| Gymnastics
Safety during Gymnastics Instruction
Only Let
Professional Coaches Spot You
By the same
token, you should only let qualified gymnastics professionals spot you
on skills you cannot do and need help with. You risk potentially
serious injury by being spotted or coached by someone who is not qualified,
knowledgeable, experienced or strong enough.
Learn How
to Fall Safely
It is probably
a good idea to learn or at least know how to fall safely from any specific
skill you are going to attempt, especially new skills. You also need
to prepare yourself by learning how to fall on common types of skills.
Gymnastics instruction in learning to forward, backward and shoulder roll
out of front, back and sideward over-rotated skills is necessary.
Practicing front and back drops (on a mat), including with the use of judo
falls (slapping the hands to absorb the force of the fall) is another fall
sequence to learn.
Pay Attention
You need to
be aware of what is going on around you in the gym if there are other gymnasts,
especially bigger ones, around. You need to be aware and pay attention
to everything and everyone around you who might crash into you or land
on you. You also need to pay careful attention to your coach so you
understand exactly what they expect of you to learn efficiently and
keep yourself safe.
Stop, Look
And Listen.
Just like
crossing a street, when you approach an equipment area, the floor exercise
mat, tumbling strips or other mats and pieces of equipment, you need to
stop and look both ways before you cross or enter to make sure you are
not in the way or going to get landed on.
Build Your
Strength to Increase Your Safety Margin
The stronger
you are, the less likely you are to get hurt and the more likely you are
to learn gymnastics skills quickly and safely. Flexibility not lonely
makes many skills more attractive (like back walkovers), but also can make
you less prone to injury. So prepare for your gymnastics by working
to make yourself strong and flexible.
Check Equipment
First
Make sure
all equipment is set and sturdy before you begin to perform any skills
on it. Handles and cables need to be tight enough so the equipment
is safe for you to be on. Don’t assume the equipment is correctly
set and tight. Check it an make sure first.
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