Training Plan

Developing a Plan for Uneven Bars

October 26, 2015 by Tony Retrosi 4 Comments

Developing a Plan for Uneven Bars

If you are going to be successful at coaching bars, you need a plan. Every gymnast is going to be a little different, every group of gymnasts you have will be different from past groups. Knowing this, when you create your plan keep it general. You will fill in the specifics later based on the needs of individuals. There can be no generic plan. I think the best way to get an idea for YOUR plan is an example of what goes in to mine.

I will be posting a few of my favorite drills for all of these skills in the near future BUT It must start with a plan.

Let me know your thoughts and share your favorite drills

The 18 Month Rule.
Once you get past Level 3, you need to make sure that your gymnasts stay about 18 months ahead with the skills they need for the future. (They should be about twice that on floor!). I have been in gyms where it took nearly the entire bar workout to get the gymnasts through their routines. Dividing my bar workouts into thirds.

Routine work and specific conditioning.
Problem Parts and drills
New skills and combinations

I like to make sure is that the gymnast gets their dismount first. They should have a dismount that they can compete and a dismount that is in their training routine. My reasoning is that if they are comfortable with their dismount, they can focus on the other elements in their routines. As they go into competitions their routine will be newest skills to oldest skill.

Fly Away
I teach fly aways with little kids (level 3) on low bar. Why? Because they are little and light! I do NOT teach tuck flyaways. I go right to layouts. My theory is that a body will follow its feet. If they tuck their feet are CLOSER to the bar. Most kids are afraid of kicking the bar. You might as well teach them to swing up and away in a layout.

Swing to flyaway
Cast to flyaway
Clear hip (or Toe on HS) to Flyaway
Giant to fly away

A gymnast should be able to do a fly away from all 4. You never know when or how they will need it in the future.

Front Fly away
I teach this and let them do it alone over the pit pretty young. Reality is that when they are learning this they are falling faster than flipping. They are getting comfortable with a front flip. Most gymnasts do not swing hard enough so many will do a pike or ugly tuck. This doesn’t make me happy but I do not worry about it too much.

Cast Handstands
We all agree that cast handstands take a HUGE amount of time. We spot these (or should) everyday. Hundreds if not thousands of repetitions. I like to introduce the cast to handstand as early as level 3. While I am teaching cast handstands I teach a 1/2 pirouette at the same time. Many beginner optional gymnasts have a lot of fear with falling over the bar on cast handstands. So I teach a pirouette at the same time. If they are comfortable with falling (and turning) they will go for it harder. It takes countless repetitions. Be patient.

Inbar skills
The next thing we spend a lot of time coaching and spotting on bars are inbar skills. For most of the gymnasts that is clear hip circles and toe on handstands. I start every gymnast with clear hip circles but move to toe on handstand pretty quick. I feel that I can spend 80 hours working with a group of 10 gymnasts and get 1 really good clear hip circle (but still with some inconsistency) and maybe 2 other with reasonable clear hip circles. 2 more that occasionally make it to handstand and the rest really struggle with form, handstands etc. Spending the same amount of time on Toe on Handstands I have found more success and those gymnasts transition more easily into stalders.

Clear hip
Toe on handstand
Stalder Endo
Inside stalder Inside Endo

Giants
This skill is often looked at as the make or break skill for many beginner optional gymnasts. You need it to be competitive at Level 7 and it really is a must for all advanced skills that come after that. I have always tried to teach front and back giants at the same time. Many of the drills are the same. It is important with front giants to also teach a “beat tap” as opposed to an uprise tap. With out this tap the gymnast will struggle with Jaegers or double fronts. If a gymnast does not front giant they will never be totally comfortable with pirouettes.

When learning giants I want the gymnasts to be comfortable swinging in all grips (over grip for back giant. Under grip and “L” (eagle) grip for front giants) and facing both directions.

Turning Giants
Once a gymnast can front giant (with spot) I want them to begin to pirouette (blind changes and higgens). This is nearly simultaneous. I want the gymnasts to be relatively free from fear swinging in under grip before they blind change. If they know what is going to happen going over the bar when they pirouette and what their body is going to do under the bar, they will be more comfortable in doing the pirouette. REMEMBER to teach a gymnast how to pirouette OUT of their front giant and how to FAIL. The more comfortable they are, the more aggressive they will be in their tap and the more willing they will be to experiment (play) with new skills.

Release Moves The Big 3. Jaeger, Tkatchev, Gienger.
I start everyone with drills for Jaeger and Tkatchev. Those 2 share a lot of the same drills and the hecht action is necessary for the toe on “hic-cup” to high bar.

The Jaeger is my current preference to push early because I think it may be the most difficult and therefore takes the longest to learn. If a gymnast has a blind change to Jaeger they have at least +.2 in bonus and fulfill 3 special requirements in that they turn, they have a release move, they are in under grip.

The Tkatchev as I stated shares many of the same drills as Jaeger and helps in other skills. This needs to be viewed as a BASE in that there are SO MANY skills that use that action (Hic-cup, Tkatchev, Maloney, Ray, Shaposhnikova, Hindorf, Kim, etc). A Tkatchev also has a fairly large margin of error and still be able to catch.

Gienger- I have been pretty successful teaching kids this skill but I view it more as a skill for the right gymnast. One who has a big “floaty” flyaway.

