It’s time for the 22nd edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! We apologize if we haven’t gotten to your question yet, but we are trying to answer them in order. Something you want to know? Ask us anonymously by going through the contact form at the bottom of the page!

What is the difficulty value of a straddled pak salto? Why does no one do them?

A straddled pak salto, first performed by Amy Chow at World Championships in 1994, has a difficulty rating of C whereas the pak salto in the stretched position is a D. While I’m not entirely sure why no one does them, my guess is that a pak in the straddle position is just as difficult to learn as a pak in the layout position, and you can teach a pak without teaching a straddle pak first and then transitioning…so why teach a straddle pak when you can just teach the pak and get that extra tenth in difficulty? Any coaches want to weigh in on this?

Did you see Ragan Smith’s standing pike full on beam? It looks so cool. Are there any other gymnast who does or did that?

As you cannot truly twist in the pike position, Ragan actually performs a laid out full that she pikes down on the landing. If you watch the video, you can see that she takes off with a completely open hip angle, and then only pikes as she prepares to land. It is really cool, despite the form errors on the landing (which I’m sure would improve with practice), especially by someone at such a young age.

What are your thoughts about gymnasts verbally committing to schools at like, 13-14 years old? I know it’s only verbal/nothing is necessarily set in stone but it just seems SO DAMN YOUNG. Are all these verbally committed gymnasts generally offered full or partial scholarships? I’m not from the US but appreciate college is super expensive there – is the possibility of securing a scholarship more incentive than finding a school that is a better fit or is stronger academically/more prestigious?

Yes, 13-14 is really young to commit to college. Most kids that age have no idea what they want to do or where they want to be in order to make that decision, and really, anything can happen in the next 4-5 years. Typically, you’ll only see elites commit that early because I think coaches want to be able to nab them before any other team can. They do commit under the premise of a full scholarship. But NCAA rules state that they cannot sign an official letter of intent until they are seniors in high school.

Has Kyla committed to a college? I know that she is a senior, but she is going to try for 2016, right?

The last we heard, Stanford is number one on Kyla’s list, but she has to be academically accepted to the school before she can commit as an athlete. But she still wants to try for 2016, and if she is accepted to Stanford, will likely defer until after the Olympic Games in Rio.

How well do you think Bondareva will do in her debut next year? I saw you mention her in your “cat and mouse” post. It seems she’s stagnated a bit.

I personally love her, even though I agree that she’s not really on a trajectory that make her one of the top choices as a senior. She’d be lucky to make a Worlds team if she continues competing at her current level, but I mean, Polina Fedorova made it this year and I didn’t expect that to happen a year ago either! So you never know. I love that her execution is pretty much perfect always when she’s on her game, which could be something the Russians covet, as they’ve had problems with consistency this year, but I don’t think her clean routines will matter much with her difficulty at such a low point. I definitely think she needs to upgrade her butt off as she transitions to the senior level, and would love to see her make it happen on beam and floor. I don’t know if this will happen or if she’s already reached her peak in terms of what she’s able to do, but she’s definitely one I’m rooting for in terms of standing out next year.

This may be a dumb question, but why would a gymnast end with a double pike on floor as opposed to a double tuck when both are D elements (particularly because most look winded by the end of the routine)? Overall impression?

It could be aesthetics, or it could be because they genuinely think double pikes are easier. Some gymnasts have an easier time rotating pikes because the act of lifting your feet over your head as opposed to tucking to your chest helps to initiate and facilitate rotation.

Did you see the Mo’ne Davis commercial during the World Series? Turns out she can keep her NCAA eligibility. Why do you think she can keep her eligibility but Jordyn can’t get hers?

It’s hard to say without knowing the circumstances of Mo’ne Davis’ commercial deal (and yes, I did see it, and I love that kid!). My understanding is that the NCAA made a ruling specifically for this case and allowed her to accept money because, and I quote, there are “historically limited opportunities for women to participate in professional baseball.” Sounds a lot like gymnastics, doesn’t it? You’d think they’d extend that same narrow extension of the rules to gymnasts like Jordyn Wieber or Rebecca Bross, both of whom accepted money at young ages because the opportunities to earn money as a professional gymnast are slim to none. I think a boy in Davis’ shoes probably wouldn’t be able to accept money because he can go on to compete at the professional level after college and earn a living while doing it, while the ruling committee at NCAA saw that this is probably Davis’ only shot to truly capitalize on her talent, so I agree 100% with their decision to allow her to accept payment. I just wish Wieber and other gymnasts forced to make financial decisions about their careers before they’re age-eligible to compete at the NCAA level were given the same consideration.

Can you explain if Vanessa Ferrari’s tuck back on her 3rd pass in the World all-around final is supposed to be rebounded? She has been doing this for a few years, I think, and so did Ponor in London on her second floor pass. Is this actually given the same credit as someone doing a completely rebounded tuck back? Thank you!

Ideally, it’s supposed to be rebounded, but if it’s not, it’s still counted as a connection provided there is not a large pause in between the two elements. It would still earn the connection value, but would likely incur a rhythm deduction from the E-panel.

While I have no preference for female vs. male coaches at all, it has been really nice to see Jenny and Amy coaching the top athletes in the US as women! It makes me curious as to why some former male gymnasts choose to coach women’s gymnastics. Why do they do it instead of coaching men’s gymnastics, and how difficult is it for them to learn the new events (beam and bars)?

In terms of bars, they’re not really all that different from high bar. The fundamentals are the same, so coaching a girl on bars wouldn’t be insanely different from coaching a boy on high bar. In terms of beam, I find that while a lot of gymnasts have male coaches, the male coaches don’t always coach them on beam? Beam coaches are mostly women, just as dance coaches tend to be mostly women. I’m not really sure why men/former male gymnasts choose to coach WAG other than the availability of coaching positions. WAG is much more popular than MAG (in the US at least), so the availability of jobs is greater, especially at the higher levels where the earning potential is also greater.

What do you think the chances are of seeing gymnasts like Sosnitskaya, Yao, or Iordache at the American Cup this year? I know that the timing of it typically conflicts with other countries’ training/competition schedules, but I’d love for the American girls to see some tough competition – maybe even a non-American win it again, since this hasn’t happened since Zamo in 2001.

I think it’s actually very likely we’ll see Iordache at the American Cup. It might be just my own secret wish, but she has done tremendously well for herself on the circuit thus far (winning gold medals both in Stuttgart and in Glasgow), meaning she will earn a nice amount of prize money if she can add another medal to her list. She’ll likely also become the overall prize winner in the three series combined, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her name on the list. Plus, added bonus, Simone Biles has signed on, and I need them both to attend because their friendship is the glue that holds my life together. Plus, that would make for an awesome competition…the World gold and silver medalists battling it out again?! I think it’s less likely we’ll see a Russian or one of the Chinese girls, let alone the top all-arounders…though you never know. Russia or China might accept their invitations and then send someone else. I could actually see Russia sending Daria Spiridonova, as she’s had some great all-around competitions post-Worlds this fall and could benefit from getting a bit more experience even if she wouldn’t necessarily be a top threat for a medal in Dallas.

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Article by Sarah Chrane and Lauren Hopkins