Entries Tagged 'psychology' ↓

A personal thanks to Dana Brass, interim Head Coach of Go For It Gymnastics in Vegas, for organizing our clinic / camp last week. It was great.

Shout out to Kyle Shewfelt, inspirational headliner at camp. He made a lot of kids very happy.

From the Facebook album: Wall Photos by Amber

… Many of the girls had attended the UCLA camp with Nastia earlier in the summer. They told me they didn’t see any Olympic medals there. (Likely Nastia has hers locked up in a vault.)

more photos from Go For It

Another great post by Aussie Wayne Goldsmith on Sport Coaching Brain.

Whilst all great coaches are unique and very special individuals, there are some common factors – some common championship coaching characteristics that they all share:

A commitment to continuous improvement.
A belief that anything is possible.
An understanding of where your sport has been (history of the sport), where it is now and most importantly a vision for where it is going.
The confidence to be yourself – to be unique.
The energy to work hard consistently.
The strength and courage to not compromise.
Outstanding communication abilities.
An understanding of who you are, what you value and what motivates you.
A passion for winning – a desire to be the best.
The capacity to persevere and persist and continue to fight hard no matter what obstacles you face.

each point expanded – Sport Coaching Brain – Great Coaches: How to Be the Best of the Best.

Thanks Brett.

National Novice - Canadian Gymnastics Championships

From the Facebook album: CC10-Fri AM-Nat’l Novice Women Finals by Stu Cram

That’s coach Jessica Fritshaw from Regina.

Many gymnastics coaches are lousy at dealing with parents. Especially young coaches.

That’s a required skill for a coach. As important as a handstand for a gymnast.

Here’s an excellent post from a gym Mom on Chalk Bucket forum:

… I just had the BEST parent-coach meeting that I ever went to, and I thought I’d share some of the things that this coach did. This was a coach talking to parents of L5/L6 girls fast-tracked (I use the term lightly – really it’s just girls identified to have the potential to go to Optionals in the next couple of years) who are 7-10 years old. We are all new to her team although not new to the gym.

She talked about her background. Now, I’ve had other coaches do this, but it always came off sort of braggy (e.g., “I was almost an elite gymnast”). This coach was very straight forward about her years of experience but also talked about why she coaches the levels she does and what she brings to it.

She complimented every single girl on the team during her talk. I don’t know if she planned this out, but she just worked it into the conversation. For example, she’d say something like “A is extremely flexible which is going to be great for her when we work on ….”

She made her expectations to the parents clear and gave specific examples from her experience. Most importantly she talked about what 8-10 year olds will not always share with their coach, even when they should. For example, she told a story of a girl who was normally a really hard worker who was just not doing her best. Finally she snapped “what is wrong with you today?” and the girl explained that her dog had died the night before. She said how girls will sometimes not talk about this because they don’t want their coach to think they are shirking, but the parent should email to help the conversation.

She talked about her own kids and family. Not too much, but enough so that I could related to her as a mother.
She talked about her goals for the team. She made it clear that if they give it their all, their scores should be in a certain range and showed a general roadmap of when they should be acquiring skills.

She talked about the need for balance in their lives and gave some specific examples of what will over tax a child vs. what will give a child a good time outside of the gym.

She talked at length about injuries and injury prevention. Even saying things like “if your child is limping at home, email me so that I watch them at the next practice.”

She talked about what we should expect as our children get older, both the good and the more difficult. She gave actual statistics about how many graduating seniors go on to 4-year colleges (not for gymnastics –just to study) and how girls who stay in the program stay out of trouble.

Most importantly, she actually asked us (as parents) what our goals were. That is, what do we hope our kids gets out of the hundreds of dollars a month we shell out. I just about fell out of my chair with shock.

I hope this is useful to coaches who plan talks with their new teams.

My personal tip #1 for all coaches = always escort your gymnasts to their parents at end of practice. Be available to chat and answer any questions at the end of each workout.

We’ve linked to the Norweigan Rhythmic montage maker KajaRG in the past.

Here’s another interesting, perhaps even haunting, edit.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related from bogwoppit on Chalk Bucket:

The first few links are specific to gym, the next are all about periods.

Sports and Menstrual Periods: The Female Athlete Triad

http://www2.usa-gymnastics.org/publications/technique/2004/5/hip.pdf

All About Menstruation

Menstrual Problems

Teaching Your Daughter about Menstruation | Puberty vs Adolescence | Parents | sexualityandu.ca – Your Link to Sexual Well-Being

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original post:

Coaches can easily measure Peak Height Velocity (PDF), a very accurate indicator of maturity events.

Thanks ….try this.

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original post

Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding.

… Girls experience menarche at different ages. The timing of menarche is influenced by female biology, as well as genetic and environmental factors, especially nutritional factors. The average age of menarche has declined over the last century but the magnitude of the decline and the factors responsible remain subjects of contention.

