Saturday 28 April 2012
Airport Hilton Show
I just came back from the Hilton Hotel where I, along with Katherine Mcleod performed a spectacular show for a soccer awards banquet. We were up there for about 20 minutes and showed everyone our stuff. It was relatively difficult seeing how the jump height was a staggering 12 feet. Anyone who has bounced on a trampoline at a competitive level would understand how difficult this can be. Only a few chopped doubles and a long of garbage tricks. The crowed seemed pleased however and were taking videos and pictures through out the performance. Hope to keep doing more shows for this company in the future. If you are interested in any shows for any kind of gathering my contact information is on the blog. You can also leave a comment.
Thursday 19 April 2012
Elite Ontario Video
Hey Everyone I have posted my routines from Elite Ontario last weekend for you to see. Hope you enjoy.
Sunday 15 April 2012
Dealing With Competition Stress
I have been asked to write a little something for those who find it hard to compete the same way they train. Most of us tend to train very hard and feel very good for majority of our trainings. Many feel though that as soon as they step on the competition floor, the training confidence and abilities go out the window. As many of you know if you have seen me compete for the last few years before this blog I have been a rocky competitor and had a very low hit ratio for competitions. I have been asked how I have learned to deal with the stresses and what I do to have a good competition.
1) Go train at above ground trampolines: I have gone to the Burlington Gymnastics Club and trained with Ken Robertson, the trampoline coach of the club. He was generous enough to allow me to put his above ground trampolines to use once a week. I was very shaky the first few weeks but after a lot of drills and timing bounces my stability improved a lot as well as my strength because having to bounce on those trampolines made my legs work much harder then I am use to, which is a good thing of course. After awhile I found that I did not even notice I was on an above ground trampoline and that is when I knew it was working.
2) Improve jump Height: I have been working hard at improving my jump height and if you look at the results I have posted for "Elite Canada Championships" You can see I am way ahead of everyone else. Believe it or not I use to be below everyone about as much as I am above them now. Anyone who understand Time of Flight will understand how much of an improvement it is going from a compulsory of 14.9 to 16.8 in a year. All athletes naturally jump higher in training because they are more comfortable. If you can increase training jump height by timing bounces and constantly beating your time as well as strength conditioning then the bounces you do at a competition will inevitably be higher as well.
3) Breathing techniques: I was told by Gary Izacs from Gymnastics Mississauga that before a routine, while I wait for the judges, I should do some breathing control to slow heart rate. Increased heart rate= increased breathing rate=increased fatigue=increased nervousness=increased chance of not doing well. I was told to take a breath in fro 3 seconds, hold for 3, out for 3 and hold for three. Repeat as many times as possible. This also takes your mind of the surroundings while will most likely increase pressure. I have found that this technique works great for me. Maybe you need longer intervals, play with it. See what works for you.
4) State of Mind: When I compete I do not think of " What if I fall" ," what if I don't do great routine". I think " I cant wait to show everyone how hard I have been training and to prove myself" It pumps me up to show everyone what I can do. I would freak out if I thought about "what if?" I find this is one of the biggest factors that have helped me to feel better on above ground. Now I feel confident that I actually belong with some of the best of them and I feel that fuels my routine.
5) Being Prepared: This one is an obvious one and it's funny that not many really think about it. If you are doing routines in your sleep so to speak then at competition you will have no doubts. One small doubt such as " what if I don't land back full perfect so I can get into my rudy?" can have huge effects on the routine.The athlete tends to think solely on that one aspect and most likely will mess up on another part of the routine. You can not have any doubts in your routine. Of course this is easier said then done but athletes must remember that even though we are all trying to increase D.D there is a time and place for it. I use to change my routine every competition but now I have done the same routine every competition this season and it has been working great. Do routines until its as easy as walking.
