WAG How do I get them to STAY ON THE BEAM?!!

[BarCoach]

We've had 5 meets so far with 5 more to go. And while we've gotten better (we've gone from a 106.4 to a 110.65), they still haven't managed to all stay on the beam. This is 8 level 4s, mostly falling on the cartwheel that they can make over and over flawlessly in practice. The fewest falls we've had is 3 (2 girls), but it's usually 4 or 5. I'm frustrated and they are frustrated. Any ideas?

 

[flips123]

I've always had insane amounts of trouble with making my cartwheel in meets. I could do them fine at practice but the minute we got to a meet I would rush through it and not make it. The trick for me is to be patient and wait for the beam instead of trying to pike down and get my feet on as fast as possible. I'm not sure if this is the problem your girls are having but making sure they do a calm cartwheel and don't rush could be the trick.

 

[raenndrops]

I have a sarcastic / joking idea, but I will refrain. Maybe for one meet, try to bribe them... 8 made cartwheels and they get something... ice cream works at our gym... or maybe something non-food related - a "fun" day at practice where they get to pick what events they spend time on and get to choose skills to uptrain (within reason, following progressions, and that can be safely spotted).

 

[Deleted member D3987]

We've had 5 meets so far with 5 more to go. And while we've gotten better (we've gone from a 106.4 to a 110.65), they still haven't managed to all stay on the beam. This is 8 level 4s, mostly falling on the cartwheel that they can make over and over flawlessly in practice. The fewest falls we've had is 3 (2 girls), but it's usually 4 or 5. I'm frustrated and they are frustrated. Any ideas?

try 1 meet where they get NO warm ups except on a floor line. you won't believe what happens...

 

[coachmolly]

Could you try to get them to come up with some mental cues to say in their heads? Just to help them slow down, take it one part at a time, and not over think or get ahead of themselves. Something like lunge-reach-hand-hand-look for foot-lunge-stand tall (or any number of cues you might say repeatedly that would make sense to them), sort of like the "Mental Choreography" Doc Ali talks about.

 

[Gymsanity]

Ever since putting the tacks and broken glass under the beams, our number of falls have decreased dramatically! Oh how I wish some days.........
Two thoughts come to mind. One, at the meet they feel extra pressure, extra pressure equals more falls and mistakes. Most kids feel enough from themselves, teammates, parents, coaches, etc. I try and de-stress them, and remind them they're not at the Olympics. It really starts with you as the coach. If they feel your stress or apprehension then it will transfer to them. Secondly, we train in a VERY hostile environment. One to two weeks before the meet each athlete must do a quality routine everyday before snack with the stereo blaring sound effects (dogs barking, babies crying, people burping, passing gas, booing, etc.), we have their teammates yelling, screaming, ring bells and buzzers while their parents are out on the floor staring at them (I do mean staring. (50 mushies for anyone that blinks). After a week or two of that, they usually get off the beam at the meet and say 'wow, that was relaxing compared to gym!'
So in closing, stress them at gym, relax them at the meets! Good luck, and let us know how they do.

 

[txgymfan]

Do you do pressure sets with them? This is frequently seen in college workouts. Each team member must hit X ( say 3 cartwheels or a hit routine) in order. If they do then they get to move on to up training, if not then start over. If they can't hit for say 3 rotations then extra beam basics.

Another option like gymsanity says get the whole gym ( or at least a group of older girls and any parents you can round up to watch the routines while playing loud music ( something jarring and unpleasant). I know one gym that tapes the noise from their community open gym nights and uses that as a distraction to the girls on beam. You can also mix it up and have them do pressure sets at the end of their workout when they aren't expecting it to practice keeping them off balance. Be creative, Michael Phelps coach has admitted to coming up with lots of tricks to teach MP how to deal with unexpected circumstances.

 

[BarCoach]

Yes we do both pressure sets and MC. I'll try playing some loud music and noises.
Dunno, at a meet? I'm pretty sure the parents would shoot me if it didn't work. But our next meet is a low pressure one so I could try it. Wouldn't they be more nervous? Do I tell them ahead of time what is going to happen?

 

[wallinbl]

try 1 meet where they get NO warm ups except on a floor line. you won't believe what happens...

If that doesn't work, parents are going to hang the coach for trying it!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Yes we do both pressure sets and MC. I'll try playing some loud music and noises.
Dunno, at a meet? I'm pretty sure the parents would shoot me if it didn't work. But our next meet is a low pressure one so I could try it. Wouldn't they be more nervous? Do I tell them ahead of time what is going to happen?

it works. and don't warn them. you just state that they are warming up on the line today. no beam warm ups. and let the parents know you are doing this and it actually calms them down and tunes them in. beam is a process and psycho event. sometimes you have to do things out of the box for the kids to learn that millions of repetitions in the gym apply to meets.

and it doesn't matter what level...level 5 is just as 'hard' to them as Elite is to those athletes. Elites get 30 seconds...they never warm up all their stuff. don't need to. got that? 30 seconds...so go ahead kids, you can spend a half hour on the floor to get warmed up. get it?