I’m turning 52 this year and I’ve been involved in gymnastics my entire life. When I was first coaching I was looking for “the secret”. There must be some secret to achieve gymnastics excellence. If I could only learn that secret from other coaches! Now in the day of social media it seems like every other week there is an “expert” selling Their Secret.
It is always good for a laugh when I see a new article or a post on the unveiling of the latest secret training method.
I will let you in on a little secret – there are no secrets!
There are no secrets; There are no shortcuts to the podium. You can keep looking if you want but you are wasting your time. Know the basics, master the basics repeat them until they are flawless. Every gymnast and group is going to be different. Individualize the training and adapt the techniques so it fits the athlete. Stop trying to fit the athlete to the event.
Here is my path.
- Strength, Speed and Body Shapes come before skill
- Mastery of basic skills with fairly uniform technique.
- Mastery of more advanced basics with adaption made to individuals. FOR EXAMPLE- I teach twisting technique the same AT THE BEGINNING for every athlete. BUT, when I see it is not working with one particular gymnast I make adjustments to fit her/him. I do NOT reinvent the wheel with each gymnast or group. I do not change the entire plan based on one gymnast. **
- REMEMBER – gymnasts change physically and mentally. As a gymnast grows and gains mass you will need to adapt to their new body and mind set. Pay attention and listen to them. They need to be the drivers in these situations.
- Skills need to be mastered BEFORE they go in routines. Then routines need to mastered before they are competed.
- You, as the coach, must be as calm and analytical as possible. You do your job. They do their job.
- All the time in the gym bust be quality time and accounted for.
- Plan, Plan, Plan. Then have a back up Plan
- Each competition needs to have some significance. Sometimes it is just doing their new routines in a comfortable setting.
- Every practice needs to have some element of competition.
- Keep it FUN
Practice with purpose and direction and realize that it will take time. A little talent helps, but a little talent can go a long way if it is maximized. There are no secrets!
** I was at a gym and they had a REALLY weird bar setting. Low bar and High Bar set at as high as they would go. The spread of the bars relatively close (Not all the way out. Maybe just a little larger than FIG). I asked why- They said they had one VERY tall gymnast and she needed that setting so she wouldn’t touch the floor and was close enough for her to straddle back. They were making ALL the gymnasts compete on this setting. No one likes to set the bars in workout- but now you have made the exception the rule.
