gravity of 32.1 ° towards the horse were recorded for the vault. The velocity and projection angle of the center of gravity for the first drill (4.6 m S·1 and 45.9° respectively) and second teaching drill (4.6 m S·1 and 32.0° respe~­tively) show that while significantly lower vel,?CI­ties were recorded the trajectory angle of the fIrst drill was far higher than that of the vault or the second drill. The take-off phase was one area of the drills that should have been performed with better technique than was record~d for ~he va~lt. This is particularly so for the fIrst dnll whICh places great emphasis on t~is ~spect of the va~lt. An increased take-off velOCIty In each of the dnlls must be stressed if they are to be of benefit to the performance of the vault.

The mean time in contact with the board was 0.14 s during take-off for the Yurchenko vault which was not different from either of the teach­ing drills. The teaching drills th~refore provided the required time in contact WIth the board to facilitate the correct performance of the Yurch­enko vault.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Pre-flight Figures 1, 2a, and 2b represent the flight paths

of the center of gravity during both teaching drills and the Yurchenko vault. It is interesting to note that over all support periods the center of gravity was still rising. This supported findings by Dainis (980) who stated that the center of gravity of the gymnast should be moving upwards when the hands make contact with the horse.

E - 2.0 d o ci 1.6

"E o [5 1.2 >-

BOA D CON ACT

FLIGHT

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

A TIME (s)

Hand -support

BO RD CO TA

0.0 0.3

B

Only the hip joint 094.9°) and the trunk, which was arched, displayed full extension at hand contact in the vault. By not obtaining the full ex­tension of the shoulder joint angle 065.8°) the ability to generate angular velocity partic~larly ~n the trunk at push-off will be reduced, whIch WIll detract from the performance of the post- flight. Similar angles of the body at impact with the horse were recorded for the second teaching drill when compared to those angles from the vault. Practicing a more extended shoulder angle onto the deck of mats during teaching drill two would be a useful exercise in an attempt to get an in­creased shoulder angle during the actual Yurch­enko vault.

The resultant velocity of the center of gravity of 3.2 m S-1 and an approach angle of 147S (to the floor) were recorded at hand contact to the horse. These values were similar to the velocity and angle recorded in the second teaching drill. Liedtke (980) found that the angle of the body at impact to the horse varied with every type of vault, although the most efficient angle was between 140° and 150° for optimal rise in the center of gravity for post-flight.

Both Draper et al. (982) and Dainis (979) found that maximizing the vertical velocity of the center of gravity upon hand contact was impor­tant for the successful performance of the hand­spring vault, thereby providing the velocity nec­essary for effective lift of the body from the horse. The mean vertical velocity at hand contact for the Yurchenko vault was 1.8 m S·1 and the velocity re­corded in the best vault was 2.2 m S·1 A signifi­cantly lower vertical velocity was pr?duced in the second teaching drill 0.3 m S-I), whICh was most likely due to the fact that the teaching drill posed

7

0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5

TIME(s)

Figures 2A and 2B -Path of the center of gravity during the two drills.

Acknowledgement The theoretical paper, from which this practical paper was written, has been sub­mitted to the Interna­tional Tournai of Sport Biomechanics.

no reason for the gymnast to have a high vertical velocity upon hand contact due to there being no real post-flight during the drill.

The majority of the body angles recorded at push-off from the horse were significantly differ­ent between teaching drill two and the Yurchenko vault. The differences were due to the drill not having a post-flight of the same magnitude as the Y urchenko va ul t beca use this drill did not contain this phase of the vault. It was not the purpose of this drill to provide the appropriate positioning for the actual post-flight.

The horse contact time for the Yurchenko vault on average was 0.16 s which was significantly shorter than tha t recorded for the second teaching drill (0.26 s). This may have been due to the hands sinking into the mat which was substantially softer than the horse. The body therefore took longer to rise off the mats. As no post-flight was required for teaching drill two there was no need for an effective push-off.

Takei (1989) along with Draper (1983) recom­mended that a large vertical velocity at pushoff from the horse was necessary for a successful post-flight performance. For the Yurchenko vault the mean vertical velocity of 2.2 m S-l was signifi­cantly lower than that recorded during the best vault (2.6 m S·l). The resultant velocity and trajec­tory of the center of gravity at push-off from the horse for the Yurchenko vault was 2.6 m S-l at an angle of 50.0°. This velocity was found to be low in comparison to the literature (Nelson et al., 1985 (3.9 m S·l». The best performer from this group only had a resultant velocity of 3.4 m S·l which demonstrates that this certainly is an area which could have been improved by all subjects.

Post-flight The post-flight is the most complex phase of

the vault (Dillman et al., 1985), as it is the culmina­tion of all preceding phases. Neither of the drills displayed a true post-flight so they are not in­cluded in this discussion.

At the point of maximum height of the center of gravity during the post-flight of the Yurchenko vault (layout) the majority of body angles were extended. The hip, which for the best performer was at an angle of 171 ° showed that it was close to being fully extended in the layout position. The trunk was still leaning forward towards the horse at an angle of 98°. Perhaps the trunk would have been even more upright if the vertical velocity of the center of gravity at push-off from the horse had been greater.

The mean horizontal displacement recorded during post-flight was 1.99 m, while the maxi­mum vertical height of the center of gravity above the landing mats was 2.00 m. The horizontal displacement of the center of gravity was similar to that recorded by Nelson et al. (1985: 2.0 m), however the vertical displacement was less than the 2.38 m reported for a Yurchenko vault. The best performance, however, recorded values of 2.51 m (horizontally) and 2.25 m (vertically) which

8

compared favorably with data from elite gym­nasts in the literature.

Landing The purpose of the landing is to decrease the

body's linear and angular motions to zero on first contact with the landing mat. Ackroyd (1980) suggested that the center of gravity should be in front of the feet upon landing. This was sup­ported by the center of gravity being a mean 0.40 m in front of the feet at landing. All trials recorded landing errors. The body was not fully extended prior to touch down as demonstrated by a mean hip angle of 122.2° The angle recorded for the best performer was only 133.4°. Upon impact, the upper trunk was still rotating with an angular velocity of 10.5 rad S-l. This angular velocity of the upper body on landing along with the flexion of the hip joint caused the body to over-rotate and generally require a step backwards to be taken to maintain balance.

Coaching Implications In general the teaching drills did provide an

adequate learning environment in the areas of velocity out of the round-off upon initial impact to the board, take-off positioning, duration of board impact and, time for pre-flight. The second teaching drill also prepared the gymnast for hand­placement on the horse. Although the teaching drills did not allow superior techniques to those recorded during the actual vault, which may have been expected for the easier tasks not requiring the very complex movement patterns of the vault. Beginners when practicing these drills must en­deavor to attain even better form than is required in the vault itself. However, once the drills have been mastered practice of the vault itself should be stressed, as so much emphasis must be placed by the coach on push-off, postflight and landing.

References Ackroyd, P. (1980) Skills and Tactics Qf Gymnastics,

London, Marshall Cavendish. Carlton, M. (1988) Round-off Vaults, Gymnastic Coach. 7(4):

19-23. Dainis, A.D. (1 979) Cinematographic Analysis of the Hand­

spring Vault, The Research Quarterly, 50(3): 341-349. Dillman, c.J. Cheetham, P.J. and Smith, S.L. (1985) A Kine­

matic analysis of men's Olympic Long horse vaulting, International Tournai Qf Sport Biomechanics. 1(2): 96-110.

Draper, J.A., Atha, J. and Payne, A.H. (1982) Relationships Between the Three Phases of the Handspring Vault, A paper presented at the VII Commonwealth and Interna­tional Conference on Sport, Physical Education, Research and Dance.

Fukushima, S. and Russell, W. (1980) Men's Gymnastics , London, Faber and Faber.

Kaneko, A. (1976) Olympic Gymnastics, New York, Sterling Pub. Co. Inc., pp. 38-41.

Liedtke, C. (1980) Coaching Vaulting, The Athletic Tournai, Dec: 14,16,23.

Takei, Y. (1989) Techniques used by elite Male Gymnasts performing a Handspring Vault at the 1987 Pan American Games, International Tournai Qf Sport Biomechanics, 5(1): 1-25.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

)

Women's Technical

The Bail Technique: A Quantitative Analysis Applied to Women's Uneven Bars Introduction and Methods

The purpose of this study is to investigate a skill in the Level 10 and Elite compulsory uneven bar routine called the Grand Swing. This skill begins from a handstand on the high bar and ends with a half turning release to the low bar. The bail technique presented in this paper was extracted from amen's rings technique. The transposition to women's gymnastics was accomplished by Donald V. McPherson at Aerial Gymnastics Club.

In order to quantitatively analyze this tech­nique, kinematic data were collected using a high speed camera. The study utilized four women gymnasts, three who competed at USGFLevell0, and one who competed at the USGF Elite level. Characteristics of the gymnasts can be found in Table 1. The bars were American Athletic Incor­porated (AAI) standard wide spread with Reflex

G~mnast Level Weight ~ CC elite 38.6 kg 59" MM 10 54.4 kg 63" MN 10 34.9 kg 57" SN 10 34.5 kg 57"

TABLE 1 - Gymnast's characteristics.

IV rails. The camera was located to provide a sagittal (side) view of the gymnast during the swing phase of the skill. Data were collected at a film speed of 80 frames / second. The limb seg­ment boundaries of each gymnast were marked at the wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, and head with a fluorescent red circle. After data col­lection and film processing, the limb segment markers in each frame were hand digitized and stored sequentially in a computer file. These data were then filtered with a 6 Hz low pass Butter­worth filter to smooth any errors in the digitiza­tion process. Custom software was developed to compute the instantaneous center of gravity, joint angular kinematics, and system energies during the execution of the skill.

Performing the Grand Swing using the bail technique provides two distinct ad van tages when contrasted to a straight body technique. First, it allows the gymnast to go from body extension into flexion quickly at the point where the gym­nast "taps." Second, it allows the gymnast to control where the "tap" occurs by altering the trajectory of her center of gravity. Both of these advantages will be discussed in detail.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

The Bail Technique A common frame of reference is required to ac­

curately describe the bail technique. In this inves­tigation, the observers reference position is from the side with the low bar to the left of the high bar. The locations of specific events are denoted.in de­grees when measured clockwise from a vertical reference line, the 12 o'clock position being zero degrees. A detailed description of the skill follows and is broken into three discrete phases: 1. the swing-to­tap phase, 2. the tap-to-re-lease phase, and RELEASE-TO-FLIGHT 3. the release-to­contact phase. The bail tech­nique is initiated in the swing-to­tap phase of the Grand Swing. Since the out­come of this tech­nique affects the remaining phases. So the TAP-TO-RELEASE entire skill, from the initiation of the bail to hand contact with the low bar is described. Figure 1 illustrates the range of each of these phases and provides a stick figure representation of the gymnast performing the skill.

As with most skills on the uneven bars, each is affected by the skill that precedes it. The Grand Swing is preceded by a giant swing, half-turn (early blind change). This should place the gym­nast in the handstand position to begin the swing­to-tap phase of the Grand Swing. To perform the bail technique the gymnast is instructed to over­grip the bar and push her head and chest forward as she begins to fall. The result of this is the hyper­extension of the shoulder and hip joint. A ten­dency for knee flexion exists at this point as well, especially in the early stages of training, but this tendency is reduced with practice and improved shoulder flexibility. The tap occurs before the gymnast reaches the 180 degree position. Through the tap, the body is almost perfectly aligned. The shoulder and hip joints are in transition from extension into flexion. The gymnast will feel the

9

Peter Pidcoe, MS (Bioeng), Dale Schuit, Ph.D., PT Department of Physical Therapy University of Illinois -Chicago

Figure 1-Three Phases Defined

most pull on her body at this point since the radial acceleration component of her center of gravity is at its maximum. It is also at this position that the high bar deflection is at its maximum. This deflec­tion is important since it corresponds to stored energy, or elastic potential energy. The release of this energy later in the skill provides an addi­tional propulsion force that affects the flight phase of this skill.

The angular velocity of the flexion task during the tap is enhanced by the bail technique (as compared to straight body technique). The exten­sion position at the hip and shoulder allows the passive components of the human system to be prestretched prior to muscle contraction, result­ing in a faster velocity of muscle shortening.

After passing through the 180 degree position, the gymnast moves into the tap-to-release phase of the skill. The instructions to the gymnast are to drive her toes upward and follow with a slight hip turn in order to initiate the airborne twist. While continuing to drive the toes and then the hip upward, the gymnast is instructed to look inside her lower shoulder and down for the low bar. The release is actually a one-two release, with the inside hand released first. This type of release continues to add to the twisting energy of the skill.

In the transition to the release-to-contact phase, it is important that the gymnast retain a hollowed (slightly piked) position. If instead, hip extension is performed in this phase, the instantaneous axis of the twisting rotation would pass behind the gymnast and the twist may stop. Even if the twist is completed, the extended posture during low bar contact would not allow handstand support. It should be noted that even though the hands are leaving the high bar at different times, hand con­tact with the low bar is simultaneous.

Quantitative Analysis .. TYPICAL CENTER OF GRAVITY PATTERN

There were sev­eral focuses in the quantitative analysis of the bail technique. The first was to determine the pa ttern of the gymnasts center of gravity (COG). Figure 2 illus­tra tes a typical COG pattern. What is of impor­tance is the al­most vertical de­scent of the COG during the swing-to-tap phase. This is achieved by the overgrip of the hands combined

