Dealing With Talent

by John Geddert on April 27, 2012

Super talented kids walk through the doors of gymnastics clubs around the world every day. Most of the time they go unnoticed, unchallenged, or unmotivated.

By the mere nature of your question I get the sense that you are on the right track. Identification of talent is one thing, verifying the talent over time another, but having the willingness to train with forethought and meaning is often a missing piece in the development puzzle. This is such a good question and I wish I could say that I have the answer. I can relate the philosophy of training that we have used in bringing Jordyn (and others like Kamerin Moore, Grace Williams etc) along. I do not have any experience in dealing with talented boy athletes but I am confident that some of the same principles would apply.

1- Let them lead you to the elite program rather than you drag them there. This has been learned from personal experience. The athlete has to want the challenge, the experience and the entire package associated with elite level gymnastics MORE than the coach. This is vitally important as in reverse order, the end result will be failure and frustration. I was removed from the elite program for several years (by choice). I had had enough of pushing athletes and wanting success more than they did. Then along came 2 bright eyed, never say die, bundles of talent and I was basically dragged back into the program. They wanted to be pushed and challenged. They wanted to be successful more than I wanted it for them.

2- Having talent and using talent- As I stated earlier, there are talented athletes in every gym in the country. There are two things that separate those that achieve from those that don’t. The fist is the most obvious and that is the lack of commitment or knowledge of the club (coach) in charge of developing the athlete. The second is the willingness on the part of the athlete to use their gift of talent on a daily basis … day in … day out. Elite athletes combine a very rare combination of physical ability and inner drive to maximize their personal potential. DO coaches have to inspire and motivate … absolutely. BUT if the inner desire to train harder, (and smarter) is absent, then true success is futile. This is a trait that can come and go also but if it is gone more than it is present, then the smart decision is to do J.O. gymnastics (have fun, get a scholarship, enjoy other aspects of being a child).

3- Take your time- Now some would argue that we did not take our time with Jordyn and Kamerin. Jordyn was a USA National Team member at the age of 10. Kamerin qualified to Championships at 11. But I still maintain that we took our time with skill development. We expanded skill categories early so as to allow for the greatest list of possibilities later. We did not avoid weaknesses but rather tried to enhance them regardless of whether any particular skill category looked promising. With well etched basics they were able to learn quickly and experience rapid difficulty growth at a young age. The bottom line is that a strong foundation is key, without it you can not build on top of it. Build on a weak foundation (the biggest mistake in the coaching profession) and eventually your skills will collapse. We did basics (still do basics) every day.

4- Physical Abilities-  Elite level gymnastics is simply not possible without extraordinary physical abilities. This starts with heredity but has to be enhanced, and challenged to the maximum. Stronger and more flexible athletes not only acquire skills more readily but also can endure the demands of the sport better than their weaker counterparts. Take time to hone a physical masterpiece with at least 25% of your daily training time being dedicated to strength training, complex work, and body shaping.

5- Get Parents on Board- This is something that may coaches struggle with but in the total equation, parent support is essential to long term goals and success. They are an asset provided they are supportive of the goals and your personal training philosophy and style. On the other hand they can be a detriment if they are uncommitted or wishy-washy about how much they want to invest into the process. Communicate regularly with the plan and the short and long term goals. Let them know the importance of their role in the tough times as well as the good (they are need more in the tough times… when the kid is struggling or going through unmotivated phases).

6- Efficient Training-  One pledge that I made at the beginning of this marathon roller coaster ride was that I would keep the training hours manageable. Many of the top clubs in the world simply overtrain. Yes the cream will rise to the top but at what price (how many talented kids are lost along the way?). We have held firm to a 30 hour training program (others may push 36-40 and there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between 30 and 36 hours per week). Plan your workouts so that you maximize the time in the gym thus leaving time for the athlete to actually experience other things in life.

