The naturally talented Gabby Douglas is moving to... Iowa. Gabby will be joining Shawn Johnson in training, which officially makes Chow's an 'A' Gym. Martha and Kathy Kelly wield a great deal of influence over gym changes and this officially elevates Chow's status as a coach. Gabby is naturally talented on all events. Given her uneven bars prowess, it was thought that she might go somewhere renowned for their bar work. This will certainly put Chow's coaching skills on display. It is also the first time that Shawn Johnson has trained with another athlete on her level. Chow has one other elite who would be lucky to set the bars for Shawn.
Why don't you give Iowa a try?
Thoughts?
bad move... hill's woulda been better.
ReplyDeletehowever...
kytra ain't on no world team, IS she? no.
Good point about Kytra Hunter, Mister.
ReplyDeleteRe Douglas's bar talent and Chow's bar coaching prowess, I always got the sense that Shawn Johnson could have been capable of a lot more on bars in 2008, but that she was just never pushed. I seem to remember some pre-2008 nationals footage of SJ learning tkatchevs with Chow in a spotting belt. Mostly notable because I remember being pretty stunned that she didn't already know how to do one.
I think Hill's would've been a great move also. Aside from Kytra, Hill's has a record for great UB elites. Woga has too many gymnasts, and at Hill's, Gabby would be the focus, with Kytra going off to NCAA.
ReplyDeleteI suspect this move has something to do with Shawn, since having a really good elite will keep Shawn motivated. For me the jury's still out on whether Chow is the real deal or just another Nunno who got lucky. I'm not impressed with Keely McNeer but that might be her fault more than Chow's.
ReplyDeleteAnon- Shawn said in interviews that thachevs were a skill she could never get the hang of when she was coming up in the sport, she'd always tuck them or something. In any case Shawn's bars weren't bad but they relied a lot on her release skills and dismount for difficulty. Gabby needs coaching to work on her execution on bars (she can do stalders but they are mostly muscled and her pak kind of scary) and build up more difficulty.
I think that if Kelli was as motivated as she was in previous Quads then yes but the last 6 years or so Kelli's been wanting to retire and I think it shows in how Corrie and Kytra were coached and handled. Kelli's at least the second best bar coach in the country but she hasn't been able to create a great bar worker since Kupets and the US badly needs them, now more than ever.
A coach is only as good as the talent that walks in the gym. I'm sure Chow is a fine coach.
ReplyDeleteAs long as Gabby is happy, this is a great move for her, and Shawn will be motivated to have a training partner by her side. I tend to doubt Kelli Hill wants anymore elites anyway.
Kelli Hill is going to retire?! Wow. That would be a big loss. I was wondering why she doesn't seem to have many up and coming stars lately...maybe she's just burned out.
ReplyDeleteKelli Hill's no spring chicken anymore. She's been around a long time, but yes, it would be a little surprising to see her go for good. She's tried to retire for years and her love of the sport kept bringing her back.
ReplyDeleteMissJ-good points! I hadn't thought about how motivated Kelli had been in recent years, but I have a feeling Kupets' last injury (that kept her from Beijing) was sort of it for Kelli. She loves the return story. I also think Kelli's probably sick of the B.S., too.
ReplyDeleteIf Martha & Co. knew what was good for them, they should have been getting Kelli to work Kytra's dance elements the past year. That's probably the only reason they didn't take her. The bitch can tumble.
I noticed that Gabby has an uncanny rhythm/balance on BB that reminds me of Carly... in a good way. Very light and floaty.
Chow seems to be a great coach. His "work" has only been displayed with one athlete, who isn't naturally talented on bars. And he still managed to coach Shawn to having nice form and execution. I'm sure he knows what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteBreathe a sigh of relief she's not going to Mary Lee Tracy's world of crazy.
I didn't realize an injury kept Kupets out of Beijing -- I thought she just decided it was too much work to keep up with NCAA and Elite.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I also remember reading something about Kupets deciding that her Georgia team was more important than another Olympics.
ReplyDeleteKupets says she never officially announced she was returning to elite, but most people suspected she was making a run at Beijing when she changed her NCAA beam routine and added a heap of unnecessary difficulty. Not long after she had that last injury to her achilles so never got there.
ReplyDeleteRe: Kytra Hunter - I'm sure I read that Marta had been telling Kytra for ages to stop working bars and fix her dance and form on beam but Kytra chose not to.
When does a gymnast get to determine the skills they want or do not want to work on?
ReplyDelete