90 Minutes of Must Hear Gymnastics Coaching Expert Advice

Today marks a special milestone for The Shift Show, as it is our 200th episode!

This is truly a moment to celebrate and reflect on all the amazing work we have done to help gymnasts change their lives.

When I first started this podcast back in the summer of 2018, it was simply a hodgepodge of lectures and ideas put together with the goal of providing valuable information to the gymnastics community.

Without you, the listeners, The Shift Show would not be what it is today.

Your support and dedication is truly appreciated, and I am grateful for your time and attention.

In addition to the support from the gymnastics community, I also have to thank my incredible team.

Becky, in particular, does a fantastic job of handling the podcast, social media, and back-end work to make sure the show runs smoothly week after week.

I am also grateful for Taylor, who helps with analytics and surveys to make sure we are always providing relevant and valuable content to our audience.

The main goal of The Shift Show has always been to provide information that can make a significant impact on someone's life and help improve their experience in the sport of gymnastics.

Whether it is through technique, mental blocks, or simply learning from the experiences of others, I hope that this podcast has been able to serve as a valuable resource for gymnasts, athletes, family members, and friends.

To celebrate this special 200th episode, we hosted a live Q&A with experts Nick Ruddock, Victoria Cunningham, Pat Redfern, and Lindsey Stancil.

We invited listeners to join us on Zoom and ask whatever questions they wanted, and it was a fantastic discussion!

We Answer These Questions:

01:16 Nick you talk a lot about teaching vision and where to help look during skills. We have a lot of girls struggling with dismounts, they're throwing your head out, they're not tapping, and they're scared to hit the bar. As season approaches. Can you talk about how you use vision in dismounts and help them with this fear?

12:15 My question is about body tension on the board. We've tried so many shaping drills or work with little ones, but it seems they flopped when they hit the board. And as a result, the compulsories really struggled for good vaults. Do you have any more tips?

19:22 I coach young boys and I struggle so much to actually keep them focused and on task. I love them. But it's so stressful to actually get things done. I'm wondering if you can share anything from your cultural point of view to make it not feel like I'm working in a zoo, as someone who has coached as someone who coached young boys when I was growing up I think working in a zoo sometimes feels quite accurate. So what do you think?

23:35 Cast handstands seem to still be our nemesis. We feel like we are doing tons of drills and spotting and warm-ups. But our angles are never quite in that 45 Plus to handstand. Do you have any must-have drills or strengths that seem to make the most impact?

27:54 When structuring a workout on bars, what do you find most important? Do you put more importance on basics and then move into skills and routines? Or do you start your workout with focus drills, then move into what skills you are focusing on for that day? I feel as coaches we get overwhelmed with trying to fit in lines conditioning basics and then obviously working this skill. Just curious about what you would do in a normal 45 minutes.

36:48 We are working on our rec staff training to improve the quality of our rec program and the coaches. What are some of the strategies, techniques, or systems that you have found effective in teaching progressions, and why those progressions are important to rec coaches? Also, how can we get them to buy into these progressions, especially when most of the rec staff are younger and or part-time and may not have as much of a learning mindset?

42:35 Do you have a specific approach to starting a new strength element in MAG? Or is it the same as technical elements?

48:09 What would be the preferred order of different active flexibility drills, if that matters at all, for example, leg kicks that are fast with power versus more controlled versus holds.

50:42 What's your preference on body shape or chest position on a board entry for yurchenko?

57:44 Can you speak to punching and or pushing through the toes after coming back from an ankle injury? What are your go-to rehab and or strength-building activities?

1:03:03 I'm struggling with change, all of us are really riding that bus hard this year in gymnastics, and the last few older coaches are not open to new drills or ideas. How do I encourage change without stepping on anyone's toes?