Just Because...

Afanasyeva's 2015 European Amanar gif. I'm always surprised she can do it. Good for her.

(Source: flippyflippynutella)

Kenzo Shirai's Triple Twisting Double Layout Gif

My friend frangymnasticsfan made this gif of Shirai doing a 3/1 twisting DLO. Shirai is amazing. It's impressive that its on a real competition floor. Here's to hoping we'll get to see it in the new year of 2015. This is an exciting acrobatic skill. Get it Kenzo.

  (Source: frangymnasticsfan)

Daria Spiridonova's 2014 Worlds FX Podium Training

She has a pretty low floor choreography. Too bad about the low difficulty.

(Source: Aly126)

 
Video via Piibunina

Just Because

Aliya Mustafina's 3/1 Y-Spin + 2/1 turn. Lovely difficult combo. I hope she gets the 3/1-Y named after her in Nanning.

(Source: i-don't-understand-gymnastics)

Just Because

Gifs of Afanasyeva's new 2014 choreographed routine by graceandbeautywins.

(source: graceandbeautywins)

The Lou Yun

After seeing John Orozco's Lou Yun 1/2 it got me remembering the badassery of Makoto Okiguchi's Lou Yun + Punch front 1-3/4. Awesome combo. Too bad that combo is not allowed anymore.

(Source: Frangymnasticsfan)

Here is the originator of this unique skill.

 Here is Orozco's Lou Yun 1/2. I wouldn't be surprised if they kept it at E. Personally I'm not a complete fan of the way Orozco does it but it's pretty badass.

CoP - Tip of The Month

CR- Compositional Requirement on BB (balance beam)

On beam gymnasts are required to link, "one connection of 2 different dance elements, one being a leap, jump or hop with 180 degree split (cross or side), or straddle position. Awarded 0.5CR.

Usually you'll see the typical split jump + wolf jump, sissone + split jump etc. Pretty standard and boring. Some gymnasts have come up with some interesting ways to make this often boring CR interesting. In the '08 code I did recall Pavlova/Liukin doing sissone/split + sheep jump but that didn't really appeal to me. I do like Zeng Siqi's switch ring leap + sheep jump but what really got me noticing with the dance CR was when Amelia Racea did the sissone + full turn. I don't know if she was the first gymnast to perform that series but she was the first gymnast that I have ever saw do it. I like the originality.

(Source: n-liukin)

I also liked Grishina's full turn + split jump but really I like her whole Onodi + illusion + full turn + split jump. That is one of my favourite connection on beam.

 (Source: gymnasticsgifs)

Part 4: Favourite Gymnastics of 2013 ~ WAG

I don't care what anyone thinks but I think Afanasyeva's Universiade floor exercise AA and Amanar vault was my favourite thing of the year. I could criticize her faults but what's the point? As you can see this blog is kind of an Afan appreciation blog so she would be tops as my favourite :P. I like her AA FX because she almost hits everything.
Afan doing the Amanar was another big deal because who would of thought a female gymnast at her age would be able to do it for the first time? Clearly she worked her ass off to be all kinds of amazing at the Universiade Games. She even upgraded her 2nd vault. I also enjoyed that her tumbles has gotten better. Her DLO and dbl pike have improved immensely. Her European floor gold routine is another favourite of mine. IMO Afan did make the year exciting with her rumoured Amanar. It's often dubbed the Afanar :D.

Another girl that made the year exciting would be Simone Biles. I grew to like her. She ruled this year and she also had some of the best training clips. Seriously if she ever competes the stuff that she showed in training the gymternet would explode. I hope she can at least compete something from her training clips in real competition. I forgot to mention her 2 ff + full in (B+B+G) 0.1SB in my favourite combo section. That is a difficult combo to do. Definitely a favourite combo.

(Source: gymnasticsgifs)

Huang Huidan's UB world's gold. Her bar routine was a long time favourite of mine. She was actually a nice surprise win. She wasn't on most people's radar. She's badass for not wearing grips or even the gauge tapes.

Yao Jinnan's UB routines. Even without the Mo salto (G) I still enjoy her routine here. The Mo salto was also one of those rumoured upgrades that not many believed, including me. But she did it and it was exciting to see.

