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Have you ever wondered where gymnastics skills get there names from? I'm sure you know that a few skills are named after particular gymnasts... but do you know when the skill was first competed? Or why it was so special? The world of gymnastics is ever changing, developing and growing. It is one of the few sports in the world that is guaranteed to evolve over time. In 30 years time, the competing world of gymnastics will not be what it is today. You will likely see current day skills removed, and new skills included. If youtube and video sharing is still relevant in 30 years, there is bound to be a new collection of "BANNED" gymnastics moves from the 2010's. To have the honor of having a skill named after you, it needs to be competed at a high level eg. World Championships & Olympics. Each skill is rated from category A (easiest) to category I (hardest). Victoria Moors: Floor Skill The Moors is a backwards double-twisting double layout. The hardest category rating of "I" was created by FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) especially for this skill. This skill is so challenging because the gymnast is landing completely blind. Olga Korbut: Balance Beam In the 1972 Olympics Soviet Gymnast Olga Korbut first performed her signature beam skill. It involved a backward somersault that ends with her straddling the beam. It was the first time this skill was performed and it changed the way competing gymnasts flowed on the beam. The skill can be seen at 0:40 seconds. Eberhard Gienger: Bars A Gienger is a backflip into a half turn - where a gymnast begins their swing facing outwards and ends with them facing inwards. This skill was first performed by German gymnast Eberhard Gienger. This skill can be competed in a piked position or in a layout position. It was a challange to find a video of him competing this skill from the 1970's. Here is a video of gymnast demonstrating the skill and a video of Gienger competing in the 1972 Olympics.
Elena Shushunova: Floor Soviet gymnast Elena Shushunova first competed this skill in the 1986 World Cup. It is now a skill that is competed by numerous gymnasts due to its versatility to connect it to other skills. Lisa Skinner is an Australian gymnast who competed the shushunova skill 3 times in her routine in the 2000 Olympics routine. Skill can be seen at 1:30 min of the video.
What did you think about all these elite gymnast and their trademark skills?
It would be great to do some more blog posts like this in the future. So we can learn a little bit of history behind some gymnastic skills. Signing off for now, Coach Maygan
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 In recent times we have observed an influx of recreational fitness programs marketed and programmed directly for the senior citizens of the world. In the global sporting world, we are noticing that more fitness centers are considering the importance of supporting and nurturing our elders. "This Program has boosted their confidence and they now believe they can do activities they never thought they could do before." - Chanelle Gunderson, Recreation Coordinator for Waterford. Delta Gymnastics As children, we are often told "respect your elders". Yet it seems as soon as we become adults ourselves, we seem to forget this a bit. It is no longer a larger priority of ours as we become consumed with the personal matters in our own lives. "Aging isn't just a biological process - it's also very much a cultural one." In an article by huffpost they mention their observations of cultural constructs regarding the elderly from Eastern and European, compared to Western countries. "While many cultures celebrate the aging process and venerate their elders, in Western Cultures - where youth is [idolized] and the elderly are commonly removed from the community - to hospitals and nursing homes -- aging has become a shameful experience." The article goes on state that "People themselves, when they're aging feel that there's something wrong with them and they're losing value." This is why it is so fantastic to see programs and companies showing their support in changing these ideas! In the past year a gymnastics club, Delta Gymnastics, has launched a program by the name of "Seniors Can Move". The program was a pet project of sorts for Chanelle Gunderson who envisioned the program as a game changer. Chanelle notes each week her gymnasts making progress with their confidence, balance and flexibility. In a previous blog post, I discussed how movement is crucial for the health and well being of our older citizens. It greatly reduces risk of falling, broken bones and mentally stimulates those who lack the social opportunities in their communities. Movement programs also reduce the chances of developing Dementia. You can read that blog post here. Chanelle also notes how her senior gymnasts met the program with reservation and a little fear initially. However, Coach Chanelle invited anyone who fit the bill to check out the facility and the program, even walk on the sprung floor before joining the program. "They took a leap of faith and decided it was good for them." At FCGC we wholeheartedly support the rise of senior gymnastics programs. Alongside our own Fitter For Life Program, we hope to transform the day to day lives of all those who participate. We intend to strengthen our gymnasts so they can be independent and function well into their later years. Do you know of anyone that could benefit from such a program? We would LOVE to have them be involved in one of our classes! Signing off for now, Coach Maygan Reference Articles: Huffpost Delta Gymnastics  I would like to touch on a topic that should be held highly in the hearts of all parents/carers/teachers etc. It's the importance of idols and leaders that our youths look up to. Those who inspire, teach and help our children grow into focused and driven adults.
