It’s already 2019, can you believe it?! A whole new year that is going to be filled with discovery, and what a year it is going to be for all of us at FCGC. We are all so excited for what’s in store for us all and all the new things we will learn along the way.

Around this time of year, we seem to be bombarded with expectations to have a New Year’s Resolution. Either from an advertisement, friends, family, class mates etc. even if it is only in fun and jest. The idea of placing one goal high up on a pedestal - which you will ultimately either complete or not – is not my cup of tea, so to speak. Instead of me discussing my own opinions, lets discuss the benefits of goal setting instead!
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If you are anything like me, having lots of little goals gives me a greater sense of achievement. I am more likely to successfully achieve these goals because of this. By having lots of little milestones to strive for, that will last over a longer duration of time, the more chances i have of feeling successful. Let’s be honest, lots of achievements are going to be more rewarding than just one big one, that’s if you do manage to keep your new years resolution in the first place!

So how can you go about goal setting in a more achievable manner?

Let's say you have decided you want to be "stronger" in 2019. That's a fantastic start. You now have a very generalised idea of what you would like to be able to do. So what can you do next? Have you thought about what being "stronger" means to you? Do you have a skill you would like to be able to demonstrate at the end of it? Maybe you've decided you want to be able to do 50 push-ups by the end of the year. Now comes the planning about how you can achieve this. You might like to set yourself a daily goal of doing as many push-ups as you possibly can. You may even like to set a goal of being able to do 20 push-ups by the end of February. Identifying ways to get you to your end goal is going to make all of this so much easier, and feel a lot more rewarding along the way! 

It seems most of the focus of a New Years Resolution tends to be put on drastically changing an element of yourself, instead of working on what you already possess. As individuals we all have qualities that nobody else possesses. Identifying what you already have and working on them can only improve and better yourselves, not only for 2019 but the remainder of your life.

Taking this mentality and applying it gymnastics will only give everyone a chance to truly grow!

From everybody here at FCGC to you, we wish you all a SAFE and Happy New Year!

Signing off for now,
​Coach Maygan.

As parent or guardian of a gymnast we all want to see them achieve their very best. We have put them into their classes hoping to see them flourish and grow into their full personal and gymnastics potential. While that is fantastic, the truth is, they are still people who will feel down on themselves every now and again. That’s when you become vital to their development, as they are still young people, they don’t yet have the full mental capacity to handle stressful situations on their own.

Coaches will try their best to build a gymnast’s spirits back up, no matter how long it takes. However, with your direct support by setting your child up for success before they even step into the gym will benefit everybody involved!
 
Here’s how you could refocus and guide your gymnast:
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Listen to them.
This might seem obvious. Yet how often do we find ourselves projecting our own opinions onto others? Encourage your gymnast to confide in you about how they are feeling, and what they might like to be done about it. Allowing a child to be involved in their decision making WITH you will only build a feeling of trust. The more they trust you, the more likely they are to open about their thoughts and feelings without the potential feeling of disappointment.  
 
Praise their efforts.
We would like to think that we tell our children how proud we are of them often, but sometimes being specific about an action we are proud of can help build character for your child. If you simply tell them “good job” that feels rewarding in the moments. If you were to say, “good job on rings today, you had lots of tries even though you were tired”, your child is going to remember that for next time.
 
Give them time to rest.
Gymnastics is a physically and mentally demanding sport. It is to be expected that a gymnast of any age will need time to recover and rest. I would also go as far to say that is the same for all sports. Where as most sports seasons run over the winter or summer, gymnastics runs all year round. If they need a week or two off to focus on something else, that’s ok. It doesn’t mean they aren’t progressing at all, it just means they are operating at their own pace.
 
Communicate this with their coach.
Building a trust worthy relationship with your child’s coach is important for many reasons, but most importantly they are going to be your child’s support down in the gym.  If your gymnast has been feeling upset about coming to gymnastics, make sure you communicate that with the gym or the coach, so they can be especially attentive to their needs and emotions. Coaches have a whole range of teaching tactics they can use, and the more information they have about a gymnast… the more the gymnast will get out of their lessons!
 
Children are incredibly resilient, and with the proper guidance, support and educational environment they can truly flourish. Give them time, kind words and they can achieve anything.
 
SKILLS FOR LIFE

Signing off for now,
Coach Maygan.

Signing off for now,
​Coach Maygan.

We can hardly believe it, and I'm sure you can't as well!
We are just one week out from our End of Year Display!

Our Gymnasts have been hard at work in the Gym every week of this Term,  remembering all of the elements of their individual apparatus and group routines. 

