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I r , I

TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume XVII / Number 1 / January 1975

5. FROM THE PUBLISHER, Glenn Sundby 7. WHAT'S HAPPENING 8. NACGC NATIONAL FORUM, Bob Peavy 9. INTERVIEW WITH SHIGERU

KASAMATSU IN VARNA, Frank Endo 10. MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIP

10. Men's Competition, H.J. Biesterfeldt, Jr.

12. Women's competition, Jack Griggs 13. 18th WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

VARNA, Dr. Joseph Gohler 22. USSR - USA 'TOUR

'22. With Olga in Los Angeles, Minot Simons II

25. CENTERFOLD, Galina Shugurova 29. CO-ED CAMPUS COLUMN, Gretchen

Sunderland Dowsing 30. NEW~'N NOTES, Renee Hendershott

30. USGF Women's Committee Meeting, Shirley Bryan

32. National Association of Women's Gymnastic Judges

34. INSTR'JeTlON: 34. The Side Travel, James Hesson 35. Handspring Danger, W.P. Wortman

36. RUBY 36. HElEN'S CORNER, Helen Sjursen 37. ON THE MOVE WITH FRITZ, Bent Hip

Straddle, Fritz Reit er 38. Kt!ltARCH: The Specificity of Gymnastic

Training, Tommy Boone 40. A JLJDGES VIEW ON HORSE, David S.

BorUCki 42. GUEST EDITORIAL: High School and Female Gymnasts, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Ri x, Jr. 43. LEITERS 43. CANADIAN REPORT, Lewis R. Wa ller 46. CALENDAR

Cover: Nelli Kim, USSR, 3rd i3 ea lll, 1974 World Championships, Va ma, Bulgaria. Photo taken at USSR Tour Ex hibitioll by Glenn Sundby publishe r: Glenn Sundby Associate Editors: Dic k Cr il ey

Re nee He nd e rsho tt Internatio nal Editor: Dr. Joseph Go hle r Resea rch Editor: H.J. lli es le rfeldl, Jr. Education Editor: A. ll. Fred er ick Junior Gymnast Editor: Joe Sweeney Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics Editor :

Ann e li s Si rang e Hay man Men 's Instructional Coordinator: H.J. lli es le rfe ldl Instruc ti o nal Editors: AA: llililla li es ler, FX: Pau l Zie n . PH: James Hesso n . R: M ik e Jacki , lH: Jim Turpin , PB : Bill Roe lzheim, Hll: llill Ho lmes. layout Design: '1 e ri Jo llil so n

GYMNAST Oltlgazin(> is publi sh e d by Sundby Publications, 410 8roadw.1Y, S.lnta Monic.l, Ca. Y040-1, Second Class Postage paid At Sa nta Monica, C.l. Publish ed monthly. Price S>1.00 a single copy. Subscription correspo ndence, GYMNAST - P.O. Box 110, Santa Mo nica, Col ~0406. Copyright 1975 c · a ll rights reserved by SUNDBY PUBLICATIONS, 410 Broadway, Santa Monic ." Ca. All Photos "nd lll,lOuscripls submitted become the prope rty of GYMNAST unless re turn request and sufficient -postage are includ e d.

Pictured at left, Joan Moore Rice, top scoring USA woman gymnast at th e 1974 World Championships, Varna, Bulgaria, Photo by Mitchell Barosh.

From The PUBLISHER

GYMNAST '75 IS HERE: Thanks to you, our faithful and enthus iast ic subscribers, we have reached our goa l of mailing out 15,000 magazin es with this edit ion. With your continued suppo rt , w e shou ld reach our next goa l of twenty-five thousand subscr ibers before the end of 1975. Noti ce, we say " subscr ibers. " If we said " read ers,"' the figure could iI lreadY be well over a hundred thousa nd. A survey we took last year estimated that from 5 to 50 gym nas ts may read a sing le co Py of Gymnast. (Just an average of 10 readers per coPy would give us 150,000 read ers). How many rea d your copy? We 'd like to know.

* * * IMPORTANCE OF MO~E SUBSCRIBERS: Even though o ur printing, handling, and mailing costs co ntinu e to ris e and would not be less with mo re subscrib ers, we do have many fixed production costs that wo uld be less with more subscribers, Therefore, w e ca n balance off our total effort by continuing to improve Gymnast without increas ing the cost to yo u, the subscriber. Th at is why we encourage you to get all your fri end s to subscribe to GYMNAST, as you will also benefit w ith an even better magazin e.

* * * POSTER PROGRAM: For many of our new subscr ibers, and some of you older subscribers who may have skipped our explanation of the Gymnast poster fold-out for 1975 in the November issue and wonder wh ere the fold -o ut is for this edit ion? ?? There isn 't one. With this ed ition, w e have a co lor center spread, as we will have in four ed itions thi s yea r. But, we will also have four edit ions with a four-page fold-out, and four issues w ith a GIANT EIGHT-PAGE FOLD-OUT before the year is ove r ... plus severa l bonus surprises. W e have one plann ed for thi s edition , but with the holidays, and short working week (no t o urs, our supp li e rs), we may not make it , but we ' ll keep trying down to the wire.

* * * ATTENTION GYMNASTIC CLUB OWNERS: As you will find mentioned in another secti on of thi s edition , we wou ld like to mak e up a directory of all the Gymnasti c Clubs in the U .S.A. If you have a private or a school club gymnastic program, please send us the name, address, coach, and schedule of your club program. Also, mention if it is for boys and gir ls, girl s on ly , or boys onlY, along w ith the age span and number of parti cipants in your program. Wewould also appreciate knowin g, for our record s, any unique and successful fund rai sing programs yo u may have used th at you would lik e to share with o ur oth er club readers. Let us help each other grow. Success breeds success: where knock ing oth er clubs on ly brings dow n the sport and we all lose. The better the competition and attitude, th e more beautiful and wonderf ul our sport will beco me. W e at Gymnast have a few fund raising id eas you can use involving se lling Gymnast subscription s, sin gle cop ies, gymnastic posters, etc. , plus some spec ia I d iscoun ts on ava ilab le back ed itions forthe rea ding or waiting room of you r club or ca mp.

* * * SPEAKING OF CAMPS: If you want to get your summer camp li sted in our speci al Camp Directory section of th e April or M ay editio n, ru sh us th e data as soon as possibl e. And rem ember, an attra cti ve ad in GYMNAST may be seen by over on e hundred thou sa nd Gymnast readers in fifty-two co untries around the world. ~NU""~_MHMM6MHIc.N.W4tH!l j l l;~~ .... :tN"""""""'''Mlllll1 1111 1IIIIIIM.MIIiMIfIIi UI&MMH&IIWJI ...... 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIII.I~ i CI"b N,~:fORMATION FORM fOR "GYMNAST" CLUB DIRECTORY

I ;~:ress State Zip __ _ . Name of Coach _______ _

i Schedule· __________ _

~

i Number of Students _ ___ Avg. age ___ _

= Program ____________________ __ i = ~ Girls Boys Both ! TUIIUllilfUtlllnmllllftlHtIHIIUlIIIUUlI!IIIUIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIHIflIIIIlIlIlIIiItIIIIIIIUlltllttIIIIIIIIIIIII"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"NIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII""'III,ItIlUfi

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COLLEGIATE NATIONALS FOR WOMEN

Elizabeth Hanley, National Chairwoman for the Association of Intercolleg iate Athletics for Women (A IAW), and Dale Flannsis, Chairwoman for Region N in e, announced Cal State Haywa rd as the sit e for the 1975 National Collegiate Gymnastic Champ ionsh ips for Women. They are schedu led for April 4 and 5, 1975 at California State University, Haywa rd.

If you w ish further informat ion contact th e Public Affai rs Office at Ca lifornia State University, Hayward , CA 94542, (415) 881-3724.

AMERICAN TURNERS 1974 NATIONAL GYM TEAM

Shown above are the members of the American Turners 1974 National Gym Team. Front row: Deni se Ri ve t, Region VII; Kath y Rafa losk i & Lori Kunka, Region IX. Back row: Eric Zigler, Region III ; Jim Schuette, Region VI; Scott McBroom, Region IX.

PAN-AM GAMES

The execu ti ve comm ittee of the Pan American Games vo ted in favor of Mexico City rep lacing Sao Paulo as the site of the 1975 competiti ons. The Games had been scheduled for Sao Paulo, but an ep idemic o f meningitis coup led wit h financial troubles forced the Brazilian orga ni ze r to pull out. Th e Games were o rigina ll Y slated for May, but Mexico City said th ey would need more time to prepare for them at such short notice and wou ld suggest Oct. 12 as t he start ing date.

1980 OLYMPICS

The diplomatic might of the Soviet Union and the en thusiasm of Lake Placid , the tiny wi nter spo rt s reso rt ill New York state , gai ned them the right to sta ge the Olympic Games of 1980. The members of th e International OlYmpic Committee voted infavo r of Moscow by a vote of two to one over Los Angeles. The Soviets reported ly plan to construct a new OlYmpic Village with fi ve new 22-story hotels to accomodate 12,000 athletes and with 8,000 places in t he resta urant.

SECOND CHILDHOOD Steve Lerner and Mike Kasavana are doing a

trampoline act in a combina ti on restau rantlcockta illounge, Zelda Bloomdido's Unlimited, in Northampton, Mass.

Mike is the ass istant coach for the U-Mass . women 's gymnast ics team, and is cu rrentl y au thorin g an inst ruct ional book on how to spot men 's and wo men's gy mnast ics .

Steve and Mike say they are trying to enter their second childhood (theY're both 27) and pick up some extra bucks, plu s turn the local s on to some casual trampolining.

WALNUT HILLS Thi s is the Walnut Hill s High School Girls

Gymnastic team, from Cincinnati, Ohio. In just two years of competition, th ey have compiled a dual and invitational meet reco rd of 34 wins and 7 losses. They practice 4 hours a day seven days a week, and compete on the adva nced leve l.

We just got wo rd that Paul R. Glassman former UC gym nast is now th e former coach of the Walnut Hills High School. Paul has opened a new cl ub in Cincinnati , The Cincinnati Gymnastic Club.

HINT HINT Blair Standridge tells us that the Uni vers it y of

South Ca rolina has NO gymnastic program for men. Ca n you imagine, wit h 26,000 stud ents, the re being no mens gym nasti c program? Well , we think it 's about time they try to get something rollin g! W ho knows, they might even be ab le to produce a champ ionship team.

Looking for

Gymnastics & Academics?

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Walnut Hill School of Natick, Mass.

is introducing a gymnastics program

taught by the staff of Woodland Gym­

nastics . Opportunities unmatched in

other schools; solid college prepulO­

tory program, a strong arts program

including expert ballet and ' modern

dance training, Gombined with gym­

nastics . Students who want quality

instruction, academically or gymnas­

tically, write for brochure.

Headmaster: Earle C. Batchelder, B.A. McGill, M.Ed. Harvard

Instructors : Will St . Cyr, Co-Director, Woodland Gymnastics Former N.E.A.A .U. Tumbling Champion Former ·Coach, Wellesley H .S. Gymnastics Team

George Wheeler, Co-Director, Woodland Gymnastics High School Coach of four colJege All-Americans

Ken Henderson, Floor Exercise and Vaulting Champion Former Nationally Ranked Gymnast. Ex 'perienced, Successful Instructor.

WALNUT HILL SCHOOL 68 Highl a nd St./ Nat ick , Mass. 01760

7

"GYMNAST #2" GYMNAST is proud to be able to reproduce

the artwork 01 fell ow gy mllasts. " Gymnast ill"", seen above, is a co py of a bl ack and w hite se rigraph (s ilkscreen painting) by LorenLo Homar, 0 1 Pu ert o Rico. Origi nal siLe is 30 " x 22"" .

" I'm looking fo rwa rd to increasing our activit ies in Juni or Ol Ym pic trampoline and tumbling next yea r," sa id Thurston. Last yea r's national s were part of the popular AAU Junior Olymp ic Multisport Championship held in Linclon , Neb., and sponsored by theChevro let motor Di vis ion. The 1975 nat ionals are slated for Ithaca, N .Y., in Aug ust.

AAU TRAMPOLINE AND TUMBLING PROMOTION

Robert Thurston has been elected nat iona l AAU Junior O lYmpic Trampo line and

Tom Franqui of the Bronx has been promoted to vars ity gymnastics coach at Long Island Un ivers ity's Brooklyn Center. Tumblin g chairman.

Thurston, a ph ys icist for the Bell Telephone Laborator ies in Co lts Neck, N .J. He had been appointed to the posi ti on iri November, 1973 to fill an unexpired term.

Th e 25-year-o ld educator received his B.S. degree in PhYs ica l Edu ca tion from th e Brook lyn Cente r in 1971 and joined the coaching staff as ass istant gym nast ics coach in September 1972.

8

JAPAN CHUNICHI cUP RESULTS

Women

1. Dronova (USR) 2. Siharu lize (USR) 3. Escher (CDR) 3. Schmeisser (CDR) 5. Matsuhisa (IPN) 6. Hayas ida UPN) 7. Doronakova (TCH) 7. Fike (USA) 9. McDonnel (CAN)

10. Arsenold (CAN) 11. Yabe (JP N) 12. Knopova (TCH )

B FX V UPB TOTAL

9.50 9.60 9.60 9.55 38.25 9.45 9.55 9.45 9.60 38.05 9.30 9.50 9.60 9.55 37.95 9.40 9.45 9.40 9.70 37.95 9.35 9.40 9.20 9.40 37.35 9.05 9.40 9.25 9.55 37.25 9.25 9.30 9.00 9.40 36.95 9.15 9.35 9.25 9.20 36.95 8.85 9.10 9.25 9.30 36.50 9.05 9.20 9.05 8.00 35.30 8.90 9.25 9.25 7.25 34.65 9.50 9.20 8.85 7.00 34.55

Nov. '1.7 - Dec. 'I Nagoya, Japan

Men

1. Kaji ya ll1a (lPN) 57.25; 2. Allllriallov (USR ) 57.20; J. HOllll1a (l PN) 56.95; J. Kenll10tsu JPN) 56.95; 5. Ka sa ll1atsu (lPN) 56.65; 6. Halldschke (G DK) 56.20; 7. Jaeger (C DR ) 55.75; tl . KUll1e (JP J 55.55; 9. Marchenko (U)KJ 55.35; 10. Loshki ll (U)K) 55.15.

--__ NACqC---

NATIONAL FORUM By Bob Peavy

Secretary NACGC Washington State University

GUEST SPEAKER - Igor Solodov Don Robinson in troduced Igor Solodov,

PhD, Ru ss ian Acoustical PhYs ist, w ho was an exchange p rofesso r from Russ ia. So lodov was invo lved in research at th e Un iversit y of California and Stanford for a period of nine months. He was f in ishing his brief tour of th e Un ited States by visiting the USGF Coa ches Congress. He discu ssed the Russian Gymnastics Program to th e members of NACGC. Th e fol lowing remarks we re recorded :

The gymnastics program starts fo r yo ungste rs about the age of seven years o ld . There is a mandatory program of phys ical educat io n act ivity for th e first two years of school. After th at, ch i Id ren go to special ized schools of sport apa rt from their formali zed ed uca tion. At about the age of nine, children go to " Sports Schoo ls" (o r soci eti es) and begi n gymnasti cs. Children are taug ht bas ic moves. At thi s time the teacher determines just w ho w ill be good enough to continue in th e sport. A t abou t the age of 10 is w hen formalized gymnasti cs starts. Th ere are "ca tagori es" w hich they go into as they become better in the sport. Th ere are eight catagor ies in Russ ia - th ree for boys and girl s, three for o lder student s, and one for candidate of Master of Sport, and one for M as ter 0 1 )port. 1 he las t o ne is whe re athl etes wo rk on lY o n the Ol Ympic Compu lso ry exe rc ises and the Ol ympic Optional program. The first six ca tagori es are highly stru ctured and a compu lsory set of exercises is required for each catagory. When a student is from 16-18 yea rs o ld , he is el igibl e for ca ndidate of master of sport ca tagory. Stu dents in thi s age-g roup wi ll usuall y have graduated f rom high schoo l. Once this happens there is th e option of go ing to wo rk o r go ing to co ll ege. If the cho ice is work , then the gymnast w ill j o in any spo rts society in the country (gymnast ics c lu bs). There are about eight of th ese societi es in Russia . The gymnast may then continue to work at the spo rt of gymnast ics and compete as long as he wi shes. I f th e gymnasts elec ts to go to co ll ege, he ma y co mpete for six yea rs as an undergraduate, three years as a grad uate, and two yea rs beyond graduation from graduate school. (A Russ ian student-athlete may compete 11 yea rs whi Ie he is in co ll ege) . At th e age of 20-22 a gymn as t is usuall y accepted as a M aster of Sport and may co ntinue to the age of around 29 when he compl etes hi s co ll ege education. After co ll ege a gym nast may compete for o ne of the societies in Russi a.

Solodov stated that the best gymnasts come from the sport s clubs (o r societi es). The military has the lines t gym nasts competi ll g in th e country. '1 he cl ubs and m ilit ary have th e bes t fac iliti es and cu ndi tion s in th e country w hi ch far exceed those in th e uni versiti es . '1 here Me ten "centers" 01 gym nastics o r gYll1ll ,ls ti cs schools, dnd it W <l S illtlicJted thdt th ere was no Olle area il l Ku ss id Ihdt was co nsidered the cenler 0 1 gYll1nasti cs .

So lodov co mmented about Amer ican spec ialists by saYing, " Speciali sts in Ame ri ca we re supposed to move the deg ree of difficulty higher, but d espite the fac t that yo u have specialists in th is co untry, they have to make a

GYMNAST Jan. '75

move to improve their d ifficu lty. " He concluded by stating, " Specia li sts without an all -around basis - it seems impossib le to make high leve l tri cks w ithout th e all-around background."

Wh en question ed about the mea ns of commun ica tion w ithin Ru ss ia co ncernin g gymnast ics, So lodov stated that it was not dissimilar than that of the United States -publi ca tion s, a Nat io nal Congress, and a great deal of bio mechanical study. A school for coaches (one where a coach stu dies th e sport of gymnastics for one year) was menti oned as an innovat ion that should be tried in the United States. Russia has had a grea t many fine coaches come from th e school for coac hes . So lodov talked about nat ional competition for nea rl y al l age groups. The loca l, reg ional , and national leve ls have competition for all ages, but not as many competitions as there are in th e Un ited States. It was esti mated that universiti es have probabl Y o nl y six competitions per season . Th ere is a g rea t amount of time spent o n prepara·ti o n, both phys ica lly and mentall y for

Frank Endo: How old are you and what university did you attend? Shigeru Kasa matsu: I am 27 years of age and grad uated from the Chukyo Unive rsity in Nagoya, 5 yea rs ago. I am presently emp loyed by th e Toka i Television Broadcasting Co. doing off ice work.

FE: When and how did you get interested in gymnastics? SK: While in elementary school, I saw some tumbling wo rk and I rea lly was impressed. At about the age of ten I jo ined a recreat ion eveni ng group and started taking tumbling. I loved jumping and vau lting. I actually started taking apparatus in junior high school.