Our children are going to admire several people of importance through out their childhood. Each member of their inspirational chart will be selected for a specific reason, that is instrumental to a chapter of their growth. I would like to mention an article from August 19th of 2016, from ABC News. The article is about a 6 year old gymnast named Nyla Miller, who had only been partaking in Gymnastics classes for a year at this point; who dreamed of being just like Simone Biles & Gabby Douglas. Young Nyla first witnessed the strength and grace of both Olympic Athletes during a live broadcast of the Rio Olympics in 2016. Nyla saw herself in these elite gymnasts and aspired to be just like them. They represented something for Nyla, which is irreplaceable in a child's life. Nyla's dad Miller was quoted reporting on the importance of these idols for his daughter. "She's been able to look at them and see that anything is possible. I am possible." A photo of Nyla sporting a Blue, Red & White leotard similar to Simone Bile's leotard was posted on her dad's social media. When unsuspectingly Simone Biles saw the photo she had been "tagged" in and shared it to her own personal social media for all her fans to see. Nyla's family was so surprised to see their daughters idol had shared her appreciation for Nyla on her social media to her 3.3million followers. This story is just one story out of millions. Each person, each child will have somebody they once or still do look up to. As adult's it can sometimes be difficult for us to relate to those our children look up to. We may not see what they see. However there is something in them, that they can connect with. It seems quite common for young children to idolize their Primary School teachers for example. This maybe for a variety reasons. It may be the case that they are consistently exposed to a familiar leader in their day to day life. It may be that they see their teacher as confident & kind and they wish to be like this also. It might even be that they see their teacher as an intellectual representation of themselves. It is fair to say that young people will after a period of time come to realize that their idols are just "ordinary people" just like they are. Flaws & faults included! Listen as best you can to the children in your life. Help them find people to support them, to inspire them, to build them up. We won't all have our idols reply to us on twitter or Instagram, as lovely as that would be. However helping to expose our children to positive representations will only help to encourage our kids to reach their full potential. Do your children have somebody they idolize? Are you unsure? Now is the perfect time to ask them! Signing off for now, Coach Maygan The press to handstand is one of the most difficult skills to achieve as well as one of the most important in the higher levels of gymnastics. The ‘press’, as it is affectionately known, has a number of different components which can take years to perfect and ultimately result in it’s mastery. The process of learning a press to handstand also develops and teaches valuable skills for life surrounding perseverance, determination and how to trust the process. So, without further ado, lets look at some tips to help you achieve your press to handstand! Like it’s name sake suggests the handstand is all about balancing...upside down! It takes a lot of practice to balance using our hands as though they are our feet. In order to best prepare our bodies to balance upside down we must undertake a lot of wrist conditioning. In our classes at FCGC we utilize the array of equipment on offer to help our gymnast’s develop strength in their wrists. Most of the time these activities are lots of fun for the gymnasts, but really there is purpose to our play. Compressing foam blocks from the foam pit or scrunching scarves with our hands all help to develop our wrist and hand strength. The second vital shape for the handstand which we practice from Geckos and Grown Ups through to Level 10 is our rocket or tall shape. This shape is the most important for a lot of skills, but none more so than the handstand. The gymnast practices standing in a straight line; extending upwards through their shoulders, pressing their ribs ‘inwards’ and pulling their hips ‘under’ to create a perfectly aligned and straight body. When inverted, this shape becomes a perfectly straight handstand which is easy to control and balance in.  