usgf technical journal - december 1982

I .

USGF

TECHNICAL .Journal DECEMBER 1982

Official Tachnical Publication of the United Statas Gymnastics Federation

Kathy Johnson during "Best Presentation" at 1982 USGF Congress according to Congress Evaluations, page 14

Coaches and club owners: An injury can cost

more than a championship. When an injury keeps one of your ath

letes out of competition, theres a lot more at stake than the championship. Parents or guardians may be burdened with medical costs, and the club, coach and staff may be exposed to costly liability.

But if 100% of your members and staff are USGF General Members, you're all protected - at annual dues per person of only $8.50. Club benefits include: • $1,000,000 Comprehensive General

Liability • Owners, Landlords and Tenants

Liability • Trampoline Coverage

• Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability • Personal Injury Liability • Premises Medical Payments • Extended Bodily Injury Liability • Contractual Liability • Incidental Medical Malpractice

Insurance is just one of the advantages of USGF Club Membership. But it could be the most important to you, your staff, your athletes, and their parents.

Protect them all, automatically, byenrolling 100% of your staff and students as USGF General Members. For complete information on coverages included, call or write Cheryl Grace, National Director, USGF Membership Program, at:

Bayly Martin & Fay/San Antonio ' USGF Insurance Administrators p.o. Box 17800 • San Antonio, Texas 78217 • 800-531-7224 • 800-531-7205 • In Texas only, 800-292-5721

Bayly Martin & Fay/San Antonio is the only insurance agency endorsed by USGE

)

usaF TECHNICAL

December 1982 .Journal USGF Scientific and Technical Journal Published Exclusively for the

USGF Professional Membership

Volume II NO.6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Floor Exercise Routine - New Concepts, Mas Watanabe ........ p. 4

Biomechanical Graphic Analysis of the Reverse Hecht .. . A First Stage, Bill Sands ... . . . .... . .. . .. ... .. . ...... ..... .. .. . p. 5

Measuring Training Loads - Counting Elements and Its Usefulness, Fred Roethlisberger ............... .... .. . .. p. 7

Arm Position and Its Mechanical Effect on Twisting Somersaults, Fred Turoff . . ..... . ............ . . .. ...... p. 8

Mechanical and Other Analysis in Gymnastics, Gerald Calkin ... p. 10

Appendix " Innovative Techniques For the Gymnastics Spectrum" Gerald George .......... . ................ . ... ..... . ....... p. 11

A Prospective Statistical Analysis for Gymnastics Injuries on the Club Gymnastics Level, Dr. Garron Weiker, Ron Ganim ...... . . p. 13

1982 USGF Congress Evaluation and Congress Site Determination, Debbie Forsten ... .. . .. . . ....................... ..... ...... p. 14

Third Annual National Catastrophic Injury Report, 1980-81, Char Christensen .... . ......... . ... .. . .. . .. ..... . ...... .. . . p. 17

1983 Women's Artistic and Rhythmic World University and Pan Am Games Selection Procedure ........... .... .... . p. 20

USGF Women's Committee - Rights and Duties of an STC, Linda Beran . .. . . .. ......... .. ........ ... ....... ...... ..... p. 21

Minutes of Women 's Technical Committee ... . .. ..... ... . .. . . . p. 22

1982-83 Elite Regulations . . . ............... .. ............... p. 23

USGF Athletes' Foundation ... . ..... . . . .. .. .. .. . . . ...... . ... p. 28

Minutes Continued . ........... . ................ . ....... . .. . p. 29

United States Gymnastics Federation -------Members: Amateur Athletic Union : American Sokol Organization: American

Turners ; Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women : National Association for Girls and Womens Sports ; National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches ; National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women : National Association of Intercolleg iate Athletics : National Association of Women Gymnastics Judges : National Collegiate Athletic Association : National Federation of State High School Associations; National Gymnastics Judges Association: National High School Gymnastics Coaches Association : National Jewish Welfare Board : National Junior College Athletic Association: United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs : United States Gymnastics Safety Association . Young Men's Christian Association.

USGF GYMNASTICS In order to continue in providing our readers with the most diverse and

comprehensive information concerning the gymnastics community. we hllve expanded the magazine's coverage to include 20 dilfermt Departments. These various Departments will be a continuing series. however. each Department may not appear in every issue. Your contributions to the following menu of topical areas will compliment our original soUcited articles. and will help benefit all those involved in the sport. The following are brief descriptions of each departmenL We look forward to your contributions. Please addtess such correspondence to:

Editors USGF GYMNASTICS MapziJle P.O. BOI 7686 Fort Wortll, TX 76111

Contributors should include with their double·spaced typewritten manuscripts a brief personal hiography and a head-shot photograph. Photography and illustrations included should be black and white. wi th an attached description, pho to credit. and a self·addtessed·stamped envelope for thier return by mail.

USGF MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS: Tltis department will pUblish historical. t,mely and competition articles encompassing the 18 member associations which comprise the USGF.

BASICS: Will attempt to cover the basic elements needed for proper overall gymnastiCS development - flCxibiUty. dance. nutrition. strength. etc. Tltis series encourages a variety of \'i~points and "basics" definitions.

GUEST OPINION: Readers are encouraged to submit constructive commentaries or cri ti c isms to (he Ed itors of (his m agazine for poss ible

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAUDecember 82

Editorial- by Roger Counsil

WHAT IS AN AMATEUR?

In the old days, when we old folks were kids, an amateur athlete was a pretty cut and dried individual. The Avery Brundage ethic that had an influence on amateurism during his directorship of the International Olympic Committee was most dogmatic in its dictates. Athletes were polarized at either end by the continuum ... either you were an amateur or a pro.

Today we see a lot of activity that sprinkles our athletes homogeneously along that continuum, with many athletes occupying a position somewhere in the gray area between amateurism and professionalism. I'm not talking about a Dallas Cowboy football player who very clearly is a pro or a junior high school basketball player who presumably receives no pay for what he or she does and who therefore is very clearly an amateur. In today's complex society, an athlete who achieves a relatively high level of expertise in a chosen endeavor is beset by many opportunities, some of which can result in financial gain, or at least the gain of some material goods.

I guess the problem begins when the athlete becomes noticed in high school. There are stories of a high school district who gave a job to an athlete's father, in order that he move his residence from one high school district to another one, thereby subsidizing the move of the athlete. There are also stories of college coaches or junior college coaches who begin to woo an athlete while that athlete is still in high school with various material objects that will presumably make the athlete desire to go to that college after the end of an illustrious high school career. We are all aware of the stories of infractions that occur at the col leges, and the very existence of NCAA enforcement personnel will attest to the fact that there are those rare colleges 'that are less than pure with regard to payment of monies or goods or both to athletes who excel in their various arenas.

In gymnastics we also are being increasingly besieged by people who have a genuine spirit of helpfulness, but who at times can misdirect their zeal and cause an athlete's eligibility to be jeapordized. One potentially dangerous area is fund-raising for training expenses for the athlete, and in this particular area, international rules say that any monies accrued to an athlete must be channeled through the national governing body. In our case, that is the USGF, and although we did not necessarily want to undertake this tremendous bookkeeping chore, it became evident to us that such was our charge, and there was no avoiding it if we were to act responsibly. Consequently, we have created the USGF Athlete's Foundation and have information and guidelines that govern the application of monies to the athletes. This policy is included in this publication, and we invite all who wish to become involved to contact the office who wi ll put you in touch with our trust officer in the bank who oversees the fund.

It is obvious that the USGF Athletes' Foundation is not a panacea, because there are still athletes out there who are endorsing products, appearing in TV commercials, appearing in movies and plays, appearing on talk shows, and indeed working for networks. There is no way for the USGF to be aware of every potential for rule infraction through an athlete illegally receiving funds , but we must make an effort to insure the purity of amateurism. We'lI never return to the days of Avery Brundage where. if an amateur took a nickel, it was instant professionalism. Society is too complex today for athletes not to become involved, often on a very subtle plane, with commercial entities who look upon the association wi th the athlete as a means to financial gain, but we must continually make a prudent effort to police ourselves to keep the goals of amateurism in mind. Do we play for the rewards of interpersonal associations and the progress that we make through the acquisition of new skills and new levels of perfection, or do we play for pay and for gain? I think this is the bottom line question that we all must ask ourselves.

Unless expressly identified to the contrary, all articles, statements and views printed herein are attributable sole ly to the author and the United States Gymnastics Federation expresses no opinion thereon and assumes no responsibility therefor.

pubUcation. Manuscripts should be approximately \O;Q words in length and should be oriented toward identifying solutions to probtem areas. This Department is designed as a forum for members of the readership to "speak their piece."

LETI'ERS TO THE EDITOR: Your comments are welcome and encouraged, and may address any topiC. Articles. editorials. opinions or photography from the magazine; national and international competitions; gymnastics history andlor future directiOns; L'SGF programs and service. etc.

MEDIA REPRINTS: .\loreso than ever before. major and local newspapers and many magazines are covering gymnastics and gymnasts. Those articles you enjoy. whether relating to a tOt or Olympian. conpetition. personality or special feature. send copies for consideration to be reprinted in the magazine. Include the name and addtess of the pubUcation and the date the article appeared

QUESTION/ANSWER: Ask a question - any question - and we'll try to find an in-depth answer. Who. what. where, when and why about history, competitions, coaching tips, ath letes. coaches. judges. rules,equipment. etc . . The editors will seek-out an authority to answer your questions.

GYMNASTICS PEOPLE, PLACES AND NEWS: Who are the up-and-coming young gymnasts to look for? Who won a special award in your area? What events are going to happen' What took place in your town? Include a black and white photograph or illustration with • 300-word description for possible pubUcati0l1

The following Departments are a part of our Department "Pool" -IntematioruU, Natio1U.l Sports Medicine. Interview. Safety. Olympic Up-Date. Business, Promotion and PubUc Relations. Book Reviews. Teaching and Training, the GrID. Co mmentary and Editorial.

3

photos by Dave Black

4

Floor Exercise Routine - New Concept

by Mas Watanabe, USGF Men's Program Director

A new gymnastics trend can be attributed to any number of factors. The development of new technique, improvement of gymnastics apparatus, or even the addition of a new training device (such as a long grip with dowel), may have a critical influence in setting a certain trend of movement. The improvement of a training facility is also an important factor, particularly the addition of pit areas in the training gym wh ich have made a tremendous impact in the rate of improvement for gymnasts. Also, the overall difficulty in trends in gymnastics have even been accelerated as a result of providing a safe learning environment.

The development of the spring floor, coupled with the pit on the landing area, have certainly facilitated the development of acrobatic movements in tumbling.

Today, a full twisting double back saito is a commonly used skill in the floor exercise routine which was considered a very difficult move up until a few years ago. The most advanced acrobatic skills which we have seen in the international competitions so far are a double twisting double back saito (Li) for backward tumbling; a front handspring to double front saito (Korolev) for front tumbling ; and a double side saito (Tong) for side tumbling . As far as the development of the single acrobatic skill is concerned , it appears that there is very little room left for further development. There also has been some development of the transitional movements in the past few years, particularly the strength hold such as planche or V-seat hold to press out to handstand and double leg circles with flair action type movements have become very popular. These added elements make the routine look interesting and more balanced in the entire composition. However, when we critically review the development of the floor exercise routine in the past decade, basically there was no major change that took place other than the improvement of difficulty in acrobatic tumbling skills. Many of the gymnasts still use a 4 path routine (3 diagonals and 1 side path) with 3-4 running steps prior to every major tumbling path. Most of the transitional movements are not rhythmical and. are chopped with many unnecessary steps before and after the movements. There are a few gymnasts who have attempted some innovative combinations or a different style of routine in the past ; however, nothing has been consistent enough to become a new trend in floor exercise.

Reviewing the past general direction in floor exercise routines, it appears that the door to new trends in this event is wide open. If we wish to take a leadership role as a new trendsetter, perhaps the critical analysis of the routine and determining the potential directions for some of the elements are necessary steps at this point.

Mitch Gaylord (upper left) , Roy Palassou (below)


)

Tumbling

Increase in difficulty of any sing le acrobatic tumbling skill could be the most difficult area to make any major change. A continuous effort should be placed on increasing the air time (height) for further improvement of difficulty.

II. Combination tumbling - there may be any number of different types of combinations and this could be the key factor (direction) to further improve the aspect of tumbling in the routine. A. Addition of preceding tumbling skill prior to the major acrobatic tumbling .

Example: A front handspring-front saito step out-round off-flip flop -double layout back saito.

B. Combination of similar difficulty level tumbling skills. Example: a. Series of saltos -

Front saito - Front saito step out to - or Back saito - 1/2 twisting back saito step out to -

b. Round off - flip flop - 1'/2 twisting back saito step outfront handspring - full twisting front saito

C. Addition of tumbling skill after the major acrobatic tumbling. Example: a. Round off - flip flop- full twisting double back saito - flip

flop - full twisting back saito b. Round off - flip flop - 1'/2 twisting 1 % Arabian dive roll

front saito 1 V. to prone. Very obviously in any combination, tumbling requires a greater distance to

cover in the routine so that gymnasts must develop more powerful round-offs and handsprings to be able to accelerate rotational force in a greater amount without depending on running steps.

III. Pattern

One of the requirements for the floor exercise routine which is stated in the FIG Code of points is that all available floor space in all directions should be used. The most commonly used 4 paths pattern does not meet this requirement fully . In order to fulfill this requirement, a routine should have a minimum of 5-6 paths and/or some of the paths should have more directional changes instead of a simple straight line. Perhaps some of the paths should have a possibly curved line instead of a straight line and use the transitional movement which would include a pivoting and pirouetting action to change the direction of the path. One should be aware that this addition of paths and new elements to cover the entire floor exercise area would require a great deal of endurance. Certainly th is would also force gymnasts to move in and out from the corner very quickly to complete a routine within a 60 second time limit. In other words, this new pattern would mean less "stops" in the corners and throughout the routine.

The following 2 diagrams are the representation of typical 4 paths pattern (#1) and the example of new type of floor pattern (#2) .

#1 #2

Start

IV. Composition

Considering all the factors that were previously discussed, the type of elements required to compose the new style routine should include: (1) the tumbling which contains at least 2-3 combination tumbling paths; (2) the strength moves with good holding and press to handstand ; (3) showing good flexibility in a rhythmical movement, examples: scissor leap - kick to back walkover -stoop through to split ; (4) a controlled balance movement; and (5) some dynamic jumps and leaps with pivoting and turning movements, examples: tour jete, side leap. These elements should be connected with some rhythmical and harmonious movements. The routine should be composed to maximize flow and rhythm and minimize stops, except those absolutely necessary holds such as scales and handstands to meet the requirements (2 second balance duration).

Conclusion

To summarize the ideas of potential directions which we could take to be the new trendsetter for this event:

1. Develop some strong combination tumbling paths not only for middle paths but also in the mount and dismount sequences.

2. Change the pattern of routine to cover as much floor exercise area as possible with many directional changes.

3. Compose the routine to flow with variety of rhythm throughout and minimize stops (interruption of flow) .

4. Add some dynamic leaps, jumps and turns as the connecting movements. (This would require some basic dance training.)


Biomechanical Graphic Analysis

of the Reverse Hecht... A First Stage

By Bill Sands Head Coach Mid America Twisters

The enclosed report shows the actions performed in the reverse hecht by Marie Roethlisberger. In an attempt to stay simple in the analysis I have included this report. The computer analysis of skills is not a new concept but doing it within the confines of the gymnastics gym situation is new. The report included here is a severe condensation of a report that the computer here generates that consists of around 30 pages of material, even for this relatively slow film speed analysis.

The analysis begins with taking film. In my case I use a Beaulieu 4008 ZM4 Super 8 Camera shooting at film speeds from 18 to 80 frames per second. (This particular analysis was done at 18 frames per second) Most of my work is done at 80 frames per second due to the increased accuracy and the increased clarity of the frames and the actions being observed. The film is then developed and returned to the gym for digitizing. The digitizing process begins by noting the peculiar data of the subject that the computer needs to perform its computations on the coordinates it is given. The computer is given the height, weight, and body type of the athlete. I am using Dempster's work for determining the center of mass of each segment when the computer does the calculations for the location of the center of mass. The computer is given the film speed. This is ascertained by filming a digital stop watch for my work. There are several more bits of data that must be provided for the computer which include some environmental concepts and some measurements. Then the long process of digitizing begins.

Digitizing is the process of assigning each body part a specific x-y coordinate in each frame. A special device is used to tell the computer the x-y coordinates of 17 body parts. Each body part must be digitized for each frame which makes even a relatively slow film speed take hours. A typical digitizing session will take 4-10 hours to digitize one entire skill. All the x-y coordinates are saved in the computer disk storage area for later analysis.

The program that takes the data from the special behind-the-back screen took two years of work to get to its present form. It will be another two years before I am satisfied with its accuracy and reliability. I am continually updating and enhancing its capabilities. The program for analysis of movement is quite involved since each frame must have one or more reference points to assure that each body position is entered correctly relative to all the other body positions. The center of mass calculations took some time to program and at present use data supplied by Dempster which is considered out-dated by some. The calculations and most of the concepts for the analysis of film done here have come from three years of research and some vital texts that have provided the concepts and only left adaptation to my computer for me.

MID AMERICA TWISTERS BIOMECHANICS GRAPHIC ANALYSIS

SUBJECT NAME = MARIE ROETHLISBERGER DATE OF ANALYSIS = 7 / 13 / 82 SUBJECT HEIGHT = 56 INCHES SUBJECT WEIGHT = 80.5 POUNDS FILM SPEED = 18 FRAMES PER SECOND NAME OF SKILL = GIANT TO REVERSE HECHT NAME OF EVENT = UNEVEN BARS PHASES OF SKILL

HANDSTAND 1 EARLY DWNSWNG 5 LB PREP 9 PASS LB 17 BODOM 21 LEG LIFT 26 SHOULDER PULL 30 HIP EXTENSION 31 SHLDR FLEXION 34 GRIP CHANGE 36 RELEASE 37 REPKE TO REGR 39 DESCENT 47 REGRASP 50

53

The report given here will not stand up to high level academic scrutiny for a variety of reasons, however, the coach can learn a great deal from such analysis. The report presented here is necessarily simple due to publication room and fear of providing information that no one cares about or is too complicated . The report for a single skill generated by my computer can be hundreds of pages depending upon the depth of the analysis. This report has used only a fraction of the computer's capabilities. In brief, the computer can provide graphic output in the following fashions ; stick figures for any frames or series of frames, the paths of any body part and the center of mass or any combination of body parts for any series of frames, and the computer can show the movements of any limb or fraction of a limb for any

frames or series of frames. Of course, these concepts can then be intertwined to show the simple displays here.

The importance of such analysis has already become apparent here in recognizing predisposal to injury, comparing one technique with another , comparing one gymnast with another, etc. It is only the beginning. The graphic representation of movement was chosen first due to a rather universal applicability. A device called a plotter printer is used to convert the x-y coordinates back into a figure representing the human body. Programs for determining the moment of inertia of the body and selected segments is underway now. Other programs also underway are those to calculate the velocity of every body part for every frame, the angular changes of joints in every frame, the forces and accelerations present, and finally the shear forces present.

There are many limitations to the validity of this research at present due to the inexpensive equipment I am forced to use and the inexperienced mistakes that I make in the calculations and programming logic, but I have already put this to use for our gymnasts to give them a safer training environment. I hope to one day be able to model on the computer and have the computer try out skills before the gymnasts have to .

Anyone interested in having a skill analyzed should contact me. Anyone who would like to help me get the programming and hardware problems solved sooner are also welcome to call and discuss their ideas. Let's take gymnastics out of the stone knives and bearskins era.

DISPLAY OF ODD NUMBERED FRAMES FROM 1 TO 21 SHOWS DOWNSWING FROM HANDSTAND TO POSITION UNDER HIGH BAR NOTE HEAD POSITION AND SHOULDERS

Marie Roethlisberger

ODD NUMBERED FRAMES FROM 21 TO 31 SHOW SWING FROM UNDER THE RAIL TO THE HIP EXTENSION TO FACILITATE RELEASE. DOTIED LINE SHOWS PATH OF CENT ER OF MASS . NOTE ANGLES IN HIPS AND SHOULDERS


, ,

I I

ODD NUMBERED FRAMES FROM 31 TO 37 SHOW ACTIONS TO RELEASE FRAME 37 OR UPPERMOST FRAME IS FIRST FRAME OF RELEASE

ODD NUMBERED FRAMES FROM 37 TO 47 SHOW ACTIONS AFTER RELEASE DOTTED LINE SHOWS PATH OF CENTER OF MASS NOTE THE CONTINUED RISE OF CENTER OF MASS AFTER RELEASE

SHOWS FRAMES FROM 47 TO 51 CONSECUTIVELY NOTE THAT FRAME 50 IS THE POINT WHERE SHE CONTACTED THE BAR THE FOLLOWING FRAME HER HANDS BOUNCED OFF THE RAIL AFTER IMPACT. DESCENT FOLLOWS THESE FRAMES

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAlJDecember 82

"Measuring

Training Loads -Counting Elements And Its Usefulness"

By Fred Roethlisberger,

University of Minnesota Gymnastics Coach

The purpose of counting the number of elements or "tricks" that a gymnast does per minute, hour, workout, week, month or season is to measure the amount of work he accomplishes during that period of time. It is the most accurate way to measure a gymnast's work output. A gymnast when askea how hard he trains usually responds in terms of hours per day and the number of days he practices per week. A runner on the other hand will respond in terms of the number of miles he runs per week rather than the amount of time he logs. Which is a more useful picture of work output? Miles run or hours spent in the gym? It is obvious immediately that mi les run provides a clearer measure than does hours to compare, for example, an athlete's workouts from one day to the next or two different athletes' workouts. For gymnasts, the usable statistic for measuring work output is elements performed. It is as usable and clear as miles run is for a runner.

There is one other measure which can provide further clarification of the workload undertaken by a gymnast or runner. For a runner, the natural second piece of information asked for or given after how far the person ran has been established is the time it took to complete the workload or to run that far. The time it took, along with the miles run, gives the miles per hour the athlete was training at or the intensity of his workout. For a gymnast, the usable statistic comparable to a runner's miles per hour is elements performed per minute. The elements per minute is an assessment of the intensity of a gymnast's workout, and along with the total elements performed gives a great deal of usable information about what a gymnast has done.

It is recognized that concentration or determination on the part of the gymnast to perform technically correct and to improve form is a further important factor to measure in a gymnast's workout. This mental aspect of the workout is a matter of quality, while elements performed (total workload) and elements performed per minute (intensity) is an aspect of quantity. When coaches assess and try to improve the gymnasts' attentiveness, determination to improve, thoughtfulness, effort on a single trial , intention to do something correct, etc. , they are dealing with quality control. When coaches assess elements performed and try to change workloads, they are dealing with quantity control. Both the quality and quantity aspects of training are important, with the latter lending itself more easily to assessment and control. It is this quantity aspect of training and some implications which is now being dealt with .

