Another great video shared by Jason Mortimer He has some pretty funny stuff on his YOUTUBE CHANNEL. He also has some great drills.
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Spotting Back Handsprings
I had an e-mail from my good friend Brandi Smith-Young of Perfect 10 Physical Therapy. She and I have collaborated many times over the years on ways to keep gymnasts healthy and how to incorporate injury prevention into your practices. This last year we went in a new direction with ways to KEEP THE COACHES HEALTHY! Not just with exercises and stretches for coaches but with good technique in spotting.
In one of the lectures we had done together at Gymnastics Association of Texas conference (GAT) I covered safer ways to spot back handsprings. Ways that minimize the abuse our arms, back and shoulders take.
Here is a quick video that I put together explaining a few of the ways.
Alberta Gymnastics Federation Congress
I recently returned from the Alberta Gymnastics Federation Congress which was held at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino in Calgary. I was speaking with a number of other great presenters from the USA, Canada and France. I was really honored to be speaking with such a high powered group of people. It really was a fantastic conference. Well thought out, well organized, and pretty well attended. What made the biggest impression on me was the enthusiasm of the coaches that were in attendance. Following one of my lectures I had so many questions that I had to move out into the hallway to answer them to let the next speaker into the room. Out in the hallway BETH GARDNER was running a preschool warm up with 20 coaches rolling around and doing a crab walk! I took “my group” down to the hotel lobby (which had a very nice fireplace) and continued our discussion for about 45 minutes.
The only think to improve upon would be the speakers during lunch. They each had valuable things to say. It was just difficult to have the full attention of the audience.
The Clinicians
Christophe Lambert- Coached French National junior team in men’s artistic gymnastic and two times team world champion in tumbling. As the coach of the national team for women tumbling from 1990 to 2001, he coached the 4 time individual and 4 time team world champion gymnasts in tumbling. He is a National Director for Trampoline, Tumbling and Acrobatic Gymnastic since 200;. Member of the European union Trampoline TC from 1999 to 2004; member of the FIG Trampoline-Tumbling TC since 2004 and Vice President of the FIG Trampoline-Tumbling TC since 2009.
Dave Ross– He opened Skyriders Trampoline Place, the first custom built Canadian trampolining facility, in 1990. He is an International Level Judge and a NCCP National Master Course Conductor Levels 1-3. He is a co-author of the NCCP Trampoline Manuals. Dave is the creator of the world’s only “Supertramp” (20ft by 13ft bed). Ross has been the Canadian National Team coach for a number of years. He has coached four of the five Canadian Olympic trampolinists at Skyriders. In the London Olympics his athlete won a Gold Medal on Trampoline.
I thought it was one of the best organized conferences I have been to, and that they collected a crack team of presenters. I am not sure I could improve on any of the following quotes.
Dave
Frank Sahlein- Frank is a renowned business management innovator and has been involved with the industry since 1967 – as gymnast, martial artist, CrossFit athlete, coach, business owner, Industry Business Development consultant and business broker. He is a native of San Mateo, California and graduated from San Jose State University in 1975. He travels internationally to review and consult on best practices. Two-time recipient of the National Business Leader Award from USA Gymnastics, Frank is the author of “Building Your Business Potential” (using the BusinessGrades® system), an industry standard rating system for service-based businesses.
Beth Gardner- has an extensive background specializing in preschool gymnastics. In addition to experience as a Preschool Director, men’s and women’s team coach and gym owner, she is a co-author and director for the Instructor Training Program (ITP) Preschool, ITP Recreational and ITP Brain and Body courses for the Gymnastics Association of Texas (GAT) and serves as a GAT board member.
Alberta Gymnastics Federation did a BEAUTIFUL job on their fall congress. As hosts, their organization was top-notch, and their hospitality was phenominal. I truly enjoyed working with them. The coaches who attended were not only friendly, but they were fully engaged and interested in learning and sharing. It was a complete pleasure having the opportunity to meet and get to know them as well. I am so grateful and completely honored to have been a part of their first annual fall congress. CONGRATULATIONS AGF! GREAT JOB! YOU GUYS ROCK!
Beth
Steve Greeley- Steve is an International presenter, Founder of Imagymnation Gymnastics Center in Simi Valley, CA. and winner of several Gymnastics Business Leadership awards. In 2006, Steve sold Imagymnation to move to Cincinnati, OH to become partners with Jeff Metzger in Kids First Sports Center, the country’s largest children’s sports facility. He also operates Steve Greeley: Digital Delinquent a software company producing “Flip Art,” digital graphics for children’s sports.
