Notes on Jesolo Training Videos-now with more Fierce 5!

NOTE- Although there is a free stream tomorrow, it appears the Italian Gymnastics Federations are forbidden to archive it.

Cannot wait for this competition, admittedly mainly for seeing how the US girls are shaping up as they try out new upgrades etc. and of course, new seniors to make their debut internationally. The perfect small competition which allows a huge number of competitors. I'm quite sad Nia Dennis is not there, and indeed am worried for her in general. A lot of injuries, a lot of inconsistency when she is competing. Such enormous potential in her...

Victoria Nyugen is IT on beam. Fabulous. Not that she was bad before or anything but she really makes a splash here. Gorgeous Chinese-like precision on her elements, HUGE leaps too. It is sadly unusual to see big amplitude on fully split leaps among the US girls but no fears here, lots of amplitude as well as gorgeous looking leaps. Stunning BHS-LOSO-LOSO, turn combination and switch leap-Onodi-sheep. Don't ask me what her start value is though. It's a very steady routine too, she had a bit of a bobble after a switch ring is all. Just lacking some cohesive flow, but then, everyone does really.

It's hard to tell from the angle how much height she gets on her DTY, it doesn't look big anyway. Very clean though.

Her bars are boring. Jump to dead hang no no noooo and she stays on the high bar too long then. It's not acceptable unless you're doing killer pirouettes in sequence. She's clean and still young, it could be a nice routine in progress.

Bailie Key's bars are looking unsurprisingly strong. The Ricna-Pak is really a highlight. As usual with Bailie, any errors seem to be glaring, because the body of her work is so good. She hits a few handstands short and her form on her dismount isn't the best, the tuck is too loose and her feet are an issue. Although it is finally her time to shine, she's not had the best of years with an injury and all that growth to get used to, so it's best if she doesn't push herself I think.

Her DTY is definitely lacking the star-power she showed with it last year, it's a bit flat and her legs aren't as straight. Perhaps not a struggle to get around, but not the easiest for her. Again, no need to push for an amanar or anything at this stage and potentially aggravate an injury. Slow and steady.

Continuing the theme, her beam is a bit lacklustre also. Quite a low landing on the dismount, bobbles on the low arabian, layout as un-layout-like as ever. I really want to see her with a composition like Victoria's here. In terms of preparation, Bailie has a good bit to go. I'm sure she'll bounce back from being out for so long.

Simone Biles is her usual self on floor. I'm still getting used to her first pass, it's so good in the air and she landed this one two miles in front of the corner...so casual. Only small bounces from her tumbling. I'm curious about that last pass-she landed the full-in with her chest fully upright and high and I still think she could upgrade it. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she unleashes that this summer.

Beam wasn't the steadiest, slight break on the aerial-wolf and after her free cartwheel, and a dodgy uncertain-looking one in her second leap series. BHS-LOSO-LOSO and the killer dismount were amazing as always. All of her leaps are good just not high enough in the air grrrr. I expect to see a much more solid routine when it counts.

I'm very curious about when she will debut the Mustafina dismount, it's the ideal competition if it's ready. No sign of it in the video I watched. Handstands weren't great but the routine is fine. Nothing special, but worthy of a good score. Short and to the point.

Laurie Hernandez sure enjoys stalders! Zippy routine with a nice pencil line throughout most of it. Great handstands too.

Her beam feels quite long for some reason, and it looks a bit like hard work. That's training for you and one video of many routines, so hopefully she exudes a bit more sass and energy during competition. Her leaps start off great although could do with more height, but then her back leg flags and isn't as bothered towards the end, which is a pity. Lands her dismount with her back horizontal and other elements like her LOSO are landed with her back quite low too-they don't have the same lift as Victoria's for instance. It's a strong routine all the same, but could be great if her skills were bigger.

Kyla's double front bars dismount is my favourite thing. Surprise factor! It's lovely too. It's good to see her get her combination game back, I was quite doubtful of how much her back would allow her to do on bars. She has one handstand that was at about 45 degrees, which is so weird to see from her.

Update:

Kyla on floor...AKA the sassmonster!! Her new routine is a HUGE improvement. I know I tend to be harsh on her so it must be great. Her choreography is really strong and I love the music. Some really great movements-staccato-like. This is what we needed to see from her years ago. I love being pleasantly surprised. Tumbling was clean and unremarkable, so low in difficulty sadly.

I can't get over Aly in non Hava Nagila shocker. When the music and opening pose becomes so familiar, it's quite jarring. I like her music though. In unsurprising news, her dance is uninspiring. I'd hoped to see more influence from her DWTS days...maybe if her partner choreographed for her we'd see it. Anyway...holy tumbling! Double arabian punchfront is in, although she went slightly out of bounds on the punchfront. I can't tell if it's tucked or not, it's very loose...mostly laid out, late tuck. Not only did she stick her Dos Santos, she planted it through the floor like Chellsie Memmel's closing double pike at Beijing Olympic Trials. I freaking love sticks like that, so good. The double layout on the other hand was a bit scrappy form wise, nothing wrong with its dynamics though. Hopefully she can keep her legs and feet straighter when she gets more used to it. Her twisting leaps were um, utterly uncreditable. Such reluctance of the back leg to leave the floor!

Gabby also has got her tumbling game on! It looks very easy for her. Double arabian-bounce forward, full-in, stuck, double pike-big bounce back, double tuck-bounce back. It's good to see extra energy in a comeback routine. A very welcome music change but the choreography is not great and she looks totally absent..hopefully this can develop a bit but I don't have high hopes.

Her bars had some issues, but hey, it's a tough event to get back and we can't really judge off one video. She had a form break on top the bar, and had to muscle a few times again on top of the bar to get through the routine. Lovely straight dismount and fabulous piked Tkachev....it has lost the crookedness! 

And that's all I was able to see. So looking forward to just about everyone, but especially the comeback queens. Who and what are you most looking forward to? How many points will Simone win the AA by? Will the US wear pink, pink or pink? Can the Undertaker beat Bray Wyatt? Wrestlemania is this weekend too!