7- Flexibility- In this case I am not referring to the development of range of motion of the limbs. I am referring to being flexible when it comes to the athlete experiencing other events and activities. Do we want commitment and disciplined training? Of Course! But allowing the kid to miss a practice to watch a siblings sporting event, attend a church function, extend a family vacation will do wonders to show them that you consider them more than just a cartwheel and a flip. They in turn will give you 10 fold effort upon return to the gym and will develop the inner feeling that gymnastics is not prison.

8- Seek help where needed- Not too many coaches are experts in all aspects of the sport. Having international caliber knowledge in conditioning, flexibility enhancement, motivation, strategic planning, peaking and periodization, specific event techniques and more is asking a lot from any one individual. When self evaluation discloses the need for assistance, good coaches put their egos in their back pockets and find the best help available. Along the same lines is the idea of surrounding yourself with people that compliment your personal weaknesses as a team of great coaches will always out produce a solo act.

9- Train weaknesses- The natural tendency is for coaches is to exploit and show off the strengths of their star athletes. Seeing the bigger picture will lead coaches to developing the weaknesses with as much if not more emphasis. Jordyn was severely lacking in dance and flexibility and now most would say (although certain no Baryshnikov) she has developed considerable talent in these areas. This was by design and due to a focused effort on improvement. Many coaches would have thrown in the towel of frustration but we kept plugging away and the results now speak for themselves.

10- Live to fight another day- This is a philosophy that took a great deal of time to accept for me personally. I had always wanted every day to be productive but learned that this is not reality. There will be days when pushing will be futile and it is simply best to go home, reload and get a running start at tomorrows goals. Pushing at the wrong time not only can magnify frustrations but increases the opportunity for injury. This philosophy is very well served when dealing with the dreaded and inevitable injuries that this sport will hurl at you. It is far better to back off a small ache, tweak or discomfort than it is to push through it. Avoid turning something small into something BIG. Likewise in the recover phases from injuries, allow plenty of time for OVER HEALING rather than risk reoccurrence.

 

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Reflections On The 2012 Pacific Rim Championships

by John Geddert on March 17, 2012

Reflection on Pac Rim Championships

The 2012 Pacific Alliance Championships, held in Everett, Washington (just north of Seattle) was a spectacular event in so many ways. The organizing committee should be commended for running a first rate, classy event. The facility was perfect for a gymnastics event, large enough to host an impressive crowd yet small enough to offer great viewing for all spectators. The energy in the arena was as electric as any athlete could ever hope for and this is the product of great marketing and pre meet organization and management.

Having a an international event on a podium is something that should never be taken for granted and the extra effort and expense incurred should be appreciated. The transportation plan, lodging and meal options were well prepared and administered. Hats off to USA Gymnastics and the associated sponsors and volunteers for a job well done. This truly was an incredible gymnastics event.

The format, however needs some further discussion. I realize there is a need to include as many countries as possible in an event like this, but a event that takes 5+ hours is not something that international caliber athletes should have to endure. Perhaps 3 smaller sessions rather that 2 large (including a momentum breaking bye round) is the answer. OR perhaps some consideration should be given to a qualification process to the event itself so as to maintain manageable numbers. In any case I know I was concerned with the length of competition/warm up time. Enough said.

While on the subject of format, I just don’t understand the Junior limitations. Current rules state that each country must use a minimum of 3 juniors (you can use more but not less), yet teams are penalized by the junior rules that restrict difficulty to E value skills (juniors can perform higher level skills but only receive a max credit of .5 – E value). Seniors on the other hand are unrestricted. Obviously this places teams using juniors at a distinct disadvantage.

Then some of the rule interpretations seem to be ambiguous at best. In 2010 we were told that Jordyn’s Amanar would only receive a 5.8 start value if performed thus we opted to use a DTY. This year (and I am not complaining) we were told that the difficulty limitation did not apply to vault. In 2010 juniors who used F or Gs for combination bonus were only given E value credit. This year they received E value credit for the skill itself but were awarded full bonus. Again I am not complaining, but it would be nice to have a consistent interpretation of the rules. Is this a big deal, probably not since not too many juniors are at the level to throw Amanar’s or F/G bonus combinations, but it does add some frustrations when inconsistencies arise.

