Modern Gymnastics Musings: Classics Wrap-Up

The Good

SABRINA'S BACK!!!!!
Dang Maggie
The comebacks!
Christina came in second on floor and stayed on beam!!!!
Laurie is back
Gabby Perea had awesome bars and beam
Three juniors had standing fulls!
THE PATTERSON
Gabby's being consistent on beam?
Simone's new floor is wonderful
Kyla upgraded?!?!
And is doing a Chow (I've wanted her to do that for so long!!)
And a Bhardwaj
Bailie got a new floor
Texas Dreams in general took risks on floor
Ragan came in second!
Morgan Hurd has gorgeous bars! Such an improvement on last year!
Simone has one balance check on beam and that was her only big error anywhere?!
All the gymnasts on the podium scored over 60

The Bad

Jazzy has new floor music. Bah, loved the Jesolo music.
Laurie needs better variety in her bars composition
No Marissa Oakley!
Aly missed the Dos Santos punch front!
Kyla fell twice on bars- what???
CHRISTINA FELL ON BARS!!!! NO!!!!
Brenna fell on her Van Leeuwen
I was really excited for Alyssa Baumann's floor after podium training and then it was unremarkable in competition

The Ugly

Skinner still vaulting off one hand
Jordan Chiles WHY IS SHE DOING AN AMANAR?
What my sobbing will be when the Rio and Tokyo teams are announced THERE ARE TOO MANY AMAZING GYMNASTS!

Trends I don't understand that need to die

Elsa the Ice Queen leotards with light blue fabric and nude mesh: Laurie and Jazzy were preparing to be Gators with that leo and imitating some of their worst. This was only among the juniors- I was going to say Mykayla improved her fashion sense but then I remembered she turned up in metallic pepto pink.
Archery choreography: Bailie was the only one with it here but I've seen it elsewhere and it should not be a thing anymore.
Choreographed facial expressions in floor routines: It's especially bad when they're given to the most expressive and magnetic gymnasts (like, say, Laurie and SJS, maybe?). Expression is important, but I'm a firm believer that a) expression =/= facial expression and b) it should be natural! When it's choreographed, it's just cheesy.

I'm impressed!

Aria Brusch: This girl has power! She had some rough moments, but she's got a ton of potential! Her vault was beautiful and powerful. Aria has a standing full on beam! Her bars were my favorite, even though she flew off the mat on the dismount. She has a Ray+Pak combo and a DLO 1/1!

Gabby Perea: And another standing full here. Her beam work in general is way ahead in difficulty and I personally thought her E score on beam was a bit low. Her bars are also beautiful and her swing is sooooo smooth!

Morgan Hurd's bars: She went from not even having a high-low transition and just a 4.2 D score last year to a 5.8 D score this year! And her execution has improved! I seriously can't believe it! She was just so gorgeous.

Aly's Patterson: THAT PATTERSON! She stuck it. She landed it upright. Better than Carly's famous 2004 AA landing! Amazing.

New Amanars: In the senior session, that is. Chiles needs to stop that RIGHT NOW! Maggie's was easily better, but Aly didn't even do one in PT?!

Gabby Douglas's beam: NOT the same athlete we saw in 2012

Twin City Twisters: In general. So much good from this gym! Both the juniors caught my eye. Tori Tatum has some difficulty she needs to build, but she's got a lot of great work! Abby Paulson was the biggest surprise to me of the competition. She only has an FTY, which isn't too good since she turns senior next year, but everywhere else she was great! Her bars remind me a lot of Maggie's last year- not the cleanest, not the most difficult, but very workable. And she does a double arabian dismount! Her floor was one of my favorite from the juniors. Beam was definitely her biggest standout- even with the fall, she packed that routine full! And Maggie. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. What a crazy update on last year! And I love this new floor.

The podiums (/top 5)

Juniors

Jazzy- I was definitely a fan of her bars. The Maloney+Geinger was my favorite! And her releases don't all three come in a row! And again, I miss the Jesolo music. I was obsessed with that music! Nothing special about this new cut. But she busted out the tumbling! Both H elements in her routine. Impressive. She had the top beam, but nothing about it really stood out to me. she proved her national title was no fluke. As for next year, she looks to be heading for a utility player spot which, honestly, I don't see being used on the team.

Ragan- RAGAN DID IT!!! She landed on the podium! Her bars are still frustrating, and I think they should try to include more Stalder variation pirouettes.She definitely is going all-out with the difficulty. I don't know what's going to happen with that standing full- we know from Amy Chow that the pike full isn't going to be a thing, but it's not really a layout? If she tumbles in, maybe it could be more laid out. It took me a few watches to go for her floor, but now I love it! With the exception of the waving and whistling, they make it too chintzy. And I love the DLO!

