Yang Wei's specialty

Since Yang Wei is the all around world champion, I was wondering which apparatus he was best in.

Anyone knows?

Rings I think.

Gregor said:

Rings I think.

Yeah, his rings was world class.... also, pretty odd for good all around gymnasts.

Most strong AAers are good at everything but rings like Nemov.

He was also pretty good at pb/ph (maybe medal if he did really well), and perhaps could get into EFs for floor if he hit.

Yes, Yang Wei was very strong on the still rings and had a very good

His high bar however was by far his weakest event. This was a problem not only for Yang Wei, but for nearly all of the Chinese Olympic Team. Yang Wei also performed a very poor high bar routine at the 2007 World Championships.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

what makes it hard to exceed at rings and pommel horse :?:

Rings you have a huge upper body and it can be hard to move on the pommel if you are 'too' buff. Also rings specialists will want as short arms as possible while pommel horse guys want as long arms as possible.

I've heard that it's because ring specialists are trained to hold very difficult static positions and that reduces the ability to perform the fast paced moves on the pommel horse.

Coach, does this apply also to athletes that are not that good? For example, if I train a lot on the rings, does it mean that I'm going to be worse at the pommel horse than if I trained the pommel alone?

Even if he is so strong that he can mantain more position than others on the rings, I dindnt like his work. He lacks precision in the planches, and he stole the medal from the italian guys at Olympics08 who did a great work.

Considered that, he is the best AA ever (but I prefer Nemov for his zen-like style)

irongymnast said:

I've heard that it's because ring specialists are trained to hold very difficult static positions and that reduces the ability to perform the fast paced moves on the pommel horse.

Coach, does this apply also to athletes that are not that good? For example, if I train a lot on the rings, does it mean that I'm going to be worse at the pommel horse than if I trained the pommel alone?

That is not true at all!!!!!

On pommel horse is important to have a good technique of circles and all progresions from that, good strength is not bad for pommels but actualy is good. Where is the biggest problem? The bigest problem is a giant back and giant arm muscles...

And as always "exception confirmes the rule" look for old pommel horse from Jordan Jovtchev on youtube!!

irongymnast said:

I've heard that it's because ring specialists are trained to hold very difficult static positions and that reduces the ability to perform the fast paced moves on the pommel horse.

Coach, does this apply also to athletes that are not that good? For example, if I train a lot on the rings, does it mean that I'm going to be worse at the pommel horse than if I trained the pommel alone?

He is one of the best on the rings, you should not look just static positions but swing technique too (where is in top 3 in the world). About medals...He should be third and Ukrainian guy (Olexander Vorobiov) should be second.

About pommel I explained in previous post.

Thanks for the clarification Gregor.

But still I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by "giant arm muscles". Is it because of the inherent weight or the lack of flexibility?

It could literally be the size of the muscles. For example, I have pretty big arms, and they do get in the way when trying to do the Manna, for example. I have to spread my hands further because I can only get my arms so close together before the muscles block my body from moving. That's a combination of a big back and big arms. It's not about weight, it's literally about the muscles getting in the way in specific circumstances.

Slizardmen is correct. Big arms and giant back can be in the way.

In single pommel work if your lats/arms get too big you have problems. Once I started working a lot of rings seriously, I kept missing my hands in direct stockli so I just quit working single pommel work. Single pommel work is pretty much required for any good pommel horse routine because of the flop combinations

Jovtchev, Yang Wei and a couple others are the very few exceptions. And that kid from the other thread posted on here a couple days ago

Makes sense, thanks everyone.

The issue is not necessarily the size of the muscles, but rather the lack of appropriate active flexibility to go with the muscle mass. Jotchev, despite his size, possesses perfect flexibility. A correctly designed training program ensures that ADVANCED ring strength elements are carefully balanced with the correct amount of joint preparation and active flexibility work.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Speaking of which, any idea when that book will be available?

Coach Sommer said:

The issue is not necessarily the size of the muscles, but rather the lack of appropriate active flexibility to go with the muscle mass. Jotchev, despite his size, possesses perfect flexibility. A correctly designed training program ensures that ADVANCED ring strength elements are carefully balanced with the correct amount of joint preparation and active flexibility work.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I thought that active flexibility was a must for rings specialists, how can they have a lack of it?