Then there is the issue of importance of this competition. It seems that the Pac Rim Championships would received greater consideration from some countries as a priority event. IF we are obligated to support the Pac Rim union, then lets support it fully. Is an event of this magnitude worthy of a countries top athletes.. absolutely, but if only a portion of the countries view it in this light, the competition looses some of it’s prestige. How exciting would it have been to see a Russia/China/USA pre-Olympic battle of the titans? This does not take away from any of the great performances from this years competition but a stronger field would certainly add to the hype, excitement and popularity of gymnastics.

With my constructive criticism aside, I have to walk away from the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships with a great feeling of accomplishment. Jordyn performed exceptionally and demonstrated that she is on the right path to challenge for a spot on USA’s Olympic Team. She was poised, confident, and best of all consistent on all events. Success is something that we have never taken for granted and Jordyn knows all too well that the game is not over yet. Pac Rim was a great stepping stone towards the ultimate goal but the months ahead are what will determine the final results. We are after all, only as good as our next performance.

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Reflections On The 2012 Pacific Rim Championships

by John Geddert on March 17, 2012

Reflection on Pac Rim Championships

 

 

The 2012 Pacific Alliance Championships, held in Everett, Washington (just north of Seattle) was a spectacular event in so many ways. The organizing committee should be commended for running a first rate, classy event. The facility was perfect for a gymnastics event, large enough to host an impressive crowd yet small enough to offer great viewing for all spectators. The energy in the arena was as electric as any athlete could ever hope for and this is the product of great marketing and pre meet organization and management.

 

Having a an international event on a podium is something that should never be taken for granted and the extra effort and expense incurred should be appreciated. The transportation plan, lodging and meal options were well prepared and administered. Hats off to USA Gymnastics and the associated sponsors and volunteers for a job well done. This truly was an incredible gymnastics event.

 

The format, however needs some further discussion. I realize there is a need to include as many countries as possible in an event like this, but a event that takes 5+ hours is not something that international caliber athletes should have to endure. Perhaps 3 smaller sessions rather that 2 large (including a momentum breaking bye round) is the answer. OR perhaps some consideration should be given to a qualification process to the event itself so as to maintain manageable numbers. In any case I know I was concerned with the length of competition/warm up time. Enough said.

 

While on the subject of format, I just don’t understand the Junior limitations. Current rules state that each country must use a minimum of 3 juniors (you can use more but not less), yet teams are penalized by the junior rules that restrict difficulty to E value skills (juniors can perform higher level skills but only receive a max credit of .5 – E value). Seniors on the other hand are unrestricted. Obviously this places teams using juniors at a distinct disadvantage.

 

Then some of the rule interpretations seem to be ambiguous at best. In 2010 we were told that Jordyn’s Amanar would only receive a 5.8 start value if performed thus we opted to use a DTY. This year (and I am not complaining) we were told that the difficulty limitation did not apply to vault. In 2010 juniors who used F or Gs for combination bonus were only given E value credit. This year they received E value credit for the skill itself but were awarded full bonus. Again I am not complaining, but it would be nice to have a consistent interpretation of the rules. Is this a big deal, probably not since not too many juniors are at the level to throw Amanar’s or F/G bonus combinations, but it does add some frustrations when inconsistencies arise.

 

Then there is the issue of importance of this competition. It seems that the Pac Rim Championships would received greater consideration from some countries as a priority event. IF we are obligated to support the Pac Rim union, then lets support it fully. Is an event of this magnitude worthy of a countries top athletes.. absolutely, but if only a portion of the countries view it in this light, the competition looses some of it’s prestige. How exciting would it have been to see a Russia/China/USA pre-Olympic battle of the titans? This does not take away from any of the great performances from this years competition but a stronger field would certainly add to the hype, excitement and popularity of gymnastics.

 

With my constructive criticism aside, I have to walk away from the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships with a great feeling of accomplishment. Jordyn performed exceptionally and demonstrated that she is on the right path to challenge for a spot on USA’s Olympic Team. She was poised, confident, and best of all consistent on all events. Success is something that we have never taken for granted and Jordyn knows all too well that the game is not over yet. Pac Rim was a great stepping stone towards the ultimate goal but the months ahead are what will determine the final results. We are after all, only as good as our next performance.

