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PARENTS
PAGE
"COUNTDOWN
TO
STATES"
By
Brian Bakalar
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AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE - EMAIL US:  |
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SPECIAL
feature countdown
to states part
ONE |
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You
are reading the first in a series of reports on
the preparation and training of a small group of
Level 6 gymnasts from Gymnastics Revolution.
These athletes, ages 10, 12, and 13, are
will compete in December 2003 in the Connecticut
State Championships.
This article, and the others in the series,
is designed to share the training methods used by
the coaching staff, as well as the hurdles the
girls will encounter during this period.
Because every athlete is different, this
set of articles should be read more as a story or
a diary then a training tool.
With
approximately 30 days left until the State
Championships, Katie, Lizzie, and Megan are
training hard in the gym, and beginning to gather
the focus they will need to excel. |
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three girls have moved through the ranks quickly
at Gymnastics Revolution, all were Level 5’s
last year, and all have become strong Level 6’s
this year. While
bars are generally their strongest event, they
have work to do on all four events to reach the
point that they and their coach are striving for.
The girls have learned the routines to near
perfect detail at this point, so their scores will
be based entirely on their ability to perform the
elements. No
longer are they concerned with learning proper
hand placements, proper steps, or alignment.
Today, the drive is for excellence in the
execution of each skill in each routine. |
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This
week’s training regimen adds another complex
layer: they
have a local meet on Sunday.
While the gymnasts are expected to perform
well at this meet, everyone is aware that this
meet is secondary to the Championships, and their
training is to use this meet simply as practice
for December.
The girls are struggling with this,
however. They
would like to have an easy week, one that allows
them to rest and be as strong as possible for
Sunday. Workouts
have not been designed this way, however.
They have been repeating some of the
difficult elements as many as 80 times per week,
and will continue to do so, as if the meet did not
exist. |
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Katie, Lizzie, and Megan also
will need to continue building their core
strengths through conditioning.
With a month of training still in front of
them, they still have time to develop raw
strength, along with flexibility, which will allow
them to perform better.
In fact, the workout schedules for the next
three weeks will be among the most intense weeks
in their year.
Finally, their training
consists of developing their abilities to focus.
By performing routines under higher levels
of pressure, or under more intense coaching, they
gain poise. Particularly
on the balance beam, the girls are learning to
tune their minds into the task at hand, and
concentrate specifically on the techniques they
are using to perform skills.
This ability will, in the end, be the key
to their performances in the State Championships. |
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Tel: 203-798-8651