April started here in the North East of the USA with a bit on a windy Easter followed by some snow today.
I am really ready for spring!
We are less than 2 weeks out for Level 9 and 10 Regional Championships in the USA. This time of year I get the most nervous. It is PMS (pre-meet-stress!). We hide it from the athletes as best we can but it leaks into your life. You family and friends may notice it. Your gymnasts most certainly notice it. Make sure you are taking care of your self. You cannot afford to get sick this time of year!
One of the biggest stressors in the gym is trying to keep the gymnasts healthy. It is NOT the time to try to add something to their routines. Every year I see a gymnast in someone’s gym try to upgrade their difficulty this time of year and then they get hurt. Missing being able to compete at Regionals and their chance at Easterns/ Westerns or Nationals. They may not even get hurt on the NEW skill. Training is cumulative. It is the stress, impact and repetitions of the entire season. Every gymnast is going to reach their breaking point physically and emotionally. You want to see them get to the end of the season with a little bit of gas in the tank.
I had an opportunity to speak to one of my former gymnasts on Saturday. A women who I had had when I first opened up my gym 20 + years ago. We joked and laughed but all I could think about was HOW MUCH SHE TAUGHT ME and HOW MUCH I HAVE LEARNED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS. If I had coached every subsequent generation of athletes the way I coached them I would probably be out of business and had a bunch of injured athletes around. Of course I thought I had all the answers. I trained hard and with a purpose but with out the experience. I made mistakes and learned from them. I went to training camps and spent time in other peoples gyms learning from their success and mistakes.
When I put together the staff for Gym Momentum Camp I find coaches with the knowledge, passion and experience. We want visiting coaches and gymnasts to learn from our successes and failures. It really is the only way to improve yourself. This day and age, anyone with an iPhone and a youtube account can record something and call themselves an expert. There is a lot of junk out their right now. Like the lessons that I have learned – just because I taught it once – that doesn’t make me an expert and that doesn’t mean everyone will learn it the same way.
Other News:
Last week on “ASK GYM MOMENTUM” I was asked a question on Conditioning for uneven bars. Here is the link to the answer.
I was able to meet up with Nick Ruddock for breakfast. We had a great time talking technique and philosophy. We will be collaborating on some projects in the future. We are trying to do a Podcast in May when we will both be in Germany.
USAG had it’s first Board of Directors meeting last Wednesday. Some of you e-mail me your concerns and thoughts. I sent these on to members of the BoD. At this point I have not heard the outcome of the meeting. I will send out an e-mail as soon as I hear.
Train safe, Train Smart
Tony
Gym Momentum Training Camp Brochure to distribute to parents and athletes
GYM MOMENTUM TRAINING CAMP IMPORTANT FORMS
GYM MOMENTUM TRAINING CAMP ENTRY 2018
gym-momentum-t-shirt-size-form (Every gymnast and coach gets a T-shirt)
