Gymnastics

Gymnastics can be a great activity for developing children not only to build body awareness, strength, coordination and cool tricks but can also provide a great learning environment for emotional, cognitive and social skills. In this blog I will outline ways gymnastic can build these skills and specific activities to support development.

Emotional Improvements

Confidence

Gymnastics is a great environment for building confidence. Confidence can be built by kids being given a challenge and the supports to meet it. In gymnastics a challenge could be any new skill introduced to a child. In our class we support children by modeling activities, demonstrating proper form or technique, spotting children when needed and using words for encouragement. In a study done on coping skills and self-efficacy as predictors of gymnastic performance, they found that gymnasts who performed the best reported having the highest scores in confidence and other coping skills. They stated the importance of this research is that gymnasts should start being coached on these skills from a young age to increase the likelihood of better performances in the future (Daroglou, G., 2011). When working with young children in gymnastics we can use our coaching skills to build up their confidence which will help them in future gymnastics performances and other performance areas as well. 

 A great example of this for a younger child would be a backwards roll, children struggle with this because of their lack of core and arm strength. We support them by first spotting them doing a backwards roll down a wedge mat which gives them the advantage of gravity and the extra strength they are missing to complete it on their own. With the gradual release of support from the spotting coach, the child builds up to being able to perform it alone on the wedge mat and then progresses to the floor. With these simple progressions children are physically able to overcome challenges, which helps to build their self-confidence. 

Gymnastics Activities to Build Confidence!

  • Backwards rolls
  • Handstands
  • Cartwheels
  • Balance beam

Confidence Statements for Kids!

  • “I can do this!”
  • “I believe in myself!”

Self Esteem

It is Important to build kids’ self esteem because they will be more likely to try new things and less likely to feel badly about themselves if they do not succeed the first time. Children’s self-esteem can grow by kids taking time to work hard to improve their abilities and achieve their goals.

In a study on the effects of self esteem and coping on changes in self efficacy, they had two groups, one with low self esteem and another with high self esteem and had them play tennis matches and report their feelings related to self esteem before, during and after their matches. When they analyzed the data of players who lost matches had lower self esteem after losing and also were found to be using more less efficient coping strategies. While individuals with higher self esteem tended to adopt more problem focused coping strategies (Lane, A. M., Jones, L., & Stevens, M. J., 2002). This study demonstrates the importance of self esteem in sports and its effect on other important skills such as self-efficacy and coping strategies.  Therefore building self-esteem increases their likelihood to try new activities and to be okay if they experience failure.

In gymnastics, a child can learn to appreciate the hard work and time they put into their skills and, this can be seen with flexibility. For most children, flexibility does not come naturally and takes time to develop. Self-esteem is important because kids can learn to appreciate the abilities they already have and put more work into improving. A coach can support kids with words of encouragement and reminders to practice and stretch often. Another great example of this is conditioning exercises or activities to increase fitness and strength. These are helpful for self esteem because it can be worked on in many ways with many modifications and it gives the kids tools to build their strength to be able to do more sets and other harder skills. For example, head pushes (which is a modified pushup and you tap your head to a mat and then push up and away with your hands) are great to build strength but is also important for a backwards roll so if they can be successful doing head pushes then they will feel more capable to try a backwards roll.

Gymnastics Activities for Self Esteem

  • Splits, or flexibility
  • Conditioning: example head pushes

Determination/ Perseverance

This is a great trait to build up in gymnastics and can be done with any new skill. For younger kids you can see this on a more simple drill like jumping from bucket to bucket which requires balance, strength and courage. Many kids fall on this drill and encouraging them to continue or to start from the beginning is a great way for kids to persevere through difficult tasks.

In a study on student motivation and achievement outcomes in physical activity they found that kids who were more self determined resulted in higher physical achievement (Boiché, J. et al., 2008). As students improve their physical achievement they are more likely to be self determined and continue to try challenging tasks. In our class we have them go through stations multiple times so they have multiple tries to become more successful at a skill. Opportunities to try difficult skills repeatedly will motivate kids to do better each time building up their determination.

Gymnastics Activities to Build Perseverance

  • Bucket hops
  • Back bends
  • Back walk over and kick overs
  • Back hand springs
  • Forward Rolls

Cognitive Improvements

Attention/Focus

This is something that is worked on all the time in class and something we continue to work towards. Being in the gym you must be aware of your surroundings for safety. While working on a skill children must learn to focus their attention on what skill they are trying to perform, think about specific instructions/cues on how to do it and move their specific body parts correctly.

In a study on the benefits of gymnastics on attention, they tested a group of twelve year old gymnasts giving them a task of jumping as high as they could while doing a 180 degree turn in the air. They did it three times each having a different instruction on where to direct their attention during the task. They found that the gymnasts were much more successful at the task when their attention was focused externally (Abdollahipour, et al., 2015). This study shows us that coaches can help their gymnasts apply their attention to be more successful at a skill. Such as giving specific cues on where to look, where to hold their arms, etc.. As children have more opportunities to practice focusing their attention on how to do a skill they will get better.

A great example of this would be to do a forward roll. As they get ready to roll the first cue given is to “look at your belly button”, this has them tucking their head in to protect their neck and ready to roll on their back. Then once they roll over to stand up they should not place their hands on the floor, a cue for that is to reach for my hands to give me a high five. These cues direct the children’s attention on how they should be moving their body to be successful in the skill.  Another example of this is the balance beam. Children must direct all their attention to their feet and place them on the beam to be able to walk across, in this case the beam is acting as the cue for their attention.

Gymnastics Activities for Attention

  • Candlestick holds
  • Balance Beam walks
  • Bunny Hops on a floor beam
  • Forward roll

Memory

Gymnastic allows kids to work on building physical memory as they repeatedly practice mastered skills. Muscle memory gets built by repeating an action over and over, as kids practice a skill repeatedly it will become more automatic because their body remembers which muscles to squeeze/release, how to move and when.

In a study that assessed the benefits of physical activity on visuospatial working memory, they compared a group of preadolescent girls who participated in gymnastic and preadolescent girls who do not and ran an experiment testing their short term memory and visuospatial working memory. The results showed that the girls who participated in gymnastics had significantly less task errors, supporting the idea that increased physical activity such as gymnastics can improve visuospatial working memory (Serra, L., et al., 2021). Visuospatial working memory is the ability to briefly remember spatial arrangements or patterns. This can be applied to physical movements because kids must remember how to arrange their body for specific skills. As kids repeat these skills they will be building up their visuospatial memory. 

 A skill that demonstrates this well is a cartwheel which takes a lot of coordination and timing. As kids flip over they must remember the order in which their body touches the ground (right hand, left hand, left foot, right foot) and when to squeeze their core and then lift their body up and over. When learning a cartwheel many kids twist their body going out of order but, as the correct order is practiced it becomes a more natural feeling for the child.

Another way we strengthen memory with our youngest group is in their warm up they listen to an audio that connects a movement with a sound called “Listen and Move”. The kids listen with instruction the first time through and then listen to the sound the second time through and must match their movement to the sound. Not only does this have them moving from their memories but they are practicing remembering and following directions.

Gymnastics Skills for Memory

Discipline/Self Control

Safety is important so the kids need to have discipline to follow directions and resist doing dangerous things on the equipment. Children should come to each class ready to practice and learn new skills. When kids start to goof off, or rush through activities they create either a dangerous situation or they will not be doing the skills properly. I often see kids do this with beam, they just want to run across, when the goal is for them to do bunny hops down it. I have to give them reminders of what the goal is and demonstrate how to do it. The second time through they are often much more successful and even if they don’t make it all the way to the end, they are demonstrating physical self control.

In a study on preschool children they tested the relationship of  physical fitness and inhibitory control. Inhibitory control is a person’s ability to resist behaviors that are unrelated to a task. They measured each child’s physical fitness with a series of physical tasks and then their inhibitory control by using a flanker test. They found a negative relationship between physical fitness scores and inhibitory score, meaning if a child was more physically fit they were more likely to have a better inhibitory control score (Li, Y. et al., 2022). This study shows that if a child participates in physical activity they are likely to be more physically fit and more likely to be able to control their actions. Through repeatedly practicing ignoring distracting things or tempting activities these children are likely more successful at inhibitory control or self control.  We also remind our children each practice of the rules in the gym and if they are not following them we remind them of what they should be doing and to resist doing dangerous things.

