Category: Skill Development

Athletes, Cheerleading and Tumbling, Learning the Basics, Preparation, Skill Development, Tumbling

Tumbling: “Learning the Basics”

scottjohnsonsgymexperience

It is very exciting to watch athletes perform and achieve great feats of athleticism that leads to victory and success. Especially for young athletes who have a dream to reach the same status. This is what drives young athletes to pursue a path for future growth – and this path is a long one!! For young, aspiring athletes to achieve success and reach the goals they dream about, they must learn from the beginning. Learning the Basics is one of the most important factors in the pursuit of success.

It is normal for an athlete to want and learn the more exciting and difficult skills early in a career. In sports, such as gymnastics and cheerleading, many students want to learn how to “flip” or perform other similar skills. Although these skills are exciting, there carries a huge risk factor that many, including coaches, do not recognize.

The Purpose of Basics

Learning the basics of tumbling skills is imparative for positive progression and safety. It is certainly a building block process. Like so many other actions in life – for example: learning to crawl before walking; learning to add and subtract before algebra, etc. If these prerequisites are not a part of the training process, failure is almost certain. Students must learn to roll (forward and backward) before learning to flip; they must learn a great cartwheel before learning an aerial, etc.

When we see students struggling with accomplishing particular skills, it may be a lack in having accomplished fundamental basics. Learning to achieve tumbling skills entails strength, flexibility, agility, and mental awareness of body in motion. All of these factors take time to achieve. Learning fundamental elements will give students the tools necessary to accomplish the more advanced and complex skills.

Tumbling skills are complex and it takes repetition and time to achieve the desired result. If the process is rushed and the student is not fully prepared – physically and emotionally, the risk factor highly increases. When injuries occur while performing tumbling skills, much of the cause may be due to the lack of preparation. For example, when a student fails on attempting a back handspring, in many cases, the student is not prepared to attempt the skill. Another common problem is the combo pass of the “round-off, back handspring”. It is common that this pass results in a failed back handspring. In many cases, it is not the back handspring that is the problem. It may be the Hurdle and/or Round-off that is poorly executed. In this event, the student will not be in a position to perform the back handspring successfully.

Results of Basic Element Training

Learning and achieving basic elements in tumbling skills will allow the athlete to progress in a positive and safe manner. In addition, it will help the athlete in obtaining the confidence needed to perform skills as they progress. In addition, this process will highly reduce the chances of a “Mental Block” (the-mental-block-nightmare). Once this occurs in an athlete, it is very difficult and timely to overcome.

Even the most successful athletes will often resort back to basic element training as part of their training regiment. As mentioned before, basic elements are the building blocks for advanced skill training. We see this in almost every sport. The stronger the foundation, the stronger and more productive the outcome.

Don’t skip steps in skill development!! Seek out true professionals who have the knowledge in training skills with the correct technique and progressions. This will greatly increase the potential in advancement and success.

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Scott Johnson
1984 Olympic Champion
1988 Olympic Team Captain

My Beginner Tumbling Training Guide is published and ready for all to use. This is a great training aid for any and all programs who offer tumbling training. If you would like to order your copy, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0847D3VQC

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These neoprene wrist supports are the best for gymnasts and cheerleaders experiencing wrist pain. The neoprene provides support and warmth to the joint to help relieve pain discomfort.

This is the best syle of leotards for recreational gymnastics. Get yours today!!

Coaching, Preparation, Skill Development, Training, Tumbling

The Truth About Skill Development: Learning Tumbling Skills May Take a Long Time

scottjohnsonsgymexperience

Many coaches have been in situations where they will see students and parents become frustrated at how long the process is to learn tumbling skills. It can be even more dramatic when the process involves fixing bad habits. We all live in a fast paced world and many times expect all things to move and progress quickly.

In the complex sport of tumbling, this is rarely the case. In fact, it is common for skill development to take months (and for some skills, years) for students to acquire skills. The same goes for fixing bad habits . Many people who are not familiar with this sport need to be educated on how skill development works and the path it takes for achievement.

In the cheer and dance industries, there are just a few specific skills that students would like to acquire for growth potential. ( tumbling-and-the-cheerleader). These may include skills such as the back and front walk-overs, front and back handsprings, aerials, and back flips.

We often have students interested in our programs specifically to learn these skills. In many cases, the request is made to learn the skills quickly. An expample would be to prepare for a try-out event. Unfortunately, the reality is that it takes consistency and time to learn the skills requested. There are no quick learning situations (at least for the majority of athletes).