o deg

~~~+------+-----I---+--90 deg

RANGE OF HAND RELEASE (N=12) 180deg

RANGE OF MAXIMUM CENTRIPETAL FORCE

(N = 12)

Figure 2 - COG Pattern with Overlaid Events.

10

with the shoulder and hip extension posture of the gymnast. If this posture were not adopted and the gymnast fell in a straight body position, the path of the COG would be nearly circular in this phase.

It is the COG vertical descent that enhances the tap and the maximum centripetal force that is achieved at this point. The trajectory that follows is influenced not only by the release of elastic potential energy from the high bar, but also by the changing posture of the gymnast. For example, if the gymnast does not maintain a flexed hip angle after the tap and continue to drive her toes to the ceiling, the COG trajectory would "flatten out" resulting in less vertical amplitude in the release­to-contact phase. The magnitude of the tap acts to store energy in the bar system; if this energy is not released properly, then improvements in the flight phase will not be achieved.

The location of the tap was found to be strongly correlated with hip joint transition from exten­sion into flexion (R = 0.91). This transition is easy to see during the execution of the skill and may provide coaches with a measure of performance. Figure 2 also overlays the total range of the loca­tion of the maximum centripetal force on the COG pattern. The range for the 12 trials was from 141 degrees to 155 degrees. The three largest centripe­tal forces however, were achieved between 141 degrees and 155 degrees. This range is illustrated in Figure 3.

~G.J.!ym..!.!ln...!.l<a~stL------!.!M~a~xi.!.!.im~um~ Centripetal ~ CC 2.92 ± 0.05 (x body wgt) MM 2.75 ± 0.08 (x body wgt) MN 2.81 ± 0.05 (x body wgt) SN 2.70 ± 0.04 (x body wgt)

TABLE 2 - Normalized average maximum centripetal force.

Estimates of the maximum centripetal force experienced by each gymnast were computed based on the kinematic data. Averages for the three trials were normalized by the gymnast's body weight. These results are summarized in Table 2. The computed magnitudes were almost three times the gymnast's body weight. It is strongly urged not to let the gymnast attempt this skill without dowel grips and adequate mat pro­tection. The gymnasts in this study learned the basic technique over a foam filled pit, using a rubber band for a low bar. The gymnast's position at the point of hand re­lease was determined and was found to be corre­lated to the maximum achieved vertical position of the COG over the low bar (R = 0.73). The total range of hand release was from 231 degrees to 254 degrees and is illustra ted in Figure 2. The range of

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Odeg

270 deg -\----- ---I-----_l_ 90 deg

00 / c:;;)o

180deg """-RANGE OF TOP THREE HIGHEST FLIGHT AFTER RANGE OF TOP THREE RELEASE COMPARED MAXIMUM CENTRIPETAL TO TOTAL RANGE FORCES COMPARED TO

TOTAL RANGE

Figure 3 - Event Comparison

release for the three highest maximum achieved vertical position of the COG over the low bar is shown in Figure 3. This range was from 247 degrees to 254 degrees.

The location of the hand release is important since it provides the final control for the trajectory of the COG. It is also important to remember that the COG trajectory is also controlled by the pos­tural dynamics of the gymnast. If the gymnast did not alter her body posture before or during re­lease, then the path of the COG would be circular. At the point of release, the COG path would become linear in a direction tangent to the previ­ous circular path. If this were the case, then the perfect release point could be calculated mathe­matically. Ideally, this point would be one that would provide maximum flight with just enough horizontal velocity to get the gymnast to the low bar. Unfortunately, the dynamics of the system are more complex. During release, the gymnast is continuing to change her posture. Generally the change is in the direction of extension at both the hip and the shoulder. The result is that there is no single best position for the release to be most effective. The results displayed in Figure 3 pro­vide a guide for what was most effective for these gymnasts at the time of the filming.

DiSCUSSIon There are three basic events that contribute to

he biomechanics of this skill. The first is the bail echnique. The technique allows the gymnast to ap before reaching the 180 degree position. The

second event is energy storage and release from the bar system. Energy calcula tions (not presented n the paper) show a strong correlation between

the magnitude of the tap with the amount of

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

stored elastic potential energy. The third contributing event is the gymnasts'

postural stability or dynamic consistency during the release phase of the skill. Overlays of the COG patterns of the three trials for each subject show a remarkable consistency during the swing-to-tap. However, the repeatablilty of the tap-to-release phase and the release-to-contact phase for three of the four gymnasts is less precise. As was stated before, control of the COG in these phases is due primarily to postural dynamics. So it is important to promote consistency when teaching the skill.

The energy stored in the bar system plays a large role in the performance of many skills. This storage capacity is a function of the cabling attach­m:nt points and the type of rails being used. DIfferent bars manufacturers have different component specifications, so each bars system will have slightly different dynamics. The elastic energy component of the system adds to the gymnasts "feel" of the skill. As a result, a gymnast ma~ complain of timing problems when working a dIfferent set of bars. Cable tension adjustments may help to improve this problem slightly. Fu­ture work in this area may include strain-gauge attachment on the bars to directly measure the elastic potential energy of the system. This meas­ureme,nt technique is not new, but when com­bined with the other energy estimates from the ki­nematic data, will provide a total picture of the system dynamics for any given skill.

Acknowledgement We would like to thank Donald McPherson for

financial support and access to his facility (Aerial Gymnastics Club, Lombard, IL). This project could not have been completed without his interest. We would also like to thank the four gymnasts in­volved: Corinne Chee, Michelle Marotta, Molly Northrop, and Sarah Northrop for their patience and talent.

References Barham, J.N., Mechanical Kinesiology. 300-304, 339-

344, C.V. Mosby Company, Saint Louis, 1978. Beer, F.P. and Johnston, E.R., Vector Mechanics for

Engineers. 483-484, 782-783, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1977.

Dempster, W.T., Space Requirements of the Seated Operator. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1955a (WADC TR 55-159).

Dempster, W.T., The Anthropometry of Body Action. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 63, 559-585, 1955b.

Hay,G.H. and Reid,J.G., The Anatomical and Mechani­cal Bases of Human Motion. 183-187, Prentice-Hall Inc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1982.

11

Boy's Developmental

Mark Williams University of Oklahoma

Coaching Strategies on Vault: For Class III and Boy's coaches

lthough the amount of time it takes to

A complete a vault is relatively small com­pared to exercises performed on the other men's events, vaulting is not an easier event to master. The techniques for vaulting must be just as precisely

learned as the other five men's events. In order to develop the ability to perform outstanding vaults, the coach must train his gymnasts to perform technically correct progressions which enhance the fundamentals of the event. Even on an event which takes a gymnast only seconds to complete, there are no shortcuts.

Figure 1

To begin instruction on the vault, the grass­roots coach should break down the components of one vault and work on each separately. The components or the phases of the vault are 1) the run, 2) the hurdle and jump off the springboard, 3) the preflight, 4) the block, 5) the postflight, and 6) the landing. Taken one at a time, drills may be created for each phase of the vault to develop the particular action desired. Eventually, the differ­ent phases of vaulting are combined for a vault which shows good technique from start to finish.

Since the compulsory class III and IV vault is a handspring over the side horse, the following drills and instructional progressions will apply primarily to that particular vault. The hand­spring vault is the basis for most other vaults which pass through the handstand position. The mastery of this vault is very important toward developing good fundamental skills in order to advance to more difficult vaults.

The Run The run must generate a good deal of forward

speed which is transferred into upward speed off the vaulting board. The gymnast should run in a position similar to a sprinter with his upper body leaning slightly forward, his arms swinging tightly at his sides, and his legs pumping forward, paral­lel to one another.

The Hurdle and Jump At the completion of the run, the gymnast

hurdles onto the vaulting board and jumps for­ward and upward to the horse. The hurdle to the

12

board should be long and relatively low. Contact with the board should be at its highest point. The feet should simultaneously hit the board and extend upward after impact. The arms should be thrusting forward and upward while the upper body is leaning slightly forward. The body's center of gravity should be just behind the feet in order to effectively push off the board.

The Preflight After contact with the board, the gymnast

quickly extends his legs and body with a heel drive off the board. The heel drive creates a slight arch of the body, initiates rotation, and inverts the body. The arms extend forward to the horse; the head remains in a neutral position; and the eyes focus on the horse. A slight angle should exist in the shoulders to allow for a strong push or block off the horse.

The Block The gymnast should make contact with the

horse at an angle between 35° to 45° from the horizontal. The speed of the run and a correct or incorrect hurdle and jump will influence the body angle at the point of the block. The push off or block from the horse should be completed before the body passes through a vertical position. The shoulder angle should open and extend while the hands push downward into the horse.

The Postflight During the postflight, the body is very tight,

straight, and extended. The arms are stretched overhead, and the head position is neutral. This position is maintained throughout the postflight.

The Landing As the gymnast makes contact with the mat, his

center of gravity should be behind his feet. The arms are overhead and brought forward with control to help absorb the impact. As weight settles onto the legs, the knees will bend and cushion the force of the downward momentum. The upper body must be controlled by keeping the chest upright during the landing.

Handspring Drills To work the indiviual phases and segments of

the handspring vault, the coach should set up the stations and drills which address the specifics of each part of the vault. These drills may be done before the gymnast actually vaults over the horse, or they may be done as side stations during the vaulting workout. Some of the drills incorporate more than one phase of the vault.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

1. The gymnast can work on his running tech­nique with slow motion or running form drills . The slow motion drills should exag­gerate the arm and leg positions. Another method utilizes a harness to hold back the speed of the run. The harness drills slowed down the gymnast's run with straps held by the coach. The gymnast's running form may be emphasized by using the harness.

2. The gymnast's hurdle and jump may be worked on by having him run up to the board, hurdle and jump upward and for­ward, and land in the arms of the coach who is spotting behind the board. The circling action and the forward reach of the arms may be emphasized here. This drill also allows the gymnast to become familiar with the synchroniza tion of the legs going through the hurdle step and the action of bringing them together before hitting the board.

3. Preflight drills include having the gymnast jump off the board, perform a 3/4 front flip, and land on his back in a pit or on stacked mats - without the horse present. The heel drive and reach of the arms is emphasized during the flip . The horse is later replaced, and the gymnast may perform a handspring onto the stacked mats. (See figure 1)

Another drill has the gymnast execute just tile preflight of the handspring onto the horse. The coach helps initiate the upward drive of the heels and stops the gymnast from going over the horse. The use of a mini-tramp in place of the vaulting board may also be helpful for getting the gymnast accustomed to an accelerative action during the preflight.

Figure 2

Trampoline drills may be performed by tilting the trampoline at an angle and bounc­ing from the trampoline bed forward onto a folding mat. The handspring may be com­pleted by blocking off a folding mat at the edge of the trampoline or by blocking off a padded box which is situated next to the trampoline frame. (See figure 2)

4. The block and contact phase of the vault can be worked on by setting a board to a wall with a mat propped against it and jumping forward to block against the padded wall.

Figure 3

The drill has the gymnast taking one or two steps before jumping off the board, blocking off his arms when mak-ing contact with the mat, and returning

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

to a stand on the board. The alignment of his arms, in relation to the body, is the key to making this drill beneficial. (See figure 3)

The block can also be worked by having the gymnast kick to a handstand while vig­orously pushing and hopping his hands forward when his body hits a 45° angle.

5. Postflight repetitions can be performed by having the gymnast kick through a hand­stand while standing on the vaulting horse lengthwise and doing a handspring off the end. The coach can spot the postflight phase and accentuate the extension of the arms overhead and the rotation of the body to the floor.

A drill which combines the preflight, block and postflight has the gymnast executing a handspring off of stacked mats and landing on his back on an 8" mat. The gymnast circles the arms, reaches to the stacked mats, blocks off the mat with extended arms, and lands in a tight, ex­tended position on the 8" mat. Figure 4 (See figure 4)

6. Landing drills include tuck, straddle, and extended body position jumps off the horse onto a landing mat. The gymnast must be instructed on the settling of the arms, the bending of the knees, the squeezing of the toes into the mat, and the balancing of the body's weight over the base of support.

Before putting all the elements together, the coach should have the gymnast do some warm up vaults which lead up to the handspring. The developmental gymnast should learn to perform a squat on the horse and jump off, a straddle vault, a squat vault, and a stoop vault. When the gym­nast is ready to execute a handspring, the coach should spot on the front side of the horse to invert the gymnast's body during the preflight. For the more proficient class III gymnast, the coach can spot the far side of the vault and help keep the gymnast's body extended during the postflight.

Summary Combining these elements while performing

the handspring vault will result in a technically correct vault. A virtuous vault may be achieved when great speed from the run is transformed into a long and low hurdle, an explosive jump, an aggressively quick drive of the heels, and a strong blocking action. As a result, the gymnast per­forming these actions will gain great height and distance before landing.

The coach who tries to take shortcuts while teaching vaulting will generally end up with gym­nasts who learn bad habits and perform techni­cally poor vaults. The coach who pays special at­tention to the intricate details of each phase of the vault will be rewarded with gymnasts who exe­cute outstanding handspring vaults.

13

USGF Congress

Pre-Congress Courses

CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation These courses are conducted in conjunction with the American Heart Association.

+ Course Dates/Times: 1. Thursday, Sept. 13, 1990

Registration time: 7:15-8:00 am Course time: 8:00am-12:00 noon

2. Sunday, Sept. 16, 1990 On-site Registration: 7:30-8:00 am (or register at the

Congress desk Th-Sat) Course time: 8:00 am-12:00 noon

The Mission: The USGF Safety Manual (2nd Edition), states

that the first step in implementing an emergency medical plan is to see to it that a coach or designated staff member is trained and competent in basic first­aid techniques, including cardiopulmonary resusci­tation (CPR).

Often the fate of a catastrophic injury is deter­mined in the first few minutes following the injury, prior to the arrival of emergency medi­cal services. CPR training is extremely worth­while for the general public, and even more so for those associated with potentially risky ath­letic skills.

Because of their demanding schedules, it is often very difficult for gymnastics profession­als to attend locally offered CPR courses. These courses are presented for interested Congress participants to have the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge / skills as well as to receive credentialling through the American Heart As­sociation.

The Course: This course is the short (4-hour) course of­

fered by the American Heart Association. Basic CPR techniques are presented. Upon success­ful completion of the course, all attendees will receive a certificate from the American Heart Association.

Pricing: • Pre-Registration: The cost is $20.00 for all

USGF Professional members. • Registration at the Door (or for non-USGF

Registered attendees): is $30.00.

14

NOTE: space is limited. Register early!

Please use the form on page 18 of this magazine to pre-register for this course.

TIME MANAGEMENT: IncreasedPro­ductivity Through Effective Manage­ment - A Franklin Learning Institute Seminar.

~ ~aming Institute

Who We Are:

Seminar Date/Times: Thursday, Sept. 13, 1990 Registration time: 7:15-8:00am. Seminar: 8:00 am-12:00 noon.

The Franklin Learning Institute is a division of the Franklin International Institute. We are dedicated to helping educators, administrators and students increase their productivity and gain control of their lives both personally and professionally.

Our Mission: To make a positive difference in coaches'

lives. Our presentations go beyond being en­joyable and informative. They empower indi­viduals as well as organizations to make mean­ingful changes.

The Franklin Day Planner System: Each coach participating will receive the Semi­

nar Kit which includes the Franklin Day Plan­ner - a comprehensive datebook organizer that will help you integrate time management principles and techniques into your life. The kit includes: • Seven-ring Ultra Binder • One-year Storage Binder • Month-at-a-Glance Divider Tabs for full planning • A place each day for a Prioritized Daily Task list • Six Numbered Tabs to help you track special proj­

ects such as prospect files and evaluation forms • A Goals Section for monitoring personal and pro-

fessional goals • Financial Records section • Address and Phone Directory • Key Information and Ready Reference sections • Daily Page Finder • A 90-minute audio tape for refresher course • Daily Record of Events Pages • A place each day for scheduled appointments

Franklin's Guarantee: We are committed to providing quality training experiences for each participant attend­zng a Franklin seminar. Should the seminar fail to meet your expectatIOns for any reason,Franklin Learning Insti­tute will return your money in full , no questions asked.

Pricing/Registration Information: Pre-Registration: $125 per person which in­

cludes the Franklin Day Planner System. (Note: Subtract $40 if you already have the Franklin Day Planner).

Registration at the Door: $135 Complete the form on page 18 to pre-register.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

GYMNASTICS BUSINESS SEMINAR

CQ Course Dates/Times: ~egistratio~: Wednesday, 9/12/90

ueen 9.15 am-~O.OO am le"C' Course hmes: I· . '-.: Ity Wednesday, 9/12,10:00-10:00am Gymnastics Thursday, 9/13, 8:00am-12:00noon

The Mission: To offer a proven and concrete business sys­

tem to help gym club owners and managers get control of atheir club, their time and their future. Guaranteed results.

The clinician - Jeff Metzger: Last year in Philadelphia the Seminar, con­

ducted by Mr. Jeff Metzger and Mrs. Patti Komara, received the HIGHEST rating of all the USGP pre-Congress sessions! Join Jeff again this year to find out what NEW powerful informa­tion he has for the club owner of the 90's.

Do You Control Your Club or Does It Control You?

Why do some clubs prosper while the rest limp along, year after year, profitless? Why do some clubs attract an abundance of quality coaches while others can't find even one? Why do some club owners have time for hobbies and their families while the rest are shackled to their businesses 6 (or7) days a week?

Fairly critical questions? What 's more, the search for the answers can be long and frustrating. And, no doubt, in my 15 years as a club owner I've suffered my share of frustrations. But fortunately for me, early in my career, I discovered I hated these frustrations and I systematically embarked on a search for the secret to eliminate them-I learned how to get control of m1{ business.

This Seminar Can Make A BIG Difference! The goal of this seminar is to help you get control of your

business. You will learn how to get control of your ex­penses, your revenue, your 12!1!fii. Control of your time, your energies, your future.

We will study the 10 MOST IMPORTANT 'secrets' for getting and keeping hefty enrollment. We will cover the theory and practice of all aspects ofclub management. Plus, we will discuss facilihj investment as well as discover some radical new ideas for asset protection, so necessary in our precarious liability climate.

And, perhaps most importantly, we will tie evenjthing together with a business philosophy so powerful that it alone will be worth more than the 'price of admission .'

And What Is 'The Price of Admission?' 'Dirt Cheap' relative to the rewards. Of course, that is

my opinion. But, I guarantee you will feel the same way by offering you this assurance: MY GUARANTEE-If you do not feel your club will make, save and otherwise profit many times more than the price of this seminar, 100% of the seminar fee will cheerfully be refunded.

Have a fun, prosperous summer. Hope to see YOU in New Orleans! Attendance limited. Warm regards, Jeff Metzger!

Tuition for USGP Pro-members: Pre-registration: $195. (At the door: $210)

Tuition for Non-USGF Pro-members: Pre-Registration: $210. (At the door: $235)

Use the form on page 18 to pre-register.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

INSTRUCTORS' COURSE -General Gymnastics

Course DatelTimes: Thur,Sept. 13, 1990 Registration time: 7:15-8:00am Course time: 8:00am-12:00 noon

The Mission: The newly organized USGP General Gym­

nastics Committee offers this course for all clubs, coaches, gymnasts, college teams, educational institutions and other USGP member organiza­tions interested in learning about General Gym­nastics.

The course will be instructed by General Gymnastics experts and members of the USGP General Gymnastics committee. If you are interested in possibly attending the 1991 Inter­national Gymnaestrada in Amsterdam, this clinic is a PREREQUISITE!

The Course: The course will follow the following general outline: • Description and history of General Gymnas­

tics and the Gymnaestrada • Presentation of a video-tape of outstanding

group performances from the Heming Gym­naestrada.

• A presentation of how participation in Gen­eral Gymnastics can increase club revenues and member motivation.

• "Case studies" of groups who have success­fully integrated General Gymnastics in their programs.

• Explanation of requirements for participa­tion as part of the official USGP delegation to the 1991 Gymnaestrada and as Exhibition Groups at the 1991 World Championships in Indiana polis.

• Presentation and instruction of the USGP N a­tional Group Exercise that will be utilized in Amsterdam. (Be dressed to participate!)

• "Break-out" presentations for gymnastics for groups, adults, fitness, etc.

Note: If you can't attend this special pre-Con­gress Instructor's Course, be sure to try to attend one of the other General Gymnastics presenta­tions offered during the Congress. You will not only enjoy the presentation, but learn how Gen­eral Gymnastics programs can help to increase your enrollment, participation, and enthusiasm.

Tuition for USGF Pro-members: Pre-registration: $30. (At the door: $35)

Tuition for Non-USGF Pro-members: Registration: $35. (At the door: $40)

Please use the form on page 18 of this magazine to pre-register for the course.

15

16

INSTRUCTORS' COURSE - INSTRUCTORS' COURSE -Pre-school/Developmental Gymnastics Sequential/Educational Gymnastics

Course Date/Times: Wednesday Sept. 12 and Thursday Sept. 13, 1990 Registration time: 8:00-9:00am (on 9/ 12/ 90) Course times: 9:00am-7:00pm on Wednesday and

8:00am-12:00noon on Thursday Sept. 14, 1990

The Mission: The pre-school curriculum has become one of

the most important aspects of club gymnastics programs. Not only does this activity develop the fundamentals upon which future gymnas­tics achievement will be developed, these pro­grams have proven their financial contribution to the gymnastics club industry.

The USGFbelieves that the curriculum for the gymnastics preschool programs should be based upon proven techniques and experiences with emphasis on sound movement education prin­ciples and child development fundamentals.

This special Pre-school Instructor's course will provide a theoretical base for curriculum devel­opment through the utilization of child devel­opment and movement education specialists. These principles will then be all brought to­gether with how to sessions on teaching meth­ods and skills.

Special sessions will be conducted on the use of hand apparatus to enhance coordination, focusing, targeting, etc.

Of interest will be a session on Making the Transition from pre-school participant to gymnas­tics class participant.

Who should attend: This seminar is designed for instructors of

pre-school programs (ages 2 through 6 years). Class instructors are encouraged to attend as well as Program Directors. This course would be a great introduction for the first time pre­school instructor because of the emphasis on the theoritical approach and practical applica­tion!

Course Instructors include Dr. Garland O'Quinn of Developmental Gymnastics, Inc. and Mr. Terry Exner owner/ operator of Gymmarin, a very successful gymnastics business in Califor­nia.

Course Specials: • Participants will receive many useful hand­outs that are not included in the Congress Ma­terials packet. • Curriculum development guides. • A Certificate recognizing Participation in the workshop will be given to all course partici­pants.

Pricing: Pre-registration:

Cost is $125 for full day for USGF pro­members who pre-register.

Registration At the Door (or for non-USGF Reg­istered attendees): $135.

Please use the form on page 18 of this magazine to pre-register for the course.

The Mission:

Course Date/Times: Thursday, 9/ 13/ 1990 Registration: 12:15-1 :OOpm Course time: 1 :00-5:00pm

The USGF Educational Sub-committee has spent over 2 years developing a curriculum for use by physical educators of Grades 3-6. In addition, Dr. Garland O'Quinn has recently fin­ished a similar curriculum for K-2. The objec­tive of this workshop will be to present the theo­retical movement concepts underlying Educa­tional Gymnastics as well as practical guide­lines in class management, progressions & spotting.

This Instructor's Course would be a great pre­Congress add-on to take in addition to the Preschool/Developmental Course.

Who should attend: While this program was originally intended~

for use by PE instructors, it offers excellent training for club preschool and recreation class teachers of both boys and girls.

Course Instructors include members of the USGF Educational Sub-committee, Chaired by Dr. Patty Hacker - all recognized educators in de­velopmental gymnastics.

Course Specials: • Participants will receive a copy of Sequential Gymnastics ($20 value thru USGF Merchan­dising!) • Additionally, participants will receive other useful handouts that are not included in the Congress Materials packet as well as a $4 Dis­count Coupon towards purchase of the Sequen­tial Gymnastics VHS (25% savings). • Finally, all participants will receive a Certifi­cate recognizing their Participation in the work­shop.

Pricing: Pre-registration: Cost to USGF Pro-members

who pre-registerfor the workshop is $30.00. Registration At the Door (or for non-members):

$40.00

Please use the form on page 18 of this magazine to pre-register for the course.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

,

EflsnrETY USGF SAFETY CERTIFICATION

Course Date/Times: 1. Thur, Sept. 13, 1990

Registration time: 12:15-1:00 pm Course time: 1 :00-6:00 pm Examination: 6:30-8:00 pm

2. Sun, Sept. 16, 1990 Registration time: 7:30-8:00 am Course time: 8:00 am - 12:30 pm Examination: 1:00-2:30 pm

The Mission: All gymnastics professionals (judges &

