Some Thoughts on American Cup '13

First congratulations to Dalton and Ohashi for winning. Results here I missed the first half of the competition for MAG: FX, PH, SR and WAG: VT. I watched the German coverage which had Philipp Boy commentary. Of course I didn't understand any of the commentary but he seemed to of enjoyed Ohashi's beam and I think he even asked his co host if Ohashi's Memmel spin was elegant, and it was.


I kind of felt sorry for Danell Leyva :( Apparently he was sick so hopefully that was the reason why he was faltering. I'm happy that Victoria Moors came in 3rd AA. I like her floor routine but what is up with her spin? I might sound like an ass for saying this but I hate the spin. Someone please enlighten me on it. I don't get it. One of my friend said that it looked like she was covering up a hurt knee :D I just don't like how she falls to the ground. I know that she does it on purpose but why?

I thought the judges were harsh on Asuka Teramoto's downgraded 3/1 twists but then it was fair game because Ohashi was also downgraded on her leap elements.

I'm still not sure if I like Ohashi's floor routine: Ohashi's beam is growing on me. Ohashi never connected what she intended to but the fact that her difficulty score was still 6.8 is astounding, it's just crazy that it can be up in the 7.3 range when she hits everything. Vanessa Ferrari is still kicking ass on floor with a dbl dbl tuck! Aside from Ohashi and maybe Teramoto's beam, I wasn't really impressed with the beam performances. Well Simone Biles two flic flac to full in tuck impressed me but not the other parts of her routine.

This competition is the beginning of the gymnastics season so I can understand that not everyone was at their best peak. I will say this though, I miss Kohei Uchimura's good form and execution.

*All gifs made by: jyosef

Ohashi's FX Podium Training ('13 American Cup)

Here are my thoughts on Ohashi's new floor routine. It's just podium training so it's not a real floor exercise where she got judged. I'm not sure if I like it. I'll have to see the real final routine. Her dance is good for an American gymnast. I just don't like her style though. It's too stiff and not smooth enough. I know, I know I'm an artistry troll. But for an American she moves okay enough. In terms of the actual gymnastics she is one of the best in the world. This girl can twist. And she has fairly good execution.

Here is what she is going for:

Full in Pike (E)
Bwd 3/2 + Fwd 2/1 (C+D) 0.2CV
Switch Ring + Switch leap 1/1 (D)
Dbl Pike (D)
Memmel (D)
Gogean (D)
Bwd 5/2 + fwd 1/1 (D) 0.2CV

3.2 + 0.4CV = 3.6 + 2.5CR = 6.1 D-Score

My Thoughts on Katelyn Ohashi's Balance Beam

One of the hot topics this past weekend was Ohashi's beam routine from the WOGA classic competition. Ohashi is a new senior for the American team and is well known for her beam. Of course she is also coached by Valeri Liukin.


Watch more video of WOGA Classic 2013 on gymnastike.org

I personally like this routine. She's a bit stiff in her movements but not everyone can move smoothly. I'm thinking the layout 1/1 is a bit piked down but it's still incredibly difficult. With the new code acro + dance bonus I'm not really liking it. At first I thought it would look cool but now it's just going to be easy bonus points for some gymnasts. In some bizarre way I don't mind if the combo was done as dance + acro (which is eligible). Seeing acro + dance doesn't really get me excited. Although I am sick and tired of seeing switch leap + back tuck which is still eligible for connection. One thing that bothers me is the redundant front aerial skill in her routine. She won't get difficulty value for the second front aerial but she will get the connection values. I feel it just looks awkward. Maybe I just have to get use to it. If many gymnasts starts to do Front aerial + front aerial I'll probably have to stop watching beam. That is a trend I am not willing to enjoy. Slow easy forward connections are not exciting. Something like Livchikova's connections are exciting. Although Flic flac + loso + loso or some other kind of variations are redundant but they are more exciting to watch and more dynamic. I just hope many gymnasts does not catch on with the two front aerial connections idea.

I calculated Ohashi's beam difficulty at 7.1 and if she connects the onodi to front aerial she'll get an extra tenth for 7.2. There are no official D-score from the WOGA competition yet. So I don't know what her actual beam d-score is. She also missed her leap composition requirement -0.5. So I'm guessing her d-score was around 6.6, which is still a huge d-score.

Here are my calculations:

Arabian + Sissone (F) 0.1CV
FF + BHS + Layout 1/1 (G) 0.1SB, 0.2CV
Switch Ring Leap (E)
Onodi (D)
Front Aerial + Front Aerial + Sheep Jump (D+D) 0.3CV
Full Turn
Switch 1/2 Leap (D)
Double Pike (E)

3.9 + 0.1SB + 0.6CV = 4.6 + 2.5 = 7.1 or 6.6 for missed CR.