Elena Produnova - one of the most beautiful and powerful gymnasts ever
Ahead of today's Commonwealth Games WAG vault final, where India's Dipa Karmakar will attempt her handspring double front vault, I just wanted to take the opportunity to remind people that it IS possible to perform this risky skill safely and well.
Produnova cowboys this attempt but it is high, flighty and well landed. She was ahead of her time, launching into space off an old-style vaulting horse that did not offer the benefits of the new vaulting table.
Dipa Karmakar (see video below) has managed to qualify to event finals at the Commonwealth Games as a consequence of a difficult vault performed very poorly.
The second vault scored 14.4 with an E score of 7.4. The difficulty value of the Produnova is 7 - almost a mark higher than the Amanar vault that is otherwise considered to be the acme of women's vaulting achievement. Karmakar barely gets her feet on the ground first - and certainly doesn't have enough control to stop the forward rotation as she lands.
I wonder if she will do any better today?
Some people will call for the vault to be banned as unsafe, but I don't think that is the answer when we have evidence that it is possible to do it well. The problem is that gymnasts are encouraged to risk life and limb because they can achieve excessive scores with very poor technique. The judging just doesn't penalise fully for an unsafe attempt.
Deduct, judges, deduct.
A more general point on e scores from watching the AA final the other day; I think judges need to be given more freedom with e score deductions, specifically deductions for poor form. For example, a wobble or step can be .1, .3 or .5 depending on the size of the error, but form deductions are much more limited. A cowboyed tuck is only ever .1.
ReplyDeleteI think .1 should be for minor knee separation, .3 for knees wider than your shoulders. Similarly, knee bends should be looked at based on how bent (the angle) the knee is. Slightly soft knees should not be the same as something approaching a tuck shape. They are both poor form, but a gymnast who can only perform a score by chucking it and flailing around in the air should be punished more harshly that a gymnast who has not kept correct tension through the legs.
I hate poor form, which I think should actually be easier for gymnasts to avoid than a bounce on landing, given how springy floors are now.
After that semi rant, I actually enjoyed a lot of the work of the Malaysian gymnast in the AA final. It was by no means difficult, but she generally executed well, and she had a nice style and grace in her work.
On the vaulting issues; I think that if a gymnast if performing something that is dangerous and that they have no control over (so many attempts at the Prudunova spring to mind) their coach should face sanction. This would stop coaches pushing their athletes to throw skills that they are ill equipped to perform.
Having watched both the men and the women's vault finals, I think the code needs to adjusted to value form and execution more. Vault finals are becoming more and more of a messy chuck and hope affair, and even if nobody gets injured, it's still not very pleasant to watch.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Black performed two generally well executed vaults with stuck landings where she wasn't bent in half. Claudia Fragapane had greater difficulty, but her form is terrible and she barely holds her straight shape in her second vault.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the Indian gymnast's Prudunova, but unless she's consistently able to do it I think it's still dangerous.
I think if anyone in this quad could land this vault perfectly it would be Mustafina. She is one of few performing perfectly vertical high double front on floor. I think it will be possibly easier for her than others to stick it.
ReplyDeleteAlfi