Most people know the name of Simone Biles, the gymnast who rose to international fame with 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals. She is the most decorated gymnast in history. But what about Cecile Landi or Laurent Landi? What about Marta Karolyi or Aimee Boorman? Chances are those names don’t ring the same sort of bell.
Boorman worked at Bannon’s Gymnastix in Houston when she started coaching Biles, then eight years old, in 2005. This partnership lasted a decade until Biles won a five-medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Karolyi coached Biles as a U.S. Junior National Team member and has been coached by the Landis since 2017.
Behind every gymnast who competes is a coach who listens, observes, teaches, and motivates.
Gymnastics encompasses several disciplines: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bars.
Shaping young gymnasts
Jennifer Sasso, president of No Limit Gymnastics Center in Las Vegas, said it is important to build a rapport with young athletes to ensure coaches are producing great athletes and, more importantly, great people who are confident and kind.
“A great gymnastics coach not only understands the sport in terms of safety, rules, and technique, but to be truly great, one must have the following qualities: Be gentle but firm, be funny and silly, have eyes in the back of his or her head, have quick reflexes, and possess the ability to not sweat the small stuff,” says Sasso.
No Limit athletes compete in the Amateur Athletic Union Gymnastics Pacific District.
“We have around 500 students in our gymnastics program ranging in ages from crawling to adult,” Sasso adds.
She says most students want to get a chance to compete and have fun in their sport.
The AAU Pacific District offers that opportunity to compete, hosting about six competitions and a District Championship each season.
The nonprofit AAU has 55 districts for gymnastics nationwide. The organization hosts regional and national championships.
About 4.5 million athletes of all ages participate in gymnastics each year in the U.S., according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s 2023 Gymnastics Single Sports Report. According to the report:
- 28 percent of U.S. gymnasts live in the Southeast.
- 49 percent are between the ages of six and 12.
More than 90,000 gymnasts are involved in competitive programs under the supervision of USA Gymnastics, according to Gold Coast Gymnastics.
USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body, has 200,000 members and 3,000 member clubs. The organization oversees six disciplines, including acrobatic, artistic, gymnastics for all, parkour, rhythmic, trampoline, and tumbling programs.
USA Gymnastics knows coaches are important because they:
- Help athletes improve their skills.
- Develop a strong work ethic in athletes.
- Help athletes achieve their goals.
Training tomorrow’s coaches
AAU and USA Gymnastics offer coaches training programs, with safety being a top priority. The AAU requires an online coaching course and an online exam. USA Gymnastics provides certifications at several levels, including Instructor (for those just beginning), Junior Olympic Development, Junior Olympic Team Coach, and National Coach. Courses include fundamentals, safety & risk, fitness to first aid, trampoline & tumbling, gymnastics for all, acrobatic coaching, and more.
Each course takes four or five hours to complete, so depending on the level, certification can be required in a few months. While winning is important, coaching is also about teaching life lessons through sports.
Young gymnasts enter the sport eager to learn, master the craft, and have fun. Gold Medal Gymnastics in the New York/New Jersey region gives coaches the following tips to help gymnasts reach their potential:
- Safety first by using appropriate equipment and flooring regulations and focusing on precautions while encouraging development.
- Progressive training that fosters self-assurance in skill to move athletes from basics to more advanced moves.
- Take an individual approach by tailoring the training regimen to each athlete’s strengths and styles.
- Communicate clearly, whether conveying correction (always constructive), praise, or precise instructions.
- Set goals. A gymnast’s journey is achieved at benchmarks. Short-term success paves the way for long-term achievement.
- Stay consistent with conditioning, which builds strength, flexibility, and endurance. Leg lifts, planks, split stretches, and back bend drills all have their place in a workout.
- Break down skills into digestible chunks. Learning to backflip, for example, means learning the leap, tuck, and landing individually and then combining them for a fluid movement.
- Encourage the gymnasts to visualize techniques so they see every action, feeling, and landing in detail. The brain is then primed to execute the action.
- Demonstrate how to provide a visual guide, showing good form, angles, and transitions.
- Include flexibility training to protect against injury. Range-of-motion exercises such as arm circles and leg swings prepare muscles for movement.
- Create routines that balance athletes’ technical skills and strengths, highlighting their strongest points.
- Provide positive reinforcement. Don’t neglect the mental training.
Increase skills by participating in ongoing education. In an ever-changing world, coaches and mentors should attend workshops and clinics to learn new skills, regulations, and safety precautions.
Good coaches can make all the difference in the experience for young gymnasts, providing reassurance and support while encouraging athletes to perform at their best. In some cases, as evidenced by Simone Biles, it can mean leading an athlete to international success.
