What Do We Learn After The Cartwheel

Success comes when we face our fears and act anyway. As a coach, watching a gymnast finally nail a skill after months of work is priceless. I face fears every day, just in different ways now, and gymnastics taught me how to push through.

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Do I Have Enough Time For One More Turn?

On average, you’ve got about 79 years on this planet. Sounds like a lot, right? But let’s break it down, add up all the time in your life that you spend doing something, and see just how much of that time you actually have.

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Finding My Own Way Through Gymnastics

Most of my friends thought I was a little strange. I was pretty solitary, spending most of my time in my own head, working through my mistakes and finding confidence in gymnastics. When other kids felt awkward or unsure, I found comfort and peace in the sport. Gymnastics kept me centered and gave me a purpose when I really needed one.

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Encouraging Our Young Athletes Toward Success

Gymfinity Handstand

If you focus on simply beating others, even a medal around your neck won’t bring real fulfillment. But if you compete to meet your own standards, to be better than you were yesterday, then you’ll find true satisfaction. Victory is about growth, not just trophies or medals.

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How to support your athlete

Gymfinity happy family

Remember and share with your child that their worth is not based on the outcome of a game, meet, class, or score.  Helping them to understand that no outcome is final and that tomorrow begins the opportunity to change the result you had today will help your child understand and deal with the frustrations that come with sports. 

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Special Post: Mixed Emotions on the Passing of a Giant

So, I am saddened by Bela’s passing. I believe that his soul will return to this Earth to try again and hopefully he will evolve and grow to refill the holes he had dug in this go-around. Until then, I will respect the gifts he shared with the world, but will always qualify that respect against the damage he left us to clean up.

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6 Points to help the ride home after practice

Gymfinity driving after practice

Kids as early as 4 years old can detect false emotion. Saying something like “I don’t care how you did today, I love you just the same” is a great message. But the phrasing is cliched and will put a pre-teen or older child into defense mode.  Child behavior specialists will tell you how important it is to say this and I agree, but as a coach I can tell you that cliches and following expert scripts will have the opposite effect from what you were looking for.  Better yet, make a comment on how proud you are for effort, hard work, progress, or anything that will reinforce that you were actually watching.  Their effort is really the only thing that they can control. To compliment it means you value what they did and who they are.

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Kids milestones: growing in Gymnastics (part 2)

By this age, coaches can interact with specific skill stations while others can be self-directed. The kids  become more aware of others’ feelings (empathy) at this age.  Some time is given in class for team building activities, things like team challenges, or games can help develop a sense of feeling for, and with, other people. They are beginning to understand cause and effect relationships. Classes help them understand that certain movements or patterns will cause specific results. For example putting the arms out to the side while turning makes the turn slower and often can lead them to be off center. Understanding these relationships allows them to understand why they have specific techniques to skill performance.

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How To Win

Reilly Kunkle Gymfinity

It’s all about cultivating the habit of achievement. Why a person learns to set and work toward goals it eventually just becomes a habit. Whether it’s training in a sport or buckling down academically, accomplishing goals is something you can practice and get better at over time.

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Let’s Get Kids In Sports Again

Gymfinity

While the benefits of sports are undeniable, it’s disheartening to note that girls continue to participate at lower rates than boys. However, I believe in breaking down these barriers and creating inclusive environments where all children feel welcome and encouraged to pursue their athletic passions; boy or girl.

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