With the support and encouragement of their coaches, all of their routines are looking fantastic! We can hardly wait to see them performed for all of our spectators.

The costumes are getting their final touches. Skills are getting refined. Gymnasts are inviting friends & family. Front Desk is readying our Raffle Donations Table. Coaches are preparing the gym for over 300 spectators. Our High Bar Cafe will be also be opening it's doors! 

We can hardly wait!

If you need any further information on times, costumes, raffle donations etc.

All information can be found on our website.

Signing off for now,
Coach Maygan.

                                                   No Coach Thomas's were harmed in the taking of this image.

 Ah gymnastics. How graceful, strong and impressive it is… until a gymnast takes a tumble and then maybe not so much? Or maybe it still is.

Behind every well executed skill, are dozens if not hundreds of falls, slips and blunders.

Before a skill can be mastered… its critical a gymnast knows how to FALL out of the skill. Every skill is going to place them in a slightly different body position to a previous skill learnt. With that body position change, comes weight distribution changes and change of balance.

This means there are going to be numerous ways to fall out of a skill.

The better prepared your gymnast is to safely fall out of a skill, the better!

Safety Rolls allow gymnasts to absorb the impact of a fall over a larger surface area of their bodies. Allowing for a smooth, and a “stress free” recovery. The gymnast should roll in the direction of their movement – forwards or diagonally, backwards or sideways – instead of fighting to suddenly stop the momentum.

Behind every safe fall is a technique used to protect a gymnasts limbs, head, neck and joints.

For a Gymnast, a fall can be a make or break when it comes to developing a Mental Block. A fall can have a negative effect on skill development and can take a longer duration to recover from.

I believe it would be fair to say that for the most part, a Gymnast is more fearful of the fall than they are to learn a skill. The skill is a known, you can see it demonstrated… understand its movements. What is unknown, is what it will be like to fall from it.

The human brain will create new neurological pathways as your gymnasts learns and explores different outcomes. Each slip, stumble or miss… is critical for their gymnastics journey.

Learning to fall safely is a SKILL FOR LIFE. Learning safe falls now, might just help them later in life.

“Falls are a major health issue in the community with around 30% of adults over 65 experiencing at least one fall per year” – Australian & NZ Falls Prevention Society

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                                       Here is a video of some SAFE falls in action:

Had you ever considered falls to be an art form of gymnastics? Do you have an experience with a fall in the Gym you'd like to share? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Signing off for now,
​Coach Maygan.

Did you know that FCGC offers free classes for children who are not yet walking? We believe that this stage of development in a child’s life is so fundamental that every parent deserves access to education to give their baby the best chance. So why not pop down on a Tuesday from 12.30-1pm and join us to learn!?

1 – Get them standing
Baby’s from around the age of 4 months will be able to support themselves with their legs when held upright. This a great way to start building the strength needed through the hips and legs and also promotes mental stimulation. Children learn by looking, while standing babies are able to see things from a different level and are encouraged to learn.

2 -  Playing with others
Children learn by watching. The more you can get your little one around children who are a little bit older and more physically advanced the sooner your will wanting to catch up and join in. Before you know it, they will be pulling themselves to stand trying to catch up with the older kids.

3 – Work to play
Rather than making play time simple by handing a toy to your child place it on a secure and reachable height. This will encourage your child to pull themselves up to be able to gain access to the toy. Start with a low surface and gradually build up the height over time.

4 – Squatting is key
Children have a beautiful squat but it something they tend to lose over time. By encouraging your baby to squat down when picking something up you will be fostering the development of leg, hip and core muscles that are all required for walking.

5 – Barefoot baby
Sensory activation is key when it comes to walking. Your child needs to be able to feel the floor underfoot to appropriately adjust their balance. Difference surfaces require your baby to engage their body in different ways. So, when they can’t feet what is underfoot it hinders their learning process.

6 – Music and Rhythm
Children love to move to music, so where possible pump those tunes and dance with your baby. You will notice your little one will do a lot of bouncing up and down which will only continue to help strengthen the muscles needed for walking. The earlier children can understand rhythm the better of their walking will be. When your child is ready to walk they will mostly likely take uneven steps and not have a pattern to their movements. But with the assistance of music we can encourage baby to walk with a rhythmical quality which will increase balance and overall stability.

7- Crawling
This might seem like a logical one but is missed by many. Crawling is a key developmental millstone not only for walking but for many other daily activities such a writing, eating and other gross motor activities. If your baby is starting to take some steps but hasn’t crawled yet get down on the floor with them and crawl around, turn it into a game.  The benefits will be monumental.

