WAG Shift Movement Facebook Post

[TumbleTimes4]

Did anyone else happen to see Shift Movement’s Science recent Facebook post?

It went into more depth on the actual post. DD conditioned 5-6 days a week while we were off, but nearly three weeks she has all but one skill back, including the BHS on beam, which she was terrified of and only started doing the week before the shutdown. I’ve seen a lot of others post that their daughters haven’t really missed a beat either.

I know personally that I hope that this has an impact on future training. I would like to see maybe less hours, or at the very least, more breaks taken throughout the year. What are your opinions?

 

[RTT2]

I really like SHIFT and I think there is a lot to be said for reexamining the gymnastics model of very high hours, year-round training in light of so many gymnasts coming right back after months out of the gym. I hope coaches and gym owners take some of the data from this enforced time off and apply it to future training plans, allowing for more recovery and rest periods.

 

[JBS]

Here is the full post...

 

[JBS]

This is a great post... definitely not a huge eye opener to any truly good coach... but great post. I'll come back and expand on what we have been moving towards at our club over the past 5 years.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

I think a month off after season would be a great thing.

My kid took three weeks off last year for a road trip. She did regularly stretch and did a little conditioning and came back a little better, but the one thing she almost lost was her press....

I don't see gyms willingly giving up the tuition though.

 

[3rd_time_around]

But most of the gymnasts were still conditioning at home regularly, so it’s not really an accurate assessment. They weren’t completely off for 3 months.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I know I won’t bat an eye at taking a couple weeks off next summer for vacation that’s for sure!

 

[kendo348]

I did see that and was happy to see someone with influence is broaching the subject! As was said above, we have to remember that most girls did some level of more-than-casual conditioning during the break, which is likely different than what would happen on a typical vacation. I know my daughter would rather be in the gym than conditioning at home by herself and she loves that this is a year-round sport. I do too; we don’t take a lot of vacations so I prefer she has gym to keep her busy when school is out. So I don’t know that we’d want a large chunk of mandatory time off to become standard.

I guess in my opinion, the ideal step forward would be for family vacations to not be frowned upon and for athletes to be allowed/encouraged to choose to take their own individual breathers if and when they and their families feel it would be in their best interest.

I feel like lowering regular hours is a more complicated issue than just looking at the results of this shutdown. It’d be great if more gyms in general were excellent at efficient “processing” and trained girls well on fewer hours, but they simply aren’t. Part of the reason the girls have been able to come back strong is because they were so heavily-trained beforehand: the muscle memory and years of endurance are still there. The result of heavy training and then three months off is probably different than the result of years of medium devotion. I’m not saying gym culture shouldn’t change to be less time-consuming on a daily basis; I fully support that. I’m just saying I don’t think the shutdown provides the needed data. If the shutdown can be the spark for exploring down that road though that’s great!

 

[Aussie_coach]

I have always been a firm believer that the hours are generally too high in this sport (though I do think it should remain a year round sport). We keep our hours lower and produce the same results as gyms doing double the hours.

It’s never been how many hours you have but what you do in them.

If you ask a kid to do 50 back tucks, the odds are that after a while they will fatigue either mentally or physically and then poor technique will creep in, then they will start practising poor technique. You ask another to do 5 back tucks, and you get all five with good quality. The second gymnast who only did a 10th of the number, has the better back tuck at the end of the day.

I think the key ingredient to developing successful gymnasts Is not time, but energy. If your gymnasts are there all the time, it becomes a chore. But when they come in pumped, excited to be there, keen to learn and the coach build a positive environment, where kids believe in themselves and are happy they learn at an incredible rate. They run to do that next drill and take that next turn, and take significantly more turns in significantly less time.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

As was said above, we have to remember that most girls did some level of more-than-casual conditioning during the break, which is likely different than what would happen on a typical vacation.

My kid has conditionEd on vacation since level 4.

Now 14 L8/9 we go the gym together on vacation because she is old enough to be in the gym.

Vacation has never meant we don’t stay fit. She just doesn’t do gymnastics

 

[raenndrops]

But most of the gymnasts were still conditioning at home regularly, so it’s not really an accurate assessment. They weren’t completely off for 3 months.

Mine definitely aren't in that "most" category, lol. Not one of my 3 did much of anything with their time off (except for the minimal amount YG had to do for her high school gym class). She has had 1 50 minute session that she shared with her LSS and LBHG. They did everything except vault. Other than being a little winded toward the end (they all have asthma and the AC and fans were off). YG had all of her skills she attempted where she left them in March. LSS took a little bit to get her kip to show up (L4 who struggled all season, but was hitting it toward the end of the season), but it did get there by the end. And LBHG's front tuck was HUGE! Bigger than it has ever been ... and there is a chance she will start working front pikes when she goes back again.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I think after going through a pandemic that puts and end to my kid wants to go to a...... dance......birthday party......football game...... family wedding..... or we want to take a vacatio/long weekend

but my kid has gym

yeah.... go.... have fun.

