The World of Gymnastics

Archive for the ‘THE BASICS OF GYMNASTICS’ Category

Recreational gymnastics is designed for kids that want to learn basic gymnastics skills, stay fit, build strength and flexibility but don’t want to commit to long hours in the gym or partake in competitions.

Children of any age and skill level can participate in a recreational gymnastics program. Most rec gymnastics programs are built around USAG recommendations and standards. USAG require each gymnastics coach and business owner to become members and go through a safety training course and test. This is very important and helps decrease the chance of injury to your child.

Recreational gymnastics programs are usually categorizes by both, age and skill level. Mommy and me class, preschool and kindergarten are all designed for specific ages. Mommy and me class is for children usually 18 months to 3 years old, preschool class is for  3 to 5 year olds and kindergarten class is designed for 5 and 6 year olds. All the rest of the recgymnastics classes are based on gymnastics skills. The classes are arranged as followed: beginner, advance beginner, intermediate, level 1, level 2… so on and so forth. A gymnast must master all the skills in their gymnastics level before they get to move up to the next level.

Recreational gymnasts get to use the floor exercise, balance beam, uneven bars, vault, pit, and trampoline. They also get to use many types of mats that aide in the learning of specific gymnastics skills. There is some equipment in a gymnastics academy that recgymnast do not get to us. They usually don’t get use high bar, strap bar, harnesses, etc.

Most rec gymnasts take gymnastics classes  1 to 2 times a week and each class is usually about an hour long. Every rec class starts with a warm up and usually ends with conditioning.

I have seen countless number of gymnasts do a near perfect routine and not score as high as they thought they would. Their disappointment and agony shows as tears start rolling down their cheeks. Then they ask that famous little question, “what did I do wrong?”

It is not so much that they did something wrong, they usually are just missing the WOW FACTOR in their floor routine and beam routine.

Keep in mind, a judge may see the same gymnastics routine 100s of times. In all honesty they get a little board and want to see something that stands out. You can’t just hit your routine, you got to leave a mark and a good impression on the judges by giving them the WOW FACTOR they are looking for.

What is a WOW FACTOR? A wow factor is going to be something that wows the judges. A little extra spice in your routine that get the judge’s attention and makes your floor routine and beam routine stand out. This means you cannot just go through the motions of your routine.

Every judge wants to see a tight, clean, flawless routine, but this won’t get a gymnast the high score they are striving for. There is more to a routine than that. Presentation  and showmanship is very important when competing. This means every gymnast must finish every skill, stay in releve, have full body extension, keep their chin up, smile constantly and go all out on every skill. They must show a great amount of confidence and enthusiasm and not look timid or afraid. This will grab the judges attention and give them the wow factor they have been looking for!

You need to practice the way you compete. Going through the motions during practice and a meet is not good enough. You need to give it 110% on every skill and every beam routine and floor routine. This will give the judges the wow factor they want to see and will set you apart from the rest of the gymnasts.

Give the judges and audience a gymnastics routine to remember!!! GO GET THEM GIRLS!!

DO NOT…

Do not land head first into the pit
Do not bury yourself under the pit blocks.
Do not attempt skills you cannot do by yourself safely
Do not land on your knees in the pit
Do not dig holes in the pit blocks
Do not throw foam out of the pit
Do not pick the foam pit blocks apart
Do not throw foam blocks at anyone’s face

MAKE SURE…

Make sure you land in the pit!
Make sure you take turns going into the pit
Make sure only one gymnast at a time is in the pit
Make sure no one is in the pit before you use it
Make sure to land in a pike position if dropping from rope
Make sure the foam pit is fluffed regularly
*Make sure to clean out the foam pit every once in awhile

*It is very important to take time and clean out the gymnastics pit a few times a year. Over time and with a lot of wear and tear the blocks start to flake apart. This causes a lot o dust and small foam pit pieces to be in the pit that often get into the gymnast’s eyes. When you clean out foam pits you may never know what you may find in the bottom. Some of the common things are hair clips, headbands, ponytail holders, stud earrings, jewelry, socks (even though they aren’t suppose to wear them), Band-Aids, etc. And you may even find a few crazy things; we have found glasses, retainers, hand grips, and a dead mouse.