The procedure for counting and recording elements performed is easy, and after about a week becomes second nature for the gymnast to do. All elements, as they could be broken down in a routine according to F.I.G. rules, are counted and recorded by the gymnast on a 3x5 card which he carries with him. At the end of each event, the gymnast adds up the elements for that event and records the number on the team record sheet and at the end of practice he totals the elements performed on all the events. Warmup and conditioning activities are not counted. The total minutes spent practicing on tile events should also be recorded.

Information Available And Some Values Found At The University Of Minnesota

Elements Performed Per Workout

This is the most immediately available statistic when counting elements. At the peak of ones physical condition and during a training period when the gymnast is doing perhaps 30 routines on five events plus vaulting , one may reach as many as 700 elements in a three hour workout. This is an exception, although a highly conditioned gymnast may reach 600 elements during a workout three or even four times in a week. Doing 30 routines in and of itself accounts for approximately 450 elements. Obviously it is easier to achieve a heavy workload during a workout where one is doing routines than when one is practicing parts or learning new skills. Elements are accumulated faster when doing full routines. It is difficult and takes much time to get more than 400 elements when not performing routines .

Elements Performed Per Week

During a six day per week training cycle, the upper level for elements performed in a week seems to be about 3,500, which averages out to around 575 elements for each of the six days. Since most training programs are set up on a weekly cycle, the weekly total is an important figure and the work undertaken each day for a week should be scheduled to maximize the weekly total. An example of a weekly training load is as follows: Monday - 500, Tuesday - 350, Wednesday - 600, Thursday - 250, Friday - 500, Saturday - 600, Sunday- rest, tolal- 2,800. The high level of 3,000-3,500 for a week is more readily reachable when the athlete is in shape and performing routines during much of his training time. During the time of the year when the emphasis is on new skills and tricks, a level of approximately 2,000 elements per week is a more realistic goal.

Elements Performed Per Minute

The upper level attainable of elements per minute seems to be about 3.5. This is a very intense level, attainable only when the athlete is doing routines and there are not more than two persons alternately working on an event. With three persons in a group working the events together, it is only possible to do about 3.0 elements per minute even if they are doing primarily routines over a three hour period. Raising the intensity of workouts or elements performed per minute is one important way which may be used by coaches to improve the athlete's physical condition.

When the gymnast is working new skills and tricks with the emphasis more on quality, only about two elements per minute are possible. The time it takes between attempts when doing single skills obviously takes up considerably more of the total practice time during a three hour workout than does the time it takes between attempts when doing routines .

Elements Performed Per Event

High levels for a six event three hour workout dOing primarily routines is as follows: FX-170, PH-200, R-80, V-20 , PB-100, HB-100, total-630. SpeCialists do more, but their upper levels are seldom more than twice that of the all-arounder for that particular event though the all-arounder may be working six events in a workout. Thus upper levels for speCialists are approximately FX - 240, PH - 400, R - 160, V-40 , PB - 200, HB - 200.

Time Spent Actually Doing Elements During A Practice

This is another measure of work output which gives a truer picture of what a gymnast did than time alone, and like counting elements is most interesting. A high level for actual time performing during a three hour workout is 25 minutes. That is of the 180 minutes in an event workout (the 180 minutes does not include the time spent warming up or conditioning), the gymnast is actually only performing 25 of those minutes or 14% of the time. This level of worktime is high and only achievable when in great shape and doing routines . A more average figure for amount of time spent actually performing during a three hour workout is 12 minutes or 6.6% of the time, and 10 minutes or 5.5% of the time is good when practicing new skills and tricks.

Summary

Counting elements performed is an accurate way of measuring the work output of a gymnast, and along with time can measure the intensity of work. The information can be useful in several ways.

1. Coaches may accurately know how hard their athletes are training while they are at Coaches Congresses or out of the gym for any reason.

2. Coaches can prescribe training loads for their gymnasts in order to rehabilitate them from injury, condition them, or control their tapering for competition.

3. The athlete gains an understanding of the amount of time and work that it takes to learn and perfect their gymnastics.

4. The coach and athlete can assess how hard they are working in comparison to the best gymnasts in the world , and goals can easily be set.

5. Workouts can be organized and scheduled for an advantageous balance of work per event in relation to weaknesses or introducing new skills and tricks.

6. By accurately relating amount of work accomplished to how the individual gymnast phYSically and mentally responds to that workload, the athlete and coach determine the optimum maximum and minimum training loads for each individual.

7. The coach, by relating the gymnast's training load to his performance in practice and competition over the yearly training cycle, can schedule appropriate periods during the year for learning new skills , practicing routines , conditioning, tapering and resting.

Bibliography

Research of Training Loads in the Competition Period, U. Kh Niyazbekov, A.M. Shelemin

Conversations with Bill Sands of the Mid-America Twisters.

8

Arm Position

And Its

Mechanical Effect On Twisting

Somersaults.

A presentation to the United States Elite Coaches' Association for Men

by Fred TuroH, Temple University, September 23, 1982

The purpose of this discussion is to point out how the position of the arms in a twisting somersault can affect the mechanics and thus the efficiency of the twist. The discussion will be qualitative only as I have no figures to back up things that I am going to speak of. However a quantitative study is certainly a possibility, and would be a welcomed addition to our body of knowledge of gymnastics. An analogous quantitative study was done by Dr. Jack Biesterfeldt and was published in the March, 1975 edition of the Gymnast magazine. That study compared the somersaulting moments of inertia of various body positions, thus we could see how one body position would rotate compared to another body position given an initial packet of angular momentum.

When we look at a twisting somersault, generally if we look at the gymnasts of the world - and let's speak of a single tumbling somersault with a full twist , double twist, or a triple twist - most of the gymnasts twist with their arms up in the chest area. Obviously the tighter the arms are, i.e. the closer they are to the body, the more efficient the twist. I looked at this twisting position many years back and started wondering if there was a better way to twist . When a laycut somersault is performed on the floor, to increase the rotation the arms are dropped down (shoulder extension) by the sides rather than held overhead or laterally (this is after initiating the somersault from the floor). If that's a more efficient way of rotating in a straight somersault, why not utilize an arm down position for twists? I gave this some thought and it seems to me that we could do more efficient twisting if we would have our gymnasts twist with the arms as low as possible and in front of the body. The reason for this is that when the arms are held tightly to the chest they are not as close to the twisting axis as when they are held down by the abdomen. Also, if the arms are up by the chest, the somersaulting moment of inertia is larger than if the arms are down by the abdomen.

Thus, if the arms were held low, the somersault would rotate more efficiently as well as twist more efficiently. Consider another benefit to twisting with the arms down. If the somersault can rotate more efficiently, and so rotate faster than with the arms up by the chest, then the gymnast could block a little more on the take-off. Since a little more blocking stops rotation a bit but adds height, the rotation would be made up with the low arm position . This added height means more air time. So if one can twist faster with the arms down in front of the abdomen (where the moment of inertia will be smaller than with the arms up by the chest) and if one has more air time to complete twists, then these two factors contribute to a greater number of twists possible in a somersault.

Now certainly when we talk about doing twisting somersaults we want to be sure that there is ample rotation to get from feet to feet so the gymnast has to have a strong layout somersault before teaching twisting . If the layout is sufficiently strong, the arms can be somewhat wide upon take off. This position won't result in as strong a somersault as a parallel arm takeoff, but if the somersault is very strong to start with one can afford to spread the arms laterally and thereby leave the ground with the arms in a pretty wide position . Then when the arms are pulled in, the twist will increase rapidly because the arms go from a wide position to a narrow position, changing the moment of inertia by making it smaller, and thereby increasing the angular velocity of the twist.

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAU December 82

Roy Palassou

It can be argued that twisting with one arm over the head and on.e arm down in front of the body is an even more efficient position for twisting and that is true because if you have one arm over the head then the arm can pass directly throug h the twisting axis. In fact, both arms over the head and held closely together would be an even more efficient twisting position because then both arms can be practically right through the twisting axis. However, when you put the arms up you slow the somersault so there is a trade off. This position of one arm up and one arm down is very often seen in half somersault movements such as a full twisting front dive roll or a back dive with one and a half twists on the floor. That is because it is relatively easy to generate the power for half of a somersault so one gets into a configuration that does not somersault as well however one is able to twist more efficiently.

Similar considerations must be noted when speaking of twisting somersaults from the apparatus. When performing a twisting dismount from the rings, parallel bars, or horizontal bar, at the onset of the airborn phase, the farther the arms are from the twisting axis of the body the quicker the twist will be when the arms are brought in . Now when doing a fu ll or double twisting flyaway from rings the arms can be quite wide at the point of release. When twisting from the parallel bars, in a backward somersault the arms will be pretty far behind the body and thus away from the twisting axis, and in a forward dismount the arms will be well away from the axis in front of the body. In twisting multiple somersaults where the twist is initiated after leaving the apparatus, (for example a full out or a full within double back somersault) if the arms are wide during the first part of the airborn phase then a very quick twist can occur by pulling them in, and of course pulling them down will help the somersault. On rings if one is to do a full in back out, the arms can be wide when leaving the apparatus . However off the horizontal bar it is difficult to get the arms wide - but there is a stable piece of apparatus on which one can push to initiate the twist, plus the arms can be pulled in because they will not be exactly aligned with the body upon release (i.e. overhead).

In all cases twisting somersaults off the apparatus, the lower the arms are the faster the somersau lt will be. Therefore just as in the floor exercise where one can block more to get more height and make up for a resulting small loss of somersault rotation by dropping the arms, one can push or pull on the apparatus for more height and make up for a small resulting reduction in somersault rotation with a low arm position , while making the twisting position more efficient.

Any time the arms move away from the lowest and tightest position , this will slow not only the somersault but the twist. For example, if a gymnast were to do a full twisting double off the horizontal bar where the twist is done on the second somersault, if after the first somersault the arms went up over head and then pulled down this would be inefficient, for if the arms go up that slows the somersault down. The most efficient way would be to pu ll the arms down and in directly when the twist was initiated. If the arms were somewhat lateral to the body in the first somersault, perhaps with the hands on the level of the hips (that is I would say


Arthur Akopian, Soviet Union

abducted perhaps 45°), the somersault would rotate well while being in a good configuration to initiate the twist.

With our gymnasts now doing triple twisting somersaults on floor exercise and double twisting multiple somersaults off rings and horizontal bar, if we work on more efficient means of twisting, we could promote further increases in the twist of many movements. And it certainly appears to me that quadruple twisting back somersaults, double twisting forward dives, two and a half twisting backward dives, more than one and a half twisting front somersaults on the floor, double twisting dismounts from parallel bars, double twisting vaults, triple twisting ring dismounts, and triple twisting multiple somersaulting dismounts from rings and horizontal bar are possible. Of course, it is up to us to train our gymnasts and get them strong enough to perform these skills. But by paying attention to the position of various body parts we can make performing these skills easier.

So in closing, I point out that by understanding how the position of the various body parts affects the somersaulting and twisting moments of inertia, I believe we can increase the efficiency of our movements and perhaps rethink some old positions that we have been teaching and using.

Mechanical And Other Analysis In Gymnastics

Dr. Gerald Calkin A Paper Presented To

The 18th Annual U.S.G.F. Coaches Congress Fort Worth, Texas

September 25, 1982 I would like to begin my presentation today by reading a segement of a paper on

biomechanical analysis (Calkin. 1973) I wrote sometime ago. The possibilities of useful employment of this computer out-put are

almost endless. It will, however, be instructive to look at some of the things which have been done and some of the things that can be done.

Bourgeois (1968) did a study where he compared the torques between the early and late drop cast catch and peach. Since he found that the torques were consistently greater with the early drop and since this means there was a greater muscle force produced by the gymnast, he concluded that the late drop would be a more successful technique for a beginner who had not sufficiently developed his strength.

Dusenbury (1968) did a study where he considered both the forces and torques during a forward and reverse giant swing on the rings. He found that the forward giant took more muscle power, but there was less force on the hands at the bottom of the swing and conversely that the reverse giant took less muscle but there was considerably more force on the bottom of the swing.

The possibility for further work staggers the imagination. Perhaps there will finally be a rational basis for choosing between techniques (styles) - in general and on an individual basis. The author is presently working on a study comparing a "beat" swing on the parallel bars to a " non-beat" swing.

It is also possible to compare the plotted data of a given gymnast to that of a "world" champion. THIS IS ALREADY BEING DONE IN TRACK AND FIELD. Also, every gymnast sometimes really "gets off a good one" - the fly-away twice as high as usual, the floor-x pass that has unusual "flair," etc. I! is possible to see what is really different about the "really good" one, not only in terms of body position but also in terms of the muscle action and forces which just cannot be visually observed.

The gymnastics community in the USA has the opportunity to take advantage of this technology now and start to get the answers to some basic and highly important questions of style, techniques, training procedures, etc. It also can sit back and let the rest of the world get the jump on the Americans again. The choice is ours. I presented this paper almost ten years ago (nine to be exact) at the USGF

Congress in St. Louis. It was a plea for action in the area of biomechanics. One might well ask: What has happened in the last ten years? The answer is not much until last summer when four standing research committees (biomechanics, physiology, psychology, and sports medicine) were formed by the USGF. Some top people in those various fields were recruited to serve on those committees with the hope funding would soon become available for systematic and meaningful research in those areas (research which would benefit the entire gymnastics community).

Our committee (biomechanics) immediately undertook two projects: (1) preparation of a proposal for a pilot program for the systemic mechanical analysis of gymnastics.movements so as to reveal practical information which could help the working coach, and (2) we started work on what was to be a biomechanics section of a proposed USGF instructional manual.

Now before we get into the events of this last year, let me read a portion of a presentation (Calkin, 1975) I made at the First (and unfortunately the last) International Gymnastics Judging and Biomechanics Symposium at Chicago on September 13, 1975.

We have a problem in gymnastics, a problem which no one talks about. This is the problem of reoccurring very serious injuries in our sport. These accidents are not only happening to untalented andlor poorly trained gymnasts, but are also occurring with distressing regularity to some of the best gymnasts who are members of some of the strongest teams in the country. Unless we face this problem, it will cause us much grief in the future . Also , before we get back to the events of this last year, let me read a passage

from the most recent technical supplement of InternationaL Gymnast (Frederick, 1982), where Dr. Frederick has made some important and incisive observations.

10

Perhaps the most interesting phenomenon of the post-1960 era has been the rise and fall of the trampoline. This particular saga represents , in part , a modern weakness of American gymnastics in capsular form . Americans from all walks of life seem to have an instinct for business ventures of all kinds. After it was apparent that the trampoline was here to stay, hundreds of trampoline centers appeared allover the United States. The weakness that emerged was that many center operators were woefully unprepared to teach and were for the most part ignorant of sport science. Youngsters were hired to collect fees and announce when a jumper had expended his time. Only a few operators here and there attempted to make jumping an educational experience and it was not long before a succession of accidents coupled with a predictable rise in insurance rates caused the jump centers to disappear just as quickly as they had arisen.

I! is an amazing fact that within the short period of a decade, the bitter lesson of the jump centers was all but ignored by those in the public schools, YMCA's and clubs and the trampoline suffered a second shock wave of high insurance rates in the very institutions which should have been able to

preserve this very useful apparatus for educational purposes. The school principal , once proud of his new, Nissen trampoline, was forced to lock it up in the late Seventies for fear that someone would inevitably make a crucial error in judgement for which there was little or no insurance protection. The trampoline literature of the Seventies documents this basic failure of American gymnastics again and again with a coup de grace, performed without mercy, being delivered by a national group of pediatricians. George Nissen's marvellous gymnastic gift, the trampoline, a real source of pride for Americans who always seemed to lag behind the world in gymnastics was becoming a dinosaur whose bones were chained to suitable structures as if the "beast" might suddenly breach forth to terrorize a host of young enthusiasts.

An eleventh hour plan to save the trampoline failed when the Trampoline Safety Committee of the new United States Gymnastics Safety Assoc., having produced a manuscript for a Certification Manual in 1977, abandoned the project by 1978. A chapter was later added to the USGA's Gymnastics Safety Manual edited by Gene Wettstone. By 1979, Nissen had abandoned his innovative apparatus selling neither trampolines nor replacement parts.

A Commitment to teaching gymnastics to the masses, a dominant theme of the American Turners decades ago, has rarely been recaptured in the modern era. Few gymnastic coaches feel an obligation to publish technical materials. The USGA has taken on an independent certification plan which should have been undertaken by the USGF shortly after its inception. Safety Certification today is little more than "drownproofing." The next step, if it comes, is a national certification plan for teaching and coaching.

In 1982, we may be in the midst of a new decline period once again. Anyone examining the literature of gymnastics in the post-1960 era might reasonably conclude that this is true. AAHPERD's Houston Convention in 1982 will host only one session in the gymnastic area (trampoline). This is a far cry from the early Sixties at which time one might have found a full array of meetings with a gymnastic theme at Convention time. It is clear to me that we are in another period of decline and unless the USGF

takes some much needed actions the decline will not only continue but will accelerate. Now it's easy for us to blame all our troubles on the USGF, but what is the USGF? A more appropriate phrasing of the question would be who is the USGF, because the USGF is us - you and I. Therefore if our national federation is not getting the job done it is because you and I are not getting the job done! But what needs to be done?

I think that Dr. Frederick 's observations about the twin problems of safety (or lack thereof) and our failure to make gymnastics a positive educational experience are right on the mark. This is evident in the fact that our educational institutions at all levels are falling over each other in their rush to drop their gymnastics programs. (The men's college program is a case in point. In 1977 where there were 138 teams. Now five years later there are only about one half of these left. This means that if our nation 's colleges continue to drop programs at the same rate for the next five years, we will be down to zero by 1987.) I realize that there are other factors involved in this decline, but I believe that our slide to a new obscurity cannot be reversed without facing the twin problems of safety and education values. We must make our sport into a safe and wholesome activity.

In the area of safety we must get on with that next step - certification of coaches and teachers. We need coaches and teachers who know how to develop a program steeped in safety. Also our national Federation must use its influence to look into the problem of the roll-out moves (1 % somersaults on the floor, etc.) and make recommendations as to appropriate safety procedures. We must get our head out of the sand! On a less critical level we need to look at the problems associated with the use of dowel grips on the horizontal bar. We need more than a "drownproofing" safety program.

As to the educational values of our sport we have to get this kick of only being concerned with the elite programs and establish educationally sound programs at all levels. We must have a program that helps all the young people involved to mature physically and mentally. I must note that what I am suggesting is not some new revelation . In fact, Dr. Gerald George (George, 1971) in a paper presented to this same Congress in 1971 outlined a national program which would emphasize technical execution rather than difficulty. (I have included his paper in its entirety as an appendix.) I feel that if the broad outline that Dr. George suggested eleven years ago had been adopted and followed by the USG F and its constituate organizations we would have avoided many of the critical problems that face our sport today. The USGF must provide some leadership in this area and each. of the member organizations must respond by examining their programs and making the needed changes!

The four committees - biomechanics, physiology, psychology and sports medicine - can (and should) play an important role in those twin goals. Unfortunately since their formation last year no funding has been available for their operation. Of course finding the money for the unglamorous activities of these committees is very difficult.

I can easily understand why funds would not be found . However, this summer I was shocked to learn that money was made available by the U.S. Olympic Committee for research on top athletes to help them get ready for 1984 for six sports including gymnastics and we declined to participate. Therefore right now, for example, Dr. James Hay - one of the foremost people in biomechanics in the USA and a member of the USGF Biomechanic Committee - is working with the track and field people helping them get ready with USOC money and we are doing nothing! Incredible!


Conclusion

It seems to me that we need (the USGF needs) a subtle shift in emphasis even though we are vitally concerned with our international performance level- or more explicitly, because we are vitally concerned with our international performance level - we must sh ift our emphasis to be also vitally concerned with developing a broad-based program. To do this we need a wholesome educalional program which is steeped in safety. A program where the primary concern is developing fine young people - not just national and/or international champions. The happy paradox is, however, that as we make this shift in emphasis it will enhance rather than harm our elite program!

I think that it is important right now for each of us not to berate the USGF leadership for its failures (our failures) but to congratulate the leadership for setting up a fine structure (our various committees) that really can play an important role in shaping (reshaping) a program to reverse the decline of our sport, and to urge them to (demand that they) get on with much needed action. When I look at the things we have done, and more importantly at the things we have not done over the last ten years , I am convinced that what we need now is not good intentions but actions.

Finally let me read one more quote. I would like to read something (Luke, 0090) written many years ago:

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognizably its own fruit.

Ten years from now (1992) when we come to the USGF tree what kind of fruit will we find? It's up to us!

APPENDIX

"INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR THE GYMNASTIC SPECTRUM"

by Gerald S, George, Ph,D, Old Dominion University

'Dr. George is now at Southwestern Louisiana State University in Lafayette, Louisiana.

A review of the origin, the progress, and the developmental pattern of competitive gymnastics in the United States clearly reveals that we have, at long last , transcended into the adolescent stage of technical maturation . Although our development has been, in the main, haphazard, we have progressed to a point of functional readiness. This fact is revealed in the eyes of all who have had the fortune to view international competition. In essence, we possess the potential for world dominance.

Our gymnastic progress has indeed been remarkable , yet no more remarkable than that of our competitors. One need only to historically review our country's position in terms of world dominance to conclude that our relative progress has been at best negligible. In this light, let us consider an approach and methodology that will significantly improve our progress rate . The author believes that we must now embark upon an organized, consistent Program-System that incorporates reliable, innnovative techniques based upon relevant research findings from the interdisciplinary standpoint. The degree to which the world dominance objective can be realized will be irrevocably predicated upon scientific methdology. It is on this premise that the author critiques gymnastic progress in the United States and offers this initial presentation on innovative techniques specific to increasing progress rate .

The critique of gymnastiC progress in the United States is borne out of readings, research studies from the interdisciplinary standpoint, and personal involvement in almost every contemporary phase of the gymnastic spectrum. The fact that our progress has been contingent upon the progress of the more superior countries suggests our lack of ability in pinpointing the source, the causative factors , the control/able variables that significantly influence RATE OF PROGRESS. Let us then locate and seriously consider some of the more obvious controllable variables that affect ultimate performance in the gymnastic discipline.

To insure maximum progress rate, the difficulty level of the task must be commensurate with the experience and ability level of the performer. How often, in our blind aspiration for short-cut success, do we fall prey to the misuse of this most important learning principle? The difficulty syndrome is surely more prevalent in this country than in all other superior gymnastic countries combined. We mistakenly employ task-complexity techniques rather than task-execution techniques in search for the spectacular. Difficulty levels are prematurely advanced at the expense of: 1. execution ; 2. natural mechanical progression ; and 3 . totality of experience in basic movement pattern and sequence.