 

[mommyof1]

I wonder whether changing economic conditions will shift the balance of power between parents and gyms to give parents more leverage. When demand for team spots is strong, gyms can get away with a lot because parents are afraid of losing their kids’ spots if they rock the boat. When demand for spots on a particular team is weak, the gym has much more incentive to be flexible in every way, from team selection to allowing time off. I have seen this play out even within a single gym. As the team grew, coaches and management became more selective, less flexible, and less communicative, and their focus shifted from meeting the needs of individual children to the desire to win at any cost. For this reason, our family has always been happier with gyms that were in the process of building up their team programs than with more established teams.

If most gyms manage to survive the economic downturn but the number of parents willing and able to support their children in team gymnastics decreases, parents will have much more ability to put their foot down about time off without fear of repercussions. If, however, too many gyms close and the supply of team spots falls dramatically, gyms will still be able to make whatever demands they please.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My D’s gym has always been flexible- with longer breaks, lower hours in general and ever further by choice, and in even the more off the wall situations my D has presented. The girls there aren’t going to storm the NCAA but I think that’s way more a function of the coaching level and equipment than the hours and the flexibility- and it’s ok anyway because they’re all happy, relaxed, and engaged in other things besides gym. And even when other things come to the forefront, these kids are allowed to keep gym in the background as long as they want, in whatever works best for them. I wish there were more gyms like this. I think there is definitely a need for this kind of gym across the country.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

I think after going through a pandemic that puts and end to my kid wants to go to a...... dance......birthday party......football game...... family wedding..... or we want to take a vacatio/long weekend

but my kid has gym

yeah.... go.... have fun.

Yes, exactly. I’m not advocating necessarily for an off season, but how about we take a couple days off after a big meet, or at the end of the season let’s take two to three weeks off. I’m seeing the importance of giving both the mind and body a rest.

I think this will put at least some power back in the parents hands. For years we have been told that time off would be detrimental to progression. After this, I don’t think they can play that card anymore if a parent wants to take a two week vacation.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Yes, exactly. I’m not advocating necessarily for an off season, but how about we take a couple days off after a big meet, or at the end of the season let’s take two to three weeks off. I’m seeing the importance of giving both the mind and body a rest.

I think this will put at least some power back in the parents hands. For years we have been told that time off would be detrimental to progression. After this, I don’t think they can play that card anymore if a parent wants to take a two week vacation.

I’m a rogue gym mom.... we have always done that. She is not missing homecoming and her cousins wedding etc..... we take our vacations and thtee day weekend. I’m cutting edge

Annoyed the heck out of the coach but she always got over it lol

 

[gymisforeveryone]

Gyms/clubs around here have always allowed a 3-4 weeks off during summer. Even the elite athletes take 2-3 weeks off. Coaches have 5 weeks off during the year anyway, usually 4 weeks during the summer and 1 week around Christmas, so during the summer there are no enough coaches to have all the groups training all summer. When coaches have vacation, the gymnasts have too. Sometimes the gymnasts are assigned home conditioning for at least one week of their break.

Our labor law requires 30 vacation days during the year and 20 of those must be spent during the summer season.

This summer things are a little bit different and we recommend everyone to take just 2 weeks off. We try to make it work in the gym and assistant coaches (hourly paid) step in to coach team when head coaches are on vacation.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

We always take a 3 week vacation in winter right after season finishes - she misses when they start working upskills but catches up quickly. Usually she doesn’t go train at another gym because of a language barrier either ‍

 

[raenndrops]

Yes, exactly. I’m not advocating necessarily for an off season, but how about we take a couple days off after a big meet, or at the end of the season let’s take two to three weeks off. I’m seeing the importance of giving both the mind and body a rest.

I think this will put at least some power back in the parents hands. For years we have been told that time off would be detrimental to progression. After this, I don’t think they can play that card anymore if a parent wants to take a two week vacation.

Gymnasts can definitely time time off here and there.
Our gym (normally) only practices 42 weeks a year ... and at low hours (7.5 hours a week for all levels). It is closed for 2 weeks around Christmas / New Years. Then we are closed for the week of Spring Break in March. We take off the week of Thanksgiving. We also take off 4 weeks for July (but offer 2 separate weeks of rec camp where team girls can be "junior camp counselors"), the week of Memorial Day, and the week of Labor Day.
This year, its different (obviously). 50 minute privates are offered for team girls for 2 more weeks and then we will have separate week long mini camps for 4 weeks by rec or team level (max of 8 gymnasts per camp level).

 

[gymgal]

I think there is a big difference in how quickly gymnasts get their skills back based on their individual level as well as what type of gymnast they are. It's one thing to come back in after 3 months off and be able to do BHS and kips. Completely another to come back in and throw bar releases, 3 skill series on beam, etc. Also depends on the type of gymnast - dare devil "will throw anything" type or more cautious "have to work up to it" type.

I am all for vacations during the year. dd's former gym took 1-2 weeks off each throughout the year for different holidays and while dd hated not being in the gym, It helped with some minor recovery especially in the upper levels.