coaches) need to be Safety Certified! Safety Certification represents the underlying back­bone of the USGF effort to increase the profes­sional status of the membership.

Who should attend: Any coach, instructor or other gymnastics

professional who is not yet Safety Certified. Anyone who has been previously Safety Certi­fied may recertify for an additional 4-year pe­riod through completion of this Course and Ex­amination. Note: if you are recertifying, your additional4-year certification period will begin

at the end of your current period. Congress Course Specials:

• The newly developed slide-show presenta­tion will be utilized to emphasize important safety concepts. • The courses will be taught by a variety of National Safety Certifiers. . • Preregistrants for these courses will be able to enroll at a special reduced rate. In order to take advantage of these special rates, you must preregister no later than August 31,1990.

Benefits of Safety Certification: • Provides important and timely information concerning the conduct of gymnastics in a safe manner. • Safety Certification is good for 4 years. • Successful participants receive the Safety Diploma, Safety Patch, 4-year subscription to the quarterly publication Safety Update, and a 3-ring Safety binder.

Pricing: Pre-registration: $65 for all USGF Pro-members or if recertifying $90 for non-USGF pro-members of the USGF if

certifying for the 1st time. Late Registration (at-the-door): $75 for USGF Pro-members or if recertifying $100 for non-USGF pro- members or if certifying

for the first time.

Please use the form on page 18 of this magazine to pre-register for either of these two courses.

1991 World Gymnastics Championships

Information on Volunteers

The 1991 World Gymnastics Championship Organizing Commit­tee will be looking for volunteers with gymnastics background to serve in a variety of positions during the 1991 event. There will be a need for volunteer services in the follow­ing areas: language services, pro­duction, equipment management, hospitality, staging, and other op­erational areas specific to the com­petition.

Dates of the competition are Sep­tember 7-15 but volunteers should expect to be involved anywhere from 10-14 days depending upon the serv­ices rendered. All expenses incurred are the responsibility of the individ­ual and will not be compensated by the Organizing Committee.

Anyone interested in more infor­mation or a volunteer application form should write to the address listed in the center column.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Share the Magic Volunteer Information

Merchants Plaza 101 W Washington Suite 1301

Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: (317) 630-1991

Thank you for your interest and support of the 1991 World Gymnastics

Championships.

Club 91-A Special Hospitality Package For USGF Members

Easily accessible to the competi­tion site, yet away from the crowds, Club 91 offers a festive atmosphere where friends can meet, relax and Share the Magic of the 1991 World Championships. This unique offer­ing is available exclusively to USGF members and VIP's.

The Club 91 hospitality package includes the following: • Access to the Club 91 Hospitality area • Close-circuit television coverage of

competition • Cash bar, food and refreshments • Up-to-the-minute results, draws and

competition statistics • USA Team and celebrity reception • 1991 World Championships com­

memorative gift • Special reserved seating section for

podium training

Keep watching future issues of Technique and USA Gymnastics for more details about this exciting offer.

17

Registration Form Pre-Congress Sessions Registration Form

Name: Mr'/Mrs'/Ms. Soc.Sec. # _____ _ Address:, _________________________ _

({/r:...:....::;;;;;;~'!;!J City: _________________ State: ___ Zip: ___ _

Please Note: None

of these pre-Con-

gress seSSIOns are

included as part of

the regular Con-

gress registration

fee.

You may register

for Congress by

using the form on

page 33.

Telephone: (H) (_) _ - (W) (_) _ -__ Organization Represented: ___________________ _ If USGF Member, List Type and Number: ______________ _ Are you also pre-registered for the USGF Congress? _Yes No

COURSE FEES: Indicate all Pre-Congress courses that you plan on attending on the form below:

USGF non- Amt Member member Enclosed

1. CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation -Thurs, 9/13,1990 - 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 20.00 $ 30.00

2. CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation -Sun, 9/16, 1990 - 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 20.00 $ 30.00

3. Franklin Learning - Time Management Thurs, 9/13 - 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 125.00 $135.00 (Note: Deduct $40 if you already have the Day Planner)

4. General Gymnastics - Instructors Course Thurs, 9/13 - 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 30.00 $ 35.00

5. Metzger Gymnastics Business Seminar Wed, 9/12, 9:00 am-7:00 pm and Thurs, 9/13, 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 195.00 $ 210.00

6. Pre-School - Instructors Seminar Wed, 9/12, 9:00 am-7:00 pm and Thurs, 9/13, 8:00 am-12:00 noon $ 125.00 $ 135.00

7. Sequential/Developmental Gymnastics - Instructors Course Thurs, 9/13, 1 :00-5:00 pm $ 30.00 $ 40.00

8. USGF Safety Certification Course/Examinations -a. Thurs, 9/13, 1 :00-8:00 pm Indicate the 1 apprO-<1st time certification $ 65.00 $ 90.00 b. Sun, 9/16, 8:00 am-2:30 pm pnate fee payment... Recertification $ 65.00 $ 65.00

Total amount enclosed I ~------'

You may pay by check: Make checks payable to USGF OR, _ MasterCard _VISA # Expir.Date: ___ _ Signature ___________ _

T390

Use this form to register for the pre-Congress Sessions only. You must use the form on page 33 to register for the regular Congress sessions (9/13-16/90) This form must arrive at our offices NO LATER THAN August 31 , 1990. After August 31 , you must register on-site. Registration is nonrefundable after September 4, 1990. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Complete the above form and return with payment to: USGF PRE-CONGRESS, Pan American Plaza , Suite 300, 201 S. Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46225

18 July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Technical

Human Third-Class Levers and Gymnastic Performance

Ever wonder why you were not strong enough to perform that particular skill that has been so elusive? Well, it may not be that you are lazy or even using incor­rect gymnastics technique. There is an­

other possible explanation. The human body is not considered to be a superior strength machine. An explanation lies with understanding the bene­fits and drawbacks of the primary lever existing in the human body. Kreighbaum and Barthels (1990) suggest that 90 percent of the levers in the human body are third-class. The third-class lever requires that the magnitude of the applied force be greater than the resistance to be overcome; whereas, the other levers (first and second-class) represent systems that can overcome a resistance with less than an equal force magnitude.

It is important for the coach to understand both positive and negative factors associated with the third-class lever. This can help in providing the gymnast with clearer explanations of how and why particular movements take place. Frankly, overcoming a mechanical disadvantage, or fully utilizing a mechanical advantage related to a human lever, may be accomplished when the coach and gymnast work together. Effective communication is essential if basic biomechanical principles are to be utilized. The coach may then convey greater sensitivity and understanding in dealing with performance related problems, while the gymnast will better cope with individ uallearn­ing readiness and maturational differences.

Figure 1 - Lever components

R F A

A = axis (wrist joint)

F = muscle insertion

R = segmental center of grafity

Third -Class Lever Placement of the tree components (force, axis,

and resistance) on a third -class lever are shown in Figure 1. The particular placement of these com­ponents in the lower arm helps to explain the

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

characteristics of the third-class lever system and why it functions as it does. A lever is associated with the human musculoskeletal system and it may be conceptualized mechanically as a rigid bar. The hand, in Figure 1, represents a rigid bar that may be moved into extension around the wrist joint when force, internal to the system, is produced through the contraction of the extensor carpi radialis brevis.

William Cornelius, Ph.D.

Dept. of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation University of North Texas

Figure 2 - Lever segments and MA calculations

Portion (front view)

Force

T RA

I ~

MA ~ EA RA

A

The force component in the third-class lever always lies in between the other two components. This component represents that point where the muscle attaches (insertion) to the bone being moved and can be referred to as a motive force. The application of the motive force (F) is located at this muscle insertion. Figure 2 illustrates the use of the pectoralis major, clavicular portion, in moving the humerus into flexion at the shoulder joint. Flexion of the humerus can be seen in frames B through E during the performance of a back free hip circle on the uneven bars. Particular focus has been given to frame C in order to pro­vide an example of the lever and its relationship to the pectoralis muscle. The front view of the pectoralis muscle illustrates flexion of the humerus at a specific point in performance.

Axis The axis (A) acts as a fulcrum and exists at the

center of the human joint. This is the point about which the human body part rotates. Figure 2 provides an example of the humerus rotating around the mediolateral axis at the shoulder joint. In this case, the shoulder joint (glenohumeral) is

19

B CD E

made up of an articulation between the humerus and the glenoid fossa of the scapula. Resistance

The resistance (R) component represents that point on the lever where the mass of the body part is concentrated. This point can also be referred to as the segmental center of gravity and acts as a resistive force . The R is always opposite the axis in a third-class lever. Figures 1 and 2 depict the R, therefore, at that point on a rigid bar where the center mass is located.

Mechanical Advantage Kreighbaum and Barthels (1990) and Hinson

(1981) suggest that a mechanical advantage (MA) stems from the relationship between lever com­ponents shown in Figure 1 as well as lever seg­ments depicted in Figure 2. The MA of the lever is obtained in either of two calculations: by divid­ing the length of the resistance arm (RA) into the length of the force arm (FA) or by dividing the magnitude of the motive force into the magnitude of the resistive force. Figure 2 provides an ex­ample of the locations of the two lever segments, RA and FA, as well as the F and R components on a human third-class lever. Furthermore, an ex­ample is provided in Figure 2, using the FA/RA calculation, in which the MA was found to be 0.36 in frame C.

Figure 3 - Range of motion and speed In order to fully

comprehend what a young gymnast faces in the artistic perform­ance, it is necessary to understand that the FA will always be smaller than the RA in the use of a third­class lever. Therefore, the MA is a ratio be­tween the FA and RA, and is always less than 1.0. For the gymnast to at least balance or control the R of the lever, a larger F than the R must be pro­duced because the RA is always longer than the FA. The reality of this exam pIe is tha t for every unit of F pro­duced, only 0.36 units of resistance will be balanced. Kreigh­baum and Barthels (1990) suggest this mechanical disadvan­tage is present be­cause the application of force is situated closer to the axis of rotation than is the resistive force .

A B c D E

D and E superimposed

d, = linear distance traveled for point of force application d

2 = linear distance traveled for resistance

20

The Paradox A paradox or contradiction appears to exist.

The human body is primarily made up of third­class levers, yet skills are successfully performed by the gymnast that requires a great deal of resis­tance to be overcome. A problem can arise in the use of a third-class lever in achieving effective movement because the force magnitude must always be larger than the resistance magnitude. This is always the case, whether in elite or novice gymnastic performance. A favorable strength to body weight ratio can often control this seem­ingly difficult situation.

Range of Motion and Speed

The human body is designed for range of motion (ROM) and speed because of the abundance of third-class levers. Figure 3 provides a third-class lever and illustrates this assertion by demonstrat­ing (frames O-E) the resistive load being moved a greater linear distance (d2) than the point of the force application (d1). Both lever component points, F and R, are displaced in d1 and d2 in the same time increment. Consequently, the gym­nast can move the R effectively with great speed and ROM. In fact, the motive force moves the re­sistance a great deal further (over twice as far) than it moves itself (Figure 3) . This is particularly true in elite gymnastics performance. The suc­cessful gymnast is able to move body segments through a large ROM with great speed because of high levels of muscular strength and flexibility.

Summary The presence of a third-class lever has both

positive and negative implications. First, the third-class lever is not designed for easily over­coming resistance. This disadvantage, however, can be neutralized with an effective, comprehen­sive strength development program. A gymnast unable to produce a muscular force much greater than the associated resistance, should not be expected to perform movements requiring supe­rior strength. On the other hand, the gymnast is able to move body segments with superior ROM and speed. This can be explained because the point of the muscle force application is located closer to the axis of rota tion than is the point of the resistive force . Consequently, understanding movement concepts related to the mechanical advantage and disadvantage inherent in the third­class lever, will help greatly in dealing with the young gymnast through the developing years.

References Hinson, M.M. (1981). Kinesiology (2nd ed .) . Dubuque, Iowa:

Wm. C. Brown Publishers. Kreighbaum, E. & Barthels, K.M. (1990). Biomechanics: A

Qualitive Approach for Studying Human Movement (3rd ed .). Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Co.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Legal

Work Authorization for Foreign Gymnastics Coaches

With the recent political developments in the Eastern Block, several USGF member clubs have been approached by gymnastic coaches from those countries inquiring about opportu­

nities to coach in the United States. Any club thinking about hiring a foreign resident will be faced with the issue of whether the foreign resident or alien can obtain a visa that would entitle him or her to be employed by a United States employer. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act requires each United States employer to verify that each person it hires has proper work authorization and imposes sanc­tions on employers who employ aliens not having such authorization.

Visas, which are obtained from United States embassies and consulates around the world, are classified into two principle categories: immi­grant and non-immigrant. An immigrant visa (commonly called a "green card") authorizes an alien to reside in the United States permanently; whereas a non immigrant visa only authorizes an alien to remain in the United States for a tempo­rary, limited period of time. All immigrant visa holders are authorized to work in the United States. Only certain non-immigrant visa hold­ers, however, may be employed by a United States employer. In some cases, a non-immigrant visa holder who does not have work authoriza­tion can apply to the INS to have his or her non­immigrant status changed to another non-immi­grant status providing work authorization or adjusted to immigrant or permanent resident status.

Immigrant Visas Immigrant or Permanent resident status can

be obtained in two main ways: (1) by virtue of the alien's close familial relationship with a United States citizen or permanent resident, or (2) in connection with a job offer from a United States employer. Except in the situations of spouses and minors, unmarried children of United States citizens and permanent residents, most im­migrant visas can take several months and even years to obtain because United States law permits only a limited number of aliens from a given country to immigrate each year in each immi­grant classification. As a result of these limitations, waiting lists have developed for most classifica­tions.

As this article relates to the interest USGF member clubs may have in employing Eastern

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Block coaches, only the job-related immigrant visa procedures will be discussed. Any club inter­ested in hiring a foreign coach should initially inquire, however, whether that individual has any family members who are United States citi­zens or permanent residents. If so, an immigra­tion lawyer should be consulted for advice re­garding whether a family-based (rather than a job-related) visa should be sought.

Immigrant Job-related . Visas: Third and Sixth Preference.

Job-related immigrant visas are classified as third preference or sixth preference visas. First, second, fourth and fifth preference visas are based on family relationships. Generally, third prefer­ence visas may be obtained sooner than sixth pref­erence visas. Third preference visas are for ali­ens of exceptional ability and typically apply to professionals such as engineers, lawyers, archi­tects, accountants, and teachers) and distin­guished artists and scientists. Sixth preference visas are designed for all other aliens, skilled or unskilled, with offers of permanent employ­ment. A prospective employer should note that an alien cannot legally work in the United States until the desired visa is obtained or without some other form of work authorization, such as one of the non-immigrant work visas.

Before a third or sixth preference visa can be obtained, the United States Department of La­bor must certify that there are no qualified United States workers who are interested in the posi­tion being offered the alien. This labor certifica­tion process is fairly involved and can take several months to complete. An application (Form ETA 750) setting forth the job description and require­ments and the alien's credentials must be filed by the employer. In addition, the employer must advertise the job and recruit for qualified United States workers. If the Department of Labor is satisfied that no qualified United States workers are interested in the position, then it will grant labor certification. (There is an abbreviated labor certification procedure, known as the Schedule A procedure, which circumvents many of the bur­densome requirements of the basic certification procedure, such as job recruitment and advertis­ing for United States workers. Only very few aliens, and virtually no gymnastics coaches, qual­ify for this abbreviated procedure, however.) After labor certification is obtained, the employer must file with the INS a petition for the prospective immigrant employee (INS Form 1-140).

21

N. Clay Robbins, Attorney

Baker & Daniels Indianapolis, Indiana

Immigrant

or Permanent

resident status can

be obtained in two

main ways: (1) by

virtue of the alien's

close familial rela­

tionship with a

United States

citizen or perma­

nent resident, or

(2) in connection

with a job offer

from a United

States employer.

The most likely

choice of non-immi­

grant visas is the

H-l visa for aliens

of distinguished

merit and ability ...

To obtain an H-l

visa, an alien must

be able to demon­

strate thathe or she

intends to stay in

the United States

only temporarily ...

The alien must also file with the INS an immi­grant visa application (For 1-485). The alien's ap­plication cannot be filed until a visa is available for him or her. In other words, the waiting period described above must have elapsed. Please note that an alien's waiting period begins on the date that the application for labor certification is filed. For third preference aliens from most countries, the current waiting period is about 13 months. For most sixth preference aliens, the current waiting period is about four years. Third and sixth prefer­ence aliens may generally apply for United States citizenship five years after obtaining permanent resident status.

Nonimmigrant Work Visas

If a USGF member club would like to employ a foreign person as a coach only for a temporary period of time, the club should consider one of the applicable temporary, non-immigrant visas that provide work authorization. The most likely choice of non-immigrant visas is the H-l visa for aliens of distinguished merit and ability.

An alien may receive an H-I visa for the period of time required by the employer, up to a maxi­mum initial period of stay of three years. Exten­sions, up to a maximum of two additional years, are permissible and relatively easy to obtain.

To qualify for an H-l visa, an alien must be a "professional" or otherwise possess "distin­guished merit and ability" in his or her field. If an alien coach has a baccalaureate or higher level degree in sports or physical education (or their equivalent), it will help qualify him or her as a professional. Even without such a degree, some alien coaches may obtain their H-I status as per­sons of distinguished merit and ability, if they have demonstrated a degree of skill or recogni­tion substantially above the norm in the field of gymnastics.

In addition, the position to be filled by the alien must require a person with the alien's qualifications. The challenge of demonstrating this requirement is likely to be more difficult for a club than a federation hiring a national team coach or a university hiring a coach of its team.

To obtain an H-l visa, an alien must be able to demonstrate that he or she intends to stay in the United States only temporarily and that he or she will maintain a foreign residence while in the United States. Evidence of a foreign address, bank accounts, close family ties or other relationships in the foreign country, etc., will be helpful in establishing a foreign residence.

With respect to the H-I visa, the INS recognizes the concept of dual intent: the present intention to remain in the United States temporarily and the long-term intention to immigrate to the United States only if, and when, a permanent resident visa is obtained. In other words, the INS will approve an H-I petition or H-I extension, even

22

though the alien may have an intent to seek per­manent resident status in the future, provided the alien evidences an intent not to remain in the United States out of status, i.e. the alien will depart from the United States if the alien's H-I classification expires prior to the grant of perma­nent resident status. Therefore, if an H-l alien working in the United States determines that he or she wants to obtain permanent resident status, the alien may begin the necessary steps to obtain such status, while in the United States on the H-I visa.

(A word of caution is warranted here. The INS has formally accepted the concept of dual intent in the H­I regulations . The State Department, however, has not been as inclined to recognize this concept. Since an H­I visa can be initially obtained only from a United States embassy or consulate, an alien evidencing an intent to remain in the United States permanently at the time of the H-I visa application may have his or her H-I application denied by the embassy or consulate because of the lack of an intent to remain in the United States temporarily.)

The proced ures for obtaining an H -1 visa are as follows: 1. The employer must file a petition (INS Form 1-

129B) and the relevant supporting documents with the INS. This filing should be made sev­eral weeks before the alien's services are re­quired. In the case of a USGF member club's petition for an H-I visa for an Eastern Block coach, the club should provide supporting documentation demonstrating:

a. the exceptional skills and abilities of the alien, and

b. the need for an employee possessing such exceptional skills and abilities.

An outline of the alien's educational back­ground and training, past employment his­tory, profeSSional memberships, awards, and prizes should be included. In addition, affida­vits from the employer and other credible persons testifying to the alien's exceptional skills and abilities as a gymnastics coach should be made a part of the filing.

A summary of the terms of the proposed employment relationship, including a job de­scription, compensation arrangements and con­templated period of employment should also be included. The compensation arrangements should be appropriate for a person of such exceptional skills and abilities. If the alien has a foreign diploma or transcript, the INS will require it to be translated and evaluated by a reputable expert as to how it compares to edu­ca tiona I coursewor kat accredi ted United Sta tes colleges or universities.

2. Once the INS approves the employer's H-I pe­tition, it will send a notice of approval to the United States consulate or embassy where the alien will apply for an H-I visa (Form OF-156). When the alien applies for the H-I visa, he or she may also apply for H-4 visas for his or her immediate family members. A spouse of an

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

H-l alien is not authorized to work in the United States, unless the spouse has independent work authorization.

Another non-immigrant visa that may pro­vide work authorization for some Eastern Block coaches is the J-l exchange visitor visa. AJ-l visa holder is able to work in the United States, subject to certain limitations. This visa is typically con­nected with some government-approved, ex­change-visitor program, and is obtained fre­quently by college professors and students and industrial and business trainees.

None of the other non-immigrant classifica­tions that provide work authorization is likely to be relevant to gymnastics coaches. The B-1 busi­ness visitor visa, which does not provide work au­thorization, may be worth considering, however, in the initial stages of the evaluation of whether to hire an Eastern Block coach. With a B-1 visa, an Eastern Block coach could come to the United States to be interviewed for a coaching position. A B-1 visa holder may not, however, be paid by a United States employer. A B-1 visa may be ob­tained at a United States consulate or embassy in the alien's home country. No INS petition is re­quired.

The process of obtaining work authorization for an Eastern Block coach may be complicated and protracted depending on the credentials of the alien, the needs of the prospective employer, and whether non-immigrant or immigrant status is desired. In most, if not all cases, it would be advisable to consult with an attorney experienced in immigration law. This is particularly true where

labor certification is required or where the em­ployer must build a careful case for the alien's exceptional skills and abilities in gymnastics coaching or the employer's need for that level of expertise.

Continued from page 5... Psychological Differences Between Women Olympic Gym­nasts and the Remainder of the Sr. Team References Fitts, W.H. (1965) . The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale

Manual. Nashville, TN: Counselor Recordings and Tests.

Mahoney, M.J., & Avener, M. (1977). Psychology of the elite athlete: an exploratory study. Cognitive Ther­apy and Research, 1, 135-141.

McNair, D.M., Lorr, M., & Droppleman, L.F. (1971). Manual for Profile of Mood States. San Diego, CA: Education and Industrial Testing Service.

Morgan, W.P. (1980). Test of champions: The iceberg profile. Psychology Today, pp. 14,92-93, 92-99,102, 108.

Nideffer, RM. (1976). Test of attentional and interper­sonal style. Journal of Personality and Social Psy­chology, 34, 394-404.

Poole, C , Henschen, K.P., Schultz, B.B., Gordin, RD., & Hill, J. (1986). Psychological profiles of elite colle­giate athletes according to performance level. In L.E. Unestahl (ED.), Contemporary Sport Psychol­~ Orebro, Sweden: Veje, 65-72.

Rushall, B.s. (1989). The key to sport excellence. Pro­ceedings: 7th Congress in Sport Psychology. Sin­gapore, 16-24.

Rushall, B.s., & Fox, RG. (1980). An approach - avoid­ance motivations scale for sports. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 5, 39-43.

Spielberger, CD., Gorsuch, R L., & Lushene, RE. (1970). State-trait anxiety inventory manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

NOTICE to the USGP Membership: Article XII - Cause for Removal Excerpted from the 1990 Women's Operating Code

Section A - Chairmen 1. Any of the Chairmen may be removed for

the following reasons: a. Failure to attend two (2) consecutive

meetings of their regional and or na­tional committees.

b. Failure to comply with the Women's Program Committee policies, proce­dures or rules.

c. Failure to comply with the Operating Code, Rules and Policies or the Code of Ethics.

d. Failure to comply with the Duties and Responsibilities of their position as outlined in their job description,

e. Failure to up-hold the decisions made by their committees or the other sub­committees of the Women's Program Committee.

