Talent is only a piece of the puzzle.

John Geddert posted advice on how to deal with talented kids:

1- Let them lead you to the elite program rather than you drag them there.

2- Having talent and using talent- … there are talented athletes in every gym in the country. There are two things that separate those that achieve from those that don’t …

3- Take your time

4- Physical Abilities

5- Get Parents on Board

6- Efficient Training … keep the training hours manageable. Many of the top clubs in the world simply overtrain.

7- Flexibility … flexible when it comes to the athlete experiencing other events and activities

8- Seek help where needed

9- Train weaknesses

10- Live to fight another day

details – Dealing With Talent

What to improve next?

A high res version of that photo is available by clicking on the image.

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Congratulations to all the competitors. Yorkton put on a good show.

The workout AFTER a big meet is a FUN day. No routines. Kids work NEW SKILLS. CONTESTS.

Mackenzie - a Prov Champion 2012

Second workout after the meet is analysis and goal setting.

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Gymnastics Zone recommends — as a starting point:

Age 7-8 – 6 hours a week to 8.75 hrs a week
Ages 9-10 – 11 to 13.5 hrs a week
Ages 11-12 – 15 to 16.5 hrs a week
Ages 13 and up – 18 hours a week and up

The averages for weekly practice time according to surveys in the U.S.:

Level 4 – 6 hours a week = 3 days x 2 hours
Level 5 – 8.75 hrs a week
Level 6 – 11 hours a week
Level 7 – 13.5 hrs a week
Level 8 – 15 hours a week = 5 days x 3 hours
Level 9 – 16.5 hrs a week
Level 10 – 18 hours a week = 6 days x 3 hours

For girls with High Performance aspirations, check John Geddert’s training hours. (30.5hrs / week)

In the end, more / shorter sessions would be ideal. Twice a day training is near impossible, however, in big cities. The parent chauffeurs won’t have it.

Leave a comment if you’ve got a strong opinion on training hours.

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Make Training More Challenging and More Demanding than the Competition you are preparing for.

Confidence, real confidence, confidence that provides real resilience and the capacity to perform under pain, pressure and fatigue, comes from knowing that your preparation was more challenging and more demanding than the competition could ever be. …

read more on Sport Coaching Brain – One Tip to Rule Them All

Train Bars like Beth Tweddle.

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… We still have the same problem, which is bars, and only one clear detail Catalina Ponor will not be doing bars.

Basically, the team for London is already clear: young Larisa Iordache, Sandra Izba?a, Diana Bulimar, Diana Chelaru and Ponor.

The qualification system is 5-4-3: 5 gymnasts will be there, 4 will compete and only the best 3 scores will count. We will take to London the oldest team in the last 8 years, the average age is 20.” …

Romanian Gymnastics Fans is surprised to hear him name the team in March.

I’m surprised too. It’s the very last thing Marta Karolyi would do.

Sandra on Bars

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Sports Coaching in 2030

Jubilation Lee

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… (he) declares himself to be an obsessive:

“It is the most necessary component in order to get the right result – always needing to improve and look for the next challenge”.

Exactly. Obsession is about a passion for learning, for knowledge, for detail, for hard work, and most importantly a passion for finding ways to beat the guy you are going head to head with. …

Sunday Times – In search of perfection

What’s Paul’s role during the Olympics in his home city?

Thanks fanstrike.

Update: Surprise. Surprise. Louis Smith scored 14.367 Horizontal Bar at English Championships. That makes him a reasonable back-up on that apparatus for the Olympics Team competition.

Kristian Thomas hit 6/6 to win, 90.901 AA.

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The four themes that I use to structure my competitive season workouts are as follows:

Theme #1 – PRACTICE WHAT YOU WANT TO GET GOOD AT …

Theme #2 – PRACTICE UNDER PRESSURE

Theme #3 – FIND THE WEAKNESSES AND TARGET THEM

Theme #4 – ALWAYS PUT THEM TO A TEST SO THEY CAN MEASURE THEIR OWN SUCCESS
… Team timed skills
… Partner in a row skills
… Two in a row in front of me

read more … Gymnastics Momentum – PLANNING BALANCE BEAM WORKOUTS DURING COMPETITIVE SEASON

Shallon Olsen

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Managing parents is a skill set. A skill set that the majority of coaches could improve.

Many are linking to an article by Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller on The Post Game:

FIVE SIGNS OF A NIGHTMARE SPORTS PARENT

• Overemphasizing sports at the expense of sportsmanship
• Having different goals than your child
• Treating your child differently after a loss than a win
• Living your own athletic dream through your child

… Many YOUNG coaches are guilty of the same things, by the way.

• Undermining the coach

FIVE SIGNS OF AN IDEAL SPORTS PARENT

• Cheer everybody on the team, not just your child
• Model appropriate behavior
• Know what is suitable to discuss with the coach
• Know your role
• Be a good listener and a great encourager

read more …

Chalk Bucket forum discussion

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In late 2011 Irina was forced to retire from the sport due to a non-gymnastics related injury. We caught up with Irina to talk about training in Romania, her retirement, and how she thinks Romania will do without their star Ana Porgras.

Triple Twist: How many hour’s did you train a day?

Irina: During my first 2 years of training I only went 2 days a week for 4 hours. After another 2 years, I trained everyday for 4 hours. Up until my retirement I trained for 6 hours a day 6 hours a week.

Triple Twist: What was a typical day like for you?

Irina: I would wake up at 6:30 and have breakfast at 7:00.

From 8:00 -11:00 we train and then have lunch at 12:00. We get to rest from 12:30-1:30 and then we have our second training from 2:00-5:00.

At 5:00-7:00 I do my school work and have some dinner at 7:30! After all that is done I go back to the room to shower, relax, and watch TV! My favorite show is Make It Or Break It and the Voice! …

read more – Romanian Gymnast Irina Paun- A Career Short Lived

Information on the competitive structure was posted by Alina on Gimnastica:

1. Age 4-8 years – Beginners.

2. Category IV – Little gymnast
a. Level 1: 8-10 years old
b. Level 2: 10 years old

3. Category III (Junioare III)
a. Level 3: 11 years old
b. Level 4: 12 years old

4. Category II
Age: 13-14 years old

5. Category I
Age: 15 years old

details

Leave a comment if you have more specifics on the Romanian system in 2012.

photo by mackie on GymNet

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