Task mastery of the essential basic movement patterns is the single most important criterion for prediction of future success. The degree of ultimate success III terms of performance is predicated upon the degree of basic-to-complex task mastery. Here too we appear to have fallen special prey to premature difficulty-level advancement. The author suggests that the causative lactors center about our misconceived and incomplete technical knowledge and concepts specific to basic level skills. A pictorial and descriptive analysis for anyone basic skill by several leading United States gymnastiC authorities will reveal strikingly divergent results! Such implica tions truly suppor t the in itial premise for a much needed Program-System .

Task mastery of the simplistic level skills PRIOR TO reasonable difficulty


increments will significantly facilitate acquisition of the ultimately desired performance. Since the concept of "difficulty" is a direct function of the degree of task complexity as perceived by the performer, we should guard against the tendency categorize skill progressions based primarily on the ascriber I.G. rating scale. It would be wise to consider the relative difficulty level of task progressions in terms of the experience and ability level of each individual performer.

Even a consideration of the F.I.G. Absolute Point Scale clearly supports evidence in favor of initial mastery of simplistiC tasks. The absolute point value for technical execution is substantially greater than that for skill level difficulty. Hence, the classical comparison between the difficult exercise of average execution to that of the intermediate difficult exercise of excel/ent execution will at best reveal no significant difference in terms of final average score!

There are , however, many significant long-range advantages in favor of the intermediate difficulty exercise of excel/ent execution. The methodology of limiting the difficulty level for the sake of maximum technical execution has the following noteworthy advantages:

1. It will significantly increase the degree of performance CONSISTENCY. At every level, implications relative to this fact are obvious. Consistency becomes a LEARNED experience INITIALLY, not finally . Hence, consistency is no longer a problem, rather it becomes an ASSET. There's an old Chinese saying, " it's never too early to start winning " ... think about it.

2. It wil/ significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of INJURIES. " Injuries consume potential as a rate similar to that of fire consuming fuel! " Again, the implications are obvious. Not one of us can deny that injuries are of paramount concern in terms of both immediate and long-range success. All too often have we heard it said, "he'd been a great one .. . too bad he's a band aid gymnast ... comes apart too easily" . Let's stop for a moment and ask ourselves WHY? Why does he come apart so easily? In most, if not all, instances, the reason can be found in poor training methodology rather than in some anatomical deficiency.

3. It will insure efficient, productive use of TIME. A review of 'psychological readiness precepts' and 'critical learning periods' support the theory that quality learning is largely dependent upon maturational readiness . Why then do we persist in the UNTIMEL Y pursuit of difficulty at the expense of technical excellence? The author contends not only that our national gymnasts are particularly venerable to this syndrome, but also that they, in addition to most coaches, are basically unaware that incorrect training methodology, rather than any other conceived causation, is the major limiting factor relative to ultimate success.

4. It will afford the performer ample opportunity to ful/y experience and develop aI/ relevant biomechanical, physiological, and psychological parameters necessary to optimal maturational progression. A. Biomechanical parameters. Who among us can deny the fact that

although heredity factors are presently outside of our controllable domain , environmental factors such as the methodology of our teacher-learning progressions are well within the scope of controllable biomechanical variables? Optimal maturational progression is indeed dependent upon the degree of accurate biomechanical experience.

B. Physiological parameters. And to those coaches who have advanced the statement that lack of stamina or 'staying power' is the central reason behind our limited success in international competitions, it is strongly suggested that deeper consideration and study be afforded the causative factors . Lack of physiological readiness specific to the given task, more often than not, points to the fact that such a task is too difficult at the present stage of performance level. An increase in the intensity of practice is but a partial answer. Its complementary counterpart can be found in a decrease of task level difficulty.

C. Psychological parameters. Psychological research supports the theory that initial success increases aspiration levels. Success in the basic skills in terms of excellent technical execution inevitably inspires an upgrading of task difficulty while stil/ maintaining 'execution level' as the measurement criterion. Also success tends to increase motivation and motivation in turn is considered to be the essential prerequisite for further success. Failure and unrewarded efforts in terms of training can serve either to motivate or not to motivate the performer. In the main, however, the latter outcome has been found to be most prevalent.

In viewing Olympic and World Games Competitions, have you ever considered why our gymnasts look like pintos among stallions, boys among men? This difference is the very same difference that is observed between high school competition and university competition . The discernable difference is found in the degree of MATURED movement patterns. Difficulty per-se is of little consequence, especially in the final analysis . AI/ the finalists possess 'difficult ' routines, yet the margin of victory is inevitably awarded based upon the degree of correct technical execution!

Another concept that essentially relates the very same findings has been most aptly termed 'compensatory techniques '. Compensatory techniques refer to any and aI/ movement sequences and patterns commonly employed in place of correct technical execution. Some degree of compensatory techniques is characteristic to all movements. Look to any competition, any athlete , any movement sequence or pattern , and one can observe scores of them. Yet the author is speaking in terms of DEGREE, not kind. Movement-analysis research indicates that progressively poorer performances are characterized by progressively higher degrees of compensatory techniques. In essence, immature movement patterns are the direct result of appreciable degrees of mechanical compensation . This is undoubtedly why we appear to be pintos among stallions .

11

The answer to success in the world dominance objective has been secretly lurking in our own backyard ever since the beginning of time. Why then have we neglected it by our refusal to assign it top priority within the gymnastic spectrum? Why do we choose to program our gymnasts to an inevitable second-rate success? The author believes that such a choice is made out of ignorance and not volition.

At this point , let us review some of the more obvious and immediate improvements that we, as a national organization, have implemented in order to hopefully realize our central objective of world dominance:

1. Improved organizational structure and administrative procedure. All concerned gymnastic people are well aware of the past AAU. controversy. Our new governing body, the United States Gymnastic Federation, has done a most commendable job in terms of revamping organizational structure and pattern to better meet the needs of those concerned. And too , its administrative procedures are at least somewhat more democratic than previous. Such improvements truly help to bridge the communication gap among all areas within the gymnastic discipline.

2. Increase in funding . This decade is witnessing significant increases in gross capital outlay for gymnastics. While we have not had an abundance of monies, historically speaking, we are beginning to accrue sufficient funding to warrant emergence as the world gymnastic power.

3. Increase in participation. As is the case with most sports in the United States, we are realizing a significant increase in participation. Sheer numbers do not insure quality performance. They do, however, serve to statistically improve our chances for success.

4. Increase in national and international competitions. This is perhaps one of the most important improvements in our gymnastic life-style. Upgrading competition in terms of frequency and quality helps not only to improve performance, but it also lends perspective and insight into the methodologies and movement patterns of other countries. It serves as a catalyst to transcend what was considered to be the upper limit of any given parameter at that time.

5. Increase in quality of gymnastic's related associations. One need only look to the tremendous upgrading of our National Judges Association to discover its immediate impact upon United States gymnastics in general. Upgrading is also characteristic on the secondary school level by virtue of our National High School Association. And too, organizations such as the N.CAA. and the NAC.G.C. are making quality headway. All of these contribute to a more successful national program.

6. Increase in the number and quality of gymnastic publications. Publication-communication is now no longer the exception but the rule. GymnastiC books, periodicals, and research studies both in this country and abroad are on the increase. The Modern Gymnast Magazine can boast of being the largest publication of its kind in the world. Communications from our national and local organizations help keep us abreast of current happenings. Research publication, both pure and applied, is at last finding its way into our discipline. In short , we are rapidly becoming a well informed public.

7. Implementation of the National-Olympic Coaching Staff. This perhaps has been the most important step thus far taken for the realization of our world dominance objective. While the methodology for selection and evaluation of such staff members has not as yet been clearly established, the underlying concept of assigning specific positions based upon abilities and interest is sound.

8. Increase in the number and quality of clinics and camps. This improvement holds special sign ificance for the upgrading of our core gymnastic programs . The person-to-person interchange of ideas and concepts through participation is a very old approach, but still it is second to none.

All that has thus far been advanced is very commendable and points to the general direction of our central objective. It has been necessary if only to maintain our present rate of progress. Yet while the scope and breadth of our programs are easily comparable to that of our competitors, the assignment of priorities within our programs is not fully consistent with our central objective.

" and now the very silence of the crowd becomes deafening. Electricity permeates the air as the performer walks onto the floor. The awesome, bland countenance of the 'technical evaluations' seem to employ X-ray vision as they pointedly stare through the performer's eyes and into the back of his skull. The stage is set and irrevocable judgement will now be rendered . That automatic pilot inherent in all great gymnasts is now called upon to tell its story. "

It is a story of performance quality, centering solely upon the product and not the manner in which it was constituted. For in the final analysis , judgement is rendered primarily on the criterion of technical mechanical exactness. Look to the F.I.G. Code of Points and discover by sheer volume where the emphasis lies. The manner in which the product has been constituted is of no concern. Only the final product, as perceived by the technical evaluators , counts.

Organizational improvements, increases in funding, participation, competition, publication, and clinics, and implementation of a national-olympic coaching staff are admittedly very important means to this end. Yet these emphases fail to center upon the most important controllable variable and that is MECHANICAL TECHNIQUES SPECIFIC TO CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE. We have thus far failed to incorporate a valid and reliable Program-System to study correct movement techniques based upon the Biomechanical DiSCipline. Rather we have allowed past experience, mimicry, and conjecture to primarily dictate our knowledges and understandings of correct technical execution.

A past International GymnastiC Symposium Report emphasizes that lack of accurate knowledge and application of biomechanical techniques is a central

12

weakness of the United States gymnastic system. A major problem in the selection and assessment of quality regional, national, and olympic coaches centers about our inability to evaluate their competencies in the biomechanical domain ... the only true Grass Roots Domain. A majority of our gymnastic leaders shy away from this most important issue because of ignorance in this area. Instead they tend to concentrate upon the concomitant phases of the program such as organization, public relations, travel , competition reports , and the like. The fact of the matter is that such tasks, while important and commendable, are actually peripheral to the core task. In effect, we need to reassign priorities in favor of a Biomechanical Task Force for the realization of the following objectives:

1. To obtain an accurate understanding and working technical knowledge of core movement patterns and sequences, especially in terms of their relationship to the more progressive and complex skills and combinations.

2. To disseminate and apply said knowledges and practices on a consistent basis (Program-System) to coaches and gymnasts of all levels.

3. To establish and employ long-range training procedures that are both commensurate with relevant research findings and consistent with our world dominance objective.

The recruitment and selection of a Biomechanical Task Force shou ld be a prime function of our national governing body, the United States GymnastiC Federation. Its central mission would be to provide a Program-System of national impact so that our world dominance objective becomes a reality. One need only to review both the number and quality of participating personnel in our national and international gymnastic scene over the past decade to discover that scores of qualified gymnastic resource people have virtually remained untapped. The strength of any federation is invariably dependent upon the degree of quality participation of its members. When shall we begin to capitalize upon this realization ... ?

Another innovation that wou ld significantly increase our progress rate centers about a revision in training and competition methodology for our gymnasts. By virtue of the implications thus far presented in this paper, consider the feasibility and desirability of what the author has termed "Graded-Difficulty Competitions". Such a procedure infers a COMPULSORY limitation of the difficulty requirements for the sake of emphasizing technical execution. This procedure should not be confused with our traditional novice, junior, and senior level competitions. In the latter instance, difficulty is not a controllable variable . Hence our current system encourages the attainment of complex skill patterns at the costly expense of correct technical execution ... at the expense of ultimate failure in our world dominance objective.

A feasible example of the former innovative competition methodology would be to provide a U.S.G.F. National Championship Meet with a COMPULSORY LIMITATION OF " B" LEVEL DIFFICULTY. This would require our gymnasts to emphasize task-execution techniques rather than task-complexity techniques in their aspiration for victory. The innumerable implications are, of course, obvious.

Such an innovation is quite feasible on all levels and in all phases of our national program. It would be especially relevant in the following areas: (1) Our Olympic Developmental Program ; (2) Our Secondary School Competitions ; (3) Our University Level Competitions; and (4) During the off-season for International Prospects. The initiation of this innovative methodology would merely require an administrative revision of the competition guidelines by the above executive bodies.

An additional advantage of " Graded-Difficulty Competitions " focuses upon concepts in routine construction. Since the gymnast would be compulsorily required to limit his exercise in terms of a specified difficulty level, it would also force him to more closely scrutinize the quality of routine construction. Selection of skills would not only be dependent upon core requirements , but also they would be contingent upon both an in-depth consideration of his specific body line and style and an assessment of his potential to approximate the desired technical execution. The tendency to contour routine construction about the specific body potentials of the gymnast would be realized rather than vice versa.

It is truly hoped that our national governing body affords this presentation serious study and consideration from all standpoints. Its prime intent is to serve as a catalyst in the establishment of a more comprehensive national gymnastic program. Let us now act upon this delicate and timely period of functional readiness so that we might embark upon a road , the only road, to inevitable world dominance.

Bibliography

Calkin , G. F. " Mechanical Analysis of Human Motion What It Can Tell Us" paper presented at the U.S.G.F. Congress in SI. Louis , MO, November, 1973.

__________ "Mechanical Efficiency, Style and Related Problems" paper presented at the First International Gymnastics Judging and Biomechanics

Symposium in Chicago, IL, September 13, 1975.

George , G. S. " Innovative Techniques for the Gymnastic Spectrum" paper presented at the U.S.G.F. Congress in Chicago, IL, November, 1971 .

Frederick, A. B. "Gymnastics: A Guide to the Literature" Technical Supplement, International Gymnast, July, 1982.

Luke, "Luke 6:42-43" New International Version of The New Testament, Zondervan Bible Publishers , Grand Rapids, MI.

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNALJDecember 82

A Prospective Statistical Analysis Of Gymnastic Injuries On The Club Gymnastic Level

Garron G. Weiker, M.D. Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio

Ronald J. Ganim, Director Gymnastics World, Broadview Hts., Ohio

U.S.G.F. National Congress September 23-25,1982, Fort Worth, Texas

In an effort to better understand the number and type of injuries occurring in club level gymnastics, it was elected to do a prospective statistical analysis of a large number of gymnasts. Six clubs were selected as representative of the club level gymnastics occurring in the Northeastern section of the State of Ohio and the following study performed over the academic year 1981-82.

Initially, a composite form was completed by every gymnast in conjunction with their instructors and parents to give us an overall description of who was involved in the program. This was a 7-page form that detailed everything from morphology of weight, height, and other physical characteristics, on through a medical history related to injury and/or disease. In addition, the level of competition. number of years involved, type of program being followed. and multiple other general data was gathered. At the same time. forms were completed by each of the six clubs involved detailing the floor space that they utilized, the type of equipment, instructor, program style, and other facts of interest regarding each of the individual programs. This data was converted into computer language and filed in a Cleveland Clinic computer for future reference. Then, throughout the year, every injury that occurred was either characterized as acute injury, or a chronic, overuse type problem and individual forms were filled out documenting the nature of the injury, mechanism of injury, and multiple other pieces of data regarding the events surrounding each injury. Finally, a follow-up form was completed on each of the injured students to document the final diagnosis and the time of return to activities. All of this data was then subsequently placed in computer language also, fed into the computer and then multiple tables of cross referencing were accomplished to look for patterns and correlations of interest.

In this short presentation, it is impossible to detail all of the voluminous information that was accrued, however. the following nine tables briefly summarize the overall most pertinent facts.

PROGRAM INFORMATION Hours Per Week:

Program Prep IV III II 1 1 2.2 4 12.5 2 4 8 10 13.3 3 1.5 3 4 8 4 1.5 4 9 12 5 1.5 3 6 8 6 3 4 8 18

Number per class and Instructor/Student Ratio:

Program Prep IV III II 1 20(1 :8) 16(1 :8) 16(1 :8) 8(1 :10) 2 18(1 :5) 18(1 :5) 12(1 :5) 5(1 :5) 3 24(1 :8) 16(1 :8) 16(1:8) 10(1 :8) 4 24(1:8) 16(1 :8) 12(1 :6) 9(1 :5) 5 26(1:8) 16(1:6) 10(1:6) 9(1 :5) 6 33(1:8) 18(1 :8) 20(1:8) 10(1 :8)

INJURY AND OVERUSE DATA

873 Students 60 Acute Injuries

45 Overuse Syndromes

Overall

Acute Injury = 6.85/100 Overuse Injury = 5.14/100 Total Injury = 121100

Injury Rate

Male 5.6/100 - acute -

Female 7.0/100

3.7/100-overuse - 5.4/100

9.3/100 - total- 12.4/100

Acute Injury

Prep Class I Class II Class III Class IV

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAL/December 82

Female 3.4/100

56.8/100 11 .8/100 5.3/100 2.0/100

Male 0

16.7/100 14.3/100 27.3/100

8.3/100

12.5 13.3 10 15 10 18

I 13(1:10) 4(1 :5)

12(1 :8) 11(1 :5) 14(1 :5) 10(1 :8)

Prep

1.6

Overuse Injury

Prep Class I Class II Class III Class IV

Female 12.6/100 31 .8/100 13.7/100 12.6/100 2.0/100

Exposure Time

Hours per week

IV

4.7

III

6.9

II

9.8

Male o

50/100 14.3/100 o o

13.1

Injury Rates Converted to 1 hr/week Exposure

Female/Male

Prep

.2210

IV

0.4/1.8

III

0.8/3.9 1.2/1.5 4.3/1.3

In cross referencing the injury data with background information and program data,there were many conclusions to be drawn and many hints of things which could be significant but are not, as yet, fully proven. The following list of conclusions is a brief summarization of what we have seen so far based on the early analysis of the information .

Information Related To Acute Injury:

1. The highest frequency of injury occurs on the beam, with the preparatory (pre-team) students and Class I gymnasts occurring the highest incidence of injury. This amounted to 25 of 54 injuries. Bars accounted for 13 of 54 and floor exercise 12 of 54.

2. Preps tended to incur injuries mostly related to a fall from the apparatus whereas Class I tends to incur injuries from missed moves.

3. There is a distinct relationship between the degree of difficulty of individual maneuvers and the injury rate if the risk exposure is figured into the data. In other words, based on relative percentage of different types of moves utilized in training, there was a distinct increase in injury related to the more difficult moves.

4. Preps sustained primarily contusions and sprains, whereas Class I sustained more severe sprains and fractures.

5. Preps tend to sustain less severe injuries with 94% of them returning to full activity within 1 to 9 days of injury, whereas the Class I's had more severe injuries and 54% of them took over 9 days to return to full activity and 46% of them took over 15 days.

6. The highest injury rate occurred while performing what were described as established skills .

7. A high percentage of injury students had either missed classes or taken extra classes in the two weeks prior to the injury. We do not have correlation between this and the actual percentage of students who routinely miss or take extra classes without sustaining injury so the data is not definitive.

8. Preps have their highest injury rate late in their workout. whereas Class I's tend to have their highest injury rate in the 2nd hour of their workout .

9. Although the club directors estimate that 50% to 75% of all tricks are spotted, 78% of the injuries occurred without a spotter. There appears to be a very definite benefit in spotting maneuvers as far as the prevention of injury.

Data Related To Overuse Syndromes:

1. The large percentage of overuse problems are related to the lower extremity.

2. Approach to the vault seems to be the most traumatic activity and floor exercise comes 2nd.

3. The knee has the highest instance. followed by the ankle, then the foot and wrist equally.

4. The most common overuse problem was patello-femoral syndrome (chondromalacia patella) and second to that was shin splints .

5. 82% of those reporting overuse injuries stated that they had increased their class load either in length, number of classes or level of competition in the two weeks preceding the onset of injury.

Factors Related To Programs:

1. Size of gym related to number of gymnasts partiCipating equalled no correlation.

2. The instructor/student ratio varied from 1:5 to 1 :8, and showed no correlation with injury rates .

3. On reviewing the instructors involved with students at the time of injury. there was no apparent correlation between those with and without safety certification or those working parttime or fulltime.

4. The apparatus, equipment, and mats were comparable within various programs and there was no correlation noted.

5. The number and length of classes per week were directly correlated both with the number of injuries and number of overuse syndromes.

13

Overall Conclusions:

1. In 873 students followed over a 9-month gymnastic year, there were 60 acute injuries and 45 overuse syndromes. This figured out to a 6.85 injuries per 100 ratio for the acute injuries and 5.14 injuries per 100 for overuse injuries. The total rate was 12 injuries per 100 students. When broken down by sexes, the rate for females was 12.4 per 100 versus 9.3 per 100 for males. Acute injuries were far more common in the Class I gymnast than in any other group and were least common in the Class IV gymnast. Even when the difference in amount of time spent in the gymnasium was taken into account, the Class I gymnast still had twice the injury rate of the preps and the preps had twice the injury rate olthe Class II 's. Most impressive was the fact that 56.8 per 100 Class I gymnasts sustained some kind of an injury during the year and half of these are out of the gym for over 15 days following the injury. Class I males have a 50 per 100 rate of overuse syndromes, however, the group studied was small enough that it was questionable if this has statistical validity.

2. If we were to draw a profile of the gymnast most likely to be injured it would read as follows: A smaller than average , Class I, female gymnast performing an established skill at the C or CR level on the beam during the 2nd hour of her workout and working without a spotter.

3. The 2nd most likely gymnast to be injured would be a prep (pre-team) girl larger than average performing an established skill on the beam during the 3rd or 4th 15 minutes of her workout and working without a spotter.

A note from the Authors:

We would appreciate input and suggestions as to ways we can utilize this data or additional things we can look for in the forthcoming year. Please feel free to send your suggestions to either of us at the earliest possible time so that we have a chance to incorporate them in the ongoing study.

Conclusions And Observations: A Coaches Viewpoint By: Ron Ganim, President O_G.C.A.

There are some definite conclusions that can be drawn from this Injury Study. Although more evidence is needed before we can "prescribe" the safest environment, we can begin with some prevention remedies that will keep our kids healthier and actively participating.

14

1. An awareness that the younger, lighter and shorter than average gymnast is more likely to be acutely injured should help us temper our desire to "push" this "convenient" kid through a rapid skill progression to the C or Cr Level. With exactly half of the Class I injuries occurring on C and Cr skills, we have reason to question our present methods.

2. The Clubs that practiced less than 11 hours per week had extremely low incidence of overuse injuries. Programs 2, 3, and 5 had 61 % of the participants, but only 24.6% of the overuse injuries. Additionally , the progressive prevalence of overuse injuries by class levels is further reason for concern and modification. In direct contrast, we have only .1 % overuse incidence at the Prep level and we progress through at 1.8% for IV, 11 .32% for III 13.8% for II and 33.33% for I.

3. Further analysis of overuse injuries shows that our heavier than average team gymnast is more susceptible than our average or below average gymnast. This was true at all team levels.

4. The Balance Beam seems to be the major culprit in injuries to the Prep gymnast (11 /16) with the "missed move" category predominating. Could most of these injuries be eliminated through the use of low beams or high beams with above ground pits under them? Is high beam even necessary for the lower level Prep gymnast?

