Artistry of Women's Olympic Gymnastics (Part A) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(From the book “Olympic Gymnastics for Men and Women”, written by Bryce Taylor, Boris Bajin, and Tom Zivic, 1972)

Introduction to Olympic Gymnastics:

Gymnastics has had a long and colourful history, from its early origins in China up to the modern Olympic Games.  But, what is gymnastics?  It is comprised of many and various activities.  I am concerned with the 4 women’s Olympic gymnastics events:  vaulting, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and free (floor) exercise or tumbling.  Other activities, such as trampoline and rhythmic gymnastics, which uses balls, hoops and wands, have also made major contributions to the sport of women’s gymnastics.

Why do gymnastics?  This is a sport which encompasses the total physical development of the participant.  Gymnastics would seem to be the ideal way to meet the goal of physical fitness in an activity program.  That is, gymnastics will enhance those basic components of fitness, such as power, flexibility, strength, balance, coordination and muscular endurance.  It is possible with a progressive gymnastics program that covers every apparatus that each of these fitness components can be developed.  Gymnastics offers girls opportunities for creativity, as well, in which the participants can develop new movements and new free exercise routines.  This is a unique art form in which women gymnasts can combine elements of ballet, folk, and modern dance with the movements of tumbling.  The use of music in free exercise allows women to add rhythm elements and innovation to their performances.  The music of great composers, such as Tchaikovsky, for example, has been used to enhance rhythm and poise and elegance in a free exercise program.
 

Finally, gymnastics is recognized as being a sport that has political implications.  The various news media tend to emphasize gold medal winners, such as Nancy Greene in women’s downhill skiing or Nadia Comaneci in women’s gymnastics.  When an athlete of a particular country achieves greatness at the Olympic Games, this is a great stimulus for the young and upcoming athletes in that country to also achieve greatness.

Gymnastics was a great sport in the high schools at one time.  Though it is no longer taught in high schools (due to the high accident rate), universities still offer it as part of their physical education programs and as competitive sports teams.  This book was written by Bryce Taylor, Boris Bajin and Tom Zivic of York University.  This is where I first saw them and heard their names mentioned.  The book was intended for the coaches and teachers who wanted to attend the Canadian Gymnastics Seminars during the summer at York University.  I attended several of these seminars both as a teenager who was a competing gymnast and as a coach who wanted to find out how to teach gymnasts about the various apparatus.  The primary goal is aimed at the teacher or coach who wishes to introduce or improve the calibre of Olympic gymnastics at her club, school or university.  By following the logical progressions in each chapter, young women coaches will establish a sound basis for advanced work in this sport.

Although I was a competitor and a coach to a certain extent in women’s Olympic gymnastics, my own primary focus was on developing my judging skills in the various gymnastics events for women.  In this sense, I was fortunate enough to become a senior provincial judge in Ontario and Alberta (at different times) and, because of my experiences in this realm, I learned a great deal about how great routines are constructed and how great gymnasts compete effectively during competitions.  During my judging career, I was also very fortunate to be selected to judge at many upscale gymnastics competitions:  gym club provincial championships, high school provincial championships, as well as, university provincial championships.  The true highlight of my 10-year judging career in women’s gymnastics, however, was when I was selected to be an assistant judge at a world-class event, second in size only to the Olympic Games.  That world-class event was called “Universiade ‘83” (meaning that it took place in 1983) in Edmonton, Alberta.  There, I assisted the international judges who had been selected to score the female university entrants in vaulting.  I remember, very vividly, standing not more than about 1 or 2 metres away from Nadia Comaneci, once a world-class gymnast and Olympic gold medallist, who was at that moment the coach of her own university women’s team.  It was a thrill I would never forget to this day.  Just being there participating as a judge was thrilling.

I will start in Part A with the vaulting event (in overview mode only) and proceed to discuss the other gymnastics events for women:  tumbling, balance beam and uneven parallel bars in Parts B and C.

Vaulting:

Vaulting is one of the few gymnastic events (with the possible exception of tumbling) that develop the leg and hip muscles.  Vaulting may be done over many different pieces of apparatus, such as the horse, beam or box, usually the horse.  Women approach the horse from the side, as opposed to the men who approach it (the long horse) from the far end or the near end.  Vaulting is divided into 7 distinct phases:  1) the run, 2) the hurdle, 3) the take off from the board, 4) the pre-flight (which includes the time from the moment of take off from the board to the moment of hand touch on the apparatus), 5) the push off with the hands, 6) the post flight, and, 7) the landing.  Men and women both use the same basic technique regardless of the orientation of the horse.

1)       The Run:  a) Preparation for the run (movements of arms and legs), and b) Typical faults are the things that are emphasized for the run (needed to determine the distance and required speed for the run);

2)      The Hurdle:  a) Typical faults, and b) Method of teaching are the things emphasized for the hurdle (needed to synchronize the run, hurdle and take off from the board);

3a)Take Off from the Board:  a) Typical faults, and b) Method of teaching are the things emphasized for the take off (needed to determine the distance of the board from the horse and the position of the body on the board just before and during takeoff);

3b)The Arms:  The arms play a very important part in the vault and can be used in 2 basic ways during the hurdle and takeoff.  The first, and most common, takes place as the gymnast lands on the board and takes off.  The arm movement starts from behind and passes forward beside the body and upward.  If the arms swing back, then forward, and then upward as the body arrives on the board, the arms will assist the takeoff and have a positive influence on the direction that the body takes in the air. Spotting technique is included, as well, so that the coach or teacher can help the gymnast land in a standing position.

4)  The Pre-flight: a) Typical faults, and b) Method of teaching are the things emphasized for the pre-flight (to get the feeling of the gymnast’s body during the flight in space while maintaining the correct body position);

5)  The Push Off from the Horse:  a) Typical faults, and b) Method of Teaching are the things emphasized for the push off from the horse; (that is, to ensure that the post flight is high enough, the correct timing and arm position for the push off compared to the position of the body is essential to develop – also, a strong push off is absolutely essential);

6)  The Post flight:  a) Method of teaching, and b) Spotting technique are the things emphasized for the post flight (to ensure that there is time for the gymnast to do something before landing, depending on the type of vault);

7)  The Landing:  the landing must be performed onto the toes, the balls of the feet, and finally, the whole foot, followed by a slight bent knee action to a half squat position.  The head is held erect and the arms are held obliquely overhead and the back is in a vertical position.  The best landings stay on one spot without additional shifting needed to maintain balance. 

Types of Vaults for Women:

The following vaults are listed below, along with the following information (in the book) for the coach or teacher:  a) Typical faults, 2) Method of teaching, and c) Spotting technique:

1)      Thief Vault:  Side Approach

2)      Thief Vault:  Front Approach

3)      Flank Vault

4)      Vault with Front of Body passing over horse

5)      Squat over Side Horse

6)      Straddle Vault

7)      Stoop Vault

8)      Neck Spring

9)      Vaults with High Pre-flight:  Squat, Straddle, Stoop

10)  Handspring

11)  Yamashita Vault

NOTE:  The most difficult vaults for women involve more pre-flight and post flight and the quality of the landing will usually indicate whether the particular vault was performed properly and how well it was performed.

This concludes my discussion of vaulting in women’s Olympic gymnastics.  In Parts B and C, I will talk about tumbling (in the free exercise), balance beam and uneven parallel bars.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.