My gym (Atlantic Gymnastics) is turning 20 next year. When I opened my gym I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing and I was looking for advice on how to navigate this crazy adventure. If I were to write a letter to myself and mail it back in time to NEW BUSINESS OWNER TONY imparting some kind of wisdom or advice to my former self that I wish I had known I would give the following advice.
Evan Stichler
Head coach Danna Durante talks with Christa Tanella during a gymnastics meet between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., Friday, January 18, 2013. (Evan Stichler, evansan8@gmail.com)
College recruiting is a pretty popular subject when it comes to talking about your school’s next generation of champions.
Fans love to watch players throughout their high school years and see who might be representing your favorite team in the coming years. [Read more…]
Snakes, heights, or small spaces? Beam flight, Bar dismounts, Vault? Whatever starts your knees wobbling, watching someone else safely handle the source of your fear can help you overcome it, finds a new Swedish research.
If you see a person like yourself safely managing the source of your fear, your brain will absorb that information and use it to reduce your phobia, explains study coauthor Armita Golkar, Ph.D. Your brain tells itself, “If it’s safe for her, it’s safe for me, too,” Golkar says.
So whether you’re freaked out by Beam flight, a release move on bars or a tumbling pass on floor, ask a team mate to take on the source of your shivers in front of you, Golkar advises. Here’s an example: Afraid of every layout on Beam? Have your team mate do one in front of you. When she doesn’t die, your brain will recognize that your imagined threat is nothing to worry about, the research suggests. (In fact, this may be even more effective than you tackling your fear yourself, Golkar says.)
Early in my career as a coach I was given the advice that to be successful I needed to use the 6 P’s of COACHING
Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Dear Coach
The following are two letters to coaches. They are not actual letters rather they are composites of letters. The first letter is from 1990 to me in my first year “really” coaching, the second letter is from 2013. Compare and contrast the content and tone of the letters. [Read more…]
Now that football season has started again- Have you ever wondered why you see so many professional kickers miss “easy” field goals? Their brains may be to blame: Thinking too hard could cause you to choke under pressure, says new research from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The study found that your explicit memory, or step-by-step thought process, can muddle your implicit memory (your tool for remembering how to do things automatically) and negatively affect performance. For example, if you try to remember all the steps to riding a bike while pedaling, you’ll quickly be in the bushes. But hop on and start cycling without a second thought, and you’ll coast away easily. [Read more…]
DREAMS HAVE EXPIRATION DATES
When I was younger, ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS MAKE AN OLYMPIC TEAM. It wasn’t a far-fetched dream either; I was pretty good. But I got slower, and I got less motivated, and I had other interests. Sooner or later, it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen. My dream of being an Olympian had an expiration date, and expire it did. [Read more…]
Earlier this month there was an informal meeting with primarily Level 9/10 coaches from New Hampshire. I feel very lucky that coaches in my State, by and large, get a long. The discussion was about drills we can do with our developmental gymnasts to improve the upper levels at bars. Each coach was going to come up with some drills that take about 5 minutes and implement them for about one month. PART 1
Here is the second part using “sliders” to help with conditioning and straddle cast handstand.
[Read more…]
Mary Lee Tracy shares some advanced Core exercises on beam. Follow Mary Lee on YOUTUBE for some other great drills.