5. With the bulk of Class I injuries - our most injured group- occurring during the 2nd hour of practice, it becomes apparent that remedial action needs to be taken. Since shortening the workout is not a feasible solution, may I propose the "Public Swimming Pool Method" of gyming for 50 minutes and rest and fluid for 10 minutes. If the practice exceeds a total of 2 hours then the second break should occur after 45 minutes the third after 40 with fluid intakes during the 10 minute rest period.

6. One finding in our study really alarmed me - nearly 80% of all acute injuries occurred without spotting. Since the clubs indicated they spot 50%-75% of the time it becomes quite clear that spotting will and does significantly reduce the number 01 injuries. The emerging "no spotting trend" appears to be in need of being cast aside along with other trends that have surged to prominence and fallen to obscurity.

7. With most overuse injuries occurring in the lower extremities (knees and ankles), the spacing of the 2 events that cause the most pain - Floor Exercise and the Vault approach can easily be arranged so that we can minimize the aggravations to the already aggravated joints.

8. In total, our study showed a prevailing acute injury rate of 6.85 per 100 in a nine month period . In the overuse rate, a 5.14 level occurred. Since most other sports have a 3 month season, it would be fair to reduce our rate into a monthly figure in order to compare apples and apples. In doing so we find a rate of 1.33 injuries per month (acute and overuse combined) .

1982 USGF

Congress Evaluations

CONGRESS AMERICANA HOTEL

FORT WCRTH: TEXAS '---.l

In planning the 1982 program for Congress, it became apparent to those involved in this process, that most of the evaluation of previous Congresses and records concerning the rationale, etc. , were lacking or non existent. It was our objective with the Congress Evaluation Form (enclosed in the Congress attenders ' packet) to lay a concrete foundation on what the goals and objectives of Congress should be, as well as what direction future Congresses should take. The following is a compilation of the evaluations and other information received.

On the Congress pre-registration form, on the lower right side, registrants were asked to check the appropriate boxes, concerning area of interest and their individual program. Of the 450 pre-Congress registrations , 81 % of the registrants were interested in the area of Coaching, 59% in Judging, 42% in Sport Science, 32% in Business and 6% in other areas not listed. In the area of individual program, our 450 pre-registrants' programs included 64% in private clubs, 22% in university, 18% in pre-school , 13% in high school, 7% in elementary, 11 % in other areas not listed. It should be noted that there was a carry over; in responses, pre-registrants could check multiple boxes.

The percentages in areas of interest and individual program are of great interest to those responsible for organization of Congress program, obviously not for the 1982 Congress, but in planning the 1983 Congress program and other future Congresses, it will be important in determining program balance and audiences who attend Congress. In this respect the lectures can be better directed at the people who will likely be attending.

It should also be noted that other correlations could possibly be drawn from these rough percentages; however, due to time, budget and manpower, only general observations can be made at present.

There were 68 received Congress evaluations out of 630 approximate possibilities; 10.7% return . The evaluations received were inclusive of Congress attenders, Congress exhibitors, speakers and USGF staff.

In the area of Program Content:

Evaluation Area Average or Above Below Business 85% 15% Sport Science 88% 12% Women's Program 62% 38% Rythmic 63% 37% Men's 94% 6% General 92% 8%

The Best Presentation : Kathy Johnson's beam presentation 71 %, Legal Aspects 22%, college coaches presentations 22%; other presentations mentioned included sessions on meet promotion, Bella Karolyi 's session, sports psychology, advertising, business, dance , pre-school, FIG judging - Jackie Fie , and biomechanics.

New presentations listed include : more athlete presentations, sessions on coaching technique, practical judging, directly applicable biomechanics sessions, lead up drills and conditioning for specific skills for lower levels, more motivation for team competitors at lower levels, in depth sports psychology, new compulsory parts and rationale behind their skill selection, new trends, presentations by former Olympians, learning theory, nutrition and weight control and how height and weight affect gymnastics performance.

The above listed ideas have been summerized to avoid too much overlap.

The area of Congress Organization:

Evaluation Area Speakers Content Staff

Average or Above 97%

100% 98%

Below 3%

2%

In the area of Speakers, the responses were 100% above or average with written comments comprising some responses that did not use the number system. Written suggestions included : more written handouts, plenty of time to prepare presentations with slides, movies , etc ., introduction of speakers and their background and expertise.

In the area of the Program Book:

Evaluation Area Organization Content

Average or Above 81 %

100%

Below 19%

USGF TECHNtCAL JOURNAU December 82

Several comments were made concerning the availability of sending the Program Book out prior to Congress, possibly making it more descriptive and more information about speakers.

The response to the Exhibitors Area was overwhelmingly average and above. Some comments were made to organize demonstrations better, post the times of the demonstrations, and have an announcer. Additional exhibitors could include: book publishers, USGF Member Associations , sports medicine booth, weight equipment for conditioning, educational exhibits, individual programs (university, club, etc.) .

Length of Congress: Not long enough Length OK Too long

• Concerning the location of Congress:

Area of Evaluation Americana Hotel Fort Worth

4% 94%

2%

Average or Above 98% 68%

Below 2%

36%

75% of the responses received said that the Congress site should be rotated regionally to maximize possible participation.

Recommended locations include: Chicago, Las Vegas, SI. Louis , Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, Atlanta , Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Detroit, Columbus, Orlando, San Francisco, Baltimore, Tulsa.

Airports that respondents flew out of included: Miami, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Los Angeles , Pittsburgh, Omaha, Tampa, Houston, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit , Sacramento, Boston , Rutland VI. , Portland , Philadelphia, Madison, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Toronto, Reno, and Colorado Springs.

One thought which seemed to transect through all the evaluations in one way or another, is the necessity to provide coaches and judges at al l levels an opportunity to learn and share ideas in a variety of areas to aid their indiviaual needs as well as their collective program needs.

Even though the total percentage of response was low (10.7%), those that did respond were concerned with evaluating and improving for next year. Their response is much appreciated . In order to plan a program for a national convention that will begin to meet the needs of its constituancy and attendees, the planners must have input (in addition to the realm of its administration) from all levels.

As is mentioned in the above, many new ideas have been recommended for the 1983 Congress Program. This brings us to step 2: finding qualified professionals in the above mentioned areas as well as other areas not mentioned but no less important as components of a total program ; who can provide our gymnastics community with "building blocks" of information to add to their foundation of gymnastics knowledge. We need your help in identifying possible Congress contributors in the areas of: men's technical demonstrations, women's technical demonstrations, rythmic technical demonstrations, judging, sport science, safety,


Kathy Johnson, during her Beam presentation

Bela Karolyi, during his session on training

15

legal aspects, business, promotion and developmental gymnastics. Please send your recommendations and ideas to:

USGF Congress Box 7686 FI. Worth, TX 76111 Attn: Debbie Forsten

Your recommendations should include: possible speaker's name, address, area of expertise, list qualifying credentials, and a brief summary of previous presentations for review.

The deadline date for receiving your ideas and recommendations is February 25, 1983.

To take an active part will help identify not only the needs, but some possible suggestions. The wheels of change often move too slow to keep pace with the evolving trends. The USGF is a service organization, and will strive to service the needs it is made aware of.

See you at the 1983 USGF Congress.

Debbie Forsten Congress Program Coordinator

, Percentages were calculated from number of responses in that category, not total number of evaluations received .

USGF Congress Site Determination

In order to make a site determination for a national convention, many factors must be examined and variables weighed. Some hard and fast business principles must be adhered to, namely, total revenues must be equal or in excess of total expenditures and the total impact on the economy of the gymnastics community. Obviously, these principles are ones not limited to convention site selection, butthey are ones we as individuals and USGF Staff live with daily. Another major consideration is the additional administrative expenses incurred in moving staff personnel (including travel, lodging, meals, telephone, office utilization, etc.) to a site away from the locale of the National Headquarters. However, since attendance is a major source of revenue, by moving the Congress site, is there a trade-off of increased attendance which would off-set the expense of moving the Congress site. Obviously, we want to think since moving the site we would increase the attendance by allowing a wider cross section of membership who possibly could not afford the travel expense before, to attend and by appealing to exhibitors who also would benefit from the increase as well as providing their services and products to a new group of attendees each year. Here again, data which would aid in making that determination from previous Congresses was lacking. Possibly, then, the lack of

data is a factor in moving; indeed a beginning for setting a "track record. " Unfortunately, other factors must be considered.

The general national economic forecast is a factor in the site selection. Money is tight everywhere. Travel (air and ground) expenses are spiraling upward. Hotel and food expenses are a major expense. Time away from work is a factor. Once the factors have been identified, the. trade-offs of each must be weighed before a final decision is reached.

In making the 1983 USGF Congress Site Selection the following factors were considered: 1) Regional totals of USGF membership distribution as of August 31, 1982 (totals most current available from Bayley, our Insurance Administrators Martins & Fay) ; 2) Air travel to and from major cities, L. A., Denver, SI. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas/FI. Worth , Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, Miami, Washington, D. C., as provided by Jackson Tours, FI. Worth, TX.; 3) Hotel expense, airport transfers, ground travel accessibility, food costs, for the above listed cities , provided by various convention bureaus and cross referenced by Official Meeting Facilities Guide , Spring '82, published by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, Inc. ; 4) Reaction from 1982 Congress attendees, in 1982 Congress Evaluations.

In addition to these factors was finding a facility which would provide our attendees appropriate meeting room space and our exhibitors an area comparable or an improvement to previous Congresses. Our major limiting factor is finding the most cost-'effective site for attendees and the USGF Administration , while considering the above factors.

In the final analYSis, the Washington, D.C. area was at the top of the list and will be the site for the 1983 USGF Congress. From examination of our membership density, the east coast area has approximately a ratio of 2:1 over the central, mid-west, southwest, and west coast areas; Washington, D.C., being the most centrally located area on the east coast making the Congress accessible by ground travel by a large portion of our memberShip. Air travel rates to Washington National Airport are comparable or better than almost all centrally located cities, including D/FW, with competitive airfares from all over the country, to make financially feasible, travel for attendees outside driving distance. The host hotel , the Crystal City Hyatt Regency is adjacent to the Washington National Airport and provides free airport transfers to the hotel. The Hyatt is also linked to Washington 's unique subway system making transportation within Washington, D.C. very inexpensive.

In closing, the reaction from our 1982 Congress attendees who sent in evaluations (75% expressed the recommendation to move the Congress site) confirmed our final analysis. We are looking forward to the 1983 USGF Congress, as it is setting the stage for the 1984 Olympics.

GymnastiCS at all levels will benefit from the exposure at the L.A. 1984 Olympic Games. The USGF and all its members must be prepared and are greatly challenged.

WHERE IS THE 1983 CONGRESS GOING TO BE HELD?

16

Where is the largest concentration of USGF members?

Where is an airport with competitive air-fares that match any in the Central U.S.?

Where is a hotel that's adjacent to a major airport and provides economical metro transit to its exciting downtown?

Where is a hotel with adequate meeting room space, exhibit hall space, ballroom space, and guest rooms, i.e., facilities to meet all Congress needs?

Where is an exciting city that meets the cultural, competitive, arid dynamic interest of our membership?

'eaJe 'J'a uo~8m.qseM. alP UJ 'neAR ~'J Jl!~sA.JJ all~ :~gM,S.NY

October 6·9, 1983 Mark your calendar now and make plans to attend! This Congress will set the stage for 1984.

We are challenged to meet the '84 Olympic Movement and how it can benefit all of us at all levels of involvement.


Third Annual National Gymnastic Catastrophic

Injury Report 1980-81

Charlene Christensen, Ph.D.

with the assistance of Kenneth S. Clarke, Ph.D.

Rod Cardinal, ATC Don Arnold, P.E.D.

College of Applied Life Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

March 1981

Copyright 1981 by the U.S. Gymnastics Safety Association 424 C Street, NE

Washington, D.C. 20002

Background

Football has been the only school/college sport from which catastrophic injury data have been collected over the years. Since 1931 . the Annual Survey of Football Fatalities of the American Football Coaches Association (in cooperation with the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations) has followed the trends of fatal injuries in organized football as the nature of that game changed over the years ' In 1975. the National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry was initiated by the Philadelphia Sports Medicine Center (in cooperation with the National Athletic Trainers Association) to make nonfatal catastrophic injuries (e.g .• quadriplegia) an equally understood concern 2

Thanks to the continuity of these endeavors. not only have preventive efforts been formulated and implemented based on the observed trends. but an effectiveness of these efforts has been observed as wel1.3

Football is not the only sport associated with the occasional occurrence of a catastrophic injury. A survey of catastrophic sports injuries in high schools and colleges nationally from 1973 through 1975 found Gymnastics to have had a higher average annual relative frequency than football. ' Wrestling also showed an annual persistence of such injuries. but on ly GymnastiCS and Football presented the describable patterns of injury which are needed to guide preventive efforts.

The label "Gymnastics" encompasses a diversity of activi ties and apparatuses. Predominantly implicated with the reported gymnastic catastrophic injuries was the trampOline (although not to the exclusion of other gymnastic activities). Subsequently. in 1977. the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) publicly warned against the use of the trampoline. In 1978. the American Alliance for Health. Physical Education. Recreation. and Dance (AAHPERD) issued guidelines for the controlled use of the trampoline and minitramp in physical education and cheerleading (Appendix B) . as did the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports for the trampoline 's use as a training device by skilled athletes (Appendix C) . In 1981. a revision of the 1977 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was published (Appendix D).

These Guidelines emerged from an analysis of the circumstances associated with the catastrophic trampoline and minitramp injury reports available from the 1973-75 Survey. the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. and gymnastic equipment manufacturers. Essentially. the vast majority of catastrophic trampoline injuries stemmed from improper landings on the trampoline from poorly executed somersaults. while the castastrophic minitramp injuries resulted from either poorly executed multiple somersault attempts or movement of the minitramp at takeoff. These Guidelines had been shared in draft with representatives of allied organizations in preparation for open hearings on the eve of the AAHPERD National Convention in April 1978. The hearings were well attended (e.g .• U.S. Gymnastics Safety Association. President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport. National Safety Council . American Academy of Pediatrics) . with support clearly the concensus expression of that group. Three days later. the AAHPERD Assembly formally adopted the guidelines for physical education and extended support of the NCAA guidelines being considered for varsity ath letes. The NCAA Committee adopted their guidelines at their semiannual meeting in June 1978.

These guidelines succinctly identify the essential safety prerequisites for those who wish to pursue the benefits of trampolining and those who provide administrative and actuarial support of these programs. The recommended implementation plans included widespread publicity of the guidelines among AAHPERD members. school and college administrators. coaches. insurance carriers, and allied organizations. In addition, experts on trampolining were encouraged to write professional articles on the "how to" aspects of the statements' intents. The next step was to begin monitoring the subsequent nature and frequency of catastrophic injuries form trampolining and other gymnastic activities.

The National GymnastiC Catastrophic Injury Registry

Serious head-neck-spine injuries had been found to occur infrequently yet perSistently in gymnastics, and reliable data were needed to characterize the patterns and relative frequency of such injuries on a continuous basis. Being infrequent, such data have to be pooled from the entire nation 's experiences to have meaning and to assess wi th confidence the effectiveness of particular preventive measures. The National GymnastiC Catastrophic Injury Registry was conceived to

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNALJDecember 82

this end in Spring 1978 while AAHPERD and NCAA were pursuing the adoption of their safety guidelines for trampoline and minitramp use in phYSical education and sport . Subsequently, the U.S. Gymnastics Safety Association agreed to serve as its principal sponsor, with the Registry Office maintained at the University of Illinois and supported by initiation grants from AMF, GSA Athletic Equipment, Nissen Corporation, and Porter Equ ipment Company.

The objective of the Registry is to collect information on every permanent neurological injury (spinal cord or cerebral , fatal or nonfatal) in the nation resulting from a gymnastic accident, including cheerleading, effective July 1, 1978. The purpose is to report annually on the frequency of such serious injuries and the apparent patterns of injury which may lead to preventive measures. The annual report is to also include, on occasion, information being collected on less serious yet significant gymnastic injuries reported to the National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting Sysiem (NAIRS) and other sources of relevant information.

The goals of the Registry were readily feasible because of the variety of national organizations sharing responsibility for the offering of gymnastic and cheerleading who agreed to serve as cosponsors:

American Academy of Pediatrics American College Health Association American School and Community Safety Association Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Cheerleader Coaches ' Association National Collegiate Athletic Association National Council of YMCA's National Federation of State High School Associations National Junior College Athletic Association National Parks and Recreation Association National Safety Council Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation United States Association of Independent GymnastiCS Clubs United States Cheerleaders Association United States GymnastiCS Federation United States Gymnastics Safety Association

Registry Methods Members of cosponsoring organizations who learn of an injury which meets the

criterion of "catastrophic" (and which occurred on or after July 1, 1978) are asked to notify the Registry Office' of this information. Office contact with the program that experienced the injury utilizes a one-page report form to obtain the nature and circumstances of the injury on a confidential basis.

FINDINGS: July 1980 through June 1981

Case Reports

August 16: A skilled novice twenty-year-old male suffered permanent paralysis from the chest down while performing a double back somersault on a trampoline in his backyard at home. He was participating for recreational purposes when he had an improper landing on the trampoline.

February 4: A skilled twenty-year-old male was participating in a college intramural activity for noncompetitive participation on a minitramp. The individual made an improper landing after running onto the minitrap (one foot off the floor) and over rotat ing to his head which resulted in a broken neck and permanent paralysis.

February 19: A highly skilled twenty-one-year-old female had permanent spinal cord damage resulting from a fall on the uneven parallel bars while practicing for gymnastic competition . She was performing a Brause (front somi between the bars) when she landed on her upper back and legs pancaked over head which caused a compression fracture of ?-12 and the resultant crushing of the spinal cord. The skill had been performed successfully for four years.

' Dr. Charlene Christensen, 127 Freer, 906 S. Goodwin Drive, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (217/333-3672)

March 23: An expertly skilled male who was twenty three years of age was in a college physical education class when he was performing a one and a quarter front somersault on the trampoline. He opened up to a position on the top and back part of the head which resulted in a break on the C-5-6 level. Incomplete quadriplegia was the resulting injury.

March 26: An unskilled female who was eighteen years of age was attempting to perform a vault in a high school physical education class. It was her first attempt over the vaulting horse. Her feet got caught on the sides of the vault when she tumbled over face first and landed on her neck which resulted in incomplete quadriplegia.

April 30: A male who was twenty one years of age was performing on a trampoline in a college physical education class. The individual landed incorrectly and his head slipped between the mat and the support bar causing immediate incomplete quadriplegia and sensory disturbance. The skill attempted was not stated .

Summary

During the twelve-month period ending June 30 , 1981: 1. One case which was reported to have occurred to a female using a

minitramp in a particular state on December 29, 1980 was not located despite several attempts. Efforts are still being made to contact the

17

individual involved so the report can be verified or discarded. 2. Of the six confirmed cases occurring during this year's reporting period, five

resulted in quadriplegia and one resulted in paraplegia. 3. One case occurred in the month of August (backyard trampoline accident)

while the two others occurred in February and the other two occurred in March. One accident took place in April.

4. Three of the accidents resulted from use on the trampoline, one on the mini-trampoline, one on the uneven bars and one on the vault.

5. Two of the five accidents took place in a college physical education class while one occurred in a high school physical education class and one occurred in a collegiate varsity sport practice situation. One accident occurred in a backyard while another accident occurred in a collegiate intramural program.

6. Four of the six injuries were associated with an attempted somersaulting skill both on trampoline and uneven bars. One was due to a collision into a vault. One accident unclearly described the accident except for the fact that the individual slipped between the mat and support bar on the trampoline.

COMMENT

The cases reported in the three annual reports to date do not reflect annually persistent patterns. These injuries apparently are being distributed randomly and with such infrequency to caution against any generalization on the state of the problem from a single year's experiences other than their infrequency by any particular program.

This third report continues to demonstrate, however, a distinct drop in catastrophic gymnastic injuries from school and college gymnastic programs since 1978 from the estimate obtained from the survey of the 1973-75 period. This may be attributable to the increased sensitivity to safety measures caused by the attention to standards for the use of the trampoline, to the advent of the U.S. Gymnastic Safety Association and its certification program, to fewer gymnastic athletes at risk, and/or to incomplete reporting of catastrophic injuries.

It is not probable that fewer gymnastic athletes is the reason for the decline. In 1973-74, the National Federation of State High School Associations, for example, reported 68,142 participants nationally in men's and women's interscholastic gymnastics; in 1979-80, even with a revised and more conservative system for estimating participants, the total was 81 ,986; in 1980-81 , 78,108 men's and women 's gymnastic participants were at the high school level. Further, in 1979, the Registry staff conducted a national study to estimate gymnastic participation in physical education as well as sports in high schools, colleges, and community clubs. That study, found that there is ample opportunity by man-hour exposure to gymnastic participation, including the trampoline and minitramp for the possibility of catastrophic injury.

The possibility of incomplete reporting is acknowledged, especially during the inaugural years of such a system. However, no new cases occurring between July 1, 1978 and June 30, 1980 that qualified for the Registry were submitted after the Report for those years disseminated . Because of the number of cosponsoring organizations, and the intense professional interest in this concern, the annual report is expected to elicit notification of the Registry Office of cases that had been missed. Any such supplemental case report will appear in the subsequent Annual Report with adjustments made to the incidence of the affected reporting year.

NAIRS Data

A glimpse at NAIRS injury data from intercollegiate gymnastics is provided by Tables 4 and 5 to emphasize the fact that the catastrophic injury is but at one end on the continuum of degree of severity of an accidental injury. NAIRS is a voluntary system for a school , college, or club to use in following patterns of any significant injury in any sport, including gymnastics"' By significant is meant any injury which keeps the athlete from full participation for at least one week. Other indices of significance and associated circumstances are retrievable as well from NAIRS, but only these basic tables will be displayed in the Annual Report until enough teams utilize NAIRS to have enough injuries to permit more thorough attention and analysis.

The data currently in hand, however, show essentially an equivalent risk of injury for every event. A trend of concern within women 's gymnastics is the increased frequency of significant injuries in 1977, the year after scoring changes were made (more demanding) which provided increased temptation for the athlete to attempt a higher risk routine before she had mastered it. However, the year's 1979-80 did show some improvement. A trend of more positive. nature is the observed drop in injury rate in men's gymnastics. Not shown here is that, adjusting for exposure, the average annual injury rate in women's collegiate gymnastics (2 .6/1000 athlete/exposures) approximated that for men's collegiate football (3.0) and ice hockey (2 .5)6.