Cleaning a foam pit out can be a very dirty job. Make sure you wear masks and even safety glasses to keep all the dust and flakes out of your mouth, nose, and eyes!!!!

One of our gymnasts always got foam pieces in her eyes, so one day she came to class wearing swimming goggles! She wore the goggles the whole time she did pit tumbling…Needless to say she didn’t get any foam in her eyes!!

Gymnastics foam pits are useful in many different ways. The number one use for a foam pit is landing. A foam pit saves a gymnast from many wipe-outs and injuries.

Gymnastics foam pits are most important for optional and elite gymnasts. They are used as a training tool when it come to learning new gymnastics skills. Many people think a foam pit is used for tumbling and floor skills only, but it is not. It is used for so much more than that.

Gymnasts use foam pits for balance beam. Sometimes they may put a resi-pit under the high beam when trying  a skill they have never put on the high beam for the first time. Many gymnasts work beam dismounts into a loose foam pit before doing it off  the end of the balance beam on to mats.

Many gymnast use both resi-pits and loose foam pits when it comes to vault. A lot of times a vault is set up with a loose foam pit behind it. Each time the gymnast vaults she will land in a foam pit until she is ready for the next step. A resi-pit is used for a lot of drills when it comes to vaulting. A lot of times a coach may put it behind the vault table to help the gymnast learn to block off.

Foam pits are very important when it comes to the uneven bars. They are used underneath a single bar or in front of a set of uneven bars. They aid in the safety of release skills and gymnastics bar dismounts. Resi-mats are also used as a training tool on uneven bars.

And of course, pits are used for tumbling! They help with front and back tumbling on the floor. Some pits will even be in front of a tumble track or trampoline to help the gymnast get that little extra spring they need for a specific skill.

Gymnastics pits are useful in so many ways when it comes to learning new skills on any event.

Gymnastics foam pits should be a must for every gymnastics academy. They are extremely beneficial for every gymnast and serve so many different purposes.

Foam pits are very useful because it eliminates a huge amount of spotting from a gymnastics coach. No matter how great a gymnastics coach may be it is not a guarantee that they will always catch you or help you land safely. In all honesty, there are certain gymnastics skills that are very hard to spot and on occasions a coach spotting can get in the way. Spotting is also a lot of wear and tear on the body of any gymnastics coach.

Optional and elite gymnast are much safer when they use a pit to try new skills. A pit it so soft and fluffy that no matter how a gymnast may land they will be much better off than if they landed that way on floor. A foam pit reduces the chance of serious injuries by a ton. On rare occasions a gymnast may land weird and roll her ankle, this is minuet to what could have happened if they did the skill on the gymnastics floor instead.

Not only are foam pits essential for the safety of an upper level gymnast, but they can be the highlight for a younger gymnast’s gymnastics class. I have seen countless children beg to play in the pit, and when they get out it is all smiles. Younger and less skilled gymnasts love to do tuck, straddle, straight and pike jumps into the pit from the floor or mini tramp. Their absolute favorite is climbing or swinging on a rope that is above the foam pit and then dropping in.

The foam pit can also be used as a conditioning tool. A loose foam pit is awesome to have races in. another way it can be used as conditioning is to have a gymnast jump in and climb out over and over. You can have your athletes climb the rope; if this is easy have them do it without legs. If they fall they will have a safe landing into the pit. The blocks from the pit can also be used to help a child keep her legs together. This is done by getting a block out and making them squeeze it between their legs without dropping it!

A foam pit is a great tool that can be used in any type of gymnastics academy! Whether it is for fun or for learning new skills a pit is a great investment for every gymnastics club.