The next component for a perfect press is core strength. In order to perform a press to handstand it is essential for a gymnast to develop their core stability through a range of exercises. As well as the general gymnastics core conditioning activities including the likes of ‘dish hold’ and leg lifts, there are many exercises which develop core strength in parallel with the press to handstand action. Stalder leg lifts are one such strengthening activity; the gymnast starts hanging on the bar and lifts their legs into an inverted straddle position. When rotated upside down the gymnast looks as though they are starting in a handstand and lowering down to a straddle support position; one of the many ways to start a press to handstand! Another similar drill is a lying press to handstand on a trapezoid shape. This drill not only works the gymnast’s core strength, but also their muscle memory for the skill. In this drill the gymnast begins lying on their back in a stretched position, their hands touching the wall as though in a handstand. Lifting through their hips, the gymnast rolls backwards into a straddle position with their hands still touching the wall. The gymnast then slowly lowers back to their lying stretched handstand position – talk about that for an abdominal work out! As a coach the part I most often see gymnasts struggling with is the all important ‘planche action’ with their shoulders. In order to perform a consistent and technically correct press to handstand a gymnast must lean forwards over their hands through a planche position. The easiest way to think about a planche is like a seesaw; we are trying to counterbalance our bodies through our shoulders. This leaning action is common place throughout gymnastics skills including a ‘cast’ on the Uneven and High Bars, swing to handstand on Parallel Bars and front support on floor. At FCGC we encourage this important progression as early as possible with our gymnasts in order to make these harder skills much easier long-term for our athletes. One shape which can be practiced at home as well as in class is a front support position. In a front support the gymnast should have an ‘angry cat’ rounded chest and lean forward over their hands with their shoulders – this will translate to a comfort of leaning forwards, assist the gymnast with the skills mentioned previously, and their press to handstand! Other exercises which work both the planche action required for the press and core strengthening include; Pike Drag Ups: The gymnast begins in a support shape on a bar or edge of a box and, lifting through their hips whilst leaning forwards, drag their toes up the bar/box to a standing position Elephant Stand: The gymnast begins in a frog position on the floor (squatting with hands in between feet) and rests the inside of their leg on their straight arms. The gymnast then leans forward with a rounded chest and balances for as long as possible Straddle Press Walks: The gymnast begins sitting in a straddle position and lifts their hips up whilst leaning forward over their hands. From the inverted position the gymnast lowers back down through an L-sit and into a straddle and places their hands in front of them ready to go again! Now that we have looked at the different components of the press, its time to put it all together! The gymnast should start in a straddle stand with their back facing a wall, wedge or beat board (leaning against something of course!) placing hands just in front of the vertical surface. From the straddle stand the shoulders should lean forward through the planche phase whilst lifting the toes into the air. Just before vertical the gymnast should dynamically ‘open’ their shoulders to finish in a perfect handstand! Remember that a press to handstand can take many years to achieve, so don’t be pressed with time and start practicing today! See you in the gym – Coach Toby  Every week you take your children to their gymnastics classes - sometimes staying to watch them train. We all know the incredible benefits gymnastics has on children but have you ever thought about what having a child in the gym is teaching you?