8 – Cruising
Cruising is explained simply by a child walking with assistance of something like furniture. These may be the first few wobbly steps you see your little one taking and will be a big benefit in building up their confidence to one day take these steps independently.

9- Offer the right physical support and assistance
As adults out first thought of how to offer assistance is often to hold our little one’s hand, but did you know that there are other options that will benefit you child more? Support you child from around the chest/underarms will actually allow them to engage their core and center their own weight meaning they can learn to balance themselves. By holding hands, we allow the child to lean their weight onto us meaning they are not balanced just supported.

10- Always encourage
You baby will always want to continue trying an activity if you are excited and encouraging about it. By being their biggest cheerleader, you are actually helping them develop in ways you may not even know. So continue to offer encouragement every time you little one is up on their feet.

If you have any tips for helping little ones walk for the first time, email them through to me so we care share them with the wider community – jeslarsen@fcgc.com.au

Stay tuned for my next blog – “The power of play”
Jes

We have asked our fantastic Alison to write a blog post for you all today!


Communication. We all use it. Either verbally, digitally or visually. Yet how often do we stop to think about the words we use to communicate?

Communication by its definition is: “The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium” – English Oxford Living Dictionaries.

With the introduction of computers, the internet & mobile phones have provided us with many more opportunities to obtain and share information than there once was.

Regardless of the method we use, the way we communicate our information can positively or negatively impact our daily relations both personally or in the Gym.

With face to face communication, factors such as the way we listen, how we use our voice and body language can influence whether our communication interactions are positive or negative.

Positive communication experiences enhance our sharing of ideas and enables us to be open to others views and challenge opinions. This in turn allows the acceptance and development of ideas, as well as the introduction and or growth of new ideas, work practices and lifestyle choices.

Listening is an important part of communication! Receiving the information is just as important as sending it.

Showing that you are actively listening by asking questions, offering suggestions and being open to others opinions keeps everyone engaged in the topic. We can practice active listening by waiting for others to finish speaking and by paraphrasing what has been said. This helps to clarify what has been heard and understood.

Body language including position of arms, eye contact, facial expressions and the way we stand can impact the way we communicate. To enhance open and equal communication, we should practice being relaxed with a calm voice, an open body (arms not crossed), facing the person and maintaining eye contact.

Listening and body language are just some tools that we can practice to support positive communication to promote open discussion, respect and support.

By practicing positive communications and sharing these methods helps us to grow in our ideas and be open to change and development... both personally  or in the Gym!

Here is a Positive Language Exercise you might like to try:

-Yes, you did read that correctly. It’s also entirely accurate.

However, we don’t sit your little gymnasts down in the gym with a large text book on The Laws of Physics and ask them to “turn to page 203”.

Instead we are using Physical Sciences and Bio-mechanics to help teach your gymnast every time they do a roll, tumble, cartwheel, somersault or bar skill. Or maybe I should say, they are teaching themselves to be Physicists.

This is likely something that has never crossed your mind before, so let’s break it all down so we can understand together how and why Gymnastics is teaching your gymnasts Physics.

Let’s introduce you to some very close friends of a Gymnast: Velocity, Rotation, Momentum and Mass. These aspects of Physics are the driving forces behind everything you see in Gymnastics.

Expecting a gymnast to remember all the technical terms or being able to explain them isn’t crucial. However, without their knowing, they are learning to understand how they are applied to their actions and motion any time they do literally anything.

Every time they walk, they are learning how to adjust their Center of Mass. Whenever they run and must suddenly stop, they are making tiny corrections from their heads down to their toes that will affect their Center of Mass and Velocity.

In Gymnastics it is the same techniques but applied on a much bigger scale. As we all are aware, there are many apparatus’s and skills involved in Gymnastics and they all require a particular formula to be applied to get the desired result.

For example, when a Gymnast leaves the mat they have applied an angular momentum from their push-off. Once they have left the mat, the momentum cannot be changed. However, the Gymnast may be required to change the speed of their rotation while moving through the air.

Ok sounds simple enough, right? But how can they alter the speed of their rotation without pushing off an object? Simple. They can achieve this by changing their Centre of Mass from the axis of rotation. The Angular Momentum can be increased or decreased by compressing or expanding the distance between the Mass and the Axis of Rotation.

What I am REALLY saying is, the tighter the gymnast tucks… the faster they will rotate.
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It might all seem a bit much and daunting, but that's ok! Our bodies are wonderful machines that can learn, adapt and apply these physics almost instantaneously.
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Here is an informative video by Stephanie McGregor who is a Bio-engineering Major as well as a College Gymnast.

​It is a fun video to watch, that will help to explain things a little further while demonstrating some very impressive Gymnastics Skills: