Coaches Beam- Floor Work vs Beam Time

[coachmolly]

I am working to revamp my beam workouts and am curious to hear what other coaches find works best.
Previously, I did a beam complex with all the usual stuff (releves, walks, kicks) with a big focus on posture and just being on the beam and getting comfortable. Then it moved into bigger skills. Most of the time was spent on the beam except for learning new skills or walking through routine parts when we would go to a line on the floor. My current gym spends lots of time doing floor work and much less time actually on beam because by the time we get there we need to rush to get skills warmed-up and onto routines. I'm not really convinced that one is better than the other, or that either one is the best option, I just find the differences interesting and am curious what other teams do for beam. Do you do the same thing everyday or have different schedules each day to focus on particular areas?
My current group has decent skills but is wildly inconsistent and lacks confidence and polish on beam so I'm looking for ways to work through that particularly.

 

[raenndrops]

At our gym, the floor is only used for beam when working a new skill.
We do beam more like your old gym, but they do vary it a little each day depending on the necessary focus. We also have girls rotate to different beams, including the low beam and the crank beam. We have 3 high beams that they do their beginning work on and they work routines on all 3 beams so they don't get in the habit of saying they can only do their skills on "this" beam, lol.

 

[Aussie_coach]

We do a lot more work on the beam than the floor. The floor is just for drilling skills, and active flexibility work. The more time they spend with a beam under their feet the better.

I mix up what we do every day, it keeps it fresh and I think this helps the kids stay focused. We focus on different aspects each day, but acro everyday.

 

[Carabistouille]

Same here, we do most of the work on an actual beam. We do a beam warm-up on the high beam (kicks, walks, turn preps, jump preps). Sometimes we do some conditioning on beam as well (squats, toe raises, that sort of things).
The floor is only used when working on a new skill.

What we do changes everyday, usually the focus is either acro or leaps/jumps/turns. Except when a meet is coming, then it's basically only full routines and not much else.

 

[auscoachgymmum]

I have a rotating schedule that depends on time of season - however, most often there is at a minimum;

• 1 x basics session ( high reps, all acquired / compulsory skills, session completely on beams unless carrying an injury)
• 1 x routine dev session (working clean comp routines and upgraded training routines) choreo only routines on low beam, full routines on high beam, arms only routines on floor)
• 1 x upgrade session ( developing new skills) athletes should be working a minimum of 3 levels of skills - floor level (brand new acros working on floor line or air track) Low beam ( mid development phase) - developing confidence, using stacked mats, boxes, wide beams etc, and HIgh beam ( upgraded competition routine level ) nearly ready to integrate into new routines, may still be using spotting, boxes, mats etc.

We have a different warm up for each session prior to skills, including; routine session = complex, basics session = ballet, handstand holds, presses and finally a 2 or 10 basics warm up on upgrade sessions. Basically athletes must hit 2 of each of their basics skills in a row before they can move onto upgrades. If they miss, they must do 10 of each - which delays their start on upgrades. (this is helpful for developing competition mind set - rather than just hitting high number last with inconsistent results )