f. Failure to administer their programs according to the directives of the Women's Program Committee or the United States Gymnastics Federation Board of Directors.

Section B - Professional Members 1. A Professional Member may be fined,

placed on probation or membership re­voked for the following reasons:

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

a. Failure to comply with the Operating Code, Rules andPolicies or the Code of Ethics.

b. Failure to comply with individual State and Regional requirements as pub­lished in Sta te and / or Regional N ews­letter.

2. An Event Director may be fined or sanc­tions revoked for the following reasons: a. Failure to comply with the Operating

Code, Rules and Policies or the Code of Ethics.

b. Failure to comply with individual State or Regional requirements as published in the State or Regional Newsletter.

3. Following a hearing, a member may be withdrawn from his/her position and/ or membership revoked.

Section C - Removal 1. After a hearing as stated above, a member

or Chairman could be removed by rec­ommendation of this hearing to the ap­propriate committee. a. Removal of a Professional member can

be effectua ted after proper proced ures are followed, by the United States Gymnastics Federation Executive Di­rector.

b. Removal of a State Chairman can be initiated and effectuated by a two­thirds majority of the Women's Pro­gram Committee members of the state, upon request to the Regional Chair­man or by a two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Board on which they serve.

c. Removal of the Regional Technical Chairman, Regional Elite Program Chairman, Regional Junior Olympic Program Chairman or Regional Chair­man may be effectuated by a two-thirds majority of the Women's Program Committee members of their Region, or a two-thirds majority vote of the National Committee on which they serve. Request directed to the Admin­istrative Board Chairman.

d , Removal of a sub-committee National Chairman can be effectuated by a two­thirds majority of the voting members of the committee they chair, or a two­thirds majority of the Women's Pro­gram Committee.

2. Removal of a Professional member can be effectuated after proper procedures are followed, by the United States Gymnas­tics Federation Executive Director.

23

Coaching Strategies

William A. Sands, Ph.D. Motor Behavior Re­search Laboratory University of Utah

Determining Skill Readiness

Skill performance is the character of gym­nastics. Gymnasts progress through many thousands of skills on their way to com­petitive competency. As the skills of gymnastics become more complex and

physically demanding, the level of protection and appreciation for the task facing the gymnast must also increase. Determining the readiness of any gymnast to perform a skill is a paramount issue in gymnastics safety. The decision process of a coach in determining athlete readiness for a par­ticular skill is a dynamic and difficult one. The decision process may benefit from a model of the process to further define and describe the limits of such a process (Caudill, 1989; GaIotti, 1989; Men­zies, 1989; Rothman, 1989; Winograd & Flores, 1986) (See Figure 1). The appreciation of physical, technical, tactical, psychological, and theoretical (Sands, 1984) issues may further assist the coach in making more educated and correct decisions with regard to determining readiness for new skills, and for learned skills under less than ideal circumstances.

Physical Readiness The physical domain of readiness includes the

physiological fitness of the gymnast. The types of questions that the coach must ask in this domain are: 1. Is the athlete strong enough to perform this

skill at this particular moment? 2. Is the athlete flexible enough to perform this

skill at this particular moment? 3. Does the athlete have the necessary body com­

position to perform this skill at this time? In other words, is the athlete's strength to weight ratio adequate.

4. Is the athlete currently in good health? 5. Is the athlete fresh enough at this moment?

This refers to an absence of fatigue. In other words, is the athlete rested enough to perform the skill safely?

6. Has the athlete warmed up prior to this skill? There appears to be a relationship between failure to warm up and injury (Franks, 1983; High, Howley, & Franks, 1989; Pacheco, 1957: Sands, 1988; Shellock & Prentice, 1985).

7. Is the athlete currently free from limiting in­jury?

An understanding of the CURRENT physical condition of the athlete is most important. The fact that the athlete was fresh once, or rested before, does not mean that the athlete is suffi­ciently rested now. If the athlete is deficient in any

24

of these areas, it is only logical that one must fix the deficiency before proceeding with skill per­formance.

Technical Readiness Technical readiness refers to skill readiness; the

domain of motor skill performance and ability. Skill training is much of what makes up gymnas­tics training. Moreover, it is the performance of skills, just for the sake of themselves, that makes up routines and the substance of gymnastics contests. The repetition of skills is the primary means of acquiring skill proficiency, but the number of repetitions necessary for safe perform­ance has been poorly defined for most gymnastics skills. Coaches often refer to the time necessary for competent performance. These estimates are usually quite long, occupying months of training and literally hundreds of repetitions (Sands, 1984; Sands, 1990; Sands, Henschen, & Shultz, 1989). Interestingly, the number of repetitions or trials has not been shown to be the most highly corre­lated variable with learning and performance. It appears that the time spent during the learning trials is interrelated with repetitions and more highly correlated with learning than the number of trial repetitions alone (Welford, 1987). More­over, with gymnastics skills often resembling other skills to a varying degree, the role of transfer of learning is very important for learning and per­formance (Baker, Kleven, Turnbull, & Dickinson, 1988; Schmidt, 1982).

The types of questions that the coach must ask in this domain are: 1. How familiar is the gymnast with this skill?

Has the gymnast spent a great deal of time per­forming this skill so that a "habit" has devel­oped for consistent and reliable performance? The repetitions-time spent on a skill are very important to learning. In the early stages, learning proceeds rather rapidly, and later, progress levels off. Is the gymnast in the level­ing-off stage, indicating that learning is more complete?

2. Does the gymnast know how to miss the skill if he/ she makes an error? Has sufficient time been spent on identifying and practicing es­cape routes for missed attempts?

3. Has the gymnast demonstrated an understand­ing of the skill being performed? There is al­mosta "gambler's fallacy" about watching and directing the learning of gymnastics skills. The gamblers' fallacy is based on the idea that if one is flipping a coin and the coin lands tails many

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

times in a row, the probability of the next flip coming up heads is more certain. Of course, this is not true in coin flipping because each flip is completely independent of the flip before. Similarly, although learning trials are not in­dependent from preceding trials, one can be tricked into thinking if so-and-so did it in a certain number of trials, then this gymnast should also. This is not necessarily true. Or, if

a gymnast has been learning at a certain rate, that continued performance and/ or learning will continue at that rate. This is not necessar­ily true either. The coach must guard against being tricked by the idea that because the ath­lete has been really close to doing a particular skill for a period of time, that he/she will con­tinue to get better at the skill.

4. Is the skill in question similar to another skill that the gymnast does already, but different in the last part? This is a classic example of nega­tive transfer of training (Schmidt, 1982). An ex­ample of this is when the gymnast already knows how to do an arabian twisting to the left from a flic flac, and now you want the athlete to learn a full twisting back somersault, also twist­ing to the left from a flic flac. The problem comes up when the beginning (Le., stimulus) is the same in both skills, but the response (i.e., later components are different. This often re­sults in negative transfer (not always) in the athlete leading to confusion while airborne and aborted attempts. In this setting, the ath­lete probably requires many more repetitions of the skill in order to become familiar with the new demands placed at the end of the skill, therefore, increased caution is necessary when such approaches are taken.

5. Finally, there is the problem of spotting. When do you remove a spot? This is a very ticklish

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

problem. One should consider all of the forego­ing and following questions in deciding. More­over, the coach must consider how much help the spotter has been giving. We have all had the experience of taking away the spot and having the athlete balk at a skill that one would think they should be able to do easily. In this setting, one must consider that taking away the spot denotes a different performance situation.

Figure 1 - Decision Model Gymnastics Training

Sometimes the athlete can cue on the physical touching that takes place during a spot, and of course, the issue of removing the safety net in the eyes of the gymnast is an important one. Again, many repetitions must be performed with the spot, into a pit, etc. before removing the spot and allowing the athlete to try it on his/her own. It is probably even more impor­tant to perform more repetitions with spotter aided learning than without. This is due to the large difference in performance characteristics that occurs when the spot is finally removed completely.

Tactical Readiness Tactical readiness refers to the strategy of the

skill or routine in question. For example, does the gymnast really need a more difficult skill, or does he / she alread y ha ve full difficulty? In such a case, one must consider carefully the necessity of add­ing the risk of the new skill. The following ques­tions are important for the tactical domain: 1. Does the order of the learning of the skill fit a

natural and sound progression? Gymnasts should learn the more difficult skills after the easier ones. This is absolutely foundational to teaching, yet it seems to be the most abused principle of all. Can the gymnast do a good round off and flic flac before trying to learn to

25

somersault and twist? Can the gymnast cast to handstand easily, before learning to do a giant swing? The fact that many gymnasts can learn to do a giant swing before learning to cast to handstand does not eliminate the fact that the strength and skill necessary to cast to hand­stand is also necessary to recover from some giant swing mistakes, and what better way to learn it.

2. When the skills are being done in training, are the skills requiring the most attention and safety practiced when the gymnast is the freshest? A corollary question to this is: does the order of the skills in the competitive routine correspond to the level of physical capacity of the gymnast during the routine? In other words, does the gymnast have the requisite strength and/or power to perform the more difficult skills in the segment of the routine where they currently are? If not, the coach should look at altering the order of the skills in training and the order of the presentation of skills in the routine.

Psychological Readiness Psychological readiness refers to the gymnast's

mental capacity for the skill. To be psychologi­cally ready, the gymnast must possess the requi­site psychological skills (Henschen, 1990) and be able to express them optimally. Psychological readiness can be subdivided into several impor­tant areas. The following questions should serve the coach in evaluating this domain: 1. The first area is concentration. Can the gym­

nast concentrate for sufficient periods of time to maintain attention on the important details of the skill? Younger children often have less capability for concentrating for long periods than older children. Depending on circum­stances, it may be easier to concentrate on some task at hand at some times and not at others. Can gymnasts concentrate with many distrac­tions in their area such as loud music, other athletes, and so forth?

2. Can the gymnast conjure an image of the skill in question? In other words, can the gymnast visualize himself / herself, doing the skill? Typi­cally, the gymnast who can't has trouble with the skill. You can even test this to a certain extent by having the gymnast try and draw a stick figure representation of the skill, or pose the position he/ she is supposed to be in when something critical is supposed to be happening in the skill. When the gymnast really doesn't understand the skill, he/ she usually has trouble doing this.

3. The final area is courage. Does the gymnast have the courage necessary to perform the more difficult skills without balking in midair? How is courage enhanced? Usually by per­forming many, many repetitions of the skill to gain the confidence necessary to see the skill as simply a skill, and not a threat.

You can learn a lot about the athlete in this regard by watching and listening closely. Is he/

26

she ready to go? What does the body language look like? Is he / she anxious to get his/her turn? Or, is he/she slinking to the back of the line and hoping that you do not notice? If the athlete lacks confidence in the skill, uses a lot of negative self­talk, and cannot visualize himself/herself doing the skill, one should wait and return to a progres­sive learning approach. The coach should also investigate the reasons for the lack of desire to do the skill. Often when questioned, the athlete can report exactly what is frightening them, and steps can be taken to alleviate the problem (Sands, 1984).

Theoretical Readiness Theoretical J;eadiness refers to the philosophy

of participation. The coach and athlete must have goals and expectations that are somewhat opti­mistic, but in line with each other (Sands, 1984). If the coach expects a certain level of performance, and the athlete is expecting another, there is likely to be conflict (Feigley, 1987a; Feigley, 1987b). The athlete also needs to understand, at the most foundational level, why a given skill or perform­ance level is important. He/she must appreciate beyond mere intellectual understanding, how he/ she fits into the scheme of gymnastics perform­ance at his/her current level, and how this skill or skills will help the athlete achieve mutually agreed upon goals. In short, the coach and athlete must lay considerable theoretical ground work in communication before goal setting will be effec­tive and understandable by both parties.

Decision Making The model of decision making in Figure 1 takes

a serial approach, involving one decision criteria followed by another. In the real world this is seldom the approach that is used. Humans are not very good at such logical and serial decision hier­archies as shown in Figure 1. However, humans are very good at recognizing patterns and using these patterns to make quick and insightful judge­ments. This is a capacity that machines like com­puters have a great deal of difficulty. The pattern recognition is based on the idea that humans are able to detect inappropriate patterns with quick judgements by processing, in parallel, various pieces of information recognized from the world around them (Allman, 1989; Caudill, 1989; Ga­Iotti, 1989). The patterns that are detected are based upon the questions listed in the preceding discussion. Recognition of these patterns might be called "judgement" or "common sense." The coach must develop a judgement system that quickly searches the training environment for in­appropriate patterns in training, of the type listed in the questions above, to assess skill readiness. Much of the education of a young coach involves just such judgement development. This skill or group of skills are hypercritical to the safe devel­opment of young gymnasts.

The safety aspects of determining skill readi­ness are very important. Gymnastics perform-

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

ance is unlike many other sports where the athlete can practice the sport without supervision. For example, one can shoot baskets, ski, cycle, and often "play the game" of other sports without direct supervision of an adult coach.

Gymnastics requires direct supervision (Ap­penzeller, 1970; Clement, 1987; Lederer, 1990). The athletes are usually too young to make use of good judgement all the time, and the skills being performed in gymnastics are very complicated with flight and inversion an inherent part of the activity. This makes gymnastics an impossible sand-lot sport. The burden of safety in gymnastics lies with the professional people, the coaches, and their sound and experienced judgement in the conduct of gymnastics.

References Allman, W.E (1989). Aplj5entices of wonder inside the neural

network revolution. ew York, NY: Bantam Books. Appenzeller, H. (1970). From the gxm!Q the M. Charlot­

tesville, VA: The Michie Company. Baker, B., Kleven, S., Turnbull, :>., & Dickinson, J. (1988).

Transfer of training and task compatibility. Tournai Qf Human Movement Studies. 14, 133-143.

Caudill, M. (1989). Understanding Bayesian belief networks. AI Expert. 4, 44-50.

Clement, A. (1987). Summary of litigation in physical educa­tion and sport. In S. H. Adams, M. J. Adrian, & M. Bayless (Eds.), Catastrophic injuries in s1frts avoidance strategies (pp. 259-264). Indianapolis, IN: enchmark Press.

Feigley, D.A. (1987a). Coping with fear in high level gymnas­tics. In J. H. Salmela, B. Petiot, & T. B. Roshizaki (Eds.), PsyCholo~ical nurturin~ and guidance of g~mnastic talent (pp. 13-2 ). Montreal, anada: Sport Psyc e Editions.

Feigley, D.A. (1987b). Preventing psychological burnout. InJ. H. Salmela, B. Petiot, & T. B. H"oshizaki (Eds.), Psychological

nurturinf. and guidance of gymnastic talent (pp. 230-247). Montrea , Canada: Sport Psyche Editions.

Franks, B.D. (1983). Physical warm-up. In M. H. Williams (Ed.), Ergo~nic aids in sport (pp. 340-375). Champaign, IL: Human inetics.

Gaiotti, K.M. (1989). Approaches to studying formal and everyday reasoning. Psychological Bulletin. 105(3), 331-351.

Henschen, K. (1990). Psychological readiness. In G. S. George (Ed. ), USGF ~mnastics safety manual (2nd ed ., pp. 69-70). IndianapOis, IN: U.s. Gymnastics Federation.

High, D.M., Howley, E.T. , & Franks, B.D. (1989). The effects of static stretching and warm-up on prevention of de­layed-onset musc1e soreness. Research Quarterly for Exercise and S9ort, 60(4),357-361.

Lederer, G.M. (19 0). Legal responsibilities in gymnastics. In G. S. George (Ed .), ~ gymnastics safety manual (2nd ed., pp. 7-12). Indianapolis, IN: U.S. Gymnastics Federa­tion.

Menzies, T. (1989). Domain-specific knowledge representation. AI Ex~ert. 4, 36-45.

Pacheco,.A. (1957). Improvement in jumping performance due to preliminary exercise. Research Quarterly. 28, 55-63.

Rothman, P. (1989). Selecting an uncertainty management system. AI EC'ert. 4, 56-62.

Sands, B. (1984). oaching women's gymnastics. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sands, B. (1988). Conduct a thorough warm up. Gymnastics Safe*, Update, 3, 4.

Sands, .A. (1984). Coaching women's gymnastics. Cham­paign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sands, W.A. (1990). National women's tracking program Pt. 2 - Response. Technique, 10, 23-27.

Sands, W.A., Henschen, K.P., & Shultz, B.B. (1989). National women's tracking program. Technique, 9, 14-19.

Schmidt, R.A. (1982). Motor control and learning. Cham­paign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Shellock, FG., & Prentice, W.E. (1985) . Warming-up and stretching for improved physical performance ana pre­vention of sports-related in juries. ~ports Medicine, 2, 267-278.

Welford, A.T. (1987). On rates of improvement with practice. Tournai of Motor Behavior, 19, 401-415.

Winograd, T., & Flores, F. (1986). Understanding computers and cognition. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Summer Coaches Education Workshops

Preschool Instructors August 10-12,1990

Indianapolis, IN

Designed for coaches, physical educators and gymnastics instructors interested in improving basic understanding of movement education and developmental concepts. The workshop will emphasize the application of motor learning and developmental principles in curriculum design.

Topics: • Applying the hour-glass model of motor devel-

opment. • How to work effectively with children. • Identifying children's special needs. • Conducting programs externally: the Day Care

market. • Structuring for Fun! • Developmental Gymnastics programs • Sequential Gymnastics skills. • Rhythmic preschool activites and games. • USGF Safety Certification Course and Exam.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Gallahue

Boy's Instructors August 24-26,1990

Colorado Springs, CO

Designed for beginning and intermediate level boys' coaches. Sessions will be conducted in fun­damental skills, technique, progressions, spot­ting and strength/flexibility attainment. There will be special sport science presentations by mem­bers of the USOTC sports science group.

Specials: • Sport Science presentations. • Conducted at the Olympic Training Center. • Observation of the USGF Boy's National Train­

ing Camp sessions. • USGF Safety Certification course and Examina­

tion. • CPR certification opportunity. • Sessions by the USGF National Training Staff

members. • Emphasis on beginner progressions from the ].0.

Developmental program.

Basic Fee: $50 for USGF Pro-menbers and $75 for non-USGF Pro-members Add-on costs: CPR (CO only) = $20.00; Safety = $25.00, Skill Eva!. Test (IN only) = $9 or $15

FOR MORE INFORMA nON AND AND A REG ISTRA nON FORM, please write: USGF Department of Education, Pan American Plaza, Suite 300, 201 S. Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46225

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990 27

Rhythmic Judging

Andrea B. Schmid

RSG Code of Points Questions and Answers

Jumps and Leaps

Q-l Under what conditions does a jump or leap become a medium difficulty?

A See page 24 of the Code, 3-1./ A. Jumps or Leaps 1. Medium difficulties.

Three conditions are listed for a basic jump or leap to become a medium difficulty: a. general flexibility and body control dur­

ing the flight, ego split leap, ring leap, straddle jump, stag leap, etc.

b. jumps or leaps different from a. above, must be coordinated with a half turn, ego tuck jump.

C. simple jump coordinated with half turn and performed in a series, ego 3 cat leaps with half turn.

Thus a leap, tuck jump, series of cat leaps are basic body movements and receive no d iffi­culty credit. The gymnast has to show flexi­bility and body control during the flight in a leap, in other words perform a split leap to receive medium difficulty; or perform a half turn during the flight when performing a tuck jump or a series of cat leaps in order to receive medium difficulty.

Q-2 Under what conditions do jumps or leaps of type a become a medium difficulty? ... a su­perior difficulty? Is a double stag leap a medium or superior difficulty?

A See Page 24 of the Code 3-1./2. Superior difficulties, b.)

A double stag leap is a medium difficulty jump because it is initiated from the floor and the second leg movement is not added separately at the height of the leap. Medium difficulty jumps and leaps of type a. ego stag leap become a superior difficulty leap only when during the flight they are coordinated with a leg or trunk movement, or with a half turn. If a gymnast performs a stag leap and at the height of the jump she coordinates it with a leg movement, bends the back leg, then it becomes a superior difficulty.

Balances

Q-3 Can we accept a high passe position, the thigh in a natural position close to horizon­tal, for a medium balance?

A No. Medium balance can only be awarded if the free leg is minimum at horizontal position.

--f- No difficulty

Pivots

--t~ difficulty provided other conditions were met.

Q-4 Are double or triple pivots accepted with the leg bent at a passe position at the calf?

A Yes. Pivots are accepted for difficulty credit with the leg bent at a passe position with the foot at calf, but they are not accepted with foot at ankle.

Accepted for difficulty

Not accepted for difficulty

Groups of fundamental elements

Q-s How many times in the composition must the gymnast visibly show the groups of fun­damental elements for each apparatus?

A The groups of fundamental elements must be visibly shown a minimum of three times in the composition.

Group of non-fundamental elements or "other groups"

Q-6 How many times must the gymnast visibly show in the composition the non-funda­mental elements or "other groups?"

A There is no minimum number, the only requirement is that the movement must be present.

28 July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Rope

Q-7 Would the gymnast receive difficulty credit if she performed a tuck jump with double turn of the rope?

A Yes. She would receive medium difficulty for that move. If she performs a tuck jump/ half turn (medium difficulty jump) with double turn of the rope she would receive superior difficulty credit.

Hoop

Q-8 If a gymnast holds the hoop around her waist, and performs a vertical jump with one and a half turns (540°) while keeping her arms still in place just wiggling the hoop up and down during the jump, is this consid­ered a superior difficulty?

A

Ball

Yes, the superior jump is coordinated with hoop movement, even though wiggling of the hoop is not listed as an apparatus ele­ment. This is also true for the clubs, ego superior body elements with twirling of the clubs = superior difficulty.

Q-9 Can difficulty be awarded for the follow­ing? Throw ball while standing in place, perform an illusion (p.34 #5 medium diffi­culty), stand in place and wait to catch ball.

A No, The body movement is not coordinated with the handling of the apparatus.

Q-IO Throw ball while going into illusion stand and then catch. Can medium difficulty be awarded?

Clubs

Q-12 On p. 103 of the Code, tapping superior difficulty #2 states rhythmic tapping of the clubs together below the legs during jump or leap of medium difficulty. Is one tap under the legs sufficient for achieving the superior difficulty?

A Yes, delete from the text rhythmic.

Q-13 Is one tap enough for satisfying "rhythmic tapping?"

A No. To satisfy the composition requirement for rhythmic tapping of the clubs, one must do a minimum of two taps in a row to be con­sidered "rhythmic."

Q-14 If a gymnast drops both clubs at the end of her routine and finishes her exercise with­out the clubs what is the deduction?

A The deduction is 0.30 point regardless if she drops 1 or 2 clubs. This is the same as for any other apparatus.

Ribbon

Q-15 If a gymnast performs a 360° pivot with foot at the ankle while doing snakes (6 loops), can medium difficulty be awarded?

A No. However, she can satisfy the composi­tional requirement of the pivot with snake of the ribbon. Also see answer for # Q-4.

Q-16 If a gymnast performs a straddle jump with half turn and spirals ribbon with less than 5 loops, can superior difficulty be awarded?

A Yes, because the beginning of the body A movement was coordinated with the han­dling of the apparatus.

Yes. However, spiral with 4 loops does not meet the composition requirement of spi­rals. The gymnast must have in her routine 3 spirals (with 5 or 6 loops) to satisfy the compositional requirement of spirals. Also see answer for # Q-8.

Q-ll On page 89 of the Code, Medium and Supe­rior difficulties #7 states, throw with a swing or push with one hand, 360° or 720° pivot(s) and immediately catch the ball with one hand. It does not state handle the ball with conjunction of the pivot. Can this be given medium difficulty or superior difficulty respectively?

A Yes, provided after the pivot(s) the gymnast immediately catches the ball (or any appara­tus) . The relation between the movement and the apparatus is considered good if the ca tch is irnmedia te withou t waiting for ca tch­ing the apparatus.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990 29

Men's Technical

Jim Holt Men's Coach University of Washington

Various Phases of Ring Swing

There are three distinct phases to dislo­cate and inlocate swing on rings:

1. turnover 2. lift 3. drop (see diagram)

When teaching virtually all elements on rings, I have found it quite valuable to explain to gym­nasts in diagram form what they will be doing at various points in a dislocate, inlocate, shoot, or related elements. A great advantage of such a method is that it becomes very easy to isolate various parts (and problems) of a move and to work on specific drills to teach or enhance a way of doing something. Perhaps more importantly, it gives the gymnast a conceptual overview of the movement patterns involved.

PHASE TWO: LIFT

PHASE THREE: DROP

30

PHASE ONE: TURNOVER

Phase One: Turnover The turnover at the bottom of the swing is the

key phase of a dislocate or shoot. Broadly speak­ing, 85 percent of the move happens in 30 percent of the axis of swing, and between 10-15 percent of the elapsed time. In one sense this is a specially critical point during swing because while mo­mentum has been built up during the drop, the turnover or transition point (from drop to lift) is where most gymnasts make technical mistakes in arm action or body position that will make the lift or rise very inefficient.