COMPETITION INJURY STUDY A PRELIMINARY REPORT FEMALE GYMNASTS

There are very few injury studies that deal with the sport of gymnastics. Although the current report deals with catastrophic injuries (paraplegia and quadriplegia), it is valuable to include a few summary points from a recent study done by William A. Sands, the United States Gymnastic Federation (U .S.G.F.) Director of Education and Research" It is hopeful that this research article which is published in full in the U.S.G.F. Technical Journal (October, 1981) in International Gymnast will add additional insight into the general area of gymnastic injuries. It

18

needs to be stressed that this is a preliminary report of injuries to female gymnasts in competition. Thus, it would be very imprudent to make specific and dogmatic recommendations at this time.

The following points are a few of the most important facts from the competition injury study that are valuable for gathering information about all types of injuries:

1. Most competition injuries occur in the months of January, February, and March.

2. The greatest percentage of competition injuries occur below the knee (36.47%), the second greatest numbers of injuries occur from the hip to the knee (22.34%); while back and neck accounted for 18.93% of the total injuries.

3. The greatest number of competition injuries by event occurred on both the vault (29.41 %) and floor (tumbling) (29.41 %), while the second highest number occurred on uneven bars (24.51 %). Beam (15.65%) and trampoline (96%) had the fewest, respectively.

4. Of the reported competition injuries, most were referred to a hospital (68.72%), while 28.54% were not taken to a hospital and 4.73% were unknown cases.

Summary Of Catastrophic Injuries In The United States 1978-81

1. Of the seventeen catastrophic injuries reported during the first three years of the study, thirteen occurred to males (76.5%) while four occurred to females (23.5%).

2. None of the women's catastrophic injuries [unevens (2) , vault (1), cheerleading (1)] occurred from the trampoline or minitramp, whereas all of the men's catastrophic injuries occurred on these two events [trampoline (9) , mini trampoline (4)].

3. The largest grouping of catastrophic injuries occurred to the 19-23 year olds who were either in the highly skilled (4) or skilled group (3) . Also in this age group, one injury occurred to the novice skilled and one occurred with the skill level unknown. The second largest group of catastrophic injuries occurred in the 14-18 year old group with two highly skilled individuals, one skilled, one novice skilled, one unskilled,and one skill unknown. The age group of 13 and below had only one injury by an unskilled individual while the age group of 24 and above had only one injury with a highly skilled gymnast involved.

4. The National Athletic Injury/Illness Report System (NAIRS) reports an annual average of injuries by the various gymnastic events (1975-79). The highest number of injuries appeared for women in free exercise (tumbling) with 41 % of the injuries occurring in this event. Beam and unevens both had 20% respectively of the injuries with 15% for vault and 19% for trampoline.

5. The National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System (NAIRS) reports an annual average of gymnastic injuries for men's events, also (1975-79). The highest number of injuries resulted for the rings event (2.2%) with free exercise (tumbling) having the second highest injury note (20%). Then, rings (16%), pommel horse (4%), vault (13%), and paralled bars (9%) had next highest number of injuries, respectively.

Comparisons And Discussion

It is worthwhile and beneficial to look at the Competition Injury Study by William Sands, the NAIRS research data with the past and present catastrophic studies to draw some similarities, comparisons, and discussion.

The total number of catastrophic injuries reported over the three year study, (1978-81) appears to have involved more males than females since thirteen were males and four were females . It is interesting to note the events that were involved in the catastrophic injuries by sex. The females had no catastrophic injuries on the trampoline (2 on unevens, 1 on vault, 1 on cheerleading) , and the males had all of their catastrophic injuries on trampoline (9) and mini-trampoline (4) . Perhaps, one could speculate that the men's training has involved more lead-up skills for the apparatus events with the use of trampoline or mini-trampoline than the women in the past. On the contrary, there is some similarity in the significant injuries reported on women's and men's collegiate gymnastics by the National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System (NAIRS) (1975-79) and the Competition Injury Study by William Sands. Since men compete on six events and women compete on four events, it is interesting to. look at the two events which are common to both men and women 's events, free exercise and vaulting . The women had the highest annual injury rate on free exercise (tumbling) with 41 % of the injuries occurring on this event and the men had their second highest annual injury rate on this same event with 20% of the injuries occurring . Vaulting which is the other event that both men ·and women compete in had the second to the lowest injury rate for both the males and females with 15% for females and 13% for males. Similar results were found in the competition injury study with the highest injuries occurring in both vaulting (29.41 %) and free exercise (tumbling) (29.41 %).

Since a majority of the catastrophic injuries (ten) occurred to the highly skilled and skilled gymnasts with only four in the skilled novice, unskilled or skill unknown group, it appears that the higher skill levels are more vulnerable to having the catastrophic injuries occur. This may be due to the AAHPERD's Guidelines that made instructors more cautious and selective in the routines used.

It is also interesting to compare when the injuries occurred during the year . Most of the competitive injuries as reported by William Sands occurred in January, February, and March which is logical since generally gymnastics is a winter sport. In the catastrophic injuries report for 1980-81 , two injuries occurred in February and two in March while one occurred in April and one in August. The injuries occurred in a variety of situations (some competitive ; some non-competitive) .

USGF TECHNtCAL JOURNAUDecember 82

One other comparison that is noteworthy is the fact that of the non-catastrophic competitive injuries reported , 18.93% were in the back and neck area while all of the catastrophic injuries occur in this area. Four of the six catastrophic injuries for 1980-81 occurred from somersaulting skills either on the trampoline or the uneven bars. It appears that the somersaulting skills again have a high serious injury rate for the 1980-81 year.

It is also worthwhile to look at the gymnastic catastrophic injury picture under organized conditions for the past three years it has been accumulating data. There were no physical education studies and only two varsity athletes being among the cases reported in the first two years of the Registry's existence. Unfortunately this third year of data collection reveals a different experience. Of the six catastrophic injuries reported in 1980-81 , four occurred in organized conditions. There were two injuries in college physical education classes, one in a high school physical education class, and one catastrophic injury occurred in a varsi ty sport. Of the two occurring in less unorganized conditions. One occurred in intramurals and one occurred from a backyard accident at home.

Within the last two years many of the private clubs have built a "pit" in their gymnastic gym. Basically, the gyms have initiated a pit very similar to the ones used in European countries. A pit is a large hole in the gym floor filled with foam chunks. It is considered safer for landings than trampolines for teaching lead-up skills. It is primarily used by the gymnast to practice advanced tumbling moves, balance beam dismounts, uneven or high bar skills, and advanced level vaults . The gymnast either uses a run-way to tumble " into" the pit or vault " into" the pit for safer landings. Also , dismounts or other difficult skills are used with the end of the beam or the unevens or high bar over the pit area. Hopefully, this will increase the safety of advanced level skills.

Therefore, the comparison and similarities between the past and present catastrophic studies, the competition injury study, and the NAIRS research data is both interesting and valuable information. It is , however, best at this time to stress the fact that research in the area of gymnastic injur;es is relatively new and incomplete. At this time, specific recommendations based on this recent data cannot be made until further research is complete. It is extremely hopeful that within time, more and complete research data will provide for some concrete and specific recommendations in the area of safety and reduced injury rate . There are, however, some general recommendations that need to be stressed and followed .

Recommendations

Despite the infrequency of catastrophic gymnastic injuries, several recommendations remain warranted from the first three years ' experiences with the AAHPERD-NCAA guidelines and this Registry:

1. The guidelines for the controlled use of the trampoline and minitramp should be publicized regularly within physical education, cheerleading, and sports programs in agency, club, and school/college settings.

2. Skilled athletes should be reminded to take appropriate precautions when mastering a new skill or routine , and to discontinue practice when physically or mentally fatigued.

3. Use of the trampoline or minitramp for recreational purposes, including the backyard of one's home, should be strongly discouraged unless the provider appreciates and can ensure compliance with the AAHPERD/NCAA guidelines for its controlled use.

4. Organized gymnastic programs should be encouraged to utilize opportunities to cooperate with studies of significant as well as catastrophic injury in gymnastics (e.g. , NAIRS, 131 White Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802) to understand better al l patterns of injury that could lead to improved injury control programs.

5. Research into the benefits of particular gymnastic activities for special populations as well as for the growing child should be encouraged in order to put the calculated risk question in the best possible perspective.

6. Instructors of gymnastics should meet at least the minimum qualifications for certification by the U.S. Gymnastic Safety Association .

References

1 Blyth, C. and R. Schindler : The Forty Eighth Annual Football Fatality Report. Chapel Hill , N.C.: The American Football Coaches Association, 1980.

2Torg, J., et al : The National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry Report and Conclusion, 1978, JAMA 241 :1477-1479, 1979.

3Clarke, K.: An Epidemiological View of the Problem, in J. Torg (ed) , Athletic Injuries to the Head, Neck and Face. Lea & Febiger.

'Clarke, K.: Survey of Spinal Cord Injuries in Schools and College Sports, 1973-75, J Safety Res 9: 140-146, 1977.

5Clarke, K.: Premises and Pitfalls of Athletic Injury Surveillance, J Sp Med 3:292-295, 1975.

6Clarke, K. and W. Buckley: Women's Injuries in Collegiate Sport - A Preliminary Comparative Overview of Three Seasons, Am J Sp Med, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1980.

7 American Academy of Pediatrics : Trampolines II, Pediatrics 67 : 438, 1981 . (see appendix) .

"Sands, William A.: Competition Injury Study, A Preliminary Report Female Gymnasts, US.G.F. Technical Journal, 7-9, 1981 .


Appendix A

Case Reports - July 1978-June 1979 - First Annual Report

September 9: A college cheerleader, male age 19, suffered a fractured neck with resulting paralysis from the neck down (quadriplegia) while warming up before a football game. He overshot a forward somersau lt from a minitramp, going into a forward roll wi th the momentum generated, coming down on the back of his neck instead of his hands in the process.

September 13: A high school gymnast, male age 16, suffered a fractured neck with resulting quadriplegia while practicing for a demonstration at a "pep fest. " Attempting a double front flip from a minitramp onto two crash pads, he over-rotated and landed on the back of his neck in the middle of the pads.

September 19: A member of a community gymnastics club, male age 16, suffered a fractured neck with resulting quadriplegia while practicing on the trampoline. A highly skilled performer, he was working on a full twisting one and one-half forward somersault (to the shoulders). He didn 't clear his head soon enough, landing incorrectly on the center of the trampoline bed.

September 29: A young boy, age unknown, suffered a fractured neck resulting eventually in death while playing on a backyard trampoline.

October 29: A dependent on a military base, male age 14, suffered a fractured neck resu lting in quadriplegia while recreating on a trampoline in the base's gymnasium. He apparently attempted a knee drop and front somersault, landing incorrectly on the back of his head and neck on the trampoline bed without injury. He then repeated the attempt, this time with the injury resulting .

December 23: A highly skilled trampolinist, male age 35, suffered a fractured neck resulting in quadriplegia while playing a backyard game of "Horse" on a "very hot" Australian "String Bed" trampoline. He landed incorrectly on the trampoline bed.

May 21: A highly skilled college student, male age 20, suffered a fractured neck resulting in quadriplegia, while serving as an assistant instructor in a physical education class. Demonstrating a triple front somersault on a trampoline, he landed incorrectly on the trampoline bed.

II. Case Reports - July 1979-June 1980 - Second Annual Report

August 20: A high school cheerleader, female age 17, suffered a fractured neck during a cheerleading practice, resulting in immediate paralysis and subsequent death (the next day) . She landed improperly on the ground from a poorly executed forward flip off the shoulders of another cheerleader.

December 6: A skilled collegiate gymnast, male age 19, suffered a fractured neck leading to permanent paralysis (quadriplegia) during a practice session. He landed improperly in a foam rubber pit behind the trampoline that he was using to practice his high bar dismount routine (front somersault and half twist into back somersault) .

January 3: A skilled high school gymnast, female age 16, suffered a fractured neck leading to permanent paralysis (quadriplegia) during a practice session. She fell from the uneven parallel bars while attempting a spring board mount which involved a half twist over the low bar, her hands missing the high bar.

February 21 : A skilled alternate collegiate cheerleader, male age 20, suffered a fractured neck resulting in permanent paralysis (quadriplegia) during an unscheduled practice using a minitramp, apparently by himself.

Appendix B

Guidelines for the Use of Trampolines and Minitramps in Physical Education

The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 1978

(The complete statement can be obtained from AAHPERD, 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 22091)

Trampoline 1. That the program is offered as an elective. No student should be required to

engage in trampolining. It follows that all new participants should be helped to appreciate the risks of this activity and the measures being taken to control those risks.

2. That the program is -supervised by an instructor with professional preparation in teaching trampolining. This implies that the selection of ski lls being taught are commensurate with the readiness of the student in a proper progressive manner, and that reminders of injury control measures are incorporated in the teaching process. By supervision is meant direct observation of the activity plus intervention capabil ities when warranted.

3. That spotters be in position whenever the trampoline is being used and that all students (and teaching aides, if used) be trained by the instructor in the principles and techniques of spotting.

4. That the somersault not be permitted to be attempted in regular classes. If special opportunities exist in the phY8icai education program for advanced students with demonstrated proficiency, the foot-to-foot somersault may be taught if the safety harness is used and if the objective clearly is not to wean the student away from the harness to execute skills involving the somersault. The safety harness must be controlled by persons trained by the instructor and capable of this task .

19

United States Gvmnastics Federation

Women's Artistic Gymnastics -1983 World University Games Selection Procedure

Qualification A. In order to compete in the World University Games (WUG) Trials , the

collegiate gymnast must be registered as a full time student in the 1982-83 NCAA competitive season, she must compete the NCAA season, and compete NCAA Championships.

B. NCAA Championships are scheduled for April 8-9, 1983 at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

C. Gymnasts will advance to the Final Trials based on the following: 1. Top ten (10) Division I gymnasts in rank order based on the 1983

NCAA Championships. 2. Up to ten (10) "wild card" gymnasts from any collegiate program

by petition. This includes: a. Gymnasts from NCAA Division II and III. b. Gymnasts from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

(NAIA) . c. Gymnasts from National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association

(NJCAA). d. 1982-83 graduate students who are no longer eligible for the

NCAA. 3. NCAA Division II and III , NJCAA and NAIA gymnasts' scores will

be derived from their AA score in their respective 1983 Championships.

4. Graduates and gymnasts who do not compete in a collegiate program must derive their scores from the USGF 1st Zone Qualifying Meet and the USGF 1st Elite National Qualifying Meet. a. The 1 st Zone Meets will be held for each region on the week

ends of December 3-4, 10-11, or 17-18, 1982. b. The 1 st Elite National Qualifying Meet will be held in Colorado

Springs, Colorado on January 13-15, 1983. c. Gymnasts entering these above mentioned qualifying meets for

the purpose of obtaining a score for the WUG Trials must declare so on their meet entry form. These respective gymnasts will compete optional exercises only.

5. Gymnasts injured or ill during the NCAA Championships by composite season's average score.

6. All petitions must be equal to or better than the tenth (10th) place AA score from the NCAA Division I Championships.

7. Petitions to participate in the Trials will be considered based on the gymnast's most recent past performance ; ie proven collegiate national record/ranking or international ranking. The decision will be made by the USGF WUG ComlOlittee for Women.

8. In the event that there are insufficient petitions to fill up to 16 (sixteen) positions, based on the AA scores from NCAA Division I Championships, the next gymnasts in rank order wil l be invited to complete sixteen (16) places.

3rd Annual Injury Report continued . ..

5. That the apparatus be locked, and otherwise secured as best the facilities provide, to prevent unauthorized and unsupervised use.

6. That the apparatus be erected, inspected, and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

7. That policies for emergency care be preplan ned and actively understood by all affected personnel. This includes first aid competence at hand, class supervision during the initial management of the injured student, communicative accessibility to appropriate medical assistance when needed, and transportation capability to the appropriate medical faci lity when needed.

8. That participation and accident records be maintained for the trampoline and other gymnastic apparatuses and periodically be analyzed.

Minitramp (in addition to that stipulated for the trampoline)

20

1. No multiple somersault be attempted. 2. No single somersault be attempted unless:

a. the intended result is a foot-landing . b. the student has demonstrated reasonable ability for such on the

trampoline with a safety harness, off the diving board of a swimming pool , or in tumbling.

c. a competent spotter(s) is in position, knowing the skill which the student is attempting , and physically capable of handling an improper execution. If the safety harness is employed, the instructor must be satisfied that it is controlled competently.

d. the minitramp is reasonably secured to help prevent slipping at the time of execution.

e. a mat should be utilized, sufficiently wide and long to prevent a landing on the mat's edge and provide for proper footing of the spotter(s).

9. Valid petitions may fill the entry up to a maximum of twenty (20) competitors.

II. Final Trials A. Sixteen (16) - twenty (20) gymnasts as selected above will qualify to

the Final Trials . B. The Trials are scheduled for April 29-30, 1983 at the USOC Training

Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. C. Competition at the Trials will be optional All Around Competition.

III. Team Selection A. The USA WUG team will be composed of the top six (6) placing

gymnasts at the Trials, based on the All Around results in rank order. B. A gymnast on the USAlWUG team will be replaced only due to injury

or non compliance with WUG /USGF competitive and training regulations.

Women's Artistic Gymnastics -1983 Pan American Games Selection Procedure

Qualification A. Qualification to the Championships of the USA is through the 1 st or

2nd elite national qualifying meets. 1. The 1 st National Elite Qualifying Meet is scheduled for January

13-15, 1983 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

2. The 2nd National Elite Qualifying Meet is scheduled for May 19-21, at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

B. Based on the All Around Results from the 1983 Championships of the USA (combined compulsory and optional totals), the top twenty (20) Senior gymnasts will qualify to the Final Trials.

C. The 1983 Championships of the USA will take place on June 3, 4, 5, in Chicago, Illinois.

D. Petitions to enter the Trials will be accepted with regard to injury, illness, or representing the USA in an international competition during the same time period as Championships of the USA.

II. Final Trials A. Competition at the Trials will be AA Olympic compulsory exercises on

the first day, and AA optional exercises on the second day. Final scores from the Trials competition will be determined from the combined total score of the eight (8) exercises.

III. Team Selection A. The All Around scores from the Championships of the USA will count

40% and the All Around scores from the Trials will count 60% in determining an individual's overall final placing for Pan American team selection.

B. Based on the combined total All Around Scores from Championships of the USA and the Trials (as stipulated above), seven (7) athletes in rank order will be invited to participate in the Pan American Games.

Appendix C

Guidelines for the Use of the Trampoline for the Development of Competitive Skills

The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, 1978

(The complete statement can be obtained from NCAA, P.O. Box 1906, Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66222)

1. That the use of the trampoline be optional to the athlete. That is, no coach should require the use of the trampoline by his/her athletes. It follows that all athletes should be helped to appreciate the risks of this activity and the measures being taken to control those risks.

2. That trampOline usage be supervised by a person with competence in the use of the trampoline for developing athletic skills. This implies that the skills being encouraged are commensurate with the readiness of the athlete. This also implies that by supervision is meant satisfaction by direct observation that the ath lete is not exceeding his/her readiness.

3. That fellow athletes, coaches, managers, etc., be trained in the principles and techniques of spotting. Such spotters should be aware of the particular routine being practiced at the moment and in position appropriate to potential errors in that routine.

4. That new skills involving the somersault be learned while wearing the safety harness. The coach must see that those controlling the safety harness have received training for this function.

5. That the apparatus be locked, and otherwise secured as best the facilities provide, to prevent unauthorized and unsupervised use.

6. That the apparatus be erected, inspected, and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

7. That policies for emergency care be preplanned and actively understood by all affected personnel. This includes first aid competence at hand , squad supervision during the initial management of the injured athlete, communicative accessibility to appropriate medical assistance when needed,

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAL/December 82

C. Alternate reserve gymnasts will be selected, however, they will not attend the Pan American Games.

D. Replacement of a team member will occur only due to serious injury. - IV. Team Training

A. Training camp will be required for the team members. B. The Pan American Compulsory exercises will be competed at the Pan

American Games. C. The Pan American Games will take place in Caracas, Venezuela from

the 14-29 of August, 1983.

The 1983 USA Pan American Games Women's Team Coach

The length of service will be for the 1983 Pan American Games period. A. The USGF Pan American Games Trials will take place in July, 1983. B. The Pan American Games will take place from August 14-29, 1983 in

Caracas, Venezuela. II. The main responsibilities will include serving as head coach at the Pan

American Games training camp and the Pan American Games. III. Additional responsibilities will include

A. Choosing an assistant coach with the approval of the USGF Women 's International Program Committee.

B. Overseeing uniform and personal equipment selection and fitting in conjunction with the USGF office.

C. Maintaining regular contact with the athletes in order to establish rapport and awareness of mental and physical well being.

D. Maintaining regular contact with the National Women 's Program Coordinating Secretary (Becky Riti) and the USGF Office.

E. Enforcing USGF rules and regulations with regard to the conduct of the team members.

F. Making recommendations to the WIPC and the USGF Office with regard to team preparation and travel relative to the Pan American Games and training camp.

G. Preparing comprehensive reports of the activities and experiences of the U.S. team during the coach's tenure.

IV. The time table for the selection process is as follows: A. All applications must be received in the USGF Office by February 1, 1983. B. The reviewing process will be completed by February 15, 1983. C. Applications are to be sent to:

Becky Riti National Women 's Program Coordinating Secretary United States Gymnastics Federation P.O. Box 7686 Fort Worth, Texas 76111

and transportation capability to the appropriate medical facility when needed.

8. That trampoline participation and accident records be maintained and periodically analyzed.

Appendix D American Academy Of Pediatrics

Committee on Accident and Poison Prevent ion and Committee on Pediatric Aspects

of Physical Fitness, Recreation, and Sports Trampolines II

In September 1977, the Academy published a statement calling for a ban on the use of trampolines in schools because of the high number of quadriplegia injuries caused by this apparatus. A considerable amount of thought and action resulted. The Academy does not endorse trampoline use, but a revision of the Academy's position to allow for a trial period of limited and controlled use by schools seems appropriate. However, careful assessment of the incidence and severity of injury must continue during this trial period.

The trampoline is a potentially dangerous apparatus, and its use demands the following precautions:

1. The trampoline should not be a part of routine physical education classes. 2. The trampoline has no place in competitive sports. 3. The trampoline should never be used in home or recreational settings. 4. Highly trained personnel who have been instructed in all aspects of

trampoline safety must be present, when the apparatus is used. 5. Maneuvers, especially the somersault, that have a high potential for serious

injury should be attempted only by those -qualified to become skilled performers.

6. The trampoline must be secured when not in use, and it must be well maintained.

7. Only schools or sports activities complying with the foregoing recommendations should have trampolines.

Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention : Pediatrics, Vol. 67, No.3, March 1981

USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAUOecember 82

Rhythmic Gymnastics -1984 Olympic Games Selection Procedure

Qualification A. Qualification to the National Championships is through State and

Regional Championship meets. B. The 1983 World Championship individual event participants wil l gain an

automatic berth to the National Championships. C. Based on the All Around results from the 1984 Rhythmic Gymnastics

National Championships, in rank order the top eight (8) gymnasts wi ll qualify to the Final Trials .

