Contributor Owen Field shared this great progression. Follow his blog at COACH OWEN FIELD
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Side Leaps and Switch Side Leap Drill
Cori Cunningham from Atlantic Gymnastics in Portsmouth, NH share a great drill for Side leaps and switch side leaps.
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SOUTH FLORIDA SKILLS CAMP
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO JUMP START YOUR SUMMER AND THE GYM MOMENTUM TRAINING CAMP IS ALL THE WAY UP IN NEW YORK?
HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO WORK WITH SOME GREAT COACHES (In my humble opinion)
Staff: Tony Retrosi, Steve Arkell, Sue Arkell, and others!
WHERE: South Florida Gymnastics. 3241 59th Dr E Bradenton, FL 34203
WHEN: June 15th-17th
FOR MORE INFO CALL OR E-MAIL: Chris Lakeman 941-730-8016. sfgymcheer@verizon.net
Hello everyone!
I know I have spoken with many of you already about this camp/clinic we are doing this summer and wanted to get all the information out to you and explain what we are doing in a little bit more detail. Hoping you all can join us.
On June 15th-17th, we will be hosting a coaches hands-on clinic and athletes skills camp. We have asked National Clinicians Steve and Sue Arkell and Tony Retrosi to come and help us run a Coaches “hands on” clinic to help teach spotting techniques for upper level skills as well as an Optional and Compulsory skills camp Saturday and Sunday respectively. We have 72 spaces for each optional and compulsory camp. We will be reserving participants for our own athletes until April 16th. After April 16th, its first come, first serve until we reach max capacity of 72 per clinic. There is no limit to coaches allowed for Friday’s clinic. There is no registration deadline. We are keeping registration open until we are filled. So feel free to call and check availability at the gym at 941-758-5775 or Chris’ Cell at 941-730-8016
We invite coaches to come and learn spotting techniques for advanced optional skills on each event for 4 hours on Friday afternoon starting at 2pm and ending at 6pm. Steve and Sue will be bringing 4 of their upper level athletes as “spotees” for the hands-on clinic. We are also opening an invite to coaches that wish to bring any Level 8 – 10 gymnast who would make for good “spotees”. There will be no charge for any gymnast on Friday for the coaches clinic. We will need you to email us the skills those athletes are training so we can see if there is a need for those skills. But extra training work for free is always a good thing!
Saturday, we will be holding the optional skills clinic. Gymnast will get a chance to work on each event with either Steve and Sue Arkell as well as Tony Retrosi. SFG Staff and any coaches that wish to practice their new spotting skills are welcome to coach both days! This skills clinic will run from 9am to 5:30 pm with a 90 minute break for lunch. SFG Booster Club will be providing lunch for all gymnast and coaches that participate. They will also be planning some fun activities during their break.
The compulsory camp will be held on Sunday and will run from 9am to 2pm. There will be a 60 minute break for lunch that will be provided by SFG Booster Club for all gymnast and coaches. We will be splitting the compulsory camp between compulsory skills and a 90 minutes open gym for the athletes to develop some of their early optional skills.
Prep opts: For prep optional athletes, please use your best judgment as coaches. If your athletes are working level 7+ skills, then the optional camp would be great. If not, we recommend the compulsory camp.
Enclosed you will find the brochure along with the registration form and the skills evaluation sheet for grouping. Please distribute to your team kids at your convenience. The front of the form is for your athlete to fill out their camp skill “wish list”. On the back, we ask that you write any and all progressions you have worked with your athlete so that we can properly group them prior to the skills camp. Prices are listed on the brochure, if your gym sends 5 kids to camp, you can send 1 coach to the Friday clinic for FREE. If your gym sends 10 kids to our camp, you may send as many coaches as you would like for free. Cost for Friday only is $100 per coach unless you have athletes attending. All we ask is that you list them on the registration form, along with any USAG information so that we may submit it to our insurance. We are hoping to make this an annual clinic and will continue to try and help it grow over the next few years with more national coaches and additional facility for boys next year.
We are hoping you all can come and bring some kids to this great one day camp. If you have any questions, please call Chris at 941-730-8016 which is his personal cell phone. He will be happy to discuss with you any and all questions you may have.
Chris Lakeman
Program Director
South Florida Gymnastics941.758.5775
Why I Succeed
I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan
Wit and Wisdom
“It’s not journalism. It’s theater” Mike Daisey, writer who admitted to fabricating stories about oppressed workers at an APPLE contractor’s factory in China
“Whoever learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.” Soren Kierkegaard
“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.” William Jennings Bryan
“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” Journalist Franklin Pierce Adams
“The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.” Actor Paul Fix
“I cannot praise a fugitive or cloistered virtue, exercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary.” John Milton
“There are no hopeless situations; there are only men who have grown helpless about them.” Clare Boothe Luce
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the US SUPREME COURT is in session I have decided to put some of my favorite quotes from Justices. Sorry for the diversion.
