Coaches Young pre team group

[Linsul]

I'm starting one very soon, 4 and 5 year old girls that will be coming 2 days a week, 2 hours at a time. Essentially it's a promising group the compulsory coach is interested in; and whos parents have expressed trying out a more serious program in the hopes of joining the older pre team and possibly level 4 in the future. I work at a seriously competitive gym, and my instructions are that this class is a feeder/weeder (nice term eh?!). Age appropriate skills with the addition of conditioning and flexibility. The assumption is that those who stick with it ill acclimate to team better, and those that have more pressing obligations or who don't like it will drop back to rec.

My question is: how much formal conditioning should I do? A lot of what they will be learning is shapes and drills. I've never actually conditioned a group this young before. I expect they will probably not like it at first, and though losing some is expected, I don't want them to drop off right away over being sore or not liking the stress. Then again I'm not supposed to be entirely lax, as our compulsories do a significant amount of conditioning.

Any suggestions on how to start a conditioning program I can expand on would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bogwoppit]

Feeder/weeder, LOL, but I do get the picture!

 

[Linsul]

Feeder/weeder, LOL, but I do get the picture!

Yeah when I heard that I laughed pretty hard! It's harsh but it's reality I suppose lol.

I'm thinking to start, I will probably make little charts with the kids names, and specific conditioning skills. Tape them up on a wall somewhere near the conditioning area it represents. Number the columns 1-15, 16-30, 31-45 something like that. Then get little star stickers and place them in the corresponding box. I'll get some little party favors or something 'treasure box-ish' and when the chart is all filled up anyone who has a certain amount of stars in specific columns can pick a prize.

At 4 and 5, since they aren't competing yet will be working hard I'm hoping minor long term bribery isn't a bad thing. Little princess rings, stickers and such probably.

 

[bogwoppit]

Your plan sounds perfect and it is what our preteam coach does. Stickers are a huge motivation. The other thing she does that DD loved and the parents love too. Is to make each child a folder with her photo on the front and in it she puts pictures of the skills and photos of the girls when they get them. Each class she hands out a cardboard star to the hardest worker (not the best), it amazingly enough works out that all the kids get think. She has a set number of skills that she evaluates, and these are really shapes and basic skills, they get stars in their folder. She evaluates all skills once a month, which the kids seem to enjoy.

Once a month she sends the folder home for feedback and so parents can see where their child is at, there is a place for them to write comments.

The last page is for new skills or big break throughs on skills. AS I said the skills were basic, but the coach wanted to see certain thing and this certainly motivated the girls. They love the photos and can see when their bridge, or splits got better.

I am sure after a few weeks you will have a clearer plan of what you need to acheive with them, is the idea to work them towards L4 or L5 or both as that can give different challenges.

 

[Linsul]

OOOH I LOVE the folder and star ideas! I have so much cardboard, I can get rid of it lol! Living out of state means my kids get stuff from their grandparents often enough to supply me with loads of it.

I don't know if I'll be allowed to do the pictures, but I think maybe I'll have the kids decorate their folders on the first day. They can do that while I introduce myself to them and explain the class and such. Maybe I can bring the parents up too. These are great ideas, thanks!

 

[gymdog]

I would be careful with conditioning for 4 and 5 year olds. I would focus on handstand shape (not overholding, at this point) and enough strength to be able to do pullover/BHC but I don't really think you need to overdo with the formal stuff at this age. Things like being able to move laterally across the bar a couple times or forwards/backwards in between the p-bars, being able to do a couple rotations bouncing tuck jumps across track and bear walking back (a little endurance/muscle building) but nothing too heavy. Hold hollow, add movement (slight swing in hollow, rock in hollow on floor). Hollow on hands and feet without sliding out. Nothing with weights, needless to say. Balancing. Body awareness (stay in one shape with legs lifted off floor, hold legs together when coach pulls them apart, etc).

The most important skills to me are the CW/RO (passes through HS, legs stay seperate until the end, initial kick doesn't turn out, doesn't land on heels), handstand, I don't do bridges with 4 year olds but kickover. For vaulting need to be able to hit the board correctly but I would just use preschool boards. Bars be able to do pullover, BHC. If the kids can do all that easily moving closer to the L4 skills is easy.

