What really matters when I coach, my thoughts for today.

As I begin my search for a job in a MAG program, I was talking to one of my gymnastics mentors and the following thoughts came up.
"I really just want a job with consistent kids that I can really develop into amazing people. The gymnastics is just a bonus. It's really about the people these kids become, 90% of them aren't going to be involved in gym forever like us. But if they can develop work ethic, passion, and kindness because of how I coached them..... that's the best reward"

I do (and pay for) all of my own further education because I love what I do, and because I'm constantly learning. I want to share that.

For fun, here's my son who learned something awesome last night.
Front pike half into the pit

A note on body image

Yesterday, I approached a fellow gymnastics coach and friend to help me get back on track with my fitness and lose the rest of this weight I'm struggling with. He agreed and said that it would be motivation for him to increase his strength and fitness as well.
I said "I'm about a 40 pounds away from where I feel healthy" and with a shocked look on his face he said "What do you eat, rocks?!" I pulled up my current weight in my head and did the math and said "oh wait, I'm actually about 20-25 pounds away from where I'm comfortable" to which he replied "yeah, that's a little more believable". He believes that I can get down 10lbs in a month which would be fantastic and is going to support me through it by working out with me twice a week.
The point of this though, is that I'm walking around believing that I am 20lbs heavier than I actually am. My view of my body is still from when I had just had a baby and she is 10 months old now. If I lost 40lbs from my current weight I would be 125lbs and even at my most fit when I was a competitive highland dancer, I was not that weight.
This was a huge awakening for me. I realized that I have lost weight since Cecilia was born but the fact that I can't see that was actually a bit of a shock. So here I am. Starting this journey to be healthy. To be able to run after my kids and play more than I sit and watch. To be able to participate in a 5k and feel good about it (read:not die by the end). To be able to perform my highland dancing exam in the fall with confidence. To be able to be strong enough to spot older kids in gymnastics frequently and not be exhausted. To be able to do acro yoga with Jamie and be able to hold my own weight.
These are the goals that are important to me, not how much I weigh although my range is generally around 140lbs.
I want to be an example of a healthy, active lifestyle to all of my children so that they enjoy movement for their entire lives.

I'm ready.

Andrea

Flexibility @ Salto

I made a trip to Edmonton on boxing day for 5 days to work with Rebecca Sykes from Salto Gymnastics. I learned a lot from working with her and her girls were SO much fun to work with. I had the amazing opportunity to do some flexibility training with them for an hour on 3 of the days I was there. Rebecca videotaped some of what we did and put together a compilation.
The above video has 6 stretches and 2 flex/strength exercises.
A couple notes.
I like to the "kickout" exercise before the pike side to side because it warms up the same area. What you're watching for in the pike stretch is that the knee that is bending is going directly over the toe. The leg that is straight is pushing down through the heel and the back of the knee as well as pushing the hip out to the side. This is one of my favorite stretches, way more effective than just sitting in pike and pushing kids forward.
Bounce bounce up is great for active flexibility and strength in an area that is challenging.


The next video is mostly arms with a straddle stretch at the end. After the girls do the bridge pushes, I showed them a better way to stretch out their back instead of rolling on the floor.

Thanks for watching!
Andrea

Flexibility: Breaking down splits Part 1

Sitting in splits is probably the LEAST effective way to increase your flexibility for them. Sure, doing this repetitively will get results eventually and increase where you were when you started however, breaking down splits into smaller muscle group stretches will increase your flexibility faster.
Jamie and I (Andrea) coached the annual MAG (men's artistic gymnastics) provincial level training camp this past December. Most of what we do is a combination of active and passive stretching in each stretch to get the benefit of both.
We would get the boys to show us their splits and then walk them through a series of stretches (approximately 35 mins) and then they would try their splits afterwards. I'm going to say that 60% of the boys had a significant change in their splits, and some of those boys had HUGE change. The other 40% were already pretty flexible and saw change but maybe not as significant. When I say the word change, I'm not just talking about how many inches they are off the floor. I'm talking about how square they can sit, are their shoulders over top of their hips and facing forward? Are they tense, in pain and making the "flex face"?

This is my son. This is his "flex face"

The boys that saw huge change were blown away when they did their splits at the end of their time with us. They might not have been flat but moving into splits was easy and it wasn't painful to sit in them anymore. 

Here's the first video in our Breaking Down Splits series. The elevated lunge. Adding height to any stretch will allow the athlete to use their own body weight to increase the intensity.

An interview with Tony Retrosi

photo credit Rebecca @ Syked Photography in Edmonton

 

In September, Jamie and I traveled to Edmonton to take a weekend clinic with Tony Retrosi. Since adding him on facebook early in 2013 I have become a huge fan of his coaching website Gym Momentum.

I am going to write my thoughts on the phenomenal clinic in the next few days however here is the email interview exchange we had.

How did you get into gymnastics?

I grew up in upstate NY where I did gymnastics at local YMCA’s . My mother was the program director. So I was a gym rat. 

When and why did you decide to coach WAG instead of MAG?

Like many coaches of “my generation” I started teaching gymnastics classes to help pay for my own training. I taught an equal amount of boys and girls classes. The place where I worked needed someone who could spot higher level skills (they loved me for my body not my brain!) so I started working with a girls team. 