E: Do you have any brothers or sisters? K: Yes. I have two older brothers and one yo unger sister. My oldest brother did a b it of

gymnast ics . My yo unge r brother pla ys ping pong and my sister vo ll ey ball. E: What is your father's occupation?

GYMNAST Jan. '75

each competition. So lodov felt that Amer icans had too many competiti ons and there was ve ry little concern for the conse rva tion of phYs ical and psychologi ca l energies.

A question was posed co ncerning the " three most important things the United State should do in order to improve our national program" . Solod_Qy responsded by stating, " W hY_do you think three o nly" . A m ixture of laughter and app lause accompanied hi s response. He answered the quest ion by stat ing that the sYstem of gymnastics, as employed in Russia , should be Ir ied i n t he United ~tates . He suggested specia l coaches to instruct all ages groups rather th an se lecting a math teacher w ith a mere inte rest in the sport. Specialized spo rts clubs were also suggested as a means of upgrad ing th e sport in thi s country. Finall y, Solodov recom mended that there be an elongated coll ege eligibil ity wh ich would all ow a gym nast suff icient time to prepa re his bod y and mind suff ic ient ly in th e sport. he felt that a gymna st should compete until th e age of 27 in order to reach his prime in the sport.

Igor So lodov concluded hi s speech by saying that he felt there should be an improvement in coaching techniq ues in th e United States. he fe lt that some of th e coaches lacked techrlicJI knowl edge w hich cou ld be ga ined through a speciali zed sport s school as he mentioned before.

Don. Robin son reviewed some of th e credenti als of Igor Solodov as he left the stage. He will be returning to Ru ss ia to teach phys ics at Moscow Uni ve rsity. Hewas a former gymnast who had reti red three yea rs ago . Hewas a " non­scholarshipped at hlete " beca use every st udent is supported by the State and rece ived a sti pend to attend school. He, along w ith all the other gym nasts in Ru ss ia (accord ing to Igor) are not paid to compete in the sport of gymnast ics -" Eve rything is on the amateur level" . And so, the NACGC was enlightened about Ri ss ian gymnastics, programs, and suggest ions from a tru e friend of th e spo rt. The meetin g members respo nded warm ly and enthusiastica ll y to this fin e yo ung man. ~

INTERVIEW OF SHIGERU KASAMATSU BY MR. FRANK ENDO IMMEDIATELY AFTER WINNING THE ALL-AROUND AT THE WORLD

K: M y father d ied when I was in elementary school. M y mother remarried and my step­father now works in a hote l. E: How did you do in high school and college competition? K: I was Mie Prefecture (State) champion during my second and third year in high schoo l. However, o ur prefecture was not strong in gymnastics. During my third year in college, I placed 8th in th e Al l-j apan Champ io nships. E: Did you receive any s<;holarship after finishing high school? K: No, I did not. However, d uring my last yea r at the university I rece ived financ ial aid since I did well in gymnastics. E: What championships have you won? K: I was a member of the 1972 Ol ympic Team that participated and won a Go ld Medal in Munich. I placed third in the 1973 A ll-Around Championships and wo n th e NHK Cup in 1974. I also won the japa n Final Tryout fo r this World Games.

GAMES IN VARNA, BULGARIA

E: What are your favorite events? K: Floor exe rcise and pommel ho rse. E: How many hours do you normally workout daily? K: During the off seaso n I spend 2!1i hours. I would rest o ne day a week. However, in preparing for competition I workout 3 hou rs daily and rest only w hen needed . Three days prior to compet iti on I would workout ve ry hard . E: Have you had any injuries? K: I have had many minor injuries but no ne serious. When I workout hard I get ve ry ex hausted and tired. E: Do you have a special diet while training? K: No, I do not. When I am tired I ea t a lo t o f sa lad and mea t. I like pastry. E: What is your favorite food? K: I have no favorite food . H owever, Ilike f ri ed shrimp. E: Do you have any hobbies? A: I love ocean fi shi ng. I go often. E: When you walk on the streets in Tokyo, do people recognize you? K: Yes, peop le o ften do and they ask me fo r my au togra ph . When th ey do no t talk to me th ey would point their fin ge rs at me upon recognizing me. E: Do you have a girl friend? K: Yes, I do. I have been going steady for two Yea rs. Plans are now that I wi ll get married in 1975. E: How does it feel to be World Champion? K: I reall y feel great as I am in the best of condi ti on. I did my best to win. However, I am so rry for my teammate Sawao Kato who fe ll from th e horizontal bar and di slocated his sho ulder. E: What are your future plans? K: I will cont inue to do gym nas ti cs and w ill tr yo ut for th e Montreal Olympics. However, compet iti o n is ve ry st rong in japa n so I must contin ue to dedicate myse lf to thi s spor t.

9

1974 Midwest Open All-Around Winners: Jim Ivicek (102.60), Mark Graham (100.60), Gene Mackie (99.45), Doug Griffith (97.85), Kurt Thomas (96.40).

Midwest Championship Thanksgiving Weekend, 1974

Addison Trail HS. Addison, Illinois Men's Competition

by H.J. Biesterfeldt , Jr.

This meet has grown to be the largest high ca libre meet in the USA, save for the NCAA Championships. And even the NCAA meet as a rule does not have as many high ca libre performers, since Midwest is open to college graduates. In fact , Midwest has grown too big. With over 160 men on an event, the meet is a madhouse. It is even better than the USGF Congress as a place to renew old acquaintances. Indeed a Thanksgiving Holiday Meet is most suitable as a fun meet with lots of competitors. But the huge enrollment does not encourage outstanding performances. This Year, as last, Midwest had a womans division as well as a mens division. Thi s added to the confusion, and I have a suggest ion to help reduce congestion: How about having the preliminary competit ions in two different locations, one for men and one for women. Then have a common location for th e finals. Thi s cou ld at least reduce the noise and let th e performers concentrate on th eir work.

Floor Exercise: We were sorry that Oklahoma 's Greg Buwick did not make finals. His control and body lines, as we ll as interesting combination , make him a man to reckon with . The star is ce rtainly Ron Reznick, formerly of Northridge and now a student at LSU. This is the only performer who has reall y done the homework to prepare for performance. His

10

visibly disciplined hand and arm movements really contr ibute to his overall appearance. Needless to say, doing the best double twist mount in the meet, and an outstanding double twist dismount as we ll, helps him along.

West, a Duane sophomore from iVebraska, does the tricks to win ... like his full twisting dive to hands Somehow this man looks li ke he could sell the sets of the othe r place winners far better than their oWllers sell them. He remillds me some­what 01 loby "Iowsell , though ill a differellt way. Ron deserved his 2nd place finish (18.85).

Duane West, a sophomore from Nebraska, does the tricks to w in . But he lacks Reznicks artisty. With a little attention to detail he cou ld improve th e effectiveness of hi s set a alot. Tri cks like his full twisting dive to hands, and wa lk-over take real precis ion, and he does them we ll. Thi s meet, his double back was not done we ll so he did not come up to my expectations a yea r after I first saw him doing these moves. (3rd, 18.55) Th e winner, Don Pollard, is a junior at Oklahoma; he was at Odessa jC th e past couple of years. He looks too young to ha ve two yea rs of col lege behind

him, and he works too wel l to be younger. The mount: Double full-punch front, coupled with Arabian l V, and double full dismount, give th e set plenty of substa nce. Coach Ziert has a man well qualified to follow Odess Lovin as leade r of the Oklahoma FX men. And with a coach well qualified to refine his movements, he should be a top contender ;II NCAA.

By th e way, two 10 th e top 3mcIl M e COd heed by stJII 0 1 this m,'gdLill e: Ziert dlld Hesso ll.

We Gl11110t Ilegleet to melltiollLJoug Crillith . competillg lor hi ~ lirst yea r at Illd ialla ::'tate Un ive rsity. He is Oll e 0 1 the iew to moullt w ith d

frollt pa~~, alld d eler his double baek to th e second PJ~s. And he works quite well.

Pommel Horse: The compet ition here was to see who could lose the least when he fell off. Last years NCAA champ, Ted MarcY, tried to place last in both preliminaries and finals, but he is too great a horseman to get very far down the list. Prelims included a ·fall off, and a remount to repeat the same part, from th e wrong end of the horse. Finals were almost a replay. He placed 3rd, 18.15. The great Iowa State horseman, Russ Hoffman, 3 time NCAA Champ, also fell in finals to finish 5th, 18.00.

Ed Hembd, 4th last year in NCAA, fell on his hop turn in w hat was surely th e most spectacular fall in a long time. I wish I had a sequence of it for our readers to enjoy. (If you see no lurther Jrticles irom this writer, assume Ed has crippled his coach for these comments.)

Clearly, unmistakeably, the winner was Steve Dickey - coached by - you guessed? Jim Hesson, our pommel horse instruction editor. Steve mounts with backmoore travel down, back moore travel up, uses a back travel, and a walkaround dismount, all done with reasonably good extension. By the way, Steve is demonstrator for some of this month's instructional materials.

Both Hanson and Poynton, finalists from Michigan, do a lot on horse, but with some execution faults.

Ron Reznick, Louisiana State University, FX Champion

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Ri ck Adams, a high schoo l se nio r from Loui sv ill e, Ky, and an all around man, scored 8.8 , r ight up with some o f the finer horse men of the co unt ry . Keep it up.

Still Rings: Performances o n rin gs were a pleasan t reli ef after horse, with all finalists earning 9.15 or above. And as usual, th ere was on ly o ne AA man in f inals - Jim Ivicek - w ho did reasonab ly we ll but did not show th e ref ined work he shows at the end of season. Lea rning new compulso ri e~ may be the reason.

Top p laces: Keith H eaver, 18.95 and Pete Boltho f, 18.90, p laced as th ey did at las t year's NCAA champions hips. The swinging wo rk of Pete Studensk i, from Nebraska, was one o f the outstanding aspects of the evening. Pete tied for 3rd w ith the freest swing I have seen, and som e rough spo ts. Former NCAA Champion, and repeated M idwest winner Charles Ropi equet returned to place 5th , apparentl y not quite ba ck in shape. Joe Neuenswander of Michigan ti ed Studenski for 3rd, in a so lid perfo rma nee.

P~te Botthof, Northern Illinois Unive rsity, 2nd in Rings

Vaulting: 'I he w illner, Jim Ivice k, earned 18.325 w ith a well executed Rudi and a high but poo rl y landed double front. Ji m attends Southelll Illino is U ilive rsit y, w here thi s w rit er is ass istJnt cOdch. 'I hanks to COJCh Ziert for helpi ng Jim to relea rn his dou ble front during warmups!

Unbeli evab le but tru e, o nl y Ivicek, Ko linek (LaCrosse) and Mi ll er had two signifi ca nt va ults to show in finals. The others still showed us Yamashitas. Second place went to Mark Trippell for a handspring full , with two steps, 9.2, and a Yama H hop for a 9.1. Miller 4th did a handspring fro nt from th e neck, overturned to hands and feet, and a handsprin g full wi th a step, fo r 8.8 and 9.2, and final ave rage 18.1 25. M ark Graham did a handspr ing full w ith a giant step, and poor landing posture, for 9.05 , fo ll owed by a Yama , ave. 18.1 5, and 3rd pl ace.

I hope that we see someth ing better from th is event in th e future. Performances in finals suggest that we may be well advised to demand two essentiall y different va ults from each vaulter in dual meets.

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Pete Studenski, N<obraska, 3rd place tie in rings.

Parallel Bars: Here, d espite th e presence of some outstanding gymnasts, on ly two finali sts managed to ea rn 18.00 o r above. Apparent ly the competitors just could no t maintain concentrat io n. Th e w inner: A freshman from Indiana State, home in Miami , Fla., Kurt Thomas. I am ve ry impressed with Kurt as a gymnast, but no t beca use of hi s per fo rman ce in finals. As w inner, he ea rn ed on ly 8.7 in finals. He finishes w ith a double back.

Glenn Tidwell , Doug Griffith , and mark Graham either broke badly or did nothing right.

Paul Hunge,·, Iowa State, did a stock se t for 8.40, the 3rd highest finals sco re, and finish ed 3rd.

Top sco rer in Finals was Jack Laurie, SIU Senior and las t year's Midwest Rin g champ. His Rudi dismount landed so lidl y, but he had some form problems at th e beginnin g. (aga in , coac hed by one of your magaz ine's instru cti onal staff )

Horizontal Bar : Thi s was a two man competition between mark Dedri ck o f Arizona

Theo is so technically sound that he does combinations that no else can touch, and makes them look trivial.

State and Theo Digerness of Co lorado State. mark won, 19.15 to 19.10, though Theo won in finals by 0.5. The decisio n between these two

has to be one of composi ti o n. Bo th men ha ve adequate difficu lty fo r Competi tion 3, though by my reckonin g, Digerness comes out o n top here with 9 C parts and a completelY immediate se t. He has no giants at all. He does his pike double immediate ly, from a back turn on an eagle grip , and he does it so we ll th at it looks as thou gh he wound up for it. Well- 9.60 is no t too bad a sco re for finals. Not as good as his sco re at NCAA fo r a simil ar but easier se t, but still a ni ce score. Theo is so technicall y sound th at he does combinations that no one else ca n tou ch , and mak es them look tri v ial. Congra tulati on s on making hori zontal bar look like a great event again.

Ri ch Bova and Darrall Cribbs al so deserve mentio n. Cribbs, 3rd , d id a high sta rt , ove r the wrong way, and othe rw ise looked fairl y good, w ith a few too many irreve lant motio ns. Ri ch Bova gave away his chance for 3rd on his dismount, landing o n hands and feet in hi s double. Up to the dismount, he looked like at worst .1 rd , and a chance at beating th e finals performance of Dedrick as we ll.

All-Around: A compulso ry compet iti on only, w hen yo u ge t down to it. Ivicek led by 2.30 points after compu lsory competition , and no one else had a chance. This is a disgrace! When Ivicek ca n return from Russia , wo rk on compulsor ies fo r 3 weeks, and win the compul sories, th e o thers must be as leep.

I ad mit thJt Jim has talent , I ad mit some pride that he won. But th e others should be doing much better. Perhaps th e o ld concentration sto rY. Or perhaps th e Turk ey left from Thursday, still w ith th em at 9:00 AM Friday.

Final Scores: Iv icek 102.60, Mark Graham 100.60, Gene M ac kie 99.45 (Mackie from Nebraska), Doug Gr iffith 97.85 and Kurt thomas 96.40 (both I ndiana State)

Jim Ivicek, 1974 Midwest All-Around Champion.

11

WOMEN'S COMPETITION by Jack Griggs

The Midwest Open Gymnast ics Championships , out of design and organizat ion , we re not conducive to the gymnast 's best performance.

In spite of thi s, Donna Pa yton overcame the d iffi culties to w in A ll -Around and take f i rst in Free Exercise and Bars; Diane Grayson 's so lid performance won her the Beam competition w ith a 9.4 finals score ; and Denise Didier took vau lting with a 9.35 fina l vau lt.

Women 's pre liminaries in Vault and ba rs began the weekend competiti on w hich was held Friday and Satu rday, November 29 and 30 at Addison Trail High School in the Chicago Suburb of Add ison Illinoi s. The top six compet itors returned Friday night for the Fina ls. Beam and Free Exercises prelims we re held Saturday morning and afternoon w ith fin als Sa turday night.

Dispite th e long wa its to compete and the confusion of a simu ltaneous mens and womens meet, the competitors performed well, but not to the ir potential.

Vaulting finals were by far the best scores ... in the meet, with not one vault below a 9.0.

The different wa rm-up and competiti ve equipment and th e inequa lity in the delegat ion of wa rm-u p times caused lower sco rin g by th e women throughout the meet.

Donna Pay tall , from the Louisv ill e Gym Cl ub, easily won A ll Around Honors highl ighted by a 9.1 Free Exe rci se routine and a 9.0 Beam sco re.

Dianne Gra yson, Beam Champion with a score of 9.4.

12

Dianne Grayson, sophomore at Southern Illino is University, 2nd place All-Around.

Dianne GraYson, Sophomore on th e Southern Illinois Un ivers it y team, took seco nd place Al l Around w ith a stron g showi ng in Beam.

In the Friday evening finals, Donna Payton scored a 9.3 o n Uneven Parallel Bars to give her a 18.15 tota l to w in over Ko ll een Casey of the St. Pau l Turn ers who had a 17.80 Bar tota l.

Vault ing fina ls were by far the best sco res recorded by the wome n in the meet, with not one vau lt below a 9.0.

Denise Didier returned home to Add ison Trail High School w ith a 9.35 round off back somersa ult to add to her 9.3 prelim for a 18.65 tota l to edge out Suz ie Schweider of Gymnastics Unlimited. Suzie 's Yamashita with a fu ll twist scored 9.4 , but that was not quite enough at 18.60.

SandY Mendenha ll of Gym nastics Unlimited and Beth Shepard of SIU also did ro und off backs and sco red 18.5 an d 18.25 res pect ive ly.

Saturday evening fina ls we re highli gh ted by a crowd pleasing 9.4 Beam performance by defending Na ti onal Collegiate Beam Champion , Dianne Grayson . SIU 's Grayson threw three solid ae rial maneuvers o n Beam to add to her 9.2 prel im for an 18.60 fina l total.

Lou isv ill e Gym clu b 's Donna Payton's stradd le down to somersau lt dismount from bea m capped a strong performance for a 9.35 fina l and a 18.35 total.

Three competitors came in to Free Exercise fin als with in .05 of a point of each othe r sett ing the stage for a final showdow n.

Don na Payton and SIU's Stephanie St romer both had sco red 9.1 in the prelims w ith Ind iana State Un iversi ty' s Kathy Belford sli ghtl y ahea d at 9.15.

However Donna Payton came away with the first place award and a solid 9.25 f inal sco re. Whi le Kat hy Belford and Stephanie Stromer ti ed for seco nd p lace w ith 18.20 totals.

We fee l, with a few notable except ions t hi s season got off to a shaky start.

For every talented performance disp layed, an equall y ta lented performer did not li ve up to expectat ions.

