Brian is the head coach and owner of Gymnastics Revolution.  With thousands of hours of experience coaching in Connecticut, he brings a unique blend of insight, sports psychology, child psychology, and fun to Gymnastics Revolution.

Philosophy:  Gymnastics is a unique sport, combining elegance and grace with power and stamina.  It is also a playground for the child and an arena for the Olympic hopeful.  And, it is a sport that seeks to include children, still developing as people.  For this reason, participants are given tremendous opportunity to grow.  A gymnastics career typically coincides with adolescence and increasing maturity, which allows a gymnastics coach to be a very large and influential part of the gymnast’s life.  For this reason, the role of gymnastics coach is never to be taken lightly.  It is a position of delicate nurturing and a role of unbending discipline, all at once.  And most of all, it is an honor.

Coaching the child:  The role of the coach varies as the age of the athlete varies.  In the youngest age groups, the coach has the enviable task of developing the gymnast’s comprehension.  Comprehension includes understanding of the positions and motions in the sport, comprehension includes helping children to learn exactly what to expect from a “coach.”  The coach has an equally important role in helping the gymnast become excited about the sport.  This excitement will keep the gymnast in the gym, and will push him or her through the levels of learning.  At first, the child knows only that it’s fun.  But the good coach helps the gymnast to evaluate what about the sport is fun.  The good coach imparts understanding that doing something well is fun, and that learning something new is fun.  And of course, the coach also recognizes that the simple experience of movement and action is fun. 

Coaching the aspiring gymnast:  The most critical time in a young gymnast’s career comes when gymnastics switches from being an activity – something done once or twice a week – to a full fledged sport.  At that time, the gymnast needs to begin setting goals.  The gymnast needs to evaluate the future, and make serious commitments.  Here, the coach’s responsibilities shift from being sure that the gymnast is “happy” to being sure the gymnast is “trained properly.” If the coach is good, and if the sport is a fit for the gymnast, this transition can be very easy.  But if the coach is too serious, too regimented, too silly, too distracted, or any other number of things, the gymnast will struggle with change.  The coach needs to find a way to ensure that basics are being taught, and taught correctly.  The coach needs to develop the strength and flexibility of the athletes.  And yet, the coach must be certain that the gymnasts are falling in love with their sport.  Years later, these gymnasts will rely on the core elements being taught here, as well as the feelings of genuine enjoyment and self-confidence that make the sport special.   

Recent Articles:
"Winning Attitude"
"Mental Conditioning"
"Abdominal Conditioning"
"Gymnastics At Home"
"The Press Handstand"
"The Split"
"The Kip"
"The Giant"

Coaching the competitive gymnast:  By the time a gymnast becomes truly competitive, and experiences the stresses and opportunities of individual competition, the coach’s responsibilities have shifted yet again.  Now, the coach must maintain the safety and integrity of the gymnast’s every move, and yet allow the gymnast to push the limits of ability.  The coach becomes a motivator, and a consistent figure that the gymnast can rely on.  The coach must also foster a relationship based on trust, for the gymnast will undoubtedly put physical safety, along with future dreams in the hands of the coach.  The gymnast learns to blindly accept that which the coach imparts, for the unspoken philosophy of any successful athlete is, “I’ll do whatever you tell me, because I know you have my goals in mind, and the knowledge to get me to them.”  Once again, this is a position that cannot be taken lightly. 

The competitive gymnast needs to be trained very carefully by the coach.  The coach cannot become so wrapped up in the success of the gymnast that he or she loses sight of the end goals.  And yet, the coach, in order to work to fullest potential, must have a vested interest in the gymnast’s accomplishments.  The true art of coaching requires that the coach allow each athlete to experience every facet of the sport for himself or herself, and yet to be guided and steered in as straight a path as possible to those end goals.  The coach becomes a mentor, friend, confidant, motivator, and ultimately, an ally.