How to trust in the process: This is a life lesson for both the parents and gymnasts - kids aren’t going to learn how to flip and somersault their very first lesson which is what most people associate with gymnastics. Instead there is a big foundation of body shaping, body tension, strength and many, many drills before gymnasts start hitting the harder skills. This process is so important to ensure gymnasts don’t hurt themselves throwing skills they are not ready for - however can be slightly frustrating for parents watching. Parents with gymnasts quickly learn that there is a process and how to celebrate the small successes with their children knowing they are one step closer to that skill they really want! Bravery: It can take a brave parent to watch their child do gymnastics for so many different reasons. Gymnasts have to learn to be brave and trust themselves and their coaches, but parents also have to learn this bravery watching their children train skills that they may find scary, knowing you can’t be right there to help. Sometimes this means watching with your heart in your mouth as your child tries that new skill on the high beam for the first time! Watching your gymnasts at competitions or events takes a lot of bravery too - sometimes children forget their routines or fall in their routine - which is all part of gymnastics, but as a parent it can be hard to watch! So I applaud all parents who are able to watch their children train and compete and can stay relatively calm doing so. You are all learning to be so brave on behalf of your children. Learning to watch your child fall: If you’re an experienced gymnastics parents you’re probably nodding your head at this one - if you’re new to the sport it may sound a little crazy. Falling is a massive part of gymnastics but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to watch! Gymnasts first learn how to fall properly before they start doing bigger skills (and yes there is a right and a wrong way to fall). If they know how to fall properly it lowers the chance of injury! Some falls will be funny, some will be frustrating and sometimes a fall can be pretty scary. Parents have to learn to watch these from afar without being able to do anything for their child. This one also links back to bravery as well. Being a gymnastics parent isn’t always easy! Just remember next time your child falls - it’s an important part of the sport and is helping them in the long run, try using positive words when you talk about it after practice. Rip care: Bars, sweet bar. So much fun but also so much ouch! We love bars but yes, they do hurt your hands - especially while in the process of making your hands strong and tough. Sometimes your children come home with a dreaded rip and you have to somehow make it better! I guess we could say gymnastics is teaching you wound care as well, aren’t you lucky! If you are struggling with how to help your child with their rips here are some top tips. 1.Make sure their hands are washed clean to get all the chalk out of the rip 2. Cut of the dead skin surrounding the rip - if this gets left on it can rip more 3. Get a wet tea-bag and have your child hold it on the rip for 5-10 minutes 4. You can put some antiseptic creams on it following this as well 5. Cover the rip for the next practice. If you’re bringing a child to gymnastics we think you’re amazing and are so glad we can help teach you some life lessons too! Thank you for helping support your child's development through this wonderful sport. - Coach Saskia  As many people know, FCGC Gymnastics runs an adult gymnastics class but did you know that FCGC Gymnastics also runs an adults gymnastics program for those with differing abilities too? Every Thursday afternoon FCGC Gymnastics facilitates Gymnastics for Adults with varying abilities. Most of our inclusive gymnasts are Adults living with Autism. Majority of these adult gymnasts come from a center with their careers, for a 45 minute class of fun, jumping and physical movement. Like all of our programs, we aim to teach Skills for Life with a big focus on movement and coordination. Along with the ability to listen and follow instructions, to communicate and develop their social skills. We have a structured routine to help keep the adult gymnasts from being overwhelmed. We find it is important that we keep the same class structure each week for our classes, as routine plays a very important part in the life of Autism. The Adults begin with sitting on a box each and we all sing a hello song to welcome everyone. We include ASL (American Sign Language) into our greeting song as well, as many of our individual gymnasts may be non-verbal. After this, we use a hand-held pom pom and we go around the circle and welcome everyone using their names for example “hello sarah” and then sarah can wave. Sarah will then get up and walk to pass it to the next person. It is important to stand up and walk to the next person as this promotes movement. We then go through a warm up that consists of balancing, stretches, hand eye coordination, core stability and upper/ lower body strength. To do this we use hand apparatuses’ such as beanbags, hoops, scarves, foam blocks, coloured mats to assist in the process. From here, they move onto a circuit through the gym which includes jumping, swinging, hanging, climbing, and balancing. We spend some time helping each individual around an area of the gym - encouraging them to have a try at different stations. The trampoline is always a favourite however, so many gymnasts will spend a lot of their time bounding up and down for as long as possible! After this we then use a cue to signal our running activity. For this final activity we run around the circle of boxes from the start to some music. This cue is important for them to know it’s coming to the end of the class. Lastly, we get a large parachute out and wave it up and down and say goodbye. We say goodbye to each individual by using their names, and giving them a moment of recognition in the large group. We at FCGC Gymnastics believes that Gymnastics has the ability to help EVERYONE and for those who have a disability it is an opportunity to build upon social skills, communication skills, fitness, motor skills (gross and fine), mental stimulation and much more. Our coaches develop such strong bonds with all the adults who come into FCGC Gymnastics, and all our coaches really look forward to each Thursday morning in the gym. Thanks for reading today's blog!
