September/October 2012

Mastering the balance of gymnastics with school

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The girls appear to have made the

tedious adjustment to the school

schedule. Most of them are successfully

managing their workload of homework

with the precarious balance of the

gymnastics practices. Girls understand

the importance of taking a day off from

the gym for mental and physical rest, as

well as the need to leave workout early

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to finish a homework assignment or be

prepared for a tough exam. Some girls

are incorporating short “study breaks”

into their workouts in order to

efficiently manage all of their

responsibilities. The coaches have been

supportive and flexible with the girls’

needs and the girls are more aware of

what they need and are being assertive

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in communicating their needs to their

parents and coaches. This is great

progress and wonderful to see. If you

feel that your child is still struggling in

this area, feel free to contact me and

we can collaboratively design an

individual plan to help meet your

child’s specific needs.

MS. STICK Ms. Stick is a game that was started on beam to promote self-esteem, increase motivation,

and add fun to the beam workouts. Ten unique “Ms. Sticks” were made with feathers, glitter, sequins, beads, and material glued on to Popsicle sticks in the design of a girl. Gymnasts in levels 8, 9, and 10 participate in various contests and games to “earn” the Ms. Stick of her choice. Ms. Stick’s can be awarded for strong effort, staying calm when frustrated, using good communication, making corrections, supporting a teammate, and engaging in any positive behavior throughout the beam workout. Once earned, the Ms. Stick gets to be taken home over night and then traded in the next practice for a reward decided on by the beam coach, such as a “freebie” fall, 1 counts for 2, less repetitions required, or any other appropriate privilege that can easily be implemented during the beam workout. The girls and coaches both seem to enjoy this novelty and it is a great way to keep tough skills, falls, and workouts fun.

Twister Sports Psychology

Newsletter

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PURPOSE & INTENTION

Gymnasts in levels 7 and Prep Opt did an exercise exploring why they were gymnasts and why they strive to be awesome

gymnasts. The answers to these questions are their intention and purpose and are the reason they come to the gym and work hard even when they are tired, afraid, bored, frustrated, or when something hurts, learning is hard, or they are struggling. Their purpose and intention is what fuels them to keep going despite obstacles and setbacks. The girls were encouraged to keep a daily log for two weeks of one thing that they were grateful for and one thing that they enjoyed from each practice.

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Gymnasts in levels 8, 9, and 10

worked diligently to finish the very

detailed and arduous lesson on

assessing their strengths and

weaknesses as gymnasts. Each girl

completed a self-assessment on 20

mental toughness characteristics, such

as remaining calm under pressure and

being aggressive in workouts. The girls

rated themselves on a Likert scale

from 0 to 10 on each item. The girls

then rated each other anonymously.

They were asked to be honest, not

nice and not mean, but to give their

teammates the most accurate picture

of how they were seen through a

teammate’s eyes. Coaches also

anonymously completed the

questionnaire for each of these

gymnasts. The girls worked their math

skills in tallying totals and averages for

each characteristic, as well as an

average self-rating and an average

“other” rating. This data was quite

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enlightening to them. It allowed them

to see if they tend to overestimate or

underestimate their mental skills as a

gymnast. The pros and cons of being

an overestimater and of being an

underestimater of your abilities was

explained. The girls then identified

their top five strengths and top five

areas for improvement. They selected

two of each and made a plan for how

they would work to further improve

these targeted characteristics and

behaviors in the gym. It took several

sessions to complete this lesson in its

entirety, but the information gained

from the exercise was very valuable

for the girls to have, as it empowers

them to continue to grow their

strengths, while improving on areas of

their gymnastics that pose to be

challenging for them.

Gymnast warriors

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

Summer Goals

All optional gymnasts took time to reflect

upon the goals that they had set to work on

at the beginning of summer. Most of the

girls were pleased that they had met at least

1 or 2 of their summer goals and made

progress on the remaining 2 goals. Some

gymnasts mastered all 4 goals, but all girls

expressed pride about their

accomplishments and hard work. Reviewing

their summer goals helped them to

recognize how much they had learned

during their intense summer training.

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Pre-season Preparation

Sports psychology lessons for

November and December will focus

on preparing the girls to mentally

gear up for season. Special attention

will be given to building self-esteem

and pride in personal growth and

development as a gymnast. Girls will

be encouraged to embrace the idea

that they all develop at their own

pace and to refrain from comparing

their development with teammates

or ideals. Girls will be encouraged to

work hard now and not wait until

season begins to identify areas that

they want to improve. This will help

them stay focused and goal-oriented

during their workouts, without

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feeling overwhelmed by pressure to

have all of their skills mastered or to

worry where their teammates are in

the process of competition

preparation. This is also the time

when coaches will be starting to train

routines with girls. This means that

unless a skill is consistent and

mastered it is possible that it may be

deleted or substituted with another

skill for purposes of training

routines. It is vital that the girls do

not panic if this occurs. It is still pre-

season and there is plenty of time to

train and master skills to have them

“competition ready” for the

important meets, like states,

regionals, and nationals.

MIND-BODY CONNECTION

Gymnasts levels 7 and Prep Opt did an exercise on the mind-body connection. The girls were given a string with a bead at the end of it. They were told to focus all of their energy and attention onto the bead and to see if they could successfully control the bead. The girls were told to “see” in their imagination the bead going side-to-side. The girls were then told to “say” what they wanted the bead to do, so they chanted “side-to-side” out loud. The girls successfully were able to get the bead to go side-to-side, in a circle, and to stop upon command. The girls were educated about the mind-body connection and how “seeing” their goals helps them to reach their goals. Each gymnast envisioned the ideal gymnast she wanted to be and described what it would be like to be this gymnast right now. They imagined how it would feel to have her skills, her status, how her coaches and teammates would treat her, and how this gymnast would handle tough situations, like pain or scary skills. The girls finished the lesson by drawing a picture of them “being” this gymnast. The girls were encouraged to “act as if” they were the gymnast of their dreams already and to behave as she would behave. They were educated about how their everyday small behaviors, intentions, and attitude could help lead them to become the gymnast of their dreams over time if they behaved in ways that

were consistent with their vision.

HOLIDAY COACH GIFT COLLECTION

The family who has overseen the holiday and end-of-the-year gift collection for

the past few years has retired from competitive gymnastics. Any parent

interested in taking over this position may express interest at

chiler24@att.net. In the past, this has been a great way for Twister families to

come together as a team and show appreciation for all that the coaching staff

does for our children.