1974 Midwest Open All-Around Winne rs: Donna Payton, in 1st place, Dia'nn.e Grayson - 2nd.

GYMNAST Ja n. '75

turischevG

Continental sports

FURTHER REPORT ON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

by Dr. joseph Gohler GYMNAST International Editor

Organization The competition ran tim ely (tempora l)

sat isfactory. Training co nd it io ns were quite good. The arena it se lf was much too small for a world competiti o n in this day and age. The internati onal gym nasti c league has to bea r th e consequences, fo r it los t th ousa nds of dollars in revenue. Valuations

How much longe r will the wes tern wo rld put up with this terri b le fraud? What happened to th e Am erican girl s o n th ei r parall el bar compulso ries, but also in many o th er cases, was sca ndalo us. The horse va ult of A nn Ca rr, th at released a 16 m inute whist ling concert , beca use instead of a 9.60 o r 9.70 o nl y a 9.40 was given (only the West Germa n A nnelise Boettch er had a 9.60 wr itten down, th e Canad ian girl inco nce iva bl e also onl y 9.40). Certainly th e bes t men as women, won, and the second best also deserved to be vice world master. But i f the Hungarian g ir ls were the third best team and if the placem ent of Rumania and th e CSSR before th e USA were justifi ed is ve ry, ve ry questi onab le. And that even the japanese girls pla ced before the USA is a bad jo ke in th e hi story o f gymn as ti cs. 1 he internatio nal Gymnastic league (Turnerbulld ) has to take a stronger stand w hen manipulated scores are give n or incompetence is proven. Otherwi se th e FIG will fa ll apar t. Performance

The performances we re a sign of upward developmen t in the sport. The men are do ing more double and triple twi sts arou nd th e longitudinal ax is. Two gym nas ts have al ready presented a tr iple sa it o (tr ip le so mersa ult ) o n the ho ri zontal bar, in train ing th at we re done well , th ey were Kasa matsu and A ndrianov. But if the deve lopment of such neck breaking exe rc ises continues to take its co u rse, the n it will be urgently necessa ry to adm it the so ft " crash pads" as gymnast ic mat s, as dema nded yea rs ago by Don Tonry, USA, in th e O lympi sch Turnkun st (O lym pi c Gymnas tic A rt ).

The trend in women 's gymn asti cs is more in the artisti c d irecti on. Ludmilla was the victor ove r Olga, the artis tic presenta ti on (by technica l perfection) ove r eccentri c ac robat ic. Th e victo r over Olga Ko rbut , technicall y without fault , w hi ch no o ther gym nast in the world could achieve. Th e most outstanding performances w ere o n th e opti o nal fl oo r exe rc ises of th e Russ ian girl s. That th e USA girls came closes t- to-them was ex plained aga in and aga in in Varna . j oa n Moore Ri ce (also Diane Dunbar) would have fi t we ll into th e finals of the floor competiti o n, ce rtai nly j oa n was bett er than Angelika Hellmalln , who th en also was no match for th e Russ iallS. Evaluation of the international teams Men:

japan; now as before leade r in the world of male gymnastics. High point this time was th e parall el bar compulsory exercises, wh ich we re performed to the last po int o f perfection. In opt iona l para ll el ba r exerc ises no progress was observed , however th e j apanese have also added the side horse to th ei r gymnas ti c domain. Th e grea t di scovery : H iroshi Kajiyama .

USSR; in spite of a muscle injury to Klim enko, a strong team was presented in Varna by th e Sov iet Union, w ith much young talent that w ill make itse lf not iced by 1976.

GYMNAST jan. '75

DDR - East Germany; Aft er th e loss of Kl aus Koeste (to rn liga men t of th e hee l) no one wou ld have th ought that th e DDR gymnas ts wou ld muster such a good performance, which brought them da ngerouslY close to th e USSR . However on ly at th e team competiti o n were th e DDR Gymnasts so· strong, at th e ind ividua l competitio ns 2 and 3, th ey dropped behind remarkab ly.

Hungary; With all res pect to th e achievement o f the qui et young team, Hunga rys 4th place finish must still be marked as q uite lucky. O nl y 0.1 5 separat ed th e West German gymnas ts f rom th e Hunga ri ans. A cer tain home advantage in th e Com m un ists block Bulgaria was no t to be overlooked.

West Germany; Eberhard Gienger had two bad days in th e tea m competiti on and alo ne los t more than a fu ll point. But hi s victory in hori zontal bar reconcil ed thi s hundredfo ld . Th e West Germany gymnas ts made dist inct prog ress.

Romania ; th e neighbor of Bu lgaria was give n so man y va luab le tenths o f point s, w hich th e japanese, th e West Germans and th e Am eri ca ns were fi ghting for in va in . Dan Grecu surpassed h is comrades clea rl y.

Switzerland; w ithou t th e inj ured Philippe Gai lle the ach ievement of Jack Gun thard s team was great. Vock and A rn abo ldY exceeded themse lves.

USA; being behind Romania and Switze rl and by ve ry littl e is n ot an express ion of weakness . Th e yo ung USA tea m co uld just as we ll have fini shed 6th . Quite o utstand ing we re th e optional ho rse pe rformances, sco res we re higher than at the end at the trial s for Va rna. A ve ry ho mogenous yo ung team. Could th ey on ly staY togeth er ti111976. lt is a pit y abp ut jo hn Crosby. He ce rtainl y wou ld have b ro ught the

Kajiyama 01 Japan Pholo by leall Wa ldis

tea m up to th e bth positi o n, thanks to his internationa l rep utati o n. One advice: These able stud ent gym nasts sho uld be more se lf co nscious and take part mo re oft en in europea n co mpetiti o ns.

CSSR; th e tea m was too o ld , there we re no grea t talent s, on ly Tann ebe rger and Tabac are ca rry ing th e hope of a bett er gymnasti c future. The stea dy Netusil gave a good account of him se lf.

Poland; since Wi lhelm Kub ica, beca use of seve ral injuri es, and his you nger brother Sy lves ter, because of a torn li gament of the hee l, left the gymnasti c arena. Po land, fourth at th e Ol ympic ga mes 1972 in M unich, d isa ppea red from th e upper m idd le field of th e gymn as tic Na ti ons. Szajna ce rtaild y had Japanese form .

France; w ith Henry Boerio and th e 1!l yea r o ld Boutard , Fra nce w ill be hea rd from du rin g the next two years.

The japanese Okamura , Ol ympic Gymn as t of 1972, was ev identlY a ve ry positive exa mple. Also there was not a tenth of a point give n to th e French ; since th ey competed very ear ly, th ey had to ove rcome spec iall y strict cr iti cs . judges w ho we re not ye t tired o r even indifferent.

Bulgaria; the tea m was too weak, to pl ace well even with the grea t and di stin ct ho me adva ntage . In direc t comparison, th e Bulgarian gym nasts we re mostl y weake r thall th e gymnasts f rom Yugoslavia, th at since th e resigna tion ofCeras and Brod niks sa nk down to insignificance. Bori s Gregorka, Ceras discoverer and promo ter, is hurt most by this co llapse.

Italy; the tea m had to renou nce Montesi.and had an injured A lbe rt o l ucca , w hi ch cos t th em ove r 3 point s. Worse was, that M il anetto

15

oth erw ise a gymn ast in th e ~ UrOpeJ ll class, to tall y mi ssed his op tional eXf'rc ises.

Great Britain; the upward t rend of th e gymn as ti cs in En gland contin ues. You ng gymn as ts, brave gymnasts. But Mont rea l 1976 w ill m os t likely be closed fo r th e tea m. Since onl y 12 tea ms are pe rmi tted th ere. Bu t N ick Stuart has no t give ll up ye t.

South Korea; thi s tea m was ve ry di sa ppointing. No Olle mas tered th e compul so ry exe rcises. 1 he Ko rea ns onl y ke pt up in opti o nals, b ut stayed far behill(J th eir achi f'vem ent at Tehe ran (As iati c C ames) w here th ey had reached 272.60 w ith about th e sa me effo rt , and w ith about th e sa m e gymn as ts. In Varn a th ey go t 267.75 point s.

Canada; co mp ul sor ies abo ut 17 po ints wea ker th an opti o nals. ·1 he easie r co mpul so ry exe rc ises fo r MOlllrea l are a good fo undatio n for a jump to the fro nt , but to become o ne o f the first 12 w ill be hard . But a young tea m indeed, leaves much room fo r hope.

Finalnd; th e Ol ympic w in ner f rom 194!l ca m e with a wea k tea m, los t in trailling champio n N issen en and at th e com petiti o n still Heino nen, so that onl y fo ur co uld ge t thru th e exerc ises. As long as th ere is 11 0 training ce nter in Finland w here o ne co uld practi ce d ail y, th ere w ill be no finni sh champi on gY lllnas ts. N iss inen keeps his gY)llnas ti cs thru practi ce in W est Germany. Evaluation of the female gymnasts

USSR; Never has th ere been a tea m to equal this on e, neve r such a bea utiful Oll e. Never have gY lllnas ts illlitated and surpassed the bes t da ncers as att he opti ona I fl oor exercises, of this world oClllpetiti o ll in Va m a. l he USSR wO lllen gymnasts are in a wor ld by th eillse ives.

OOR (East Germany); Exce pt fo r A nge li ku Hellill ann, th e girl s o ff ered indeed techni ca l perfec t exe rcises, b ut w here was th e chf'e rfuilin ess and eas iness, w here was the art ? Th eir technique brought po int s, but it appea red co ld. Maybe, the girl s we re still too youn g. A nnelo re Zinke, 15 years o ld, a bl essed talent.

Hungary; o nl y Czasza r and Medvecky are rea lly wo rl d class , all the o th ers 11 0 t bett er th an th e gross o f the USA elit e. But th e po int s ca ill e readil y to th eill . Res pect Illust be given fo r the achieveill ent to have replaced A niko Kery and Ilona Bekes i in two Yea rs.

Romania ; it is close to a Ill irac le how Ill any po int s Romani as feillale gymn asts co uld sco re in th eir opti onals: 1!ltl.45 that m ea ns 7.60 Illo re th an in cOlllpul sor ies. Coreac and C ri goras are ve ry good, but the o th ers bl ended in.

CSSR; is o n th e ri se aga in w ith a young team. Th e Ma tlachovas as coaches had to do w ithout Stodul kova , w ho is do ing th e first do uble sOlll ersa ult backwa rd in competiti o n.

Japan; th ey wo uld have probab lY gott en still one to two more po int s w ith Ueno; but in all the japanese were no t that strong. The faillous Ma tsuda Ya illachita as coac h, w ill offer sOllle surpri ses.

USA; w ithout th e dep ress ing Illi stakes in cOIllPul so ry exe rc ises in th e cO llling years th e sYlllpath eti c, and in th eir attitud e, exelll pl ary tea lll o f th e USA would no t have Ill ad e so Ill any mistakes in th eir opti onals. Th e leve l of fea mle gYlllnas tics in the USA cou ld be seen in th e fin als w ith joa n M oore Rice, w hen she got 37 .900 po int s. In th e finals w here no teallls perfo rlll ed, but only mi xed tea illS, all of a sudden th e A illeri ca n girl s also got sco res . Too bad, that janette A nderson had so littl e luck. For Diane Dun ba r th e f inals were a personal success : second in optio nals fro lll th e 21st positi o n.

West Germany; w ith an ave rage age of 16.5 yea rs was too yo ung. U ntil balance bea lll th ey we re even w ith j apa n and pressed eve n ROlllania, th e CSSR and Hunga ry. Th e tea lll should staY toge ther till Montrea l 1976.

Bulgaria; even bett er than th e mens tea III of th e host country, th e feillale gY lllnasts showed no thin g surpri sing. Even tho ugh th e feillale gYlllnas ts o f Poland we re a littl e bett er, th ey scored less po int s. W ith ages ranging f rolll 16 to 20 the Poli sh tea lll was a hOlll ogeneous unit, still it lacked a top gY lllnas t to attract att enti on, w hi ch would have helped th c o th c r gY lllnas ts also .

Canada ; feilla le gY lllnasts we re ca use fo r sO lll e co nve rsati o ll aill ong the expe rts il l Va rn a. One is sure, that at thi s rate of prog ress until M o ntrea l that they w ill bea strong tea lll. The 14 year o ld Rope, is an o lYlllp ic hopefu l.

Netherlands; w ithout the seco nd best feilla le gymn as t va n Rive nstijn th e poss ib iliti es o f a bett er Illid dle fini sh we re no t good. On th e low-scopes o f A ilS Sill uiders o ne co uld see, how difficult it was fo r th e ea rl y startin g

Ho ll and ish girl s to co me to a highe r po int to tal. Perfo rill ing in a later gro up the girls f ro lll th e Nea th er lands easil y co u ld have reached th e po int to tal of Po land .

ltaly; Th at Maria Gracia l oso had to be repl aced by the onl y 14 yea r o ld Bu cci, cos t th e Itali an girl s a good two po int s. Surp ri singly wea k we re th e opti o nal bar pe rfo rill ances w here th ey had sensa ti o na I no tes, at th e o lymp ic ga ill es 1972.

France; yo ung fe male gYlllnas ts were Illu ch bett er at opti onals th an at cOlllpul so ri es. Replacement gYlllnas t Bauill ga rt (fo r th e youn ger A udin) was too weak.

Switzerland; handica pped startin g in a ea rl ier group, and by t he abse nce o f t he i nj ured Patri cia Bazz i, th e yo ung tea m lost its nerves and perfo rm ed far under it s no rm al to tal. Coach M art sc hini was deepl y disa ppo intecd.

Norway; The tea m was a littl e too o ld and did no t reach quite th e ab ilit y o f th e Norw iegan OI Ylllpi c tea m of 1972 . Neverth eless a fin e achieveill ent fo r that sillall country.

Great Britain; Bartl ett instead o f Parkinson, th at Ill ea nt a loss of 4 full po int s. CO lllpared to Muni ch 1972 the p rog ress is ex trao rdin ary.

Yugoslavia; Onl y Na tasha Bajin Slj epi ca could reach th e int em ati onal level. No prog ress .

Belgium; put up a cO lllplete tea m fo r the fir st time, thi s alrea d y is gratifying p rogress . Th e tea lll is still ve ry yo ung, the ave rage age no t quite 16.

Spain; A t o pti o llals 5 po ints bett er, th an at co illpui so ri es. A lso first t ime they had a full tea lll. Ave rage age 17 yea rs.

Australia; in spit e of substitut e gY llln as ts, an encouraging tea lll effo rt. The size o f th e cou ntry hinders intensive ca re o f th e talents.

Sweden; It is a riddle, that w ith th e hi gh level o f gY lllnas tic culture inthis coulltry th e nUlllber of th e fe illale gymnas ts is so sillali. In 1950 Swed en was wo rld champio n at gro up gymn as ti cs , today they adom last pl ace in th e wo rld challlPio nships. Summary

Lack of progress in this dynamic development of gymnastics is a step back. Only those who make great progress, can keep up.

Below: Dronova of the USSR and Zinke - DDR

Pho tos by Jea n Wa ld is

more scenes from Varna

Gienger

Zinke GYMNAST Jan. '75

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Photos, clockwise, starting above: Kenmotsu, Hajiyama, Andrianov, Rohner, Magyar, Molnar, Saadi. Pholo ~ by ~)\I (·11 ~ IIllOrl <lilt! JI.'dl1 Wdl t! i ~

GYMNAST Jan. '75

. e 18thWorid . n in action ~ t th m upper USA Tea m se.e ClockwIse fro Ge ne Championts h~Fr!;nio ns, St~vee ~~~har, Jay I ft · Bre n ng D,an e . I Way ne You . bbie Fike. . Whe an, im Ivicek, De

Whelan, J .. . h II Barosh . b Mltc e photos y .. .

Above, Olga is seen on the beam in th e back arch position she made famous. Seen in full color action on the preceeding page are : (clockwise) Vladimir Marchenko, Nikolai Andrianov, Olga and Nikolai in Opening Ceremonies, Galina Shugurova. Photos by Alan l evi, Tom Wakeling & Glenn Sundby

With Olga in Los Angeles by Minot Simons II

The fans had already been watching her warm up for half an hour; they had even been standing around the unevens, taking p ictures of her doing her famous back somie. Yet the moment the li ghts went dark and the show began, it was as though they hadn ' t seen her since Munich. As Olga pranced out to take her place in line, ten to fifteen thousand delirious fans screamed, yel led, and clapped in a frenzy of excitement and wi ld enthusiasm. Olga was here ! It was Chri stma s, birthda y, and first da y of vaca ti on al l ro lled into one. No event seems able to match the actua l, personal arri val of Olga for turned-on , emotiona l involvement.

Making the most of the excitement of the moment, the Soviets began the program w ith an event that enab led everyone to watch not onl y Olga but all the gi rl s performing gymnast ics uninterruptedly for about five minutes: their musical warm -u p routine. It began w ith the girls doing warm-up exercises, proceeded through various series of dance elements, and ended up with tumb ling. For me it was one of the most deli ghtfu l, refreshing events of the evening . In addition } I had S another reason to be pleased.

Shortly after I had seen the Soviets in Varna < and as I was reflecting on their upcoming tour :0 in the United States, it occured to me that 0

consider ing all we do for them, it wou ld be nice ~ if they would do someth ing for us. After al l, between their week at EXPO last July and their

22

current seven city tour, they wi ll have earned a considerable portion of their annua l gymnastic budget. I was thinking, the least they could do was to give us an inkling of the secret of the ir continued success. I had to admit after watching the girls ' warm-up routine, that they

"Olga and Company" warming up.

had lifted the cu rtain sli ght ly and had given us an insight into a part of their training. Not only was the gir ls' warm-up rout ine one of the most entertaining parts of the evening, but it was also a lesson in gymnastic training. .

What is impressive is that it was the national team that was doing it together. These girls spend enough time together as a team that they cou ld perlorm as a team. This should al so teach us something.

It is interesting to recall that just before the compulsory floor exercises in Varna , Liudmila Tourishcheva led the Soviet gi rl s in fifteen to twenty seconds of a team dance warm -up to music.

The use of music was in fact one of the most notable aspects of the even ing. Pianist Sasha Makarova seemed to be plaYing at least 50% of the time. As a refreshing change, I must say I heartily approve of the use of music for g ir ls on beam and men on f loor exercise.

The modern rhythmic dancers delighted us as always and I was glad to see ou r EXPO friend, World Champion Galina Shugurova performing once again her hoop dance to "Ma laguena " and her ball dance to " Love Story" . After all this exposure to modern rhythmic gymnastics, I feel that it 's bound to catch on soon in the United Sta tes.

Acrobatics, of course, was the entirely new feature of the even ing. In hearing that we were going to have acrobatics, my imagination

GYMNAST Jan. '75

immediate ly pictured a bunch o f guys musclin g th emselves up into dangerou s positions one on top of the other. Little did I expect a graceful, musica l dance routine in w hich lifts and balancing acts were blended into dancing. Like the modern rh ythmic gymnas ts, the acrobats now also have th eir World championships. (The 1974 Championships in Moscow were reported in " Gymnast 's" August-September issue.) Perhaps this is ano ther sport that w ill catch on in the U .S.

Excep t for Alexander Maleyev, th e men were all veterans of Varna. Maleyev had been substituted for Varna tea m mem ber Safronov. In add ition , Andrianov, Klimenko, Mikaelyan, and M aleyev were ve terans of Munich; Paa ta Shamugia won the 1973 Champions All tournam ent in London. Consequently, th ey ' re a group of expe rienced gymnasts (average age, almost 24) who are able for all intents and purposes to treat gymnastics as a profession. They did not let us down. Th eir performances were an inspiration to th e many serious, you ng American gymnasts who ca me to watch them.

Though Nina Dro nova and Ru siko Sikharulid ze showed the effects o f fatigue during their performances on the beam and in vaulting, it rea lly did not matter. Rusiko looked graceful even when shemissed her va ult. In her exotic floor ro utine, Rusiko is th e onlY girl I've seen who manages to maintain frequent direct eye contact with th e audience. She placed third in floor exercise at Varna. Teammate Elvira Saa di, who tied Rusiko fo r third place, perfo rmed an en tire ly different routine on th e tour than she had used at Varna.

