Room Creativity

1) How do you plan to address the room creativity expectation 

• I plan to have my presentation in the gymnastics gym up at Cal Poly. That failing, i'll use the small gym with some mats.

2) what activity ideas do you have for answers 1 or 2

• I was thinking about starting with some basic trust exercises, then adding a gymnastics element. Most people are strong enough to kick up to a handstand, so maybe i'll have partners spot each others handstands, giving support and stuff.

1.       Karolyi and Bela Marta

a.       On a national level, they were perhaps two of the most successful women’s gymnastics coaches in the history of America

b.      Made 28 Olympians, 9 Olympic champions, 15 world champs

c.       She was the coach who convinced Kerri Strug to make her second pass on vault with a broken ankle

d.      They defected from their native Romania in 1981.

                                                               i.      The first worked some menial jobs, but the progressed to coaching gymnastics

                                                             ii.      Eventually they were able to open their own gym in Houston TX

                                                            iii.      They were a coaching team

2.       The different types of gymnastics

a.       There are two differ types of gymnastics

                                                               i.      Rhythmic

1.       Mainly done by women

2.       Use props such as ropes balls hoops and streamers

3.       Its not a widely spread and popular

                                                             ii.      Artistic

1.       Artistic gymnastics is what people think of when they think gymnastics

2.       There’s men’s and women’s there are 10 different events

3.       This is where the scoring system we know comes into play

a.       A gymnast is scored on performance as well as difficulty

b.      Each score is added up to total that gymnasts final score

3.       What is Coaching

a.       Coaches

                                                               i.      `assists people to identify goals and help them reach those specific goals

                                                             ii.      Provide their students with the tool to achieve success

b.      Coaching Vs consulting

                                                               i.      Consulting provides temporary or intermittent solutions

                                                             ii.      Coaching is an ongoing relationship where the coach stays to help implement the newly taught skills

c.       Coaching

                                                               i.      Teamwork

                                                             ii.      Strengthening students skills

d.      A coach isn’t your friend

                                                               i.      They need to retain their objectivity in order to help you succeed

                                                             ii.      Coaches focus where you need the most help

e.      Why does coaching work

                                                               i.      Synergy between coach and student creates a momentum

                                                             ii.      Better defines goals, which can be moved towards more quickly

                                                            iii.       

Research for today

1.       Gymnastics zone

a.       Gymnastics coaching styles

                                                               i.      Vertical and encyclopedic coaching

                                                             ii.      Narrow training

1.       The average coach in America only trains the skills that are used for competition and to max out the amount of point a routine can achieve.

2.       There are two types of coaching in this category

a.       The ones who teach the entire routine for that level

b.      The ones who pick advanced skills for a gymnast and then train the gymnast in only those skills

                                                            iii.      Variety is the spice of gymnastics

1.       The narrow training type of coaches tend to only produce compulsory optional gymnasts

2.       Those types of gymnasts tend to burn out and quit

3.       They lack a good rounding and can only do a select few things well

                                                           iv.      JEDP

1.       a strength and flexibly training program that ensures a norm for gymnasts

2.       It gave coaches a right way to train their gymnasts

3.       This system succeeded because coaches adopted this as a secondary additional system as well as their own personalized training regimes

4.       One of the problems with the JEDP only gymnasts, was their lack of front tumbling.

a.       Front tumbling and back tumbling are completely different

b.      I suck a front tumbling; can’t do it

c.       Gymnasts who only followed this program had to go back and relearn all of their front tumbling

                                                             v.      Vertical training

1.       Vertical training tends to produce frustrated gymnasts because of the progression

2.       Sometimes the next step up is hard and frustrating and makes the gymnast unmotivated

b.      Good way to coach

                                                               i.      The best way to coach seems to be a mixture of vertical progression and a good rounding

                                                             ii.      Its good to have goals in place to work toward, but its also good to be a well rounded

2.       Gymnastics Coach Pat Warren

a.       A coach who was associated with the making of the movie stick it

b.      Works at as a coach at TOPS

c.       Was she a gymnast?