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Gymnastics Conditioning – Part 2

by John Geddert on March 10, 2012

On yesterday’s post, I promised to share 10 concepts to consider when establishing your annual conditioning plan.

Over the next several days I will be relating 10 concepts to consider (concepts that are etched in the SUCCESS VIDEOs PHASE CONDITIONING PROGRAM). Yesterday, I talked about concept #1 and #2. Here are number 3 and 4:

3.  The concept of adaptation to stimulus is a rule to keep in mind. The idea of conditioning is to stress the muscle groups by introducing a stimulus. Once the body adapts to the stimulus there will be gains in strength, speed and or power. Once the adaptation takes place the body requires additional stimulus in order to continue strength gain. With this in mind it is important that a conditioning program progress in terms of increasing the demands. Changing the program every 4-6 weeks is highly suggested.

 

4.  Phases of Conditioning are important rules or concepts to understand when putting together your conditioning program. Gradual build up is an important place to start and would be Phase 1 (Build Up). This is a series of 4-6 week programs that incorporate rather simple exercises and stresses overall physical fitness. These exercises will gradually increase in numbers but are not extremely intense. The basic concept here is that you would be preparing the body for the conditioning process.

Watch this blog over the next few days for more conditioning concepts as well as the release of Phase 4 of my Conditioning Series Training Program on Success Videos.

SUPER FANS will get exclusive early access to purchase Phase 4 just in time for the championship season preparations!

To become a SUPER FAN of TheGymnasticsCoach.com on facebook, just visit our facebook page, LIKE the page, then click on theSUPER FAN link under my Profile Picture.

Talk to you soon and good luck this Championship Season!

 

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Are your athletes ready for the Championship Season?

by John Geddert on March 10, 2012

With the J.O. Championship season rapidly approaching coaches are scrambling their brains in an attempt to come up with the best possible system and path to success.

Success in the championship season does not simply happen, it is the result of a well conceived plan and implementing it with conviction.

A major component of any plan is the conditioning program and its impact on the physical preparation of the athlete. It is a given that all coaches want their kids to “peak” at the right time but some simply stab blindly at the process.

Success Videos Phase Conditioning program is a wonderful tool for assisting with the peaking process and with the upcoming release of PHASE 4 (Maintenance), the program is now complete.

Over the next several days I will be relating 10 concepts to consider when establishing your annual conditioning plan (concepts that are etched in the SUCCESS VIDEOs PHASE CONDITIONING PROGRAM). Here are the first two:

1) The most important rule to remember is to emphasize QUALITY over QUANTITY. All too often coaches fall in love with ridiculous numbers at the expense of proper range of motion, technique, form and execution. The lure of bigger numbers is always tempting. Good coaches will resist and focus on the details of each prescribed exercise prior to increasing the demands in terms of additional repetitions.

2) When establishing your conditioning program it is vitally important to consider all areas of the body. In an attempt to be efficient some programs simply concentrate on the areas of the body that are the most widely used for gymnastics skills.

Some would think this is logical. The long term problem however, is that the body will develop imbalances and thus there would be a greater risk of injuries. Great conditioning programs pay attention to the entire body.

SUPER FANS will have exclusive early access to purchase the must have conditioning training video for coaches beginning Tuesday, March 13th.  To become a SUPER FAN, Like our facebook page then click the SUPER FAN link under the profile picture.

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Conditioning-Phase 4 on Success Videos

by John Geddert on March 8, 2012

Coming Tuesday, March 13th (Only for SUPER FANS!)

Conditioning-Phase 4 (Maintenance) is the latest DVD in the series of Success Videos for Gymnastics Coaches.

MAINTENANCE is the 4th and final phase of the total annual conditioning program. This is a 3-4 (max 6) week program that incorporates a combination of Max Strength and Conversion.

Members who are Facebook SUPER FANS of TheGymnasticsCoach.com will receive exclusive early access to purchase this DVD beginning this Tuesday, March 13th at 9:00 am.