As at EXPO, Olga did not perfo rm her floor exercise. However, her beam and bars routines were as good as ever and she stunned the audience with her splendid new twisting vaults. These three events, her part in the musical warm-up, amJ her own warming up o n the bars enabled everyone to feel as though they had really seen Olga. ConSidering that the applause for her uneven bars routine, the co nc luding event of the even ing, was as loud and prolonged as when she had made her intial entrance, it was obvious that th e fans sti ll loved her. In fact, th ey never seem to tire of her.

With variety in the order of events and a sustained, superb standard of performance by a troupe now entirely th eir own, the Soviets ' gymnastic exhibition has been refin ed into an evening of instru ction, inspiration , and pure entertainment. W e' ll be ready fo r th em again in another yea r and a half (or sooner).

Galina Shafrova

23

OSSI on our

CO-ED CAMPUS COLUMN

by Gretchen Sunderland Dowsing Instructor and Gymnastics Coach, Cornell

University

After spea king with many coaches at th e Congress in Chicago, and at the exce llent New En gland Th anksgiv ing Clini c recentl y, I rea li ze that there is a need at this time for more informat ion and communica tion about th e co ll ege scene for wom en. First o f all , we must upgrade th e leve l of coll ege gymn as ti cs - by communicating and gettin g more o rgani zed among ourselves. Thi s co lumn w ill be a step in thi s direction .

Your he lp is needed . There are man y situation s unique to coaching co llege women. I don ' t have all the answe rs o r illformatio n to so lve th e problems we have, but together we can help each o th er by submitti ng arti cles or so luti ons which I w ill inc lude in thi s co lumn each month. Yo u ca n se nd in info rmation about yo ur tea m, o r tackle o ne o f th e foll ow ing suggested top ics:

1. Starting a new co ll ege team 2. Scheduling work-outs 3. Organization of pra cti ces 4. The ove rweight, mature gymn as t 5. Competing USGF and co ll ege - is it

pract ica l? 6. Financial problems - is Titl e IX rea ll y

wo rking? 7. Disci pline - how strict ca n yo u be? 8. Nutrition and co ndition ing 9. Th e " big trick" ve rsus worki ng w ith w hat

yo u 've got 10. J.V. tea ms - do we have the lime? 11. Fac il iti es 12. Is co ll ege compet iti on considered

" seco nd class" ? 13. Choosing th e right co ll ege for the high

schoo l senior 14. Eligibility rules 15. Should graduate stud ents be allowed to

compete? 16. What are the goals of th e co ll ege coac h? In the nex t iss ue I'd like to publi sh as

comp lete a li st as possibl e of co ll eges w hich have women's teams. Please send me th e name of yo ur schoo l and th e academic majors avai lab le.

Since I've just moved to th e East Coast (from California State Universi ty at Lon g Beach) allow me to make some observations about th e Eastern gymnastics scene, and -then trY to offer some information about topic #1, listed above.

First o f all , th e organi za tion leve l in th e Eas t is very high . M eetings are peaceful (so far !) and eve ryone seems to get along fairly well. One thing that im presses me is the strong des ire on th e part of many club and high schoo l coaches to find a good academic and gymn as ti cs co llege for th eir girls.

I have found everyone to be very fri endl y and helpful. Mimi Murray (from Springfield Co llege) is one person who stand s out; she has been a thougfrtful fr iend and a guiding help in finding out w hat was go ing on in th e East. There have b ee n many good wee k-end clini cs for both judging and coaching throughout th e East thi s fall. My " riva l" coac h fro m across the tow n, Harriet Carnes at I thaca College, has also been a help and we have attended many meetin gs and wo rk shops together in our own area .

Topic #1 is the one I' ll take prerogative to write about since I have just start ed a team at

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Cornell. Ho pefu ll y, other coaches of new tea ms will be able to profit from my mistak es and suggestions.

I arr ived at Co rne ll ea rl y (August) in o rder to assess th e faci liti es, equipment , attitud es, etc. , and to meet th e m en's coach, Bob Mart in (a lso direc to r of Ith aca Gymnasti cs Cen ter for yo ung .boys and girl s). I have fou nd, in the past, th at the other coac h ca n rea lly help or h inder your own prog ra m. FortunatelY, Bob was very enthusias tic abo ut star tin g a wo men 's team and has since been he lpful in many ways. . Th e next step was adve rti sing. Th ere had

never been a women 's tea m at Cornell , so the stud ents had to be info rmed of the new va rsit y statu s. I co ntacted o ne of th e gi rl s w ho had been in th e gym nasti cs club the yea r before, and we se t to wo rk mak ing posters and gettin g announce ments in loca l papers. We se t a meeting date and wa ited anxio usly until th en. Would we get 5 people, 15, o r none?

Well , the big night arri ved and I wa lked into th e crowded lou nge and made th e an no uncement , " A nyone here fo r gymnastics, p lease come to th e co rn er of the room. " Th e whole roomful moved! I had 50 people interested in the tea m ! I proceeded to tell them my goal s for th e first yea r team: lea rning new ski ll s, enjoy ing gymnasti cs, easing into competition; gave them my onl y restriction: 110

smokers; and gave them a form to fill out w hich gave me information about their previous experi ence, their goa ls (ve ry illt eres tin g) and their class sc hed ules.

As a grou p we di sc ussed practi ce times, goa ls, previo us problems as a cl ub, and w hat amount of time we co uld ex pect of each oth er. We decided upo n th e fo llowing : 1. we were goi ng to compete thi s yea r; 2. pra ctice wou ld be eve ry wee k day for at least two ho urs -optio na l on weekend s; 3. in o rd er to stay on the team , each girl must make 4 practices a week (except for illness, etc.) .

After the first practi ce (with 50 peopl e), about 20 of th em dec ided (w ith me) that th ey sho uld take my gymlia st ics classes instead of jo ining the team right away . That left abou t 30 women with fair to good skill s w ho we re w illing to lea rn eve rything I could tea ch them. I orga ni zed my practi ces thi s wa y for the first two mo nths:

15 min. li ght runnin g, exercises, st retch ing 15 min. teachi ng tumbling basics 330 min . periods of 3 groups rotating to three

events ( no va ulting at first - I wanted them to be stronger, and o ur ca rpeted board hadn ' t arrived yet) . I told the girls w hat I expected at each station and how to spot, for instance : free x - f. b . roll s and va riations, ca rtwhee ls landing on toes, etc.; bars: pu ll overs, kips; and I wo rk ed beam - turn s, rolls, ca rtw hee ls, etc. . Th en the follow ing practice I wou ld take a different event.

30 min . co nditioning, running, stretching.

Demonstration of use of flags fo r judging meets.

Each girl 0 11 th e team has a co nd iti o ning ca rd w hich looks like thi s:

H eight: __ M 1 W T F

A tt endance We ight Jogg ing Jump Rope Sit -ups Pu sh-ups Leg-Lift s Handstand Stretchi ng: Ba ck Shoulders Legs

Phone ___ Addres5 ___ Na me ___

Using thi s sys tem I could make sure of two things: o ne - th e girl had att ended 4 practi ces a wee k, ;lI1el two - I co uld keep track of h er improvement in co ndit io ning and we ight. Th ese ca rds M e kept in a book and checked of f at eve ry pract ice.

As soon as I felt that th e g irl s we re in pre tt y fair shape, I showed them how to put togeth er rou ti nes, gave th em some of th e rulings o n competit io n, and requ ired th em to have a rou tin e rea dy to show by O ctober 2B. Th is wa s no great hard ship to th e ones w ho had ex peri enced high schoo l competiti on so I spent most of my tim e wit h the o th ers. O n O cto ber 2B we had an intrasquad flag mee t.

At the sa me tim e I was startin g my tea m , I di scove red from Harrie t Ca rn es that th ere we re very few judges in th e area. Since she had put on judging clini cs in the pa st, I vo luntee red to do o ne thi s yea r. I used all 15 peop le th at attended my training sess ions as judges at th e flag mee ts (a ltho ugh yo u don 't need ex perienced judges for thi s type o f meet.) I div ided m y tea m into two groups and made one ye llow and th e o th er, b lue. I used fo ur judges per event and each judge had a ye ll ow and b lue flag . The girl s were match ed according to sk ill and performed in order (o ne from blue aga inst one from ye llow.) The judges onl y had to compare these two perfo rmances . Afte r see ing both , each judge raised eithe r a blue or ye llow flag (o r both f lags if she/ he th ought th ere were no bi g diffe rences in performance). Thi s type o f meet goes very fas t, and it gave me a chance to observe th e girls in competiti o n.

W e corrected our mistak es afte r this meet and had another o ne two weeks befo re a real compeitio n aga inst ithaca Coll ege. A t thi s second f lag meet I chose the top six in each event to compete in th e Ithaca meet. .

A t the end o f the se mester I still have 30 ve ry enthusias ti c gymnas ts, and new un iforms, new equipment , and a lot o f suppo rt from m y a·thl etic depart ment. W e just had o ur f irst off icial meet aga inst Ith aca Coll ege (fonner state champio lls) and my girl s pla ced int he to p six in each event and14 o f o ur sco res met the qualifica ti ons fo r th e state meet! A ll of the hard wo rk of startin g a new tea m is certi anl y wo rth it w hen yo u see your g irl s enjoyi ng gymnastics, improv ing th emse lves, and doin g well in a mee t, w in or lose.

Th e nex t co lumn w ill co nsist o f cont r ibuti o ns and information from you . A re there an y questi ons yo u have ? o r additi o nal topi cs to offe r? Send everythin g(!) to me at:

Wom en's Physica l Education Helen Newman Hall Cornell Universi ty Ithaca, New York 14853

29

Mrs. Renee P. Hendershott 17605 Fries Avenue

lal.ewood, Ohio 44107

news 'n notes

-'" c: ~

E o ~

USGF WOMEN'S COMMITIEE MEETING

November 10, 1974 Shirley Bryan, Chairman

According to Mrs. Bryan , Communication is still a problem. By initiating USGF State Newsletters written by each USGF State Technical director, much progress has been made. Members of the Women 's Comm ittee now receive not only their copy of the USGF News every other month, but they receive information more pertainent to their own area on alternate months.

One major problem in communication is a lack of understanding of the network that has been set up to facilitate matters. Many people with questions or problems of a local nature send inquiri es directly to Mrs. Bryan. When she does get this type of inquiry she just sends it in the mail back to the State chai rm an in the area concerned. From the National Office, she is in no position to handle matters of a local concern.

The first inquiry a person has should be sent directly to the State chairman. If the State chairman cannot take care of the matter, then the correspondance must go to the regional level. If your questions are of a technical nature, ie. rules, ru Ie interpretation, age cutoffs etc., go to the Regional Technical Director. Correspondance concerning questions on general business ie. rules, policies etc., should go to your Regional Chairman. If, for some reason one of these two officers cannot handle the problem, she will go to the national level.

Mrs. Bryan , Chairman of the Women 's Committee handles matters of adm ini stration, rules and policies, and general business for the Women 's committee. Anything that has to do only with technical matters such as rules interpretations, and schedu ling should be directed to Mrs. Jack ie Fie, Chairman of the Women 's Technical Committee.

During the past yea r, the USGF held fifty sanctioned Teacher Education Workshops, one hundred Judges Training Workshops, o ne hundred and twelve ce rtification examinat ions, two hundred and thirty eight Age-Group competitions.

30

May 8,9,10 USGF Junior Nationals George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Marva Teens. Ruth Ann McBride, 5636 Randolph Rd., Roc kville, Mary land 20852. May 22,23,24 USGF Senior Nationals, South Eugene High School , Eugene, Oregon. Na tional Academy of Artistic Gymnasti cs. Dick Mu lvihill , 148 West 12t h, Eugene, Oregon 97401. Feb. 14-15 1st Elite Qualifying Round Philadelphia . area. Philadelphia GYmnastics Center. Bill coco, 8009 Rugby St. , Philadelphia , Pa. 19150. Apr. 25-26 2nd Elite Qualifying Round Site: University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada . Reno Gymnastics Club. Mike Flansaas, 4931 Energy Way, Reno , Nevada 89502. Elite National Championships site undete rmined .. bids to be in by mid-December.

In the past, the Natio nal High School Federation has had no officia l compu lsories. Many states either did not use any or had their own compu lsori es. This of cou rse was the source of many conflicts. Now, after eleven months of negotiations, the National High School Federation has accepted the utilization of the Intermediate Level of the USGF/ DGWS compulsory routines. That is just for this year. We will continue negotiations and keep up the cooperation between the two groups.

There have been a great number of complaints about the operating code of the USGF Women's Committee because of the manner in which officers are se lected. Up to now the only elected officials are the Chairman, Secretary and Vice Chairman. All of the rest have been selected by appointment. A new operat ing Code is being prepared and will be presented next year for approval. Essentially what it involves is that from the state level al l the way to the Nat ional, all officials will be elected.

Because people have moved or were subject to other circumstances not under their control, twenty one State Chairmen have had to be replaced in the last year. A new directory has been compi led and wi ll be published in the December issue of the USGF News.

An Olympic Compu lsory packet is being prepared for the aid of the Elite coaches who are preparing gymnasts for the approaching qualifying meets. It will consist of sheet music, reel to reel tape of the music, a super-8 color film of the exercises, stick figures, and written text. The cost wi ll be approximately $30.00. The

pa cket will be avai lable in very limited supply in two to three weeks thru the Tucson office (USGF, PO Box 4699, Tucson, Arizona 95717).

The Women 's Committee took in $27,192.99 during the past year. The income is from memberships, publications, tapes , promotional items, film sales and rentals approvals, meet and clin ic returns, Expo Team Travel reimbursements and royalti es. It spent $30,014.98 with a net loss of $2,821 .99. A large . part of that expense went toward the General Fund of the USGF, and many persons ca n't understand this. The explanat ion is that it comes back in the form of Shirley Bryan 's salary of $9,000.00/yea r plus the $2,000.00 needed by the Women's Committee to pay their outstanding bills. So whatever went into the General Fund did come back to the Women 's Committee. The purpose of sending the money into the General Fund in the first place is to be able to deposit in a certif icate of deposit, payments of interest, etc. This has been a sore point in the past, so this should clear up the matter.

judy Sloan, Secretary for membership Last year our membership was 550. This year

there are 850 members. One problem that has arisen is that many people have sent in their membership money directly to the Tucson office. Many do not use the official membership form and just include the money saying that th ey wish to join the USGF. this way they really have not co nveyed the idea that they wish to join the Women 's Committee, Judy Sloan is not notified, and these people end up not receiving the materials sent out by the Women 's Committee.

Membership in the Women 's Committee is $10.00. It entit les you to a membership card, the b imonthl y USGF News from the Tu cso n office, and your USGF State newsletter com ing on alternate months from your USGF State Chairman. It also gives you vot ing privilege on matters that come up concerning the Women 's Committee membership. You may obtain membership forms from your USGF State Chairman. All membership fees and forms should be sent... NOT TO THE TUCSON OFFICE .... BUT TO: judy Sloan, 9045 Meade, Morton Grove, Illinois 60053. I f you have a

Officers of USGF Women's Committee gather in the front row prior to Women's Committee meeting.

GYMNAST jan. '75

change of address, please let Ms. Sloan know directly. She will see that Tucson is notified immediately. You should also let your State Chairman know about the change.

Shirley Brydn

Mrs. Bryan In 1969 we started with 69 cert ified judges. As

of October 1st, 1974, we have 1600 rated judges. The new compu lso ri es will be filmed in

January and released in the summer of 1975. They will be effective as of September 1st, 1975. In the late spring of '75 master clinics on the new compulsories will be held for our Regional Chairmen, Technical Directors and Coaches Representatives. They will be taught the compulso ri es so that as the f ilms come out, they will immed iate ly be able to help the people in their respect ive areas to learn th em.

Mrs. Delene Darst Chairman of judges Training for USGF'

2133 persons attended USGF approved judges training clinics last year. Clinicians on Mrs. Darst 's Judges Training staff are: Shirley Ruhlman, Joanne Pasquale, Dale Flansaas, and Cheryl Wagner from Region I, Sharon Webber in Region III , Jack ie Fie and Ernie Weaver in Region IV (now moved back to Region VII , Clarion State College), Greta Treiber and Sharon Pirkl in Region V, Kitty Kjeldsen and Gail Dav is in Region VI , Region VII and VIII have no cl ini cians o n her com mittee. -Mrs. Darst did run seven clin ics herse lf and would like to see each region ex pand to th e po int where th ey have at least two clin icians per reg ion.

Judges Training clinics shou ld be approved thru Mrs. Darst 's office: Mrs. Delene Darst, 7678 Cathedral Hill Dr., Cincinnati , Ohio 45244. Every State Chairman and every Regional Chairman has a copy of th e Judges Training Booklet avai lable from her office. In this booklet is the approval form. When the approva l form is fill ed out ami sent to Mrs. Darst, she will send you your approva l and a form for the clinic report to be filled out by the clinic Director, not the clinician. (The Clinic Director is the one w ho sends in for the approva l).

The report includes such information as: how many peop le were in attendance, the date, the fee charged, w hethe r it was compu lsory or optional , or both , if there was testi ng in vo lved etc. I t too, must be sent back to Mrs. Darst. Sandy Thielz, Chairman of Teachers' and Coaches' Education

Teacher education workshops may be app roved thru her by writing to : Sa nd Y Thielz, 304 Price St., West Chester, PA 19380. A Guide for the running of these workshops has been

GYMNAST jan. '75

printed and is ava il ab le for $1.00 through your Regional and State Cha irman or Regional Technical Director.

jackie Fie, Technical Director of Women's Technical Committee

Th ere have been a number of proposals under considerat ion by the FIG.

1. The height of the horse shou ld be raised from 110cm to 120cm. With all the new vau lts being done now, a better afterflight can be achieved at the higher p lacemen t.

2. A ll neutral judges shou ld be used during the finals of competitions such as the OlYmpic and World Games.

3. The Head Judges shou ld come from the va ri ous continants of the world in Olympic and World Game compet iti on, for better rep resentation.

4. It is felt that the point spread for preliminarY compet iti on shou ld be

9.5-10.00 .2 8.5- 9.45 .3 7.0- 8.45 .4 under 7.0 .5

For the Finals it shou ld be: 9.5-10.00 .1 8.5- 9.45 .2 7.0- 8.45 .3

under 7.0 .4 These are o nly proposals and cou ld be rejected by the FIG.

Mrs. Delene Darst has been e lected Vice chairman of the USGF Women 's Technical Committee.

A new Subcommittee has been formed for the Age Group Program. The Chairman w ill be announced at a later date. The committee will keep files on scores, and injury petitions, in order to help tie everything together.

Jackie Fi e

In the future, meet directors will be required to turn in all scores to their Regional Technical Director who wi ll send them to Mrs. Fie. If the host club does not do this it will be put on probation , wi ll not be allowed to host meets or even compete.