An easy Canadian border crossing…
An amazing conference…
(Quite amazing and problem free for the first one of its kind)
Grateful people, hungry for new information…
Great food…
Awesome fellow speakers…
Could we ask for more?
Oh yeah, the white Calgary Cowboy Hat…
That was the cherry on top.
Thanks to all for a memorable experience!Steve Greeley
sgreeley@kidsfirstsports.com
And of course, me, Tony Retrosi.
What the Attendees said
“All of the speakers brought a variety of knowledge which was wonderful.”
“Developing and Educating the leaders in our sport is the best path to future success.”
“Congress was fantastic! An opportunity to reconnect and get plugged into the pulse of gymnastics! Pumped to share the knowledge with the rest of our coaching staff!”
“It was inspiring when Dave Ross got on the trampoline to demonstrate a progression during our technical trampoline session.”
“I really found Tony Retrosi’s sessions useful and his coaching style was one to be modeled.”
“I really enjoyed the Steve Greeley workshop on building Character and skill. He had some excellent ideas.”
“Beth Gardner showing her standard preschool warm up in the hallway was my most memorable moment.”
“The energy given off by the speakers was great. They truly showed their passion in what they spoke about and were very engaging.”
“AGF did a fabulous job of finding great speakers!”
“Please bring Frank back again. He has so much to offer.”
“If the quality of presenters remains as high or higher as it was for this event – I will highly recommend it to all clubs and coaches to attend. It was a fantastic weekend – I got a lot of new ideas and had fun along the way!”
“The 2012 Fall Congress was a fabulous event with some of the best speakers and workshops I have ever attended. The networking opportunities at an event like this are almost as great as the workshops themselves. It was a good experience for all of us to mix with the disciplines we are not as familiar with and see the variety and the depth of knowledge within our sport. Thank you for an excellent experience.
“Great Job AGF staff! Once again, you have proven that we are the best federation in Canada.”
“I think this fall congress has been a great effort of AGF to motivate and pursue a higher level of gymnastics in Alberta and certainly will support this in 2014.”
Receiving our WHITE HATS, making us honorary Calgarians
Beth, Christophe, Tony, Dave
A Great Pod Cast.
This morning while running on the treadmill (which at times seems a metaphor for my life) I was searching for a podcast to listen to during the rest of my workout.
I stumbled onto GymCastic Website and Pod cast. In their latest podcast they talk about changes in the vault code, gymnastics portrayal in the media and talk to Jonathan Horton about his scooter gang, triple doubles, body hair in men’s gymnastics and which of his teammates is the most unique person he has ever met!
It is a fun and entertaining show. Ended up listening to it while raking leaves and mowing the lawn!
Jessica O’Beirne‘s mission in life is to make gymnastics as popular as the NFL. No, seriously, she’s not kidding. She also works tirelessly to assure that gymnasts know they can continue to do the sport throughout their lifetime for health, fitness and fun over at masters-gymnastics.com. The site maintains a list of every adult gymnastics class, open gym in the country and a world wide masters meet calendar. Follow her on Twitter @OtotheBeirne or @AdultGymnastics , Facebook.
Blythe Lawrence of Gymnastics Examiner is a freelance journalist from Seattle. She writes for Universal Sports and you should follow her on Twitter @GymExaminer because she is at every gymnastics event you’ve ever wanted tickets to.
Spanny Tampson is one of the most beloved gymnastics-satirists in the game. Her montages are legen…wait for it…dary. Experience it all on her popular blog Spanny’s Big Fake Smile. Like her on Spanny Tampson Facebook, or follow her on Twitter @SpannyTampson where she hunts down #fouryearfans and punishes them.
Uncle Tim writes the blog that would be Spanny’s boyfriend… if it were straight. Uncle Tim Talks Men’s Gym and Twitter @uncletimmensgym. His official biography reads as follows:
Loves: Jordan Jovtchev’s shiny leotards, Philipp Boy’s face, Louis Smith’s hair, Jake Dalton’s toe point, and a good triple full.Obsessed with: Tim Daggett. Who isn’t?Hates: This is an abridged list… Double pikes off parallel bars, double-twisting double layouts off high bar, bent legs, flexed feet, sloppy handstands, bad round-offs, bad spelling, wedgies, and little kids who fart in your face while you’re spotting them.Hidden talents: I can do a standing back tuck on the high beam even though I’m a boy. Oh, and I’m great at making alcohol-infused desserts, and I speak a lot of languages, and I can eat a large pizza by myself in a single sitting.Craziest gymnastics moment: When I was in undergrad, I was a poor schmuck, but I studied abroad anyway. On my last day in Rome, I was running low on cash, so I did what any former gymnast would do: I went to the Coliseum, set a hat on the ground and started doing gymnastics. I made 40 euros that afternoon and I had myself a nice meal by the Spanish Steps. (FYI: this happened many years before Emily Kmetko needed train fare on Make It or Break It. She’s the copycat–not I.)Most private thing I’m willing to admit: I have a big gymternet crush on Spanny Tampson. Who doesn’t?