Click here to become a facebook SUPER FAN today.

Watch this blog for more information over the next couple days and be sure to become a SUPER FAN for exclusive early access to this information packed DVD.

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Beginning Vault Frustrations

by John Geddert on February 28, 2012

 

John

Level 7 vault I feel am finally understanding what the judges want. They want the angle of repulsion by vertical, good block to hip rise and distance from hands on vault to where feet land. Two issues I have questions for you about is 1. I find that if the girl has a good angle of repulsion they tend to land on their butt. Why? Also what do you tell the girls to get a good block. I know in at 45 degrees off by vertical but what do they physically have to do? What cues can I give them? Thank you for your time. Ozzy.

 

 

Good question

 

 

Vault progressions seem to travel the road of trade off for return. Coaches with long term plans will stay the course even though frustrations and scoring issues tempt deviating from the plan. To answer your questions- if the athletes consistently under-rotates after a good block the issue stems from not establishing enough rotation from the board.  As for the physical act of blocking that comes from perfect timing of thrusting the arms towards the horse and upon contact immediately, and explosively elevate through the shoulders (shoulder thrust). The perfect follow through would show extension through the wrists while maintaining body tension throughout.

 

The situation that you describe is fairly common and is the result of several factors with the lack of rotations being the largest consideration. In your attempt to gain a vertical block the body must arrive on the table prior to vertical. A strong and efficient blocking action requires straight arms and and an powerful shoulder thrust. The combination of these factors severely slows the rotation established from the board (a longer body naturally rotates slower than a shorter one… straight arms makes the body longer and the purpose of blocking is to transfer rotation into lift, thus slowing rotation further). This is where the temptation to deviate from the long term objective of a GREAT handspring is seduced by short terms gains in score potential. Since you are experiencing under rotation you could deemphasize the blocking action (slight flex of the arms) which would in turn assist with maintaining sufficient rotation OR you could elect for a more vertical entry thus trading rotation for the ability to block off by vertical. These are short term fixes.

 

Obviously coaches will want their athletes to score well in competition so short term trade offs are fine provided we keep striding for the long term objective. When obvious errors are consistently present, I always like to look at what preceded the problem. In the case of lack of rotation from the board, here are a few suggestions for drills to increase the ability to establish rotation.

 

  • Front layout on trampoline or tumble trak
  • Front layouts off of a launching device (vault board, mini tramp, tumble trak sweet spot)
  • Run up Front layouts on floor
  • Front layouts up onto an elevated surface

 

Then there is always the physical preparation considerations. Perhaps the athletes are not strong enough to exert enough force to create the desired amount of rotation. Even if the athlete is physically capable, they can always be stronger so conditioning the speed of the run, punching and jumping ability as well has heel drive ability will certainly aid in the development of dynamics and amplitude.

 

Next there is the issue of board technique. Contacting the vault board has similar trade offs as did contacting the table. Ultimately the athlete wants to punch the board with the feet in front of the center of gravity (prior to vertical) in order to get the best spring compression and take off potential from the board. How far in front is often debated but my thoughts are that this would depend on the speed, strength, size, weight and athletic ability of the athlete (so it varies). IF rotation from the board is the issue, try lessening the contact angle OR increasing the speed, effort ( a biggee) and strength (i.e physical abilities) of the athlete.

 

A few other considerations are the board placement itself and the height of the table. We want to place the board far enough from the table so as to allow time for extension on preflight, but all too often coaches allow too much distance. The closer the board is to the table the better the chance of maintaining momentum until table contact. The more momentum you have upon contact the better your chances of continuing rotation. Coaches also sometime get caught in the trap that vaulting at a higher setting will insure better results. I disagree and like to put the table at a comfortable height for the athlete so as to encourage concentration on the more important aspects of the vault like establishing speed and rotation, maintaining body tension, explosive blocking etc. IF they are preoccupied with simply clearing that intimidating and immovable object that lies some 70 feet in front of them down the vault runway, they are likely going to be less concerned about details.

