PeerPower!
O
“When I realized
how powerful this
peer demonstration
was, I couldn’t get
out of my own way
fast enough.”
Edited by Dwight Normile
TargetedCheering
MUCH of the time, people function like stimulus-response
machines. Something happens to us and we respond
immediately without much thought. Nowhere is this
more true than with parents at a gymnastics meet. Gymnasts from our
team score well and we cheer. Gymnasts from other teams score well
and we are silent or worse.
But as a Second-Goal Parent, you are diffe rent. You want
to notice and reinforce behaviors that you’d like to see in
your children when they are grown.
Here’s how Targeted Cheering works. Before a
meet, write out what you are going to cheer for.
Rather than simply focusing on the outcome, you
might want to cheer for great effort, whether
successful or not. You might also consider
cheering for behavior that supports other
teammates, actions that demonstrate resilience
and determination, and the like.
If you feel up for an advanced challenge, you
could decide to cheer for good performances and
great effort on the part of gymnasts from other
teams, too!
Take your list of “cheerable” things with you to meets and refer to it
from time to time. Then follow your game plan. Intentionally cheer for
the things you want to see more of.
Adapted from “The Double-Goal Coach” by Jim Thompson, founder and
executive director of Positive Coaching Alliance ( www.positivecoach.org)
Sticking Blind Landings
ON a blind landing, gymnasts must anticipate the ground
before they can see it. These landings can follow front
saltos or twisting elements, such as a back with 11⁄ 1
2or 2⁄2
twists. Let’s see what the following experts had to say about blind
landings, and how to practice and perfect them.
Coach Mike Burns: Minnesota Men’s Head Coach (coach of
2006 & ’07 U.S. World team member Guillermo Alvarez)
• Guillermo does several blind landing skills in his routines, including
a signature tucked double front off parallel bars, a piked Arabian double front on floor, and a Yurchenko- 21⁄2 twist on vault. Every day,
Guillermo finishes his warm-up with a perfect landing on a standing
back tuck with a full twist, a standing front tuck and a standing
Arabian. This is a daily ritual to increase the number of times he performs these types of landings.
To practice his p-bars dismount, Guillermo does running double
fronts on floor onto a landing mat, focusing on opening up from the
second flip and seeing the landing for a perfect stick. There is nothing like a stuck dismount to get the crowd excited and keep your
score high!
For Guillermo’s Yurchenko- 21⁄2, he sticks several roundoff- 21⁄2 twists
on floor every day. He starts out with a roundoff layout-half to work
that portion of the blind landing. It is important to focus on spotting
the ground after the flip, but before twisting, to know where the floor
is at all times. It is much harder on a back 21⁄2. However, if you can
do a double twist, see the ground, then complete the last half twist, it
makes the landing easier. This way it’s not as blind as you might
expect.
Blaine Wilson: Three-time U.S. Olympian (1996, 2000, ’04)
• On double-flipping skills, such as my handspring-double front on
vault, I always spot whatever is in front of me. I look for the wall, the
stands or whatever else is there.
When it comes to twisting skills, I spot the floor right before the
last half twist. For example, on a 21⁄2 twist, I will complete a double
full, then spot the floor before the last half of the skill. This gives me
air awareness and allows time for me to prepare my body for the
landing.
Leah Homma: 1989 Canadian World team member
• Sticking blind landings has everything to do with air awareness. The
more gymnasts knows where they are in the air, the better they are
able to stick their landings. I recommend lots of trampoline work,
mini-tramp landings, and various jumps (straddle, jump-half and jump-
full). As gymnasts master these landings, they should upgrade by
jumping off equipment of different
“When it comes heights (beam, blocks or vault). Landing position is also vital for stick-
to twisting skills, ing. Knees should be bent at 45 degrees with chest upright and arms straight in
I spot the floor front of the body. Your whole body
should be tight upon landing, including
right before the your arms, all the way to your finger
tips. Any slight movement can cause you
last half twist.” to take a step. —Bethany Dworkin
Bethany Dworkin is a former elite from
—Blaine Wilson Canada who also competed for Ohio State.
