I am sorry about the lack of posts. I started a new job about a month ago, and it has already taken over my life in that I have not been able to leave work before 10pm for two nights in a row. So much for the nine to five job I was offered.
Anyway.
The scam cup came and went. Like Spanny and Lauren Hopkins, I think the right decision was made. Many have said that Wieber did not earn her score in floor, but I agree with many others who say that Mustafina did not earn her scores in beam and vault.
However, if the code of points punished crap execution more, there would be no debate.
Consider this, exhibit A:
Look at the last pass. In that pass, in case you did not notice, Zmeskal did not control her power sufficiently and she stepped out. That was the competition done for her right there. In that moment, the commentators could confidently say she would not take home a medal. They were right.
Now, there is exhibit B:
It is hard to miss her fall, which is a much bigger mistake that Zmeskal's. The commentators thought the gold medal was gone for her. They were wrong. In the American cup, the ladies in first and second both had falls, as did most of the competitors.
Why? The bottom line is that Zmeskal and her competitors knew that they could not step out, let alone fall. Now, competitors chuck all the difficulty they can, and hope the will stay on.
Even if they don't, winning is still possible.
Once the new COP revision comes up, FIG is going to have to work out what it really wants. Does it want ever-increasing difficulty with people chucking skills to get a few tenths whilst knowing that crappy form is a-o-kay. Or do they want some cleaner gymnastics.
If we have to stay open ended, falls need to be docked at least two points. Small deductions need to be 0.3 or more. 0.1 is not enough. A huge bobble needs to be 1.0.
Right now, chucking fugly skills is worth it. This risks falls, injury and sore eyes for spectators. When a Patterson is well done, like Patterson herself did it, I want to watch. Ditto Tweedle on bars, ditto Rosu's Amanar. But I prefer a well done layout full over any of those skills done with ugly form.
Many gymnastics fans crave the return of the perfect ten and the old scoring system. But I can imagine that some past gymnasts watching the current scoring a rewarding of difficulty, and wishing that the present system had been around when they were competing.
The first gymnast that comes to mind when thinking about this topic is Yelena Produnova. Produnova had amazing skills, and she was not rewarded for them at the time. On vault, she did a handspring double, which is usually a vault done by men. I have not heard of any other women doing this vault. Some commentators mentioned that this vault should be biomechanically impossible for a women. Apparently, the judges did not like it because it they feared for her safety.
I can see why this vault was not well liked. She consistently landed it in a squat, but if Produnova were doing this vault today, she would be well rewarded for doing this vault. Even if she fell over, she would beat a lot of DTY-ers.
Her floor was also pretty amazing.
Double arabian into a front tuck... then a layout into a double front. Those are two amazingly difficult passes! How many people do those now? Now, they would be rewarded for them. Not so much then. I know that Produnova was partly doing lots of forward tumbling to cope with an injury, but still, her skill-set is pretty much unmatched, even now.
The next gymnast I think of is Maloney. Maloney has been criticised for her lack of form and style, but could she ever tumble! Her passes included a double layout, a full twisting double layout and a whip to triple twist. Again, I think she would have done better had the current scoring system been in place when she was an elite.
I know that the open ended scoring system is not liked by everyone. When I see people chucking big bad skills, (cough, Nabieva, cough) I yearn for beautiful execution to come into play over difficulty.
But some good things have came out of the open-ended system. Bars has become much more spectacular. And if any people like Produnova and Maloney turn up, they will be recognised for their difficulty.
Yes, I am a bit of a Pollyanna with this, but the fact is that the old scoring system had problems too. That is why they changed it.
Some of you may have heard that my country has been hit by a massive disaster. Everyone I know knows someone from Christchurch, or someone who knows someone who was or is trapped in those buildings. There are over 100 dead already and that number is expected to rise.
