|
PARENTS
PAGE
COUNTDOWN
TO
STATES
By
Brian Bakalar
|
HAVE
AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE - EMAIL US:  |
|
SPECIAL
feature countdown
to states part
TWO |
|
 |
With
approximately 22 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.
These 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 is 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 in
their routines.
Today, the drive is for excellence in the
execution of each skill in each routine. |
| After
a successful meet last weekend, the girls have had
an interesting week.
They seemed to need a day or two to recover
from the weekend, which was not in the plans.
All three competed very well, and their
coach was pleased with their performance.
The coach gathered some important
information from some of the officials at the
competition, and will be implementing it during
the workouts of the next three weeks.
So, with the girls refocused to their
workouts, and the coach working with a few new
directions and ideas, their training has been well
planned.
Over the course of the next week, a huge load of
routines will be put on the girls.
They will be responsible for as many as 40
beam routines, 40 bar routines, 30 vaults, and 15
floor routines.
Because the skills in the routines have
become quite simple for the athletes, these
numbers are attainable. |
 |
 |
At
a higher level of competition, repetitions at
these quantities would become hazardous to injury,
however, as Level 6 gymnasts, Lizzie, Katie, and
Megan will be able to handle these demands.
With every single routine performed, the
girls become more confident and secure in
themselves.
To coach this number of routines is also a
challenge. Attention to detail can fade when faced with large loads of
training, so the coach will have to be very
attentive. The
first problem the girls come up against is
“rushing.”
When they realize the amount of work they
are responsible for, the girls often try to go
quickly through their workout.
As in competition, when nerves often cause
gymnasts to rush, they will need to be reminded
often to concentrate on the moves, not on the
assignment.
|
| Specific
attention is also being paid to a number of facets
of their routines.
All three are strong vaulters, but need to
be extremely precise with their body positions and
landings. All
three will be working on the technique of the
flyaway on Bars, where their head positions
occasionally are incorrect.
The athletes are carefully focusing on
their landings on tumbling, and the speed of their
tumbling passes.
On the Balance Beam, the full turn has
posed a challenge, as their coach is tirelessly
demanding perfection on that particular skill.
And on the Bars, their coach has challenged
them to perform the Clear Hip Circle (at the
beginning of their routine) to and from a
handstand, which few gymnasts, and fewer Level
6’s, perform.
In short, the training in the gym is not anything
spectacular or unique.
The simple concept is:
with enough repetition, enough strength,
and enough mental toughness, the gymnasts will be
able to reach their goals at the State
Championships.
Check back soon, however, as their training
will be developing, and several new environments
will be created to help the girls prepare.
|
 |
|
|
|
Tel: 203-798-8651