Laurie- I was expecting to be more excited having Laurie back. I do like her beam choreography. I'd like to see her add another LOSO to her series, I think it would look beautiful. She has really good swing on the bars and is still the Stalder queen, but can she please change up the composition? Same thing as with Brenna in 2013. She changed hers! Oh, her floor. Those facial expressions! Stop them! Otherwise, such a great routine. And I love her combination front tumbling pass! I'm favoring her over Norah for the national title.

Seniors

Aly Raisman- Because there's too much to talk about in these top five just to do the podium. I still can't believe she busted out the Amanar without even training it! I think this is a good bars routine for Aly. She looks better than I remember from before. I love all the connections in her beam routine! She definitely is still steady Aly. And that Patterson!!! And ugh, her floor! The mount!! Such a ridiculous pass and she's just floating it. I'm still sad about that fall on the punch front out of the Dos Santos. I really like the DLO, and it's way better than the triple it's replacing. I just love the tumbling in this routine! Her double L spin was also amazing! Aly is just incredible and she's gunning hard for the Worlds team.

Bailie Key- Is it just me, or is her DTY not as good as when she was a junior? This was also not the Bailie I remembered on beam- what happened to the triple? It was such a pretty triple too! Definitely my favorite part of her beam was the super light leaps and jumps. That whip layout still is doing her no favors and I still want to see her change it to something different, but to no avail it seems. Smooth and steady though. Bars has somehow become Bailie's big event. She's so floaty! I especially love the Ricna+Pak. She had lovely execution. Her new floor is pretty controversial, but I love it! Even though I'm not for this whole archery choreography thing. I still think that wolf turn is butt ugly, but at least it isn't just randomly thrown in in this routine. Love this new DLO! Her tumbling is class. I don't see why everyone hates the slide so much? I think it's cool and different and suits the music and the whole style of the routine. I do wish she had a bit more of a statement ending. I'm becoming a little obsessed with Bailie's floor!

Maggie Nichols- The Amanar! She's really busting it all out. She's really made a huge improvement on bars. She's so much crisper now! I really like what she's doing with her new floor routine. I still think the choreography is a little mish-mashed, but she is really rocking it. The ending is definitely my favorite part. Her double-double is an amazing addition. Maggie has just blossomed so much in the last year.

Gabby Douglas- I'm a little underwhelmed by her DTY. She doesn't have the same explosion. However, her blocking technique seems to have improved. So that's good! Hers is another floor routine that's had controversy. I personally was not too excited about her Jesolo floor, and I think this is more up Gabby's alley. I really like the staccato parts, but I don't know about the rest of it. Her bars also leaves me underwhelmed- I don't get all that into a bunch of empty Stalder variations. Can they add some pirouettes in there? I'd love to see her Amy Chow it with that Endo on the low bar. And the piked Tkatchev+Pak! Love it! If they do something with all those Stalder variations on the low bar, I think this would be a cool routine. I still can't get over her beam! Not the same gymnast we saw in 2012! She's got so much more confidence now. And the standing full is still so upright! It's just beautiful. I really think it's sad that Gabby seems aware that haters have been doubting her comeback, and even sadder that she seems to feel the need to prove herself to them. Just another reminder that even the older gymnasts are still young. I think Gabby is going to have a harder time making Worlds than Aly, even if she keeps up her second place at Nationals. She's a great all arounder, but she doesn't have the standout events right now to push her to the forefront.

Simone Biles- What to say, really? Two sixteens, lowest score 15.1, 6.9 D score on floor, 62.4, just another day's work. Is it odd that the more she does the less I find to say? I love that she brought back the 2013 connections on bars. Her technique and form have really tightened up. Her flight is also getting really smoothed out. She seems to be prepping for another beam title. She's never had issues on the wolf turn, but that as the best she's done last night! The barani is fabulous and she strolls into it. I really am feeling this new choreography. My favorite is definitely the toe rise. I love the changes in levels and it really is one of the most artistic beam routines in the world right now. The new floor is out of this world! I honestly don't think it's quite there yet- she didn't seems to perform the whole thing all out and it felt a little empty, and the end was out of time with the music. I really liked the choreography before the double-double, though. I'll reserve judgement for Nationals. The Biles combination is easily my favorite pass of the routine. She's working her way to a near complete medal sweep at Worlds!

Favorite routines

Juniors