6) Do routines Low: At competition it is very likely that the routine will not go perfect. Be prepared and train routines or at least part of routines from low heights so that you practice getting back to full height to finish the routine on a high note ( pun intended). I try my last 6 skills from 3 bounces. I do my last 8 skills from 6 bounces. I also do my first three skills ( the hardest in the routine) as many times in a row. It will be fair to say that with nerves, exhaustion etc that the second interval of the drill will be what you will compete at. If I were to do Triffis Pike, Half Triffis Tuck, Triffis Tuck x 2 or 3 then I would say I am getting the second interval of those three skills around the same as I compete them as the first skills.
7) Mock Meets: Dave has worked with me and timed/judged a routine every training for the last little while. I find it forces me to put everything into that one single routine. I actually feel the same shakyness in my legs that I get at competition. This is good because it means I am directly working on how I feel at competition. I even have gone as far as to give myself a warm up time, competition time and cool down time. I then have gone out to get food to cool off and relax. Then I try it again. I am practising competing just like at competition. Competition does not give you 2 hours to get 5 routines done and you pick your favourite. You have to learn to go at someone else's time. I also try routines with no more then one warm up. If I can jump out of my clothes and get through a full optional then I know I am ready for competition.
8) Bounce on Small Trampolines: I have been working at Halton Hills Gymnastics for some time now as many of you know and have been training on their 6x12 feet trampolines. These are smaller then regulation size. I can not afford to travel on those for fear of flying off. I have become really comfortable on them and have noticed I feel more comfortable at competition because I remember the routines I fought through at Halton Hills.
9) Do not watch the other competitors: I find if I watch the other competitors I will get nervous if they do well. More pressure obviously. If they do bad then it obviously gives me more confidence. I can not bank on their performance though, but I can bank on mine. So to keep it consistent I just visualize my routines and don't care what anyone else does until the day is over. At the end of the day it does not matter how you place, as long as you are improving then the medals will come one day.
10) Bring Spectators: I have had my friends come in to watch me bounce and even coach me a bit. I know this is not normally allowed but who cares. Sometimes a new face can stir up the nerves you will feel at competition. Try bringing friends and family that do not normally see you train and make it a mock meet.
11) Wear Competition Attire: I have tried wearing longs the week before I compete and I find it helps mimic exactly how I will feel in the air with the strange attire. Not many of us wear longs in training so it will probably benefit you to practice wearing them. They are really different from most shorts that I have ever seen.
12) Mimic Training With Competition: Make a competition fall in line with when you train on a regular day. My normal day is
- up at 8
- school
- work
- training
- home
I notice my training is usually late in the evening so I try to get up at different times when I compete to make my body feel like its the same time it is use to. If I compete at 2pm then I will get up at 6 and work out, go for a walk to wake up, then do school work, then have a nap then watch some tv or something then go compete. My body feels like it is 7pm so I will be more awake and alert.
13) Post Activation Potentiation: I have made an article specially related to this topic. Look it up for more detail. Simply, do a few hard sets at about 6 Rep Max. It will wake you upa nd prepare the muscle for work. Do this a few hours before competing for best results. Too early means you lose the effect. Too late means you can not recover in time. It has helped me at least and many scientific articles swear by it.
I hope these ideas help you and remember that this is what I do, it may not work for you. You may have to try something different. But go out and try something new at every competition until you find something that works for you. Who knows, maybe its as crazy as having an alcoholic beverage before you compete ( I wont mention names).
Thanks :)
1) Go train at above ground trampolines: I have gone to the Burlington Gymnastics Club and trained with Ken Robertson, the trampoline coach of the club. He was generous enough to allow me to put his above ground trampolines to use once a week. I was very shaky the first few weeks but after a lot of drills and timing bounces my stability improved a lot as well as my strength because having to bounce on those trampolines made my legs work much harder then I am use to, which is a good thing of course. After awhile I found that I did not even notice I was on an above ground trampoline and that is when I knew it was working.
2) Improve jump Height: I have been working hard at improving my jump height and if you look at the results I have posted for "Elite Canada Championships" You can see I am way ahead of everyone else. Believe it or not I use to be below everyone about as much as I am above them now. Anyone who understand Time of Flight will understand how much of an improvement it is going from a compulsory of 14.9 to 16.8 in a year. All athletes naturally jump higher in training because they are more comfortable. If you can increase training jump height by timing bounces and constantly beating your time as well as strength conditioning then the bounces you do at a competition will inevitably be higher as well.
