The Olympic Report with Jim Johnson: Stick the Landing

Gymnastics is finally over and the U.S. men’s and women’s teams were fantastic. Gymnastics is not for the faint of heart, taking endless hours of training, putting a great toll on the body. Many gymnasts train as much as six hours a day. Imagine the stress on joints, tendons, and ligaments, not to mention the overall stress and fatigue that goes along with such strenuous training. I am reminded of when three of the U.S. gymnasts were injured in the trials. It appeared that their hopes ended with one slight mishap, one bad landing. I suspect it wasn’t one bad landing but a compilation of hundreds of landings, some good and some not. I couldn’t help but notice one of the injured gymnast’s bandages; one knee and both ankles were wrapped. I was also amazed at how quickly the young gymnasts bandaged themselves between events. As a former trainer, I know how hard it is to bandage yourself, and it was evident that they were highly skilled at bandaging. They’ve had a lot of practice.

I’ve watched a lot of gymnastics over the years and I’m well aware of the most common phrase from the commentators: “Stick the landing.” So, what does it mean to stick the landing? It means to land, often from fairly high, by hitting the ground (or mat) with both feet at the same time and little bend at the knee. In fact, the straighter the better is rewarded. When this happens the commentators and spectators go nuts. Meanwhile, the shock that just went through the back and joints of the lower body of the gymnast was extreme. Simone Biles is only 4 feet, 8 inches tall but goes as high as 12 feet on her first pass during floor exercise. Imagine jumping off a basketball goal. And what about the balance beam? Imagine doing a back flip and landing on a solid wooden beam.

Ask any person to jump off a bench or stool. I can assure you they will not stick the landing. They will bend at the hip, knee, and ankle. That’s the natural landing. Bending at the hip, knee, and ankle absorbs the stopping force. Everyone naturally does this because increasing the distance over which the stopping force is applied reduces the force. This is the same concept why baseball catchers have a padded mitt and why pole vaulters fall onto a huge mat. I’ve never jumped out of a plane before but I’ve watched a lot of old paratrooper movies. Not once have I ever heard a drill sergeant yell, “Stick the landing.” The proper way is to hit the ground and roll, therefore reducing the force necessary to stop.

Gymnastics has changed greatly over the years. Gymnastic judging has received considerable criticism in past years. In an effort to reduce criticism, the scoring has primarily reduced to a number based upon how well a gymnast completed the stunts. Each stunt has a value and the judge simply rates how well the gymnast performed the stunt. This has basically removed the artistic from artistic gymnasts. I often wonder if the judges are even paying attention to the artistic, non-stunt, part of the performance. After all, they are not really scoring it. There was a time when floor exercise for men and women was so much more fluid and graceful. Today, they just do a series of hand and arm movements, essentially recovering to do the next stunt. And forget the men; they are just doing what we used to call tumbling.

The emphasis on stunts has made gymnastics so much more difficult, requiring more and more practice to be successful. What a toll this must take on an athlete’s growing body. I suspect that we see so few older gymnasts because of this wear and tear. Not only that, the commitment to maintain excellence in gymnastics almost removes one from society. Just think, out of all the gymnasts in the country, only five men and five women go to the games — pretty long odds.

On the positive side, I’ve noticed recently that the gym mats upon which landing occurs are a bit thicker. While this makes it harder to maintain one’s balance, the thicker mat reduces landing stress. It is a move in the right direction. On another positive note, some commentators have reduced their comments on landing, often discussing the difficulty of the exercise. Let’s hope this continues. Gymnastics is tough enough without having to stick the landing.

Jim Johnson is a retired professor of exercise and sport science after teaching 52 years at Smith College and Washington University in St. Louis. He comments about sport, exercise, and sports medicine. He can be reached at jjohnson@smith.edu