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Reflections from a Gymnastics assistant coaching course
1st June 2023
A guest post from Kath Maguire. Kath is the parent of one of our club’s gymnasts. She asked about doing some volunteering a couple of months ago and whether there was a course she could do. Here are her reflections from the day. “I’ve been thinking about volunteering for a while now but as it’s […]
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Flexibility Training

As part of the Excelsior Sports Training Programme, I did a joint workshop with scorpion stretchSarah Marshallyesterday on flexibility training. We had 30 young athletes doing 90 minutes of stretching.

The format was:

  • Warm up- squats and multi directional lunges.
  • Back stretches on the floor- rotational, flexion, extension.
  • Back stretches in standing- using a wall.
  • Hamstring and quad stretches in kneeling.

scorpion stretchThe major objective of the session was to get the athletes to go away with their own individual stretching programme.

They had to write down in their training diaries the various stretches we were doing and mark the ones that suited them.

The key points were:

  • Move slowly.
  • Breathe 5- 6 times deeply whilst holding a stretch.
  • Find the ones that work for you- if you aren’t getting a stretch, move to a different one.
  • flexibility trainingVariety of stretching is important, don’t just do the same 2-3 exercises and expect different results.
  • Take note the differences between front and back and left and right side and work on that.

(Pictured is me doing the scorpion stretch as requested).

Stretching works

Setting out the flexibility plan is relatively easy. Getting the athletes to do it regularly is more difficult. Having  a variety of stretches, and for different events helps.

Those of our athletes who practice do get more flexible.

This video shows a fun example of a stretch routine. You may wish to start with something simpler.

Further reading:

Comments

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  3. […] stretching of the surrounding muscle […]

  4. […] All of this was accompanied by practical work on how to run correctly, what golfers should eat for breakfast, and examples of stretching routines for golf. […]

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  6. […] Mobility: How you control limbs over a range of movement. […]

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Client Testimonials

Weston AGC
I first met James at a South West Gymnastic conference and thought he was superb then, and still do! James' ability to adapt to different sports and levels is excellent, and he is superb at getting his message across to different ages of gymnasts. He did a workshop at our club for our competitive gymnasts and it was superb, His work was of great value to a wide range of ages and levels, with a tremendous emphasis on posture and injury prevention. We have been able to put his training methods into practice and are seeing an improvement in the all round strength and fitness of our gymnasts.
 
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