Twister Sports Psychology Newsletter - USA Gymnastics · Mastering the balance of gymnastics with...
Transcript of Twister Sports Psychology Newsletter - USA Gymnastics · Mastering the balance of gymnastics with...
September/October 2012
Mastering the balance of gymnastics with school
1
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
2
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
3
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
Lorem Ipsum
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.
1
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
2
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.
3
1
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
2
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
[email protected]. 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.