 

Hope this helps. IF you liked the ideas please feel free to share this by clicking on your social medium of choice below. Also Success Videos offers a great handspring lead up and progression coaches education DVD. It is loaded with drills and techniques to help improve the handspring vault. Check it out at TheGymnasticsCoach.com.

 

 

 

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Coaching Questions Asked and Answered-

by John Geddert on January 22, 2012

Hi Coaches,

Been getting a lot of great questions lately. Keep em coming as there is not better way to improve your knowledge than to ask others how they would handle a certain situation, skill progression or problem. I have made a career out of stealing (borrowing) ideas from coaches of all levels. Here are a few of the recent questions and answers.

Q:  Hi John I know not many coaches push this skill but I have a athlete that’s is having a hard time with a straddle (back) to handstand on bars … trying to get her legs up and closed. when she releases and her hands contact the low bar, her wrist and shoulders are in line but hips are already passed the bar. PLEASE any suggestions???

A:  Coach Pep,

I am assuming you are referring to the counter swing to handstand, also call a straddle back (from high to low bar release). The issue you are experiencing is very common and usually results due to a combination of factors:

  1. Hanging on to the bar too long, therefore the momentum of the Center of Gravity (hips) is coming back towards the high bar rather than carrying the center of gravity up and over the low bar.
  2. Often the athlete feels a need to pull down on the high bar prior to release, thus pulling them towards the high bar… I suggest the feeling of pushing the bar away upon release.
  3. Lifting the hips too aggressively will also create more of a salto action thus overturning the handstand. The hips should actually lift and “freeze” thus allowing the chest to drop underneath. If the hips continue to rotate back towards the high bar the skill will end up between the bars.

Correcting these issues usually means backing up a few steps:

  1. tap swing releases on the back swing into a pit to work on the direction of momentum
  2. tap swing releases up onto stacked mats.  First to a sit, then a straddle stand, then a straddle stand jump straddle up to handstand on the mats, then finally to a straddle back to handstand on mats. The stacked mats takes the fear of crashing out of the equation.
  3. Next hand spotted releases with a matted bar and or a stack of mats low bar height. If they are not worried about what happens after the release they can generally concentrate on the technique and the proper release point.

A final suggestion is to simply teach the B value counter swing release (not going to a handstand) for a time until they get the hang of going over the low bar successfully then gradually increase the amplitude and hip lift to achieve the C value counter swing to handstand.

Finally- you may want to check out my new DVD on bar transitions. It breaks down the counter swing release and a few others, with all the lead ups and progressions that we use to teach the skill at Twistars.

Q:  Hey John I’ll be ordering a couple of your videos this weekend. It’s weird I have a VHS training tape (bars) of you from like 20 years ago ::laughs:: Okay question … I have a gymnast that does a layout full twist dismount on bars. I was at the Hill’s invitational this pass weekend and watched some girls doing layout double twist dismounts. What technical corrections or instruction can I give my gymnast to take her from the full to a double. I know the radius will be shorten performing the double so would her landing (placement of feet)be different? is the tap different? the angle of release and is there any preference on arms? Thanks for any advice you can give me. Thank you I’m sure I will love your dvd’s I still watch your old vhs on bars ::laughs::

 

A:  Coach Donna

It has been quite a while since I have taught multiple twisting (single salto) dismounts off bars. It seems this has become a lost art form. I used to love this skill and wish more coaches would pursue this avenue when athletes show the aptitude.

From what I remember, the athlete has to come to terms with the fact that the Twisting action will actually accelerate her salto. Many of the problems that occur when they feel they have to initiate too much of the flipping action prior to release… thus a controlled landing (safe landing) is difficult if not futile. If your athlete has a FLOATING Flyaway then I think this is a good skill of choice. IF their Flyway FLIPS… forget it!

Step One- Strong consistent tap to a floating flyaway. The tap concludes with an aggressive kick upward that creates lift up and away from the bar upon release. This STOPPING action of the kick is crucial in developing a great twisting dismount.

