Women Sequential Training Questions

[windydays]

I haven’t heard of the term “sequential training” before, but I just saw it referenced in another post. Please forgive my ignorance...

So how do you know if your gym is doing that? If a parent is observing a gym practice session, what would that look like in a four-hour practice? If a gym isn’t doing that, is that a reason for a lot of injuries in the upper levels?

 

[COz]

Those drills, or stations in between equipment, when you see them throwing themselves at the mats in weird ways that don't seem to apply to any skill that they currently do. That is stuff that builds specific mysterious things that they'll need later

 

[MBJ974]

The terms scope/sequence go hand-in-hand in education and coaching...
scope
The breadth and depth of content to be covered in a curriculum at any one time (e.g. week, term, year, over a student’s school life). All that you do in a given period.
sequence
The order in which content is presented to learners over time. The order in which you do it.
Together a scope and sequence of learning bring order to the delivery of content, supporting the maximizing of student learning and offering sustained opportunities for learning. Without a considered scope and sequence there is the risk of ad hoc content delivery and the missing of significant learning.

In terms of gymnastics the scope/sequence depend on the event and level of the gymnast. In a nutshell on floor (tumbling), a gymnast first learns a handstand, then a cartwheel, round off, a backbend, then a backbend kick over, back walk over, front walk over, back/front limbers, back hand spring, round off back handspring, etc... This takes YEARS for many gymnasts to master.

As far as sequencing through the levels, you could look at the tumbling skills needed, for example, on floor for USAG (assuming J.O) from beginning to end. Taking into account your gymnasts level, that should give you a clue as to what the sequencing should look like during practice on floor for the tumbling portion. The dance, jumps, and leaps are all sequenced separately.

 

[windydays]

Thank you, COz and MBJ974! Another question:

For women's gym. there are four events. It is highly probable that a gymnast will not be ready to compete on all four events at the same time in her career. When this happens, is it better for the JO gymnast to compete a lower level for that season or push forward and maybe not do well on a certain event?

 

[skschlag]

I don't have a girl, but I had a boy in a similar situation. And a test case! LOL!

When D was a level 5, he had 5 good events and one horrific event. (High bar). I mean (and this was in teh "out f 16 days"), he would score low 15s on 5 events and score a 10-11 on HB. Very different. He had another, older, teammate that was the same way although his bad event was pommel.

Coach decided that D should stay at level 5 one more year ot get the HB up to speed, but moved the other, older boy to level 6. D had a great year at 5, then a good year at 6, and a fantastic year at 7, and is now training for what we hope will be a good year at 8. The other boy did a mediocre year at 6, and quit.

Now, I know this is just one example, and sometimes I think holding D back at 5 was a mistake. But he is thriving now and I think woudl have really struggled had he been pushed ahead. In that last year of 5, he was truly able to work harder skills on the 5 good events (some more than others due to his strengths), and get HB basics better. In fact last year he won state on HB.

I don't truly know the whole situation, but that is what happened for my ds. I would say that waiting a year can have its advantages if the coach does it correctly.

 

[MBJ974]

Thank you, COz and MBJ974! Another question:

For women's gym. there are four events. It is highly probable that a gymnast will not be ready to compete on all four events at the same time in her career. When this happens, is it better for the JO gymnast to compete a lower level for that season or push forward and maybe not do well on a certain event?

There are so many factors to take into account. It would depend on the gymnast and even the gym.