6 reasons to put yourself and your kids in Gymnastics
6 REASONS TO PUT YOURSELF AND YOUR KIDS IN GYMNASTICS
One of the things that I’m passionate about is gymnastics. I was an elite gymnast as a kid, even competing for Australia (a very long time ago) but I’ve been a gymnastics coach for the past 16 years. I’ve coached a range of programs from PMP school programs, Kindergym, Levels 1-10, adults, teenagers and elite gymnasts.
One of the biggest misconceptions about gymnastics is that it’s a sport for a select few. For the gifted and talented. I believe that Gymnastics is not only for the select few. It is not just a competitive sport for the young and super talented. The human body is designed to run, jump, swing, climb, push, pull, invert and all of these actions are movements.
Life is Movement. Gymnastics is the sport of movement and it truly is, a sport for everyone.
I’d like to share a few thoughts about gymnastics and why I have my two boys in gymnastics for as long as they’d like to continue. I believe it’s a great launch pad into all other sports but it develops some invaluable life success skills.
HERE ARE MY TOP 6
1. Life skills:
Discipline, determination, hard work, time management and commitment are all skills that are developed through gymnastics training. Without participants knowing, gymnastics develops these life skills along with superior physical development. In gymnastics, as it is in life,
how you do anything, is how you do everything.
2. Patience:
Nothing in gymnastics comes easily. If you want something, you must work for it. You will never be given anything overnight and you learn that great things take time.
3. Commitment to basics:
There is no development in gymnastics and other sports, without a strong commitment and respect of the basics. Gymnasts learn this very early on and start to recognize that basics, mobility, physical prep and strength training are the foundation that big skills and their future in the sport is built on.
4. Failure and resilience:
In gymnastics, you fail more than you succeed. In fact, we don’t even see failure as traditional failure. It’s just a necessary part of learning, growth and development. What I mean by that is, you rarely get things right. There is always a component of your training that needs work. You try a new skill, you will most likely not get that skill -1st time or even the 100th time but under the guidance of a supportive gymnastics coach, you persist. You eventually get it. You fail more than you succeed but the failures are the very important and necessary steps to success. You recognize and learn from each failure. Whether it be mentally or physically. I was too far forward here, I thought I would fall and I did, I bent my arms, whatever the mistake that lead to the failure, you learn, you adjust, you move on, you move forward and if you persist, you eventually succeed.
Failure is not permanent but a stepping stone
5. Consistency is king:
In gymnastics, as it is in all sport and life, the most talented is not always the most successful. The gymnast that shows up, session after session, giving 100% every session, always, absolutely always, beats talent when talent doesn’t show up consistently.
6. Self confidence.
Overcoming Fear in Gymnastics and learning gymnastics skills in a supportive environment under the guidance of an encouraging coach goes a long way to help building confidence and self esteem in children.
Children feel a sense of achievement as they overcome the challenge of learning new physical skills and movements that they once feared and thought of as impossible.
This sense of achievement helps them gain confidence in their own abilities and develops self-respect, a positive self esteem and all of the above of course leads to self confidence.
“The human body is designed to run, jump, swing, climb, push, pull, invert and all of these actions are movements. Life is Movement.
Gymnastics is the sport of movement and it truly is, a sport for everyone”
Credit: 6 reasons to put yourself and your kids in Gymnastics
