Gymnastics: current problems in gymnast training

Lack of experienced qualified coaches

The consensus on the major issues in youth sports and gymnastics would include at least the following list. In gymnastics, the lack of qualified trainers is perhaps the biggest problem. The sport is growing at a rapid pace and before there were not enough coaches (of any level of experience).

There is no place for coaches to learn

There are many reasons for this and a number of shortcomings in the coaching staff. The biggest problem is that there is no place for anyone who is interested to learn to train properly. There is no college, university, trade school or even a central source of information that you can go to.

to learn to train and the higher the level you aspire to train, the less information and resources there will be.

Bad habits and coaching practices are transmitted

Coaches in this country learned to train either by the way they were trained or by imitating another coach in the gym. In reality, an annual coaches conference does little to improve the situation. Add in the lack of helpful informational resources and the coaches are basically on their own.

This is the problem that we have chosen to attack ourselves with with our website and our products.

Inadequate developmental training

Linked to this situation and problem is the inappropriate training style for the development of many coaches in our sport. Lack of knowledge about training loads and hours in the gym and the amount of pressure to put on very young gymnasts is all too common in our sport.

Parents and coaches want medals, gymnasts want to learn and have fun

The next big problem in sport is the overemphasis on winning, actually more on the part of coaches and parents than by the gymnasts themselves. Parents evaluate sport for their child’s competitive success (read that – count the medals). Coaches equalize that and then overcome it with an emphasis on how much control they have over their team and macho competition over which coach can teach the hardest skill in the shortest amount of time rather than building a correct foundation for long-term development.

Fun is not allowed – Exit

Coaches are often very willing to sacrifice the natural fun of sport in their ego drive to achieve their own personal goals. Some even take the position that gymnasts on the team shouldn’t have fun at all because training in gymnastics requires nothing more than serious training. Our advice in this situation – find a new coach – or if that’s an impossibility, learn to ignore that attitude in them.

The most talented burn first

We are talking about burnout. And, unfortunately, it often happens first to the most talented gymnasts. Coaches get a young talent in their gym and proceed to push it too far, too fast in terms of too many hours in the gym, too much unnecessary pressure too soon, and stealing the fun of the sport. Gymnasts are expelled from the sport before they are old enough to compete internationally.

Burn before coaches learn

By the time the coaches realize their mistake, many years have passed and many gymnasts burned out in their careers. The problem seems to have resurfaced strongly lately. A generation of coaches learned their lesson a decade ago, but with nowhere to learn from the mistakes of others, the new generation of coaches is busy burning down their own gymnasts.

Learning high-level skills is not the problem

Some have misunderstood our position on this. We do not advocate restricting the speed of learning for gymnasts and lowering the quality and level of skills they are capable of learning. We simply believe that young and very young gymnasts should have limited practice hours and competitive pressure. We still want them in the gym when they are 16 and finally old enough to compete internationally.

Too much pressure or too little support

The next problem is almost a riddle (a riddle, a riddle). For one thing, many parents put too much parental pressure on athletes, especially in light of the fact that some coaches put too much pressure on the same gymnasts. On the other hand, some gymnasts suffer from a lack of attention and support from their parents.

Education is the solution

The solution to all the above problems is education: parenting and coach education.