Enjoy! Keep the Momentum Going by sharing your favorite gymnastics Podcast or website!
Had to add a picture taken in Rome during my trip a few weeks ago
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Crash of The Week, Earth Quake Edition
Here in New England we had a very small Earthquake the other day. In the end, all it did was give the girls a reason they could NOT stay on the Beam.
At morning practice the next day, Annie said it was an aftershock which caused her to fall.
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CHANGE
Jamie Donkin
I am a very lucky person. I get to combine two of my favorite things, gymnastics and traveling, and live it everyday. Up until this fall I had always done so from the safety of my hometown. I’d get to explore, seek out new people and new places, new schools and new ways of thinking, and then go back to my comfortable place where these experiences would enhance my life in some magical way. Eventually I realized that these small ventures out into the world could only make me happy to a certain extent; I knew that I could not maintain such complacency with a soul that is continually seeking out more. More experiences. More knowledge. More relationships. More adventures. More of life.
When approached with the opportunity to coach at a new university in a new town outside of my beloved California, I experienced a moment of hesitation. This newness was far more permanent than my weekend or weeklong jaunts for recruiting or camps. This was a pack the U-Haul and get a new drivers license kind of change. This is also me acting completely different than that excited explorer I described in the previous paragraph. And that realization was all it took. What was I waiting for? Life is full of adventures, exploring and change. I cannot sit around in my cozy corner of the world and expect it to come to me. In honor of the upcoming election I pull a quote from Barack Obama, who said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.” This was my moment! My next big adventure. And to balk at this chance was to ignore that inner voice screaming for the unknown. An unknown that could possibly change my life.
So whether it is a new job, new school, or a new team, we are exposed to change at some point in time. But it is in that change that we grow. We get the opportunity to learn who we are, or, almost equally important, what we want out of life. I miss my old team terribly – they are what shaped me into the coach I am now. But this new group and new environment is giving me a chance to grow as a coach, expand my ways of thinking, and test that gut reaction to hesitate at the unknown. Have I felt lost at times? Sure. Is it taking a while to feel like I have control? Well, did I ever have it in the first place?! Probably not. So in the end, I accept that this change as part of what makes me lucky. I may be in a new place but in the end I still get to do what I love!
Jamie Donkin
Assistant Coach Utah State University
I had the extreme pleasure of working with Jamie at Gym Momentum Camp as well as The National Gymnastics Training Camp in 2012. She was loved by the gymnasts and coaches alike. Her work ethic, attention to detail and creativity made her a favorite. I look forward to having her back 2013.
Tony
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Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 6 – A Message For All 12 Year Olds And Above
Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 6 – A Message For All 12 Year Olds And Above
This is a repost from Tom Burgdorf”s series of articles. Follow Tom on Facebook and check his website gymnetsports.com
You have entered a phase of your life that is more “adult.” The situations you will find yourself in are more serious. People will also be expecting you to make more informed and “adult” decisions. You are smarter than you were when you were younger which helps you make the right choices.
There is one important thought that you have to think about a great deal as you become more responsible and make more decisions on your own and that thought is: your actions cause a reaction.
If you do this then that happens. Your behavior causes something to happen. Your attitude causes something to happen. Your decisions cause things to happen. What happens if your eat 20 candy bars? You get sick. What happens if you are lazy in practice for the 2 weeks before a competition? You probably will have a bad competition. 1 action gets a reaction. What will happen if you are mean to your Mom right before you ask her if you can go to the movies with your friends? What will her reaction be? Same situation except change being mean to your Mom to being very helpful to your Mom. What will her reaction be?
What you do today shapes tomorrow. Study hard for a test today and do good on the test tomorrow. Say thank you to your coach today for a good practice and then the coach will remember that tomorrow and will be excited to work with such a polite, caring athlete. Help your Mom clean up after dinner and then see the smile on her face as you made things easier for her.
Your actions and choices cause other things to happen. A teammate says “let’s cheat and do 3 practice beam routines instead of 5 that the coach wants.” Your choice to follow a lazy teammate who wants to cheat her coach and her team but winds up hurting herself. And she wants a partner like you to join her. Your choice.