My sister lives in Christchurch. Thankfully, she was in the part which was not hit badly. Now, she is back with my parents. The aftershocks were keeping her nerves on edge, so she is glad to be back home. My friend's father was one of the people rescued in this article. I was standing under the cathedral waiting for my sister last year. Now bodies are being recovered from it and its surrounds. Luck, bad or good, determined who died. I have had very good luck. Not everyone has. New Zealand is a small country. Right now, all of us are wondering around thinking that we are in a bad dream.
On one level, thinking about gymnastics seems very silly. People are dead. Gymnastics news does not seem like important news at all.
On another level, I need access to gymnastics videos now more than ever. They take me into another place - a place of beauty and amazing feats.
Now I will share my favourite videos. I planned to do this in another post, but what the hell, now seems like the best moment. I need comfort.
Part two tomorrow.
I will be back to my analystical self soon. I have several posts half completed, but right now, it is hard to write.
I hope that my readers and their people are ok.
To help quake sufferers, you may want to read the media articles I linked, which have places to send donations.
I watch a lot of gymnastics. There are a lot of different commentators with different styles, but there are some quotes that crop up quite a lot. Commentators always want to have something to say, since they are pretty much paid to talk. There seem to be some sayings that they feel that they always need to say.
If I actually drank alcohol, I think I could make a drinking game about for each gymnastics meet.
I list some of these below.
On events...
On floor, you can let your personality shine out.
Beam is the most difficult event to start on, because the adrenaline means that it is hard to stay on.
Vault is a great event to start on, because it lets you get some of your energy out of the way.
In bars, it is important to hit all those handstands.
On elite gymnastics
Three up and three count. That is a lot of pressure.
Yuchenko double. We are going to see a lot of those today.
On college gymnastics
In college gymnastics, it is all about the team.
When you make a mistake, you know that your team is behind you.
Yuchenko full. We are going to see a lot of those today.
Just generally
On all events: It is important to stick that landing (you could argue that in elite, sticking the landing is less important than it used to be).
Right now, this gymnast is probably mentally visualizing their routine.
Both/all the teams in this meet want to win (well, obviously).
I had a look at my stats and realised that Full Twist has also told people about my website. Full Twist, which is also, just randomly, another regularly visited site, was talking about looking for music.
I have always intended to post a blog on music that I think would be perfect for gymnastics. When I watch lots of gymnastics, I always seem to imagine the music I listen to with gymnastics moves. How this would work on a practical level, I am not sure, but these are just a few ideas. Full Twist was talking about looking for music, and since they have kindly told others about my blog, this is my attempt to do a favour in return.
1. Theme and Variations by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lloyd Webber is an amazing composer, and there are plenty of themes to play with here. I have heard the first one used as floor music ( with a change to the beat, which I was not sure about). There are better versions than this one, but this was the only one on Youtube.
2. Precipice is a part of the soundtrack to Battlestar Galactica, which has an intense and awesome theme. I can imagine it being used by a 'power gymnast.' Someone like Becca Bross could do this with intensity and make the intensity seem like part of the choreo.
3. I loved Riverdance when it came out. I still like it quite a lot. Dominique Moceanu (Slip into Spring) used this music in 1999, and Raducan used Reel Around the Sun. There are many other tunes, all composed by Bill Wheelan. Not all of them are Irish. This is one of my favourite tunes. I think that an energetic, happy gymnast could pull this off.
4. Jean Butler and Colin Dunne, who used to star in Riverdance, tried to market this show. It did not quite work out, but some awesome music came out of it. This is an attempt to marry Irish dancing and tango, which some hate and some love. The music is intriguing. Someone like Hollie Vise would do this tune justice.
Just a few ideas. I am not sure how well they will work, but I thought I would put them out there. There will be more of these blogs. I like lots of different types of music.
Oh the poise! Oh the elegance! Oh the skills! The Couch Gymnast has detailed why this routine is so awesome. I know I am desperately unoriginal, but this is my absolute favourite routine of 2010.
Beam
I love the fact that someone "across the ditch" is having so much international success. I like the original skills, and the mount. I like her tumbling. I know she won the floor, but for me, Mitchell is beam worker, first and foremost.