It is confidence in the men and women who administer the judicial system
that is the true backbone of the rule of law. Time will one day heal the
wound to the confidence that will be inflicted by today’s decision. One
thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete
certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential
election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the
Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of
law. I respectfully dissent.
Justice John Paul Stevens 12-12-2000“It was not by accident or coincidence that the rights to freedom in
speech and press were coupled in a single guaranty with the rights of
the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for redress of
grievances. All these, though not identical, are inseparable.
They are cognate rights, and therefore
are united in the first Article’s assurance.”
Judge Wiley B. Rutledge
[Wiley Blount Rutledge] U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Source: Thomas v. Collins, 1944The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine
on it, the more it will contract.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.“The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects
from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the
reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal
principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty,
and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and
assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote;
they depend on the outcome of no elections.”
Justice Robert H. Jackson“A nation’s success or failure in achieving democracy is judged in
part by how well it responds to those at the bottom and the margins
of the social order… The very problems that democratic change
brings — social tension, heightened expectations, political unrest
— are also strengths. Discord is a sign of progress afoot; unease
is an indication that a society has let go of what it knows and
is working out something better and new.”
Sandra Day O’Connor“The First Amendment has erected a wall between Church and State.
That wall must be kept high and impregnable.
We could not approve the slightest breach.”
Hugo L. Black
Everson V Board of Education 1947
“From the standpoint of freedom of speech and the press,
it is enough to point out that the state has no legitimate interest
in protecting any or all religions from views distasteful to them…
It is not the business of government to suppress
real or imagined attacks upon a particular religious doctrine.”
Tom C. Clark
Burstyn v. Wilson, 1952“The door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any
government regulation of religious beliefs as such. Government may neither
compel affirmation of a repugnant belief, nor penalize or discriminate
against individuals or groups because they hold views abhorrent to the
authorities.”
William J. Brennan
Sherbert v. Verner, 1963
Reflections
Reflection is what allows us to learn from our experiences: it is an assessment of where we have been and where we want to go next.”
– Kenneth Wolf
Thanks to contributor Casie Millhouse-Singh, Casie is an American gymnastics coach with over 20 years of experience in the sport as both gymnast, coach and judge. Currently, she is coaching for the Singapore American Community Action Council, better known as SACAC, gymnastics program. She is elected as Singapore Gymnastics Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Recreational Pathway Technical Leader and is also a Singapore National judge. You can follow her blog at: COACH CASIE
Reflection is the process of looking at something in order to review it. When we are in the middle of our gymnastics lessons, we have to make quick decisions, as there is no time to stop and think. When we reflect on the lessons afterwards we are able to think about the decisions we made and decide whether or not they were suitable. We can decide if we would like to make the same decisions again in the same circumstances or if there are better ways of handling it.
In other words, we should question ourselves critically in an unbiased way. Keep an open mind and avoid letting personal feelings get in the way. Try adding space for reflections in your lesson plan templates with the following questions:
Reflection
- Did the children seem bored with any activity?
- Were the children actively involved and eager participants?
- Did the children seem interested in the activities?
- Did I struggle to get co-operation from the children?
- Did they finish the task much quicker than what you anticipated?
- Did they struggle to finish in the allocated time?
- Did they enjoy the activities/skills and ask for it to be repeated? Which ones?
- Did everything go as planned?
- Which activities would you not recommend in the future?
Do reflections as soon after the activity has been completed as possible so that your ideas and observations are still fresh in your mind.
Reflection is often neglected because we think it takes too much of our precious time. We may also avoid it because we feel that we have failed or not done well. We need to always balance the strengths and the weaknesses, and asked ourselves what aspects worked and what aspects did not work. In this way, we can prevent ourselves from making the same mistakes over again and improve or teaching practice.
MOST Influential People in Gymnastics
Who are THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE in Gymnastics?
I was recently reading TIME Magazine and their annual issue on The Most Influential People in The USA. It got me thinking, there are so many influential people in the Gymnastics World, but how do we decide who are the MOST influential.
Submit your votes for the MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN GYMNASTICS.
You can submit as many times as you want. I will announce the most influential people in an upcoming post at the end of April.
Parents- A note on YOUR reputation
Parents – Your Reputation At The Gym Or In Your Sports Program
This is from Tom Burgdorf of GYMNET Sports.
He makes some great points and I couldn’t have said it better. If you can, subscribe to Tom’s newsletters and at the very least, “Friend” him on face book.
We rate the athletes all of the time regarding their performance, progress, behavior and importance to our sports programs. I wonder if the people in charge of your gym or sports organization rate the parents of their athletes too? Of course they do. Maybe we don’t show a score for each parent at the meet but in the minds of the coaches there is a “score” for the actions, behavior and importance to the program for each parent on team.
Shocked?
