The gym is a safe space for young gymnasts to learn and practice their skills to perform the sport. However, the skills that gymnasts pick up at the gym go beyond how to properly execute a flip or a handstand. These athletes absorb gymnastics skills that they can take outside the gym and apply to their daily lives.
What are these gymnastics skills that your kids can learn in the gym and use even in their day-to-day? Here are five of them.
Strength
There’s no question that gymnasts are some of the strongest athletes out of any sport. A gymnast needs to be strong to execute the stunning and sometimes dangerous feats that gymnastics sometimes calls for. Thus, building whole-body strength is an essential part of their training.
But a gymnast’s strength isn’t limited to the physical. They are trained to be mentally tough, too. It takes strength to overcome the fear of doing something unfamiliar. And it takes a lot of strength to get up and go after an injury or a fall. Your child will need this mental strength as they navigate the many situations they’ll have to face as part of growing up.
Discipline
Learning gymnastics often means hard work, whether your kids are doing it competitively or recreationally. They’ll have to spend a big chunk of their time at the gym, following gym rules and staying focused on their learning. This can sometimes mean missing birthday parties and other opportunities to hang out with friends who aren’t into gymnastics. And, for sure, this also means time management and finding a way to get homework and house chores done alongside training. The discipline that gymnastics can instill in a child will definitely be helpful when they are older and no longer involved in the sport.
Determination
The adage “practice makes perfect” is probably more applicable to gymnastics than any other sport. Your young athlete will likely need more than a few tries to execute some gymnastics skills properly. They may display frustration in the process.
But as they master new moves, they would have mastered determination along the way as well. They’d have set up their goals, mapped a way to achieve those goals, and made the commitment to not give up until they’ve reached their targets. That’s definitely a life skill that will take your child far outside gymnastics.
Social skills
In many ways, gymnastics can appear like a sport that glorifies individual athletes. But that’s not what happens behind the scenes. Gymnasts rely on their coaches for training and advice. They also have to train with their teammates. For them to work well together, they would have to establish relationships based on trust and respect. These relationships will only grow and thrive if they know how to listen and communicate their thoughts and needs. Learning how to control their emotions and do their part to maintain harmony inside the gym is also helpful. Your young gymnast can easily translate this in other social settings.
Self-confidence
The ancient Greeks developed gymnastics as a practice in achieving perfection. It’s not hard to see why when the sport sharpens both the body and the mind.
As your child learns their progressions, they also get a grasp of their capabilities and limitations. And as they succeed in mastering new skills, they become eager to expand their knowledge and willing to step outside their comfort zone. This self-confidence they build in gymnastics is something they can readily take wherever else they go.
The gymnastics skills that your child can learn go far beyond movement and progressions. They are life skills they can use no matter what circumstances they’ll have to face later on.
OMEGA Gymnastics offers many different classes for children to learn gymnastics under our Recreational Program. Have a look at our Recreational Program and see what classes will fit your kids best.
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