Tramp and Tumble

What do you mean that skill didn't count? "Interruption" explained

2009-10-01T06:34:00.001-05:00

For an artistic gymnast, nothing is more painful - physically or emotionally - than falling off an apparatus. Imagine how you feel when you watch that happen to an athlete; that doesn't even come close to how they feel. And then, for them to have to get back up, on the beam or the parallel bars, and continue the routine. Wow. Of course, if you ask a T&T athlete what they think about that, you might get a response along the lines of, "At least they get to get back up and keep going."

If you are new to T&T, especially if you are coming over from an artistic program, you may be wondering what in the world I'm talking about. This is a good time to introduce the concept of the "interruption".

INTERRUPTION: If, during a pass in any T&T event, an athlete fails to perform a skill, fails to properly perform the skill, or performs a skill that is not part of the required routine, that pass will be "interrupted" at that point and judging will cease for that pass.

In other words, if you "fall" during a T&T event you don't get to get back on and keep going. This is very important to know and keep in mind, especially for new parents, because there will come a time when you see a very low score for your athlete - after what you thought was a great routine - and you will wonder, "What ???"

We'll talk more about what constitutes an interruption when we discuss judging and scoring in a couple of weeks.

Key Concepts: Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing

2009-09-30T17:53:00.006-05:00

Three key terms that J.O. athletes and their parents learn about early on are Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing. You don't really have to worry about them this early in the competitive season, but they are all good things to be aware of as you prepare for the upcoming competitive season.

ELIGIBILITY: Commonly used to refer to the "regular" season meets that lead up to the State and Regional Championships. An athlete must compete in at least two "eligibility meets" in order to be eligible to compete at State or Regional Championships to attempt to qualify (see below) to compete at the National Championships. An athlete can compete at State/Regional if he hasn't met the eligibility requirement, but would not be able to qualify for Nationals no matter what score he receives.

QUALIFYING: In order to qualify to compete at the Junior Olympic National Championships, an athlete must achieve a qualifying score appropriate to event and level in at least one of the two qualification meets - State or Regional Championships. Without a qualifying score at one of these meets an athlete can't compete at Nationals, no matter how good they may have done at meets earlier in the year. For some athletes this is even more important than the competition for the State or Regional titles (though those are nice, too!). We'll talk more about qualifying and qualifying scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

MOBILIZING: Once an athlete has gone as far as she can at her current level, she will want to move on - or mobilize - to the next level. In order to mobilize, the athlete must achieve the mobilization score appropriate to the level and event. She must also be able to perform the appropriate "mobilization skills" for their level. We'll talk more about mobilizing and mobilizing scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

Who is this "Rudi" guy, and what in the world is a "fliffis"?

2009-09-27T13:57:00.004-05:00

Just like any sport - or any other new activity, for that matter - trampoline and tumbling has its own unique vocabulary and concepts. This week at the Tramp and Tumble Blog we will be talking about some of the basic concepts and terms that you will come across in a trampoline and tumbling program (such as the "rudi" and "fliffis" in the title of this post).

We have a pretty good sized list of terms and concepts that we're looking at discussing, but we want to make sure we answer the questions that you have. So, if there is a term or concept that you've come across that you don't understand and that you'd like us to discuss here, please drop us a quick note in the comments and ask away.

Things to know about the move from Artistic to Tramp and Tumble

2009-09-18T14:26:00.004-05:00

"New" athletes to a Trampoline and Tumbling program often come to the sport after several years in a men's or women's Artistic program. Inevitably, these athletes and their parents are surprised at how different - radically different - a J.O. trampoline and tumbling program is from an Artistic program. If you remember when I mentioned a couple of days ago that T&T only came to USAG 10 years ago, it may not be so surprising; but it is no less of a "shock".

I considered trying to put together a summary of all of the big differences to post here, but realized that a simple list probably wouldn't be overly useful. Instead, as the Parent's Guide series of articles continues I will try to highlight some of the key differences where you are most likely to notice them. If you read an article and have some insight into where there is a difference, please post a comment and share with us.

