It is that time of year again!

Time for the Gymnastics Professionals to gather together at the Region 5 Congress. The 2016 Region 5 Congress is being held at the DeVos Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The weekend will be full of great presenters, informative presentations, lots of vendors and of course the Region 5 Banquet!

I will be blogging and videoing everyday, to give those in Region 5 a small sneak peak of the educational opportunities and experiences the Region 5 Coaches and Judges receive at the Region 5 Congress to make Region 5 the best Region in the entire country!

Some of the amazing presenters today (Friday) are Kittia Carpenter, Annie Heffernon, Connie Maloney, Tom Knoll, Todd Gardiner, Tammy Biggs, Michelle Kocan, Patti Kimora, Beth Gardner, David Tilley, Kim Riley, Kathie Klages, Eddie O’Connor, Andy Gillham, Linda Thornberg, Loree Galimore, James Parent, Jennifer O’Hara and Judy Dobransky.

Presentions will be made in Recreational Gymnastics, Business, Sports Science, Coaching and Techincal (Judging).

Lots of great updates on the JO Program! These updates can be found on the USA Gymnastics Website under Women’s JO Program.

Optional Floor/Beam Composition & Compulsory Beam

Tom Knoll “Mr. Gymnastics” gave a very interesting and informative presentation on Beam & Floor compositions to minimize deductions. “Level of Difficulty in the Routine…should be based on the ability of the gymnast” Each gymnast should be treated as a different person, not every gymnast HAS to do the same skills and have the same routine compositions. The decision of the composition of the routines should also be based on your philosophy or training plan. However, try not to have gymnasts perform skills or series that give them self doubt. He really stressed artistry, creativity an originality in routines. Tom also did Level 3-5 Balance Beam and introduced the concept of the 4 Ps (Push, Pinch, Pull, Press). “Straight is Great” was a major them in his beam session.

The Future of Level 7 Vault

The future of Level 7 vault was discussed by Tom Knoll & Annie Heffernon, this was a very informative session. Details and more information on the Future of Level 7 Vault will be available after the May 2017 meeting, with changed being implemented August 1st 2018. Look for those updates to be out on the USA Gymnastics Website in the summer of 2017.

Beam Series with Tammy Biggs

The Legendary Tammy Biggs stressed basics and starting every beam workout with a complex that stresses the basics. Tammy talked about the importance of body positions in all series skills and that she starts with Dismounts when working and moving onto series work. Tammy emphasized the leg and toe push off the beam in all her drills on the beam and off the beam, showing some great drills to achieve maximum execution. I thought Tammy’s complexes were very informative and look forward to implementing many of her ideas into my own workouts.

Stylization vs Text

Tom Knoll, the creator of the USA Gymnastics Compulsory Routines, broke down the routine from each compulsory level (3-5), he spoke about the parts that you can stylize vs the parts that MUST follow the text. It was so educational, that he went through each and every moment and told us exactly where each arm, toe and head focus was suppose to be. When learning and teaching these routines, we all read the text and think that we are doing it correctly, that is until the creator tells you that it is wrong. It was surely humbling to be corrected by the originator, I took a plethora of notes during this session.

Well that is all I have for Friday’s Congress Session recap. I was only able to attend so many sessions, and found all that I did attend very beneficial.

Stay tuned for pictures, updates, videos and of course the live stream of the Region 5 Banquet on Saturday!