The goal during the turnover is to get the feet and hips turned as quickly as possible, and to ac­celerate the body by shortening the radius (see break in shoulder angle and bend at hips). There are several ways to accomplish this . The time­honored method is to have the gymnast "kick hard" through bottom. A good drill to accom­plish this is to have the gymnast do underswing to inverted hang on rings. Few athletes think of the actual transition to inverted position in swing and this must be heavily emphasized. A second drill that's valuable is to have the gymnast con­centrate on the drop phase of a free hip on hori­zontal bar; this helps increase awareness of both keeping the body tight, and also the sensation of acceleration.

Another means to accomplish a quick, dynamic turnover is to shift emphasis from the kick to the pull. It is an important element of coaching (and a great challenge) to identify an athletes internal body orientation as upper or lower body (one among many differentiations). A gymnast who is more upper body oriented, would emphasize the pulling aspect of turning over. This can be de­scribed as pulling to a front lever. It should be done as dynamically as possible. Although a pull to hang looks like (and if fact is the same motion as) the kick, the emphasis will be meaningful as regards to each gymnast's physical orientation. When emphasizing the pull, two specific (although not mutually exclusive) hand positions can be drilled and emphasized: a) palms forward, like a front lever position has several advantages, the most important being it gives a gymnast maxi­mum power in the pull. Also, it puts the gymnast in an excellent body (chest hollowed) position. The disadvantage comes in the way this pull relates to the lift phase and will be discussed later. (Sho Fukushima) b) emphasis is to have the thumbs back (palms facing each other, rings par­allel), which creates a slight decrease in the power phase, but has an advantage in creating a smooth transition to the lift phase. Please note that alter­nate methods will be effective for different ath­letes, and that a coach should guide/ expose/ ex­periment/advise on which emphases should be given to each gymnast on a case by case basis. Again, good drills to do are powerful underswing to hang on rings, to do peach drops on p-bars for parallel ring pult and the free hip turnover on high bar for front lever type pull. Another excel­lent drill is to do straight arm pulldowns with weight on a cross machine, and straight body pulls to hang on top asymmetrical bar or high bar.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Phase Two: Lifts The second, or lift phase begins at the point

which the shoulder angle starts to increase (com­pared with its decrease during turnover); this is accomplished in several ways. First, extension develops by driving the arms back with either a pulling or pushing action (see previous para­graph). Pullback is with palm of hand facing forward, and with actual rotation of the wrists (and rings) coming late in lift (near a handstand in a shoot or giant). This is an acceptable technique, but really should be used only when a gymnast has markedly more strength (which can be meas­ured on a cross machine) pulling with palms forward. A second advantage is that by concen­trating on pulling through the bottom (and giving the direction of the shoot a slightly narrower ellipse) gives the athlete with slower reaction time a longer pull in the initial phase of the move. The disadvantage is that it entails an increased pro­clivity to bend the arms, since the elbows don't automatically lock out as compared to pushing the rings back.

The disadvantage in pushback with wrists turn­ing and palms facing back at beginning of exten­sion is that the chest tends to open very early thereby breaking the proper body angle. With this technique, handspeed is very important, and therefore a less explosive gymnast will be at a disadvantage. Because the chest tends to open early, unless an athlete is very solid in the hand­stand, there will be a tendency to have an arched or open handstand ruing the lockout at the top. Also, at a less than elite level, it will make straight arm shoots tend to turn over too soon due to the early breaking in the shoulder angle.

A secondary way to accomplish the lift phase with the hands back in a very explosive manner is to break the wrists and pop the head and chest open, and drive the rings down, leading with the heel of the hand. This has the advantage of really shortening the radius, and thereby accelerating the shoot, but the disadvantage of creating addi­tional (and therefore unaesthetic-all else being equal) angles with head and chest up; also, one gets pronounced shoulder angles necessitating a counteraction at the handstand in hollowing out.

My favorite drills to emphasize this phase of ring swing are:

A. pulling back on cross machine using an incline bench (thereby increasing range of motion and adding specific­ity through putting body in similar position to skill) .

B. back drop or back extension roll on trampoline - this is excellent for de­veloping body awareness, handspeed, and especially timing. The technique is to set feet with hands straight to­wards ceiling, and at the point that a gymnast can see hands and feet at the same time, to drive backwards to handstand.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Phase Three: Drop On rings, the most crucial aspects of the drop

are to maintain pressure on the rings from the shoulders (extending through the hands), and to keep the body tight during the descent. In order to keep weight on the rings, an athlete should concentrate on pushing away from the shoulders (shoulder extension) . An excellent drill for this is to have a gymnast do shoulder shrugs in a hand­stand, either on floor or on any piece of equip­ment, concentrating on the lift half of the move­ment. The best drill to train extension is to put a skill cushion directly under a set of low rings and practice bailing into the pad; it is important that a gymnast hit the mat flat; for maintaining pressure on the apparatus, have a coach or instructor push the rings up at the conclusion of the drop; most beginning gymnasts will not keep weight applied to the rings at this point and a few reminders by showing how easily they can create slack will heighten awareness.

Body tightness is the second component of the drop. This and pressure on rings add up to maximum possibility of extension, and therefore creation of the greatest possible momentum. Tightness is accomplished by "squeezing the butt" or flexing the gluteals during the drop. This can be drilled by bailing into a pad and hitting flat, first from a stationary bar, then from low rings. This drill, however, replicates only the first half of the drop phase. The second half can be worked using handspotters catching a gymnast who bails from shoulderstand. Especially for a beginning gymnast, there should be a spotter present during shoulderstand bail (or any beginning sequence of bails) . The exercise is for the gymnast to hold a shoulderstand (he can set it by lowering from a handstand), squeeze his butt, then jam his hands straight out, keeping the head neutral. The spot­ter at the beginning stages can slow the athlete down by catching his thigh, and most impor­tantly from a safety standpoint, as the gymnast passes through the bottom the spotter can make sure he places his spotting arm directly under the gymnast's back. In the event of a peel, the gym­nast will just do a backward roll over the coaches extended arm; this technique is generally much safer than trying to catch the athlete while somer­saulting, for both the athlete and spotter.

While this article is in no way a comprehensive development of progressions of frontswing on rings, it attempts to develop a conceptual view of the broad movements on the apparatus and how they might be broken into specific parts or phases. This approach allows us to more specifically iso­late particular technical requirements, ad vantages, and flows in a given swings and it also allows us to provide a conceptual and graphic framework, gives both coaches and gymnasts a clearer under­standing of the dynamics of ring movement. Additionally, it allows us to work specific exer­cises which will help a gymnast learn skills more quickly and efficiently.

31

On rings, the

most crucial

aspects of the drop

are to maintain

pressure on the

rings from the

shoulders (extend­

ing through the

hands), and to

keep the body

tight during the

descent. In order

to keep weight on

the rings, an

athlete should

concentrate on

pushing away

from the shoulders

(shoulder

extension) .

Educational Gymnastics

Garland O'Quinn, Jr., Pd.D.

USGF Education Sub­Committee

The true meaning

and value of gym­

nastics as a funda­

mental part of

education has not

been discovered by

the public at large

A Deeper for our Gymnastics Programs

Gymnastics as a sport is well established now. And those of us who took part during the early years are proud of the part we played in building it. But the potential contribution of gymnastics

to the education of children is far far far greater than we have even begun to achieve. Gymnastics has educational values for every child in our na tion and has the poten tial of becoming the very basis for the physical development of children. But its growth must begin in our own gymnastics facilities as we broaden and deepen the base of our gymnastics programs.

The US,GFEducation Sub-Committee has spent a number of years defining and developing con­cepts for Educational Gymnastics. These concepts should help gymnastics to grow and become a real influence on more and more children. The next step in the growth of educational gymnastics is for us to align ourselves with others in our society who understand the importance of self­reliance and self-confidence in a child's educa­tion. We must take what we know about gymnas­tics and explain it to our community. So ... where do be begin to look for support?

. The Public Concept of Gymnastics

By and large the public thinks of gymnastics only as a competitive sport leading to the Olym­pics. Most people do not associate gymnastics activities as basic and necessary to every child's growth and development. The true meaning and value of gymnastics as a fundamental part of education has not been discovered by the public at large. Yet there are some in every community who are tuned in to the problems of children and are concerned that children have too few oppor­tunities to build self-confidence. As we learn to identify these segments of our community and communicate with them we will accelerate the growth of educational gymnastics.

Parents

32

Almost every parent group has at least a few who are interested in programs which build self­confidence and self-reliance. These are the par­ents who will be ready ,to support educational gymnastics. It is up to us as gymnastics educators to gather our words together and go to the parents groups with our story.

Wider Base

Day Care Facilities No place in our community is more aware of

the needs of children than our day care facilities . Employes must constantly struggle to contain the energy of children who want to climb onto and under the desks and furniture . These are the adults who stand to gain the most from a well planned program of educational gymnastics. Guiding the energy of children would make the task of the day care employee much easier.

Professional day care groups have at least a few members who are aware of children's need for physical activity and the kinesthetic benefits that it brings. Kinesthetic sensations have consid­erable input to the development of emotions and a sense of self-identity. Without this develop­ment, children are especially susceptible to dis­traction, conflict and discord. These day care groups should be happy to have you give a talk, demonstration and lead a discussion on this sub­ject. One nationally organized group is called the Association For The Education of Young Chil­dren and probably has a local chapter.

Schools and the Education Community

Public education is presently in a state of change. There are a few teachers and administrators who have become aware that the pressure to succeed in academic education is having a negative effect on our children. The individual child seems trampled in the rush toward college preparation and SAT scores. One of the major indicators of the schools inability to meet the needs of children is the high drop out rate. In most states fewer than 70% of those children eligible to graduate from high school are actually graduating. A new ap­proach is definitely needed.

A few educators are noticing that the missing ingredient in a child's education is a chance to develop a confident sense of self. The present educational environment is not helping children to know themselves or develop self-esteem. These are the teachers and administrators who are inter­ested in knowing more about our educational gymnastics programs.

The most receptive educational groups will be our Associations for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. But principals and class­room teachers are also interested in concepts that will reduce conflict in the schools.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

A Positive Alternative to Dropping Out

Gymnastics is a highly kinesthetic activity. The feelings of gymnastics movements course through the body and fill it with sensations and aware­ness. Gymnastics skills provide powerful inner feelings and rewards that are very important to personal development, feelings that many of todays children never experience. Educational gymnastics skills are at the heart of self-under­standing and self-confidence. There is little ques­tion that children who gain confidence and con­trol of the body will be more resistant to the influences of drugs, crime and drop out. Educa­tional gymnastics is probably the best positive al­ternative that our schools could offer.

Local Law Enforcement The local police are constantly challenged by

the population of school dropouts. They will welcome any discussion that promises to reduce school drop outs and help children resist drugs and crime. The police often sponsor Big Brothers

and Sisters programs and recrea tion leagues. They should be interested in any program with activi­ties which help young boys and girls need a posi­tive track in life.

A Fundamental Human Need

A fundamental human need is self-understand­ing and confidence from within. This seems to be the missing ingredient in the education of chil­dren today. Educational gymnastics has a tre­mendous contribution to make in this area. Gymnastics educators can be assured that their programs will add important human values to our na tiona 1 and local ed uca tion systems. In these programs we should emphasize the self-develop­ment aspects of gymnastics and de-emphasize the competitive aspects of the sport.

In the next issue we will discuss the back­ground of educational concepts and research which support gymnastics as a valuable educa­tional activity. This discussion will help prepare us for the questions we will face from our com­munity.

USGP Congress Sept. 13-15, 1990

Registration Form

Name: Mr.lMrs.lMs. _____________ Soc.Sec. # _____ _ Address: _________________________ _ City:. __________________ State: ___ Zip: ____ _ Telephone: (H) (_) __ - (W) (_) _ -__ Organization Represented: ____________________ _ If,USGF Professional Member, ListNumber: _____________ _

Are you also pre-registered any of the USG F Pre-Congress workshops? _Yes _No

Check the appropriate title: _Women's Prog. _Men's Program _Club Owner _Judge

_Rhythmic Program _Coach _Administrator

Amount Enclosed: _ $ 90 for USGF professional members postmarked by Aug. 1 _ $11 0 for USGF professional members postmarked after Aug. 1 _ $150 for non-USGF members regardless of date.

You may pay by check: Make checks payable to USGF OR, _ MasterCard _VISA # Expir. Date: ___ _ Signature T390

Use this form to register for the regular Congress Sessions only. You must use the form on page 18 to register for any of the PRE-Congress sessions (9/12 and 9/13). This form must arrive at the USGF offices NO LATER THAN August 31 , 1990. After August 31, you must register on-site. Registration is nonrefundable after September 4, 1990. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Complete the above form and return with payment to: USGF PRE-CONGRESS, Pan American Plaza, Suite 300, 201 S. Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46225

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990 33

Please Note: Use

this form to register

for the regular

USGF Congress as

advertised on the

pages 33 and 34.

USGF CONGRESS, SEPTEMBER 13-16,1990

CHALLENGES IN THE lOIS

USGF Congress in New Orleans ... Iand of dreams. From 1990's Basin Street Blues to the rum­bling metropolis laced in an­tique accent, take some time out from the Congress to let New Orleans entertain and fascinate you . Brimming with culinary pleasures, the spicy city is known for its Cajun cook­ing. Stroll the fabulous French Quarter, visit the museums and antique shops, enjoy street en­tertainment, and the haunt­ing echoes of pure jazz, played like nowhere else in the world!

HOST HOTEL New Orleans Hyatt Regency, Poydras at Loyola Avenue (504) 561-1234

Wed, Sept. 12 - Congress Reg­istration & Pre-Congress Business Seminar (separate fee required for Pre-Con­gress Workshops)

Thur, Sept. 13 - Registration at 8:30 am & Opening Sessions of Congress at 1 :OOpm

Fri, Sept. 14 -Congress Sessions Sat, Sept. 15 - Congress Ses­

sions and Banquet

RATES Single ......... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. . $ 68.00 Double .. ........... .... ... ... $ 84.00 Triple .. .... .... .. ... .. ....... ... $ 94.00 Quad .. .. .. ...... .......... .. .. $104.00

NEW ORLEANS

•••••••••••••••• Featured Guest Speaker at the Annual Awards

Banquet: GEORGE

STEINBRENNER

•••••••••••••••• Featured Guest

Speaker MARY LOU RETTON

1984 Gold Medalist in the

Los Angeles Olympic Games

SEMINAR FEES $90.00 for USGF professional members postmarked by Aug . 1, 1990.

$110.00 for USGF professional members postmarked after Aug . 1, 1990.

$150.00 for non-USGF profe_ sional members regardless of date.

FEE INCLUDES: Free entrance to all lectures, master clinics, demonstrations, Final Ban­quet, and free admission to the exhibit area featuring the industry's finest products. Ses­sions run from 1 :00 pm on Thurs­day, all day Friday and all day Saturday. Registration is non­refundable after September 4, 1990. NO EXCEPTIONS.

AIRLINES American Airlines is the official airline of the 1990 USGF Con­gress. Call 1-800-433-1790 and refer to STAR # S0390LX to ac­cess significant savings. Call now!

REGISTRATION PLease use the form on page 33 of this magazine to register for the USGF Congress. Use the form on page 18 to register for the USGF Pre-Con­gress sessions.

ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

34

USGF CONGRESS, SEPTEMBER 13-16,1990

Schedule The following Table lists

the General Daily Schedule for the 1990 USGP CON­GRESS and pre-Congress sessions. This is provided to assist you in scheduling your travel iternaries. Information regarding specific meeting times and individual session times is not available at this da teo The Program Adminis­trators, USGP committees and member organizations are still in the process of iden­tHing their needs to the Con­gress planning staff.

Coaching and judging ses­sions will begin at 1:10 on Thursday afternoon for those of you who can arrive early. There will also be sessions

planned in the Sport Science, Business, andPre-school and Educational Gymnastics as well as the usual meetings for USGP committee mem­bers.

Priday and Saturday will include FULL programming in all areas as well as special committe meetings as re­quired.

Sunday morning is pri­marily utilized for those of you who need to test or cer­tify in various areas as well as for final committee meet­ings.

This year, the total num­ber of Congress offerings will be reduced in number and

there will be more "repeat" sessions so that you can bet­ter schedule your opportu­nities to select those particu­lar sessions that are of great­est interest and value to you. Every effort is being made to avoid schedule conflicts be­tween required meetings and presentation sessions.

All organization and committee meeting times will be finalized by August 1st in order for these groups to inform their membership.

You are encouraged to participate in the pre-Con­gress sessions. Although these require an additional fee payment, we hope you will appreciate the quality

of these program offerings and the effort of the present­ers to make this experience a GREAT motivational and learning experience for you and your staff.

This year the USGP Con­gress features many out­standing topics and present­ers covering a wide range of interests - technique, grass­roots, dance, sport sciences, etc.

As usual, the Exhibit Hall will be filled with outstand­ing prod ucts and services for the gymnastics professional and gym club. Support our exhibitors!

Come to New Orleans for Challenges in the 90's!

General Daily Schedule

TIme Wed., 9/12 Thurs., 9/13 Fri.,9/14 Sat., 9/15 Sun., 9/16 7:15 REGISTRATION for 8:00 Pre-Congress Sessions: REGIST~ATION for Congress Congress Special "after Con-

Start Times: Pre-Congress Sessions Registration Registration gress" sessions. Pre·school - 9:00 am & Regular CONGRESS: continues ... continues ... including: Business- 10:00 am

8:30 Start Times: 1 st am sessions 1 st am sessions Judges' Cert. Exams CPR- 8:00am NOTE: Separate fee Franklin Time Managment - Nat. Safety Certifiers'

9:40 required for al/ Pre- 8:00am 2nd am sessions 2nd am sessions Meeting General Gymnastics -Congress sessions. 8:00am Safety Cert. Course

10:50 Sequential Gym. -1:00 3rd am sessions 3rd am sessions Skill Evaluator's Test Safety Cert. #1 - 1:00 Meet Director's Test

12:00 LUNCH BREAK Regular CONGRESS LUNCH BREAK LUNCH BREAK CPR Certification BEGINS at 1: 1 0 pm!

1:10 Registration continues 1 st afternoon sessions 1 st afternoon sessions 1 st afternoon sessions plus. for Pre-Congress

2:20 sessions & regular Lnd atiernoon sessions 2nd afternoon sessions 2nd afternoon sessions various other commit-Congress. tee meetings and

3:50 3rd afternoon sessions 3rd afternoon sessions 3rd afternoon sessions Member Organization meetings.

5:00 DINNER BREAK Final Thur. sessions 4th afternoon sessions 4th afternoon sessions & various meetings.

6:00 Various group Pre-Banquet Recep-meetings tion

7:00 & committee meet-ings. ANNUAL CONGRESS

BANQUET and AAI sponsored DANCE

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990 35

In ternationalReport

Hideo Mizoguchi

USGF Junior Technical Coordinator

China Report

36

Chinese Gymnastics Training System

Purpose ~his China trip was originally suggested by the

JUnIor Program Committee in an effort to better understand the overall Chinese gymnastics train­ing system and methods. One of the goals of the trip was to take as much video footage as possible, however, I later discovered that the video taping would not be permitted at the National Training C:enter (by order of the Chinese Sports Commis­sIOns). Therefore, this report will be the only documentation of the Chinese gymnastics train­ing meth?ds and systems as observed on this trip.

The tnp was scheduled in conjunction with the annual China Cup International Invitational in Beijing. The competition was held on April 27,28, and May 1, 1:90 (the Chinese National Holiday on fell onApnI30). I was able to observe the train­ing on May 2-5,1990.

Initial contact was made by the USGF Men's p.ro~ram through the Chinese Gymnastics Asso­CIation; however, permission for me to observe the. National Training Center was granted by the Chmese Sports Commission which governs all sports organizations and programs in China. I u.nderstand that it is difficult to receive permis­SIOn to observe the National Team training as well as the Chinese National Sports Center, there­fore we are very grateful for this consideration. I was provided with one interpreter and a govern­ment car with a driver to take me to almost anywhere in Beijing (except where they didn't ,:,ant me to ~o!). I repeatedly requested permis­SIOn to use VIdeotape - each request was denied.

On the first day of my visit to observe the Na­tional Team training at Chinese National Sports Center, I was welcomed by the head coach of the National Gymnastics Team (men and women), Mr. Gao Jian, and the head coach of the men's National Team, Mr. Huang Yubin. These two gentlemen served as the primary source for the information included in this report.

Junior National Team Program Selection of Junior National Team

The Chinese Junior National Team consists of 18 gy~nasts aged13 to 16 years. These gymnasts are plCked according to their physical potential, not achieved gymnastics skill ability levels. Each year, there is a tryout period during the summer months - the tryout training camp can last anywhere from four to twelve weeks. One

hundred boys between ages of 12-16 are invited to participate in this .training camp. All go through the senes of the SkIlls and potential testing. At the conclusion of this training camp, 18 gymnasts are selected to remain at the National Training Center year-round as members of the Chinese Junior National Team.

The Training Site and Facility All of the 18 Junior National team are man­

dated to live at the Dormitory at the National Sports Training Center in Beijing. Besides the gymnasts, athletes from many different sports are ~ous~d here. The training facilities and gym are nght m the sports center itself. All of the athletes expenses are supported by the Chinese Sports Commission. These youngsters (age 12-16 years old) are not permitted to go home; however, their parents may visit them occasionally. For those who have been on the National Team for succes­sive years, they may not have visited home in two or three years. It v.:as explained that the young gymnasts learn qUlckly but also forget easily, therefore, it is desirable to maintain consistent training schedule until completion of their physi­cal maturity.

The training gym has two separate, but con­~ec~ed areas. One of these is used primairly by the JUnIor gymnasts. The larger portion of the gym is used by senior gymnasts and is about 10,000 square feet (100' x 100'). The smaller portion of the gym is about 4,000 square feet (40' x 100'). Most of the equipment I observed was made in China ex­cept for a power tumbling strip (6 ' x 60') which was imported from West Germany. There was one loose-foam pit in each area, with all events set-up to utilize the pit. There were approxi­mately 4 pieces of equipment for each event, and of course, there were a few floor-level pommel horses as well as floor-level mushrooms. Much of the equipment appeared old and outdated. There were plenty of landing mats.

Power Tumbling Strip Cross-section

6'

Foam Block Fiberglass

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

The Training Schedule: The 18 gymnasts were divided into three groups

according to their age and abilities. Each group of six had one coach who might have moved from another city when his gymnast qualified to the National Team.

These youngsters practice six days a week (not on Sunday) . They go to school three days a week for three hours each day (in the morning only). The specific daily schedules are as follows:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday 9:OOam-12:00noon Morning Training (basically

covers three events) 12:00noon- 3:00pm Lunch and Rest (nap-time) 3:00-6:00pm Afternoon Training (other

three events)

Tuesday/Thursday/ Saturday 6:00-8:00am Morning Exercise 8:30am-12:00noon School 12:00noon-3:00pm Lunch and Rest 3:00-6:00pm Afternoon Training

Daily Training Schedule: 1. Morning Exercise: this early morning training

time is mainly used for flexibility and some strength training.

2. Morning Training: is used for the develop­ment of the fundamental skills in three se­lected Olympic events.

3. Afternoon Training: this training session cov­ers the remaining three Olympic events and some regular conditioning exercise. However, on the days they have school (Tue, Thu & Sat), a major portion of the practice time was de­voted to strength and conditioning training.

4. School: regardless of age, everyone goes to school only three days a week for three hours a day - quite often these youngsters do not receive appropriate corresponding age level education. This is becoming a serious problem with the world class athletes, many of whom have difficulty in meeting the government stan­dards in reading and writing.

The Training Philosophy in The Junior Program:

The Chinese Junior Coaches at the National Training Center believe that the typical Chinese youngster's normal growth and development is slower than that of European or American Cauca­sians by about one to two years. Based upon this rationale, the focus of the main training for the development of future Olympians focuses on the development of good sound basics - which they refer to as quality training. They believe this is best accomplished between the ages of 13-16 years. Within the Junior National Team program, a gymnast must pass the designated skill require­ment in order to move to a higher level.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Junior National Team Skill Requirements:

I did not see a specific written document for the coaches to follow. However, I was able to prepare the following requirements through in­terviews with the coaches. Although this does not give you complete information, it will provide insight as to what the Chinese are currently emphasizing. Floor Exercise (Tumbling):

1. Round off, one back handspring, tucked back somersault. Very strong emphasis on Round-off, flip-flop , because they feel this will determine the future skill difficulties.

2. Front handspring (two-foot take off) .. Pommel Horse:

1. Double leg circles on floor level mushroom, floOl' level horse (including longitudinal travels of various kinds).

2. Flair circles on mushroom, on floor level horse (various kinds).

3. Single pommel loops. Rings:

1. Handstand hold (with straight body posi­tion and rings turned out) VenJ strong em­phasis on this.

2. Basic forward and backward swing. Parallel Bars:

1. Basic Support swing, Emphasis - a) shoulders must be kept as close to the hands position as possible; b) swing must be in arc action, not just forward and backward action.

2. Giant swing, Emphasis - a) exactly the same as High Bar giant swing except the beating action; b) completion of the beat should be as late as possible; c) at the bottom of swing, emphasis is on the shoulder sink action.

3. Back Stutz and Healy, Rational - these two skills are very difficult to accomplish with good technical execution, therefore, it is emphasized in early age group training.

NO

Horizontal Bar: 1. Front Giants 2. Back Giants

Vaulting: 1. Run and punch off the board, Emphasis - a)

looking for a good rotation not distance, by doing punch off the board onto the high stacked mats; b) No Handspring Vault because this teaches the bad habit of reaching for the horse and also develops poor technique for the take-off from the board.

2. Round-off, Flip-flop entry Vault: Emphasis -a) round-off should be long and high; b) looking for a straight line of entry; c) feet should be

37

38

behind the body at the end of the round-off; d) a very tight body position on contact.

Dance Requirement: There is no dance program of any kind at any

levels, however, they spend a lot of time on body positioning.

Observations from Junior National Team practice:

Beca use of the Chinese National Holiday, prac­tice on May 2nd was only a half day - and since this was Wednesday, it was scheduled as rather light training for the athletes. The following por­tion of this report deals with my observation of junior national team training.

Floor Exercise: 1. Round-off flip-flop to rebound (40 reps) -

this was done from a vaulting board (with­out any prior steps) and onto 4" thick land­ing mats.

2. Single punch front somersault (30 reps) -this was done from a stand on a 12" mat and jumping onto the floor exercise with a thin layer of landing mat. Emphasis - a) keep the knees together; b) point the toes throughout ; c) try to stick the landing.

3. Standing tucked backward somersault, (30 reps) - this was done on regular floor exer­cise mat. Emphasis - a) toe point; b) good rotation of the somersault.

4. Handstand snap down drill (20-30 reps) -this was done from a handstand on floor mounted long horse, snapdown to floor exercise mat and rebound back onto the horse. Emphasis - a very tight body.

5. In discussion of the round-off flip-flop tech­nique with the Junior coaches, theyempha­sized the position of the feet at the end of the round-off, and the emphasis was on the com­plete flat feet at the time feet contact with the floor. The reason for this, is that finishing on the balls of the feet promotes bending the knees forward, which in turn results in a very weak push-off action from the floor.

NO YES

l' l' On toeS Fla.t f-ool;

Also this position results in increased leg strength.

6. Roundoff flip-flop, tucked backward som­ersaults (40 reps). This was done on 40' x 40' floor exercise with 4" landing mats on top.

Parallel Bars: 1. Healys (40-50 reps) - a few juniors could

do 8-10 times in a row with almost perfect technical execution!

2. Giants (30 reps) - in one turn, a gymnast would do as many giants as they possibly could.

3. The following sequences were done with a piece of foam between their feet. This must be held throughout the sequence and per­formed with perfect form (5 sets): Sequence #1- From handstand at the end

of the bars, a giant handstand, giant front uprise, swing back to the handstand, Healy swing back to handstand, pirou­ette, back toss to handstand hold.

Sequence #2 - From handstand at the end of the bars, giant front uprise swing back to handstand, Stutz to handstand, back toss to handstand, back toss to hand­stand, stutz to handstand, single tucked back dismount.

Sequence #3 - From handstand in center, giant Diamidov, giant to handstand, giant handstand, giant front uprise, stutz to handstand, toss to handstand, toss to handstand, stutz to handstand, single tucked back dismount.

Sequence #4 - From handstand in center, giant handstand, healy back to handstand, healy back to handstand, back toss to handstand, back toss to handstand, Stutz to handstand.

Horizontal Bar: 1. Forward and backward giants (in each di­

rection, 40-50 times total) This was done on light practice days.

2. The following sequences were done by one of the older groups. They were at the horizontal bar event for about 45 minutes. Also, each and almost every sequence went to handstand position. Sequence #1-Back uprise, back stalder im­

mediate blind change, one front giant, stoop dislocate, two inverted giants with layout position, hop to immediate front stalder, pirouette, one back giant, back stalder, blind change, front stalder immediate pirouette, two back giants for the dismount with Chinese beat action.

Sequence #2 - Variation of the above se­quence.

3. A few gymnasts were just practicing on Gaylord I beat action and also the beat ac­tion for the Covacs.

4. All of them spend some time on perfecting the Chinese beating action for the dismount. It is apparent from the many Chinese senior

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

gymnasts who compete internationally that they are promoting such particular dismount beating action; in fact, Mr. Gao, head na­tional coach, was very proud of this techni­cal achievement.

I did not get to see the other three events due to schedule conflicts, however, you get a pretty good idea.

Strength Training: This portion of the report was taken from a

Tuesday afternoon training session. I missed a few exercises since I was unable to video tape.

1. Handstand pushups on low parallel bars with assistance by a coach (2-3 sets of 25 reps).

2. Pull-ups on High Bar with perfect form (2-3 sets of 10-20 reps).

3. Lower back arch lift with 10 kilograms weight in straps which hang over the neck - the gymnast lies on stomach on horse with a partner is holding the legs 0-2 sets of 10 reps).

4. Squat jumps across the 12 meter length (3 reps).

5. Arm curls with 5-10 kilograms of free weights (2-3 sets).

7. Toe point standing against wall 0 minutes) - standing on thin landing mat 0-2 sets).

8. Handstand hold on the Rings 20-30 seconds with the rings turned out (some did with elastic in between the rings).

j E'last;c

Miscellaneous: There are a few other items worth mentioning.

From the youngest junior to the top senior gym­nast, none of them wore any kind of shirt, in fact, they wore only shorts the whole time I was there. The coaches explained that this permits to better observe the upper body line. The same reasoning applied to the gymnastics shoes, the coaches do not feel that shoes contribute to an esthetically pleasing line. I did not see any use of the high bar straps - the Chinese coaches expressed that these are unnecessary if enough time is spent on basics.

There are some promising Juniors who are worth remembering for the future.

1. Bian Qing Hui (3) 2. Zhang Jingjun (3)

He was the 1989 Junior National Parallel Bars Champion in the 16 and under age group - at the time, he was only 12 years old!

Sr. National Team Program

6. Standing military presses with 5-10 kilo- The Selection of Senior National Team grams of free weights (2-3 sets) . Members:

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

The Chinese Senior National Team consists of 20 gymnasts aged 17 and older. The group is sub­divided into four groups of five gymnasts. It didn't appear that all of the best gymnasts were placed in the same group. I don't have detailed information regarding the selection of the Senior National Team, but the result of annual Chinese National competition (May) is used as one of the selection criteria. It appears that once a gymnast

39

40

has earned National Team status, his position is fairly secure. The following are the groupings of the national team members:

Group 1 Coach: Hung Yubin Li Chun Yang *Li Jin Huang Liping Guo Linyue *Li Xiao Shuang

Group 2 Coach: Huang Xiansi LiGe MaJun Huang Huadong *Nong Qiang ZhouJin

Group 3 Group 4 Coach: Shi Fuxing Coach: Liu Wanfa *Ma Zheng Jin Wei guo *Liang Jing Wei Li Dashuang Qiao Liang Xu Zhongqiu Xiao Ruizhi Chen Guangyan Lin Huaishan Ma Jianfu

* The asterisks indicate the gymnasts who competed in this year's China Cup.

The Training Site: Essentially, the Chinese Senior National Pro­

gram is an extension of the Junior National Pro­gram with exception of the selection procedure. They all train at the National Sports Center in Beijing (the only National Training Center in China). The gymnasts stay in the dormitory at the National Sports Center complex. However, un­like the junior gymnasts, the senior gymnasts are allowed to go home once a year for a two weeks period at the end of each year.

The Training Format and Schedule: Again this basically follows the same format as

the junior schedule; of course, the contents of workouts are significantly different, (a detailed description of senior training will be described later) . Additionally, the light training days are alternated from the Junior training.

MondayfWednesday/Friday 6:00-8:00am Morning Exercise 8:30am-12:00r.oon School 12:00noon-3:00pm Lunch and Rest 3:30-6:00pm Afternoon Training

Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday 9:00am-12:00noon Morning Training (first

12:00noon-3:00pm 3:30-6:00pm

three events) Lunch and Rest Afternoon Training (other three events)

I attended the Senior National Team Training ona Wednesday afternoon and a Thursday mprn­ing. As I described in the Junior Training Sched­ule, a major portion of the Wednesday session was devoted to individualized training; for ex­ample, some gymnasts spent a lot of time on skill sequentes while the others focused on strength development. The atmosphere was very relaxed. The following are the notes that I took during the Thursday morning training:

Thursday Morning Training: The entire group was divided into two groups

due to two missing assigned coaches because of the Chinese National holiday.

Warm-ups: The group warm up was com­pleted in just about 10 minutes and another 10 minutes was spent on individual needs.

1. Basic calisthenic for upper body. 2. Light stretching exercise in sitting position.

(i.e ., side split, front split, shoulders, wrists flexibility and etc,)

3. Some examples of individualized warmup: a. Handstand pushups on low P.B. 00-20

reps) b. Handstand hold on Rings 05-30 sec.) c. Handstand hold on Floor (20-30 sec.) d. Basic swing to handstand on PB. e. Basic side straddle swing on PH. f. 4-5 straight body planche, press to hand­

stand and continuing to 10 handstand push­ups.

g. Strength on Rings - Kip L, hollowback to handstand, 3-4 handstand pushups. -Kip L, stiff stiff to handstand, lower to inverted cross, pull up , lower to regular cross, pull up, lower to cross to back lever. (This was done all by himself) . After total of 20-30 minutes of warmup, the gymnasts were divided into two groups for event rotation as follows:

GroupA: PH - > RINGS - > VAULT Group B: PB ->HB - > FLOOR

The training format was 2 compulsory and 2 optional routines, except on Pommel Horse where some did 3-4 compulsory routines. It was also very individualized as to whether a gymnast would start with compulsory or optional. The rotation lasted about 45 minutes, however, once his required number of routines were accom­plished, a gymnast could move on to the next event without waiting for others from his group. I was not certain if this was the general case or because there were two coaches missing on this practice day. My impression through the obser­vation of the training was that Li Jing seemed the most prepared gymnast - Mr. Gao expressed that he feels that potentially Huang Liping will develop into a better gymnast than Li Jing.

Highlights from Senior Training: 1. Pommel Horse-

Compulsory -four gymnasts completed a hand­stand dismount at the end of the routine with­out any form break. Optional - many longitudinal travel in flair circles with some spindal combina tions as well as regular longitudinal travel with or without pommels.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

2. Rings-Compulsory - the lower down from handstand prior to the kip L was done with straight arms. There were only two gymnasts who completed straight arm back uprise to handstand consis­tently from forward cast, inlocates. Optional­Li Ning's warm-up was done on low set of the Rings as in the following illustration:

Warmup drill for Li Ning

3. Vaulting-Compulsory - The use of a hecht action on the handspring vault was not evident. Optional- Many gymnasts were doing double full twisting round-off back handspring vaults. (I only saw round-off entry vault practice on this day).

4. Parallel Bars-It seemed that most of them went through a compulsory exercise as warmup. In one of the groups, the gymnasts were doing many repeti-

tions of the same skills to warmup for the op­tional routines as well as working on sequences. i.e., a. Stutz to handstand 00 x's in a row) b. 5-10 back toss's in series c. 5-10 Healy's in series d. Sequence: Stutz toHS, back toss toHS, back

toss to HS, Stutz to HS, Stutz to HS, etc.

5. High Bar-Most of gymnasts were either working on timer for Covacs Gaylord I & II's - some actually completed thse skills in a routine very success­fully.

Summary: There is nothing secret about the Chinese gym­

nastics training methods and system! In many areas, we have better and more modern training equipment and / or more scientific information. Furthermore, I did not see any particular special­ists working with the gymnasts, such as a dance specialists, sports science personnel (sports psy­chologists, etc.) or strength specialists. The "se­cret" to improvement and success is in their persistent approach to basics progressions, body positioning, conditioning, flexibility attainment and consistent refinement of basic elements and sequences. Overall this makes the Chinese train­ing system extremely effective.

Men's Program Committee Minutes Conference Call, May 22, 1990

Greg Buwick Chairman, Elite Coaches Rep. Dave Mickelson NCAA Representative Ed Burch Jr. Coaches Representative Peter Korman Sr. Coaches Representative Mas Watanabe Mens Tech. Coor. (Voice, No vote) Yoichi Tomita Jr. Coaches Representative Robert Cowan Mens Program Administrator

(Secretary, MPC - Voice, No vote) Members Absent: Bill Roetzheim Member FIG Mens Technical Comm. John Burkel NGJA Representative Jim Hartung Athletes Advisory Council Rep. Jim Howard Vice President for Men

I. QUALIFIERS TO US NAT. CHAMPIONSHIPS Chairman Buwick opened the call. Robert Cowan

asked to explain the procedure. Cowan outlined his attempts to provide information to the committee, outlined the 7 petitions received and gave the cutoff score for top 48. Petitions were Scott Keswick, Chainey Umphrey, Jarrod Hanks, Bob Stelter, Bill Roth, Adam Carton, Dan Zimpfer. Hanks and Stelter were with­drawn.

Motion to accept all five petitions. Motion - Greg Buwick Second - Peter Korman PASSED - Unanimously

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Greg pointed out that Robert had mistakenly listed David St. Pierre twice. Therefore, the 43rd gymnast would be Adam Cooper and the 5 petitions would round out the field of 48. The Jr. Elite division will consist of 21 athletes.

II. NEW BUSINESS A. World Cup Athlete Selection - Greg Buwick

asked Robert Cowan how the feedback had been On the selection process for World Cup athletes. The MPC was split with 50% voting to use rank order from US Nationals and 50% wanting to protect the gymnasts who had competed in the World Cup qualifying meets, specifically Lance Ringnald. This will be dealt with at the MPC meeting at Nationals

B. Cowan outlined the Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year awards, the voting process, presentation at finals of the U.s. Nationals.

Motion to adjourn. Motion - Dave Mickelson Second - Greg Buwick PASSED

The above is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. Respectfully submitted: Robert Cowan

Men's Program Administrator, May 22, 1990 Approved: (Mike JackiJ, May, 1990

41

Men's Reports

MPC Minutes

42

Denver, CO, June 5, 1990

Members Present: Greg Buwick Elite Coaches Rep. (Chairman) Fred Turoff NCAA (Proxy for D. Mickelson) I;'eter Kormann Elite Coaches Representative Bill Roetzheim FIG / Mens Technical Committee Mas Watanabe Mens Technical Coordinator

Ed Burch Jim Howard Tim Daggett

(Voice, no vote) Junior Coaches Representative Vice President for Men Athletes Council (Proxy for J. Hartung)

Harry Bjerke NGJA (Replaced J. Ifurkel on MPC) Robert Cowan Mens Program Administrator

(Voice, no vote) Members Absent: Yoichi Tomita Junior Coaches Representative

I. MINUTES-Motion to acceptpt minutes of conference call on qualifying results.

Motion - Bill Roetzheim Second - Peter Kormann PASSED - unanimously

Motion to accept the minutes of the NCAA meeting. Motion - Greg Buwick Second - Fred Turoff PASSED - unanimously

Motion to accept the minutes of the conference call on Additional Combination requirements.

Motion - Fred Turoff Second - Bill Roetzheim PASSED - unanimously

At this point, Robert Cowan asked for a ruling by the MPC on the parallel bar insert so that those athletes who were training could know the results. Motion that if an athlete can demonstrate by under arm or long hang, he will drag the floor, he may move the parallel bar insert.

Motion - Fred Turoff Second - Bill Roetzheim FAILED - (3 for, 3 against)

Motion for this Championships ONLY, the athlete is allowed to use a filler mat or not for parallel bars.

Motion - Peter Kormann Second - Harry Bjerke PASSED - (5 for, 1 against, 1 abstention)

II. REPORTS-A. FIG - World Cup meets. Bill Roetzheim was out of

the country 3 months out of 5. Asked for coaches and judges to have input to FIG more. As result, symposium in March will include these people. Proposal- Next cycle -Judges who go through In ter­national Course will judge ALL World Champion­ships and Olympic Games for that cycle. Also, the FIG is now restricting judges based on results of events. He showed a chart on Bias and spoke about the example of Wilder of Austria. In compulsories, Wilder was 0.35 LOW on his country and it would appear he was spoken to by his coach, because in optionals, he was 1.90 HIGH on his country.

B. NCAA - Fred Turoff talked about Presidents commission and their proposal to limit practice and playing time. Dave Mickelson will send letter to Pres. Commission. Hope to enlist other people's help, especially other NGB's. Are delaying moving NCAA season until they see what Pres. Comm does. Did not change the number of team members, but, are investigating ways of making meets run better.

C. Athletes - Tim Daggett spoke about list of World

Championship team members back to 1950's and reunion at 1991 Worlds. Also, attempt to create a worldwide athlete's council.

D. JOPC - Ed Burch, no report. E. NGJA - Harry Bjerke, no report F. Elite Coaches - Greg Buwick gave analysis of re­

gional and national statistics. 43 more athletes competing in elite program than last year. Average score is up 2 points per person.

G. Executive Committee - Jim Howard gave financial update. USGF is in the black. Cash flow problem which had been reported is now resolved. Will be at breakeven at year's end. The Womens program asked for $73,000 more for this year. ($30,000 for Jackie Fie election campaign and $43,000 for added elite opportunities). The Pro Tour continues to develop. One already exists in Europe and Mem­phis wants one. Will front $2.5 million to put this on. Howard has concern about athletes and "big car­rots" being hung out. Team '92 was discussed and not changed. Coaches support was discussed and not changed. Also, the Independent Selection Com­mittee is to be restructured based on Executive Committee mandate.

III. Tabled waiting on Mark Graham IV. MAS WATANABE - JOB REVIEW

Mas explained how the visitation program has been going and why it began. Could be more effective at a different time of year. Training camps in summer were a priority, attendance at various meets and videotapes have been the sum of his efforts.

Greg Buwick explained that the MPC feels ways should be targeted to improve effectiveness of Mas's eforts. Look at entire program. Make observations on training background, comments on conditioning, envi­ronment. Also works with all athletes. Fall visitations are more effective. Also, we want video analysis. Peter Kormann stated that there is validity to a program of having the athletes send in videos for analysis. The program has received poor support from the athletes. Also, want more skill analYSis in Technique and dis­tributed directly to coaches. Tim Daggett stated that athletes are feeling more pressure. Coaches are respon­sible for leadership in compulsory program and refine­ment of Additional combination requirements. V. WORLD CUP ATHLETE SELECTION -

Motion that Lance Ringnald would be World Cup athlete regardless of finish at US Nationals. If Lance does not go, rank order from 1990 Honda US Nation­als would be used.

Motion - Greg Buwick Second - Fred Turoff PASSED - unanimously

VI. WINTER NATIONALS FORMAT -Dates are November 30 and December 1. USGF events calendar is wrong. 24 from US Championships will automatically be in­

vited with Senior National Team having way paid. 24 from approved qualifying meets by November 18

(Sunday) . Petitions will be submitted to MP A by Nov. IS, unless injury occurs at last meet. Confer­ence call is set for Tuesday, Nov. 20. Qualifying score is based on 60/40 with no additional combina­tion requirements and using Competition 1a/1b rules.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

VII. MPC ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE­Peter Kormann raised question about Mens Program Administrator being the secretary. Explanation was given as to action of the MPC 3-4 years ago and the statement in the Rules and Policies which assigns this additional duty to the Mens Program Administrator. VIII. INDEPENDEDNT SELECTION COMMITTEE RESTRUCTURE - Bill Roetzheim made this presen­tation and stated that this is not addressed to the NGJA, they are doing a good job of educating, rather at the international level where you use different criteria. Mike Jacki has talked to Bill at least 3-4 times over the past 2 years about international judges assignments and proposed alterations were not received positively, but met defensively. Has been unhappy with results of some assignments. Bill also has only been on one con­ference call to select judges. He has not been used as a resource. Bill feels the NGJA has viewed the ISC as a "rubber stamp." Gave example of how he and Robert Cowan have tried diligently to get past Olympians and World Champions (Daggett, Hartung, Babcock) a judg­ing assignment. Also, his name has been on documents which state he approved assignments even though he was never called or even saw the names. The MPC worked hard to put the best athletes in the meets, but does not feel the best judges got there. In the USA, nobody knows who is the best judge OR, they are not willing to take a position on who is the best judge. Bill looked over our judge's results. There were a few instances when our judges cost us medals by 0.5.

The system to qualify for World Cup was very come plica ted. Point split, point awards, point differentia­tion. Very few (about 50%) of the judges sent under­stood the system. The USHG Executive Committee mandated Bill Roetzheim, Mike Jacki and Jim Howard to talk to Harry Bjerke about this situation. A change WILL occur. Motion: 1. After every International meet, all scores prior to

conferences will come to the USGF office for analy­sis. The Mens Program Administrator will review. If a judge erred, Roetzheim is to be informed CONFIDENTIALLY and then will counsel the judge. If no improvement is seen over the next assignment, sanctions will be imposed.

2. Appointment to new committee by NGJA of a rep­resentative who has judged the World Champion­ships, or Olympic Games, attended the Interconti­nental Course and could be appointed by the NGJA President; in addition, Mens Program Committee Chairman, Mens Program Administrator and FIG member, if we have one.

3. No pre-published lists are to be brought by any group to selection process. Start from ground zero. A large list is to be used for selection.

4. Committee deals with team meets, Olympic Games, World Games and other high profile meets, such as, American Cup, DTB, Chunichi Cup, etc .. Other meets are nominated by NGJA in usual process.

5. One low level International meet should be desig­nated as entry level meet for Olympic/World Champs athlete each year. At this point, Harry Bjerke asked for equal time. Points were: a. Judges are doing as well as the athletes will let

them. b. No reason to change due to ISC approval of all

assignments and ISC picked judges for last World Championships.

c. The teams are not doing the job. d. Results of the last 4 years prove it. e. Trying to make NGJA scapegoat for failure of

MPC and athletes. f. Did Ted Muzyczko cause USA to be 11 th in

Seoul? Did Les Sasvary cause USA to be 1st in LA?

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

g. Also, will not ever call a meeting specifically to tell judges how they must judge or w na t is needed to win. This is the realm of the USGF and / or the Technical Director involved.

h. Harry agrees with athletes judging. One call to him would have solved all of this. NGJA has always done what was asked of them. Used example of Robert Cowan judging World Cham­pionships and also Cottbus.

• Bill Roetzheim responded that when a judge makes a mistake, there is no follow-up. He agrees, athletes must do their job, but also need judges who are tough and can be internationally respected along with the athletes, especially by 1992 and 1996. • Gary Alexander was recognized and stated that the NGJA would like a chance to fix the problem, not have a big structure change passed. • Jim Howard stated that it is not a big structure change, but there is need for special situations sometimes. The office prioritzes events and judges are assigned based on that by this special committee. Jim continued that below that level the NGJA kicks in. Some functions are driven from the top down. Greg Buwick asked what changes Harry Bjerke was opposed to, as the addition of the FIG member to the committee seemed to be the most significant. He had no problem.

Motion - Bill Roetzheim Second - Greg Buwick PASSED - (7 for, 1 against)

IX. OLD BUSINESS Discussion about face to face meeting with Mike Jacki and MPC in regard to National Training Center. Dur­ing Olympic Festival is best. Greg Buwick is to get Mike to announce date. X. NEW BUSINESS A. Motion to accept Petition for Kevin Davis to be

placed on National Team unranked. Motion - Greg Buwick Second - Harry Bjerke PASSED - unanimously

B. Mas's Report on Summer Plan - distributed sched­ule, daily plan, emphasis, bonus point system for compulsory.

C. Tracking program - Cowan explained it will start after this championships.

D. Athlete of year should be recognized at US Nation­als AND at Congress.

III. JUDGES EVALUATION PILOT PROGRAM The MPC had waited for Mark Graham's arrival, but

due to lateness of hour, Gary Alexander presented the results of a pilot program conducted by the Great Plains region. This was purely voluntary. Points for meets were assigned by judges and coaches. Also, the written score on national exam was used. Evaluation by judges and coaches. Got poor response by coaches and judges. This is time consuming, costly and response does not justify the effort.

If a rank of 1-10 were created, you might get different 8, 9,10 depending on who you asked, but are confid­dent 1-7 would be the same. Therefore top percent­age is getting accomodated. Greg Buwick thanked Gary for their efforts on the project.

Motion to adjourn. (8:54 pm) Motion - Jim Howard Second - Peter Kormann PASSED - unanimously

In special action during the 1990 US Nationals, the MPC unanimously approved a petition for Tim Ryan to be placed on the Senior Team unranked. This creates a team of 14 until Winter Nationals.

The above is true and accurate to the best of my know/edge, Respectfully Submitted, Robert Cowan (6/13/90)

Signed: (Mike Jacki), June 28, 1990

43

Rhythmic Minutes

Rhythmic Program Committee

44

Eugene, OR May 6, 1990

Roll Call: Irina Vdovets Alla Svirsky Candace Feinberg Bev Bruce

Coaches Representative Coaches Representative Judges Representative

Wendy Hilliard NormaZabka Andrea Schmid Nora Hitzel

JO Program Representative Athletes Representative Vice President RG FIG Representative RSG Program Admin.

I. GOODWILLGAMES-

Recomendation: Based upon the results of the Re­ranking competitions and the National Champion­ships the USA delegation to the Goodwill Games will be:

athletes: Diane Simpson, Caroline Hunt Irina V dovets Robert Stanhke

Jenifer Lovell,

coach: pianist *judges Candace Feinberg, He lena

Greathouse Motion - Andrea Schmid Second - Candace Feinberg PASSED

II. JUNIOR PAN AMERICAN GYMNASTICS COM­PETITION-

Recommendation: Based upon the results of the National Championships and the age requirements established by the PAGF, the delegation to the Junior Pan American Gymnastics Competition will be:

athletes: Lili Chiang, Bonnie Chung, Anna Keel (Ch. Division)

coaches: *judges:

Naomi Hewitt-Couturier, Bianca Sapetto, Franca Abbatiello, Christy Neuman (Jr. Division) Marina Davidovich, Lydia Bree Alla Svirsky, Maureen Broderick

Because Neuman and Abbatiello were tied for 4th place all-around, both will compete, the results of the Olympic Sports Festival will determine which ath­lete will be officially entered for score.

Motion: Norma Zabka Second: Bev Bruce PASSED

III. OLYMPIC SPORT FESTIVAL­

Recommendation: The USGF Rhythmic Gymnastics budget underwrite the cost ($1,200) of sending junior #7 & #8 to the Olympic Sports Festival.

Motion - Alia Svirsky Second - Wendy Hilliard PASSED

Recommendation: The format of the Olympic Sports Festival be arranged so that four events are competed each day.

Motion - Andrea Schmid Second Candace Feinberg PASSED

IV. 1990 FOUR CONTINENTS

Recommendation: The delegation will be determined following Olympic Sports Festival according to rules already established and published.

Motion - Alia Svirsky Second - Wendy Hilliard PASSED

*Judges determined by the Judges Selection Commit­tee.

Next meeting will be July 29,1990 in Spokane, WA.

Signed: (Nora Hitzel) , May 13, 1990 Signed: (Mike Jacki) , May 20, 1990

Do We Have Your Social Security Number?

USGF now uses Social Security Numbers as your main identifier in track­ing your accomplishments.

Professional Members, Safety Certi­fied coaches, Skill Evaluators and others are entered into our computer system with Social Security Number.

Thousands of our members move, change names and furnish more than one address each year. To solve the confusion, your Social Security Number always tells us it's YOU!

If you haven't given USGF Member Services your Social Security Number, call us toll free, at 1-800-345-4719.

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Women's Minutes

WPC Administrative Board aTC, Colorado Springs May 5-6,1990

Roll Call: Meeting called to order at 9:00 a.m. Denise Parrazzo Region I Laurel Tindall Region II Carol Hillenburg Region III Nancy Fischer Region IV Kathy Koeth Region V Kathy Feldmann Region VI Sue Warbutton Region VII Hoylene Noble Region VIII Mary Ann Mahoney Chairman, ABC Kathy Kelly Program Administrator Mary Ann West NAWGJ

I. MINUTES - from the last meeting were approved.

II. RULES AND POLICIES -Entry fees for State Meets must be approved by the Regional Chairman. The committee members will en­force this statement.

The committee strongly recommends that medical personnel be in attendance at State and above competitions.

Motion - Nancy Fischer Second - Carol Hillenburg PASSED

The committee discussed various concerns related to the assignment of officials.

Meeting reconvened May 6, at 9:00 a.m. Recommendation that Section IX, Rules and Policies be revised to read: The Administrative board reviews and recommends the officials fee structure. A. In order to insure properly rated officials at all sanc­

tioned events, officials must be obtained thru a des­ignated and approved contractor. 1. State Boards shall determine the officials con trac­

tor, with the approval of the Regional Board. 2. Regional boards shall determine their officials

contractor. 3. NAWGJ may be used as the officials contractor. 4. USGF criteria for contracting of officials must be

followed. 5. Contractors shall be paid a maximum of$3.00, by

the meet director, for each official contracted. B. The Women's Technical Committee establishes the

criteria for selection of judges. Infractions of the requirements should be brought to the attention of the Regional Technical Chairman and/or the Na­tional Technical Chairman. 1. Affiliation of Judges, etc. 2. Meet Officials include: etc. 3. Infringement of these obligations etc. 4. Meet Referee Duties and Responsibilities, etc. 5. Chief Judges Responsibilities, etc.

Motion - Kathy Feldmann Second - Carol Hillenburg PASSED

The committee recommends to the WTC that a section on Officials' Rights and Obligations be added to Section VIII of the Rules and Policies.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

USGF WTC CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF JUDGES TO USGF MEETS: I. A. Delete (is the responSibility of NA WGJ)

D. Delete assignments, replace with selection, delete" and the NAWGJ, NJD."

E. Delete RJD, replace with Regional Board. F. Delete SJD, replace with the State,Board G. Delete the entire statement H. Change to "It is recommended that one judge

per panel be a geographical representative. L. Reverse NAWGJ and USGF

PG. 43 III. JUNIOR OLYMPIC COMPETITIONS C.1.a. delete third sentence and D. 1. a. delete third sentence and F. 1.a. delete the third sentence. Replace both with "the State Board shall deter­mine the list of assigned officials."

Motion - Kathy Feldmann Second - Carol Hillenburg PASSED

The committee recommends to the Technical Com­mittee that, because of financial difficulties, they re­consider the Judges' Criteria for II. Elite Competi­tions, D. Regional Elite Qualifying Meets.

The committee recommends to the Technical Com­mitee that page 41, J. include the statement "if active in judging the J.O. Program

III. OPERATING CODE -Duties and Responsibilities for Regional Elite Program Chairmen were inserted into the document. Correc­tions and editing of the document were completed.

Recommend that the Operating Code, as revised, be accepted.

Motion - Nancy Fischer Second - Kathy Feldmann PASSED

Conference Call: 6/15, 1990, 11:00am All voting members present except Reg. IV - Nancy Fischer.

Recommendation that selection of judges for State Meet be completed first, followed by selection of judges for Regional competitions, and then National com petitions.

Motion - Kathy Feldmann Second - Carol Hillenburg PASSED

Recommendation that Article XII - Cause for Re­moval, Section B - Professional Members, be distrib­uted to the membership as soon as possible.

Motion -Denise Porazzo Second - Kathy Koeth PASSED

Clarification: Regarding the State/Regional Board selection of "contracting body" - State/Regional Boards may make this determination IF they are ELECTED positions. Only elected members of the state/regional board may vote. In the event that a State Board is appointed, a ballot should be sent to all professional members to decide this issue.

Signed (Mike Jacki, June 1990)

45

Women's Reports

Elite Program Committee

46

Saginaw, Michigan 5/20-21/90

Region I Region II Region III Region IV Region V Region VI Region VII Region VIII until 6:00pm) Elite Program Com. Chair. Nat'l Elite Tech. Chairman J.O. Program Com. Chair. Admin. Board Chair Worn. Program Adm.

Nancy Roach Bob Lesveque Jim Jarrett Jim Schlott Gary Warren Kip Reed Gary Anderson Kevin Brown (Sunday

Roe Kreutzer Audrey Schweyer Mark Cook Mary Ann Mahoney Kathy Kelly

I. MINUTES - from the previous minutes were ap­proved as published.

II. REGIONAL REPORTS -

Roe reminded the committee that annual written re­ports must be submitted for all Elite activities con­ducted in the regions as well as financial reports on those activities.

Each Chairman reported verbally on the Regional aci­tivites in the Region. Problems were discussed.

Clarification: More than one Pre-Elite Qualifying Meet may be held if advertised to the entire Region.

Regional Officers (REPCC and RTC) should be present at all Elite Clinics and Competitions.

Recommendation that the office supply the computer scoring program to all the REPCC for use at Regional Elite Competitions if financially possible.

Motion - Kevin Brown Second -Bob Levesque PASSED

III. QUALIFYING SCORES -

Recommendation to raise the Senior Qualifying Score to 72.00 AA for Classic Meets.

Motion - Kevin Brown Second - Nancy Roach PASSED

Recommendation to raise the Junior A Qualifying Score to 70.4 (8.8 average - competition II Rules - 50%-50%) for Classic Meets.

Motion - Kevin Brown Second - Bob Levesque PASSED

Recommendation that the Goodwill Games Team (5) plus the additional (3) gymnast forming the USA squad for the Soviet Dual Meet be waived into the 1991 Championships.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Jim Jarrett PASSED

IV. CLASSICS

Committee discussed the Classic competitions. They commended the meet directors (Emil Milan and Rick Garcia) of both meets and continue to support the split season calendar.

Recommendation that criteria for the draw at Classics meets be the same for both compulsory and optional days. (After seeding - draw team and then open draw)

Motion - Bob Levesque Second - Jim Schlott PASSED

Recommendation that the compulsory draw for the American Classics be conducted in order as follows:

1. National Team Members (Senior then Junior) from the 1990 USA Championships will be entered into the top seed.

2. All gymnasts who achieved a 72.00 AA at the 1990 USA Championshps will be entered into the top seed.

3. Any remaining slots will then be filled by open individual draw.

Motion Gary Anderson Second Jim Jarrett PASSED

Recommendation that the draw for U.S. Classics be conducted in order as follows:

1. National Team Members (Seniors and then Juniors) from 1990 USA Championships will be entered into the top seed.

2. All gymnasts scoring a 72.00 AA at the Ameri­can Classic.

3. Remining slots filled by all gymnasts scoring a 72.00 AA at USA Championship.

4. Any remaining slots filled by open individual draw.

Motion Gary Anderson Second Kip Reed PASSED

The committee requested that the office obtain a com­puter system and provide it to the Meet Directors of Classics competition. Audrey suggested that Lance Crowley has a program that is efficient.

IV. JUNIOR 'B' PROGRAM

Recommendation that there be no Jr. "B" competition at the American Classic.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Gary Warren PASSED

Recommendation that all Junior B's must requalify through their Regional Qualifying Meets into the U.S. Classic with the new Element Testing as a fifth event.

Motion - Jim Jarrett Second - Jim Schlott PASSED

Recommendation that Junior B's compete under Com­petition II Rules at Regionals and above competi­tions. Those achieving a 36.00 AA Optional only

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

score or better at Regionals will qualify to attend a National Junior B Training Camp in late December in Indianapolis at their own expense.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Gary Warren PASSED

Recommendation that the 1990 Junior "B" National Team Training Squad may attend the late December training camp at their own expense without regional score qualification.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Gary Warren PASSED

Recommendation that at the spring Classic, the Jun­ior B Division will include a new Element Testing Program plus optional competition.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Gary Warren PASSED

Adjourned for dinner. Reconvened at 8:30 pm

Recommendation that Nancy Roach attend the Junior B Training Camp in June to work on the new Junior B Testing Program and provide the information on the project to the committee by Conference Call in Au­gust.

Motion - Jim Jarrett Second - Kip Reed PASSED

Recommendation that the 1991 Jr. B National Team Training Squad be twenty (20) gymnasts.

Motion - Jim Jarrett Second - Nancy Roach PASSED

Recommendation that those gymnast born in 1978 have the option of participating in the Junior A or the Junior B Age Division in the 1991 season.

Motion - Kip Reed Second - Gary Warren PASSED

Gary Anderson and Jim Schlott will form an Ad Hoc Committee for the new program Administrative As­pects.

VI. J.O. MOBILITY -

Clarification: The qualifying score from Level 10 to Junior A be 70.00 AA at Level 10 Regionals or above competitions. (This is incorrect in the 1989-90 Rules and Policies)

Recommendation that any Regional Elite gymnast who wishes to petition back into the J.O. Program must do so two (2) weeks prior to the appropriate State Meet. The petitions must be accompanied by the gymnast's Elite Card.

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Jim Schlott PASSED

Recommendation that the Elite gymnast whose peti­tion is accepted to drop back into the J.O. Program, MAY NOT re-enter the Elite Program until the fol­lowing season. (Elite season is September 1 through USA Championships).

Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Jim Schlott PASSED

Reccommendation that the Regional Elite Program Committee Chairmen, representing their regions, work with the RTC and the RC in the selection of

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

judges for Regional Elite competitions. Motion - Gary Anderson Second - Jim Jarrett PASSED

Recommendation that the USGF office assume its re­sponsibility for the training and certification of offi­cials as defined by Federal Law in the Amateur Sports Act.

Motion - Nancy Roach Second - Bob Levesque PASSED

Statement: The committee supports the changes in the Section IX Rules and Policies as recommended by the Administrative Board concerning NAWGJ and the selection of officials for USGF competitions.

The committee requests that the USGF Safety Com­mittee consider allowing the coaches to stand on the board or a spotting block for spotting release moves on the Uneven Bars.

VIII. NEW BUSINESS -

Recommendation that the Office pursue a National gymnastics sign-up week as a promotional campaign for the last week in August.

Regional Elite Program Committee Chairmen should develop a mailing list of Elite clubs, judges, etc. for distribution of pertinent information.

The results of U.S. Classics will be mailed to the REPCC, the RTC and the National Officers from the National Office.

A Congress Session will be held to present the new Jr.B Element testing program for the up-coming season. The philosophy will be presented by Roe Kreutzer and the following REPC's will serve as the panel of present-ers.

Gary Anderson Nancy Roach Mary Faulkenberry Kip Reed Gary Warren

Bars Beam Floor Acro elements Vault

Statement/Clarification: All Elite Competition for selection to International Competitions (intersquads, etc) are evaluated under Competition III Rules. (per Jackie Fie FIGIWTC Vice President)

Signed (Mike JackO May, 1990

47

Women's Minutes

J.O.Program Committee

48

May 13-14, 1990

Region I Region II Region III Region IV Region V Region VI Region VII Region VIII J.O. Program c.c. Nat'l Elite Program c.c. J.O. Program Coor. Nat'l Adm. Board Chr. Worn. Prog. Adm.

Meeting convened at 7:05 p.m.

I. ELECTION

Naomi Mayekawa Mike West Steve Snow Tom Koll Doreen Bolhuis Frank DeFrancesco Danny Warbutton OJ Milem Mark Cook Roe Kreutzer Connie Maloney Mary Ann Mahoney Kathy Kelly

Mark Cook was elected Chairman of the Committee by proclamation.

II. DANCE PROGRAM A proposal for a new dance program was presented by Mary Faulkenberry, Shirley Tranquill, and Vicky Clark­son. A video was shown with excerpts from the proposed program.

The committee designated these ladies as the "Dance Committee" and will work with them on the new program. Tom Koll will act as [jason for the com­mittee.

The committee thanked the Dance Committee for their efforts and commended their proposal.

A presentation will be prepared for Congress this fall.

* Shirley Tranquil will be running a pilot program (voluntary) in Virginia.

After much discussion by the committee and with sensitivity to the opinion of the overall gymnas­tics community, the following requirements were made.

Recommendation that the requirements for the 1990-91 season are as follows:

Minimum requirement-Gymnasts in Level I-IV must pass Dance

Levels I & III before entry into Level S. LevelS-7 gymnasts must pass Dance Levels I & III prior to entry into Level 8.

The remainder of the present Dance Program can be utilized as directed by the State Boards.

Motion - Doreen Bolhuis Second - Tom Koll PASSED

* Clarification: Any gymnast entering Level 8 must have passed a minimum of Levels I & III Dance.

III. PROGRAM ISSUES A. Committee requested that the National Office

design a "summer registration program' at a re­duced rate.

B. Discussion was held concerning the Compulsory Deductions. Issue was tabled.

Recommendation to provide a Level IV competitive testing program within the Junior 01 ympic Program, to be judged by Skill Evaluators. Clubs would be able to use the existing testing program OR a Level IV com­petitive program for advancement to Level S.

Motion - Steve Snow Second - D.J. Milem PASSED

*Recommendation that the gymnast must have reached her 6th birthday to be eligible for competi­tion at Level IV.

Motion-Naomi Mayekawa Second-D .. J. Milem PASSED

Recommendation to adopt a "Champion Circle" for­mat as an option for competing at Level IV.

Motion - Steve Snow Second - Tom Koll PASSED

Recommendation to adopt Level IV "testing" format with deductions as an option for competition.

Motion - OJ Milem Second - Mike West PASSED

USGF Office will provide aspecial athlete registration package. All details will be outlined and distributed through Technique Magazine.

Levels I-IV are considered developmental Levels and the gymnasts may test at more than one level at a time. Recommendation that Developmental gymnasts (Level I - IV) be allowed to attain LESS than 7S% pro­ficiency on ONE skill on either Bars, Beam, Floor or Dance in Levels I or III, and still advance. Vault re­quirements remain the same.

Motion - Doreen Bolhuis Second - OJ Milem PASSED - (Regions III & IV - opposed)

Recommendation that the minimum requirements for LevelS awards must be followed as written in the R & P, however, each state may set their own achieve­ment scores, if necessary. The score requirements in the R & P are to be used as a guideline. State Boards may allow additional awards for placement.

Motion - OJ Milem Second - Frank Defrancesco PASSED

Recommendation that the state board will determine if a Level S state meet will be conducted and if team competition will be allowed at Level S meets.

Motion - D.J.Milem Second - M. West PASSED

July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

Recommendation that an "Introductory Letter" on philosophy of the J.O. Program be sent to each regis­tered athlete with her membership card.

Motion - Doreen Bolhuis Second - DJ Milem PASSED

Recommendation to eliminate the amplitude deduc­tion before the "squat on the low bar" in LevelS bar routine. Rationale: Most gymnasts at this level do not have the strength to control a high cast and a high incidence of injuries have been reported.

Motion - Danny Warbutton Second - Frank DeFrancesco PASSED

Recommendation that the Regional Officers vote on all petitions pertaining to Elite Drop Backs into the J.O. Program.

Motion - Torn Koll Second - Danny Warbutton PASSED

Recommendation that major acrobatic elements on Balance Beam at Level 5,6, & 7 may be reversed with no deductions. (LevelS-Cross handstand & Cartwheel, Level 6-Back Walkover & Side Handstand, Level 7-Flic-flac & Cross handstand, Back Walkover)

Motion - Mike West Second - Danny Warbutton PASSED

Recommendation that the actual birth date of the gymnast be used as the Age Determining Date for competition in the J.O. Program. (See attachment for specific rulings).

Motion - Danny Warbutton Second - Torn Koll PASSED

Recommendation to the safety committee to allow the use of a spotting block or a panel mat to spot release moves on bars.

Motion - Frank DeFrancesco Second - Naomi Mayekawa PASSED

Recommendation that the entry fee for J.O. Nationals (Level 10) be raised to $50.00 for 1991.

Motion - Torn Koll Second - Frank DeFranceso PASSED

Recommendation that a one judge panel per event be allowed at LevelS Local meets.

Motion - Steve Snow SeconD - Torn Koll PASSED

Discussion concerning the AAI sponsorship for Level 10 Regional meets was held . The national office is requested to contact AAI to convey concerns. The com­mittee commends AAI for its continued support to our sport and athletes.

Recommendation that a Recreational/competitive program be developed by Steve Whitlock and Connie Maloney and reviewed by the J.O. Committee.

Motion - Steve Snow Second - Mike West PASSED

Recommendation that the Regional Board may deter­mine if a Level 8 Regional Championships is con­ducted. If a Regional meet is conducted, the awards will be at the expense of the Meet Director or the Regional Board.

Motion - Steve Snow Second - Frank De Francesco PASSED

Recommendation that a Level 9 or 10 gymnast who has previously competed at Regionals or Nationals may directly enter their respective level State meet the following year.

TECHNIQUE July - September 1990

Motion - Torn Koll Second - Danny Warbutton PASSED

Recommendation that the format for Level 10 J.O. Na­tionals be changed to include two 6-member teams from each Region in both the CH/JR and SR divi­sions. No petitions will be allowed and the "A" teams will be seeded last both days.

Motion - Steve Snow Second - Torn Koll PASSED (Regions V & VII opposed)

Recommendation that the USGF Office assume its responsibility for the training and certification of of­ficials as defined by Federal Law in the Amateur Sports Act.

Motion-Danny Warbutton Second-Doreen Bolhuis PASSED

Statement: The committee supports the changes in Section IX of Rules and Policies as recomn;tended by the Women's Administrative Board concerning NAWGJ and the selection of officials for USGF competitions.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.

Women's J.O. Program Commmittee Conference Call May 30, 1990 All members present, with the addition of J.Geddart, Reg. V.

Recommendation for Level 9 Individual Event Finals at East/West Championships to use the same finals rules as J.O. Nationals:

1. No ties carried into finals 2. Competition II rules for Bars, Beam & Floor 3. Two different numbered vaults required,

scores are averaged. 4. No scores are carried into finals (New Life)

Motion-Frank DeFrancesco Second-Steve Snow PASSED

Recommendation of the following dates for 1991 Jr. Olympic competitions:

March 16/17 March 23/24 April 617 April 13/14 April 27/28 May 4/5 May 11/12

Motion Steve Snow Second- Mike West PASSED

Level 9 State Level 10 State Level 9 Regional Level 10 Regional Level 9 EastlWest J.O. Nationals-Jr. Division J.O. Nationals-Sr.Division

Recommendation that for Levels 5, 6 and 7 the total amplitude and execution deductions taken on a major element are not to exceed the deduction for deliberate omission of the element.

Motion-Danny Warbutton Second-Naomi Mayekawa PASSED

Recommendation that for the criteria for selection of judges to J.O. National and East/West competitions that the Chief Judges be chosen from Brevet OR Elite and that a minimum of one judge per region be assigned.

Motion- Danny Warbutton Second-Steve Snow PASSED

Recommendation to eliminate the Level 8 Closed di­vision.

Motion-Torn Koll Second-Steve Snow PASSED

49

Recommendation to add Level 7 Optional with the following entry and mobility requirements:

1. Gymnast must have scored a 31.00 at Level 6 to enter either Level 7 C or O.

2. To advance to Level 8, a gymnast must have scored a 31.00 in Level 7 Compulsory

OR 35.00 two times at Level 6. 3. Any gymnast presently competing in Level 8

Closed may enter Level 7 Optional. 4. All rules from Level 8 Closed would apply to

Level 7 Optional. Motion-Frank DeFrancesco Secon-Tom Koll PASSED

Recommendation to eliminate the special require­ment of a natural "B" dismount at Level 7 Optional.

Motion-Mike West Second-Steve Snow PASSED

Recommendation that a State Championships for Level 7 Optionals may be held at the discretion of the State Board.

Motion-Frank DeFrancesco Second-Steve Snow PASSED

Signed: (Mike Jacki), May, 1990

Attachment to the J.O. Program Minutes of 5/13-14/90

I. 1990-91 RULES FOR AGE DETERMINA nON The gymnast's actual birth date will determine her age for competition. A. A gymnast MUST compete in her age division until

her birthday forces her up to an older age division.

Exceptions: 1. Levels 5-7: If qualification to Sectional and lor

State meet is by numbers or percentages of each age division, then the gymnast must compete at the qualifying meet in the age division in which she will be competing at the culminating cham­pionship meet. Example: If, the gymnast's Birthday is 11 /15/

78; and the Level 6 Sectional falls on 11/03/ 90, and the Level 6 State is on 11 / 17/90 ... and the top 50% qualify from Sectional to State. Then, this gymnast must compete as a 12 yr. old at Sectionals.

2. Levels 8-10: The gymnast must compete at State Championships in the age division correspond­ing to the age she will be as of the culminating championships for her Level. (Regionals for Level 8, East/West for Level 9 & Nationals for Level 10).

3. Qualification to Sectional/State meets by score: In states where qualification is by score, if the gymnast has a birthday prior to state meet, but after the last qualifying meet, she MAY choose to compete in the qualifying meets in the age divi­sion in which she must compete at the state meet.

B. To be eligible to compete in the J.O. Program, the gymnast must have reached a minimum age de­pending on her Level: A Level IV gymnast must have reached her 6th

birthday, A LevelS gymnast must have reached her 7th birth­

day, A Level 6-8 gymnast must have reached her 8th

birthday, and A Level 9-10 gymnast must have reached her 9th

birthday.

USGP Level IV Limited Athlete Membership As of August 1, 1990, USGF Member Services will be offering a $16 limited Athlete Membership (medical/liability insurance only) for Level IV gymnasts only. These athletes must be a minimum of six years old.

Since the "competitive testing" program for Level IV is not required to have judges (Skill Evaluators may judge), it is possible for insured clubs to have interclub activities without a sanction and without registering athletes. However, if states provide organized competition that is sanctioned for insurance purposes, it would require that all participating Level IV gymnasts be athlete members.

If a registered Level IV gymnast moves up to LevelS within the same competitive year (August 1- July 31), she may upgrade to a Full-benefit member for an additional $10.00.

If you plan on registering Level IV athletes, please complete the information below:

ir--------------------------------, I Request for Level IV Limited Athlete Membership Registration Forms I

I Name I I I I Name of Organization I

I Address City I I I I State Zip Phone ( __ ) No. Forms Requested I I I I I Mail to:

USCF Member Services I Pan American Plaza, Suite 300 I I 201 S. Capitol Ave. I L _____________ Indianapolis,IN~225 ____________ ~

50 July - September 1990 TECHNIQUE

NEW ORLEANS HYATT REGENCY

New Or lea.ns celebrates her rich heri­tage all year r cound. And she wants you to join in the futn. Morning begins in New ~rleans with a. languorous stretch and a

steaming cup of cafe au lail and a hot beignet.

For a n exciting afternoon, climb aboardL the St. Charles Avenue

Streetcar for a rollicking r amble uptown to the Gar­d.en District. Or visit some c:>f the city's exquisite shops

and shopping centers like the exciting new River Walk. The ad­venturesome can take a paddle­wheel s ,teamboat excursion on the muddy Mississippi or a bayou cruise t::ha t brings alive the Lou­isiana swampland and sub­tropical.. beauty.

WheI'1l. the sun sinks, the curtain goes up on one of the

most unforgetttable shows in all the world. Ne-w- COrleans at night! Go gently into ycour night in a horse­drawn carriage. Dine in fabulous restaurants o nt unique cuisine, such as crawfish etoufee, gumbo and shrimp creole _ Follow the action on Bourbon Stree t where you will find a carnival of barkers, cabarets, Sazeracs, Hurricanes and any number of res~urants and the finger-snappi:m.g, toe-tapping, intoxicating scounds of Dixie­land jazz.

Boogie till dawn, stomp to a Cajun bea It, or dance cheek to cheek in an intimate niight club. All through the night and intc:> the wee hours, New Or­leans buzzes """ith excitement. U S G F

CONGRESS

SEPTEMBER

1 3 - 1 6 , 1 990

The Hyatt Regency INew Orleans is located in the Poydras Plaza complex in the Central Business District, adajacent to the Louisiana Superdome and an en­closed shopping mall. This 1196 room hotel is near the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and Preservation Hall. Twenty minutes from New Orleans International Airport, 3 minutes from Union Passen­ger Terminal.

Sip tropical cocktails in the Mint Ju­lep Lounge; dine in the open-air Court­yard Restaurant; enjoy the comrarderie of good friends in the newly expanded Sports Bar; or enjoy a dazzeling view of the city from the revolving rooftop

restraunt and lounge, the Top of the Dome.

Laze around the pool or relax with friends in the poolside garden. Savor and enjoy the wonders of this lively city as it was meant to be en­joyed ... in the comfortable and gra­cious surroundings of Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

Hyatt Express - As a conven­ience to the guests, the Hyatt Re­gency operates a complimentary shuttle van to the French Quarter. The van departs from the hotel lobby every hour and half hour between 9:00 am and 12:30 am and stops atthe Riverwalk, Canal Place and J ax Brew­ery. (A taxi ride for 4 people to or from the hotel and the French Quar­ter is approximately $5.00)

.'