Bars
World's Bar final: Tweddle getting gold. I have posted her routine twicealready. I love the complete madness of her routine. Heaps of difficulty! Heaps of releases. This lady, along with Nastia and He, has set a new standard for uneven bars. I don't think the event will ever be the same again.
Vault
World's vault final: Sacramone's win, Mustafina's silver and Barbosa getting bronze. Two stories of redemption from tricky times in 2008, and a story of a young lady's potential being realised. See part 1.
Mental Win
I am borrowing this phase from Aunt Joyce, because there is really no better way of saying this concept. I believe it deserves a category of its very own because no matter how hardworking, polished or talented a gymnast is, if they cannot get their game together in the important meets, what they can do means little.
For me, Mustafina showed heaps of mental win. She was not intimidated by the pressure. She hit her routines in team finals when her team mates did not. This was her first senior international competition. With the look in her eyes, you would never have known it. Her face is young, but her eyes look much older.
If I have to pick one person out for competing on an injury, it would have to be Natasha Kelley, who competed most of a college gymnastics season on a torn Achilles Tendon. Of course, I was amazed by Rebecca Bross competing on a strained ankle, which then became a fractured ankle. The amount of work ethic these gymnasts have astounds me.
All Around
Mustafina - who else? What a class act!
Unsung Gymnasts
At the moment, the examiner discussion centres around the most under-rated female gymnast. I have always planned to base the third part of 2011 reflections on a number of gymnasts who I think were under-rated or unsung this year. Only the gymnasts who find their way onto the podium are given glory, but for every gymnast who gets to the podium, there are several hard working gymnasts who lack luck, training, talent, or mental smarts. But this does not take away from the good work that these gymnasts do, or the beauty that they bring to the world through their gymnastics.
Amy Regan (Scotland)
Regan, who is fifteen, is the Scottish all around champion. She just missed the Commonwealth medal stand for her floor routine, behind Cairns, Mitchell and Brennan.
Regan was the only person in the Commonwealths to compete a double layout. It was beautiful. Even through a few of the other skills were not quite 'on,' I really enjoyed watching her routine. It is great to see someone from a non-gymnastics nation attempting difficult skills, doing some of them well, and pleasing the crowd while she was at it.
Her routine was good entertainment. The audience adored it. This girl is tailor-made for NCCA. (Gosh, I have nominated two people for NCCA in two posts!)
Anna Dementyeva(Russia)
If Anna were in a team other than the talent-packed Russian team, more attention would be given to her. As it is now, Mustafina, Nabieva, Komova, and Grishina seem to take up most of the attention when it comes to the Russians.
Dementyeva is as inconsistent as Nabieva, but her execution is much better. Her beam is lovely to watch. I especially like her illusion turn (but then again, I have a general love of illusion turns). I wanted to post her hitting beam (she falls quite a lot) but embedding was disabled.
I also like her floor. Her twisting is beautiful, and her flexibility is evident in her leaps. She actually dances to the music.
Overall, I think Demetyeva has been overshadowed by bigger gymnasts this year, in both personality in skills. But she is still beautiful to watch. I hope that she learns to manage her nerves and keep improving her gymnastics.
Kytra Hunter (USA)
Kytra Hunter has not had the best year, After putting lots of effort into making the Worlds team she did not quite make the cut, and it turned out that she did not have the high school credits to go to Florida either.
Kytra is not a ballerina. Her form is not as good as some gymnasts. But man is she powerfu! Her floor would give Newton a heart attack. Many have said that if Kytra were from another country, she would be a sho-in to their gymnastics team. This is true. She is a victim of being from a strong gymnastics country.
Gymnastics is by and large an individual sport, but whether you make it to a team or not depends on the others around you, and the rules governing the sport. Hollie Vise did not make the Olympics because she was a bar/beam specialist when the team needed a vaulter. Kytra did not make the Worlds because the team needed a bar worker. Despite being a Hills girl, Kytra is not one of those. She is amazing on everything else, but her talents could be covered by other gymnasts.
Hopefully, Kytra will get her high school credits and go to Florida next year. It will be good to see what they do with her.
