Seems Aunt Joyce, deep down, is a big softie.
I love this video he linked. The joy of first accompishment.
… Every gymnast and skater knows the feeling of struggling and struggling with a skill or a jump until one day something clicks and they randomly start making it. Elena Arenas, daughter of Gym Dog great Kim Arnold (video), is an adorable young gymnast. Here, her father captures her first full on video. It is wonderful to see the joy on her face and the confidence she exudes showing off her cool new move.
Elena and her older sister frequently perform exhibitions prior to Gym Dog meets. …
Click PLAY or watch Elena on YouTube.
Aunt Joyce – Heartwarming Moment
Now how do we keep more of this joy when they become angsty teenagers?
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Similarly, when I first started coaching I remember one of my wee ones finally landing her first cartwheel on beam and I was ecstatic, probably more excited than she was. That feeling always kept me going as a coach!
Sometimes gymnasts, in their struggle to excel in the environment of competitive gymnastics, forget how truly amazing they are. They get so wrapped up and worked up over not being able to do advanced skills with perfect body-shapes and knit-picky execution that they lose a certain perspective on the fact that 99.5% of the population on the planet can’t even hold a handstand and have never experienced the simple pleasure of flipping backward. I sometimes try to bring people back to that feeling of exhilaration that the first backhandspring or first giant gave them.
One of the greatest joys I’ve had as a coach was teaching this one girl a forward roll. Just a simple forward roll. Something that even the clumsiest of kids usually can flop themselves over on. This once-a-week-Saturday girl couldn’t even do that. (Apparently, her parents never allowed their kids to run around the house or run rough shod outside- just a complete lack of coordination). Tried lots of different methods, to no avail. Cheese mats, egg rocks, candlestick rolls, sit ups, arm-strengthening stuff, leg work- name it! We tried, and tried. After about two 8 week sessions of this, one Saturday I finally took her over to the edge of a platform with a resi porta-pit there. Platform was only slightly elevated above the soft porta-pit. Basically, I had her squat down and then dumped her over. After a few tries at this, she started allowing her body to dump itself over, all by her own volition. Not too long after experiencing this, we took it to the floor and she could get herself to forward roll. The rest of her class, wherever we went, from bars to beam, she was forward rolling herself all over the place to get from point A to point B station. It was funny and cute, and felt rewarding. Something so innocuously simple that every gymnast takes for granted- like walking and breathing- was like winning the Olympics for this kid.
If that kid ever went on to actually be in artistic gymnastics as a competitor, I would hope she retained the feeling of joy and accomplishment of that first forward roll, whenever she still did a “simple” forward roll; even as she works on her handspring double front.
Well said, Wordsmith.
I recall Rec kids who had NEVER BEEN INVERTED. And what a joy it was to do their first tripod head balance. Or inverted hang.
I have a student who did her first pullover with a spot a few weeks back. She’s petrified of being upside down. But I built up her trust in herself and in me, and when she went over the first time, the whole class erupted in cheers for her. I’ve been coaching for 18 years and I still jump and yell when someone gets anew skill, whether they’re rec or team.
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