warming up

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I noticed my daughters team was warming up with exercises and alot of intense stretching while the other teams were doing handstands and gymnastic skills. I asked my daughter why is that and she told me we do the olympic warmup, is there such a thing. It seems that her teams warm up would be more effective since they do the skills prior to competing each event.

 

[gymjoy]

Could it be the National team warm-up. You can find a description at USAG.
My dd's team also does a very regimented and intense competition warm up. I think it helps them a lot. Not just to be physically prepared, but to be focused and mentally ready to compete.

 

[JBAGWELL]

Our gym does a VERY basic warm-up. In fact, the parents would prefer that they do a more structured warm-up, but the level 4 coach just doesn't do things that way. In the meets we have attended, most other teams do a fairly structured warm-up that seems to focus on stretching and practicing skills.

That said, we have a few girls who routinely place in the top 3, and most of our girls routinely get 33s and above. So we figure the coach must be doing something right!

 

[rachmeal03]

There is definitely a National Team Warm Up that a lot of teams modify - mine included when I was a gymnast and they still do it today. Doing handstands and gymnastics skills during a warm up time does not sufficiently stretch the muscles that will be used during the meet. A warm up should be to stretch every muscle of the body and get warmed up. The timed warm ups on the events should be for the gymnastics skills. I have written a book called Gymnastics in a Nutshell that is to be in stores this spring that deals with competitions and competition formats. It also has an entire chapter that discusses flexibility. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[taximom]

My daughter's team does a combination of both stretching and some skillsduring the general warm-up. I think keeping the athletes busy is a great approach. Otherwise they could get intimidated by watching others. Gymnastics is also a very mental sport.