tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
One former J.O. / College gymnast posted the sad story of her career on a series of Instagram posts.
We were all at the mercy of a coach’s mood on any given day. …
She was a former elite, always unhappy and extremely negative. …
Start on this post. Click forward on the arrow to read it.
John Wooden:
“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”
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SAM PESZEK, JAKE DALTON, BRIDGET SLOAN, DANUSIA FRANCIS, AND DAVE DURANTE
– Sleep
– Nutrition Education and Fueling for Training / Performance
– Know yourself well, don’t assume you will respond to training or recover like your teammates
– Don’t be afraid to speak up
– Be a master of your schedule
– Be proactive and make choices to support your goals
– Don’t dwell on failures
– Lean on your teammates and available resources
In their tween and teenage years, girls become dramatically less self-assured—a feeling that often lasts through adulthood.
On the upside, girls who play sports are more successful in later life. …
The habit of what psychologists call rumination—essentially, dwelling extensively on negative feelings—is more prevalent in women than in men, and often starts at puberty. …
Our poll shows that from ages 8 to 14 boys are more likely than girls to describe themselves as confident, strong, adventurous, and fearless. …
Social media doesn’t help either, and its ill effects might hit girls harder than boys. …
There’s evidence that tweaking the status quo, and acclimating girls at this critical age to more risk taking and failure, makes a difference. Some of the most compelling data links participation in sports to professional success. …
It’s not only through athletics that young girls can gain confidence; sport is simply an organized and easily available opportunity to experience loss, failure, and resilience. But the same skills can be acquired by participating on a debate team, learning to cook, or speaking up on behalf of a cause like animal welfare
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Expecting to enjoy this book, it was even better than anticipated.
This book is must read for any Beam / Floor coach.
Life Is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance is a thankful celebration of Gymnastics, a refreshing respite in an era where conversations are often dominated by the crimes of an evil doctor.
Miss Val is one of the most successful College coaches all time. Yet, as a dancer, she doesn’t pretend to be a technical expert or biomechanist. Her specialities are artistry, musicality, dance and choreography. A non-gymnast, she became one of the greatest NCAA Beam coaches in history learning on the job.
Even more interesting to me is her skills set of all those MANY things that coaches need outside Gymnastics.
Miss Val is a case study on those MANY other things.
Surprisingly, I also recommend the book to non-Gymnastics readers. Life lessons for all. I learned a lot.
She discusses one issue I hadn’t seen addressed before: the awkward words ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’. She tells of Jordyn Wieber’s dislike of both words. I use victim as much as possible over survivor.
I loved the section on face tattoos. UCLA does NOT wear face tattoos. As an old dinosaur, I agree with Miss Val on this. Can we start phasing those out? Please.
For once an author openly admits her ghost writer is a contributor. That’s Steve Cooper, one of the GymCastic team.
Aly Raisman doesn’t do that, for example. Her co-author is journalist Blythe Lawrence.
I enjoyed hearing her team rules at UCLA. It’s a challenge to motivate young women away from home for the first time.
Miss Val didn’t talk enough about the high rate of injury in College Gymnastics, in my opinion. UCLA has had more than their share. I’ve always attributed that to her tendency to recruit Elite gymnasts over Level 10s. Elites tend to arrive with more injuries, I suspect.
Miss Val reads the audio book. It makes the content more personal. Get the audio version if you can.
You’ve won Olympic Gold.
Twice.
When asked for advice, I always use the words of a pro climber, “chase the dream, love the journey.”
Thanks everyone for all the support and help. I can feel the positive energy you gave to me.
… I did a great job today. I am very satisfied with my performance. The silver medal is also good considering last year I already took the gold. It’s always not bad to end second ….
I respect the judges’ decisions and I also respect other competitors. They also did great today. …
A fantastic performance to win the AA.
Two days earlier after falling on P Bars.
Hey. Everybody falls. Take it on the chin. And move on.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 