                                                               i.      No

1.       She wasn’t a gymnast which I find odd…cause how’s she gonna teach if she doesn’t know how

2.       She doesn’t strike me as a very good coach, but I could be wrong

                                                             ii.      The most important trait a person needs to be a good coach

1.       Love and care about kids

                                                            iii.      The best way to motivate gymnasts

1.       Make sure to work harder than they are

3.       Teaching Casts to little ones

a.       Hollow position on a barrel grabbing a floor bar

                                                               i.      Pull legs up into a pike into a semi press handstand and then into a flat back

b.      Shrugs

                                                               i.      Jump on the bar and dip just using shoulders

c.       Pike drag ups

                                                               i.      Support yourself on a raised surface and bring you legs up as far as you can 

Answer 2

EQ: What is the most important skill a gymnastics coach can have

Answer 2
Being able to establish a relationship with a gymnast based on trust, enabling a coach to successfully, and safely spot a gymnast on more advanced skills

Evidence 
One of the many things that makes gymnastics difficult is the fear element. Gymnastics can be scary, there's no getting around it. Fear can be attributed to more accidents and mistakes than lack of skill. One of the ways a gymnast gets over the fear of practicing a skill is with a spot. The spot not only serves as a correction for any mistakes a gymnast may make, but there's also a psychological aspect to it. Just knowing that, in case of a mistake, there's someone there to catch you takes the edge of the fear, enabling the gymnast to better practice the skill.

Spotting prevents injuries. One of the biggest issues with gymnastics is injuries. Gymnasts by definition are more prone to injuries because of what they do. But injuries are also avoidable, especially with a proper spot. Spotting helps prevent injuries, especially in the early stages of learning. You can run before you can walk, just like you cant pull giants to a double back dismount with out spotting first. Having a spot first helps you get the proper body motion down so later on you're competent enough to do it yourself

Spotting helps you learn. You can't try something with the intent to be amazing at it the first go. You're body doesn't quite know how to move yet, and the first couple of times its almost guaranteed you'll mess up. Learning with a proper spot first ensures that you know what you're doing. Not only does a proper spotter keep you from killing your self, but should also try to correct mistakes. Once you know how to do it the right way, your body remembers so that way you wont pick up any bad habits.

Sources 


My service learning. The coach who I assist has me practice spotting constantly, and continuously stresses the importance of a proper spot.

My old coach (who teaches my independent component) who takes me aside to show popper spotting techniques to students in my class during independent component.

Teaching children's gymnastics by Ilona E Gerling

The Product

As of March, what is your product and why? Please provide evidence to support what you have done to lead you thinking this is your product. Be specific and use examples from your senior project (refer to what you are doing, for example, in my service learning, naming the where you work and who you work with,


As of march, I think my product is definitely a sense of confidence and assertiveness. Normally, when I speak I generally have a quiet voice; I tend to mumble and speak very quickly at the same time. The combination of all of these things sometimes makes it hard  for people to understand me, especially in a crowded noisy gym. After being asked "What did you say?" on too many times I realized that I needed to speak more clearly, and since then I've been making a conscious effort to clear up my voice.

One of the things that I noticed when I teach is that kids are really receptive of body language. If I was acting meek or shy at any point during the class, they would tend to act up more than usual. So I leaned to take control. Not that I was mean, just more assertive. The kids I teach needed to look at me as an authority figure before I could teach them. So I learned to be more assertive. If I said something and someone didn't listen, I would call them back, repeat what I said, and watch as thy did it. After a while, they started listening to me the first time around. 

Fourth Interview Questions

1. How important are warm-ups?
2. How long should each stretch be held?
3. What does a basic warm-up consist of for you?
4. How important is conditioning?
5. What does a general work out routine consist of when you teach?
6. How is it different when you're teaching team girls compared to the indeterminate and advanced classes?
7. How do you convince the younger kids to condition?
8. How do you encourage kids who are afraid to try something new?
9. How do you ensure that each kid is working hard during the entire lesson?
10. Proper spotting techniques?
11. How do you get rid of the fear of the high beam?
12. How do you get rid of the fear of high bar?
13. How do you compensate for the kids who are having difficulty because of their weight?
14. What are the best ways to get you objectives across, explain what you want them to do in a way that they understand?
15. How do you deal with kids you don't like?
16. How do you project your voice so that it carries across the gym?
17. Teaching rebounds on the floor as well as the springboards?
18. Why do you give out stickers at the end of class?
19. How do you keep the "silliness" to a minimum? 
20. How do you maintain an air of control?