If you are anxious to find out more right now, head on over to the Tramp and Tumble Network and jump into the discuss "New here, trying to learn more", started by a parent making the jump. There are quite a few responses there that should answer some of your questions. It is also a great place to ask any specific questions that you may have.

An introduction to USAG Power Tumbling

2009-09-17T16:30:00.000-05:00

If you've seen an Artistic Gymnastics floor routine, then you are already familiar with the basics of Power Tumbling. Athletes perform skills on an elevated spring runway that gives them the ability to bounce high, sometimes higher than a basketball goal, as they demonstrate speed, strength and skill while executing a series of acrobatic maneuvers.

Instead of a square floor with multiple "tumbling passes" (and a sprinkling of "dance" moves for the women), though, Power Tumblers execute a single pass at a time on long, narrow floor ranging from 60' long for the lower levels to 85' for Level 10 (and Elite).

In general, the tumbling floors consist of a number of sections with fiberglass rods, such as the one pictured to the right, and covered with the floor material. These are commonly referred to as "rod floors" (for what I hope are obvious reasons).

For the exact details of trampoline specifications, check out this equipment spec sheet from the USAG website. For a history of how tumbling floors have evolved, check out Through The Years: How the Competitive Tumbling Floor Evolved by by Jim Bertz, the 1976 and 1978 Tumbling World Champion.

The number of skills, as well as the difficulty, that an athlete performs varies based on the level of the athlete, with the lower levels performing fewer, less difficult skills and the higher level athletes performing more skills and combination with a higher difficulty. A tumbling competition consists of two passes for athletes Levels 1-9, and three passes for Level 10. The athlete's final score is the total of all three passes.

As with trampoline and DMT, the athlete is judged on the quality of execution of each skill, and at the higher levels also receives points for difficulty of the routine. We'll cover the details of judging and scoring in later articles.

The following video gives you an idea of what a Level 10 tumbling pass looks like. This was the second pass in a Gold Medal winning performance at the 2009 J.O. National Championships:

Find more videos like this on The Tramp and Tumble Network

An introduction to USAG Double Mini Trampoline

2009-09-16T17:30:00.002-05:00

If you've never been involved with an organized trampoline program, chances are you've never seen a double-mini trampoline. Double mini, or "DMT" for short, is a relatively new sport that combines the horizontal run of tumbling with the vertical rebound of trampoline. (For those of you coming to T&T from diving, DMT is similar in concept to springboard diving, except you use a mat instead of water and try to land feet first instead of head first!)

The picture to the right shows a typical competition DMT; the inset shows the landing pad. For the exact details of trampoline specifications, check out this equipment spec sheet from the USAG website.

After a short run, the athlete jumps onto the inclined portion of the DMT (left side in the photo) to perform a rebounding trick onto the second part, immediately followed by a dismount element onto a landing mat. A DMT competition consists of each athlete performing 2 "passes", with the final score being the total of the score from each pass.

As with trampoline, the athlete is judged on the quality of execution of each skill, and at the higher levels also receives points for difficulty of the routine. We'll cover the details of judging and scoring in later articles.

The following video gives you an idea of what a mid-level Jr. Olympic DMT routine looks like. This was the second pass in a Silver Medal winning Level 7 performance at the 2009 J.O. National Championships:

An introduction to USAG Trampoline

2009-09-15T17:09:00.001-05:00

Even if you've never been involved with an organized trampoline program, chances are you've seen - and maybe even bounced on - trampolines of the backyard variety. These are usually round, about 12-14 feet in diameter, and will likely have some sort of protective enclosure around them. Don't worry, these are not the trampolines that your athletes will be using as they train and compete with USAG.

Trampolines used for competition are 6' x 12' rectangles with substantial safety padding on the "end decks" and around the springs. Set up instruction also call for pads along the sides, and spotters are always used when athletes are training or performing skills.

The picture to the right shows a typical competition trampoline. For the exact details of trampoline specifications, check out this equipment spec sheet from the USAG website.