Step Two- Using open foam for safety execute the layout flyaway. To begin the Twist they will want to initiate a little of it while on the bar (turn the toes and knees slightly in the direction of the Twist. Some call this cheating the Twist. After the tap creates the lifting action, drop the twist side elbow aggressively to the twist side hip bone. Follow with a rapid “wrapping action” by bringing the opposite arm across the body to the twist side hip. You can adjust where you want their arms individually to speed up or slow the salto rotation. (If you want to accelerate the salto pull the arms to the hips…. if you want to slow it down a bit… pull the arms to the ribs or chest).

Step 3- Add spacial awareness by having them spot the floor upon release by looking under their Twist side arm. The timing would be something like Tap, Stop, Look, Elbow Drop, Wrap, Open. I like the idea of trying to teach the athlete to see as much as possible. God gave us eyes for a reason.

Q: Hi John…Thanks for the help with the bar planning! Training has been so much more efficient the last month and we have had more time to fix problem parts and making our gymnastics more quality!

If I could bother you one more time and ask how you run your upper level vaults? its seems to me like vault is a total different event. I have trouble figuring out how many vaults to do a day/week to keep the quality up and keep there bodies from being so beat that I end up having to water down the vault. We vault 4 days a week with a light vault rotation on Wednesdays.

As of right now I usually start with a complex of either r/o drills to start with two days and blocking the other two…we do a lot of r/o double layouts with arms up into pit working hip rotation. one day we flip up hill to resi and another day we flip into low level surface with arms up. Most of our vaulters are doing yurchenko layout or tuck full. My question would be how many times do you vault a week and to what type of service and how many numbers?

Anything you have would be great and thanks again for your time.

Ben

 

A:  Dear Ben

During the competitive season- Uphill 1, possibly 2, days per week. The other days the requirement is normally 3-5 good (high standards here) vaults. If they are struggling with getting to 3… I would rather not have them do 15 to accomplish the requirement but instead back up and drill the core shape or move to a more forgiving landing surface so as to fix the problem. We do monitor Tumble/Vault and FLoor requirements so as to make sure they are not overloading the legs for an extended period of time. IF the floor/tumbling requirements are tough we would lower the requirements on vault …. Or if we wanted a tougher vault day, we may use tumble trak and require dance throughs on floor. Obviously this is a major concern and something to keep a close watch on…. as it is the CUMULATIVE EFFECT more than any one day of requirements that comes back to bite you.

Drilling during season is more of a problem solving system. We do drill but it is not the crust of the rotation. Off season is where we spend a lot of time with the rotation drills, board drills, alignment, blocking, body tension etc.

We have 2 surfaces – resi with landing mat (during certain parts of the season we would elevate the landing surface… 1 or 2 8 inch mats). It is hard enough to give a feel of competitive landing situations yet forgiving enough so as not to put the legs/ankles at greater risk. The other surface is open foam (which is seldom used) which usually has 1-2-3 mats depending on whether we are upgrading or not.

Hope this helps.

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Contest Winner Announcements at Twistars Invitational

by John Geddert on January 7, 2012

Winners of Success Videos “Gymnastics Homework: Volume 1 “

Prizes can be picked up from the Admissions tickets table

Friday Drawings:

  • Maureen Kent
  • Paul Roche
  • Michelle Mulder

Saturday Drawings:

  •  jeffreyrharp@yahoo.com
  • Mandy Hintz
  • Brianna Popyk

Sunday Drawings:

  • Larry Gotcher
  • Darian Orr
  • Beth Pressley

Sunday Grand Prize Drawings

Twistars 2012 Summer Gymnastics Camp – One Free Camp Registration

….and the winner  is:  Angela Ostrander


 

 

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Winner Announced for the Gymnastics Homework Release

by kristinmoore10 on January 6, 2012

Thanks to all the coaches who shared the information and emails about our newest DVD in the Success Videos series: Gymnastics Homework Volume 1.

As promised, we have entered all the coaches who participated into a drawing for a complete set of Success Videos (15 DVDs in all!)  Some coaches receiced more than one entry in the drawing for sharing multiple emails with your gymnasts and parents.  Thanks again!

And the winner is…check out the video below….

 

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