Sergei Zelikson is an honoured artistic gymnastics coach in Russia and a personal coach of Anastasia Grishina.
Those who lack sufficient coordination and motor skills don’t like trampolining. If a coach can spot that from an early age, there is no need to give an athlete excessive amount of exercises to develop a particular element. You won’t need to customize the training program or fast track that athlete to the higher level. In gymnastics, even the most skillful athletes can’t always avoid injuring themselves at some point during their career.
The role of the coach and parents is to understand the inner abilities of the young child. This will ensure proper psychological development and lead to a safer training schedule. More importantly it will assist in finding the more appropriate sports discipline for a child. For instance, speed and endurance skills can easily outmatch any lack of coordination in Track & Field events. I advise parents to really analyze their child’s abilities before making false promises such as: ‘You will become a champion!’.
First of all, you need to research this topic further. You can ask the coach to recommend some relevant literature to read. In case your coach is not clear about it or can’t explain anything to you, then it’s unlikely he or she will be able to progress your child to a next level. Even worse is when the coach has a lack of knowledge and unfounded Olympic ambitions to do that. In that case, he or she can unconsciously harm a child.
Having a great degree of knowledge would guarantee the gymnastics career that is injury-free and successful. And if a coach wants to achieve it – he always got to be interested in learning to be a step ahead of the gymnasts. My advice for parents would be to change a coach if there is no clear communication, name calling and demanding that never seems to stop.
To summarize, here are 8 tips for safety in artistic gymnastics:
1. While most gyms don’t have a specific rule for the starting age, the sooner you take your child for a trial class the better. The recommended age is 4-6 years old when it’s much easier to assess a child’s abilities. Remember that rushing your child to the higher level can result in injuries.
2. There are a lot of skills and movements involved in gymnastics. That means your child will spend all excess energy in the gym, thus making it easier for you at home.
3. Whether your child is a boy or a girl, gym apparel is an important factor that makes a gymnast feel safe, comfortable and happy. So long as the gym wear doesn’t impede the movement and fits in by the gym standards, it should be fine.
4. Gymnastics serves as a good starting point for other sports disciplines. Did you know that Yelena Isinbayeva (a two-time Olympic champion in pole-vaulting) is a former gymnast. She left gymnastics because of her height. Therefore, should you have any concerns, feel free to ask your coach to recommend a more appropriate sports discipline for your child.
5. Don’t pressure your children to perform or succeed too much until you fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the young gymnast. There is nothing you can do if a gymnast lacks good coordination skills which guarantee the good execution of highly complex elements.
6. Never let yourself or the coach raise voice in frustration if a child struggles. This can lead to negative side effects such as injury or a mental block. Provide as much support as you can and avoid being rude to a beginner gymnast.
7. Don’t force your child to lose weight. It’s true that excess body fat affects the gymnast’s ability to move freely and to achieve optimum weight gymnasts need to follow a healthy diet with the right food choice. Don’t humiliate the child by constantly asking to watch their body weight. Remember that artistic gymnastics is for strong and sturdy. Thin and tall girls are in rhythmic gymnastics or ballet.
8. Praise your child after training session. Trust me, there is enough criticizing made by a coach. Your child should be given a positive reinforcement and encouragement.