Coach Beth.  Gymnastics is a sport that can be enjoyed by all ages and abilities!
People tend to think gymnastics is just for kids but I would like to share with you the benefits it can offer to adults. Gymnastics covers so many amazing skills that can be used in everyday life as well as helping us develop a healthier lifestyle outside of the gym. At gymnastics we learn flexibility, balance, co-ordination, strength, conditioning and so much more. In this blog I am going to go through some of the important benefits taking up an adult gymnastics class can have for a healthier you. When you participate in gymnastics, you can achieve greater overall health. Being strong and healthy promotes your body’s ability to fight off disease and illness. With the ability to heal itself when you do get sick. There are studies that show adults who are physically active have lower instances of cancer, asthma, cardiac disease, diabetes, and obesity. You will also increase your flexibility, co-ordination and balance! This gives you a greater range of motion and greater control of your movements. Many adults assume they might get injured when they think of partaking in gymnastics. This is not the case. As you train in your gymnastics classes and become more flexible, you will reduce the risk of injury not only in the gym but in your everyday life. Gymnastics will help you build strength! Especially core strength which we use for most things we do in our daily routines. It can also be a great social event. You can build friendships with people you train hard with each week, and you learn to encourage/support each other. Gymnastics or any physical activity is beneficial for improving your focus and concentration capacity, when you work out, your body produces more endorphin’s. Endorphin’s are an important part of feeling happy and satisfied with life, being involved in gymnastics helps you feel happier! If you are reading this blog and have always wanted to try gymnastics I urge you to go for it. It is an all-round sport, it is great for so many factors we use in our everyday lives. You'll also be challenged in positive ways you never thought you could, it's amazing what the body and mind can achieve if we just give things a try! If you want to try an adult class, get in contact with us to book in your free Trial! Cheers, Coach Kelesa  Every individual that walks through our gym is going to learn in a slightly different way. Some require verbal ques (linguistic) to understand a process, while others might require a kinesthetic approach by trying the activity themselves. There are many other ways to learn that include Visual (spatial), Aural (auditory), Logical (mathematical), Social (interpersonal) and Solitary (intrapersonal). All of these methods of learning will help our gymnasts to fully understand and grasp a concept.
In our gymnastics classes we try to use as many of these learning styles in each class as possible. This way all of our gymnasts are getting the most out of their experience. Our learning styles have a large influence over the way we recall information and the way that information is internally represented. Research has shown us that each of these learning styles activates different parts of the brain. By increasing the number of parts of the brain used, we remember more of what we have learnt. Resulting in a more effective learning environment. In young children, it is especially vital to take all of these learning styles into consideration. As children often learn through play, they will be using nearly all of these learning styles simultaneously. In our Playskills programs - such as our Gecko's program - we utilize these learning styles through use of "learning cards". These learning cards are accessible through out the gymnastics circuit to the children and their grown ups. The learning cards will contain imagery of the gymnastics skill (visual), a worded description of the activity (linguistic) as well as the opportunity to work on their social skills (interpersonal) with their grown up and the other gymnasts around them. This is the perfect learning environment for young children to develop their neural pathways in their brain, that will lead to a successful opportunity for learning into their adult hood. It is also a great opportunity for parents/grown-ups to observe the manner in which their child is engaged through learning. Do they seem the most interested when the group plays a game of "Follow the leader" (Kinesthetic)? Do they constantly ask you to read the learning cards to them? (Auditory)? Do they need to see how a skill is achieved before they try (Spatial)? Take as much as you possibly can in. The more you know about how they learn; the more you will be able to help them learn. Do you know how you learn best? Do you think your child learns the same way you do? Let us know in the comments below! We would love the hear you responses. Signing off for now, Coach Maygan  "So can you do the splits?" - This is one of the most commonly asked questions when gymnastics is brought up in a conversation.
Flexibility is not just a fundamental part of gymnastics, it is actually very important in nearly every sport - although it may not be as obvious. Playing soccer, rugby or footy the athletes need hamstring flexibility for their kicks. Rowing needs good hip flexibility to get the most out of each stroke. Swimmers shoulders need a good range of movement to increase their speed. I could carry on but you get the point... flexibility is important! So how do we help our children increase their flexibility? Try these top tips! Stretch consistently! If gymnasts are only stretching once or twice a week in class, it is unlikely they will see a lot of improvement. To increase flexibility, it is important to create a stretching routine to do either every night or every second night. It doesn't have to be long 10-15 minutes a day is plenty of time to start seeing some great results. This could be incorporated before or after (for an extra challenge try during) homework, while watching tv or even just before going to bed. Take photos! Progress photos are a great tool to help motivate both children and adults. When stretching, it may feel like there are no changes being made as it can take a few months of consistent stretching to really see some big results. Taking a photo of your child (or yourself) while they are stretching every couple of weeks will help them see the differences and help keep them motivated to keep going! Use a mixture of active and passive stretches. It is important that both active and passive flexibility are practiced. Active stretching incorporates flexibility through movement, this kind of stretching requires strength through the muscles to help achieve the stretch which is done without the use of gravity, or a hand - think all kinds of kicks (its harder to hold your leg in the air if you don’t have a hand helping pull it up). Passive stretching relies on body weight and gravity and requires good joint mobility. Both kinds of stretches are very important for example – you need to be able to do the splits on the floor to do them in the air however; just because you have them on the floor doesn’t necessarily mean you have the active flexibility and strength to be able to do them in the air. The information to take away from this is incorporate both kinds of flexibility into your stretching routine! Get some inspiration! There are so many videos of amazing gymnasts, dancers and contortionists on YouTube. Try watching some videos with your child and you both might be inspired to stick to that stretching routine. When I first started stretching I kept a photo of a skill I wanted to be able to do as my phone background – it may have taken a year but when I finally managed to do it I was so proud! So find some inspo and have your gymnast set themselves a challenge. You’ll be amazed at what can be achieved! Be careful not to over stretch! Yes I know this sounds slightly crazy considering I have been going on about how great stretching is, however we need to make sure our gymnasts/children/selves are not stretching to the point of injury. When stretching it is important not to feel pain. Discomfort yes but pain, no! If it is too painful for the gymnast to sit in the stretch for more than a few seconds they are stretching too far and need something simpler to start with. The ideal length of time to hold a stretch is between 20-30 seconds. It is also important to note we never want gymnasts ‘bouncing’ in their stretch to try get further as this too can cause unwanted damage. Hopefully you can enjoy the process and learn to love stretching as much as I have! Thanks for reading today's blog. Did you find any of it helpful with your own personal stretching goals? Cheers, Coach Saskia  Class management is a topic that is very broad as there are many aspects that we can look at in regards to class management but for now, we are going to focus on only a few; a few that I personally find very important. Getting to know your Gymnasts/students/families and members: Let’s start with a scenario situation. Let’s go back to our school or university days. You are there many hours, you see the same teachers every week, it’s a month into starting the year and you know your teachers name and you probably have at least one thing you remember about them but… they do not remember your name or, they call you by a different name or better yet, they ask you where you’ve been because they’ve marked you as not present. However, you have been attending the classes? How would this make you feel? I know I’d defiantly feel let down and almost uncared for. It is so important that as coaches, at the very least you know who’s in your class, by name. Here is where we shift a little bit to transparency. Transparency: “I coach so many kids a week, how am I supposed to remember all their names?!” I hear you ask, it’s as simple as being open, honest and transparent. I often find that people avoid using gymnasts’ names because they don’t remember… but that method is NOT going to allow you to remember names, you will continue to use words like “mate, sweetie, buddy etc” which is not personal and for some, it can feel uncomfortable. Here is my handy hint:
Respect: Learning your Gymnasts name is a form of respect, without mutual respect, you can easily run into issues with your class behavior. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you feel respected if your coach/teacher/employer didn’t know your name and never bothered to learn it? You wouldn’t feel respected and you probably wouldn’t have a lot of respect for them. Boundaries (rules) Positive reinforcement and consistency: Boundaries, along with positive reinforcement (we will get to that next) is probably one of the KEY topics when it comes to class management. Kids and Young People thrive off having clear boundaries. At the very start of every lesson, let the Gymnasts/students know EXACTLY what you expect from them but do NOT overload them with rules. Something I start off, nearly every class with is:
NEVER GIVE UP! If you stay consistent and follow through with what you say, they will learn, it is all about LEARNING! Learning names & learning boundaries. You’re learning and they’re learning too and a part of learning is pushing boundaries to see whether you, as the coach or teacher, will follow through with what you say so do not give up, do not feel mean. If you say to a Gymnast or student that if they don’t listen to you, or if they run away from the class or if they push inline you’re going to sit them out, you MUST follow through with that consequence. I personally do not like sitting people out UNLESS they are being unsafe and could injury themselves or somebody else. So I came up with a system to avoid that. So often as humans, we find ourselves focusing on the negative, how easy is it to say;
It is something that you have to CONSCIOUSLY do as it probably won’t come naturally and that is okay! To assist this process, I implement a “chances” system into my classes, everyone starts off with 3 chances. They can build upon these chances or they can loose these ‘chances’. (I find the word "warning" to have negative connotations to it so I avoid using it). If I notice a Gymnast doing a skill really well, or listening really well, I will give them a chance, but ANY Gymnast, not just the “difficult” Gymnasts can loose chances. The positive of this, is if they are on 1 chance, they can easily build it back up again. They aren’t ‘Doomed’ to be on the verge of sitting out. If they loose all their chances, the gymnasts know they require a minute of two to recompose themselves before joining back in. Once a minute or two is up, we have a quick chat about why their behavior wasn’t acceptable and then they join back in. Once they rejoin the group, they have 3 chances again that they can build upon. If you are consistent with what you say, the Gymnasts will know that you won’t accept anything less, therefore, learn that what you say goes, leading to a positive class. Things to remember: By the time we see our Gymnasts, they have been at school for the bulk of the day. They’re tired or they could be hungry. They’ve done a lot of learning already. As coaches, yelling or disapproving of our gymnasts are not going to help them. If you see one of your Gymnasts not themselves, simply have a chat with them, ask them how their day was, ask them how they’re feeling, ask them if they had a good weekend. Children and Young People go through things too. Their friendship circles change, they may have family stuff going on, they may be finding school difficult, they may have recently moved schools, etc. They are people too and we cannot expect them to be perfect and their behavior to be perfect. If they aren’t feeling great, that is fine, it is okay to say to them:
We aren’t perfect, they know this. Children and Young People truly do respond well to transparency. It is so important to figure out what works well with your class in terms of:
Every class, every Gymnast is different…. The most important thing is to seek help from whoever you report to. Some kids are a challenge, and that’s okay, find someone who can support you through class and back you up. I hope you enjoyed today's blog and you find some of its tips helpful.
- Coach Beth |