I hear from many parents that they are frustrated that their child is not progressing as fast as they believe they should. So why does it take so long? There are many factors that are considered when learning tumbling skills. Not only are there physical attributes needed in development, there is also the emotional effect – which can be the biggest hurdles to accomplish. Students who have not developed a strong foundation of basic skills will struggle with learning the more advanced skills (tumbling-importance-of-building-a-strong-foundation). In this case, skill development may take much longer.

I strongly suggest to all parents that they should consider placing their child in a tumbling program consistently so they will get the training needed to learn their skills properly and safely. We often see cheerleaders and dancers who are challenged with schedules so they cannot participate in a program consistently. The result? They usually do not learn the skills they are wanting to learn or it takes an extremely long time.

Another factor which may cause skill development to take a long time to achieve may be the poor quality and/or inexperience of the coach teaching the skills. When students are wanting to learn specific skills, parents should research and seek out experienced and qualified coaches. Not only will an experienced coach train the proper technique and progressions, the student will learn in a much safer environment.

We have seen many students develop a mental block while learning skills and much is due to poor coaching resulting in an accident. Once a mental block is developed, skill progression becomes much more difficult and sometimes may come to a complete halt.

Learning tumbling skills, like many other sports, takes hard work, consistent training, and time. Patience is a key element for positive growth in skill development. The road to success can be a long one.

Scott Johnson – 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist

If you are interested in a personal training session or consultation with me, we can Skype a lesson. Private message me or email me at: scottjohnsongymnastics@gmail.com

My new Beginner Tumbling Training Guide is published and ready for all to use. This is a great training aid for any and all programs who offer tumbling training. If you would like to order your copy, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0847D3VQC

These neoprene wrist supports are the best for gymnasts and cheerleaders experiencing wrist pain. The neoprene provides support and warmth to the joint to help relieve pain discomfort.

This is the best syle of leotards for recreational gymnastics. Get yours today!!

Back Handspring, Bad Habits, Coaching, Skill Development, Training

Fixing this Bad Habit: Back Handspring: The Undercut

scottjohnsonsgymexperience

One of the most popular skills in gymnastics and tumbling is the back handspring. In sports like cheerleading, the back handspring is a major focus and a requirement for many team programs. Not only is this skill a difficult skill to learn, it can take years to acquire and perfect. In addition, there is a high risk element to consider. Many bad habits can be acquired if not learned properly. The most common, and difficult to fix, if not caught early, is what we call the “Under Cut”.

So, what is an Under Cut? There may be several different explanations, but I will give you my thoughts and best explanation. The Under Cut is a technical problem that occurs at the beginning of performing the back handspring. As the arms are beginning to lift up for the back handspring, the student begins to throw their head backward while thrusting their hips forward in front of the feet. The result is little or no jump and lift off the floor creating a heavy arch position. The hands actually land very close to where the feet are, which creates no backward traveling. The back handspring may only travel several feet when it should travel almost the length of the body.

This is a very common problem and recognized by most coaches. Even many students with the problem have been told they have an “under cut”. However, what is surprising to me is that many students who have the habit do not know exactly what the problem is except knowing that their back handspring is too short and the hands land to close to the feet (as they have been told by other instructors). I ask most all my students who have this habit if they know why this happens. Most do not know!! Let me discuss what causes this problem.

The under cut can occur as a result of several different circumstances relating to poor technique in proceeding skills to the back handsprings, like a poorly executed Round-Off (https://scottjohnsonsgymexperience.com/2019/06/04/tumbling-technique-is-there-right-or-wrong/. Let’s first discuss the problem relating to standing back handsprings.

First and foremost, as discussed many times throughout my posts, students must have developed a strong foundation of basic elements prior to learning the back handspring. The back handspring involves a jumping action ( as described in the term “spring”). This element must be effective to ensure the proper lift and rotation needed for the skill. For a jumping action to occur, the body must be in a proper position so the legs can be effective in the action. The under cut causes the body to be in a position that inhibits or highly reduces the body from performing the jump or spring action off the floor.

The arm swing performed while initiating the back handspring is what usually causes this problem. Students get in a hurry to look and attempt to flip the back handspring before the proper body position is acquired. When the arms begin to lift up at the beginning of the skill, the student will begin to look backward before the arms get stretched above the head. In many cases, the arms do not get to a horizontal position before the student begins to look back and initiate the back handspring. This causes the knees and hips to thrust forward in front of the feet which eliminates any jumping action. It creates the effect of a back limber in a fast-whipping motion.