A mature 12 – 18 year old starts to think about what they do, and the reactions to their behaviors or decisions, BEFORE they act. Your dad asked me to rake the leaves in the yard. I can refuse and he will be angry and upset with me and maybe punish me. Your dad asked me to rake the leaves in the yard. I do the job very well, he is happy and proud of me and nice things might happen later. Your choice.
The 14 – 18 year olds have some serious situations that they may have happen. At a high school party someone sneaks in some beer and wants you to try some. Your choice. A boy at that same party is “curious” about your body. Your choice. You may be asked to smoke. You may be asked to get in a car with a new driver who says her car can go really fast. Your choice, your decision, causes things to happen to you and sometimes to others.
The key is to THINK not just do what you think might be fun. You have to THINK when your friends try to pressure you to do something you know is wrong.
When you are 12 and over life is more serious. Your choices and decisions and actions are more serious. Using your knowledge to think about what the outcome of an action is BEFORE you make your decision will help you make the right decision.
You can make the right decisions. Be a champion and make your life fun and successful by thinking before you act. Then lots of good things will happen. Are you a thinker?
***Parents, coaches and teachers – this is a simple lesson but a very important one. I didn’t get into huge issues or try to get real deep with this subject matter as I wanted to “talk” to the 12 & overs. I sincerely hope that you will consider reading this article with the young people that you are in contact with. I also hope that while reading this to them you allow some discussions and get their ideas and feelings to come out. Let me know if this triggered a really good session with you and your young people. We need “Conversations With Our Kids” like this one. Tom Burgdorf on Facebook
(If you like “Tom’s style,” and you run a “for profit” sports gym, cheer gym, dance studio or sports program, consider becoming a member of his Elite 100 Sports Business Program. You can receive a sample of this program by e-mailing Tom@gymnetsports.com. This program is terrific for all year training of staff.)
Looking at things with new eyes.
Look and listen and you will be surprised at what you see and hear.
Take the familiar and known and turn it around and make unfamiliar and unknown. See your day to day world with new eyes.
Look at it with childlike wonder. Gymnasts flip, Vaulters vault, runners run, jumpers jump, throwers throw but how do they do what they do? Keep questioning. Watch a vault from the end of the runway; watch a bar routine from the end of the dismount mat. Close your eyes and listen to the run the run, jump or tumbling pass.
Beware of confirmation bias – seeing what you are looking for. Clear your mind and pretend you are seeing the movement for the first time. As coaches our richest source of learning and information is the athletes we coach. They are doing it – get their feedback – both verbal and non-verbal. In coaching we should be growing with the athlete, if we get better then they get better and visa versa.
As coaches we must challenge ourselves daily in order to be able to continue to challenge our athletes. What are you going to do today to challenge yourself to be better? What can you see, hear or feel at today’s workout that will make a better coach? What will you learn from your athletes today?
Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 5 – Disappointing Mom and Dad
Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 5 – Disappointing Mom and Dad
This is a repost from Tom Burgdorf”s series of articles. Follow Tom on Facebook and check his website gymnetsports.com
Can you remember when you were 7 or 8, in sports and your parents watched most of the competitions? “Just go have fun” they said, I wish that took all of the pressure off. In sports you are going to be in the spotlight sometimes where you “do it or don’t do it.” The coaches teach “stay in the moment” and eliminate all of the external things that are putting pressure on you. I wonder if Tiger Woods “stayed in the moment” the past 3 days? World’s greatest golfer and he cracked under the external factors. Most of the American golfers yesterday “gave it up.” These are professionals. These men deal with stress virtually every day and they let it get to them and it affected their performance.
In “Building A Champion” young adult we have to keep in mind that these are children. Many sports are starting a new season soon and the external factors will present themselves. These kids know that at the end of the competition they will have to look into the eyes of their coaches, their teammates and their parents. They will have to take that long ride home with the 2 people they love the most knowing that they have succeed or fell down. Children will always feel the anxiety of possibly disappointing their parents.We can help them “Become A Champion” as we teach them about preparation and performance. If you prepare perfectly, there is still the possibility of not having a great day. The chances of succeeding are far greater when you prepare properly but success is not guaranteed. This is a critical lesson these champion children need to learn. Sports are going to slap you down. Life is going to slap you down sometimes. That is the way it is.
Sports performances are just fleeting moments. Good one day and not so good another day. Prepare well, with some learning and you will have more good days than bad. Parents have to teach these lessons. Parents have to “live” these lessons. You can’t believe in these lessons and then act like these competitions are more serious than they really are. These competitions are “laboratories” for the development of your champion child.