In regards to protest fees, for the Age Group Program we will insist that o ur State and Regional Chairmen set up separate tables where scores will be made known to the coac hes. The scores of the Sup·e ri or Judge plus the four othe r sco res will be made known. Protests are allowed and NO FEE shall be charged. Soon, there will be a written philosophy statement on the coa hces' responsibility.

A Judges Training Fi lm is being done. A written manual will go along with it. It w ill not be out until the end of 1975 in Mayor June.

Mrs. Fie has received many questions about how var ious skil ls (not in the Code) shou ld be

rated. A new supplement has not been printed beca use it was thought that the new Code of Points would be comi ng ou t soon. It w ill not be coming out until January of 76. The rule interpretations wi ll be p rint ed in the women 's Committee material s. There have been no new rule changes, bu t three mor.e va ul ts have been added to the FIG List.

In Ohio, the High Schools are USGF. They wi ll be using their Ohio High School state Meet as a qualifi er for USGF Regionals.

Mrs. Bryan stated at the end of Mrs. Fie 's presentation that orig inall y a very strong statement had come out concerning meets w hich hold compet iti on for children who <! re nine or under. It was stated that if the USGF found that a meet that had a USGF sanct ion did have a chi ld who was under 10 years of age in it, that the meet would lose its sa nction and become invalid as a qualifier for any higher level compet iti on.

Mrs. Bryan sa id , " We do not approve or sanction a competition wh ich has competition fo r anyone 9 or under. Originally a very strong statement was made that if the USGF was made aware that any chil d 9 or under competed in a USGF meet that this would immediately make the meet null and vo id for al l who participated in it. "

" However, it has occurred to me that the othe r coaches have ente red their gymnasts in good faith a nd shou ld not suffer because of the imprope r entry of a nine or under gymnast by another coach." .

" The Women 's Techn ica l Committee will make further study of the matter and come up with a definite statement on the matter by the 1st of the yea r in the USGF News and State Newsletters. "

Mrs. Fie then mentioned that, " There has been a proposal that there should be a creation of a committee to invest igate and explore the possibilities of a developmental program for movement or act ivit ies for 9 and under children and to come up with recommenda tions. it is recommended that thi s comm ittee be made up of coaches, tech ni cians, orthopedic experts, and ea rl y chi ldhood specia li sts."

"It wouldn ' t be a compet ition program, but a guidelines as to what children should be doing at each level so that these children will not suffer physical problems later because th ey were doing skil ls w hi ch were physically unsound for chi ldren of seven or 8 yea rs old. "

There has also been a proposal by Cal iforn ia that is being studi ed. It is felt that a team shou ld consist of five members. This way, two gi rl s can ' t go in and win the State Champ ionship as a team when anothe r team has qualified 7 or 8 members.

Murie l Gmssfeld

Muriel Grossfeld - The Elite Program The First Elite Symposium was held after th e

elite compet iti on in California last year. The best coac hes in the country began pooling

31

the ir knowledge to he lp all the Elite gym nas ts in the United States. Video tapes we re taken of all of the routines. In th e ensu ing few days after the competition the coaches and judges exchanged points of view and areas we re found w here opinions differed.

At the second symposium in March a number of working committees were formed. Mrs. Trei ber heads a committee wh ich wi ll deve lop a d rill for th e USA Team to be used at Internat iona l competit ion. M r. Reiter w ill be hea ding a committee w hich will work ou t a ba sic prescribed set of condit ioning exercises for fl exib ility and strength for the Elite gymnast.

W hen as ked if some of thi s va luab le informat ion ga ined would be dessem inated to the lower levels, M iss Grossfeld expressed th e hope that para llel program s ca n be developed for th e Class I gymnasts. Sh e exp lained that w hat the Elite gymnast does w ill not always be appropriate for all leve ls of gymnasts. Much of our prog ram is experimental and might prove to be even detrimental to the gymnast. We do not want to enu up hurting peop le. We w ill share what we are sure of. In fact, we have already shared much of that with yo u."

She mentioned that th e team drill may be appropreate totall y for an intern ational team traveling abroad for appea ran ce's sake as well as fo r functionality in terms of th e kind of workout they have ab road. It may not be helpful totally for an individual program at home at all.

Mildred Prchal receiving Maste r of Sports award from Frank Bare

Norma Zabka Reports on Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics

" We have had three yea rs of compet iti on wit h two nation al champ ionships. The fir st was held in Chicago. Our two top performers represented the U ni ted States in the 6th World Championship in Rotterdam. They we re Sa rah Brumgart and Patty Flynn. Th ey sco red in the 7's and 8' s. "

Our second championship was held in Chicago in May. We invi ted an Intern ational Ju dge from Czechoslovakia to give us a judging cou rse just pr ior to the compet iti on . We now have 14 judges in the U.S.A. Th ere were 23 partic ipants at that meet and th ere was a great ove rall im provement in the qua lity o f performance.

The th ird championshi p will be held on May 10th at San Francisco State University. The compu lso ri es are ava ilable in Tucson.

A judges' rat ing exam is being prepa red for the rating of judges here in th e United States . Reg iona l Chairmen have not yet been chosen.

32

Mildred Prchal , one of our o ldest participating members in the sport rece ived the Master of Sports awa rd this yea r.

Muriel Grossfeld Introduces Our Newly Appointed Foreign Relations Committee

The Committee cons ists of Frank Bare, Shirly Bryan, Ginny Coco, Greta Treibe r, Herb Vogel, Dick Mulvihill , Vann ie Edwards, and Miss Grossfe ld. l t has been formed to help in the area of Eli te leve l gymnast ics. Th ere is a lack of funding at thi s level and it w ill be studied by the committee. Reg ional Training Centers will be set up. An honors program w ill be created fo r mot ivation and recognition of th e Eli te gymnast. The Elite Train ing Program wi ll be coord inated by this committee.

Miss Grossfe ld stated tha t committee members have been appoin ted by Mr. Bare and th at they w ill se rve indef inately. She also ex pressed the need fo r help from persons not on the committee. Th e Foreign Relation s committee will implement th e program handled normally by the Women 's Techni ca l committee, using many sources of ta lent.

Up to now there have been four coaches on the Women 's Technica l Commit tee. Th ere are now four new ones:"

Region I Da Ie Flansaas Region II George Lewis" Reg ion III Rod Hill Region IV Chic Johnson" Region V Cap Caudill" Region VI Gini Coco Region VII Bill Strauss" Region VIII Vannie Edwards

Regiona l Clinics w ill be held either in very late November o r December and again on th e first o r second weeke nd in nlarch. Their main purpose wi ll be to teach th e Olympic compulsories to be used in all Elite Competition in '75 . The compu lso ries w ill be used even in January at the Regiona l Pre­Qualification Meets. The va ult is common to us' and the bars are not hard.

Th e new compulso ri es w ill possibly last fou r years, but they may be reviewed in two Yea rs. It is poss ible that we co uld even go back to th e present sYstem aga in . We won' t know unti l Montrea l. Th e Russ ians made up th e beam routine, and the Ruman ians composed the f loo r exercise . The Eas t Germans did the bars and vau lt.

Demonstration o f Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics

NAWGJ NA nONAl ASSOCIA nON OF WOMEN'S

GYMNASTIC JUDGES

During the USGF Congress 1974 thi s one yea r o ld o rga ni za tion was discussed at length at two separate meetings. Mrs. Shirley Bryan , chairman of th e USGF-WC, prefaced the discussion by its Na ti o na1 Judging Directo r, Kitty Kjeldson at th e closing Women's Committee meeting by these statements:

" As yo u know, we have 1671 USGF/ DGWS cert ified judges fo r women's gymnastics in the United Sta tes. It was th e USGF Women 's committee which initiated the req uest for the formation of such an o rganization wh ich has been so rely needed for many yea rs. Jack ie Fie and I ha ve wo rked hand in hand wi th th e assoc iat ion from the ve ry beginning.

It is to be clearly understood th at it is an independent o rgilnization. It is not a branch or a division of the USGF Women 's Committee. However, from the sta ndpoi nt of the USGF Women 's Committee, we have pledged our 100% support. We are the first orga ni zat ion to do so.

We have turned over to the directors of the Association the ass ignment of judges for all USGF meets in th is coming season from the loca l thru t he nati ona l leve l. In this f irst yea r, we wi ll work in helping with those assignments.

The assignme nt, or th e selection of judges is ,lot a unil ate ral deci sion o f th at associat ion . Th e USGF Women's Technical committee was asked to deve lope and submit th e cr i teria for. selection of judges and we have a committee working on that. The USGF Women 's Committee has submitted crit eria for all our meets.

From thi s poin t o n, we have turned the responsib iliti es of judging assignments over to th em . The USGF was th e o ne who as ked for such an associa tion , the USGF is the one who has helped get it started, and th e USGF is on record of 100% support and cooperat ion.

We kn ow that t here may be some littl e ruffl es during the yea r. It is the f irst year at trying somethi ng new, but we are tota lly supportive and we are req uest ing all judging ass ign ments for USGF sa nct ioned meets to come th'ru that committee. "

KITTY KjElDSEN - NAWGj National judging Director The fo ll owing prese ntati o n has been prepared by Renee Hendersho tt from notes taken at two NAWGJ meetings at th e USGF Congress.

Th e Nat iona l Assoc iation for Women 's Gymnast ic Judges is a professional organizat ion for men and women who are ce rtifi ed USGF/ DGWS judges of women 's gymnastics. In th is first yea r of its ex istence, t he main work of electing off icers has proceeded f rom National, thru Regional and State levels.

Th e Regional Judging Directors have conducted elect ions in their own regions. The list of State Judging D irectors w ill be completed ve ry soon and pub li shed in all ava ilab le media. In just a few states there were too few j udges o r not enough pe rso ns wi lling to accept a posi tion , the State Judging Directo rs h ad to be appOinted . Otherwise, all off icers are to be

GYMNAST jan. '75

elected and wi ll serve two yea r terms. Odd numbered regions w ill ho ld elect ions eve ry other odd year and even -numbered regions on alte rnate even years .

The Associat ion wi ll se rve you and its membership in a number of ways: At th e request of any organ izat ion, we wi ll ass ign USGF/ DGWS certif ied judges from among ou r membership on a rotationa l basis to meets of a dual , triangular, local, district, sectiona l, state, regional, and national nature.

AIAW and USGF have alreadY requested this service for the 1974-1975 season. The NAWGJ will ass ign judges for A IAW Nationals and USGF meets at eve ry level including Elites. (S ince judges have already been ass igned for severa l USGF sa nctioned meets on the lower leve ls, t he serv ice w ill be used o n a random basis for USGF meets t hi s season).

The organization requesting judges must present NAWGJ w ith the criteria it w ishes to be used in dete rmining e legibi lity of judges. Th e AIAW has alreadY presented its criteria and th e USGF-WTC is work ing on the criteria to be used for all leve ls of USGF compet iti on.

If a request for judges comes in for a national level meet, it is sent d irect ly to Ms. Kjeldsen , Nationa l Ju dging Director. From the national Office, co pi es of the cr iteria and a letter wil l be sent to each Reg iona l Judging Directo r. Each RJD w ill recommend judges from her Reg ion on a rotational basis, by letter, to the nat iona l Judgi ng Director. After rece iving the approva l from the Nat ional Judging Director and th e Meet Director th e RJD th en sends th e contracts to the judges who sign and send the contracts to the Meet Director. Keeping one for himself, the MD signs the cont racts sends one to th e Nat iona l Judging Directo r, and one to th e Judge.

This way the judges are assured they w ill be paid the correct amount, and the MD is assured he wi ll have his judges on the day of the meet.

This is the way it wi ll work on all leve ls. Only on the Regional level , the requ es t and criteria wil l be sent to the Regional Ju dg ing Directo r who wi ll negotiate wit h her SJDs for judges, etc.

Any o rgan ization is invited to use this serv ice of the NAWGJ fo r which there will be a sma ll fee . Once the NAWGJ is fully orga ni zed , th e assignment of judges w ill be only from w ithin its membersh ip.

As has been known for a long tim e, th ere are many prob lems in judging in internationa l circles. The same problems exist ri ght here at home on a sma ller sca le at all leve ls. The NAWGJ wi ll try to do as much as possible to curb these p rob lems by arb itrat ion between judge and coach or meet director in vo lved or by disci plinary action on its member when ca lled for. It w ishes to hear at the State, Regional, or even Nat iona l level about any already ex histing problems in your area.

'Th e li st of SJDs is not yet com pl ete. For now yo u ca n contac t your Regional Judging D irector or Ms. Kjeldsen about any ex ist ing problems, and if you, as a rated judge, would like to have a voice in the handling of such matters and also w ish to be eventuall y assigned to the meets that the NAWGJ wil l be cove ring, we ask th at you p lease join . Your SJD has the forms you wi ll need to fill out. For the present yo u can contact her t hru your RJD.

Membership dues are $15 .00 per year fo r the judges with a Regional or National ratin g. For those wi th other ratings, the fee is $10.00. All checks should be made out to M rs. Betty Sroufe, National Treasuree and sent along w ith the fill ed out form to your own State Judging Director.

GYMNAST Ja n . '75

National Judging Director: Ms. Kitty Kjeldsen 17 Meadowbrook Dr. Had ley, Mass. 01035 413-253-5982 National Secretary: joanne Asc he nbre nn e r 8046 Boatswain Lane Lo ngmont , Colorado 80501 National Treasure r: Mrs. Betty Sroufe 2096 Ro ll ing Hill s Blvd. Fa irf ield , Ohio 45014 513-892-1808

Regional Judging Directors: Region I: judy Smith 8380 0 Northwood Dr. Concord , Califorllia 94520 Region II: Arlen Crossman Rt. 2 Box 116 Lebanon, Oregon 97355 Region III: ju dy Bodman 1120 Edinboro Dr. Boulder, Colorado 80303 Region IV: Dr. Mary McLe llan 1525 State St. LaCrosse, Wiscons in 54601 Region V: Linda Morton 4187 Green Meadows Blvd. Apt. 11 Ypsilant i, Michigan 48197 813-973-0470 Region VI: Gail Davis 119 York St. Guilford , Conn. 06437 203-453-6240 Region VII : Betty Lou Breeze 14229 Hi-Wood Dr. Rockvi ll e , MD 20850 Region VIII : W ilma Guy Rt. 4 Box 120 Birmingham, Alabama 35215

We urge all rated judges to become members of the Judges association, because eventua ll y, and as soon as poss ible, we will be se rvicing ou r membership o nly. W e are putting a lot of t ime and ta lent into these jobs and we do need your support.

For example, there ha ve already been two meetings of all of the nationa l and Reg ional Off icers. They came at the ir own expense, and have spen t much tim e in wo rkin g ou t th e cons titution and By-laws and a Code of Ethics for judges. NAWGJ is ready to present th eir case for a vote on the USGF Govern ingCou ncil. This will give every rated judge a voice that wi ll eventuall y be heard in th e proper chambers. The Regional people have run e lections for State Judging D irectors and begun membership dr ives at th eir own expense.

Th e membership has voted itself to be completelY sepa rate from the USGF Women 's Committee and the USGF Women 's Technical Committee, and thi s automatica ll y cuts them off from any funding from the USGF. Of the dues that members send in, the Nationa l Office will retain only 25%,75% w ill be sent back to th e Reg ional Ju dging Directo r. She wi ll , in turn , reta in 25% and send 50% right back to th e State Judging Directo rs.

Th e money wi ll be used to help to run judges' tra ining and refresher c lini cs for rated judges who need to update themselves. These wi ll be run in co-operation w ith th e USGF Judges' Train ing Committee headed by M rs. De lene Darst. The SJD's w ill , once they get o rganized, send out bimonthly newsletters containing judging in formation on all levels including FIG and USGF Technica l Rul es and interpretat ions .

when possib le, f inancial aid w ill be given to peop le from the var ious states and regions to attend National or Interna ti o nal courses such as the one held in Wash ington D .C. this past summer. Thi s w ill be for judges who have the qua lifi cations required by peop le w ho are running the courses . It is hoped that enough money will be left to pay travel expenses of officers required to attend meet in gs of the organ ization.

Th e Code of Ethics bei ng written now w ill be followed and enforced at all levels. Any uneth ica l conduct of officers or members w ill be presented to the appropriate Governing board . Fo ll ow ing a hearing, a member, D irector, or Off icer may be withdrawn from her position and membership in the Association. The code will be d istributed soon to all State Judging Associat io n members.

Members of the association are to be co nsidered professionals. Th ey have put a lot of tim e and money into getting a rating and are ex pected to attend refresher cl ini cs, keep up to date, and be members in good sta nding in the judging associatio n. We w ill offer a professional product and hope that meet directors w ill treat th em w ith professional courtesy.

A national judging con tract is be ing deve loped and wi ll be availab le soon. We will also be working o ut some agreements for judging conditions, fees, length of session, etc. in coope ration w ith the coaches at different levels. We hope that judging fees can be standardized throughout th e country. For the present we ha ve adopted th e fees recommended by the USGF-Womens Comm ittee:

Per Session (2-2 V2 hours)

FIG Breve t and

FIG National

National

Reg iona l State and Loca l Assoc iate Apprent ice

$25.00 plus 12<t/ mile plus $LU.OO/ d iem

$25.00 Dlus 12<t/m il e plus $20.0u/ d iem $15.00 plu s 12<t/ mil e $10 .00 $8.00 $5.00

A ll Active Stat us Repo rt s of members must now be sent to the State Judg ing Directo rs, who wi ll send them on periodi ca ll y to the Certification coo rd inato r. Non-members shou ld se nd them thru the normal cha nnels. (Directly to th e Cert if ication Coordinato r).

Since on ly rat ed judges may become members of the Associat ion, th e question has ar isen about the poss ibility of allowi ng unrated judges to receive the newsletters. This was discusse d at length. The USGF State Cha irmen wi ll be sending out in their newsletters most of the information yo u w ill need. Th e USG F is still in charge of tra in ing new judges and admin iste ring judges ' certification exams. Offi ce rs in the NAWGJ wi ll not at present, admin ister the exam unless ' they hold a Test Admin istrator status from another source. The USGF will keep yo u adaquatelY informed and assist you in you r initial trai ning. So, we urge unrated judges to join the USGF Women's committee. When yo u become a rated judge, NAWGJ w ill take you from there and see to it that you are kept up-to-date and ass igned to meets etc.

We also urge our members to retain or initiate their m embership in th e USGF Women's comm ittee . The USGF is 100% in support of us and we must give them our 100'10 support!

33

Fig. A 2 3 4 Fig. B 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8

5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8

(Instruction: > The Side Travel James Hesson

University of Nebraska

This is an article for those who have taken the time to develop good double leg circles. As indicated previouslY any attempt to learn circle tricks before learning circ les w ill only result in inconsistency, frustration and bad habits. What constitutes good double leg circles? If you are able to perform 10 consecutive circles with good balance, timing and form every time you get on the horse, you are ready to begin work on individual tricks.

The first travel to learn is the basic side t ravel because there is only a sideward movement involved and no rotation of the shou lders to add to the confusion.

