when a gymnast plateaus

Coaching legend Mas Watanabe has seen it all.

On his GymSmarts coaching blog he reflects on an all too familiar topic:

Why do gymnasts stop improving?

… When I start to give a gymnast the same correction over and over again, but nothing changes, I need to stop and think what is causing this situation. …

Mas identifies typical reasons:

• growth spurt
• lack of good basics
• unwillingness to make changes
• bad habits
• fear

… The next cause of a plateau is the hardest one of all. That is the lack of interest in doing gymnastics, but she is hiding it within herself. Many times, she comes to the practice for a social reason or her parents expect her to go to the gym. …

read the entire article – Some thoughts on the learning plateau