WAG faster, higher, stronger...when is it going to end?

[Deleted member D3987]

i keep telling anyone that will listen that the video is an advertisement. IT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN.

 

[BachFlyer]

i keep telling anyone that will listen that the video is an advertisement. IT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN.

I am very, very glad about this!!

 

[wnl256]

i keep telling anyone that will listen that the video is an advertisement. IT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN.

Yeah. That's why I linked to the full video, rather than one of the clips that only shows the first 15 seconds. I still laugh every time I watch it.... "There will be a deduction on the landing."

 

[gwenmom]

That advertisement cracked me up when it first came out. Now, as a gym parent I think, doesn't he get a second vault LOL

 

[cbifoja]

i keep telling anyone that will listen that the video is an advertisement. IT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN.

I am SO glad to see this because both times I watched it, I just couldn't stop thinking it has been altered. The physics just don't look right.

 

[gymdog]

If you are talking about a certain 7 year old who was doing "double backs" and fulls on the tumbltrak, then yes, they weren't REAL double backs then. But as a 10 year old L10, it looks like she was doing piked double backs in her floor routine this season

But it may not have been her because her arms weren't overhead the whole time... and the foam on hers was low compared to the TT and she was starting the 2nd flip where we could still see her.

No and I know exactly who you're talking about anyway, that was years ago.

Anyway the point is just like five year olds doing back tucks, kids consistently do incorrect technique on certain movements, so just because they can doesn't mean they should. In the end it saves no time.

 

[Midwestmommy]

I agree. And just because we adults can push these kids via the point/scoring systems, the loopholes in NCAA recruiting rules, screening for body types at 5/6 years old, and coaching techniques to the absolute limit of what they can do physically for tumbling tricks, doesn't mean we should. Frequency and severity of injury should be part of the equation. Sounds like Dunno thinks these things are already analyzed and evaluated & are incorporated into the "system" and decision making--let's keep it that way. Personally, I think if NCAA recruiters are only looking at 8th and 9th graders (and younger), that system is absolutely broken and not working as intended. As a taxpayer helping fund some of the universities, I think it should be fixed and the purpose of recruiting rules should not be a joke.

On a side note, that's one of the reasons I hope Gabby Douglas makes a run at a comeback, how refreshing to see some grown up women in the mix. There were a few last time too.....I always cheer for them because the are actually women not girls!!

 

[gymdog]

Well I agree with dunno that any equipment changes will be for the better. He also agrees that 7 and 8 year olds shouldn't do these things. At the level we are talking about, the best of the best, the athletes are pushing and driving a lot of innovation themselves. Gymnastics wasn't created by coaches alone.

 

[Midwestmommy]

I sure hope the coaches are teaching them the technique and setting the limits! That's said tongue in cheek--of course they are!

The parts of the adolescent brain which develop first are those which control physical coordination, emotion and motivation. The portion of the brain which controls reasoning and impulses - known as the Prefrontal Cortex - is near the front of the brain and develops last. This part of the brain does not mature fully until the age of 25.
While the other parts of the teen brain are shouting loudly, the Prefrontal Cortex is still somewhat quiet. This can have noticeable effects on teen behavior:

• challenges in holding back or controlling emotions,
• preferring physical activity,
• poor planning and judgement (rarely thinking of negative consequences),
• more risky, impulsive behaviors, including experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

 

[Midwestmommy]

So therefore adults should be driving the bus when it comes to high level gymnastics, in terms of proper technique and setting limits. I'm pretty sure that's what we call coaching!

 

[Ponyshine]

Here is a video I found looking back over how gymnastics has developed. I had a good laugh watching some of this! We certainly have come on a long way:



Shame we no longer have the swinging rings!!!! And fencing in the gymnasium, really?!!

 

[Midwestmommy]

Here is a video I found looking back over how gymnastics has developed. I had a good laugh watching some of this! We certainly have come on a long way:



Shame we no longer have the swinging rings!!!! And fencing in the gymnasium, really?!!

 

[Midwestmommy]

I loved the skin-bearing shameless hussies reference! I think that was around the same time women started giving up the dresses for swimming. Still giggling! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Cicid]

I agree. And just because we adults can push these kids via the point/scoring systems, the loopholes in NCAA recruiting rules, screening for body types at 5/6 years old, and coaching techniques to the absolute limit of what they can do physically for tumbling tricks, doesn't mean we should. Frequency and severity of injury should be part of the equation. Sounds like Dunno thinks these things are already analyzed and evaluated & are incorporated into the "system" and decision making--let's keep it that way. Personally, I think if NCAA recruiters are only looking at 8th and 9th graders (and younger), that system is absolutely broken and not working as intended. As a taxpayer helping fund some of the universities, I think it should be fixed and the purpose of recruiting rules should not be a joke.

On a side note, that's one of the reasons I hope Gabby Douglas makes a run at a comeback, how refreshing to see some grown up women in the mix. There were a few last time too.....I always cheer for them because the are actually
women not girls!!

As a mom who just got started with a 9 year old, Level 1, I could not agree with this more. Since reading this board I cannot believe the hours some little itty bitties train and how I would never have let mine do that at that age even if they had given me a 99% chance she would make it to the Olympics!

 

[gymdog]

So therefore adults should be driving the bus when it comes to high level gymnastics, in terms of proper technique and setting limits. I'm pretty sure that's what we call coaching!

These athletes are highly trained and have a better sense of gymnastics and their physical limits than any 35 year old. I guarantee it. Gymnastics develops the brain and most high level gymnasts exhibit developmental qualities that far surpass typical peers. Of course coaches have to teach technique but at some level the gymnasts have input too. A 16 year old is not a baby and can't be controlled. I don't think you understand and I'm not sure what you want me to say. That gymnastics will stay the same or get easier? It won't.

 

[Midwestmommy]

I didn't ask you to say anything, and I certainly did not ask you to say that gymnastics will stay the same or get easier. I said what I meant, that frequency and severity of injury should be a factor in decisions relative to the original posters question! Why in the world is that controversial at all??Dunno inferred it is happening, and that's good. And in answer to the original question I said it should continue to be factored in.

I never said 16 year olds are babies. They are not adults. Ninth graders making these verbal college commitments aren't 16 years old.

I think it's you who don't understand brain development if you think gymnastics or any other sport speeds up frontal brain development. There is zero scientific evidence of that. There is some evidence that after the brain growth spurt in early adolescence, the 1 percent of gray matter a year that is "pruned" (for lack of a better word) has something to activity being done during those years. But that is not the same thing as accelerated frontal cortex development at all.

I don't disagree that young gymnasts tend to be great student and have to be good at time management. That doesn't mean a 16 year old is the same as a 25 year old in brain development. They aren't. In fact I would say that the parts of the brain that develop first--physical coordination and ability and motivation lend themselves well to athleticism. Even more reason that we rely on great coaches to apply reasoning and logic to set safe limitations. In fact I would say it's a critical part of their jobs and we parents depend on it. That's why leaving them with a coach you trust is so important.

 

[Gymishome]

This can have noticeable effects on teen behavior:

• challenges in holding back or controlling emotions,
• preferring physical activity,
• poor planning and judgement (rarely thinking of negative consequences),
• more risky, impulsive behaviors, including experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Don't you love teenagers!!!!

 

[gymdog]

I said what I meant, that frequency and severity of injury should be a factor in decisions relative to the original posters question!

Why wouldn't it be relative? Is anyone saying that gymnastics should not take these things into account?

Obviously I don't agree with verbal commitments but that seems off topic. NCAA gymnastics is great but it's not really at the edge of gymnastics potential in absolute terms. 14-15 can very safely practice and acquire those skills. I disagree with verbals for other reasons. Doesn't mean NCAA's not incredibly difficult and may be the edge of potential for that athlete, but no one is competing Amanars or trying to do a triple in JO or NCAA. NCAA is the gold standard of consistency and technique in the skills that are being performed. Risks aren't necessarily rewarded.

And the athletes have to play a role in innovation. Coaches can do a lot, but at some point there's input from the gymnast. There's no way to have a completely one sided relationship because the coach isn't doing it. And today it is far more coach controlled for a variety of reasons which is ultimately for the best but modern gymnastics was built by the athletes.

 

[Midwestmommy]

I'm actually not sure what the argument is. I agree it's not a one-sided relationship. We have made elite gymnastics a sport of girls not of women, and therefore we are dealing with athletes earlier in their brain development than some other sports as it relates to elite athletes. And of course coaches are dealing with minors legally at the elite level (most not all). Those things put some special responsibility on the shoulders of the coaches and adults running the show. One of those is of course thinking very very hard about injuries at it relates to the original poster's question.

When there is a super defensive reaction to an honest comment about injuries (or resorting to a personal attack on the poster saying they couldn't possibly understand), to me that is nothing but a big old red flag that maybe some perspective is getting warped or lost about these kids. You didn't do that gym dog, and I think we agree about most of this.

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Possible equipment changes might include the introduction of the sprung beam. They have already invented it and it's used in many gyms as a training tool.

Someone tell me more about this bouncy beam!