3) Breathing techniques: I was told by Gary Izacs from Gymnastics Mississauga that before a routine, while I wait for the judges, I should do some breathing control to slow heart rate. Increased heart rate= increased breathing rate=increased fatigue=increased nervousness=increased chance of not doing well. I was told to take a breath in fro 3 seconds, hold for 3, out for 3 and hold for three. Repeat as many times as possible. This also takes your mind of the surroundings while will most likely increase pressure. I have found that this technique works great for me. Maybe you need longer intervals, play with it. See what works for you.
4) State of Mind: When I compete I do not think of " What if I fall" ," what if I don't do great routine". I think " I cant wait to show everyone how hard I have been training and to prove myself" It pumps me up to show everyone what I can do. I would freak out if I thought about "what if?" I find this is one of the biggest factors that have helped me to feel better on above ground. Now I feel confident that I actually belong with some of the best of them and I feel that fuels my routine.
5) Being Prepared: This one is an obvious one and it's funny that not many really think about it. If you are doing routines in your sleep so to speak then at competition you will have no doubts. One small doubt such as " what if I don't land back full perfect so I can get into my rudy?" can have huge effects on the routine.The athlete tends to think solely on that one aspect and most likely will mess up on another part of the routine. You can not have any doubts in your routine. Of course this is easier said then done but athletes must remember that even though we are all trying to increase D.D there is a time and place for it. I use to change my routine every competition but now I have done the same routine every competition this season and it has been working great. Do routines until its as easy as walking.
6) Do routines Low: At competition it is very likely that the routine will not go perfect. Be prepared and train routines or at least part of routines from low heights so that you practice getting back to full height to finish the routine on a high note ( pun intended). I try my last 6 skills from 3 bounces. I do my last 8 skills from 6 bounces. I also do my first three skills ( the hardest in the routine) as many times in a row. It will be fair to say that with nerves, exhaustion etc that the second interval of the drill will be what you will compete at. If I were to do Triffis Pike, Half Triffis Tuck, Triffis Tuck x 2 or 3 then I would say I am getting the second interval of those three skills around the same as I compete them as the first skills.
7) Mock Meets: Dave has worked with me and timed/judged a routine every training for the last little while. I find it forces me to put everything into that one single routine. I actually feel the same shakyness in my legs that I get at competition. This is good because it means I am directly working on how I feel at competition. I even have gone as far as to give myself a warm up time, competition time and cool down time. I then have gone out to get food to cool off and relax. Then I try it again. I am practising competing just like at competition. Competition does not give you 2 hours to get 5 routines done and you pick your favourite. You have to learn to go at someone else's time. I also try routines with no more then one warm up. If I can jump out of my clothes and get through a full optional then I know I am ready for competition.
8) Bounce on Small Trampolines: I have been working at Halton Hills Gymnastics for some time now as many of you know and have been training on their 6x12 feet trampolines. These are smaller then regulation size. I can not afford to travel on those for fear of flying off. I have become really comfortable on them and have noticed I feel more comfortable at competition because I remember the routines I fought through at Halton Hills.
9) Do not watch the other competitors: I find if I watch the other competitors I will get nervous if they do well. More pressure obviously. If they do bad then it obviously gives me more confidence. I can not bank on their performance though, but I can bank on mine. So to keep it consistent I just visualize my routines and don't care what anyone else does until the day is over. At the end of the day it does not matter how you place, as long as you are improving then the medals will come one day.
10) Bring Spectators: I have had my friends come in to watch me bounce and even coach me a bit. I know this is not normally allowed but who cares. Sometimes a new face can stir up the nerves you will feel at competition. Try bringing friends and family that do not normally see you train and make it a mock meet.
11) Wear Competition Attire: I have tried wearing longs the week before I compete and I find it helps mimic exactly how I will feel in the air with the strange attire. Not many of us wear longs in training so it will probably benefit you to practice wearing them. They are really different from most shorts that I have ever seen.