When I was in college I was working out at a private club and teaching more girls classes and working with a boys developmental team. Again they used me as a spotter for upper level girl gymnasts.  I eventually finished my own competitive career and transferred to the University of NH where I took a job coaching at a small private club. I worked with both the boys and girls teams. Eventually they just needed me more with the girls teams. 

I still enjoy working with men's gymnastics although I am a little rusty!

Who was your most memorable and/or inspiring coach as an athlete?

I was very lucky to have some very good hard working coaches. The coach who gave me the LOVE of the sport and respect for training was John Bean in Rome, NY. 

One of the most FUN coaches I have had is Kip Reed.

Kip is still a friend of mine today and he works for me at Gym Momentum Camps. We recently did a clinic together for the USAIGC in NJ. Sometimes we get distracted by our own inside jokes!

(like the time I put a log in his pillow case)

The most influential coaches would be Don Tonry. Former coach at Yale. Taught me that there was a science to gymnastics. 

Dr. Joseph Massimo. Harvard Sports Psychologist and Coach. 

My Mom. Taught me to work hard. 

EVERY coach who comes to my clinics inspires me.

Memorable moment as an athlete?

Showing up to practice and finding out that Coach Bean had died over the weekend. It was a rough day but it made me realize how much influence one person can have in your life. 

You teach many clinics and give many talks, do you have a favorite speaking topic?
Lately I have really enjoyed teaching coaches HOW TO TEACH. A lecture title “Coaches as Educators”. I have been working on a book with the same title. I think there are many coaches who are better technicians than me but so many have forgotten that it really doesn’t matter WHAT you know if you can’t deliver it in a teachable fashion.

Do you have a clinic or talk that you've attended that has stuck in your memory or changed how you approached a certain skill or way of teaching?

I like to believe that I learn something every day. 

Last year in Calgary I had an epiphany on teaching different Round Offs. 

When did you know you were a career coach? 

My mother gave me pretty good advice when I went to the University. She said you can always coach- go get a degree in something else. I went to the University where I majored in History and Psychology and went to get my Masters in Psychology and secondary Education. 

I thought I was going to be a History Teacher. 

Through all of this I always coached on the side. 

As I developed my first group of elite gymnasts I could not do both so I focused on coaching. 

I love coaching, the interaction with kids. Teaching school you get that great kid for 1 year. In the gym I get to grow with them. 

How did you make the decision to open your own gym and work for yourself?

LOL- Long story short- I was going to be FIRED from the gym I was working at. It was either open up my own gym or move. 

(Andrea here.There is a longer story to this and it is hilarious to hear told by Tony)

What do think is key to athlete retention? 

Gymnastics needs to be FUN and Challenging. Sometimes you need to help the gymnasts set realistic and challenging goals and then help them reach them. Every kid is going to be different. If you have a “cookie cutter” program you are going to stagnate. 

Do you feel it's different between boys and girls? 

Boys mature so much later I think it is important to focus on the fun aspect of gymnastics. Teach them how to be “the cool kids” at school because they can do something others can’t. Guys want to be bad asses and rebels.

Girls like to be perfectionists and just blend in. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen my gymnasts out of the gym and they do everything they can to NOT be noticed. In the gym they can shine. 

Favorite Olympic moment?

When Aly Raisman was finishing her floor routine knowing she had locked the Gold medal in the Team the emotion was right there on the surface. I still get choked up thinking about it. Brestyan’s gymnastics is about an hour from me so we see each other at nearly every competition and training camp. I’ve seen her grow up. 

Watching that routine, my daughter was sitting next to me and we were both had tears in our eyes. 

(when Maddie, my daughter, asked me why I was getting emotional I told her it was because she was starting at the University in the fall and tuition was due. The USA winning Gold is great for our business.)

You just celebrated 23 years of marriage, how do you keep connected with travel and coaching hours?

My wife Stephanie is amazing. Here is something you may not know- We both do Stand Up Comedy. 

She never laughs at my jokes but her's CRACK me up. When we are home. We laugh a lot. 

When I am on the road we try to talk every day. Even if it is just a text message. 

Steph was a coach (which is how we met). So she gets what I do. When I am at the Ranch (National Team Training Camp in Houston) I never come home tanned and relaxed. She knows it’s work. 

Now my unsolicited advice to coaches

• Be passionate about coaching. It is a beautiful sport and you get to make a difference in the lives of many, many people. 
• Remember that you need to also have a hobby- something to work a different part of your brain. You need to relax so you don’t burn out. 
• The most important person you represent is yourself. Be ethical. 
• Learn something every day and pass it on.
• It’s not rocket science. Someone has already done it. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel
• Don’t let the kids listen to top 40 POP music in gym. Expand their musical tastes!

                                                                                

Tony is going to be returning to Alberta in March of 2014 for a two and a half day clinic so mark the 24th and 25th on your calendars because this is NOT to be missed. I am currently in the process of creating the registration website and facebook event and will post it up as soon as it is all ready. 

Please bear with us as this blog gets up and running. We will be adding to it constantly!

-Andrea