We all have reputations based on how we talk, behave and react. How we support or don’t support the goals and philosophy of the sports program. Your reputation can be helped or hindered by whether you are seen as a “supporter of all of the athletes on team” or selfish as in “my child and no one else.” We all create and add to our reputations daily.
And the reputation, the way people think of you, at your sports program is what at this moment? Wouldn’t it be interesting to ask 5 of your fellow team parents what your reputation is? How about asking the coaches how they feel about you?
PARENTS ARE GREAT! I feel strongly that our sports programs are filled with 98% terrific, supportive parents who have great reputations with the other parents and with the coaches. It’s the other 2% that can mess things up. In fact many terrific coaches burn out after a few years and one of the major causes is dealing with difficult parents. Not fair.
**We need positive parents.
**We need parents who believe in the program goals and the coaching staff.
**We need parents who, when faced with a concern, go to the coaches in a constructive “let’s work this out” type attitude rather than cutting down the program and coaches in the background.
**We need parents to make sure that those 1 or 2 misguided parents don’t “rule the parents area and the bleachers.”
**We need parents who understand how wonderful sports are for their children.
If you are one of the 98% of the parents who have built a great, supportive reputation at the gym or in your sports program, fantastic and we need you to continue setting a great example for everyone else.
Continue to help create an environment for the coaches to achieve the ultimate goal of all sports programs, developing a better young adult to attack life with the skills and attitudes to be successful. We need you. (Send me your comments about this important topic.) Tom Burgdorf GYMNET Sports
When Gymnasts are VERBS
When Gymnasts are VERBS
This was too funny to pass up. THE COUCH GYMNAST from over in England had this in her blog. I just had to share it.
Before we get started, a quick grammar reminder for all you young ‘uns. A noun is a person, place or thing. A verb is a ‘doing word’, an action of sorts. This means Cheng Fei is a noun. When she ‘vaults’, that is a verb, because it is something she did- an action she performed. In this particular game, turning a player into a verb involves using their character attributes to describe the way an action is performed.
I thought this might be a bit of fun in the gymnastics world! Here are some of my gymnast-turned-verbs;
To Memmel something: as in, “Wow, I didn’t expect her to Memmel!” To make a dramatic re-entrance at just the right time and impress the heck out of everyone, only to disappear again.
To Khorkina: as in “I couldn’t do anything! I was helpless! She totally Khorkina-ed me!”. To use excessive charm whilst annihilating your opponents.
To Bross it- as in; “I never thought she’s hold on, but she managed to Bross it until the end!” To fight tooth and nail, no matter how hard or how ridiculous to get the job done.
To see the whole post- THE COUCH GYMNAST
You really should add your submissions to her site.
Top 20 Questions to ask when interviewing a Potential Gymnastics Teacher
I received this in an e-mail from Patti Komara. It is part of her DVD and book that you can buy from her website.
Top 20 Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Gymnastics Teacher
1. What does a person need to be a good gymnastics teacher?
2. Where do you see yourself in five years?
3. What part of this job do you think would be most important?
4. How would you handle a six-year old boy who wouldn’t stand where you told him?
5. What would you do with a crying three-year-old?
6. What would you do with a four-year-old who wouldn’t participate?
7. What if a child was hitting another student?
8. Finish these sentences: What children want most from a class is… What parents want most from a class is… The best way for a child to learn is … I would discipline a child by…
9. What does positive reinforcement mean?
10. What is the maximum number of kids you can handle in class?
11. What is your favorite event to teach and why?
12. When wouldn’t you be able to sub?
13. What is the hardest skill you can demonstrate and why is that important?
14. What is your greatest asset that you could bring to this company?
15. What is it about you that has made you successful so far?
16. What is the age group you most prefer to teach? Can you be silly? You’ve got to be silly to teach kids.
17. What would you do if you saw a peer stealing money, stamps, or equipment?
18. What would you do if you smelled alcohol on a coach’s breath and knew they had been drinking before class?
19. Get up and teach me a cartwheel
20. Do you have any past injuries or health problems?
I had to update this a mere 7 hours after I posted it because Jason Mortimer had a number of additions that he posted on the Gym Momentum FB page.
#21. “Your class starts at 4:30. When does your shift start?”
#22. “What is appropriate coaching attire?”
#23. “What is the proper use and storage of _____(piece of equipment, mat, etc.)”
#24. “How do you tell a parent that her daughter is not ready to move to the next class level?”
#25/26: “If you have a question, where, or from whom, do you seek out an answer?” and “Who are your coaching mentors, influences, or who have you learned from?”
#27: “Is it ever appropriate, necessary, or wise, to teach a recreational class kid a “cheat” in technique just to get her to be able to complete a skill by herself? What if they have otherwise been struggling with the skill for many months or sessions?” (27a: if yes, give me an example of a skill and the “cheat” you would advise the girl to make.)
Do You have an Addition? Keep the MOMENTUM going- Share you ideas/ addition SHARE