 

[gymnut1]

Try and make the conditioning a game at this age too. Straddle levers are a useful one. Tight walks, hops, skips, jumps in a line on floor are needed for beam later. Loads of shape work on bars, beam and floor. Lots of stickers! Teaching them to sprint would be useful as many kids fall down on that one. Have fun!

 

[MissBear]

Games and fun stuff so they don't realise they are conditioning are key at this age. Do you know what caterpillar walks are? They are great on floor and beam. Squat walks on beam. Loads of fun little things - the game where you hang underneath the beam then try to climb back up is really good.
A challenge from day 1 is good, especially if you can get an older (but not too much older) gymnast to demostrate. Something like 1 reverse chin, half turn, leg lift, chin. Introduce it bit by bit each week and they can feel the achievement each time they master each part.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Conditioning is essentially important for this age group, they need to train the body positions correctly early on or spend the rest of their years of training trying to undo bad habits taught early on. Until they have the physical preparation skills are not as important, conditioning should be of number 1 priority.

This is also the ideal age to develop flexibility, it comes easily and if developed well should stick with the gymnastics throughout their career. Ideally about 50% of your time should be devoted to body development - warm up, conditioning, flexibility and handstands.

Kids of this age don't hate conditioning unless they are taught to hate it, this is the age you can teach them to love it. Give lots of praise and encouragement when they do it well, get them excited early on about the fact that their conditioning is going to make them strong enough to do the really cool skills. Point out to them when the big girls are conditioning and let them feel special doing the same sort of training as the big comp girls.

Don't expect them to drop out unless the wrong girls have been chosen for the program. The sorts of kids you should be choosing from the program are those kids who love to challenge themselves physically and have lots of energy, they will love conditioning.

 

[Linsul]

Thanks for the input! I'm going to start with just the body shaping and such. Keep things as light as possible. If done well that's conditioning in itself for sure. I do know there are some conditioning expectations that will have to be met though. I'm hoping games, folders and little stars will give them a sense of fun and achievement.

It's going to start in June, and who is in the class is out of my control. Our compulsory coach is picking the kids for it. Her input is going to dictate a lot, especially at the start. She's a great coach though so I have confidence in her selection. We bounce a lot off each other with our current pre team/compulsories so I'm going to happily assume she has as much confidence in my handling of the details of the class!

 

[Linsul]

Ok a bit of an update. Turns out I do have a say on who is in the class. I did make my rounds and ask all the coaches of 5-7yr olds who stands out to them as being a good fit for this group, and now have a list of 12 kids.

One of them I know very well, she's 6. She's driven, strong, and fearless qualities I love about her. However, in my history with her there's 2 things that put me off. I'm not sure if it's just me, so I'm going to put it out here and see what you guys think. She often says she understands things when she doesn't, which results in a few heart attacks for me when spotting her. I tell her to ask questions, ask her what she needs help understanding, and she brushes it off and just wants to try again. Very demanding about not wanting a spot even when she clearly needs one. When I explain this to her she reluctantly agrees, then goes slack and I end up spotting her entirely through the skill.

The communication part could just be her age. I'm sure that will improve. Her attitude about spotting worries me though. There's so little change in her skills because she doesn't understand verbal correction, and gives up with a spot. Plus she's progressed so far in the rec program that I'm worried she will actually resent going back to conditioning, shapes, and handstands. I'm not sure how she will feel about the dance part of it.

I lean towards no, then remind myself she's 6. Then remember I'm looking at articulate 5yr olds with a great attitude who are equally fearless and don't detest spotting. If I take her, and she doesn't adapt, that attitude will not fly with her compulsory coach should she move up. I don't want to get her and her parents hopes up just to end up spinning everyones wheels. I don't know if it's wise to accept her banking on such huge changes, but there's definitely things about her that show potential.

 

[nevertooold]

I don't know if you have the option to do this, but this is how I would do it in the context of our developmental program.

Invite the child to try out the new class to see if she likes it. Let the parents know that some children will like the new class and others will prefer the class they are already in. After a few classes ask her "do you like this new class"... if she doesn't then it's pretty easy, put her back in rec. If she says she likes it lay it out nice and simple

"here is what you need to do if you like this class and want to stay in it":

• try your best every single time
• look me in the eye and listen closely when I am correcting you
• try your best to make each correction on the very next turn

• I am the teacher and I am in charge
• I will tell you when you need a spot
• Sometimes I will ask you if you would like to try without a spot, then it will be your choice
• You will not argue with my decisions
• You will not backtalk, cross your arms, roll your eyes, or quit trying

"I promise that if you follow these rules I will be able to teach you a lot of gymnastics."