This movement begins with the legs in front of the horse and one hand on each pommel , it ends in the same position one ci rcle later but on a different part of the horse. Refer to the photographs of Steve Dickey and Hal Traver (8 ig 8 Pommel Horse Champion 1974) performing the side travel. (Traver 8-2, 8-8) (Dickey D-2, D-8)

8egin by moving the left hand back to the middle of the pommel after the legs pass under the left ha nd. (8 -1 ,2) (D-1,2) Then add a bit of extra bodY extens ion to the left front of the circ le. (A -2, 8-1, C-2, D-1) There is an opening of the angle between the right arm and the bodY. Notice the difference in the angle between the right arm and the body and that of the left arm and the body. (A-2, A-4) (C-1 , C-4) It

34

may be observed that the body staYs much closer to the left arm. This is a very subtle movement and almost imperceptible. Do not make the extension exaggerated or jerky. It is much like a minute hand on a clock, it arrives smooth ly but you can not see it move.

Most of the shift to the left comes when yo u have the feet in front of the bodY and both hands on the pommels because it is at this point that you have the widest base of support and the best leverage for initiating movement. (A-2,3,4) (C-2,3,4) From here the head appears to turn slightlY to the left in order to preceed the bodY to the balance point.

A line through the shoulders from left to right should remain paralle l to the long axis of the horse. The most common error on the side travel is letting the right shoulder drift back behind the lef t shoulder and the horse. As the legs pass the right end of the horse it is important to move the shoulders well forward of the horse. It is very difficult to move the shoulders too far forward and ex treme ly rare to see a performer fall off of the front side of the ho rse o n a side t rave l. It is, however, very common to see performers fa ll off of the back side of the horse. The right hand should be placed on the front of the pommel just ahead of the left hand as soon as possible w ithout interrupting the f low of the circle. (A-5, 8-4, C-5, D-4)

We have now reached the crit ical point of a good side travel. The performer should reach a straight body balanced position with the center

of gravity directly over both hands firmly gripping the pommel. (A-6, 8-5, C-5, D-5) If this balanced position is reached with a firm grip of both hands the performer will control the st unt. if this position is not reached natures physical laws wi ll assist the horse in the removal of the performer.

From the ba lance point on the pommel continue the ci rcl e to the end of the horse staying close to the pommel. On the last half of the movemen t there is very little shift toward the end of the horse. It is desirable to stay close to the pommel since this position keeps the performer higher above the horse. This has a better appearance, adds to your contro l and makes it easier to lift the center of gravity back to the middle of the ho rse since horizontally and vert ica lly it is closer.

Th e double leg circle shou ld maintain a level plane of rotation throughout th e movement and the hips should not be allowed to roll excessively but rather remain facing as nearly fo rward as possible as they do when perform ing good double leg ci rcl es. (D-4 Good) (8-4 Undesirab le hip shift but good shou lder position)

Remember that you do not throw the body to the end of the horse but rather think of the movement as a step to the pommel and a step to the end. The key to performing the side travel consistent ly is the balance and contro l point over the pommel. (A-6, 8-S, C-5, D-5)

StudY the pictures carefu lly and review them over and over as you learn the movement. '!1

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Impact on heels

Figure 1 Improper ng technique (two foot landing)

By W.P. Wortman

Handspr in gs resu lting in a two foot landing should not be taught to the beg inning gymnast. Though a handspring to a two foot landing is an importa nt part of compet itive gymnast tumbling ski ll s. It sho uld not be taught to a beginning gymnast until the development of handspring mechanics are effic ient enough to enab le the gymnast to " walk o ut" . Even after proper mechanics have been lea rn ed , ca re must be taken to insure that the gymnast makes his landing contact on the balls of his feet, rebo undi ng upward, and does not accept the impact on his heels no r attempt to " stick " the landing.

After seve ral yea rs of coaching gym nas ts from th e begillne rs stage to nati o nal competition, it has been o bserved that th e gym nast w ith poor front handspring mechanics, who consiste ntl y executes the front handspring to a two foot landing, tends to incure low back pain w hich may ex tend down

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Improper of flight

Knee assists

Figure 2 Improper bandspring technique (walk out)

in accepting landing impact

Proper angle of flight

Rebound upward no heel impact

Figure 3 Proper handspring technique

through the ihighs, thus inhibiti ng their ability for fl ex ion, extension, alld sustained wo rkouts.

The problem results from th e position o f impact at landing. Should the gymnas t come in short or o n th e heel s, receivi ng im pact shock , the shock is transmitted stro ngly from the hee ls, up through the legs, to th e area of the forth and fifth lumbar vertebrae and sacrum (Fig. 1) . Continued occurance ca n ca use inter ­vertebral disc infl amat ion and destruction, sc iatic nerve irritation, and intense pain of the lower back muscles, gluti als and hamstri ngs.

Learning proper handsp rin g mechanics by first developing .the handspring " walk out" allows the beginning gymnast to repeat mechanical errors made in the lea rnin g process without incuring injurY to the lower back region. Should the beginner gymnast come in short and o n his hee l whi le perfo rming a handspring " wa lk out", the lead leg w ill dissipate the shock to the lower back reg ion by

Figure 4 Figure 5 Spotting technique #1 Spotting technique #2

flexing and the gym nast motion wi ll cont inue forward (F ig. 2). Proper handspring mechani cs allow the gymnast to project an arc of fli g ht enabling him to reach an ang le of impact for the balls of th e feet to make floor con tact, thus project ing an upward spring through the rebound act ion of the feet , ank les, and knees. (Fig. 3). Th e shock to the lower back region is eliminated .

The front han dspr ing "wa lk out " (a nd two foot landing) may be easilY spotted by kneeling in the path of the gymnast and providing assistance at the mid-back for flight (F ig. 4), or standing and blocking the mid-back area for fli ght (Fig. 5). I n both incidences th e gymnast is propelled upward allowing him or her to descend in such a matter as to not impart shock to the lumbar region. As the gym nas t becomes more proficient in h is handspring technique, the handspr ing to a two foot hand ing may be introduced without the percentage of chance for potent ial injury. rf

35

rub DEAR READERS,

As promised last month, we'll try to answer the questions you ask most often in this oolumn;

Many of you 11ave asked for the names of gymnastio olubs, ooaohes, sohoo1s, and summer oamps in your individual areas. Unfortunately, there is no . direotory available whi oh lists them all. That is why GYMNAST is planning a new DIRECTORY SECTION in the magazine where all these olubs, oamps, ooaohes, and sohools you seek oan have themselves l isted so you oan find them. Meanwhile, we do lia ve one souroe for this information , maybe it would be possible for you to obtain a oopy. In 1973 The United States Assooiation of I ndependent Gymnastio Clubs (USAIGC) put out a direotory, listing olubs eto. by state. In 1972-73 the USAIGC President was Tom Heineoke, 540 N . Hydraulio, Wiohita, Kan . 67213, . ~16-262-0900. Possibly Mr. Heineike 01' your own Regional 01' State Tedmioa1 Direotor oou1d tell you how to obtain a oopy ofthis.direotory, or possibly a 1110re reoent edition. Also you may be able to find the following books in your sohoo1 library, or your publio library:

Porter . Sargent's handbook " Guide to Summer Camps and Summer Sohoo1s"

New York Times "Guide to Summer Camps for Teenagers "

Patterson 's "Direotory of Amerioan Eduoation, " whioh lists sohoo1s and oolleges. The seotion on physioa1 eduoation should contain the names of sohools w hioh ino1ude . cqurses in gymnastios.

A number of you have asked for material on · the .history of gymnastios. That 's a pretty broad subjeot to try to oover adequatel y in a single vol ume. Various writers have dealt with individual phases of the sport, and ·G YMNAST JJas published artio1es from time to t i me on the subjeot. Cheok the referenoe section of your . l ocal library, and we 'll be happy to send you our index of GYMNAST artic1es.fol' $1.00 pel' oopy.

We 're gettin g .a lot of oomp1aints about non-delivery of GYMNAST, and you know what? We'renot a bit surprised. You should see the mailing l abels we get baok f1'.om the post office marked, "Moved, left no· address, " "Addressee · unknown," " Address incomplete," and "Not ferwardab1e." When we s.end yo ur magazine to an address where you aren 't, the post offioe does not forward them. and it does not return them to us; they are des troyed. \ So, . p l ease . advise us immediately of every change of address, so you won 't miss issues, because we can't .rep1aoe t11em without ohiU'ge. Send us both the old and the new addresses, and allow fo ur to six weeks for the ohange to be made in our computerized m ailing .

. And a word about the new s ubscription rate: ten dollars pays for a full year - 12 issues. Those of you who have sent in $7.50 will receive ten issues, so don 't be surpri sed when you reoeive a renewal notice before another year has passed.

Till n ext month, th en, I remain Devotedly yours, Ruby

36

"-CD C '-o u

helen's Helen Sjursen

have always thought that casua l co nve rsation with judges or coaches, at a meet o r whereve r, often uncovers in terest ing facts. The following is one of them, discover ing the fact that some judges eron eously had been ca ncelling out t he superior rat ing of a tri ck w hich rating is still in effect:

Some time ago, a new tri ck (Trick #1) was rated as " superior"

o

Stand on LB

" Front" straddle ove r HB

Trick #1

by v, turn, catch HB in long hang

As soon as this tr ick was introduced as a superior, some judges just took it for granted that the " jump Y2 turn , stradd le 'back' to catch in long hang" (see Tr ick #2) was no longer superior.

Jump

• • superior mix-up

V, turn and straddle "back"

Trick #2

Catch HB in long hang

When the rating on Trick #1 came out, th ere was NO ment ion of any rat ing change on Trick #2. Besides, th ese are definitelY 2 different tricks, one taking Y2 turn " before" st radd ling and the other tak ing Y2 turn "a fter" stradd li ng .

Changes in difficu lty ratin g ca n be made only w hen the not ice o f cha nge comes from an "off ic ial" source.

I am strongl y in favo r of the governi ng body designating on ly ONE publi ca ti on , preferably the USGF News, as th e off icial pub licat ion to look for changes in rul es, ratings, etc. w ith the understanding no change is officia l until once p rinted in such a publication. In this way the entire USA has access (by subscr ibin g) to change notifica tions, rath er th an pass on changes at cl ini cs where only a sma ll perce ntage is involved .

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GYMNAST Jan. '75

.... = center of gravity

VERTICAL VAULT

ON TItE MOV WiTIt FRiT~/ Bent Hip Strad Ie

By Fritz Reiter Judging the bent hip stradle seems to present

a prob lem. Gym nasts, who on th e o th er 3 even ts are capab le of performing 8.00 pts. or better compulso ry routin es, do no t seem to be ab le to accomp li sh th e sam e in va ulting.

This is not to say that our judges are doing a bad job o r that th ey al l lack understanding in va ulting techniqu es . More likel y than no t th e p roblem might be found in the tab le of penalties itse lf, and in th e accompanied st ick fi gures which may mislea d or m isguide most of our hard work ing and hon estl y trying judges.

W hen we read our compu lsory book wit h rega rd s to the pena lties for the bent hi p strad le, and when we attempt to deve lope the best techni ca l execution for it, we find a lack in the choice of the words in th e area of the preflight and repulsion.

Th e pena lti es for lack of repulsion on a HANDSPRI NG (c lass I compulsory va ul t) are li sted with ... 2.0 pts.

Remov ing hands too late ... up to 0.5 pts. Insufficien t height of repu lsion .. . 1.0 pt. That mea ns that for o ne and the sa me thin g

3.5 pts. are provided. We of course rea lize that we shou ld not

double deduct!! If we look ove r th e penalties in th e area of

repu lsion, concerni ng the BENT HI P STRADLE, it covers areas such as:

fai lu re to p lace hands o n top of horse - up to 0.5 pts.

bending arms - up to 1.0· pts. and late push off wit h hands - up to 0.5 pts. You w ill agree that none of the above three

items refer· directly to REPULSION. Interes tinglY enough the code see ms to att empt eve rything to avoid repulsion.

HOW: 1. If yo u fa il to p lace the hands o n top of th e

horse and if you run fast enough yo u w ill find that you can get bett er repu lsion. 2. If you bend your arms there w ill be no

repulsion at all , on ly a " fa ll off'; - provided you have speed - . . 3. There is no such thin g as a late push off w ith

hands. Once th e cente r of gravity has passed the hands yo u can not REPULSE or PUSH any more - at least not of any signifi cance. Th e code does no t pena li ze actu al lack of Repulsion.

GYMNAST Jan. '75

Yet it is REPULSION togeth er w ith HOR IZONTA L RUNN ING SPEED that provid es a good afterf li ght.

And under Afte rflight it specifi cally states : " Failure to completelY extend bodY before

landing ... up to 1.5 pts. deduct io n." Th e Drawing also does not show balanced

pre- and after-flight as " REQ U1RED" , rath er shows a " fa ll " from the horse (trace th e ce nter of grav it y, w hi ch for th is· generali za tion is located somewhere arou nd th e be ll y button ).

And thi s is precise ly w hat most gymnasts are doing - a somewhat controll ed " fal l' off th e horse .

Fo r some tim e now, we have been worki ng with our cl ass II I gymnasts on a technique th at finall y produces some resu lts. (However it doesn 't f it the " code " , and as a result th e sco res have no t improved yet.)

On abov e draw ings th e gym nasts body, doing a ho ri zonta l va ult, rotates onto th e horse in a clockwise and off the horse in a counter­clockwise direction.

In thi s case, if the rotationa l fo rce going onto the ho rse is too stro ng (which usua ll y is th e case when the hips are we ll above th e shoulders at the moment of contact, and th e girl has had a fa st run) th e gymnast wi ll not be able to accomp lish a REPU LS ION. She probab ly wi ll be leavi ng the horse with the shou lders well in front of th e hands, and th e ce nter of gravity wi ll not prescr ibe the d esired arc including a cu lminat ion point. It also will not all ow th e gymnast to ex tend her bod y comp letely before landing.

Si nce the AFTERFLIGHT is th e result of good running speed and rep ul sion, we ca n assume that the " ex tending of th e bod y" 'in the afterfli ght is the most difficu lt phase to accomp li sh. We can then co nclude that , if we had mo re TIME ava ilab le to arr ive in an ex ten ded pos iti on, i t could be accompl ished easier. A technique that would poss ib ly give us thi s " TIM E" cou ld be looked-at as superior to those that ca nnot p rov ide this ex tra TIME. Afterf light s with an ARC provide th is TIME -afte rfli ght s w hich resemble a FA LL, do no t.

I men tion ed ea rl ier th at the " Code of penalties" may use a bad cho ice of word s. If: " FA IL URE TO LI FT H IPS" ca nbe in terpreted as: " NO HIP RISE " in the fli gh t phase, th en th e judges cou ld be looking for the amoun t of upfli ght accomp lished in th e AFTER FLIGHT and co nclude o ut o f t hi s o bse rvatio n h ow much REPU LSION a gy mnast was ab le to do. (W e app ly thi s to al l o th er VAU LTING). Thi s would not neccessa ril y make the ex istin g code of penalties obso lete (a lthough a rev isio n wou ld be bett er) b eca use if a gym nast ·ca n accompli sh to li ft th e bent hips during th e pref light ve ry high above th e shoulders and stil l ex tend th e body in th e afterf li ght , and also trave l in d ista nee; th en she pro bab ly is a superior va ulter and should receive the higher sco re.

In co ncl usion I would li ke to offe r to the coaches and to the · judges the illustrations printed in th e Compulso ry book , leaving o ut th e second f igure from th e left ; as th e desired form of techni ca l execution. ~

HIP RISE DUE TO REPULSION .L!.... __ --'-" ___________ .J.J __ .........::>-_

37

38

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.•................ 1-... ... !..! DR. H.J. BIESTERFELDT, JR.

"GYMNAST" RESEARCH EDITOR Athletics Department- SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois 62901

USA : •.....•........... -................... ~. EDITORIAL COMMENTS

This paper gives a clear exposition of the basic facts about conditioning and training in gymnastics. Too little attention is paid to interval training in this sport, despite strong indications of its value. Indeed there is a very good reason to believe that the short act ivity periods suggested are very effective. I trust you will find the article both interesting and instructive.

HJB

THE SPKIFICITY OF GYMNASTIC TRAINING Tommy Boone

Assistant Director, Human Performance Laboratory Department of Physical Education

Wake Forest University

Introduction The gymnast ic coach is characterized by

continuous flow of directions for the format ion and maintenance of gymnastic skills. His knowledge of coaching techniques and gymnastic training programs are essent ial for development of excell ent gymnasts. It is on this point, namely, gymnastic training, which this article is concerned since the specific ity of energy sources is a very important concept of training.

ENERGY SOURCES Depending upon the intensity and duration

of an activity, one energy souce (ATP-PC, lactic acid: anerobic, oxygen-transport: aerobic) can apparently predominant the ' other two energy sources. Hence, each coach must determine the most important energy source required for successfu l training and performance in his sport. Since the energy sources for a given performance (activity) are time dependent (Mathews and Fox, 1971), one simpl y must determine the duration of a given act ivity and tra in accord ingly (Keul, et aI., 1972).

A TP-PC System The sport of gymnastics requires maximal

muscle contractions for on ly a short duration (e.g., less than 30 seconds). Alt hough there are insufficient data at present on gYmnasti c training (especia lly concerning the specific energy sources that support gYmnastic movement), it is generally accepted that the energy-r ich phosphates in the muscle ce ll supp ly activities of short duration. If a gymnastic performance is, in fact, a brief exercise period, genera lly less than 30 seconds, then an increase in A TP-PC content (as well as myofibrils) would appear to enhance th e performance capac ity of the gymnasts.

Mathews and Fox suggest that the A TP-PC sYstem can function at an increased efficiency . That is, via interval training, the ATP-PC sYstem c~ n be reutilized withOIl\ a major f'levatio n of the lactate leve l. Logica ll y, the relief interval governs th e extent to which the lactic acid sYstem is used. In fact , to avoid the splitting of glycogen to lactic acid, the relief interval should be seve ral minutes in duration whi le the work in terva l should not exceed 30 seconds or the lacta te level w ill rise due to a moe intense breakdown of glycogen (Sa lt in, 1973).

Lactic Acid System Hence, a work period of 1-3 minutes is more

dependent on glycogen and carbohYdrate metabolism than the synthes is of phosphagen stores. Increased glycogen reserves and the glyco lytic enzymes enhance the anaerobic capacity of the athlete. This type of training is benefi cial for a sp rint er, e.g. , 100 or 200 ya rd s, but the performer must suffic iently tax the glycolytic sYstem to warrant an improved performance. The rest interva ls should be 4-5 minutes in duration (Astrand and Rodahl , 1970). After, e.g., 4 times, the increased lactate apparant ly results in fatigue due to the changes in the pH which eventually limits the ava ilability and utilization of the A TP-PC system.

Oxygen-Transport System A wo rk period of 3 minutes up to hours of

con tinuous work with large muscle g roups improves the oxygen-transport system (aerobic capacity). Endurance training improves the oxidate capacity of the cell s (Keul , et al.). For this reason, lactic acid does not accumulate. And , upon concluding the work interval , it is not necessary to be exhausted to elicit the des irable physiological changes indicative of an improved cardiovascular sYstem.