The trampoline event in competition is very straightforward: after a number of "warm-up" bounces, each athlete will perform a set of 10 consecutive skills and/or combinations, with no "extra" bounces in between skills/combinations, followed by a final bounce and a "landing". The athlete is judged on the quality of execution of each skill, and at the higher levels also receives points for difficulty of the routine. We'll cover the details of judging and scoring in later articles.

To get an idea of what a trampoline routine looks like, take a look at the video below. This is the Gold Medal winning, Level 8 Boys (age 13-14) routine at the 2007 National Championships. [Feel free to skip the award ceremony at the end :-]

At Level 10, the highest Jr. Olympic level, athletes can also choose to "team up" and compete in Synchronized Trampoline. These athletes will perform the same Level 10 routines they perform as individuals, but in addition to the execution and difficulty scores they will also receive a "synchronization" score. Again, we'll cover the details of the judging and scoring later.

Maybe even more important than the quality of the equipment that athletes train on is the fact that they will always be supervised while bouncing by safety certified coaching staff. This is an important thing to know up front, since many parents I've talked to about Ian's participation inevitably ask the question, "Isn't that dangerous?"

Unfortunately, backyard trampolines have given the sport of trampoline a bad name. Fortunately, USAG coaches are here to give it back its good name.

USAG Jr. Olympic Program (and a brief history of T&T)

2009-09-14T17:45:00.002-05:00

The USAG National Junior Olympic (J.O.) Program is regulated by the Trampoline & Tumbling J. O. Program Committee (TJOPC). It is administered through the Regional and State Chairs. It consists of Levels 1 through 10. This is an integrated program designed to give a structured plan for training a gymnast from the day he/she enters the gym through Level 10 competition.[1]

Though the sports of trampoline and tumbling have been around for quite a while, the Trampoline and Tumbling program is a relative newcomer to USA Gymnastics, added in 1999. Keep this in mind as you learn more about the sport and the program, especially if you are coming to T&T from a different gymnastics discipline.

A Brief History of Trampoline & Tumbling [2]

Trampoline and tumbling can be traced to archeological drawings in ancient China, Egypt and Persia. Over the years a number of methods have been devised to allow man to gain time in the air and perform a variety of skills. The trampoline is one of these methods.

Trampoline was not actually a competitive event until after its invention by an American, George Nissen, as a portable unit in 1936. From 1947-69, trampoline was included as an event in gymnastics competitions by both the AAU and NCAA. {The AAU still includes a T&T program, while the NCAA does not.} The first Trampoline World Championships was in 1964, and trampoline was first recognized as a sport in its own right in the United States in 1967. Trampoline made its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Power tumbling, first performed on simple mats, has had U.S. National Championships dating back to 1886. A number of different surfaces have been used for power tumbling, including mats, ski floors, spring floors and today’s fiber-glass rod floors, invented by Randy Mulkey.

Double mini-trampoline competition was added in 1978. The first double mini-trampoline began as two individual mini-tramps, separated by a small table covered by a mat. Later, a one-piece unit was developed by Bob Bollinger and is used today as the official equipment for that event.

- - -- --- -----
[1] Junior Olympics >> Program Overview
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/tt/pages/overview_jo.php

[2] Gymnastics 101 >> History
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/tt/history/history.php

A parent's guide to USAG Jr. Olympic Tramp and Tumble

2009-09-13T21:22:00.012-05:00

Giving some thought to the new direction we've established for Tramp and Tumble, we realized that what we really have in mind is basically a guide - unofficial, of course - to the USAG J.O. T&T program. And for the most part this guide would be of most use for parents, both those new to the sport and those that have been around for awhile.

The mind map below gives an idea of some of the questions that you may have during your first year (or so) in the sport. We'll be using this as a guide over the coming weeks (months) to create your unofficial parent's guide to the USAG Jr. Olympic Trampoline and Tumbling Program. (Click on the image below to get a full size version.)

If you have a question about something that isn't included above, just let us know and we'll add it to the list. Or, pop on over to the Tramp and Tumble Network and ask your question to the great group we have over there.

UPDATE: I corrected the link to the mind map to point to the full size, high resolution image suitable for better viewing, printing, etc.