D. The 1984 Rhythmic Gymnastics National Championships will take place in the spring of 1984.

E. Petitions to enter the Final Trials will be accepted with regard to injury or representing the USA in an international competition during the same time period as the National Championships. Petitions are limited to the top two (2) internationally ranked gymnasts only.

II. Final Trials A. The Final Trials will take place in June, 1984. B. Competition at the Trials will be All Around Competition.

III. Team Selection A. The All Around score from the National Championships will count

40% and the All Around score from the Trials will count 60% in determining an individual's overal l final placing.

B. Based on the combined total All Around scores from the National Championships and the Trials (as stipulated above), the top three (3) gymnasts in rank order will be selected to attend the Olympic Games Training Camp.

C. The overall rank order after the Trials may be changed in the selection of the team of two (2) gymnasts who wil l compete in the Olympic Games under the following conditions: 1. Injury affecting performance. 2. Failure to train and observe training rules concerning diet, weight

gain, rest, practice schedules and work-ou ts as required by the head coach and staff .

3. Changes in position on the team wi ll be subject to the approval of the Rhythmic Gymnastics International Program Committee.

D. The 1984 Summer Olympic Games will take place from July 28-August 12, in Los Angeles, California.

USGF Women's Committee Regional Technical Director, Region 4 Linda Beran 14942 Holmes Street Omaha, Neb. 68137 Linda Beran - Chairman Marilyn Cross Pam Kees September 23, 1982

Rights and Duties of an STC (Scientific Technical Collaborator)

They must posses knowledge of - Code of Points - Technical Reglement - Symbols/Shorthand (International shorthand recommended) They must - Be prepared to record routine in its entirety including all A, B, C parts - Record compositional faults - record missing special requirements - Record R.O.C. (Risk, Originality, Extra C) - Attend judges meeting - work wi th Head Judge - Wear Uniform (FIG - International Uniform)

(USA - as prescribed by KAWJG) - Stay in deSignated area - Sit at head table - Have NO communication with coaches, acting judges, head judge unless

requested by HJ Should NOT enter into conferences or conversation unless requested by HJ. Keep answers pertaining to STC's duties and not opinions.

Criteria for selection of STe's

Whenever the meet warrants the position of an STC the following criteria should be followed. We do not want someone in this position for practice to improve his/herself. The STC should be highly knowledgeable in the areas above and prepared for the event.

National and International Level Competitions Brevet, FIG, Elite A rating necessary.

Recommendation made by - International Competition - Jackie Fie National Competition - Delene Darst

Regional Level - Class I or higher rating necessary Recommendation by - RTD

- A report by each HJ in writing should be filed with the above directors for future recommendations.

21

USGF Women's Committee Technical Director Mrs. Delene Darst 2187 Spinning Wheel Lane Cincinnati, Ohio 45244

Minutes Women's Technical Committee

September 23, 1982 Americana Hotel, Ft. Worth Texas

Meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Delene Darst at 8:10a.m., September 23rd .

II.

Roll Call - Voting Members Region I - Joanne Pasquale Region II - Pam Kees Region III - Sharon Weber Region IV - Linda Beran Region V - Carole Liedtke Region VI - Marilyn Cross Region VII - Audrey Schweyer Region VIII - Marian Dykes Vice Chairman - Sharon Valley National Junior Olympic Director - Connie Maloney National Elite Director - Roe Kreutzer National Judges Training Chairman - Cheryl Grace

Non-Voting : Linda Chencinski - WCC Ex.-officio Joanne Aschenbrenner - NAWGJ, Guest Becky Riti - USGF Office Liaison

Minutes of June, 1982, were corrected to reflect the change in Elite level competiton dates: A. Schedule of Elite Meets

1. First Zone - Dec. 10-12 (one week earlier or later) 2. First National- Jan. 13-15 3. Second Zone - May 6-7 4. Second National - May 19- 21 5. June 3, 4, 5 - USA Championships (Chicago) 6. July 21-23 or 28-30 - Women 's Team Trials (for World Champion

ships and Pan Ams.) Tentative site - Ft. Worth 7. June 24-July 2 - Sports Festival (also Jr. Championships for Women)

in Colorado Springs B. Discussion on item p. 5 B, d concerning Sectionals. Each state may set up

which sectional meets will be qualifiers for States. Sectionals are not required for 82-83.

C. After lengthy discussion on affiliation, evaluation of judges, and need for judges to be actively involved in the sport the following motion was made (S. Weber, M. Cross) and passed which modifies the June, 1982 decIsion on "Judges Affi liation". Motion: by Sharon Weber, second : Marilyn Cross Affiliation of Judges a. At the State Meet and below in competitions for qualifying purposes

with a four judge panel : 1. Non-affiliated judges should be assigned first.

2. Any affiliation (daughter, sister, or club payroll) may be assigned as acting judges, and may be assigned as head judge with approval of the USGF State Board.

3. No more than 1 affiliated judge per panel. b. State Meet (2 judge panel)

1. No affiliation at all . 2. Request for 2 judge panel must be approved by RTD and RC. Employment (being on club's payroll) could affiliate you with a club.

III. Technical

22

A. Judges' Certification - Recommendation to Joint Certification Committee 1. The Certification Year run from Oct. 1 thru Aug . 31 with no testing to be

done in September. B. Clarification of Compulsory Elements

1. Uneven Bar Mounts a. Class III - glide single leg overshoot with no catch-different b. Class II - glide, straddle cut and re-catch same bar is same

mount. c. Class 1- mount is glide kip , cast handstand to clear hip. Allowed to

do anything except clear hip after glide kip . Can do glide kip , cast handstand in optional without deduction - cannot do clear hip after glide kip .

2. Uneven Bar Dismounts a. Class 111- Underswing from jump is same, from cast is different. b. Class II - straddle position does not change dismount. "Short"

hecht is different. Any " long swing" hecht is same unless twisting.

c. Class I - any change in body position changes the dismountany flyaway with single saito in tuck is the same.

3. Balance Beam Mount - Class I - A different exit from a press handstand would be considered

different. 4. Elements in compulsory routine used in optional routine:

- The motion was made (J . Pasquale and L. Beran) passed that: Three (3) moves or more in succession exactly as compulsory would constitute repeating compulsory sequence and would result in 0.3 deduction.

5. Vault a. Class 111- Deduction for total lack of repulsion is 1 .0 less than total

lack of repulsion would result in deduction of less than 1.0.

b. Class I - The following deductions are correct as written in the Revised copy of the Compulsory Text (1982) - Pike 22.5°-45° .1-.2 ded. - Pike more than 45° - up to .3 ded.

c. All judges must also evaluate and pay attention to height (.5) of compulsory vault as well as distance as marked on mat.

d. Class IV Layout Squat Vault-Layout is determined by line from hips through feet (not shoulders to feet) .

6. Clarification on tinsica in compulsory FX-hand position (forward, sideways) is irrelevant, but placement (alternate) is important.

·C. New Ruling on judging optional difficulty: Motion made (S. Valley, A. Schweyer) and passed that: In optional routines, when a fall occurs upon completion of the skill , value credit will be given and execution errors will be taken in addition to deduction for the fall.

D. Rules and Policies Changes - JOAGP 1. Change p.1 0 F.6 in Rules and Policies to read: "A random draw will be

used in finals in Age Group and Elite. There will be no seeding of finalists.

2. Optional/Compulsory Competition. Motion made (C. Maloney, M. Cross) and passed that: " In a one day local or sectional competition with no more than 60 gymnasts, the optional competition may precede the compulsory competition. If more than 60 gymnasts, must have 2 day meet. If a 2 day meet, must perform compulsories first.

3. Motion made (C. Maloney, S. Weber) and passed that: "The WTC recommends to the Women's Committee Executive Board that the Regional Class II Championships be a 2 day compulsory/optional competition. This means that the Rules and Policies would nol change from what it had been.

4. Motion made (C. Maloney, S. Valley) and passed that the decision to establish a mandate score for Class IV be maintained as a State decision.

5. Motion made (C. Maloney, S. Valley) that: the Class I Children's Division be maintained at Regional Championships and that the Children'S Division and Junior Division compete in the same sessions.

6. Motion made (S. Valley, S. Weber) and passed that al/ pre-meet warm-ups for Junior Olympic (State and above) and Elite level (Regional and above) be scheduled and timed. The Meet Director may assign times or have a sign-up sheet available. In the timed warm-up just prior to competition all gymnasts warm-up in Iheir competing squads in competition order, beginning on their second event and finishing on their first event.

E. Element Evaluations 1. Motion made (C. Grace, S. Valley) and passed that : Handstand

priouette will be evaluated as an acro-strength move and therefore is not eligible to fulfill : - acrobatics B in last series - absence of gymnastic peak (nat.B)

- absence of acrobatic peak (nat.B or nat.C) Amended later in meeting to read: Elements with flight to handstand wil be considered acrobatic elements and elements which arrive in handstand by non-flight method (swing, press, etc.) will be considered acrobatic strength.

2. Clarification : An immediate connection is necessary for full turn and full turn or jump full turn and jump full turn (B + B = B + C) to value raise.

3. Motion made (C. Grace, M. Cross) and passed that: On beam - for a round off to be a "C" , it must rebound off feet and also have flight from hands. Otherwise devalued to B.

4. Clarification: On beam for acrobatic series, both elements must be acro, only one must have flight.

5. Floor Exercise : The Brani is "B". It is considered a no-handed round-off not a saito.

6. Motion made (L. Beran, C. Maloney) and passed that: The tuck or pike front salta with 1/2 twist will be evaluated as a "B" element. Change in F.I.G . Code . Same for back layout saito with 1/2 twist .

USGF TeCHNICAL JOURNAU December 82

7. Motion made (M . Cross, L. Beran) and passed . That the following regulations would apply for mounting UB and/or BB. - A gymnast runs and touches board but does not mount - 0.5

Deduction If she repeats the mount, must do so in 10 secs. (BB) 30 sec. (UB)

- If she misses a second time - 0.5 Oed. - She may not repeat a 3rd time. If she does 0.3 deduction and no

credit value for the mount. 8. New element submitted - clear hip circle to handstand with hop

change in handstand, and 1/2 turn in handstand - CR OV. Same with 112 after handstand - C R V

9. The current F.I.G. OV/RV list (Supplement #1 and #2 from F.I.G.) supersedes the USGF Supplement if a contradiction occurs.

10. When executing an element of .. c .. or "CR .. value with + .1 RV twice in succession , (direct connection) award a +. 1 RV for the element and +.1 for the series in all events.

11 . Beam timing - Motion made (S. Weber, C. Grace) and passed that: "The evaluation and timing of beam exercises C/O. begins with the take-off from the board. " This refers to running mounts such as saltos and also to mounts from a stand.

F. Round-off entry Vaults 1. Motion made (C. Maloney, S. Weber) and passed that : The round-off

entry vaults be allowed on an experimental basis at the Elite level only in 1982-83. If performed at the Junior Olympic level they would receive a zero.

2. The following values were established for 1982-83 season: a. Round-off, flic flac to horse with LA turns in after flight.

1/2 - 9.1 1/1 - 9.4 1-1 /2 - 9.5

b. Round-off, flic-flac to horse with BA turns (back saltos) in after flight. - Tuck 9.5 - Pike 9.6 - Layout 9.7 - Tuck 1/1 twist 9.8 - Layout 1/1 twist 9.9 - Any position saito 211 twist 10.0

c. Round-off half turn to horse with LA turns in after flight. -1 /19.5 - 1-1 /29.6 - 211 10.0

d. Round-off half turn to horse with BA turns (front saltos) in after flight. - Tuck 9.9 - Pike 10.0 - Tuck 1/2 twist 10.0

3. Motion made (S. Valley, L. Beran) and passed that the Biomachanical Task Force be asked to study this new technique during this year and report to the WTC on its findings.

IV. Judges Training Committee Cheryl Grace, Chairman, reported on progress of committee. Restructuring is completed and the training manual in rough form should be complete by January 1, 1983. All sub-committees are functioning and plans are underway for a standardization of judges' training across the country.

V. Judging A. Linda Beran, Chairman of the S.T.C. Committee presented their ideas

(See attached). These ideas were accepted to go into effect this year where possible. The Committee was asked by the Chair to prepare a form letter to be senllo prospective S.T.C.'s and an evaluation form for the head judge's evaluation.

B. The following items were tabled : 1. Professionalism - Coaches and Judges 2. Conference Reports 3. Judges' Criteria

VI. Elite Program A. Elite Regulations were revised . (See attached) B. Motion made (R. Kreutzer, J. Pasquale) and passed that:

- A request for permission to raise the Uneven Bars (Gymnasts under 5'5") should be sent to the RTD at the Regional level and the NTD at the National level. The following criteria would be considered: 1. Contacting the floor on a giant swing . 2. Contacting the floor with the hips on a glide kip .

C. Motion made (S. Valley, C. Grace) and passed that if a gymnast starts to mount the Uneven Bars or Beam from further back than 18 ' (measured the bar or end of beam) then a 0.3 deduction would be applied and no value


given for the mount. D. Motion made (L. Beran, C. Grace) and passed that a gymnast is given 20

seconds to set the bars from the time the green flag/ light goes up. If she takes longer then a 0.1 deduction is applied by the Head Judge taken from the average score.

E. Elite level Vaulting Regulations: 1. The Elite Development Committee made the following recommen

dation - Two (2) different vaults from two (2) different groups at least one (1) must be a "C", the other may be a "B" . No "A" vaults would be allowed.

2. Deductions developed for this regulation would be: .2 vaults from same group .2 vaults being the same .2 Performing an "A" vault .2 No .. c .. vault .5 Performing only one vault

Deductions would be accumulative and would come off the counting score by the Head Judge. . .

3. Because the WTC found it very complicated and cumbersome With thiS regulation they voted to send it to the Vaulting Sub-Committee, Sharon Valley, Chairman.

'4. Motion made (S . Valley , R. Kreutzer) that the Olympic Vaulting Regulation for 1982-83 be: _ Competition IB (F.I.G .) Rules be used for preliminary competition at

the Classic Meets and Championships. - Competition III (F.I.G .) Rules be used for finals competition at the

Classic Meets and Championships. - These would be the same for Juniors and Seniors. - F.I.G. deductions will be used. - USGF Vault Values will be used .

F. Elite Level dropping back to Jr. Olympic 1. Motion made (A. Schweyer, S. Valley) that:

Any gymnast achieving the Elite qualifying score in the 1 st Zone/Regional meet would be considered an Elite Level gymnast and could not drop back.

Any gymnast who competed in the Zone/Regional and did not make the score could drop back. At the J.O. Regional Championship any gymnast who made the Regional team would have to declare at that time (Regionals) if she would try to qualify at the 2nd Zone/Regional. If so the next gymnast in line would move up to the Regional team.

- Any gymnast who competed at the EIW Championship and made the EIW team would have the same option. (Must declare at site of EIW meet).

- Any gymnast who competes in the 2nd Elite Zone/Regional meet is not eligible to compete in the Junior Olympic Nationals regardless of whether she makes the Elite qualifying score.

- If a gymnast drops back to J.O. she may enter at the State Meet level provided she has the State Meet Qualifying score for Class I.

A vote was taken by mail on the following: ' Motion - IV, E4

1. Elite Vault Regulations 2. Elite level gymnasts dropping back to Junior Olympic.

Result Passed Passed

Motion made (R . Kreutzer , S. Weber) and passed to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 p.m.

Respectively submitted,

Delene Darst, Chairman USGF/WTC

23

1982-83 Elite Regulations September 1, 1982

Qualification Procedures A. See Rules and Policies B. Qualifying scores Regional (Zones) to Classics

1. Senior 72.0 a. Any gymnast who will be 15 in 1983.

2. Junior 68.8 a. Any gymnast who is 14 in 1983. b. Any gymnast remaining under 14 years of age in 1983 scoring a

34.4 in optionals only at Zone/Regional- . C. Numbers qualifying from American and U.S. Classics to Championships of

USA American Classic U.S. Classic

1 . Seniors 12 20 2. Juniors 8-14 year olds 8-14 year olds 3. Juniors 5-under 14 5-under 14

Additional 6 Jr. gymnasts qualifying to Championships will be in rank order of optional scores only from U.S. Classic Meet- .

D. Top 21 fron1'1983 Championships of USA will be the Senior National Team. There will be 2 group rankings for Juniors. One will be the result of C/O competition of the Juniors who are 14 in 1983. The other will be the result of testing (20%) and optionals (80%) of the Juniors who remain under 14 in 1983. These rankings will be the result of the National Sports Festival 1983.

E. All those Senior gymnasts scoring 72.0 or all Junior gymnasts scoring 68.8 or better at the Championships of the USA (1982) do not have to compete in the 1983 Regional/Zone meets.

Senior Gymnasts qualified to U.S. or American Classic. 1983

1. Tracee Talavera 75.95 2. Julianne McNamara 75.65 3. Amy Koopman 75.55 4. Gina Stallone 75.30 5. Michelle Goodwin 74.80 6. Lynne Lederer 74.55 7. Luci Collins 74.35 8. Kathy Johnson 74.30 9. Marie Roethlisberger 74.25

10. Tammy Smith 73.95 11. Tanya Service 73.55 12. Barrie Muzbeck 73.25 13. Kim Hillner 72.95 14. Shari Mann 72.85 15. Lisa McVay 72.80 16. Kris Montera 72.65 17. Maisie Chillano 72.55 18. Yumi Madre 72.45 19. Lisa Zeis 72.45 20. Kelly Garrison 72.45 21. Sandy Sabatka 72.30 22. Jessica Armstrong 72.15 23. Tracy Curtis 72.15 24. Kym Fischler 72.05 25. Karen Aderente 72.05

Junior Gymnasts qualified to U.S. or American Classic 1. Dianne Durham 74.50 14. Amy Appler 71.05 2. Mary Lou Retton 74.45 15. Cindy Cole 71 .00 3. Tiffany Quincy 73.95 16. Gisi Zosa 70.95 4. Cindy Rosenberry 73.65 17. Lisa Patti 70.45 5. Michelle Dusserre 73.35 18. Angela Dacquisto 70.40 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13.

24

Pammy Bileck 73.20 19. Maya Kato 70.05 Angie Denkins 72.10 20. Dawn Wilson 70.00 Randi Campagna 71 .80 21 . Tracy Cal ore 69.95 Nicole Kushner 71 .70 22. Caitlin Quinby 69.90 Juliann Brumbaugh 71.60 23. Tami Gemmel 69.40 Traci Hinkle 71 .55 24. Marni Rager 69.30 Jennifer Sey 71 .50 25. Nicole Trewitt 69.20 Carrie Hoit 71.20 26. Suzy Baldock 69.05

(See attached list) 1. A junior (1982), who will be 15 in 1983 (Senior) , scores a 72.0 in the

Championships of USA may by-pass the Regional (zone) and automatically be eligible for the Classic meets. (See attached list)

2. All gymnasts must qualify into Championships of USA by participation in one of the Classic Qualification Meets. (Some National Team gymnasts may petition to bypass the Classic Meet if National Team have required meets very close to the Classic Meets) . Recommendations for by-passing wi ll come from the National Selection Committee.

3. All petitions should be sent to RTD with copy to NTD.

F. Elite dropbacks to J.O.'s - 1982-83 1. A gymnast who enters a Classic meet may not drop back to the J.O.

program. .' 2. A gymnast who competes in the Elete zone in December and qualifies

may not drop back to the J.O. program. . . 3. A gymnast who competes in the J.O. program and qualifies for the

Regional Team must declare at the Regional Meet (tothe R.T.D.) If she is going to continue in the J.O. program or compete In the 2nd Elite Zone/Regional. If she decides to compete In the Elite Zone the next person in rank order will be moved to the Regional team. ThiS situatIOn will be the same for the EasUWest teams. If a gymnast competes in the 2nd Elite Zone and does not qualify, she may not move back to the J.O.

Program during this season. . ' . 4. Competing in a meet is determined by completing a minimum of one

event.

II. Meet Format A. Regional (Zone) - Juniors and Seniors compete in separate sessions

(c/o) if at all possible. If not possible then they must compete in separate squads. 1. USGF medals be given to the top 6 AA for each age-division. 2. Entry fee over $35 must have approval of Regional Board. 3. If the Regional (Zone) elite meet is in jeopardy of being held for

financial reasons only, a 2 judge panel will be allowed. The Regional Elite Board will make the decision. USGF Criteria for judges selection must be followed.

B. U.S. and American Classics

C. D.

1. Compulsory competition 1st day with Juniors (14 year aids only) competing in the afternoon, Seniors in the eveninq.

2. Optional competition 2nd day with Juniors only competing in the afternoon, Seniors in the evening.

3. Gymnasts remaining under 14 years of age in 1983 will go through the Junior testing program at the time they wou ld have competed compulsories. These tests will be administered by the National Coaching Staff at each Classic Meet. The results will count as 20% of the ranking for National Team placement of the under 14 group. The other 80% will be optional scores.

4. Finals competition 3rd day with top 6 Juniors (14 year aids on ly) and top 6 Seniors in each event competing separately in the evening (2 events at a time - Junior on one and Senior on the other.) Ties wi ll be carried. Participation in finals is required unless ill or injured.

5. Entry fee - No specific fees set. Championships of USA - Same format as Classics. General Regulations for Regional , Classics, Championships, and Trials. 1. No forerunner will be used. 2. There should be no more than 20 minutes between the end of warm-up

and the start of the competition. 3. In pre-meet warm-up each gymnast should receive 2 minutes for each

event. (Pre-meet warm-up must be timed and gymnast warm-up in competing squads.)

4. The 30 second touch per gymnast during the competition will still be in effect. Should be timed 35 secs. for UB which includes bar setting.

5. Recommend 2 sets of bars and 2 or more beams for precompetition warm-up.

6. Recommend all Meet Directors check speed of tape recorders prior to competition.

7. Competitive Draw a. Competitors from one team be placed in the same squad so long as

they do not constitute 50% or more of the total squad. (Must be less than 50%) .

b. A random draw for the first day of competition be done (first by team, second by gymnast within the squad).

c. Each rotation drop (# in the squad divided by 4) d. 2nd day squad move over one event (Olympic order) and reverse

the order of rotation . This means last girl in the squad goes up first the 2nd day.

e. If 3 sessions, A, B, C, 2nd day C, B, A.

III. Equipment Specifications A. Mats

1. May have two (2) 4" landing mats over 1 v." basic mat for beam, unevens, and vault. These are not restricted to the landing area for dismounts.

