Everyone has ups and downs. The coach needs to step in when one of their gymnasts is in a down phase.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Video by Georgianna Scurfield (Women in Sport UK).
Teenage dropout amongst girls is a widespread issue in sport and in gymnastics, which if tackled, can support lifelong involvement in sport and physical activity to improve the lives of women & girls.
As a predominantly youth sport, Gymnastics presents a unique and powerful opportunity to help girls develop a strong love of sport and physical activity from a young age to nurture continued participation through adolescence and beyond to support their health, happiness and wellbeing into later life.
Through our research and beyond, we asked girls and women involved in our sport “What keeps you here?” – because what keeps you here matters to us.
We had large numbers. We had kids with vastly different training hours. We had too few coaches to directly supervise every child.
Here’s what we did:
First half hour of training for every girl was warm-up stretching, games and “floor complex”. These were line drills adjusted to the specific needs of each ability level. Emphasis was on “form” and body position.
The second half hour was conditioning: either Partner or Individual program. Each gymnast had both programs back-to-back in a plastic sheet along with a small golf pencil to make revisions. Kids tried to finish all exercises within 30min.
specific conditioning program
Actually, both the Partner sheet and the Individual sheet had 2 programs: Medium intensity and Hard intensity. If the gymnast had training the following day, they did the Medium intensity. If no training the next day, then the Hard intensity.
Once gymnasts had their sheets, the onus was on them to do the work. The coaches stayed “free” to observe and step-in when necessary. (Coaches were steadily busy.)
At first we feared the girls would “cheat” or “slack off”. Not so. Within a couple of weeks everyone was “into it”. The psychology of the gym was excellent. It developed intrinsic motivation.
The girls were asked to do each exercise “to exhaustion”. Until their muscles were shaking. We did not assign specific numbers of repetitions though the girls were encouraged to remember their personal records and try to beat them.
We changed both programs once a month. The individual training plan changed on the 1st of the month, the Partner plan on the 15th.
We kept about 50% of the exercises and changed the rest to something more challenging. By the end of the year girls were doing better ring strength than many of the boys!
I𝙛 𝙄 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙢𝙚𝙣. But to everyone else they’ll be a consistent friend. They’ll never lack meaning.
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜. They’ll take up space and they’ll like what they like. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙚.
My girls will be feared by weak men. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩. They will always know love, and never feel they have to earn it.
They’ll know their value is inherent, has nothing to do with their looks. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨. They’ll be mothers one day if they so choose. But their value won’t be defined by the use of their wombs.
They will be whatever lives in their hearts. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩.
My girls will know poetry and song. They know I will listen when something feels wrong. They will learn that ‘women are too emotional’ is an original lie. And they will not grow up with a father who refuses to cry.
So yeah, My girls will make some weak men shake in their knees. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨.
Every coach deals with kids who have some kind of attention deficit disorder.
In fact — when I coach 6-year-old Rec boys, I can’t tell the difference between the ADHD kids and the rest. They are all hyper. And not all that ordered. 😀
Gymnastics Coaching.com 