Sophie Scheder's UB. It's not a flashy bar routine but it's a really beautiful and elegant routine.

Anna Dementyeva's Universiade beam. Dementyeva is a great beam worker. So sad she retired. I wanted her to win beam gold at Universiade. Her team/prelim beam was good. So much difficult work. I liked her onodi + front aerial + Sheep (D+D+D) 0.3CV. It's one of my fav connections. I should have included it into my fav combos but I feel I liker her whole routine so she deserves to be here. She also dismounted to a new dbl pike which was a better choice than her usual sketchy 3/1 twists. McKayla Maroney for defending her vault title. I liked her floor routine too. I wish she could have made floor finals but she was penalized for being overtime. I like her new DLO (F). I like how she and Afan round ups into their 5/2 twists instead of doing bhs.

Larisa Iordache's beam. She does two full in's! She was my pick for beam gold in Antwerp but too bad she couldn't pull it off.

Victoria Moor's FX from American Cup. Even without the Moors II (2/1 DLO) her floor routine is still good. I think she has one of the best Silivas (H) in the world. What were some of your favourite routines from this year?

Part 1: Favourite Gymnastics of 2013 ~ Combos

Alright so it's that time of year again when bloggers review their favourite gymnastics moments of the year. Here is part 1 of my favourite things, starting with combos. I have to admit that I didn't put a lot of thought into my favoutite list because I wasn't sure if I was going to make one. I haven't seen all the gymnastics routines from this year so it will be hard to not be bias. I mostly focus on seniors so there will rarely be any mentions of juniors. I'm kind of winging these post series. If you guys have any favourite combinations of the year please make a comment. I would love to see what you guys like as it's hard to notice everything. Some combos are old and were performed by other gymnasts of past years but I'm focusing on this year and it's nice to see new gymnasts performing these combos. I hope you all enjoy my favourite gymnastics of 2013 series.

Aliya Mustafina BB: Switch 1/2 Leap + Onodi + Dbl turn (D+D+D) 0.4CV! I really love this combo. It's really unique and innovated.

Aliya Mustafina UB & FX: Stalder 1/1 + Seitz mixed grip + Pak + Stalder Shap 1/2 (D+E+D+E) 0.5CV & 2 Whips indirect to dbl Arabian + stag (A+A+E+A) 0.3CV.

Kohei Uchimura HB: Tak 1/2 + Kolman (D+F) 0.1CV. It's just insane and hard to do that combo. I don't know how he can do it. He's got to be really strong to get that swing into the Kolman. Just incredible.

(Source: supermura)

Sanne Wevers BB: L-turn + 1/1 turn + dbl turn (C+A+D) 0.2CV. She's a master at beam turns. She even has a skill named after her, the dbl L-turn!

Gabriella Douglas (CAN) FX: Quad turn + dbl turn (E+B) 0.1CV. Just amazing and cool.

Ruby Harrold UB: Maloney + Bhardwaj (D+E) 0.2CV & VLW + Zuchold + Toe 1/1 (E+D+D) 0.3CV. Those are some tough and innovated combinations.

Ksenia Afanasyeva FX: Semenova + dbl turn (D+B) 0.1CV. Afan's double attitude spins are too die for. Very ballerina like and it's exclusively unique to her style because we don't see many dbl attitude spins. I love the spin combo it's elegant and a tricky skill to complete.

 (Source: hope-strongerthanfear)

Fabian Hambuchen HB: Straight Tkatchev + Rybalko elgrip + Winkler (D+D+E) 0.2CV. This combo still impresses me. It also doesn't hurt that it's a beautiful combo.

Kenzo Shirai FX: Front 1/1 twist + Front 3/1 twists (C+F) 0.1CV. Kenzo is a twisting combo ninja! That combo amazes me and the front 3/1 is named after him.

Anna Rodionova BB: FF+ Arabian (B+F) 0.2CV. BAMF!!

Zeng Siqi BB: Switch Ring + Sheep Jump (E+D) 0.2CV. It's rare to see two dance elements get 0.2CV. I love the combo.

Danusia Francis BB: Aerial Cartwheel in cross position + 1/1 twist dismount! I'm not sure what the NCAA code gives this combination but this is a banging combo. IMO it's not a pretty combo but it's still unique and daring.

(Source: gymnasticsgifs)

Well those are some of the combos that I can think of. I'm sure there are lots of other combos that I'm forgetting about. What are your favourite combos from this year?

Just Because...Ashish Kumar's bwd 5/2 Twists + dbl Front Tuck

From 2010 Commonwealth Games

      (Source: frangymnasticsfan)

CoP - Tip of The Month

In section 7.2.1 of the WAG code of point "Arabian elements are considered forward elements". Skills such as:

Patterson (Dbl Arabian Tuck dismount on BB)
Dbl Arabian's on FX
Standing Arabian on beam etc.
Onodi's are also considered fwd elements. This skill confuses me at times. Is it bwd or fwd? Apparently it's a fwd element.

 (Source: gymnasticsgifs)

Failure to do a bwd and fwd or Swd element is 0.5 deduction from the compositional requirement. Technically a gymnast doesn't have to do a fwd element as long as she has a swd element or vice versa. Bwd elements must always be included in a routine. Beam dismounts do not count for bwd and fwd/swd CR.  

Just Because...FF + Arabian/Tuck 1/1 Combo

The ff + Arabian beam connection is one of my favourite connections on beam. I think the first gymnast to do this combo was Lobaznyuk? It's a super difficult connection. Currently Anna Rodionova does that combination. Skinner does it too but it's not done well. I also like the ff + tuck 1/1. The Romanians favours the ff + tuck 1/1. I wish more gymnasts would do these cool combinations. Both combinations are worth B+F 0.2CV.

 (Source: gymnasticsgifs)

 (Source: gymnasticsgifs)

(Source: thehappyonefrombeijing)

Just Because...Uchimura's Tak 1/2 + Kolman Combination

Tak 1/2 + Kolman (D+F) 0.1CV

 

    (Source: supermura)

Just Because...Ksenia Afanasyeva Training 1/1 DLO

She trained this for the first time in early of 2013. I hope she can get it and hopefully compete it when she returns to full competitive competition. It needs to be straighter but this was her first time training it in the layout position. This skill is worth H!

(Source: frangymnasticsfan)

Nice Tuck Stand Turn Gifs Into Low Beam Choreography Ideas

I'm not a fan of the tuck stand turn on one leg but these gifs shows how nice they can look when a gymnast have creative choreo ideas. These turns can be called wolf turns as well. There are gymnasts that have these turns named after them.

 First gif is Madeline Gardiner and 2nd gif is Chelsea Tang

(source: allyoursecrets)

(source: gymnasticsgifs)

1/1 Tuck Stand Turn (B)

1-1/2 Tuck Stand Turn (C)

2/1 Tuck Stand Turn (D)

Humphrey- 2 -1/2 Tuck Stand Turn (E)

Mitchell - 3/1 Tuck Stand Turn (E)

Larisa Iordache's Van Leeuwen Upgrade on Bars 2013 ROU Nationals

(Edit: I'm just realizing now that this wasn't the first time she did this upgrade right?) She upgraded to a Van Leeuwen (toe-on shap 1/2). I made this abbreviation up VLW :-D. The skill is worth 5 tenths. It looks nice. Her bar D-score is decent for an AA. If I'm correct this routine is out of 5.9 difficulty.

There are tons of 2013 Romanian National routines at this youtube account mojochrys.

 (Source: thehappyonefrombeijing)

Kenzo Shirai Training 3/1 Yurchenko

(Source: thehappyonefrombeijing)

Just Because...Anna Dementyeva's Beam Connection

(Source: frangymnasticsfan)

I think this beam connection is very nice. Onodi + Front Aerial + Sheep Jump (D+D+D) 0.3CV.

Yang Hak Seon's 2013 Universiade Gold Vaults

One of my favourite moments of the Universiade Games. He's incredible!

(Source:frangymnasticsfan)

Just Because

Koji Uematsu's three release moves in connection. Kolman + Kovacs + Tucked Gaylord II

(Source: frangymnasticsfan)