12) Mimic Training With Competition: Make a competition fall in line with when you train on a regular day. My normal day is
- up at 8
- school
- work
- training
- home
I notice my training is usually late in the evening so I try to get up at different times when I compete to make my body feel like its the same time it is use to. If I compete at 2pm then I will get up at 6 and work out, go for a walk to wake up, then do school work, then have a nap then watch some tv or something then go compete. My body feels like it is 7pm so I will be more awake and alert.
13) Post Activation Potentiation: I have made an article specially related to this topic. Look it up for more detail. Simply, do a few hard sets at about 6 Rep Max. It will wake you upa nd prepare the muscle for work. Do this a few hours before competing for best results. Too early means you lose the effect. Too late means you can not recover in time. It has helped me at least and many scientific articles swear by it.
I hope these ideas help you and remember that this is what I do, it may not work for you. You may have to try something different. But go out and try something new at every competition until you find something that works for you. Who knows, maybe its as crazy as having an alcoholic beverage before you compete ( I wont mention names).
Thanks :)
Elite Ontario Champion
Hello Everyone, Last weekend was the first ever Elite Canada Championships held in Burlington. Considering the state of the trampolines it was amazing that everyone did as well as they did. I was fortunate enough to come out on top by landing some solid routines. These days staying on is half the battle. I have to say I am more confident in my routines these days and have been very consistant and only had 2 bad routines out of 4 competitions. Much better then last year.
Here are the results:
http://www.ogf.com/documents/content_6738.pdf - scroll down to Mens Senior Category
Congrats to all other competitors,
thanks
Here are the results:
http://www.ogf.com/documents/content_6738.pdf - scroll down to Mens Senior Category
Congrats to all other competitors,
thanks
Saturday 7 April 2012
Elite Canada Results
Hello Everyone,
So I am back from Calgary from Elite Championships and overall had a great competition. I am feeling a lot more stable on the above ground trampolines and have been told by many judges that my jumping looks much better. I had a shaky compulsory but because I have been working on holding my lines I was still able to maintain 8.7 across the board. Not a great score but considering I completely messed up two or three skills that is good meaning that if I hadn't I would have gotten 9.1 across the board which surprisingly would have put me right beside Jason Burnett, the ex Olympic silver medallist from Beijing. Verified by Gabrielle ( one of the judges and a good friend). Either way mistakes are part of competing and the results show I did not do my best routine. I felt a lot better about my optional and scored 7.6 across the board which is a solid routine considering the top seniors are getting 7.4 to 8.1 on average. I was very close to beating Keegan Soehn from Calgary but he jumped higher then me. Still working on jump height. I was one of the only 4 men to break a score of 100 at the competition which granted me team score for world. I simply need to keep improving and landing routines to go to worlds.
As for Finals I had a good routine with a substitution but I rearranged the routine to still get my Degree of Difficulty needed for team canada which is a 16.0. I would have solidified a solid bronze medal however in a brief laps of judgement I did a full turn out of my last skill:(. I have all scores I need for this year already and the season has just started. Now I can relax and just work on form and improving bit by bit.
Here is the link to the prelims
http://www.issmembership.com/trampoline/airdrie/live/mtrampolineopenp/results.pdf
:)
So I am back from Calgary from Elite Championships and overall had a great competition. I am feeling a lot more stable on the above ground trampolines and have been told by many judges that my jumping looks much better. I had a shaky compulsory but because I have been working on holding my lines I was still able to maintain 8.7 across the board. Not a great score but considering I completely messed up two or three skills that is good meaning that if I hadn't I would have gotten 9.1 across the board which surprisingly would have put me right beside Jason Burnett, the ex Olympic silver medallist from Beijing. Verified by Gabrielle ( one of the judges and a good friend). Either way mistakes are part of competing and the results show I did not do my best routine. I felt a lot better about my optional and scored 7.6 across the board which is a solid routine considering the top seniors are getting 7.4 to 8.1 on average. I was very close to beating Keegan Soehn from Calgary but he jumped higher then me. Still working on jump height. I was one of the only 4 men to break a score of 100 at the competition which granted me team score for world. I simply need to keep improving and landing routines to go to worlds.