INTERVAL TRAINING IN GYMNASTICS

Interval training in gymnastics is probablY the coach 's best means of training his gymnasts. The interval method w ill help to correct inconsistencies (e .g., unmeasured work and rest intervals) which often result in pre-mature ex haustion. With interval training, a max imal work load is, in effect, converted into a submaximal one in which the athlete is more able to respond under steady-state condit ions (Astrand, et aI., 1960) . For this reason, the potential benefits of interva l training in rehabilitation medicine are much greater than the benefit s der ived from continuous work (Smodlaka , 1973).

Specifically, in regard to interval training and the development of energy sources, the gymnastic train ing program should be manipulated (organized) to ensure that the muscles are over loaded. In other words, with each successive day of training, the muscular sYstem should be loaded beyond the previous day or adaptation. Progressive resistance can be achieved by manipulating at least four major factors which must be considered in interva l training (B loomfield, 1971): (1) the duration of the work interval; (2) the number of repetitions of the work interval ; (3) the duration of the rest interval; and (4) the number (frequency) of training periods per week.

Duration of the Work Interval Provided a routine (e.g. parallel bars or r ings)

requires 20-30 seconds for completion, th e

GYMNAST Jan. '75

durati on should initi ally be around 10-12 seconds. If thi s training time appea rs to be too brief, then consider th e principl es of training underl ying enhance d A TP-PC stores. What va lue li es in forc ing a gymnast to perform (a nd often poorly) a routin e 25 or more seconds if he is completelY ex hausted upon fin ishing? Consider the ext ra tim e wasted simply for recovery purposes (depending of course upon the gymnast's state of fitn ess at a give n time period ). Logicall y, to ensure an appropri ate biochemical and neuro logica l adaptation , the duration of the work interva l o n each apparatu s must be purposefully conce ived. Thi s ma y entail di viding a routine int o , e.g., Part s I, II , and III so that each part is basica ll y equal in duration of work . Upon exceeding th e alloted time for any given part , appro priate adjustm ents wou ld be necessa ry to avo id a major utilization of the lactic acid sYstem and its consequences with reference to the total tim e for training and wo rk to be accomplished .

Furthermore, a coac h may elect to practice Part I (of severa l different routines) , e.g., on Monday of each week, Part li on Tuesday, and Part Ili on Wednesday. Perh aps, Parts I and II may be combined on Thru sday whi le Parts II and III are combined on Fr iday. Th e point is that a systemati c proced ure must permea te the training method to ove rcome the obvio us deficiencies in th e more traditional " this today­that tomorrow" approach to training.

Number of Repetitions of the Work Interval During the first week of training, a coach may

elect to have his gymnasts to repeat each part 3 times before advancing to another apparatus. He may elect to increase the repetitions to, e.g., 5 times (depending upo n how well the gymnasts respond to the stress) the second week of training. Agai n, to ensure all improvement in performance, the overload principle must be utilized from week to week and month to month.

Duration of the Rest Intervals The coach must be highlY critical in

controlling thi s va riable to ensure an appropriate adaptation . As discussed ea rli er, the rest interva l should be at least one minute to avo id a major utilization of glycogen stores. For example, if an eager gymnast rests on ly 20-30 seconds and resumes the work interval , he will probablY reac h exhaust ion much sooner than the other gymnasts (fo ll ow ing established training guides). Hi s exhaust ion may decrease the level of execution of subsequent performances, thus retarding success. Obviously, this training problem is even more comp li ca ted when the work interva l exceeds the predeterm ined wo rk duration. Once again, the sys tem brea ks down creating periods of high intensity work w ithout the necessary considerations of training for tomorrow or the next week. it becomes obvious that this k ind of t ra ining fails to develop athletes to their true energy potential.

It behooves the coach to make sure hi s gymnasts address themse lves to the rest interval acco rdi ngly. By palpating the pulse rate (either at th e caro tid or rad ial arteries), the gymnast may gain an appreciat ion for th e work interva l as it is refl ec ted in the increased hea rt rate. it may be necessa ry to begin with a rest in terval of at least 3 minutes for th e firs t mon th of tra ini ng. As th e gymnasts graduall Y adapt to the accumu lat ive stress of the workouts, the rest interval (betw een the repetitions) may be redu ced to 2 minutes, etc. This i ype of

GYMNAST Jan. '75

ma'nipulat io n helps to ensure a continued necess ity for metabol ic adaptati o ns ind ica ti ve of improved performance capacity.

Number of Training Periods Per Week Without question , the gymnast must train

Monday through Friday to note a sign ifican t increase in energy po tenti al. Besides, 5 trai ning periods per week is co nsistent with and complements th e other interva l training var iabl es.

Undoubted ly, a grea ter increase in musclul ar strength wi ll resu lt when exercisi ng 5 days a week than , e.g. , 2, 3, or even 4 days a week. Since the relation ship of strength to bri ef periods of act ivity (Shepard, 1969) is very high (especiall y in gymnastics) , a coach must adhere as str ictl y as possible to the interva l method. In v iew of this approach , a considerab le and pred ictable strength ga in w ill serve as a so lid fo undation from w hich skill s may more easil y be acquired.

In fact, th e skill s ma y be learn ed w hile less fati gued due to the increased duility of th e musc ular sys tem to resist exhaust ion w hil e work ing. Jensen and Fisher (1972) po int out that with increased strength, e.g., 50%, a person wou ld be ab le to do the same amount of work w ith greater ease. Thu s, it would appea r that the stronger the gymnast is when training begins, the less stress on the lactic acid sYstem. In co nsequence, he wi ll be able to work 10 ll ger without fatigu e and at th e sa me tim e continu e deve loping hi s true energy potential.

Conclusion In conclusion, it appears that the main

energy source for the sport of gymnastics is the ATP-PC sYstem. This sYstem is dramatically reflected in th e strength potential of se lected musculature ev id e nt in gymnastic performances. As a ' fina l thought (with reference to specificity of train ing), the gymnast ic performance is dependent upon a specif ic training program planned for each gymnast and team. Furthermore, the future of gym nastics may well depend on o ur ab ility to interp ret and utilize phys iological data relative to t ra ining programs.

REFERENCES

Astrand, I,P. Astrand, Eit Christensen, et al. " Intermittent M uscula r Work," Acta Physiol Scand. Vol. 48, pp. 448-453, 1960.

Astrand , Per-Olaf, and Kaare Rodahl. Textbook of Work Physiology. New York : M cGraw-Hili Book Compan y, 1970.

Bloomfield, John. " Th e Specificity of Interva l Training," Track Technique. No. 44, pp. 1402-1404, June, 1971.

Jensen, Clayne R., and Gordon W. Schultz . Applied Kinesiology. New York : McGraw-Hili Book Company, 1970.

Keul , J., E. Doll, and D. Keppler. Energy Metabolism of Human Muscle. Bal t imo re: University Park Press, 1972.

Sa ltin , Bengl. " Metabolic Fundamentals in Exercise," Medicine and Science in Sports. Vol. 5, No. 3., pp. 137-146, 1973.

Shephard , RoY J. Endurance Fitness. Canada: Un ive rsi ty of Toronto Press, 1969.

Smod laka, Vojin N. " Interva l Tra ining in Rehab ilitation M edic ine. " Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Vo l. 54, No. 9, pp. 428-431 , September, 1973.

Za uner, Chri st ian W. , and Edwin C. Reese. " Specific Training, Taper and Fatigue" , Track Technique. No. 49, pp. 1546-1550, September, 1972.

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..JUDGES VIEW ON HORS By

David S. Borucki (National card holder)

Today we are at lo ng las t becoming con scious of the need fo r originality_ Many fi ne articles have been w ritten emphasizing th e impo rtance of a gymnast to use hi s, o r her imaginati on, I wo uld like to take this thin g we call o ri gina lity, and inco rpo rate it into th e side horse event As a judge, I look fo rwa rd to ano th er exciting gymnasti cs season. Eve ry yea r the level o f perfo rmance see ms to get a littl e bit better, Unfortunately, my enthusiasm starts to decrease w hen it comes time to judge the side horse. It seems that I ca n almost guess th e sequenti al co nstructi on of the ro utine befo re the gy mn ast even chalks up. The majorit y o f pe rfo rmers w ill h ave ihe first sixty percent o f thei r routine consist of double leg work, t he next fifteen percent is th eir single leg wo rk (traditi onal three fo rward sc isso rs and o ne sc isso rs backwa rd), The remaining twe nty f ive perce nt is left fo r the fini sh. I o ften wo nder i f I am the o nl y judge tha t fee ls that th is type of routin e co nstructi on is getti ng to be just a lit t le hackneyed. As a judge, I am full y aware of the need to meet o ur combinati o n requ irements, but th ere must be another way.

We all ag ree tha t single leg wo rk is very demanding, it 's th e first thin g we lea rn o n horse, yet i t's the last thing we mas ter o n it Any deviati on from th e no rm concern ing o ur leg w ork is o bviously a chall enge, ye t nothi ng dresses up a horse routin e better than well ex ecuted single leg wo rk. To site an exa mple, when someone ta lks abo ut Cerars horse routin e they usually do n' t mention hi s doubl e leg work , which is grea t, but th ey do talk abo ut his sc issors. Eve n th e advan ced ho rse perfo rm ers wh o have reached a high level o f

I

competency in their double leg wo rk must co ncentrate more on their single leg execution, In th e future thi s w ill be o ne of th e few ways we ca n di stingui sh o ne co ntes tant from another. I am not stating th at in th e U.S. we are not o ri ginal on the si de horse, we are. A lso I hope you do n' t thin k th at I wa nt to see a ro uti ne full o f we ird disjo inted parts, lets just try to ge t away fro m our tr ite three fo rwa rd one backwa rd sc isso r combinations,

As a judge it wo uld be very ref reshi ng to see two sc isso rs backward and o ne fo rwa rd, I rea li ze thi s combinatio n is harder to make loo k es th eti c, but anyo ne w ho sees.Kanate Allen do his backward sc isso rs kn ows they ca n be made to look good. Perhaps the gymnast, w ho has t roubl e w ith his fo rward sc isso rs could explore thi s combinati o n, An other altern ati ve would be to put o ur sc issors in th e first part o f our ro utine. Seeing them at th e upper th ird of th e routin e w ould surely ca tch the judges eye (th at is if he eve r wo rk ed horse), The rati o nale for putting o ur single leg work at about th e sixty perce nt mark in our exe rcise is that we want to get o ur b ig tricks o ut of th e way f irst Perh aps one could even do their two consecutive sc issors at on e po int in th e ro utine, and th en do your remain ing leg wo rk at ano th er j uncture. These th ree exa mples given would make th e routin e harder to " hit", but o rigin ality does not come cheap,

We have seen how th e pl acement o f our scisso rs can add o rig inality, A nother way is the type of sc isso rs used. It seems we are completely fo rgettin g those first few pages o n the side horse in our FIG Code o f Po ints P. 72&73. The elementary gym nas t starts to work on his do uble leg circl es befo re he ca n hardl y perfo rm a m ediocre pendulum swing. W ouldn ' t it be a good idea fo r our gymnasts to try to lea rn some of th ese single leg skill s. i.e.

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scissors forwa rd wi th o ne half tw ist , sc isso rs backwa rd wi th one half tw ist, travel hop sideward, simple sw iss, sc issors on th e neck etc. Not onl y would we deve lope our kin aesth eti c feel o n horse, but we just may lea rn a B o r C co mbina ti on. W hen was the last time yo u saw a B o r C composed of single leg w o rk .

Pl acement and type o f sc isso rs are just two ways o f acquiring o ri ginality. My third meth od is to wo rk in and (or) o ut of them in some unusual way. Eve n if we use o ur traditi onal three forwa rd one backward, we ca n sti ll be o ri ginal by finding va ri o us ways o f gettin g in and ou t It has become co mmon practi ce to break into ou r single leg wo rk from a posit ion o f both legs jo ined in f ront o r back, and then brea k. A few o ther ways wo uld be: (circles c lockw ise)

1.) Fo r the elementary gymnast - Single leg trave l up to reve rse scisso r ri gh t (travel fro m L. to R. )

2. For th e intermediate gymn ast - K~ei s k e hre, as legs pass ove r horse ri ght leg cuts to fro n t, left leg cut to back 01 ho rse, (act uall y yo u never rea lly co mp lete the kreiskehre) to sc isso rs backwa rd R.

3. Fo r the adva nced gy mn ast Circl e to czechkehre stra dd led, L. leg cuts to front , fo rwa rd sc issor R,

The above exa mples show us we ca n be original no matter w hat leve l we are co mpeting at These examples aren ' t new at all , th ey just are no t used much.

It was not my intenti o n to teach techni ca l executi o n of single leg movements, but rath er to motiva te gymnasts and th eir coaches to look upon si ngle leg wo rk as a counterpart of circles and th e va ri ous trave ls, Lets t ry to think of th ese single leg movements as somethin g more th an just fulfilling a combinati on requirement

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High School and Female Gymnasu The Los Angeles City Board of Edu ca tion , for

girls interscholastic sports, has adopted a ruling which sta tes : "a n indivi dual shall not be allowed to play o r compete on any outside team, in the sa m e sport during the season of th at sport. " W e, as paren ts of a fema le gymnast, find thi s ruling to be -discr iminatory. We share our daughter's co ncern that her ca ree r and future in compet itive gymnastics wi ll be adverselY effect ed by th e ruling.

Why di scrimin ation in high school wo men's gymnastics? Of the e leven spo rts named in Rul e #11 1, women 's gym nastics is the only spo rt that is effec ted. A ll other sports have comp leted outside competit ion before the same compeiition begins in the Los An ge les City School programs. The USGF meet sched ul es in Ca lifornia cover the months o f October through May. Th e Los Ange les City High Schools compete during the months of February through June. As a Class 1 competitor, ou r daughter is schedu led to compete in two meets in February and one in March. These three meets, occuring during the months of practice meets wi thin her high school , will prevent ou r daughter from competition w ith her high schoo l team. W hy should any gym nast have to choose between (1) addit ional hours of instructi on, (2) advanced university leve l coaching techniques, (3) participation in state and nat ional co m petitions, or, (1) the opportunity to represent her high schoo l and her commun ity, (2) relationships with her pee rs and her teachers, (3) perso nal pride in achievement w ith her high schoo l tea m? To ask an yo ne to choose between the opportunity to advance in skills w hich have become the basis for a ca ree r, or to sha re the exper iences of high school competition and peer group approval, is most unfair.

If girls are forced to choose between " outside" clubs and thei r high schools, we foresee several prob lems. If they choose high schoo l participation , there w ill be too few girls . in the fifteen and over div ision of outside competition and there w ill be very few Class one competitors except for those yo unger than high school age. Private clubs w ill experience a membership decline after severa l yea rs of training older girls, w ith t he natural result of coaches showing a lack of interest in girl s over th e age of twelve or thirteen, due to the poss ibilti Y of th eir cho ices being high schoo l participation. If gi rl s choose to compete on " outs ide" teams instead of stay ing w ith their hi gh schoo ls, eventua ll y competition w ill be di scontinued and there w ill be even one less sport ava ilable to girl s who wish to compete for th eir hi gh schoo ls, interscho lastica ll y. Either of these choices, when not utili zed together, w ill be detrimenta l to the spo rt o f gymnastics and its progress. If the gymnasts who be long to " outside" clubs are no t allowed to compete for the ir clubs, th ey w ill have d ifficu lty h~ ldi ng a place on that competition team. Their coaches w ill wish to wo rk wi th those girls who w ill be co mpeting for them and not w ith th ose w ho wi ll compete for their hi gh schoo l coaches on ly.

42

We do not w ish our daughter, o r any o f th e many gym nasts in th e ci ty, w ho wi ll be effected by th is ru ling, to be pena li zed fo r advanced abilitY o r achievem ent. It is our understand ing, that of th e few ath letic scholarships for wom en, being o ffered by major universiti es, those th at are awa rded are based o n th e gymnast 's parti cipat ion and achievements in both high schoo l and city, state and nat io nal compet itions. It would be impossible to rece ive enough training through high schoo l classes, w ith so few hou rs ava ilable, to ach ieve th e skill leve l required fo r scholarship e ligibility. Every high schoo l does not offe r a gymnasti c program for women, no r is a qua li fied instructor always avai lab le. We would not like to see our da ughter's cha nces of schol arship awards be destroyed by thi s ruling.

Why must female gymnasts be sing led out, to choose between th ese affil iations? If ou r daughter were a pianist, wou ld she not be allowed to have a music teacher outs ide of schoo l, to pla y in recitals and enter conservato ry competitions, whi le pla Ying in the hi gh school o rchestra and representin g her school in city compet ition s? To our knowledge, this is the first major school sYstem, other than the CIF , to accept th is rul ing.

What wi ll YOU do, as parent or coach, when this rul e beco mes effecti ve in your state o r city?? Is a compromise possible?? Could USG F compet ition within the state, be rescheduled to take place during m o nths oppost ire those of high school competitions?? Could th e high school program s be uplifted to include a coach as qualified to teach gymnastics as the coaches who teach high schoo l football and basketball -to BOYS? ?? Cou ld qualif icat io n in a city high school championships lead to the State f inals??? If the high school teammates of " outside competition " girl s do not object to -th eir participation in high schoo l, w hy should th e school board? ? If this ruling is allowed to exist, th e sport of gymnast ics and the futures of many Yo ung women , w ill be w rongl Y directed. Gymna stics is no longer a sport to be rel egated to obscurity. It should be avai lable in all schools and in all states. It is not just a " fu n sport" but in many cases, co uld lead to a successful bu si ness or ca reer.

Mr. Adrian Metca lfe, a spokesman from the " Champions A ll " I nvi tational meet held recently in Londo n, recentl y stated on loca l television , his disappo intment in th e absence of the Amer ican girl s at this m eet. He also stated that gymnast ics for women is a lesser sport, wit h litt le o r no attenti o n being affo rd ed the amateur o r intermediate gymnast. If thi s is true, as it sometimes seem s to be, how can thi s nat ion begin to compete wit h inte rnati o nal co mpetitors??

We hope that th e Los Angeles Board of Education w ill not discriminate aga inst trese girl s who wish to adva nce in th eir chose n sport and to co ntribute to their h igh school programs, sim ultaneouslY.

Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Rix, Jr.