A great way to prevent this habit from occurring is to begin teaching the back handspring without an arm swing. We have the student stand with their arms stretched straight above the head. We then have the student sit back (slightly) as in starting to sit in a chair. From this point, the student jumps up and back with their head and eyes following the hands as they reach back. This prevents the head from throwing back too aggressively. This action should allow the student to have the proper lift and rotation at the beginning of the skill. When the hands make contact with the floor, the snapping action should occur for the landing (this snapping action has a characteristic of its own and will be discussed in another post).

For students who have developed this habit, we will re-train the skill from the beginning and teach without the arm swing. The student, in many cases, kinda freak out about this new technique, however, once performed several times (with a spot) they get more comfortable with it and realize what a difference it makes (https://scottjohnsonsgymexperience.com/2019/07/20/why-it-is-important-to-spot-skills/.

Please note that teaching this skill without an arm swing requires a spot from an experienced coach. It is very difficult to perform a standing back handspring without an arm swing. If a gym has a back handspring trainer block (like the Resilite Smarter Spotter), this is effective in training without the arm swing and without a spot. Once the student has learned the proper technique without the arm swing, we begin to incorporate the arm swing. However, it is important to reinforce that the arms get stretched above the head before looking back for the skill. One other note of importance: Make sure the student keeps their eyes open. It is very common that students close their eyes!!

There are many drills to teach the back handspring effectively, however, many gyms and programs do not have the equipment or ability to train many of the drills that can be effective. Focusing on the elements described above can be used for almost any athlete in any environment.

Good luck with this skill and remember – Safety is the most important. DO NOT ALLOW A STUDENT TO ATTEMPT THIS SKILL WITHOUT PROPER AND PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION!!

Scott Johnson – 1984 USA Olympic Gold Medalist

If you are interested in a personal training session or consultation with me, we can Skype a lesson. Private message me or email me at: scottjohnsongymnastics@gmail.com

My new training manual of the Round-Off and Back Handspring is a great guide for proper and safe instruction for learning these skills:

My new Beginner Tumbling Training Guide is published and ready for all to use. This is a great training aid for any and all programs who offer tumbling training. If you would like to order your copy, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0847D3VQC

These neoprene wrist supports are the best for gymnasts and cheerleaders experiencing wrist pain. The neoprene provides support and warmth to the joint to help releive pain discomfort.

This is the best syle of leotards for recreational gymnastics. Get yours today!!

Coaching, Confidence, Skill Development, Spotting

Why it is Important to Spot Skills

scottjohnsonsgymexperience

Skill development, even from the beginner stages, can be complex and difficult for many students. Not only are tumbling and gymnastics skills difficult, there is a risk element involved with almost every skill. In order for students to achieve skills effectively and safely, spotting is essential. It should be actively used in every training session. There is a point where the objective is to progress the students to a point where the spot is not needed. It is this transition that can be sensitive and important to understand.

When beginner or intermediate level students are introduced to skills for the first time, a spot may be required to help the student understand the mechanics and perform the skill effectively. In many cases, when students are attempting a skill for the first time without assistance, they struggle with performing it correctly. Even a skill as simple as a forward roll can be a challenge for students. If not done correctly, the student may even experience an injury.

As the skills become more advanced, they become more complex and the risk factor increases. How many times have you seen students struggle with a skill and they keep doing the same thing wrong at every attempt? It is apparent that the student is reinforcing the wrong technique which will become habit.

Having the student practice skill develolment using specific drills is a great way to focus on a single element. However, even drill training may require the coach to spot (however limited) to get the student to understand proper body positions and technique. The coach needs to physically mold the student into the correct position needed to perform the skill with proper technique. Once the coach feels that the student can perform correctly and safely, the spot should go away.

An important key for the coach to understand in every program is to acknowledge whether the student is confident or not in performing a skill without assistance. The fear factors can get intense for students learning such skills as the back handsprings, aerials, and so forth. One example, fear intensifies for those students in gymnastics who are learning skills on the balance beam. I have seen lots of tears from students terrified in attempting to perform a skill they are not confident with. This is a sure indication that the student is not ready for that transition.