PAK/ OVERSHOOT
At the JO level I think many gymnasts have an easier time with a Pak because they can set the bars WIDE and have the low bar higher than FIG which helps hide some of the common problems. Although I do NOT think the skill itself is that complicated, keep in mind that most gymnasts are going to need to Kip cast 1/2 pirouette out of it. If you have a gymnast who struggles with pirouettes, you may want to teach an over shoot.

I teach overshoots and Paks at the same time and then see which is best for which gymnasts based on their fear and potential.

This is the first in a series of posts. I will be breaking down and posting drills for each skill.

Presentation

Basics Win Medals in Gymnastics

September 23, 2015 by Tony Retrosi Leave a Comment

Sherlock Holmes knew it was elementary and if you look closely at performance at the highest level – you will see huge commonalities – those commonalities are quite elementary. IT’S THE BASICS.

Great performance consists of the basics flawlessly executed with speed and precision in a chaotic environment. Because the competition environment is so chaotic it is easy to lose sight of the basics. We chase the next BIG SKILL or SERIES. But don’t be fooled. Those skills could not be performed without great basics.

What is the message? Know the basics inside out. Teach the basics. Master the basics. Practice the basics everyday no matter if you are number one in the world or a novice training for the first time. Never allow the basics to become mundane.

Basics win medals because they are stable and consistent.

Things that should go into your TRAINING PLAN

Start with the basics and never stray far from the basics.
Don’t try to replicate the stress of the sport in training, instead prepare for the stress of the sport.
Have a plan, execute it and constantly evaluate the plan.
You must know the process in order to be able to focus on the process.
Coach the person not the athlete
Teach skills not drills.
Build on strengths and minimize weaknesses
Train fast to be fast. You are what you train to be.
You compete the way you train. Understand the demands of the sport and train to exceed those demands.
Don’t try to replicate competitions in training, distort it.
Never allow equipment or facilities to dictate your training.

Preparing for the End of the season

April 4, 2012 by Tony Retrosi Leave a Comment

As we prepare for the end of the season I am reminded that Gymnastics is not a test you can cram for. To really be successful in gymnastics you need to prepare well and prepare early. In the final weeks or month of a season you may be able to save a tenth here or there but you are not going to make any HUGE changes to routine. In a recent USECA newsletter, Dr. Sands expresses his enthusiasm for the upcoming Olympic Games and the dramatic routines and skills athletes from the USA are doing. At recent International competitions athletes from the USA have shown a superior level of difficulty and execution. Dr. Sands goes on to warn:

Sadly, If history repeats itself (and it tends to), we will likely lose 2 to 3 of our best athletes due to injury on the way to the Olympic Games. Coaches and athletes – think twice and then twice again when performing while fatigued. Get prepared early. Past data showed that coaches tended to wait too long to prepare and thus increased the fatigue and instability of performances by doing so. Don’t get caught; establish your routines early so that you can concentrate on perfection and specific fitness as you approach the Trials and Games.

All too often I have heard coaches talk about the skills they are going to add to routines for States, Regionals or Nationals. The real conversation should be about what skills they are going to TAKE OUT.

It may be too late for this year but you can lay the base for next year NOW. I am certainly NO expert, I have made thousands of mistakes (and I like to believe that I have learned from MOST of them). With that being said, here are my thoughts on a training plan for the year. Keep in mind that every situation is different. Every athlete is different. BUT, before you come up with more individual training plans you must have a general one.

September 1st. 110% of all skills needed for this years routines. Although landings can be “soft” the skill itself needs to be performed by the athlete without spot. Why 110%? Injuries and fatigue are reality in gymnastics. It is better to be over prepared and be able to take skills out if their routines then to try to add something. By Having MORE than what they need, they remain competitive at their level even when you take skills out.

End of October. All Routines onto competition surface. This doesn’t have to happen every day but my experience has shown me that if they are not doing it in a routine by this time of the year, they are not going to add it as you are now starting to focus on more and more routines.

End of November. Should have had 1st meet. Lots of difficulty, lots of falls. That is OK. Need to get the experience

Mid December (I use this as a date because I have a meet at my gym. Kids are comfortable, it is a cheap entry fee with no travel). Hardest difficulty of the year.

Beginning of January. We usually have a couple of meets in t first 1/2 of January. Because of Holidays and potential of snow days (yeah- we get those up here) workout can be a little inconsistent. These meets we start taking skills out of Routines and focusing on consistency of routines in practice and competitions.

February. In general, the routines that we are competing in February will be the routines we compete for the remainder of the season.

March Typically State Meet. My goal is to get the kids through the State Meet and to Regionals and Nationals without injury. We Train Hard. Nearly 100% focus on perfecting routines and consistency. I get pretty paranoid and really try NOT TO take any unnecessary risks in the gym. Even a twisted ankle at this point in the season could be disastrous. We try very hard to make every practice like a competition. Timed warm up etc.

April/ May– Level 9/10 Regional Championships and National Championships. Just be consistent in routines. Clean Landings. Good handstands. It may be boring for the kids so try to make things small contests.

After Nationals– 1 week of just easy drills in the gym. No risks. Then start to play with the skills that you took out of routines earlier in the year.

There are so many other factors that go into a “good year”. Nutrition, Conditioning, Time to Recover. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Good luck!

Have some thoughts and want to share your training plan? Keep the MOMENTUM going. SHARE