In gymnastics as in life the only constant is change. Otherwise we would still be competing on wooden balance beams and on horse-hair mats. If you are the best at what you do you must change and adapt to stay the best. How many gymnasts have you known that crushed it at Nationals one year and then the next year were an “also ran”? They failed to change.
A great coach must manage and lead change. Change represents an opportunity to improve. Without over reacting you need to view it as an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on the causes for change and then to come up with a plan. In gymnastics the focus must be on what needs to be done to produce both short and long term results.
Before you start making crazy/ random changes you need to plan. What’s the priority?
If everything is important then nothing is important. It is necessary to be on target with those components of training that the gymnasts need to do to improve.
- What did they do great in their last meet?
- Why?
- What did they miss?
- Why?
It is tempting to try to do everything to insure that all bases are covered. Unfortunately that’s not really possible.
In order to prioritize training this is what I consider:
Want to do – This consists of ideas on workouts or exercises that look like they might be useful but I have never used before. File them for use when appropriate.
Nice to do – This consists of useful methods that I can use if there is time or if the preschoolers are Not using the stations I want. Too many nice to do’s will kill a training program.
Need to do – This is the nitty-gritty, no B.S. here. These must be done.
As much as I try to individualize the workout as much as possible, I first look at what the GROUP needs. Then down to the needs of individuals. Regarding each gymnast I pay particular attention to their current needs and technical strengths and weaknesses. For me the emphasis is always on what they can do, not what they can’t do. Train the gymnast to their strengths and that will pull up their weaknesses. I certainly try to improve their weaknesses but reality in gymnastics to that we need to show off their strengths.
Now that we are in competition you need to think about the priority of each competition.
To aid in the prioritization process I also classify competitions into three categories:
– Early Season: Competition result is not of concern. The goal is to put the new skills and sequences out on the floor in a competitive situation. If we go into these competitions and hit 100%- I am pretty sure we didn’t learn enough skills in the summer.
– Important: This is where the competitive result can matter. We go in with specific goals and expectations.
– Crucial: These are your qualifiers and championship competitions. There is specific preparation and adequate rest to insure sharpness and competitive readiness.
You can’t be at the peak level year around. Priority training can help you achieve continual improvement by changing priorities based on the time of the training year and the state of the athlete.
