Competition
Hints for Gymnasts
Our
philosophy behind competitions is that meets are an opportunity for gymnastics
success and excellence, to show progress and new skills, hit routines,
have fun and have a positive social and educational experience. Gymnasts
learn how to compete by competing and should take every opportunity to
do so.
You Must Actually Compete to Learn to Compete
Learning
to compete is a long process. Gymnasts must deal with pressure, crowds,
distractions, psyching, travel, jet lag, lack of sleep, unfamiliar equipment,
inconsistent judging, gymnastic politics and a host of other variables.
This takes time and experience. Give them the time and opportunity
to learn and they will eventually excel.
Parents Don't Need to Add Any Additional Pressure
Parents
should realize that all necessary performance pressure is supplied by the
coaches. Extra requirements by parents may upset that balance. Successes
will be celebrated and whatever problems are noted will be targeted for
further development.
Don't Obsess Over Scores
Gymnastics
judging is a highly subjective, relative evaluation and scores are not
necessarily indicative of a gymnast’s true progress or lack of it.
Scores vary from session to session, day to day and meet to meet and are
not always comparable from gymnast to gymnast.
Coaches Know, Gymnasts Know, Judges ?
Gymnastic
coaches and gymnasts are almost always considerably more knowledgeable
and experienced than judges. Coaches and gymnasts are in the gym
so much more than judges. If you want to know who to believe, believe
your coach and your gymnast.
Enjoy the Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat
A parent’s
job at meets and other times is to share your gymnast’s successes and provide
moral support for any difficulties.
Travel, Your Teammates and Friends, and a Room with a Pool
One
of the pay-offs for all the hard work your gymnast does is to be able to
travel with the team to away meets and participate in any after-meet socializing.
If at all possible, allow your gymnast to go to eat after the meet with
the rest of the team members and/or stay with the rest of the team at host
hotels. Meet experiences should be positive and one of the ways to
ensure this is to make sure the whole trip is enjoyable. Many teams
specially plan activities at each meet they attend. The most common
after eating out together is to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool.
Every one of
our Compulsory Level e-Books has even more
competition hints.
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