2. For dismounts at the ends of the beam a 12 foot long by 8 foot wide mat is required.

3. For dismounts from the unevens a 12 foot long by 8 foot wide mat is required.

4. Landing mats for dismounts must be available. 5. Two (2) 6 ft . or 1 eight ft. wide mat must be under the beam. 6. Soft mats for warm-ups should be available.


B. Boards 1. Boards may be carpeted , but no padding may be used. 2. All USA manufactured vaulting boards have been approved for USGF

competition . 3. The board may be placed on only one (1) 4" mat over 1 W' basic mat for

mounting the beam or unevens. 4. A gymnast may stand on two (2) 4" landing mats over 1 W' basic mat for

mounting beam or unevens. In this situation she would not be using a board.

5. Regional (Zone) Meet Directors must arrange to have boards that accommodate all weights of gymnasts at all events where a board is used. Coaches may not bring their own boards unless requested to do so by the Meet Director, then all in the meet will use it.

C. Apparatus Measurements 1. Vaulting Horse

a. FIG specifications: 120 cm. (47W') b . Runway should be a minimum of 78 '. c. A runway pad should be taped down. d. Measurement of Horse Height- The height of the vaulting horse is

determined by measuring the distance from the surface on which the board will be placed to the top of the horse. Therefore , if the vault runway is on a raised platform, the measurement should be taken from the runway surface to the top of the horse rather than from the floor on which the horse stands.

2. Uneven Bars a. FIG specifications: High Bar 230 cm. (909/ 16")

Low Bar 150 cm . (59'/'6") Between Bars up to 90 cm.

b. Recommend a mount runway of 12 feet minimum and 18 feet maximum . (Maximum to be marked.) Deduction of 0.3 if more than 18 feet used for mounting .

c. Fiberglass rails with wood coverings are required for all USGF sanctioned meets.

d. A gymnast taller than 1.67 meters (5 '5") may raise LB and HB one notch each: LB 1.55m ± 10mm measured from floor, HB 2.35 ± 10mm (If one bar is moved the other bar must also be moved.)

A request for permission to raise the Uneven Bars (Gymnasts under 5 '5") should be sent to the RTD at the Regional level and the WTD at the National level. The following criteria would be considered: 1. Contacting the floor with a giant swing. 2. Contacting the floor with the hips on a glide kip.

e. For the Junior Age division (14 and under) the uneven bars may be adjusted to facilitate the exercise. See Rules and Policies Page 54. Senior age division (15 and over) must work FIG specifications.

3. Balance Beam a. FIG specifications: 120 cm (47'14' ) b. Seniors and Juniors must complete FIG specifications c . Recommend a mount runway of 12' minimum and 18' maximum.

(To be marked.) Deduction of 0.3 if more than 18' used for mounting.

d . Padded beams are required at all sanctioned competitions. 4. Floor Exercise

a. FIG specifications 12 meters by 12 meters b . A "spring" floor is required for all Regional (Zone) level meets and

above. IV. Specific Event Rules

A. Competition III difficulty requirements will be used at all levels of Elite competition for uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise with the following exceptions: 1. All routines must have 10 elements with a 0.2 deduction applicable for

anything less than 10, no matter how many less. B. Vaulting - See attached Vault Table (revised)

1. FIG IB rules will be in effect for preliminary competition in both Classic Meets and Championships.

2. For individual event finals Competition III rules as in FIG Code at both Classic Meets and Championships, Juniors and Seniors.

3. The handspring full vault will not be allowed for Junior Elite optional competition .

C. For Elite competition the USGF will adhere to FIG rules (utilizing our USA concept for evaluating new OV/RV in the USA prior to submission for FIG evaluation) .

V. The Elite Regulations will be maintained from the USGF Congress 1982 to the USGF Congress 1983 unless FIG makes changes during the season.


Women's Executive Board Minutes September, 1982 Congress

Americana Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas

Voting Members Present: Liz Holey, Reg. I Pat Holman, Reg. II

Carolyn Edwards, Reg. VII

Mary Ann Mahoney, Reg. III Connie Robertson, Reg . IV Faye Keller, Reg. V Kathy Feldmann, Reg. VI

Wilma Guy, Reg . VIII Connie Maloney, JOD Delene Darst, WTC Roe Kreutzer, EDC

Guests: Sue Ammerman, Joanne Ashenbrenner

Discussion of Executive Board Minutes not being approved by Executive Committee of USGF. Page 3 of June Minutes correction as follows :

Motion : A Committee was formed to compile a statement of concerns the Women 's Committee has in regard to the USGF Office Staff , Women's Committee funds and goals. M. Mahoney, C. Robertson (Passed)

II. Discussion ensued regarding the requirement of all coaches to be members of the Women 's Committee when at sanctioned meets.

Motion: The required coach membership be clarified to read that each team/club have one active coach on the floor that is a member of the Women's Committee. P. Holman, C. Maloney (Passed)

Discussion ensued concerning Athlete Registration . The Women 's Committee is very pleased with the work Cheryl Grace is doing concerning Athlete Registration and Women's Committee Registration . The proposal we are recommending in no way discredits Ms. Grace's work and if possible, we would like her office to continue the actual paper work.

Motion: The present Athlete Registration program be changed to: USGF Athlete Registration Program and that the USGF accept the responsibility of obtaining liability insurance for USGF board , officers, volunteers and meet directors. Mahoney, Holman

Roll Call Vote : 7 -yes,4-abstained I - Abstained

II -Yes III -Yes IV - Abstained V -Yes

VI - Yes

Clarification concerning Sanctioning:

VII - Yes VIII - Yes

NJOC - Abstained NEDD - Abstained

NTD - Yes

Coaches workshop/clinics - RC Gymnasts workshop/clinics - RC Judges workshop/clinics - Cheryl Grace

Awards:

Motion: Plaques be awarded for the Regional and East/West Teams. ($7-$8) Holman, Guy (Passed)

Motion: Linda Chencinski (National Chairman) select appropriate awards for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams at Junior Olympic Nationals. F. Keller, L. Holey (Passed)

Motion: Review Operating Code at next meeting Article V - Elections and Terms of Office.

Linda Chencinski

LC/aml

25

U.S.G.F. Rhythmic Gymnastics International Program Committee

Minutes

September 26, 1982 Fort Worth

Present: Andrea B. Schmid, Chairperson; Barbara Fester; Candace Feinberg ; Alia Svirskiy; Becky Riti (USGF) ; and Sue Ammerman (Exec. Comm. Rep.) S. Ammerman present part-time.

1. Minutes Minutes of May 23rd were approved by the Executive Committee.

2. Board of Directors Meeting Although it was previously approved to have the Rhythmic Gymnastics Chairperson attend all Executive Committee meetings and Board of Directors' meetings, the Executive Committee made a decision that this would not be possible due to the lack of funds.

3. Athlete Representative Report Candace Feinberg, Athlete Representative, gave a report on a questionnaire distributed to rhythmic gymnasts. Report is attached.

Discussion followed regarding the supervision of athletes at the National Sports Festival. The Rhythmic Gymnastics International Program Committee felt that coaches need to set up more stringent controls. Such controls will be in effect for the International Invitational Meet in Atlantic City.

4. Four Continents Championships, Dec. 1982 - New Zealand Gymnasts will be selected on the basis of their all-around score at National Championships and the higher score of either the National Sports Festival or the Atlantic City meet.

5. Atlantic City International Invitational - Oct. 2-3 - Atlantic City Discussion followed regarding judges for this meet. We expect 4 judges from the U.S., 2 from Canada, 1 from West Germany, and 1 from Japan. The referee will be 1. Eoerster, FIG representative from the Technical Committee.

6. Four Continents Championship - U.S.A. - 1984 After discussion, it was agreed, that it would be more advantageous to hold the Championships at the usual time, i.e., in December. Originally, this committee thought of Las Vegas as a site. Roger Counsil has indicated that he would be interested in Fort Worth as the site. Further discussion and preparations will take place.

7. Selection of Gymnasts for World Championship Training Camp Gymnasts will include the winning group of 8 providing they meet age requirements and the 10 highest all-around scores. Total : 18. Final selection of group competitors will be selected at the training camp by the head coach, assistant coaches, and a representative of the Rhythmic International Program Committee. Criteria for selection will be based upon dance ability, apparatus manipulative skills, contribution to group effort (attitude), body type, experience, and movement qualities compatible to the group.

8. Olympic Personnel To date the only staff approved by the Olympic Committee is the coach. A special letter is to be sent by E. Zimmer requesting a pianist. Shiela Walker indicated that this request must be submitted immediately.

Election of coach followed . Alia Svirskiy was elected as the U.S. Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastic Coach for the 1984 Olympics.

9. International Program Committee Structure and Responsibilities The Committee discussed philosophy, criteria for selection of delegation and their responsibilities. Draft of policy to be prepared by Candace Feinberg and Barbara Fester.

10. International Program - 1983 (See attachment)

Respectfully submitted .

Norma B. Zabka, Secretary, Rhythmic Gymnastics International Program Committee

U,S.G.F, Rhythmic International Program Committee

1983 Rhythmic Gymnastics Calendar (prepared 9/82)

1. April 20-23 (tentative)

2. May 7-9 14-15

3. May 29-June 6

26

USGF National Championships. Site undetermined Bulgarian Invitational Corbeil Invitational Austrian Invitational Brother Cup, Japan

4. June 2-5 5. June 4-5 6. June 24-July 2 7. July 3-17

8. July 4-7

9. August 4-6 (tentative) 10. August 7-13

Ennia Cup, Holland Princess Grace Cup, Monaco National Sports Festival, Colorado Springs Training Camp - Athletes : 16-18, staff: 6 Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs Coaches and Judges Clinic - Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs U.S. International Invitational - Los Angeles Explorer Olympics - Columbus, Ohio

11 . October 24-November 5 World Championship Team Training Camp -Colorado Springs

12. November 10-13 XI World Championship - Strasbourg, France

Summary of Athlete Questionnaire

August 1982

1. What is your role and responsibility as a National Team Member? - participate to best of ability - represent U.S. in appropriate manner

2. Do you feel you have a good understanding of the jUdging rules? - majority said yes - a few juniors said no

3. If you could select a facility to hold an MRG meet, what would your look for, as a competitor? - high ceiling - carpet - warm up area adjacent to competition - available for practice, day before the meet - large facility, but not too large it won't draw a crowd - Brotherhood Meet, Japan, excellent facility

4. Please list all your after-thoughts concerning recent Nationals. Good Bad good facility. Juniors, early start & long second day. Sakols great hosts. only 1 Senior didn 't like 1 day competition. competition all in 1 day. media distractions while waiting on side lines.

5. Give me an idea of your training schedule. - hours per day - averaged 4

days per week - averaged 6 - Events worked - averaged 2-3 per day - # of routines - averaged 2-4 per event - everyone practiced parts

6. Do you feel your coaching staff is meeting your needs at home? - everyone was positive in this area if coached by Alia - Detroit team said yes in some areas - Teresa Bruce - no, but trying hard

7. How do you prepare yourself before competition? Mental imagery was the main consensus

Submitted By:

May 20, 1982 Fort Worth, Texas

Members in attendance:

Chairperson

Charter Members

Candace Feinberg

USGF RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS COMMITIEE MEETING MINUTES

- Andrea Schmid

- Norma Zabka - Monika Heilbut - Nora Hitzel

Guest - Kathy Brym (Explorer Olympics)

Regional Chairpersons - Marina Davidovitch - Gwen Hilliard - PaUi McCurry - Barbara Fester

State Chairpersons - Beverly Bruce (I) - Maureen Broderick (VI) - Cathy Harrelson (VII)


Minutes of the Rhythmic Gymnastics meetings of September 25 & 26, 1981 were unanimousty approved. Andrea Schmid informed us of the new procedure in regard to minutes. The Secretary will mail the minutes to all committee members and expect corrections within 2 weeks. No reply will signify approval. Then the Executive Committee of the USGF will receive the RGC minutes for approval, after which they will be published in the Technical Journal of the USGF.

Announcements

Sue Ammerman of the EC was appointed a member of the RGC. Andrea Schmid is RG-FIG representative and has been very active giving out highlights of the USGF/RG development and attending USGF Board meetings. We all received a copy of her report and also the Procedure for Coach and Gymnast selections for International events. We heard a brief report about the competitions this May in Bulgaria, Austria and France. The USGF was represented by Sue Soffe, Lydia Crabtree and Valerie Zimring; Coach Alia Svirskiy and judge Helena Greathouse. The Japanese Gymnastics Federation invited Andrea Schmid and Sue Soffe to the Brotherhood International Invitational Meet this June. Michelle Berube was selected to represent us at the Ennia Cup in Holland, this June. Mr. Counsil will select gymnasts to represent us at an Exhibition at the White House. We were reminded to give all camp and clinic information to our PR Chairperson, Gwen Hilliard.

The Tiger Company will outfit our National Team (12) , our National Junior Team (12), 5 coaches: Alia, Illena, Zina, Andrea, plus one emply slot.

Membership: We have had problems with accurate membership lists for rhythmic gymnastics, since applicants could only check off women or men. Cheryl Grace assured Andrea Schmid that there will be a check for RG as a third possibi lity for members on the new forms. These lists are important for elections and judges aSSignments. All WC members were permitted to vote in the past elections. In addition we must clear the question of reimbursements if a member checks for both rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics on her application. We encourage a strong membership drive, since the reimbursement wi ll be in exact proportion to membership.

State Chairperson Elections:

Andrea Schmid only received the election results of four regions. Each region should re-examine their voting method and send this procedure with your membership list (if you have one) , to Andrea Schmid.

Regional Accounts:

This matter is still being discussed by Nora Burlingham and Andrea Schmid. M. Heilbut made a modified master copy of the Artistic Gymnastics financial report forms suitable to RG needs.

Andrea Schmid will mail the forms to the RC's who then in turn will mail their financial reports to her by July 15. Thereafter there will be quarterly reports. Andrea Schmid wi ll prepare a summary for Nora Burlingham.

Explorer Olympics

A year ago, Kathy Brym was appOinted Coordinator for the Explorer Olympics. Kathy met last month with the organizers and reported that there will be no travel refunds to gymnasts, coaches or judges in this meet. Pepsico will pay room and board for the duration of the meet and transportation wi ll be provided from Denver to Fort Collins. Andrea Schmid commented on a lack of communication from Mr. Archimbaud and from Kathy during the year and said she would invite Kathy to our Saturday meeting for a more complete report in regard of actually interested coaches, judges, gymnasts. The organizers invited the top 20 competitors for July 13-15. For reasons related to the budget all planning should take place sooner. The gymnasts and judges who would like to partiCipate should be approved by the RGC.

Selection - Coach of the Year Award - Procedure:

J. Sanders as chairman of the coaches development committee was given this assignment last year. She did not prepare the procedure by which to nominate and to vote, therefore we wi ll act according to last year's vote: Coaches eligible for nomination as well as those who wish to vote

must be present at Nationals and must have a gymnast in the meet. A typed list of these coaches was prepared and a coaches meeting for voting purposes was arranged.

RG Authors:

Andrea Schmid, A. Hayman and N. Hitzel form a committee to organize contributions that should appear regularly, aside from meet reports. The latter have appeared promptly and were assigned to those who partiCipated in the National and International events. Authors are also encouraged to

send materials directly to the magazines.

USGF 1982 Congress Program

Appreciation was accorded to Gwen's PR work at last year's congress. 1982 will be at the Americana Hotel in Fort Worth.

A) Exhibition booth as last year would be very desirable. At this booth we should have a video

program going all day. M. Broderick promised to lend her tapes.

B) One participation session: BASIC work in rhythmiC gymnastics suggested instructors were Monika Heilbut, Marina Davidovitch and Roza Litvakova. Patty McCurry promised to bring eqUipment.

C) One more participation session: Advanced and new techniques in rhythmic gymnastics.

Suggested instructors: Ileana Vogelaar or Alia Svirskiy

D) One panel session organized by A. Schmid and N. Zabka including persons who were abroad - New Trends in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

E) Two closed RGC meetings


F) One business meeting for SC's and RC's chaired by Andrea Schmid. This meeting should last one hour and deal also with the calendar and development.

Meeting adjourned until Saturday May 21 , 1982.

Rhythmic Gymnastics Committee Meeting Minutes May 21,1982 Fort Worth , Texas

Members in attendance - same as May 20, 1982

National Championship 1983

The RGC has handled the bids from '73-81 and in 1982 USGF handled it, who wi ll approve bids in the future? Early planning is essential. As a date, the third weekend in May seems agreeable.

USGF News to publish the bidforms?

Qualification - The meet directors of State and Regional meets must send scores as well as list of qualifiers to the Meet Director of the National Championship. Include guests from other states or regions. Additionally send same lists to your own RC and to Andrea Schmid and Becky Riti.

Policy: Attend as a priority your own State and Regional Meet and compete as a guest on an optional basis in addition to those. It is optional to hand out certificates to qualifiers for Nationals.

The Qualifying score will remain: Juniors - 30.00 AA Seniors - 32.00 AA

Reported occurrences of two judges per event at qualifying meets may remain for the next season , provided the ratings are correct. All Judges in each region must attend a special training session. Only one region held a judge's clinic last year.

State Meets: At least one judge out of two must have a state rating (minimum), then the other one may have a lower rating. Regional Meets - The head judge must have as a minimum a regional

rating, the other a state rating.

Presently it is not practical to set a nationwide date for State or Regional Meets. But - No such meet two weeks prior to the National Championship. State Meets must not take place before

1/1/83.

Explorer Olympics - K. Brym reported that she has sufficient judges. Seniors placing 13th to 20th and Juniors 1 st to 12th at Nationals may attend. K. Brym will announce this to the gymnasts and coaches. She was also asked to write an article after the event. She should bring the information for the 1983 Explorer Olympics to the Congress so that we can plan early.

Rhythmic Gymnastics International Program Committee

July 28, 1982 - Nat'l Sports Festival, Indianapolis

Minutes

Present: Andrea B. Schmid , Chairperson; Barbara Fester; Alia Svirskiy ; and Norma B. Zabka. Excused: Candace Feinberg

Four Continents Competition - Dec. 1982 - New Zealand Andrea Schmid reported the following:

1. As yet, no sponsor is available. 2. The USGF office sent out letters soliciting funds last week. 3. In a meeting at this Sports Festival , Roger Counsil gave approval for four individuals to

attend this competition. These four individuals may be any combination of gymnasts,

coaches, and judges.

The above information will be given to the gymnasts at a meeting following the conclusion of competition at the Sports Festival. At the same time, gymnasts will be urged to seek sponsorships. However, sponsorship will not determine who will participate. No gymnast will be permitted to

compete unless the gymnasts ranked before her have been granted funds to attend. This is to avoid the possibility of a competitor buying her way into a team.

Due to financial problems, it may be necessary !or individual competitors to also compete as part

of the group competition. This is a great burden on individual competitors, but in the event funds are raised to send a minimum of seven , this requirement will permit our entry in both group and

individual competition. Therefore, all gymnasts should continue to practice the group routine. A. Schmid will speak to the possible group competitors immediately a~er their open meeting tomorrow.

On the basis of ranking at the Colorado Springs training camp, the group team will be selected in the following order in the event it will not be necessary to use individuals in the group team:

1. Valerie Zimring 10. Cara Walker 2. Michelle Berube 11. Ursula Wadkins 3. Selina Woolery 12. Kelly Zaloudek 4. Karla Newell 13. Karen Greenblatt

5. Stacy Oversier 14. Jeri Anderson

6. Amy Schatz 7. Karon Lyon 8. lisa Aaronson 9. Teresa Bruce

International Rhythmic Gymnastics Meet - Playboy Club, Atlantic City, N.J., Oct. 2-3, 1982

Participating countries: U.S.A. , Canada, Mexico, U.S.S.R. , Israel , Bulgaria (tentative approval), West Germany (tentative approval)

27

USGF BULLETIN

USGF ATHLETES' FOUNDATION I. INTRODUCTION

Because of the nature of the American System, athletes often times have opportunities to make appearances or perform in return for remuneration. Ina..c;mllch as the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) guidelines permit the payment of monies to an athlete through his or her National Federations, and only with certain definite guidelines, the purpose of this policy is to establish procedures for the payment of monies to an athlete.

II. THE FIG POSITION ON AMATEURISM: (FIG -Article 38)

A. Gymnasts entered for competitions by their respective affiliated federations must be amateurs according to the FIG rules and the relevant rules of the International Olympic Committee (Rule 26).

B. They may accept aid stated in the respective rules of the IOC, (Rule 26 i and ii) for a limited period according to the Technical Regulations of the FIG.

C. A competitor may accept prizes to a maximum value decided by the Executive Committee of the FIG.

D. Publicity restrictions are governed by special regulations of the FIG for the Olympic Games and World Championships. It is necessary to comply with the rules of the IOC (Rule 26).

E. Each gymnast taking part in a competitive or exhibition event for which he or she is paid immediately loses his or her amateur status. If he or she participates in a competition or other event with professional gymnasts, he or she wiIllikewise lose his or her amateur status.

III. THE AMATEUR RULES OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC By-laws to Rule 26):

28

A. A competitor may:

I. Be a physical education or sports teacher who gives elementary instruction.

2. Accept during the period of preparation and actual competition which shall be limited to the rules of each International Federation:

a. Assistance administered through his or her National Olympic Committee o r National Federation for: Costs of food and lodging; costs of transportation; pocket money to cover incidental expenses; the expenses for insurance coverage in respect to accidents, ill· nesses, personal property and disability ; the purchase of personal sports equipment and clothing; the cost of medical treatment, physiotherapy and authorized coaches.

b. Compensation - authorized by his or her National Olympic Committee or National Federation in case of necessity to cover financial loss resulting from his or her absence from work or basic occupation on account of preparation or participation in the Olympic Games and international sports com· petitions. In those circumstances, shall payment made under this provision not exceed the sum which a competitor would have earned in his or her work in the same periods. The compensation may be paid with the approval of the National Federations or the National Olympic Committee at their discretion.

B. A competitor must not:

I. Be or have ever been a professional athle te in any sport or have entered into a contract to that end prior to the official closure of the Olympic Games.

2. Have allowed his person, name, picture or sports performance to be used for advertising except when his or her International Federation, National Olympic Committee, or National Federation enters into a contract for sponsorship or equipment. All payments must be made to the International Federation, National Olympic Committee, or National Federation concerned and not the athlete.

3. Carry advertising material on his or her person or clothing in the Olympic Games, World or Continental Championships and Games under patronage of the International Olympic Committee other than trademarks on technical equipment or clothing as agreed by the International Olympic Committee with the International Federation.

4. Have acted as a professional coach or trainer in any sport.

IV UN ITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE'S POSITION ON AMATEURISM:

A. The United States Olympic Committee allows that the rules for amateurism for a National Governing Body are governed by the International Federation in that sport (FIG) and IOC. As a consequence, the above rules are the sole guidelines available to the United States Gymnastics Federation for determination of eligibility.