Survey Outside Competition

TO: All G.I .A. Personnel, Senior High School cc: Principals, Asministrator in Charge of G.I.A., Area Superintendents FROM: Patricia Harvey, Consultant

Girls Interscholastic Athletics

Issues rega rding the interpretation and effects of Rule III have cont inuously concerned C. I.A.C. throughout the ex istance of the G.I.A. program. The arguments p ro and co n have been aired at most of the mee tings and have been considered OI l every G. I.A.C. Rules Commillee meeting si nce the onset. The rule has undergone almost constant cha nge resulting in its present state:

Rule III (G.I.A.C. Minutes 4/1/74) To help clarify the rule, it is recommended that il be renumbered and slated 10 read: 11 1-1. " The Girls' Interscholastic Athletics Comm ittee has the author ity to sa nction the participat ion of a school tea m in compet ition not sponsored by the los Angeles Unified School District, provided the written request is received from the p rincipal of the school concerned. (refer to Rule 101-2.) 11 1-2. "An individual sha llnol be allowed to play or compete o n any outside lea rn in the samespofl during the season of tha t sport. Includes the pra ctice season. 111-3. " In addition to those sports listed in Rule 604, 'Constitut ion and By-l aws of Californ ia Interscholast ic Federation,' p. 13 (bowling, crew, fenCing, golf, gym nas tics, ski ing, and te nnis) , girls may also compete unattached in th e sports of archery, badminton, swimming, and track and field. " THE fOLLOWING IS A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT Of THE OUTSIDE COMPETITION RULING: SummerJ 1972

The original governing policies and standards for extramu ra ls which were in effect throughou t our first Year as a boa rd sa nct io ned program did not include a ru le for outside competition. However, a definition of season of a sport and a limitation of practice did exist at that time.

~oe~~~ie~Clober 31, 1972, Girls' Athletic Policy Delermining

*MSP That ou tside competition be permitted for this year (sa nction granted upon wri tte n request from p rincipa l). Tha t POC investigate the number of schools involved in competi tio n not sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School Dis.tric!. A report to be presented in the Spring for further act ion. Meeting, April 5, 1973, Girls Inlerscholastic Alhletics Commillee

Outside competit ion ru les states: The Girls' Interscholastic Athletics Committee has the authority to sanction a schoo l's participation in sport competition not sponso red by the los Angeles CitY School District upon receiving a wrilte n request from the principal of that school.

Survey clea rl y indicated a split att itutde towards th e permission of outside competitio n . Half felt that it sh ould be allowed "only out of season. "

In th e discussion tha t fol lowed, it was cieariYpointed out that whatever decision is made, it would n ot in anywa y make everyone happy. Part of the growing pains of a new prog ram is the agony of (ransition. Meeting, Apr il 30, 1973, Girls Interscholastic Alhlelics Committee

'MSP Recommended that Rul e 17 read "The G.I.A.C. has the authority to sa nction a school's learn participation during the season of the sport in compe tition not sponsored by the los Angeles Unified School District upon written request from the principal o f that school. Meeting, May 2, 1973, Senior High School Principals' Association The following was approved by the principa ls association:

The G. I.A.C. has the authority to sanction a school's team participation during the season of the sport in competi tion flot SP<:H1sored by the los Angeles Unified Schoo l District upon \Wltten request from the principa l of that school. Meeting December 3, 1973, Girls Interscholastic Athletics Committee

*MSP That an individual not be allowed 10 play or compete on any outside tea m in the same sport du irng the season of tha t sport (to beocme effective September, 1974). In addit ion to those sports li sted in Rule 604, 'Consti tution and By-laws of California Inte rscholastic Athletics Federation, p. 13 (bowling, Crew, fencing , golf, gym nastics, sk iin g, and tenniS), girls may compete unattached in the sports of archery, badminton, sw imming, and track and fi e ld. Meeting, April 1, 1974, Girls Interscholastic Athletics Committee (P LE ASE REFER TO RULE III , G.I.A.C. Min utes, 4/ 1/ 74 - first page of this su rvey) Meeting. June 3, 1974, Girls Interscholastic Athletics Committee +MSP Outside Competition Survey ... •

It is recommended that the Athletics Office conduct a survey of the coaching staffs and p hysical education departments of each senior high school to determine what exactly is wan ted in lerms of "outside compet ition."

At Ihis time it was moved and seconded 10 allow an individual to compet e on an outside tea m during the seaso n of the sport. (MO.!ION LOST)

WE SOLICIT AND INVITE YOUR IMMEDIATE EVALUATION Of THE EXISTING RULE!!! tl..J

GYMNAST Jan. '75

lETTERS~ ENDANGERED SPORT

Dear Editor: This leller concerns women's gymnas tics in the

United States - a n "enda ngered sport". The gym nastics "World Games " we re held a

few weeks ago in Bu lga ria. As usual , the Easte rn Block Nations dominated the games with mosltop honors goi ng to the Russians. The nited States placed seventh in team score a nd in individual events our closet competito r was eighteenth. Why?

Political? Perhaps , but more importa ntly , the United States cannot hope to effectively com pete in world caliber gymnastics with privately funded instruction alone. Throughout Russia , a government supported ann opera led schools of gymnastics are ava il ab le to all in almost every town and cily. Thi ~ ~y tem gives each g ir l with potential the opportunity to develop her talelll rega rdle~s of income or loca lity.

In the United States, school s a re few a nd far between . Most towns have no gym faciliti es at all and m a ny girls must travel long dis tances for coaching. Instruction must come from either expensive profit-m aking schools with over­crowded classes a nd lillie - if a ny - individual instruc tion: inadequate public school beginner classes: or small nonprofit clubs struggling under great fin a ncial burdens just to keep their doors open.

Women's gymnastics came a live in thi s country fo llowing the national and internationa l s uccesses of Ca thy Rigby a nd Olga Korbul. Inspi red by these athletes , thousands of girls began seeking instruction: and riding on this wave of enthusiasm , gymnastics organizations sprang up a ll over the country. For the firs t time in U.S. history, the s port began to flouri s h and develop and within only a few years the talent began to emerge. But because of the incredibly high costof operating , these c lubs are now disappearing .. dropping from the scene almost overnighl. Most groups - both profit and nonprofit - cannot withstand the fin a ncia l stress and are laboring to remain in existence, and even organizations producing "championship" ca liber gymnasts , are on the verge of c losing . The sport of gymnastics requires la rge facil iti es, a great deal of equipment, coaching s pecia lis ts a nd time, time. time .. . all of which are very cos tly.

One of the mos t ex pens ive of a ll sports to both teacher and pupil , gymnastics will once aga in begin to die out in this country - jus t as progress was being made - unless som e prog ra m of government oi' comm unity support is developed. Girls have at last been provided a n athletic art form of thei r own with which they might find enormous persona l sa ti sfaction - only to have it taken away and replaced once aga in with made­over and hand-me-down boys ' sports.

A sm a ll org,lIlization known as the Woodland Hills Gymnastics Association is one such struggling pri vate group unab le to a ttract community support - or even to be heard. The Chamber of Commerce sa id " no" as did the many pri vate businesses when a pproached for support.. Most would not even take the Lime to listen. Why is the community so a nxious to support boys ' ath le tics from baseba ll and footba ll to soccer a nd bas ketba ll , but so un willing to support g irls?

And rather than the community working for such worthwhile proj ects as women 's gymnasti cs, it e ither ignol'es them or works against them. The Los Ange les City Schools recently enacted a ruling which will vi rtua lly para lyze the gymnastics program within the schools. The ruling will not permit a young woman gymnas t to compete for he r high school and community while training with organizations and clubs outside the L.A. City Schools. The effect will

GYMNAST ja n. '75

+ CANADIAN REPORT Lewis R. Wa ll er

Womens: FX B V UPB TOTAL

Milk Meet of Champions 1. Angelika Hellman , OOR 9.35 8.90 9.35 9.40 37.00 2. Monika Csaszar, HUN 9.20 8.85 9.40 9.30 36.75

Toronto 3. Angela Mayer, FGR 9.10 8.85 9.30 9.05 36.30 4. Jennifer Ojachun, CAN 9.20 9.05 9.05 8.95 36.25

Gymnasts from l en countries 4. Ne ll i Kim, URS 8.35 9.35 9.05 9.50 36.25 competed November 5th in an 6. Chieko Kikkawa , JPN 8.65 9.15 9.00 9.20 36.00 International Invitation meet 7. Kathy Howard, USA 9.05 8.05 9.25 9.1 0 35.45 sponsored by the Ontario 8. Aleksandra Jankowicz, POL 8.90 8.90 8.75 8.80 35.35 Gymnastic Federation and the 8. April Lennox, GBR 8.85 8.70 9.10 8.70 35.35 Province of Ontario Milk Board. 10. Nadine Audin, FRA 8.80 8.25 9.20 8.80 35.05

Men: FX PH R V PB HB TOTAL 1. Hirosh i Kaji ya ma, JPN 9.75 9.55 9.65 9.70 9.75 9.70 58.10 2. Andrzij Szajna , POL 9.45 9.30 9.55 9.20 9.40 9.50 56.40 3. Imre Molnar, HUN 8.70 9.50 9.30 9.30 9.60 9.45 55.85 4. Wayne Young, USA 9.15 9.20 9.25 9.35 9.30 9.55 55.80 5. Aleksandr Malejev, URS 9.40 9.20 9.45 9.30 9.30 9.55 55.65 5. Walter Moessinger, FOR 8.80 9.20 9.50 9.30 9.30 9.55 55.65 7. Bernd Jaege r, OOR 9.20 9.00 9.50 9.20 9.50 9.00 55.40 8. He nri Boerio, FRA 9.10 8.85 9.40 8.60 9.25 9.20 54.40 9. Eddie Arnold , GBR '8.95 9.75 9.20 9.05 8.95 8.75 53.65

10. Keith Carter, CAN 9.15 8.00 9.95 9.30 8.45 9.05 52.90

be detrimental to the g irls themselves , their Ir;::=~==================il comm unities a nd the sport of gymnastics.

There are many girls who wou ld wish to participate in a sti mulati ng a nd progressive gym nastics program but because of limited income of their families a re denied the opportunity to partiCipate. Many tea ms wou ld welcome the c ha nce to awa rd schola rships to such girls: but without additional funds , it is imposs ibl e. And so gi rl s with potfntial and desire sit helpless ly by a nd wail... but the chance does not com e.

Whi le pri vate c lubs ca n provide some of the money needed to c reate the idea l community gymnastics program which would be open to a ll tal ented a nd dedicated g irls rega rdless of incom e, obviously, it is an imposs ible task for the c lubs alone a nd funds a re sorely needed. A highly trained team competing on a national and international level c annot be maintained within a community without the enthusiasm a nd support of that community. But that support does not come , and it m ay well be only a maller of time before the sport of women's gymnastics will be opened only lo a very se lect a nd a fflu ent group within a limited area , and that will be a very sad da y for yo ung g irls, the comm unilY, the na tion -and indeed, a ll of us.

Audrey Updike Woodland Hills Gymnas tics Association Woodland Hills , California

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Dear Editors : Sounds fantastic! Especially that part about "couple sports" and "Olga Korbut." Also "machismo," " rolfing," and your backhand grip.* How about getting into things like women coaches and ref-

•

• erees? And girls competing with boys in high school?

And ______________ __

•

Please put me down for __ __ year(s) at $7.95 per year.

o I enclose check or cash.

o Bill me.

NAME ______________ _

ADDRESS, ___________ __

CITy ______________ __

STATE ZIP ____ __

• *Incidentally, what i s the • "basic woo position?" MA 483 • -------------_.

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Leisure Time Design Li nda )opson (80S) 968-1139 300 B Pine Street Goleta , California 93017 Dale Vance 3533 MI. Vernon Bakersf ie ld , Californ ia 93306 The Gym Shop (213) 451-4288 412 Broadway Santa Monica. Californ ia 90694 Farmington Valley Gymnastics Center Mr. Chuck Ford (203) 677-4467 Bri cktown Road Farmington, Conn. 06032 Chalk-Up Shop (312) 398-7329 932 Sou th Arthur Ave. Arlington Heights, III. 60005 Chal~:Up. Shop (201) 265-8818 310 Kinde rkamack Road Oradel, New jersey 07649

Chalk-Up Shop (201) 566-5777 Route 34 Matawan, New Je rsey 07747

Chalk-Up Shop (609) 428-1705 8 Tampa Pla za Cherry Hill , New Jersey 08034

Huntington Gymnastics Center (516) 427-8275 Mr. Frank Cassara & Jerry Watskin 173 Ea st Second Street Huntington Station, New York 11 746

Johnson City Acro Mr. Da ile Van Patten (607) 797-2616 Campville Road Box 244 Endicott , New York 13760

Mr. Charl.s Froeming (319) 337-7096 1900 South Riverside Drive Iowa City, Iowa 53340

Mrs. Inge Frank (301) 734-7169 1312 Montreal Drive Aberdeen, Ma ryland 21001

Hampshire Gymnaslics School Anne Vex le r (413) 256-6990 21 Granby He ights Granby, Mass. 01033

.Striggows Gymnas tic Wear (313) 856-2558 9496 Secor Road Temperance, Michigan 48182

Chalp-Up Shop (201) 381-6644 211 Elme r Street Westf ie ld, New Jersey 07090

Century School of Gymnastics Mr. Pel Mead (914) 357-2382 Camp Hill Day Camp Camp Hill Road Pomona, New York 10970

Barb Knothe (412) 672-0502 326 31st St reet McKeesport, PA 15132

Bucks Gymnastics Center (215) 322-2486 Mr. Dave Ke hler 4432 Bristol Road Oakford, PA 19047 Lancaster Gymnastics School (717) 394-7380 Linda look & Jack Brunner 555 North Prince St reet Lancaster, PA 17603

Nittany Gymnastics School (814) 238-8995 Linda Villa 412 West College State College, PA 16801

Parkette Gymnastics Club (215) 779-4210 Vicki Yocum 3200 St reet Lawrence Ave. Reading, PA 19606

WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMMUNICATE WlTli THE READERS OF " GYMNAST"?

" GYMNAST CLASSIFIED", a mo nthl y feature, is yo ur oppo rtun ity . Ra tes a re 20¢ pe r word for th e fir st 25 word s ($5.00 minimum ) and 10¢ fo r each additi o nal word. (Ad s are acce pt e d at th e di sc re tion o f th e publi she r). Check o r m o ney o rde r must accompan y coPy and b e rece ived prior to the closing d ate, w hich is th e 10t h of the mo nth p reced in g iss ue d a te. Send orde rs to Class ifie d De pt., " GYM AST" M agazine, P.O. Box 110, Sa nta M o nic a. CA 90406.

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iC * :f GYM STICKS U.S.A. ~ : A. $1.00 * l iC B. $150 Low adj. * ~ C. $175 High adj. ~ .; d. Non adj. legs to 42" $40 * ~ • For in forma tion call o r write Gym St ick U.S.A. * iC 925 W. Foothill Bl vd. Monrovia , Calif. 91016. * iC (213) 358- 5883 * iC *(all orders F.O.B., plus tax) lit ! . P;S. We have cable bars too! $375.00 .! .~~ ..... ~ ...... ~.

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Jan. 11 . KIPS Invitational No tim e or p lace has been gi ven to us.

Jan. 18, 1975 - Western States Elite Trials Invitational. Sa nta Mon ica City Coll ege, begins a t 7:30 pm.

Feb. 14-15 EI Paso KENOS O PEN GYMNAST IC MEET.. open , boys a nd g irl s. complete age g ro u ps. Pat Ha milton . 701 E. Montna , EI Paso

Feb. 14-15 1st Elite qualification meet (Ea>! of Mi ssiss ippi ) lop 20 to Pa ll -Amlria l 0 11 MJrch 21-22)

Feb. 28-Mar. 1 Northridge I nvitational to be held in Nort hri dg e. California using 1975 compulsor ies (so unds like th is m ight mean the Pan Am compul sories) a nd optionals. Team tYpe compet iti o n w ith final s fo r the top six in each even t. Entry fee $45.00 per team. Contact Dan Conne ll y. Office 213-885 -2051 o r home 213·344·0435.

Mar. 1·2 Elite Regional Clinics Mar. 21·22 Final Trials for Pan·Am Games Mar. 21·22 (Pre!.) USGF State Meets or Mar. 28-29 Mar. 27·29 NCAA College Div. Mell . Mallka to. M inll . Apr. 3-5 NCAA University Div. - Me ll . I~U Apr. 3·5 AIAW Nationals

Apr. 5-6 Ea ste rn States Invi ta ti onal Championsh ips in New York this yea r. Apr. 11·12 USGF Regional Meels Region Regional Cha mpionships. Uni ve rsity of Utah Specia l Events Cente r. Meet Directo r : C har li e Pond. 8418 Supe rnal Way, Salt Lak e C it y. Utah 84121.

Apr. 18·19 YMCA Nationals at Wright ~ t at e Uni vel> it y in Da y tOil. Ohio. Writ e Mr. Doug la, Le wi, . Cambridge . Ohio 43725 (Competit ion will inliud" ,iii gymnasti c eve nt s and trampoline) . Apr. 25·26 2nd Elite Qualification Meet to be he ld West of Miss issif.>pi May 8·10 USGF Jr. Nationals to be held £.15t of Mi ssissippi . May 15·17 AAU Sr. Nationals a t Kenn e d y SI. H . ~ .. Cedar Kapids. Iowa May 22·24 USGF Sr. Nationals to be hc·lu We,t of th e Mississippi June 12·14 USGF Elite Nationals or June 19-21 July 1-5 Berlin· 6th Gymnaestrada Ocl. World Cup, Mduriu. ~pain

MIDWEST CALENDAR III. Jan . 18·19 Midwest Open for Jr. t;irls AA . Advdnce d Compul sories a nu Optional; . 10-12 onltlth and 13·14 on 19th Amer ican ACduem y of Gym l""t ics PH : 312· tl27·6tl43 1300 O .. kwood Ave. De s Plaines. III . 60016. Feb. 22 Midwest Open Specialists Meet for Jr. dnd Sr. Gi rl s ... Optiondl; o nl y Ame rican Acauemy of Gymna sti cs (See above) . Mar. 16 SI. Patrick's Day Open for Boys .. Optionals Only (dge 13 and over) Barry Keel e y PH : tl32·9430 or tlH·5773 . Gymna , tics Unlimited . Sc haumberg. III . March 2 Intercollegiate Regionals for Women ... Illinoi s ~tat e U (i). Mar. 12 Illinois USGF Open for Boys up to HI anu ltl Jn J over Paul Fina PH : 447·0607 Co ll ege of DuPage 25"100 Lambert Rd ., Glen Ellyn . III. Mar. 22 Eiche Invitational for Girls AA only Optionals Rolf Helmke PH: 264-9493 Eiche Turners . 165 E. 115th ~t. . Chic,'go.lll.b(lb2tl . Mar. 23 Eiche Invitational lor Boys AA o ill y Opt ion a Is (See above) . April 26 Elite National Age Group Tumbling Championship .. no 'it e .. no MD yet. June 14·1 5-Turner Camp Invitational Rolf Helmke PH : 264-9493 at TUI 'l e r Camp.

Mar. 29 Class I State Meet, Nevada. Meet Director AI Lansdon. 1301 Valley Road Reno, Nevada 89502. Meet site same. May 2 Class II State Meet, Nevada Meet Directors Mike and Dale Flansaas 2284 Oppio St. Spa rka , Nevada. Meet site lS93 G reg St. Sparks, Nevada.

Sorry ...

In our May, 1974 issue, where we reported the AIAW and USGF meets, we mistakenly miscredited certain photos to the wrong photographer. Tim Ryugo, I'm sorry. We used Tim's photos in our AIAW report, not he USGF meet, where we gave him credit. I' ll try to keep things straight in the future ...

Teri Johnson

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