University of Georgia Athletics
Do All Team Members Compete At The Elite Level?
September 11, 2007 | Gymnastics
Mike from Fort Lauderdale, FL asks.....
I think I've heard you say that since the members of the team are no longer competing at the elite level that they don't compete at the same difficulty level because they would be at greater risk of injury given the number of times a year that they are competing during the season, but I wanted to submit a suggestion for a new skill for Courtney Kupets anyway and just see what she thinks about it. With the ease that she performs a double arabian on floor, i was wondering if she has ever tried to do a 1.5 twisting double back on floor. It seems like she could start the skill off the tumbling mat like setting up for a double arabian (so 1/2 twist of the first flip), and then perform a tuck full on the second flip. I've never seen that done in any international or collegiate level competitions, and I think it would be easy for her and set her apart from the competition. Thanks, Mike.
Mike,
Thanks for your question about Courtney Kupets’ double Arabian. First let me say a little bit about elite vs. college gymnastics and the difficulty of the routines. The biggest difference is that the college routines don’t have to be packed with as much difficulty as the elite routines. Many college gymnasts are doing the same level of difficulty just not as many skills are in the routines. Courtney Kupets’ bar routine has 6 release moves in it, much like an international elite routine, much more than is necessary for college. She obviously can handle that much difficulty. Vault is where the biggest elite/college gap is. A Yurchenko layout full in college is worth a 10.0 start value. Elites have to develop more difficult vaults to be competitive. No real need to push the envelope in college. This year, in college, we’ve seen many more Yurchenko 1 twists and even a Yurchenko 2/1 or two as well. The athletes are there in college to handle more difficulty, but with limited training hours and competing about 15 weeks in a row there has to be some consideration for the injury factor.
Back to Courtney’s Arabian double. Your suggestion about an Arabian double full twist out, or back half in, full out, is an interesting idea. Her Arabian double is well done and easy for her so your suggestion might be a possibility for her. I’ll run it by her and see what her reaction is. It might get her wheels turning in her head about learning it next summer. Thanks for the great idea!
Suzanne
