Part 2 of 4 of a Beginning Trampoline Clinic given by Al Fong of GAGE at a recent Region 4 Training camp. (Fall 2011)
Thanks to Contributor Owen Field from Nebraska for sharing these. Make sure you follow his blog at: Coach Owen Field [Read more…]
BOOKS EVERY COACH SHOULD HAVE
Books Every Coach Should have.
A few things have come up recently which got me thinking. The first thing leads into the second so bear with me. I have started working with more pre-team and compulsory gymnasts which has put me in contact with a lot more compulsory coaches through out the State and Region. The one thing I have noticed is that by and large they are an incredibly energetic group. They are so eager to learn from anyone. My question is- Are we taking the time to teach them? Are we giving them direction or are we letting them reinvent the wheel? Many people have seen my lecture, COACHES AS EDUCATORS I am in the process of turning it into a book. The bottom line is that we must continually educate ourselves and those less experienced coaches in our gyms. I know I will revisit these issues and this blog more extensively.
All education starts with a good philosophy. From both the teacher and student. To form your own philosophy you need experience. You need to be willing to make mistakes but also learn from the mistakes of others. Here are a few books where you can learn from the experience of others. Some of these books may be difficult to get but are worthwhile. This is surely an incomplete list. Please e-mail me with your recommendations- CONTACT.
- Championship Gymnastics. Gerald George
- Modern Women’s Gymnastics. Bill Sands.
- Gymnastics- How to Create Champions. Leonid Arkaiv, Nikolai Schilin.
- Sacred Hoops- Phil Jackson.
- Peak Performance. Charles Garfield, Hal Z. Bennett.
- The Vision of a Champion. Anson Dorrance.
- Zen Lessons- The Art of Leadership- translated by Thomas Clearly.
- It’s Not About The Bike- Lance Armstrong.
- Psychology and Gymnastics. The Ultimate Guide for Coaches, Gymnasts and Parents. Drs. Sue and Joseph Massimo
- And if none of those work I highly recommend: A BARTENDERS GUIDE TO COCKTAILS
FIVE iPHONE APPS EVERY COACH SHOULD HAVE
Five iPhone Apps Every Coach Should Have
Reminders/Calender/Siri (built-in)
The reason why I’m sitting down to write this blog entry is because a few days ago I asked my iPhone to remind me. With the new iPhone 4S, its as easy as pushing down the home button and saying something like, “Remind me to email the Level 4 parents when I get to the gym.” It works like magic. Older iPhones can still take advantage of the new Reminders app and the seamless integration between it and the Calender app. Being a coach is a job that requires you to do hundreds of different tasks, sometimes all at once. The iPhone can easily help you retain at least some of your sanity!
Reminders/Calender/Siri (built-in)
The reason why I’m sitting down to write this blog entry is because a few days ago I asked my iPhone to remind me. With the new iPhone 4S, its as easy as pushing down the home button and saying something like, “Remind me to email the Level 4 parents when I get to the gym.” It works like magic. Older iPhones can still take advantage of the new Reminders app and the seamless integration between it and the Calender app. Being a coach is a job that requires you to do hundreds of different tasks, sometimes all at once. The iPhone can easily help you retain at least some of your sanity!
The Moments We Coach For
Beth Gardner, Heart of Texas Gymnastics
Dear Fellow Coaches,
Thank you for the work you do every single day in gyms across our country. You have such impact on the children with whom you work. You teach them skills so far beyond cartwheels and back handsprings. The lessons you teach them are so far reaching that they will carry them with them for the rest of their lives. Never under-estimate the impact you have on their lives every day.
I was utterly flattered and totally thrilled when Tony asked me to help out with his new project. He asked me to write an article about anything I wanted to cover. I racked my brains for days trying to come up with something I wanted to cover; a drill, a lesson plan, something about early childhood development. There were numerous topics I could choose from, but none of them jumped out at me. I kept thinking, and trying to wring it out of my brain. ..but I couldn’t come up with anything that really struck me in the moment.
Until today.
Our girls competed at Judge’s Cup a couple of weeks ago. Like many meets, there was a photographer there taking pictures of the meet for later sale. When they posted the pictures up on their website, I went to look at the pictures some of my parents told me about. There were several really good pictures on the site, but four stood out to me as extremely special.
They weren’t pictures of perfect performances or awe-inspiring skills. They were snapshots of the moments immediately following each girl’s performance at beam. They were snapshot of the moments we share after each event when we touch base before going back to our seats. I’m sure many of you know the moments of which I speak. When the kid knows they did well, and walk over to their coach beaming with pride or they know they have blown an event and they run to their coach for comfort.
Those moments.
So, I ordered the pictures.
They arrived in my mailbox today, and as I opened them and looked at them, my singular thought was, “These are the moments for which I coach.”
Let me share some of the moments I cherish…
[Read more…]
Product Review, Tumbl Trak’s Air Pit
This past summer the good people from Tumbl Trak were nice enough to send me some products to demo. They sent to my gym in NH and camp in NY
- Air Pit (think inflatable level 4 vault mat)
- Cast Trainer Bar
- Quick Flex bar in a bag
- Orbiter
- Bungee ramp
- A few of the Forester Bar
- Booster Blocks
- Pit Pillows
I promised to give the equipment a good workout and send them a review of the equipment. The first piece of equipment I reviewed was the Air Pit. I was a little nervous about the durability of the mat. We planned on using the mat both for your traditional Level 4 vaults but also we used it behind the table for Vault Timers for some pretty big kids. In the end we ended up using this all over the place.