As for Finals I had a good routine with a substitution but I rearranged the routine to still get my Degree of Difficulty needed for team canada which is a 16.0. I would have solidified a solid bronze medal however in a brief laps of judgement I did a full turn out of my last skill:(. I have all scores I need for this year already and the season has just started. Now I can relax and just work on form and improving bit by bit.
Here is the link to the prelims
http://www.issmembership.com/trampoline/airdrie/live/mtrampolineopenp/results.pdf
:)
Thursday 5 April 2012
Some Interesting Physics
The average human sometimes wonders about their existence. Some questions arise such as, "why are we here" ?", "what was here before we were?", "What is the big bang?" These questions and many others have been attempted to be answered by physicists and quantum mechanics. For most of us, including myself, the theories presented by these great minds goes over our heads. I will try to sum up what the greatest minds think about our universe to this date in my own simplistic words.
So first lets answer the most obvious question; what is quantum mechanics? Simply it is the mathematical calculations that predict the governing laws of subatomic particles. Sub atomic particles are any particle that is found within an atom. Here is a simple hierarchy of the known subatomic and non-subatomic particles known to this date.
Universe- made of everything we know to exist. Said to be a collection of all matter known including us.
Galaxy - a collection of different stars, gas and dust that is held together by a force, ie. gravity
Solar system- a single star's planet system where planets circle around a star which exerts gravitational pull over the planets causing them to circle around the star
* side note* some solar systems revolve around two stars and are called binary systems
Moon systems- not really a system but I call it one for the sake of this article. the moon is in gravitational pull from the planet and revolves around it in a small orbit.
Planetary system- all life forms that exist on certain planets. currently scientists have found 100's of planets that lie in the "Habitable Zone", or the " Goldilock Zone". These planets are the exact distance away from a star which enables the planet to potentially have liquid water.
Matter- a generic term used to group all substances together that form the objects of our physical reality. ( or at least what we perceive to be this reality)
Molecules: a group of atoms held together by electromagnetic force
Atoms: have a core of a neutron and proton and a orbiting electron. You can picture it as a small version of a planetary system described above.
It gets a little complicated now:
Quarks: a group of particles: up, down, top, bottom, strange and charm.
Hadrons: a group of quarks held together by a electromagnetic force.
Baryons: a group of three quarks that make a particle ex. neutron and proton
Mesons: a interaction of one quark and it's anti quark
**** anti quark is a type of anti matter. all matter in the universe is said to have an anti particle which balances out the universe. talk about it later.
Leptons: a group of sub atomic particles. These include:
- electron, Tau and Muon
The Tau and Muon decay into electrons and that is why electrons are more stable then the other two and why its more common
Gauge Bosons ( force carriers): these particles are responsible for all the force in the universe. The most common one we all know is the photon which is the particle that makes up light. Light in some way powers many things in our world.
Gluons: are Bosons as well that hold quarks together. The farther you pull a quark apart the harder it resists, like an invisible elastic band is pulling them together.
W and Z bosons are also part of this family and are responsible for creating what is known as " weak Force"
Roughly that is the main points of sub atomic hierarchy. A few complicated particles are left out due to it's ambiguity and may be referenced later depending on how I feel when i get to the topic. ( I write as I think).
Why are there so many theories?
Well, science is always wrong. When ever a currently or previous theory fails to explain everything and or makes a huge contradiction then it is thrown out and a new one is put in place. Scientists are always remodelling their theories to try and answer all questions at once. Many believe that solving our universe is like making a map of the world. You can't make a map that depicts everything. You have to have many different maps that show different things that then when put together map the entire world. The only problem with this is that it shows potentially that not all laws are governed by the same force. A unified theory is the aim for scientists now and so far we have not found one.
Here are a few questions that I believe are interesting:
Why do we think the universe is expanding?