Teach that sports performances can vary. Teach that the preparation can be controlled but that the performance cannot. Especially in a child. How many 3 foot putts were missed by the best golfers in the world over the past 3 days? And we expect, and are disappointed, when a 7 year old wobbles on a 4” beam 4’ in the air in front of a couple of hundred spectators? With a judge marking down every mistake the athlete makes? We have to teach “realistic expectations if we want a champion child.
Sports competitions are not about today, they are about the sum of many todays. Keep that in mind as we watch these incredible, soon to be champion, young adults. Build your champion!
Tom Burgdorf on Facebook (If you like “Tom’s style,” and you run a “for profit” sports gym, cheer gym, dance studio or sports program, consider becoming a member of his Elite 100 Sports Business Program. You can receive a sample of this program by e-mailing Tom@gymnetsports.com. This program is terrific for all year training of staff.)
Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 4
Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 4 Sparks
This is a repost from Tom Burgdorf”s series of articles. Follow Tom on Facebook and check his website gymnetsports.com
Every child has a spark inside of them when they are born. A lot of their life depends on that spark and what they do with it. Have you noticed what a 1 year old who just learned to walk does? Constant exploring of his/her surroundings touching, smelling, tasting and feeling. The “spark” for knowledge? The “spark” for sensory satisfaction?
The spark in every child can be fanned into an inferno of desire. For anything. Maybe for music, maybe for knowledge and maybe for food. The 6 year olds and under can’t really “fan” their flame on their own. The adults in their lives do it for them in words, giving them opportunities and through encouragement. This flame can be built through expectations too. Doing too much for a child is not a “flame enhancer.”
At about age 7 a child can begin to fan their own flame to a certain extent. Some children do and other children/athletes sit there and wait for others to inspire them. Their spark can remain small if the right adults don’t enter their lives. Parenting involves a lot of “fanning” the flame regarding attitudes, desires and determination and discipline. Parent a child who is given too much will usually result in a young adult who expects to be given what they need. Then sit there and complain when they don’t get what they want. Is this what we want?
Or do we want 7+ year olds who have a burning desire? Or maybe multiple burning desires? Part of “fanning” the flame is inspiration from the adults as we ‘build a champion.” Teaching that there are 100 different lives out there for every child and they get to pick which one they want to be happy with. But it is to be worked for not have handed to them. What an incredible lesson we can teach as we “build a champion.”
A 7 year old, or a 10 year old, or a 15 year old doesn’t have to be a “State Champion” or the “best at anything” to be a champion. Not if we believe that the ultimate goal is to achieve a successful, happy life. That is the ultimate trophy.
To take that spark and nurture it, feed it, help it and then watch it take a life of its’ own, magical. As I look back some of my most impressive “life champions” were my average athletes. Then there were some who have even shocked me as they always struggled to occasionally get on the awards stand only to go out in life and be surprisingly accomplished, happy and successful. Their spark grew. Their spark turned into a passion to be happy and successful. Trophies and medals = happiness and success when they are 30? Hardly.
Every child with a spark has the possibility of growing up with a flame inside and it is up to the parents, teachers and coaches to make this happen. Helping them grow with desire, determination, confidence, hard work ethic and with an understanding of personal responsibility helps fan the flame. Having high standards and teaching about the benefits of high standards is a plus. Teaching about being accountable for their actions helps. Being pampered and being given too much can throw water on our goal.
A 15 year old with only a spark is an ugly sight. This is what we have to strongly work against. This type of 15 year old is “our failure.” They can be saved but we don’t want these younger kids to get to that point.
Parenting a champion is a tough job. How is the spark in your children right now? Are there some embers? A fire brewing? Are they reaching out for more. What you see in your children today is your current report card as a parent. A? B? C? D? F?
But the semester isn’t over. There is still time to get your “parenting grade” to climb. Thankfully you have some help with this project in the form of coaches and teachers. We are a team working to send out a young adult with the tools to be a champion.
Every child can be a champion. Every child can attack their independent life “on fire.” (If the adults in their lives do a great job.)
***Special point – this article was about the fire in children, how is your own personal fire? Where are you at in life? Where you want to be, totally satisfied? Do you, as an adult, have any sparks that need to be fanned? Life is fun when you are “pursuing.” Still have some things to do before the rocking chair? Mom/dad things? Wife/husband things? How about personal things, just for you as a human being? Do you have any fire for yourself?
Tom Burgdorf on Facebook (If you like “Tom’s style,” and you run a “for profit” sports gym, cheer gym, dance studio or sports program, consider becoming a member of his Elite 100 Sports Business Program. You can receive a sample of this program by e-mailing Tom@gymnetsports.com. This program is terrific for all year training of staff.)