- We used it for vault
- We used it out on the floor for double back and full in back out timers.
- We used it over at bars behind the low bar for Over shoots and we stood it up on end to use it to help with clear hips.
- I even threw it over the trampoline and used it for some vault drills.
- The last thing I did was flip it upside down and we took it white water rafting. WARNING- DO NOT DO THIS. WE ARE STUPID.
What I like about the pit-
- It only weighs 70 pounds! Very easy to move
- Easy to fill up with air.
- Lots of velcro on it to attach other mats.
- Stays firm, every once and a while you need to add some air but it stays firm.
- Pretty versatile
- Very Buoyant.
- Good price
What I didn’t like
- Pretty Hard. You really cant use it alone for tumbling or vault. You will need to have another mat on it.
- Surface is a little uneven.
- Doesn’t handle very well in rapids
- Difficult to get back in if you fall out as you go over a waterfall.
I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL IT SNOWS! WE ARE GOING TO TAKE IT SLEDDING!
click to enlarge
Gymnastics in My Eyes
Gymnastics In My Eyes
Gymnastics doesn’t define us. It only shapes who we are as people. It is a piece of the puzzle to the larger picture we call life. The lessons from all the pain, suffering, perseverance & joy we experience in the gym goes far beyond the gym doors. We are a special breed. No other athlete works harder than we do. No one can learn the lessons we have because they haven’t experienced our path. We are one of a kind. A chosen kind to serve in this amazing sport we call gymnastics.
Eddie Umphrey
Twitter Handle: @EddieUmphrey
Youtube site: allblkninja
So what does Gymnastics mean to you?
Wit and Wisdom of the Week
Lately I have been finding myself collecting quotes and phrases. I write them in a note book, I write them on scraps of paper and stick them in my pocket, like many people I will write them on my hand.
These can be anything from something funny a kid said in the gym to something more profound that I read in a magazine or book.
Here are my favorites for this week:
“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
[Read more…]
Doc Gump
Dr. Joe Massimo, affectionately known as Doc throughout the gymnastics community, began his career in gymnastics in 1950 and has remained active in the sport ever since. As a competitor, coach, and judge in the 50’s and 60’s, he joined the United States National Coaching Staff in 1969 as a Special Assistant. Having recently graduated from Harvard University with a Master’s and Doctorate in Clinical and School Psychology, Doc focused on helping grow the sport of gymnastics in this country into an international presence while working with several World and Olympic Games Teams over the years…
This is a first hand account of one of the countless people who Doc has impacted:
[Read more…]
Thank You!
It is pretty appropriate that as we approach Thanksgiving in the USA I am launching this new project. I am excited getting this off the ground but I am equally nervous of letting everyone down.
There are so many coaches out there who have shared their drills, ideas and stories with Gym Momentum.- HAVE YOU?
I need to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped make Gym Momentum possible.
- My wife and children for their constant support and for putting up with me.
- Doug Ridley, truly a social media and marketing expert.
- My staff at Atlantic Gymnastics Training Center
As a coach I could devote an entire book thanking everyone who has influenced me through out the years. I do believe that every coach needs to look and see who has made the biggest impression on them as a coach and why.
“If you know your history, Then you would know where you’re coming from.”
Bob Marley,
- Don Tonry- You showed me that there was a science to gymnastics. It wasn’t just Throw and Go!
- Frank DeFrancesco, Andy Antonelli who were clinicians at my first Region 6 Mini Congress when I was just starting out as a coach. You shared so many drills with me. I am just passing them on.
- Kip Reed who was also a clinician at my Mini Congress and who remains a good friend today. You didn’t blow off my questions and I love our conversations to this day.
- Muriel Grossfeld for helping me not get lost with my first elite gymnasts.
- My gymnastics camp family. Every summer you energize me, every summer I learn from you.
- Dr. Joseph “DOC” Massimo. Through the years you shared so much information. I can never thank you enough.
- My mother, Denise Edmonds, who gave me my first job as a coach. Then encouraged me to go to college for something different.
The most important people to thank are the athletes I have worked with through out my career. I have learned from each of you and this site will always be dedicated to you.
Tony
Welcome
Today is the official unveiling of Gym Momentum. This project has been a long time coming!
As coaches, I believe, that we all enjoy hanging out after competitions and training camps – talking gymnastics, sharing drills and ideas and telling great stories. That is the feeling that I want people to have when they visit this website.
Gym Momentum is
- A place to pick up a drill
- A place to share a drill
- A place to share a video of a new skill
- A place to tell a funny story
- A place to share a review/ report on a competition or training camp
and as much as we hate to admit it-
- A place to share a video of a good crash!
I plan on posting things daily Monday- Friday. I already have some great content to share from some great coaches around the country.
I hope you’ll check it out over the next few weeks and consider becoming a contributor as well. Contribute
My dream is for Gym Momentum to become a place where you can laugh, share and learn.
Tony
