Anon learning things correctly.

[Anonymous (06ac)]

As a coach I am a stickler about kids learning things correctly, especially when it comes to basics, like handstands, round offs, BHS etc. I believe proper basics are key to better gymnastics overall. Like building a house, you need a strong foundation. This seems to be at odds with todays methods of having kids run from one station to the next doing pretty much everything incorrectly and it drives me crazy. Bad body memory is sometimes almost impossible to undo. It makes my job 100 times harder as a JO coach. I am old, and I had great foundational coaches. I'm very much at home with the Shift Movement Science, or Gymneo TV types. I can't get the owners, who were not gymnasts themselves to understand this, and I am thinking maybe I should just give up trying. I only have a few more years left coaching in this sport, if that, so I am thinking maybe I should just let bad body memory be my new normal acceptance level, and shut up about it and deal with what I have to. Anyone else run into this?

 

[Anonymous (4642)]

I hear you. I feel the same way...but its an uphill battle. Kids now need immediate feedback & lots of "fun". Parents/kids are seeing the social media blitz of kids just chucking skills into a pit and it looks and feels so much more glamorous than having to do things like leg lifts with locked out knees, etc. We teach the form, shapes & technique-but we do let the kids play around with fun skills into the pit every once in a while. That might be the middle ground that helps.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It can work to have both.

I agree that it’s essential to teach correct technique at all ages, and all levels regardless of whether they are coming once a week for fun or training for the Olympics.

Without correct technique gymnastics is far more risky and progress will be significantly slower.

But you can still achieve this in todays world, while catering to this new crowd of clients.

Direct lots of praise and encouragement towards technique, this will jump on their need for instant gratification, and they know they will get it when they do skill well.

Have competitions, challenges, team challenges during training and reward the points based on good technique.

If they want to run from station to station make sure lost of those stations involve physical preparation, condition and technique training.

Teach posture, body, tension and technique with some fun dance classes to music.

They want to be on the gyms social media, only post their skills when they do them with great technique.

Get the older gymnasts with great technique to demonstrate the skills for the younger gymnasts, they idolise them and want to be like them.

Props. Props and unique equipment work like magic. Put a toy between their legs and suddenly they can squeeze the, together, do V snaps holding a skipping rope and it goes from a chore to a game.

Get them to give each other feedback, partner up and watch skills looking for a particular thing and give feedback. Kids want to impress their friends and team mates and be seen as doing well by them, they learn to focus more on technique by trying to see it in others, they want to try not to be caught out by a friend telling them “bent legs”.

Use their desire to do bigger skills to motivate. Have the, prove they can do the prerequisites with great technique to move on.

 

[Anonymous (7141)]

As a parent of a child that started by learning bad form and then switched to training with much better form I find this post sad! My daughter and I both value and appreciate the focus on form that she now receives because we experienced what the lack of that produced.

I don't have an answer but wanted to say that there are parents and gymnasts that still value focus on form!

 

[Anonymous (06ac)]

It can work to have both.

I agree that it’s essential to teach correct technique at all ages, and all levels regardless of whether they are coming once a week for fun or training for the Olympics.

Without correct technique gymnastics is far more risky and progress will be significantly slower.

But you can still achieve this in todays world, while catering to this new crowd of clients.

Direct lots of praise and encouragement towards technique, this will jump on their need for instant gratification, and they know they will get it when they do skill well.

Have competitions, challenges, team challenges during training and reward the points based on good technique.

If they want to run from station to station make sure lost of those stations involve physical preparation, condition and technique training.

Teach posture, body, tension and technique with some fun dance classes to music.

They want to be on the gyms social media, only post their skills when they do them with great technique.

Get the older gymnasts with great technique to demonstrate the skills for the younger gymnasts, they idolise them and want to be like them.

Props. Props and unique equipment work like magic. Put a toy between their legs and suddenly they can squeeze the, together, do V snaps holding a skipping rope and it goes from a chore to a game.

Get them to give each other feedback, partner up and watch skills looking for a particular thing and give feedback. Kids want to impress their friends and team mates and be seen as doing well by them, they learn to focus more on technique by trying to see it in others, they want to try not to be caught out by a friend telling them “bent legs”.

Use their desire to do bigger skills to motivate. Have the, prove they can do the prerequisites with great technique to move on.

Thank you for the answer! Lots of good ideas!....

 

[Anonymous (06ac)]

It can work to have both.

I agree that it’s essential to teach correct technique at all ages, and all levels regardless of whether they are coming once a week for fun or training for the Olympics.

Without correct technique gymnastics is far more risky and progress will be significantly slower.

But you can still achieve this in todays world, while catering to this new crowd of clients.

Direct lots of praise and encouragement towards technique, this will jump on their need for instant gratification, and they know they will get it when they do skill well.

Have competitions, challenges, team challenges during training and reward the points based on good technique.

If they want to run from station to station make sure lost of those stations involve physical preparation, condition and technique training.

Teach posture, body, tension and technique with some fun dance classes to music.

They want to be on the gyms social media, only post their skills when they do them with great technique.

Get the older gymnasts with great technique to demonstrate the skills for the younger gymnasts, they idolise them and want to be like them.

Props. Props and unique equipment work like magic. Put a toy between their legs and suddenly they can squeeze the, together, do V snaps holding a skipping rope and it goes from a chore to a game.

Get them to give each other feedback, partner up and watch skills looking for a particular thing and give feedback. Kids want to impress their friends and team mates and be seen as doing well by them, they learn to focus more on technique by trying to see it in others, they want to try not to be caught out by a friend telling them “bent legs”.

Use their desire to do bigger skills to motivate. Have the, prove they can do the prerequisites with great technique to move on.

As a parent of a child that started by learning bad form and then switched to training with much better form I find this post sad! My daughter and I both value and appreciate the focus on form that she now receives because we experienced what the lack of that produced.

I don't have an answer but wanted to say that there are parents and gymnasts that still value focus on form!

I, sadly, think it goes on a lot. Its extremely frustrating to me, and I feel like I get nowhere by complaining about it so I just plug away trying to get the kids to do things right. Granted its not just all coaching or lack thereof, these kids also learn stuff on their own, chucking this or that. That can't really be stopped.

 

[Anonymous (1115)]

It can work to have both.

When I was at secondary school I had a chemistry teacher who had a rule for each lesson that if everyone behaved and worked hard and listened properly, then at the end he would make something explode. The explosion was always tangentially related to the topic at hand so he could justify it, but nothing focusses the attention of a lab full of 13 year olds quite like the prospect of a very loud bang.

Everyone wanted to be in his class, and everyone learned more because they wanted to be there.

You can still to the right thing by teaching kids proper form and spending time on getting things right, and you can actually enhance that by making room for some more "fun" stuff too.