When students attempt to perform skills without a spot, especially if they have not been consistently successful with a spot, there is a good chance for an accident. Many injuries can be prevented if the student is not permitted to perform skills solo when they are still in the developmental stages. This can be a serious problem if the student is forced to attempt the skill without a spot when it is apparent they are terrified. In these cases, the student is not focusing on mechanics of the skill – they are thinking about how bad it’s going to hurt when they land. Not a good thought!!

As I described in a previous post about the technique of spotting https://scottjohnsonsgymexperience.com/2018/04/10/the-art-of-spotting/, coaches need to learn the techniques involved with spotting each skill. Just as athletes need to train consistently to learn skills, the coach needs to practice as well to learn how to spot. This is critical to the safety and productive progress of every student.

So, is it important to spot skills? Yes!! However with this stated, the objective is to get the student to perform skills without assistance. As the student progresses with their skills, the spot can fade away as confidence grows. This is a delicate part of training and development. Once an accident occurs, most athletes will lose their confidence creating a longer learning process. Let’s not let this happen.

If you are interested in a personal training session or consultation with me, we can Skype a lesson. Private message me or email me at: scottjohnsongymnastics@gmail.com

My new Beginner Tumbling Training Guide is published and ready for all to use. This is a great training aid for any and all programs who offer tumbling training. If you would like to order your copy, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0847D3VQC

These neoprene wrist supports are the best for gymnasts and cheerleaders experiencing wrist pain. The neoprene provides support and warmth to the joint to help releive pain discomfort.

This is the best syle of leotards for recreational gymnastics. Get yours today!!

Athletes, Confidence, Mental Block, Safety, Skill Development, Uncategorized

The Mental Block Nightmare

scottjohnsonsgymexperience

There are times in an athletes career where they may experience a Mental Block that prevents them from moving forward in a positive direction. No matter what the sport may be, Mental Blocks can occur without notice or incident. In most cases, however, the block is due to a negative experience that occurred in the athletes life. When these blocks occur, it can be very difficult to overcome. So, can Mental Blocks be prevented? The answer is “Yes”!! How? through Prevention!!

Gymnastics and tumbling skills entail very complex body movements that require consistent training to achieve. As the skills become more difficult so does the time it takes to achieve them. In addition, the risk factors begin to come into play. This is the most common reason that Mental Blocks occur. Students often become “scared” when they are introduced to new skills, especially if there is a higher risk factor.

If a student is introduced to new skills through consistent drill training, it will create a better understanding of the skill in a non-threatening way. In addition, and most important, the student should have mastered all prerequisite skills before being introduced to more difficult skills. For example, we would not introduce a student to a back handspring before they learn a bridge kick-over and back limber. These prerequisite skills teach the student the feeling of flipping backwards.

Many times, the Mental Block is created when a student experiences an accident while training skills. This can happen to even the most experienced athletes. Accidents happen, but many can be prevented through proper training practices. Spotting is a critical method in preventing accidents and helping the athlete gain confidence in skill training https://scottjohnsonsgymexperience.com/2018/04/10/the-art-of-spotting/ . If a student is forced or attempts to perform a skill they are not completely ready for (both physically /or emotionally), an accident is much more likely to occur.

Following a progressive training program can certainly reduce the risks of mental blocks. Having a strong foundation of basic elements is important for the athlete to progress comfortably to more difficult skills. In addition, training should remain as consistent as possible. If a student takes an extended break from training, they may develop some apprehension in getting their skills back. Especially if the student has had an aggressive growth spurt while taking that break. As the body grows, everything changes: height, weight, center of gravity, all of which are important factors in skill development.

If a student gets a mental block on a particular skill, it is important for the coaches to be patient and work towards eliminating the block. One way is to reteach the skill from the beginning. Using drills and spotting helps the athlete to regain their confidence. What should not be done is to force the student to attempt performing the skill. This will most likely intensify the block. I have seen many athletes quit the sport due to blocks that couldn’t be overcome. This doesn’t have to be the case.

Mental Blocks are common and they certainly interrupt growth in an athlete. We need to do our best to “prevent” the blocks from happening. If the proper training progressions are followed, it will highly reduce the probability of a block from occuring.

My new Beginner Tumbling Training Guide is published and ready for all to use. This is a great training aid for any and all programs who offer tumbling training. If you would like to order your copy, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0847D3VQC

In addition, if you would like a personal training session or consultation with me, we can Skype a lesson. Email me at: scottjohnsongymnastics@gmail.com