building better gymnastics CIRCUITS

Circuits are essential for gymnastics coaches. For best practice, all circuits:

must be SAFE for the least experienced child in the group

must be FUN

should develop fitness and include target movement patterns

be directed towards the long-term goals of the group

should be fast to organize, easy for kids to understand

frequently changed (adding more difficulty)

be very ACTIVE

At both BC Fall Congress and R2R Congress in 2007, I recommended:

games and activities to organize kids

setting an order for the gymnasts (usually tallest to shortest)

preparing lesson plans in advance

prepping one of the kids in advance to demonstrate the circuit, …. or

starting with the same base circuit each class, and modify soon after

buying as many mat “shapes” as possible

consider purchasing the innovative air inflatable and trampoline equipment available through TumblTrak

quickly removing “bottlenecks” by having kids skip any station where there is a line-up

Best case scenario, the gymnasts build their own circuit. The coach watches the circuit, free to make small adjustments as needed. Stand close to the station which is the most challenging for the kids.

Here is a video of my PowerPoint presentation at Gymnastics for All, BC Fall Congress:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube:

At Region 2 Rising (R2R) 2007, Spokane I presented a similar PowerPoint presentation but using Vault as an example. I challenged coaches to do one (easy) vault / minute in a vault training session with young competitive gymnasts. For example, 30 circuits in 30 minutes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube: