How much of practice do your gymnastics spend on basics?

[flipandtwist]

We just got a new coach and have been working basics for at least an hour and a half of our three hour practice, every practice. We barely work on anything new, or even anything from our last year routines besides very simple things. I was just wondering how much is really necessary, because half of our pactice spent on handstand-forward rolls, backward rolls, BWOs, and walking on our toes on beam, seems a bit too much.

 

[Coach.Simon]

If it's being done with good supervision and attention to detail, warming up with the basics can be incredibly helpful. Many things that are incorrect when doing basic sequences evolve into problems down the line with more complex skills, of course.

However if its really "every" practice for one hour only working on the things you listed (no cartwheel, cartwheel stepins, handstands, basic tumbling things....) and the coach isn't making constant corrections to form and technique....

Its possible, not likely - just possible, that this new coach feels your group's foundation is weak, and is drilling the basics to "get you up to speed". It could be that he or she has a much higher standard (realistic or not) and believes that the only way to achieve it is by spending a significant portion of class going back to basics.

I also have to say, in defense of the coach, that sometimes going back to basics is an absolute must............cheerleaders lol.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

20% of practice should be spent on basics.

 

[flipandtwist]

Haha, about the whole cheerleading thing, he actually is a cheer coach but has to come coach gymnastics for a while. (Very long complicated story), and their form is terrible, and he doesn't do anything to fix it. But that's besides the point. We practice 3 days, 3 hours a week and just last week our Tuesday practice was about an 1 1/2 hour basics, Thursday 2 hour basics, and Friday ALL basics. I'm not exagerating at all.

 

[gymgurl]

when our new coach came all we did was basics, no diagonal tumbling no walkovers until we could bridge kickover with straight legs and thumbs touching this lasted for about 2 months where all we did was strength and basics we hated it then but everyone has improved so much since doing basics! Another story my coach told us is that at her old gym she had 3 level 6s and 2 were very good and 1 was fairly average and below standards. she took this back to basics for 6 months and fixed everything a year later after doing basics she far surpassed her team mates who were just learning to layout when she could full twist.

From my experience, basics are very important as you can't do a good round off flic without a good round off and you can't do a round off flic sault without a good round off flic etc gymnastics is built on the foundations you already have.

 

[flipandtwist]

The thing is, we spend time doing handstand forward rolls, backward rolls, and cartwheels, when almost every one on our team has a back flip, and the others are very close. Some of us are training layouts, fulls, etc, and we don't even train the round-offs or back-handsprings. It's things that we will never compete. I am not saying basics are bad, but I just feel it is excessive, since we want to have more skills to compete and not do the exact same routines we did last year. (We are in an optionals program)

 

[marie83]

I can only reiterate what the others have said - basics are very important and should not be rushed through. Sometimes when a new coach takes over a group they like to go back to basics to see where the gymnasts are at. If the gymnasts work hard to make corrections this period of 'all basics' shouldn't last too long a month tops, however if the gymnasts aren't making corrections it can obviously take longer.

Now, from what you have said, it sounds like the majority of your team are capable of more difficult skills. Perhaps it is time to ask your coach when you might be able to go back to those skills. There is no harm in asking - I've come to expect teenagers to ask me why they are doing something! They might not always accept it but hey, they have an answer!
If you really don't want to ask, perhaps get a parent to. sometimes a coach will more readily explain to a parent than a gymnast so that might be the way forward!

 

[gymmomof1]

Dd spends about 1 hour of the 4 warming up and basics then goes to each event spending time on element of the routines. They don't start working on full routines until competition season. My suggestion (and it's what I would tell my dd) is to talk to your coach and find out what he is thinking and what his plan is.

 

[gymgurl]

Sometimes when a new coach takes over a group they like to go back to basics to see where the gymnasts are at.

This is exactly what happened to us and we all thought we were going to quit but hang in there there will be results. Marie has a point about asking, we asked why we were doing basics and why we did this and that and she gave us a logical answer every time.