Expanding the Skill Menu Expands Progress Possibilities
 Vertical-progression only training can also lead to frustration and de-motivation when there are many days in a row when the next large step of progression cannot be accomplished or progress is so subtle that it is not noticed by either the coach or the athlete.  Small step progress and horizontal progress fill this gap.

Balance Training Time with Learning the Encyclopedia
The ultimate system of coaching seems to be, not surprisingly, a combination of all of gymnastics.  Compulsory routines and competitions serve a purpose of providing early competition experience.  That competition experience is critical to learn to deal with the vagaries and internal and external pressures inherent in competing. 

Head for the Future
Vertical progressions and progressions targeted toward high level skills have a prominent place in training.  It is necessary to set long-term skill goals and work at them for years to achieve the Elite levels of the sport.  Without a focused effort to achieve high level skills, they may never be attained.  They also serve as a motivating factor to gymnasts.  When they know their coaches are training them to perform Elite and national level skills, they are reassured of and excited about their coaches' confidence in them.  As always people, including gymnasts, tend to rise to the level of expectations they perceive people important to them have.

Progress, Every Day - Progress
There are days when vertical progress is not possible with a particular gymnast or even the whole team, for a variety of reasons.  The intelligent coach realizes when this is occurring and substitutes horizontal progress, in the form of perfecting basic technique and teaching corollary horizontal skills.  The net result is still progress, even best possible progress, in the sport.

The Encyclopedic Safety Net
The encyclopedic method of coaching provides a wider experience base physically and kinesthetically, which must be an additional safety net for the gymnast.  It also allows for the successful basic preparation for the whims of difficulty ratings and judge's peculiar preferences, which vary over time.

Be Prepared for Any Future
The current awarding of skill ratings and bonus points to relatively easy front tumbling skills will not continue forever.  Stalder moves on bars will come back strong.  As in any fashion trend, wait long enough and anything and everything will come back in style.  Consider the 8 - 12 year length of time a gymnast may be in training for the Elite International level, from age four or eight average beginning age in the sport to the now required eligibility age of 16 for World Championships and the Olympics.  There will be a considerable variance in the fashionable trends, ratings and rule changes during that period of time.  An encyclopedic system of training prepares the gymnast for any and all of them and that time period allows the time for it.

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