Getting Hooked on Gymnastics!

It happened to me when I was young, and it may happen to your child as well. The first symptom is the enthusiasm that young gymnasts feel towards the sport of gymnastics. You see it in the faces of gymnasts who finally make that new skill they've worked so hard to accomplish. It's what helped me develop from an eager little girl attempting her first back handspring into an accomplished college gymnast and eventually into a successful gymnastics coach. It starts with drills and techniques taught by dedicated coaches who simply love the sport of gymnastics like no other. Young gymnasts begin with "basics" to learn body position and develop muscle memory, and repeat those skills over and over and over with each workout until it practically becomes a lifestyle. Their little muscles learn what to do, when to pull, when to push, how to become flexible and how to get stronger. With each success comes an enthusiasm that makes them want to do more, to get that first kip or round-off back handspring. Suddenly your child is begging for more time in the gym to work on skills and you can feel the excitement and the commitment that starts to bubble up as the child progresses. As they notice more advanced gymnasts working out and perfecting that giant or flyaway, the sparkle in their eyes intensifies and they picture themselves achieving that same degree of perfection one day. It becomes a mission, a devotion, and an incentive to work harder until they eventually find themselves like me, hooked on the sport of gymnastics, always looking towards their next workout, skill or competition and transferring that intensity to everything in their lives. Look out world, another gymnast has arrived!