The average age of menarche is 11.75 years. It is about 12.5 years in the United States …

Of course with gymnasts menarche is often later. Intense training can delay it. And coaches tend to select late maturing girls as gymnasts.

There’s an interesting post on this topic on the Chalk Bucket forum.

menstrual calendar

As a male, I’m oblivious. The female coaches council the girls on menarche, one of life’s turning points.

Leave a comment if you have advice on best practice when the time comes.

One of the Gymtastics girls posted this on Facebook.

She’s quoting Nadia.

World Gymnastics posted an exclusive interview with Canadian gymnast Brittany Rogers, slowly recovering from a foot injury at Pacific Rim Championships in May.

If you follow Brittany on twitter @brittyrogers, you know she’s been frustrated.

The interview is much more upbeat. After the most National Team Training Camp:

… I think Canada has a great chance of making the Olympic team. We are so determined and so ready, and are all working towards it. Every little bit counts, and no matter who is chosen to represent Canada in London, everyone’s effort helped. 2012 is still one of my biggest goals. I haven’t lost sight of it, …

World Gymnastics – Catching Up With: Brittany Rogers

I’m surprised there’s no discussion regarding her coach Vladimir Lashin, resigning as National Coach, and returning to her gym full-time.

Coach Lukas Stritt used this graphic posted on the wall to emphasize some key points with his boys.

related page – Newfoundland MAG Winter Games Camp

At our 3-day fun camp in Newfoundland, kids had a half hour free to invent fun gymnastics activities. The best were put on this video.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Cygnus Gymnastics in St. John’s.

related post – Mountain Shadows – Have more FUN in the Gym

The 17-year-old Grandville High School graduate was born with a right arm that extends to about elbow length, although she has no elbow, and one finger.

Growing up, she participated in soccer (her favorite), volleyball, basketball, and track.

But it was Dohring’s participation on the varsity gymnastics team that recently earned her a spot as one of four finalists for the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability. …

read more – The Detroit News

Good luck Linnea.

(via Gymnastics Examiner)

related post – Carol Johnston – Lefty

Elite Gymnastics Stars posts articles something like The Onion.

At first glance you’re not sure whether they are real … or FAKE.

This one for example:

Maine gymnastics coach forces students to perform on 18-foot-high balance beam

“It teaches them to pay attention,” says Clint Murdoch

(BATH, MAINE – JULY 7, 2010) – Gymnastics coach Clint Murdoch doesn’t believe in hitting his girls when they perform badly. He never kicks them out of the gym when they throw tantrums. If they gain weight, he wouldn’t think of recommending they go on a diet.

Murdoch doesn’t hand out any of the punishments coaches normally come up with to keep their girls on the straight-and-narrow. He doesn’t have to.

Murdoch, who owns Murdoch Gymnastics Academy in Bath, Maine, has found a better way: a balance beam set 18 feet off the ground. …

… “Girl shoots off her mouth? Up the ladder. Elects not to get to workout on time? Up the ladder. Can’t stay up on a beam that’s a measly four feet off the ground? Up the ladder – and you can bet she’ll stay on the one that’s eighteen feet in the air.” …

read more – Elite Gymnastics Stars – Going up the ladder in Maine

There’s much more content on that site. … You need a sense of humour, though.

Want to be a better coach?

Kelly Manjak posted both a link to his 5yr-old son doing gymnastics (cute) … and a link to this list from Aussie consultant Wayne Goldsmith:

1. Train harder;
2. Train smarter;
3. Train harder and smarter;
4. Improve your leadership skills;
5. Consistently out-prepare everyone in your competition;
6. Dream bigger;
7. Believe in yourself;
8. Back yourself;
9. Get up faster when you are knocked down or face adversity;
10. Get tougher mentally;

click through to see the rest – Sports Coaching Brain → 50 Ways to Enhance your Coaching Performance in High Performance Sport.

That was the deliberately provocative title of my post on the jump from low bar to high bar:

“the most dangerous skill in gymnastics”

The mini-tramp progressions on the video linked above are good. But I like the more systematic approach presented by JAO even better.

… a few drills to use when teaching a jump to the high bar, specifically for girls who are very young and might otherwise find jumping to the high bar scary. The goal of these drills is to help build confidence in the gymnast and teach her that she can jump to the high bar in a good shape, and that she doesn’t have to do a flying-squirrel leap just to survive.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The first section deals with the shape and strength, generally.

The timing section is intended to help the girl get into a rhythm where she tucks, stands, and jumps. This is done by putting her through an action that simulates that rhythm, but in a fear-free drill. The goal is to get her in the habit of standing up and going, rather than standing up, thinking too hard about it, and then deciding to get back down.

The last section deals with breaking the jump into familiar pieces to help take some of the scariness out of getting to the high bar.

And yes, I still feel that most girls gyms have more injuries on that skill than any other. I’ve heard of some who have 1 broken arm/wrist each year. Almost all avoidable.

more JAO videos