Youth Gymnastics Program for Ashe County

Gymnastics is the foundation of all other sports, and it’s because it addresses the fitness components and skill components (power, agility, coordination, balance, speed, reaction-time) that are innately incorporated into the sport. Having a gymnastics foundation helps children progress in other sports, physical education (P.E), karate, the presidential fitness test, reading development and so on.

Every child develops at their own pace. Children who are ahead will not always be ahead, just as those who are behind will not always be behind. Although we can’t overlook the role that genetics play in one’s ability, we definitely cannot overlook on how “practice” helps to develop one’s ability. And there is no substitute for practice and time in the gym.

Motor skills and sport skills are cumulative. The safest way to approach gymnastics is to teach in progressions, therefore building a more solid foundation of movement skills. However this also includes the components of fitness, especially strength and flexibility. Emotional and psychological needs of children also need to be met for learning to take place (i.e. appropriate peer groups and issues of comfort and fear addressed).

Here at Gymnastics of Ashe, we use a “standardized” warm-up for the school age children to address these fitness components and it includes: push- ups, hollow body holds, lunges, crunches, and more. This conditioning warm- up takes the first fifteen minutes of class each week. We try to keep this fun and moving along, but the innate desire to move and exercise also needs to be present for a child to enjoy this type of activity. The joy of movement needs to come from within and be encouraged whether they are “good” at it or not. We should move for our own enjoyment and our physical health (becoming an elite gymnast is secondary to these goals - but it’s the joy that gets them there).

Children who are encouraged and practice what they can at home progress faster. When parents put pressure on children “to perform”, children can have feelings of guilt and inadequacy. The same is true for coaches who push too hard. The key here is for parents to encourage and coaches to coach with balance; sometimes push, sometimes shake it up and sometimes back off!