USGA State Clinic '09

This weekend I got to go to my first gymnastics clinic at Bounce in Hartland, Michigan. The first day we did a good long warm up, then rotated through each event for evaluation. At the end we had some time for open gym. They have five trampolines in a row at floor level and it was a blast to bounce from one to another. They also had a really cool bar pit where you swing below floor level on the high bar. This is so coaches can spot above the bar more easily. We don't have one at GTC. The next day, Sunday we came back and were split into new groups depending on our evaluation score, I was with a bunch of guys from my old team. We went to eight different stations working with a different coach at each one: Strength, Flexibility, High Bar, Parallel Bars, Rings, Floor, Vault, and Pommel Horse. If we had extra time before changing they had us do something fun, we got to do a cool game were you run to the front of the boat, back of the boat, shark attack, captain's coming, trees in the breeze, jump over board and stuff like that. It was funny. I worked really hard and when I got home the second night my abs were really sore. Hope I can still practice ok tonight at my regular workout.

P-Bar Dismount Level 4

This video shows the first dismount you learn for Level 4. It's pretty simple, I'm working on getting up to handstand and I need to make sure to have a solid landing.

State Meet

Yesterday I went down to Lake Orion with Mom to check out the Junior Team competing at the boys' state meet. It was at Lake Orion High School Field House which was awesome! We got there right as the first rotation was starting, I stayed up on the spectator level with Mom and watched but then when they went over to the other side to warm-up for the next event I went downstairs to say 'hi' to the guys, coach Curtis and coach Brandon. Everyone was showing really well, a lot of 14 and 13 scores which is good. Mom bought a Shout Out for me: I put down "Shout out to the GTC Junior Team, Ethan Parton says Rock On and coach Brandon is the best!" Since it is not as exciting being at a meet without competing we left after the fourth rotation to go do some other stuff for the day. Boys compete in 6 different events: Floor, Vault, Parallel Bars, Rings, High Bar, and Pommel Horse.

Back Handspring Drills

Junior teamers work on back handsprings at almost every practice. I am on the back cheese mat. They call them cheese mats because they are cut in a chunky triangle like a piece of cheese. Watch at the end of the video when I haul off two in a row!!

Pommel Horse Preparation

If you ever wondered how the boys learn to do all those amazing leg circles and cuts on the pommel horse, let me tell you it is quite a process. First you build up strength and coordination by doing bucket circles.

From there we start working on the mushroom to make a full circle, then add on from there. Sometimes funny things can happen when you're trying to learn to circle and a lot of guys have trouble with spinning on their butt instead of keeping the body in motion and the weight on your hands.

And finally one day it all comes together! I just got two good circles going this week! For Level 4 pommel horse you need to show the judge 3 full circles without stopping in between if you want to earn full credit for the skill. So I still have some work to do! For every 10 circles in a row you can do Coach Brandon will buy you a soda. The record for my team is 23! That guy is a few years older than me though.

Under Construction

Hello! Thanks for stopping by, this blog is just getting started but be sure to check back for updates on Ethan's training and competitions.