Conditioning When A Skill Isn't Made?

[All Chalked Up]

One of my friends goes to a different gym then I do. She then told me the have to make up a chart with two skills on each event, and if they don't get ALL of their skills they have to condition. What!? That's 8 new skills in one month that they had only began working on.

Personally, I don't think it's right. Someone there had a crazy fear issue with my RO-BHS-BT and balked all the time, so it would not have been safe for her to do it on her own. It took her six months to get it. And she was punished with conditioning EVERY SINGLE MONTH SHE COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT A SPOT. Two of the girls there also had a bad meet at Provincials, and were punished with extra conditioning. WHAT!?

Let's hear thoughts on this.

 

[Aussie_coach]

This can be useful, it depends on the skill, the reason it is not made and the type of conditioning. If the gymnast is not getting a skill due to physically being unprepared then it would be very valuable. If they are mentally unprepared it can be valuable to if the conditioning relates to the movements needed for the skill.

 

[JBS]

Well...we do conditioning if they make the skill or not.

 

[GymSurvivor]

Well I don't agree with conditioning being used as a punishment. I don't think i'd ever call it a punishment for not getting the skill.
But I do agree with that if the conditioning relates to the skill it's important.

Take my glide swing for example. I do a straddle glide swing and tap my feet on the floor. So my coaches said that every time I tap my feet to do so many v-ups and scissors on the bars and then try again. This isn't a punishment it is simply to help condition the part of my body that needs the help in order to complete the skill.

So I do think conditioning is appropriate in some situations I'd just never call it a punishment.

 

[gymgurl]

Depends, If they are not making their vault and they say go do 10 rope climbs (we are threatened) it is useless but if they are not making their kip and they get given vsnaps then it is fine as it is strengthening the part of the body that needs to be stronger. For a fear of some sort conditioning is just plain stupid.

 

[CoachTodd]

I like the idea of having the goals list. 2 per event per month? yeah.. right. I like the idea of looking at the goals and deciding what conditioning would best suit obtaining those goals. If the list is actually a list of skills to get each month, you show me the kid that can actually get 2 new skills per month per event and I'll show you a 6 year old world champion.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Ok, first let me say that setting goals is good, and if a gymnast cannot perform a skill specifically because she lacks the strength required, extra conditioning is good SO LONG AS IT'S NOT FRAMED AS PUNISHMENT FOR NOT DOING THE SKILL.

That said, I find what you're describing objectionable in more ways than I can count.

1) I am not a fan of conditioning as punishment. Conditioning should never be a consequence -- it is just as important and potentially just as fun as any other part of the sport, so reinforce the idea that it's a bad thing?

2) While I'm at it, I don't believe in ANY sort of punishment for gymnastics -- I believe that punishment should be used in response to behavioral problems, but NEVER in response to technical issues or fear issues. I firmly believe in allowing the gymnast to take ownership of their own progress in the sport, and punishing a gymnast for not performing up to standards is an extremely effective way to destroy a kid's love of the sport and eagerness to progress.

3) The emphasis in training should NEVER be on getting the next skill quickly; it should ALWAYS be on getting the next skill correctly, however long that may take. Correct execution should nearly always take precedence over speed of acquisition. It is always better for the gymnast to get the skill cleanly next month than to get it sloppily this month.

I object to this idea from every imaginable angle. Technical, philosophical, psychological -- I see zero advantages to taking such an approach.

 

[JBS]

^^^Very good reply. I agree on all counts.

 

[catou]

Also agree. I remember one of my coach who made us do something like 10 push-ups every time we would fall off beam. In a 30 minutes beam session, we could easily do a hundred push-ups. For sure, as I fell, I would became frustrated and the more frustrated I became, the more I fell...

As a coach, I never used that technique. Hated it too much I presume. I prefer to do a conditioning session every training, explaining the girls why we would do that particular exercise so they would know for which move it would be useful.

There's one exception, where I could say I use conditionning as a punishement. The girls know they can't say sentences like, I'm not good, I can't do that... Prefer them to say I need help, I have difficulties with that move. I want them to think in a more positive way and ask for help when needed. And the punishement is not that bad... 10 push-ups lol. I have a much more positive attitude from everybody, and they rarely have to do them now. And often just the fact that they catch themself in the middle of telling the forbidden sentence is enough to bring back a smile on their face.

 

[gymnut1]

my kids rarely say I can't do that. If they do say it I teach them to say 'I can't do that yet' and we go from there.

 

[dreamBIG05]

It all depends on the coach and their technique. Sometimes our coaches say "go for it the first time, or you'll climb the rope", some gymnast respond to this and maybe thats why they keep using it.

 

[coachmolly]

I believe in conditioning, I believe in assigning specific conditioning for particular weaknesses an individual gymnast might have, but I don't believe in doing any of that conditioning as punishment. I overheard one coach today tell a girl, "If you put your hand down on your aerial one more time you'll have 5 suicides." No advice on how to improve her aerial, just the threat of conditioning- not even skill specific conditioning- if she did it incorrectly. I just don't see the point in that.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

I agree with what most others have said about the importance of conditioning and that it really shouldn't be used as a punishment for not getting skills. I'll use an example of my dd the other day where I think it's appropriate.

They were on the beam and each time they did one of their skills, they go to the coach for a "dot" on their hand. Well dd wasn't going to get her dots for some reason, so when she went to the coach the coach told her she had to start over to get her dots.

Well this made dd MAD, she started to cry and stood on the beam with her arms crossed refusing to even attempt any more skills. The coach came out to me after a few minutes and ASKED me if it was okay to send her to stretch because she wasn't doing anything. She said many parents get very uipset and she wanted to see if I was okay with it.

My reply was that if it was me, I would tell her that she needs to start trying her skills, or else she can go and do ropes. The coach was actually shocked that I said this. I said that I wouldn't punish for not getting her skills, but to stand on the beam with her arms crossed? Sorry, kid, go climb.

So the coach gave her the ultimatum and dd chose ropes. So she climbed about 5 or 6 ropes until it was time for cool down.

Another thing they do is when they do shuttle runs, the girl who comes in last place has to do an extra shuttle run once everyone else gets to go to events, things like that.

Sorry this was long but i wanted to give this example of when I think using conditioning is appropriate as a punishment.