Gymnastics Activities for Self Control

  • Balance beam walks
  • Balance beam hops

Social Improvements

Social Skills

Safety is very important in our classes, kids must be able to listen and follow directions, to ensure safety for themselves and others. They must  follow instructions on how to do a skill properly or how to use equipment because some skills are complex and could lead to injury if done incorrectly.  Children must also have patience for their peers. It can be extremely dangerous at some activities to have multiple kids attempting it at once, it is a rule only one person doing an activity at a time. As we go through stations kids must take turns and wait for others to finish before they can start. They practice these social skills by having patience for others to finish, taking turns, and sharing equipment.

In a study done on hydro gymnastics and social behavior they found after a 10 week training period the group who participated saw increased scores of social cooperation, social interactions and social independence. They reasoned that this was because as their physical motor skills improved the children felt more confident to engage in interacting with their peers in the class. For a child with poor motor skills they are less likely to engage with others out of fear of not being able to physically participate or keep up with the others (Metwaly, D., 2015). As children participate in activities and become more confident they are more likely to interact with others in the class. Often children want to demonstrate for the class on how to perform a skill, they remind each other on the rules or how to do a skill, they encourage each other to try new skills because they know if they can do it so can their friend in their class. As a coach you can influence this by allowing kids to demonstrate a skill for others, modeling being supportive when doing a new skill and giving reminders patience, listening and communication skills with each child and other coaches. Gymnastics provides opportunities for children to practice important social skills that they can also use in other environments.

Gymnastics Activities for Social Skills

  • Taking turns on stations
  • Following directions
  • Demonstrating a skill for one another
  • Supporting each other using positive encouragement!

References

Abdollahipour, R., Wulf, G., Psotta, R., & Nieto, M. P. (2015). Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an external focus of attention. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(17), 1807-1813. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2015.1012102

Boiché, J. C. S., Sarrazin, P. G., Grouzet, F. M. E., Pelletier, L. G., & Chanal, J. P. (2008). Students’ motivational profiles and achievement outcomes in physical education: A self-determination perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 688-701. doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.688

Daroglou, G. (2011). Coping skills and self-efficacy as predictors of gymnastic performance. The Sport Journal, 14(1). https://link-gale-com.proxy.geneseo.edu/apps/doc/A284323945/GPS?u=geneseo&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=4faad462

Lane, A. M., Jones, L., & Stevens, M. J. (2002). Coping with failure: The effects of self-esteem and coping on changes in self-efficacy. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25(4), 331+. https://link-gale-com.proxy.geneseo.edu/apps/doc/A94335186/GPS?u=geneseo&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7d75a774

Li, Y., Zhou, T., Lu, Y., Sang, M., Liu, J., He, X., & Quan, M. (2022). The association between the health-related physical fitness and inhibitory control in preschool children. BMC Pediatrics, 22(1), NA. https://link-gale-com.proxy.geneseo.edu/apps/doc/A699478666/GPS?u=geneseo&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=0c91cce0

Metwaly, D. (2015). Impact of hydrogymnastics on motor abilities and social behavior among preschool children. Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport/Science, Movement and Health, 15(2 S1), 321+. https://link-gale-com.proxy.geneseo.edu/apps/doc/A451409499/GPS?u=geneseo&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=91c77151

Serra, L., Raimondi, S., di Domenico, C., Maffei, S., Lardone, A., Liparoti, M., Sorrentino, P., Caltagirone, C., Petrosini, L., & Mandolesi, L. (2021). The beneficial effects of physical exercise on visuospatial working memory in preadolescent children. AIMS Neuroscience, 8(4), 496+. https://link-gale-com.proxy.geneseo.edu/apps/doc/A683880094/GPS?u=geneseo&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=6b779741