 

[gymdog]

Yeah, I'd give it a try and just try to set some guidelines from the beginning about progression within and through the class. She might just be maturing a little slower than some of the other girls but in a year or so will benefit a lot from this class.

 

[Linsul]

Gymdog this is off topic but I wanted to say I got your email about my floor routine before gmail got owned by my computer. My husband built me a new one and getting everything working on it again took a lot of time since I saw it as a chance to flex my tech skills. Suffice to say I'll stick with gymnastics, he's the hardware/software pro for sure. I messed with my settings somehow and ended up sending a bunch of emails to a random box, I'm terrible.

In the middle of teaching Natalie the routine, her gym went out of business. She wanted her kip and a solid front handspring rebound before trying out elsewhere; so we stopped the routine and immediately did those things. She's too old for our compulsory team, but the gym sort of rallied behind her and she responded fantastically. One of my issues in teaching her was her shutting down. Turns out she wasn't having the best experience at her gym so she resented the AGA routine after a so-so usag season. The prospect of a more serious program and a better season got her motivated and accepted to a program she enjoys. I just wish her gym didn't have to close for her to express her frustrations!

 

[bogwoppit]

I had wondered how that was going. That explains the lack of updates. Has she found a new gym yet. I do love the "she's too old for our compulsory programme", better get that kid a walking frame! LOL

 

[Linsul]

I had wondered how that was going. That explains the lack of updates. Has she found a new gym yet.

Yes she found a really competitive program that she's very happy at Her old gym was more rec competitive. The core of her issues was her her scores not reflecting the time she put in at the gym. She couldn't reconcile the outcome with her effort. Frankly speaking, her skills were solid but she let details slide so she was giving away tenths like crazy. The details mattered to her, but were not pushed at her workouts which were otherwise 'super serious time'. So she was frustrated, yet didn't want to say anything 'bad' about her gym.

Her floor routine privates morphed into 'skills you want for your team tryout' when her gym closed. The elite who did her floor routine video for her was always saying hi and encouraging her when she saw her. Natalie was a former student at my gym so she knew a lot of the coaches who were also incredibly supportive of her. One of our elite coaches fitted her for her grips after she told him she wants her kip so she could go to level 5. He made it into a rite of passage lol. Praised her determination and effort while explaining all the cool skills grips allow practice of. She really responded well to an atmosphere of focus, expectation, and respect of her goals. Her 'me time' practice really helped her out and wiped the slate clean for her next team I think.

I do love the "she's too old for our compulsory programme", better get that kid a walking frame! LOL

Gosh I know, I know! My former gym had a seriously competitive program, so I thought I was prepared rather well for when I moved here. Nope! Things are very different. Not in a bad way, but currently competitively we are looking very far down the road. Compulsory competition is viewed as performance training and foundation skill testing. Scores are important, but the girls are always uptraining. As it relates to Natalie, her mom was very understanding and very happy with what she got out of her time at our gym. We have a lot of kids from her old gym that were referred to us by her, some of them pre team. Nothing says happy like a referral!

 

[bogwoppit]

Did she get her kip???

 

[Linsul]

Did she get her kip???

Of course! She was really close already, so a few minor drill tweaks and she got a bent arm one. Her legs were great though! 3 privates later she got it with a straight arm. She was working squat ons and her jump to the high bar concurrently. As soon as she got it with straight arms on the low bar she went right to high bar and rocked it. She was going to repeat level 4 at her old gym, now she's level 5 at her new one. Kip was all that was holding her back.

 

[bogwoppit]

Awesome! Amazing the difference between coaching and great coaching! Lovely that she is now able to move onwards and upwards.

 

[Linsul]

Oooh Bog, you're gonna make me blush! In all honesty, Natalie gets all the credit in the universe! She was participating in optional TOPS conditioning program at her gym. It was an extra $30 a month or something, and not all the level 4's did it, don't even get me started on inconsistencies there! The analogy I gave her was you're a Porsche, that was encouraged to drive yourself like a VW Bug! All the strength and flexibility in the world, just no training in how to use it. She could press handstand, straddle rope climb, and even straddle press to a handstand on a floor rail. Once she understood what she was working with, she hit the gas and got to work!