B. Pursuant to the dictates of the International Olympic Committee Rule 26 (see above), a competitor may receive legitimate training expenses so long as those expenses are governed by the National Governing Body. The activity of any cash flow is to be governed by the National Governing Body in order to protect the eligibility of the individual athlete. An athlete may not under any circumstance have allowed his or her person, name, or picture or sports performance to be used for advertising with one sole exception; that exception being in conjunction with the IOC, U.S. Olympic Committee, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation or the Federation of International Gymnastics, licensing and/or sponsorship arrangements that might exist.

C. If the athlete or the athlete's coach makes an independent arrangement allowing use of his or her sports performance, eligibility for amateur athletics is forfeited at that time.

D. It is for the aforementioned reasons that the establishment of the USGF Athletes' Foundation is necessary.

V. USGF ATHLETES' FOUNDATION

A. In order to come into compl iance with the dictates of the parent organizations (i.e. , the International Olympic Committee, the International Gymnastics Federation , the United States Olympic Committee), the United States Gymnastics Federation has established an Athletes ' Foundation to govern the financial activity surrounding monies generated by athletes through activities which have been approved by the United States Gymnastics Federation. Those activities may include, but not be limited to, exhibitions for which an honorarium is paid; use of athlete'S name, photograph or personal appearance to publicize a competition or exhibition; appearances on television talk shows, in movies, or other performances in stage shows for pay in a gymnastics context; fund raiSing drives for training funds on behalf of an athlete; and/or donations for training purposes by foundations , industries or philanthropic individuals to an athlete; or other similar sources of revenues.

B. Permissible Training Expenses:

Training expenses which are allowable for the athlete to withdraw from the USGF Athletes' Foundation include the following:

1. Full compensation for travel to training and to competition sites by train , air, car or other means of transportation.

2. Full reimbursement for accommodations during training and competition.

3. Pocket money and petty expenses related to participation in USGF-sanctioned and related events.

4. Compensation for loss of income during periods of training and competition. Payments must not exceed the sum which the competitor would have earned in the same period.

5. Social Security - including insurance also covering accident or illness in connection with training or competition.

6. Scholarships.

7. Gymnastics reiated coaching and membership fees.

8. Gymnastics related equipment and apparel.

9. The USGF Athletes' Foundation may reserve funds to secure a competitor'S education and future career after retite· ment from active amateur gymnastics competition. The gymnast has no legal claims to these funds which shall be dispensed only according to the judgment of the Executive Board to the USGF or their duly appointed fiduciary committee.

An audit of the USGF Athletes' Foundation will be conducted annually by an independent auditor in conjunction with the annual organizational audit. Information will be made available upon request to the International Olympic Committee, the International Gymnastics Federation or the United States Olympic Committee.

C. Procedures for Using the USGF Athletes' Foundation:

I. Upon being contacted about the potential for a relationship with a commercial concern which will yield remuneration to the athlete, the athlete or his parent or legal guardian should contact in writing the Executive Director of the United States Gymnastics Federation outlining, in as great a detail as possible the arrangement.

2. The Executive Director will acknowledge receipt of the letter and send a copy of this policy to the parent as additional guidelines for payments for monies for the USGF Athletes ' Foundation by the commercial entity.

3. When the athlete is in need of legitimate training expenses as outlined in Section IV B, the requests should be made in writing for the necessary desired funds . Funds can be withdrawn, either in advance of the purpose for which they are needed or as a reimbursement after the fact. In any case, original documentation of expenditures of those funds must be sent within 30 days of expenditure to the Director of Finance for the United States Gymnastics Federation as substantiation for legitimacy for the claims.

4. At the end of the athlete 'S career, a declaration from the athlete if 2 I years of age or older, or from the parent or legal guardian if younger than 2 I years of age, attesting to retirement from amateur athletics must be sent to the Executive Director's

reprinted from the Nov/Dec issue of USGF GYMNASTICS magazine continued on page 29


-)

)

USGF ATHLETES' FOUNDATION continued.

office. Upon receipt of the proclamation of retirement, the Executive Director w ill authorize the payment of the balance of any funds reo maining in the Athletes ' Foundation in the name of that athlete to be forwarded to the athlete.

D. Enforcement

I. A committee, drawn from the Board of Directors of the United States Gymnastics Federation, w ill be appointed to oversee the activi t)' of the USGF Athletes ' Foundation and compliance on the part of the athletes in the USGF.

2. If it has been determined that a vio lation of the eligibility statutes of the IOC, USOC, FIG or USGF has taken. place, the athle te will be noti· fied in writing and summoned to a hearing to review the circumstances surrounding the alleged violation. The athlete mal' be repre· sented by legal counsel according to the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

3. If it is found by the Executive Committee or their deSignated sub· committee that a violation has indeed occurred, a penalty will be assessed to the athlete ranging from suspension from competition to revocation of the right to compete as an amateur depending on the severity of the violation.

Minutes continued . ..

The USGF office wi ll confirm all of the above.

This competition will be team competition. Teams will consist of four members, with the three highest scores counting toward the team score. Only the U.S. will be permitted to enter two teams.

USGF has invited Mde. Rinaldi, FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Chairman, to serve as Meet Referee. Alia Svirskiy has been selected to serve as U.S. coach for Team I and lIeane Vogelaar has been selected as Team II U.S.

Team selection was previously decided to be based on the total scores from the 1982 National Championships and the National Sports Festival.

Sue Soffe has not been able to attend the National Sports Festival Competition due to an injury. An injury petition was received by this committee by her coach , Ilene Vogelaar. It was agreed that on the basis of Sue Soffe's placement at our National Championships, she will automatically be invited to be on the first team in Atlantic City.

As a result of th is deciSion, selection for individual competition at the Four Continents Championships will be based on the total score of National Championships plus the highest score from either the National Sports Festival or Atlantic City.

Respectfully submitted,

Norma B. Zabka

Present:

MEN'S PROGRAM COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL MEETING

May 28, 1982

Les Sasvary, Chairman Jay Whelan Abie Grossfeld Don Gutzler Bill Roetzheim

Mas Watanabe, Men's Program Director

Acting Secretary: Kathy Klepec (Secretary to Bill Roetzheim) Ed Burch , Fred Roethlisberger Not Participating:

The lengthy discussion took place concerning the gymnasts who have just been peti· tioned on to the 1982·83 team (Conner, Miller, Beach) as to where they should be placed (ranking) among the National team members. After much of discussion the committee decided to solicit the opinion from the qualifying gymnasts of the 1982 USA cham· pionships.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted, Fred Roethlisberger


Present:

Absent:

MEN'S PROGRAM COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL MEETING

July 27, 1982

Les Sasvary, Chairman

Fred Roethlisberger, Secretary and Senior Program Representative Ed Burch, Jr. Program Representative Tom Gardner, Jr. Program Representative Jay Whelan, Athlete Representative Mas Watanabe, National Program Director for Men

Bill Roetzheim, N.C.A.A. Rules Committee Representative Abie Grossfeld, Senior Program Representative

1. Personal changes at National Sports Festival: Juniors out with injury - Dan Hayden, Russell Lacy Replaced by Brad Bryan , Joel Tucker Senior gymnasts - as per June 4 & 5 minutes Coaches withdrawn - Paul Ziert Replaced by Hal Frey

2. Mas Watanabe reported on the Jr. National Championships and Training Camp which was shortened. The original decision to cancel the Junior Training Camp was made because of a shortage of cash flow and because the International Invitational in Ft. Worth only broke even financially. The decision to cancel was made only a few days before the J.O. Meet. This decision met with disappointment and resistance by the junior coaches and the Junior Program Board. This group discussed solutions to sponsoring the camp. Bruno Klause of International Gymnastics and Larry Moyer of the Parkettes both offered means of holding the camps. Eventually Bruno's offer to sponsor the camp for one week was accepted. Because of the shortness of the camp and loss of some key staff members because of the uncertainty of the camp, no testing was done for the Junior National Team and the present Jr. Team was decided solely by place in the J.O. Nationals. The top ten Jr. Elite, top ten Class I and top ten Class II are the Jr. National Team. As a result of this confusion and lack of following correct procedures, the U.S.G.F. has suffered a great deal of bad public relations. The Junior Olympic people are very upset with the way they were treated with regard to the running of this camp. The Senior Program people are equally upset with the indecision regarding the senior camp. With the improvement of the cash flow, several positive improvements have been made. The Senior Training Camp will be funded to some extent.

3. Roethlisberger moved that airfare be paid for the official participants in the Senior Training Camp August 14·21 , seconded by Whelan and passed unanimously.

4. Moved by Roethl isberger and seconded by Burch that boys who were on the Jr. National Team between December 1981 and July 1982 have their way paid to the test ing program at Colorado Springs in December of 1982. This is in addition to paying the way of the present team members. Passed unanimously.

5. Pacific Championships:

3 competitions - September 17, 18, 20

4 gymnasts, 3 scores

$25,000 expenses

Discussion took place regarding the priorities of this trip as it relates to other programs such as the training camps and the use of available funds. Moved by Gardner and seconded by Sasvary that the U.S.G.F. present a written budget for fiscal 1982·83 to the M.P.C. for use in establishing developmental programs and setting priorities of these programs. Passed unanimously.

Roethlisberger moved and Whelan seconded that the U.S. not go to Australia until assurance is given that the December Jr. Training Camp and the August Senior Training Camp will be fully funded. Passed unanimously.

6. Bart Conner accepted the AII·Champion Meet in Milan, Italy on December 4.

7. Team to Australia wi ll be asked in order as follows:

Phil Cahoy Roy Palassou Brian Meeker Steve Marino Matt Arnot

Tom Kennedy Matt Bispeil Joey Ray

Top four who accept wi ll go.

8. Swiss Cup, Zurich , November 20:

Top person going down the list used for the Australia trip. Use the first person who did not go to Australia who accepts. Personal coach.

9. Coca·Cola Invitational, London, December 11·12:

Top two gymnasts from the Australia list who do not go to Australia or Switzerland.

10. Roethlisberger moved that we deviate from using the National coaches for this developmental meet (Pacific Rim) since they have been used so extensively this year and others can more greatly benefit from this experience. Seconded by Sasvary, passed unanimously.

11. Moved by Sasvary and seconded by Whelan that Francis Allen be the coach to Australia. Passed unanimously.

12. DTB Cup, October 15·17:

Gardner moved that Grossfeld be the coach, seconded by Roethl isberger, passed unanimously.

Submitted for approval by Fred Roethlisberger July 29, 1982

29

USGF Materials at low cost to YOU for Resale to your Club or Organ ization

USGF PRINTED MATERIAL

NAME

Code of Points for Men CPM1

Code of Points for Women CPW2

Supplement - Code of Points for Women

USGF Jr. Olympic Age Group Compulsory Exercises - Men JOCE3

USGF Jr. Boys Age Group Compulsory Film JBCF7

USGF National Compulsory Routines for Women CRW4

USGF Rules and Policies and Elite Program Book for Women EPW5

Code of Points for Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics CPMRG8

Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics Resources

FIG Bulletin FB11

Gymnastics Checks GC12

Who 's Who in Gymnastics RS11

History of the Development of the USGF RS11

DESCRIPTION

Official FIG Code for Men . Includes A·B-C parts with illustrations and all rules . (1 981 -84) . For airmail include an additional $3.00.

Official FI G Code for Women. Includes figures for difficulty ratings . (1981-84) For airmail include an additional $3.00 .

Official FIG additions to the 1981-84 code .

NEW 2nd EDITION Complete routines with illustrations and judging deductions fo r Class I, II . III and IV. (1981-84) .

Official USGF Jr. Olympic Age Group Compulsories for Boys. Class I, II , III , and IV. (24 routines) performed by the Jr. National Team. Enclosed with each film a suggested score and written comment of each routine. 1981-84.

Off icial USGF-DGWS National Age Group Compulsory Routines . Includes text , illustrations , judging deductions and music charts for Class I, II , III , and IV. 1981-84.

All rules needed to conduct USGF competition. Prepared by USGF Women's Technical Committee . (1980-81) .

Official FIG Code of Points for MRG . Includes rules , difficulty and deduction tables. 1976 Edition .

MRG resources includes the listings of books, music, films , suppliers and equipment which are helpful for teaching and competition .

Official publication of FIG sent directly lrom Switzerland . 4 issues per year (order in Jan . , Feb ., Mar ., only)

Checks in light blue with male and female gymnasts shown on them . Mail a sample of your personal existing checks and all necessary information. Allow 2 months for delivery. ($6. 00 for 200; $11 .00 for 400; $16 .00 for 600)

1977 edition contains over 350 biographical sketches of people in gymnastics

Complete documented study, begins in the 30 's and traces the foundation of the USGF. Published 1971 .

USGF ACCESSORIES

NAME

USGF GarmetlSuit Bag GB2

USGF Gym Bag GB3

USGF Backpack BP4

USGF Flying Disc FD5

USGF Crest C7

USGF Decal 08

USGF Pin P·S9

USGF Pin P·G9

USGF Luggage Tag LT10

USGF Belt Buckle BB11

USGF Registered Keychain RK13

USGF Bookcover BC14

DESCRIPTION

(24" x 39") White vinyl travel bag with zipper front and USGF logo .

(11 " x 16Y2" x 6") Red, white and blue vinyl competition bag with zippered pockets on each side. Adjustable carrying strap , reinforced bottom and USGF logo, with USA on both ends .

(13" x 12") Heavy beige canvas backpack with blue trim and straps . Snap cover and blue USGF logo on front.

White plastic disc come with blue and red USGF logo .

(4" x 4") Navy blue crest with USG F logo and American flag sewn in red , white and blue .

Emblem shaped USGF logo is self adhesive backed decal.

Oval silver pin with USGF logo .

Emblem shaped gold pin with red . white and blue USGF logo .

Plastic luggage tag with plastic strap, USGF logo on front.

Oval silver belt buckle with USGF logo.

USGF logo on this silver oval shaped medallion . If keys are lost, finder may drop keys into nearest mailbox and keys will be delivered directly to USGF. USGF keeps your registration number on file and returns lost keys .

Red , white and blue bookcover with USGF logo . Will fit books 7" to 11 " in length .

USGF APPAREL

NAME DESCRIPTION

USGF Rain Poncho (34" x 40") White vinyl poncho wilh hood RP4 and USGF logo on the back. Comes in handy

plastic carrying pouch . Youth and adult sizes.

USGF Womans Cap WC5

A blue and white cap with USGF logo and adjustable size band . One size fits all.

USGF Hat H6

A blue and white hat with USGF logo and adjustable size band . Youth and adult sizes .

USGF Wristbands WB9

90% cotto ni l 0% elastic all-pu rpose , washable white wristbands with blue USGF logo .

USGF Tube Socks TS10

80% orlon/20% nylon white socks with blue stripes at the top and USGF logo. Ad ult or youth sizes.

USGF

BACK ISSUES Our entire 1981 catalog of back issues (6 issues) is available in this special package price of $6.00 (while supply lasts). We'll also include the Mar / April 1982 issue of USGF GYMNASTICS covering the 82 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS and as an added incentive we 'll throw in Vol. 3, No.2 of WORLD GYMNASTICS -FIG's official publication. Eight issues in all for only $6.00.

FOR $6.00 MORE

We'll send you 10 assorted back issues of USGF GYMNAS~/CS ('78-'80) to complete your gymnastics library with the nation's most comprehensive publication in the sport.

PROGRAMS Past programs ranging from the first USSR tour in 1975 to the more recent INTERNA TlONAL INVITATIONAL. Eight programs in all for the package price of $6.00.

\.\itl~i't\x (1 '"

( ll, \.\IJ' I U.\:-' l/ I/'~

USGF Bookstore Order Form APPAREL Please specify quantity and size S. M. L. Add S1.00 for postage and handling . ( 1 TS3 USGF Adult T-Shirts-blue ring-red ring ( 1 RP5 USGF Rain Poncho

( WC6 USGF Woman's Cap ( H7 USGF Hat ( WB9 USGF Wristband ( 1 TS10 USGF Tube Socks-adult

ACCESSORIES

COST QUANTITY TOTAL

$4 .95

Adult S5.00 Child 55.00

S2.50 5250 $1 .50 $3 .50

Please specify quantity and add Sl.00 fo r ~ostage and handling. ( 1 N1 USGF Notebook (Clipboard Folder) 4.00 ( 1 GB2 USGF Garment Bag $2 .25 ( 1 GB3 USGF Gym Bag $9 .95 ( 1 BP4 USGF Back Pack $3 .00 ( 1 FD5 USGF Flying Disc $.50 ( ) C7 USGF Crest $1 .25 ( 1 08 USGF Decal $.25 ( 1 P-S9 USGF Pin $1 .00 ( ) P-G9 USGF Pin $1.00 ( ) L TlO USGF Luggage Tag 2/$3 .00 ( 1 BB11 U5GF Belt Buckle $2.25

( 1 RK13 USGF Registered Keychain $1.50 ( 1 BC14 USGF Bookcover $.25 ea. 3 for $.50 8 for $1 .00

PRINTED MATERIAL Order separately from above materials to get book rate postage ( 1 CPM1 Code of Points for Men 512.50 ( 1 CPW2 Code of Points for Women 512.50 ( ) SWC2 Supplement of the Women 's FIG Code $1.50 ( 1 JOCE3 Jr. Olympic Age Group Compu lsory

Exercises for Men $5.00 CRW4 National Compu lsory Routines for Women $5 .00 EPW5 USGF Rules and Policies and Elite Program Book for Women $6.00 JBCF7 USGF Jr. Boys Age Group Compu lsory $35.00 Film plus Airmail postage $2 .00 RS11 Reference Set (2 booksl $2.00 History of the Development of the USGF (711 Who's Who in Gymnastics ('77)

1 FBll FIG Bulletin (4 issuesl $25.00 1 GC12 Gymnastics Checks 200 for $6 .00

400 for $1 1.00 600 for $16.00

S 13 USGF Suoolement $1.50 MRCE 15 Modern Rhythmic Compulsory Exercises 1980-84 $3 .50 CPMR 16 Code of Points for Modern Rhythmic MRR 17 Modern Rhythmic Resource MGCM18 Men's Program Guidelines and Coaching Manual

BACK ISSUES

1981 Back Issues /6 Issues + 2 10 Assorted Back Issue Package Program Package

$2 .50 5 .50

59.95

56.00 5600 S6.00

Book Rate Postage: 1-2 Books $1.25 /3-5 Books S2.50 /0ver 6 Books S3.00 Postage Airmail: 1-2 Books S3.00 /3-5Books S4.00 /0ver 6 Books add $1.00 per book to $3.00 rate.

Total Postage Amount

Total Item $ Amount

Total Amount Enclosed

Name' ____________________________________________ __

Address __________________________________________ _

City ______________________________________________ _

State, _________________________ Zip __________ _

Please send check or money orderto USGF, P.O . Box 7686, Fort Worth , Texas 76111

These special prices effective til Dec. 31 , 1982 - Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery No C.O.D. or bill me orders accepted

GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE USGF TECHNICAL JOURNAL

Purpose of the Publication :

The USGF Technical Journal is an educational publication which originates at the United States Gymnastics Federation (USGF). It is an off icia l publication. The USGF Technica l Journal is designed as an instrument of transferring the most current educationa l information in all aspects of educat ion and coaching which would be applicable to the multi -faceted sport of gymnastics - Ath letic Training, Growth and Motor Development, Behaviorial and Sports Psychology, Muscle Physiology, Nutrition, Biomechanics. Sports Medicine. etc. - as well as pertinent technical informat ion - Committee Meeting minutes and reports , su rvey evaluation . cha nges in rules and policies of compet ition, etc., to aid our professional members in the quest to keep up with changes effecting our constantly growing sport. Presently, the USGF Techn ical Journal is a benefit for the Professional Membership; its circulation is limited to the coaches, judges, medical personnel, and educators/ decision -makers invo lved in the sport.

Preparation of Articles for Submission:

Please fol low a uniform format of preparing articles for submission in order to provide the most efficient channel through the evaluation and review process. The following shou ld be included in submissions:

1. An original type copy, double spaced on 8V2 x 11 inch paper. 2. An abstract, on a separate page, a short summary of procedure and explanation of

study or article conten t (not more than 150 words). 3. A short biographical paragraph on a sepa rate page of the author or authors

accompanied by a sma ll photo (2% x 3%" ) of the author. 4 . References on a separate sheet double spaced in consecutive order, using Index

Medicine style (author 's name - last name first, name of book, city, publisher, yea r, page numbers) journal references, should follow same format (author, name of article, Journal name, volume, pages, yea r).

5. Duplicates of pictures and diagrams or figures (black and wh ite preferred) with sharp detail. Also include explanat ions (captions) of pictures and diagrams on a sepa rate sheet.

Photograph release· a letter of release from any identifiable subject in photos that are included in the articl e unless the face or eyes are obscurred. Letter should be signed by subject. parent or guardian .

6. Title page consisti ng of an informative title, author's name and complete institutional or professional address.

Guest editorial s should be submitted following the same format for submission as listed, w ith the possible exc lusion of numbers 2 and 4 of the above .

United States Gymnastics Federation P.o. Box 7686, Fort Worth, Texas 76111

Submission of Articles for Publication:

Written articles wi ll be accepted for review and possible publication in the following

procedure. First the ar ticles are sent to:

Managing Editor, Department of Publications USGF P.O. Box 7686 Fort Worth, TX 76111

Upon receipt of the article, to the USGF office, the research coord inator wil l review and forwa rd copies to the appropriate USGF Sports Advisory Committee members for review. On receiving their review, copies of the article will go to the Managing Editor and Executive Director for final approval for publication .

If it is necessa ry for the article to be edited or revised in order to improve the effectiveness of commun icat ion to a wide va riety - leve l of readers, the author will receive the edited article prior to publishing for their approval.

Al l correspondence will be addressed to the Author submitting the article, unless otherwise requested.

" If the article or parts of have been submitted and/ or published by another publication , a complete name and address of the Editor and Publication should accompany the article upon submission to the USGF in order to follow proper procedures of publishing and to receive approval to reproduce the article in the USGF publication .

Request for Reprints of Articles

These requests should be made directly to the author.

USGF GYMNASTICS MAGAZINE

The USGF GYMNASTICS magazine services the entire gymnastics community through USGF Professional, Gold Card or Athlete membership, or through magazine subscriptions - USGF GYMNASTICS, P.O. Box 7686, Fort Worth, Texas 76111 . USGF GYMNASTICS is designed to provide the athlete and all enthusiasts of the sport of gymnastics with the most current picture of national and international events, results and trends which effect them directly. Contributing articles and guest opinions are encouraged to help progressively define and guide the sport of gymnastics.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 2025 Fort Worth, Texas

usgf technical journal - december 1982

Documents

usgf technical

usgf general members

usgf congress evaluation

journal usgf scientific

usgf membership program

usgf athletes foundation

usgf womens committee

costly liability