Coaches Fun warm ups for small groups

[LucyTRA]

Ok, I have a coaching assesment coming up and as part of it you have to deliver a warm up activity that is fun, and engages the brains of the participants as well as their bodies ie. getting them to run around the floor will not fly because they don't have to think at all. I always use warm up cards (this is fun and 'gymnast centred', which british gymnastics is very keen on right now) with a selction of activities and they pick one.

I've got lots of good ones for big groups but for this specific not-at-all-realisitic coaching situation I will only have 3 or 4 gymnasts. Oh, and did I mention, ABSOLUTELY NO SPACE. we will have the vault run up, a tiny bit of normal floor (not the sprung floor) and the trampoline area which has 4 tramps in the floor, a tumbl trak, and a pit. The catch here being that they don't like you to actually use the tramps for the initial warm up, and most likely my gymnasts will be adults.

Thus far I have:
Colours - run round the (very limited) space and when I call a colour, find something of that colour and touch it as fast as you can
Relay - In pairs, run from opposite ends and meet in the middle. Touch the floor, then jump up and clap hands with partner. do this 5 times. Run back and do 10 burpees.
Drop - bouncing on the tramps, catch with a beanbag. call the name of the person you recieved it from (not the person you are throwing to) as you throw. If you drop it, 10 tucks as fast as you can.

Any other suggestions??

 

[wsg13]

Bobs and statues is always fun. Change it up by making them move around the area in different ways (frog jumps, crab walk, rocket jumps etc) then you can even change what there positions are bobs can become front support and statues can become any hold

 

[LucyTRA]

Bobs and statues is always fun. Change it up by making them move around the area in different ways (frog jumps, crab walk, rocket jumps etc) then you can even change what there positions are bobs can become front support and statues can become any hold

what is bobs and statues???

 

[wsg13]

I thought everyone new this game! Maybe it is Australian. You play music and move around. The music then pauses and then you yell out bobs or statues! Last one to freeze or move then has a punishment or is out. You then play the music again and move about. Then you pause and yell out bobs or statues. And keep going till everyone's warm or out

 

[marie83]

Traffic lights, the bean game, captain's coming, numbers games, Simon says, opposites...
I can explain these of you need me to but most are only really suitable for children! Good luck!

 

[LucyTRA]

Traffic lights? Opposites?

It's SO HARD to think of stuff that is appropriate for adults. When I'm coaching adult classes I generally just tell them to warm themselves up and they do it - if they don't know what to do they will copy the others or run a few laps. Once in a while at Uni I get them all playing stuck in the mud or ladders but it only works for big groups and if you have space!

 

[marie83]

Traffic lights - you call out green, red or amber. Green - run, jump, skip, hop etc around in a space, red - freeze, amber - run, jump, skip, hop etc on spot.
You can also add in 'roundabout' where the participants run around a hula hoop or big carpet spot on the floor, speed bump - jump over an obstacle.
Opposites is a game where all the participants are lined up across the floor space, you call out up (stand up) down (squat down), left (travel left) or right (travel right) and they have to do what you say. Start with slow instructions and speed up when they get used to it. Half way through the game when they have just got used to it, tell them they must do the opposite of what you say. Good for the brain!

 

[gymdog]

Would there be enough space for jump rope activities? We might be able to think of some interesting ones, but it can take a lot of space.

One game I've seen is to assign a movement a number. But keep it general such as 1. Rolling 2. Jumping. Etc. then you call out the numbers and they have to move through the space their own way, like figuring out what kind of rolls and what kind of jumps.