what's with all the hand gestures on beam routines? (women's gymnastics)

[Anonymous]

I've never understood why some women gymnasts do a bunch of twirly things with their hands while on the balance beam. Is it just to fill time? Or maybe to give a few moments of a breather?
Similarly, on the floor, what's with the same hand and arm twirls at the corners of the mat? There can't be any point value in hand twirling, I would think.

[Anonymous]

I think it's dumb - it's the "dance" elements. They're supposed to be graceful and feminine, but really they just look ridiculous.

But it's why the russians train their gymnasts in ballet - scores are based on both athleticism AND grace. The grace part has gotten smaller and small over the years, but it hangs stupidly on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's dumb - it's the "dance" elements. They're supposed to be graceful and feminine, but really they just look ridiculous.

But it's why the russians train their gymnasts in ballet - scores are based on both athleticism AND grace. The grace part has gotten smaller and small over the years, but it hangs stupidly on.

You are obsessed with those Russian gymnasts!

[Anonymous]

new poster, I swear. I don't actually like the russian gymnasts. I prefer the strong, solid Americans.

Gymnastics is interesting to me because it so mirrors society in terms of not really knowing how to deal with women. As a sport, gymnasts hasn't really decided if it's about athleticism, or if it's still about women being lovely. And then there's this whole sexualized aspect to it (the skimpy uniforms) that's mixed with the keeping the "girls" young - the underdeveloped female bodies, the ponytails, calling them girls.

It's less obvious in the Olympics, at the highest caliber of sport. But I've been to a few meets at the collegiate level - some of the women look so awkward trying to do the required "dance" moves.

I think they really can't decide if it's about strength or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's dumb - it's the "dance" elements. They're supposed to be graceful and feminine, but really they just look ridiculous.

But it's why the russians train their gymnasts in ballet - scores are based on both athleticism AND grace. The grace part has gotten smaller and small over the years, but it hangs stupidly on.

You think grace is stupid? Ok, then.

Pure athleticism turns gymnastics into acrobatics, and that is a totally different sport.

[Anonymous]

The sport is artistic gymnastics, as distinguished from rhythmic gymnastics which is more like athletic dancing with props. The artistic part is getting smaller and smaller.

[Anonymous]

Do they have a men's version of this where judging is partially based on grace/dancing?

[Anonymous]

Most high level gymnasts have some ballet training. They move their arms in the corner on floor because you can't just stop moving without a deduction, and they want to breathe before their next tumbling pass.

[Anonymous]

The dance part of the beam and floor routines has been reduced to the bare minimum so that the gymnasts can get in enough skills to maximize their start value. It's really too bad, if you look back 20-30 years ago, you'll see difficult tumbling combined with interesting dance elements on both beam and floor.

[Anonymous]

Komova actually looked very graceful on the beam last night before she fell off...I guess that is what the hand movements are supposed to look like but they do look odd when most of them do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's dumb - it's the "dance" elements. They're supposed to be graceful and feminine, but really they just look ridiculous.

But it's why the russians train their gymnasts in ballet - scores are based on both athleticism AND grace. The grace part has gotten smaller and small over the years, but it hangs stupidly on.

You think grace is stupid? Ok, then.

Pure athleticism turns gymnastics into acrobatics, and that is a totally different sport.

Agreed. Go on Youtube and watch Nadia's olympic performances. There is something about them that is practically gone from the sport, and it's sad. Maybe it's due to the relative ease of developing strength and athleticism, or maybe it's because the artistic side is more subjective and therefore prone to abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dance part of the beam and floor routines has been reduced to the bare minimum so that the gymnasts can get in enough skills to maximize their start value. It's really too bad, if you look back 20-30 years ago, you'll see difficult tumbling combined with interesting dance elements on both beam and floor.

OP here. I agree with this - so, is this why I asked my question. Are the few elements we see an effort to be lyrical and artistic? Or just nonsense filler?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:new poster, I swear. I don't actually like the russian gymnasts. I prefer the strong, solid Americans.

Gymnastics is interesting to me because it so mirrors society in terms of not really knowing how to deal with women. As a sport, gymnasts hasn't really decided if it's about athleticism, or if it's still about women being lovely. And then there's this whole sexualized aspect to it (the skimpy uniforms) that's mixed with the keeping the "girls" young - the underdeveloped female bodies, the ponytails, calling them girls.

It's less obvious in the Olympics, at the highest caliber of sport. But I've been to a few meets at the collegiate level - some of the women look so awkward trying to do the required "dance" moves.

I think they really can't decide if it's about strength or not.

All uniforms for all sports are getting skimpier

[Anonymous]

I always wondered the same thing. It's not just the hand movements, it's the kicks and twirls and music. They are never on rhythm and the twirls loon really amateur when you compare to twirls an actual dancer might make, and it just makes the whole floor exercise look really awkward in my opinion. I used to really like them but now I find it really off putting.

[Anonymous]

I would say that Douglas, Weiber, and Raisman were graceless.
Only Mustafina combined grace with power.
The other graceful ones kept falling.