The hubble telescope took pictures of the same point in the universe and found that the stars were moving away from where we are. By extrapolating the results and going some careful calculations the scientist could determine that 13.7 billion years ago the edge of the universe was right in front of us. This is when it is theorized that the Big Bang happened.
What was before the big bang?
What does it matter? we have no way of knowing because the laws of our universe only happened when the big bang occurred so no matter how many Einsteins or Stephen Hawkings we had we can never determine the laws of the universe before the big bang. We can only deal with what we know exists now. Before the big bang anything could have happened so why waste time saying only one thing happened when we will never know.
Is reality real?
Yes and no. What we perceive to be the laws governing our existence is our reality. Of course we could be wrong about what we see but if we live our lives based on what we experience then we are not wrong to do so. If hypothetically we could go to a higher place in the universe where we can see the truth to everything then we go back to the world as most of us see it then we could say we are wrong. That's why no one is ever really wrong about anything. Everyone sees things differently so to fight over differences seems illogical. It's like punching an Egyptian in the face for believing in many gods if you only believe in one. Well you ahve no proof that you are right so relax. Let everyone experience life how they want to.
How was air Discovered?
Air was discovered by a old scientist who had a clepsydra ( kind of like a laydel) It had a sphere at the bottom with holes and a neck with an opening at the top. The scientist discovered that if he did not cover the hole at the top the laydel would fill up with water when submerged. If he covered the top then water would not enter. He reasoned that something invisible must be stopping the water from coming in the laydel. He called this invisible thing "air".
What is carbon and why is it so important?
Carbon is an element that has been noted to be the most important element for this universe. One explination is because it is the only element that has four Valance Electrons. Thus, it can form 4 chemical bonds where as other elements cannot.
So how is carbon created?
Carbon is created from imploding stars that have such high gravitational pull that it pulls the necessary particles together and stabilizes them before shooting them across the universe in an explosion.
Helium is formed by combining two hydrogen atoms
2 hydrogen atoms come together to create beryllium
beryllium plus another helium theoretically creates carbon
So why can't we simple create carbon molecules?
As soon as beryllium is created it decays almost instantly back into helium nucleus. This is not the case in a star because there is so much heat ( energy) that compresses the three helium molecules that it stabilizes before the explosion. The earth does not have the resources to make this kind of energy. $*^& out of Luck.
Are there multiverses?
Scientists believe so. They believe that there is something like 10^500 ( exponent of 500) ( 10 multiplied by itself 500 times) universes out there. The idea is that every single thing that happens in this universe is simply an odd of the grand total possibilities. Each universe is governed by different laws and have completly different realities. We are simply just one out of a bunch.
What is the use of a photon?
a photon is a particle of light. It has been shown to act as a wave and a particle at the same time. I am currently still trying to wrap my brain around that one. An experiment that shot photons at a screen through a hole showed that the photons lined up on the screen across from the hole. DUHHH well when introducing a second hole the experiment changed drastically. A wave like pattern emerged and showed that photons interfere with eachother either magnifying their energy ( the dark spot) or cancelling it out ( the light spot) .
What does a photon have to do with colour spectrum?
This as well is a complicated topic and without getting into things such as Plancks constant I will refer to the main points that apply to normal people that are not geniuses. Photons are emitted by stars and have a electromagnetic force attributed to them. Photons are said to oscillate at high speeds which creates heat. Depending on the wave length of a particular type of light ( made of photons) we can see different colours. Ex. Red is longer wavelength and indigo is a smaller wavelength. The difference between colours is simply the distance between wavelengths. X rays are so small we cant even see them. The fact that photons vibrate is a complex matter and involves numerous equations that I am too tired to get into. All you need to know for now is that this vibration is what creates heat and based on the amount of photons used the heat either is hotter or cooler. That is why there are different colours of hot.
OK I have to go compete so that will ahve to be the end. If there is any specific questions you would be interested in let me know. Other then that I will think about specifying to a particular question and go into as much detail as I think I know.
thanks
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