~~~~if~~~;: .~

Non-Prof" Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 7867

Indlanapolla, Ind.

U S G F

SAFETY CERTIFICATION

TESTING Schedul-ed Sessions Sunday, July 15, JI990 . 1. Stonington, COXllllechcut - 1:00-7:00 p.m.

Stonington COn:1Unumty Center Course Dir.: JOaJrl HIcks (203) 386-1340 Contact: Richar-d Ward (203) 535-2476

2. Rochester, NY - 9:00am-3:00pm - Perkins Swim Club, 1606 Pen£i.eld Rd., Rochester, NY 14625. Hotel: Microtel1 (716) 334-3400 Course Dir.: Sarah Jane Bernhardt (716)381-8840

Thursday, July 19J 1990 Taliahassee,FL Course Dir.: D .T Milem (904) 641-9966 Contact: Hoy:le:Jrle Noble (404) 386-0012 This course wIll b e held In conjunctIOn wIth the USGF Region V:cII Mini-Congress.

Saturday, July 28_ 1990 Las Vegas, NY Course Dir.: Jo~ Rooney (702) 851-0798 Contact: Owen Wong (702) 363-8998

Saturday, August: 4, 1990 Stroudsburg, P.A. - 9:00am-4:30pm . International G y mnastics Camp, Golden Slipper Rd., (RD #3, Bo:::o< 3597), Stroulcfsburg, PA 18360 (717) 424-3230 Course Dir: Dr. Gerald George (318) 547-0196 Contact: Gary Schnirel (717) 629-2767

Thursday, Augus~ 9, 1990 . VirginIa Beach, -y A ~ CavalIer Hotel Course Dir.: Cat hy Fmkel (201) 865-6632 This course will 'be conducted in conjuction with the USGF Region VZ1 Mini-Congress.

Fri.-Sun., August: 10-12,1990 'USGF Gymnas ltics Training Center, 6855 Hillsdale Ct., Indianapolis, IN 46250 (317) 841-1101 Course Dir. : S. 'Whitlock (317) 237-5050

Saturday, August 11, 1990 . Maple Valley, V'V A - 9:30am-5:00pm - SummIt Gym., 23150 224th PI S.E., Maple Valley, WA Course Dir. : Al2lTI TIlove (206) 672-3338 Course Contact:= Debbie Israel (206) 432-9999 Send Registratio~ to: A. Tilove, 4404 212th St. SW #4, Mountlake T~race, WA 98043

Fri.-Sun., August 24-26, 1990 'US Olympic T 1l:'"aining Center, 1776 E. Boulder SI., Coforado Springs, CO 80909 Course Dir.: S~hitlock (317)237-5050 Contact: Ron B :rant (719) 578-4509

Saturday August 25, 1990 Chamb~rsburg, P A , Rainbow Gymnastics, Inc. 285-12 East Qu~en SI. Chambersburg, PA 17201 Course Dir.: R _ Lynn Ross (717) 267-1760

Sunday, August 26, 1990 1.Springfield MA.J 01109-1O:001m-5:00pm

Springfield ColJl.ege, PE Complex Classroom Course Dir.: St~ve Posner (413) 739-5009 Mail Registratio>ns to S. Pos.ner, Technique . Gymnastics CallDlP, 47 Faufteld SI., Sprmgfield, . MA 01108

2. San Diego, CA - 9:00am-5:00I?m - Peterson GymnaSIUm, R!Jol. 174, San DIego State Univ., San Diego, CA ~2182 (619) 594-4576 Course Dir.: Ed. Franz (619) 594-5553

Thurs., Sept 13th and Sun., Sept. 16, 1990 New Orleans, LA. Hyatt Regency Downtown, Poydras at Loyola Ave., New Orleans, LA Thurs., 9/13 - ?:00-8:0?pm Sun., 9/16 - 8.00am-2.30pm Send Registration Forms to USGF Department of Safety, Pan Am Plaza, Suite 300, 201 S. Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46225. (317) 237-5050 - These courses will be conducted during the USGF Congress by several USGF National Safety Certifiers.

Saturday, September 22, 1990 Manhattan, KS - 9:00am-5:00pm. Kansas State University, Union Rm. 203 Course Dir.: Russell Ward (913) - 532-6272

Thursday, September 27, 1990 SI. Louis, MO -10:00am-5:00pm Course Dir.: Ray Overmann (314) 569·1179 Contact: Debbie Harmon (314) 569-2183 This course will be conducted in conjunction with the Midwest Coaches Conference.

Sunday, September 30, 1990 Pleasanton, CA - 9:00am-4:00pm Sheration Hotel, 5115 Hopyard Rd., Pleasan­ton, CA 94566 (415-460-81\00. Course Dir.: Hiroshi Fujimoto (408) 373-1694 Course Contact: Gay Gerlach (415) 672-6410

Saturday, October 6, 1990 Charleston, WV -1:30-8:30pm Course Dir.: Billy Bob Tayror (304) 344-3279

Sunday, October 14, 1990 . Pittsburgh, PA - National School of Gymnas­tics, 97 Terence Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15236 (412) 655-0424. Course Dir.: Jeannette Jay (412) 655-4161

• These courses are considered USGF National Courses, and therefore the participants will be charged the group rate of $60.00 per person.

1. The text book for the Certification Course is the USGF GYMNASTICS SAFETY MAN­UAL. This text/reference manual is to be pur­chased and studied prior to course participa­tion.

2. The course will take approximately six hours, including the test.

3. Certification is good for four years. 4. The Course fee is $100.00. USGF members

and second cycle recertification is $75.00. Retest cost is $25.00. For groups of at least 5, contact the USGF Department of Safety and Education (317) 237·5050.

r------------------------, Participation Registration Form

Name: Mr./Mrs./Ms. _____________ SOc. Sec. # ______ _

Address: _______________________ _

City: _____________ State: ______ .Zip ___ _

Telephone: (H) _________ (B) _________ _

Course Director: ________________________ _

Course Location: Date: ____ _

Organization Represented: __________________ _

If USGF Member, List Type and Number ___________ _

Form of Payment: D Check D Visa 0 Mastercard

Name on Card: _________ _ Number: ________ _

Expiration Date: Signature: _____________ _

Please make checks payable in full to USGF SAFETY CERTIFICATION Mail Registration Form and Payment to Respective Course Contact.

DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS LINE • FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Registration Form Received: _________________ _

Confirmation Mailed: ___________________ _ L ________________________ ~