WAG Great Read.

[Deleted member D3987]

http://vacilandoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/how-to-coach-your-gymnast-at-home/

 

[munchkin3]

Very good....point well taken (as i feel guilty about telling my DD to tighten her buns on bars last night....)
as a parent of 2 gymmies, constant re-check and refection is important.

 

[Sari]

Loved this. Spot on. Will try to remember it when I eventually have children of my own.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Rats, I was hoping it was going to give some useful tips

 

[Yuenling]

Great tips! I will definitely have to try that.

 

[gwenmom]

I'm guilty of reminding DD to point her toes. Guess I should stop. The former dancer in me will just have to bite her tongue and cringe inwardly.

 

[Yuenling]

Is it okay to complain about my daughter not pointing her toes during practice, like when the coach is not looking or when the coach is focused on fixing something else?

 

[mommyof1]

I do plenty of coaching at home:

Do not do a cartwheel there. You will crash into the wall.
That piece of furniture is not a vaulting table. Stop using it to practice donkey kicks.
That piece of furniture is not a bar. Stop using it to practice your casts.
Those two pieces of furniture are not a set of parallel bars. Stop swinging on them.
That floor is not padded. Do not do a handstand there.
You want me to score dance-through #724 of your floor routine? It gets a perfect 10.0, as did #s 1 through 723.
What did Coach tell you about doing gymnastics outside of the gym?

 

[onelittledream]

SO hard.........yes, gymnastics dominates everything in our house..........we do spelling drills while she is in handstand (her choice not mine), we watch television and read books in splits and even in bridges lol I caught her trying to read a book for school this past holiday in a bridge, I am still not sure how that worked. Right now I am sitting by an open window listening to her do leaps and jumps on the garden tramp ( I can hear because she yells them out as she does them). My husband says that when they went to the HEB here in town the Tuesday before Thanksgiving he sent her down the isle to get the rolls and she did walkovers the whole way.....ugh I see gymnastics SO MUCH it is hard to not say anything. Plus I think my daughter has the only coach in the world that gives conditioning at home. Every Thursday she comes home with a list..........she has to do so much jogging (distance and timed) she has to do toe ups and pull ups and push ups and hollow holds, Vups for a certain number of reps or time.........splits, handstands etc...............I know hardly anything about what is going on on those mats but it is so hard when you see stuff and they say "how was that mom" at home.........Its a work in progress

 

[munchkin3]

SO hard.........yes, gymnastics dominates everything in our house..........we do spelling drills while she is in handstand (her choice not mine), we watch television and read books in splits and even in bridges lol I caught her trying to read a book for school this past holiday in a bridge, I am still not sure how that worked. Right now I am sitting by an open window listening to her do leaps and jumps on the garden tramp ( I can hear because she yells them out as she does them). My husband says that when they went to the HEB here in town the Tuesday before Thanksgiving he sent her down the isle to get the rolls and she did walkovers the whole way.....ugh I see gymnastics SO MUCH it is hard to not say anything. Plus I think my daughter has the only coach in the world that gives conditioning at home. Every Thursday she comes home with a list..........she has to do so much jogging (distance and timed) she has to do toe ups and pull ups and push ups and hollow holds, Vups for a certain number of reps or time.........splits, handstands etc...............I know hardly anything about what is going on on those mats but it is so hard when you see stuff and they say "how was that mom" at home.........Its a work in progress

Please discourage walkovers just for fun.....too many walkovers are very bad for her back. DD used to LOVE showing off multiple walkovers until one of her friends quit due to back problems......the fewer the better.

 

[flips123]

As a gymnast, if I could like this 300x's, I would. My parents only know what I have taught them about gymnastics and still can't tell the difference between a kip and a free-hip. I think part of the reason I love it so much is because of how my parents treat me and my gymnastics. They step back and let me take charge. They're a shoulder to cry on when I have a bad practice, someone vent to when I am frustrated and someone to support me (and write the checks) through it all, that's it. Even if they have no clue what I am talking about, they listen but they never tell me how to do my gymnastics.

I know way too many girls who have quit or resent gymnastics because of their parents and it makes me so sad. From not letting the child take a break to pointing out everything that they did wrong at a meet, these parents crush their child's love for the sport by being too involved. By letting gymnastics be my thing, my parents have definitely helped to foster my love for it.

 

[z2akids]

How I wish I could hand this to the crazy family member at our gym. You know, the one whose gymmie looks at her in the middle of practice while she mouths corrections at the little girl.

Alas, she would not get the hint even if I did.

But, on a personal note, it is a good reminder. It is so easy to fall into the trap of correcting a toe point or position while DD is walking on her hands or cartwheel on the floor beam.

 

[rosettasmom]

Is it okay to complain about my daughter not pointing her toes during practice, like when the coach is not looking or when the coach is focused on fixing something else?

NO

 

[sce]

I do plenty of coaching at home:

Do not do a cartwheel there. You will crash into the wall.
That piece of furniture is not a vaulting table. Stop using it to practice donkey kicks.
That piece of furniture is not a bar. Stop using it to practice your casts.
Those two pieces of furniture are not a set of parallel bars. Stop swinging on them.
That floor is not padded. Do not do a handstand there.
You want me to score dance-through #724 of your floor routine? It gets a perfect 10.0, as did #s 1 through 723.
What did Coach tell you about doing gymnastics outside of the gym?

Love this!

 

[veganmami]

Very well written. Lots of good advice for us CGM's!

 

[aksaunders]

My wife and I don't enough to to coach our DD at home and her coaches do a fine job of it. Besides, she is normally too busy doing homework or annoying her older brother and sister to do much gymnastics.

 

[windydays]

Love it! However, I could use some help with coaching getting school work and chores done

 

[Natasha]

Is it okay to complain about my daughter not pointing her toes during practice, like when the coach is not looking or when the coach is focused on fixing something else?

Not a good idea at all because A- your daughter needs you to be the supporter and cheerleader and B- If the coach is focused on fixing something else, then that is what your daughter needs to focus on. He is very likely focusing on something that is important for safety reasons or for learning correct technique to build on a skills. Not pointing toes is not going to keep your daughter from progressing to the next skill, but interfering with the coach's process will.

 

[proud-gym-mom]

Great article. I'm guilty of many of those things… I'm learning though, and getting better a little at a time! Thanks for the reminder