Our Competitive Gymnasts Share Their Experience with Culture Change and New Coaching Styles

07/13/21 • 98 min

This week on the podcast is a very special episode with crowd favorite Eva our gym director but also three of our former gymnasts who trained whilst we went through a massive cultural change at our gym. On the podcast I've talked a lot about the changes we made in our gym, me realizing my ego, having honest conversations with the athletes, how we handled some of the harder issues like motivation, burnout. But I thought it would be a really cool idea to actually talk with some of our former gymnasts live on the podcast and get their experience and interpretation of what happened, and what they noticed from a gymnast's point of view. I know a lot of people are struggling with trying to improve their culture, but still, maintain progress and have high performance. It can be done and I hope you can take away something from our experience.

We DISCUSS; how to have better one on one conversations and not be afraid to talk about real issues.

WHY change has to start at the top.

REALISING whether you’re a coach or gymnast, every moment you're in the gym, there are kids looking up to you.

The DIFFERENT ways to modify practices and still make them beneficial for gymnasts.

If you want a better culture MAKE SURE you're seeing the humans behind the gymnast.

ALSO...

DOING the harder thing when it's the right thing to do.

RELATED EPISODES:

EPISODE 92 – NEW MODEL OF GYMNASTICS PART 1: GLOBAL VALUES

EPISODE 88 – OUR GYM’S CULTURE WAS TOXIC. HERE’S EXACTLY HOW WE FIXED IT.

EPISODE 49 – 9 STEPS FOR BEING HAPPIER IN WORK AND LIFE

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We DISCUSS; how to have better one on one conversations and not be afraid to talk about real issues.

WHY change has to start at the top.

REALISING whether you’re a coach or gymnast, every moment you're in the gym, there are kids looking up to you.

The DIFFERENT ways to modify practices and still make them beneficial for gymnasts.

If you want a better culture MAKE SURE you're seeing the humans behind the gymnast.

ALSO...

DOING the harder thing when it's the right thing to do.

RELATED EPISODES:

EPISODE 92 – NEW MODEL OF GYMNASTICS PART 1: GLOBAL VALUES

EPISODE 88 – OUR GYM’S CULTURE WAS TOXIC. HERE’S EXACTLY HOW WE FIXED IT.

EPISODE 49 – 9 STEPS FOR BEING HAPPIER IN WORK AND LIFE

Previous Episode

Increase Hip/Shoulder Flexibility for Gymnasts and Creating Effective Cardio Circuits

This week on the podcast I am very excited to have on coach Shay, who won the competition we held alongside the launch of the Peak Gymnastics Power course. Which included a free consultation with me to chat, ask any questions and help with anything from culture, flexibility, strength, etc. It ended up being an awesome talk, where we discussed how to help athletes get more flexibility in their shoulders and how to get better active flexibility and full 180 degrees in their leaps and jumps. We also talked about cardio and energy systems training to improve gymnast's stamina in floor and bar routines. I share my screen and we write and build a new program together for her athletes from scratch. I'm very grateful that she won the random draw because she sounds like she's doing an amazing job in Australia with their kids.

We DISCUSS; how to screen athlete's shoulders to identify the specific issue that’s causing them to struggle with shoulder mobility.

The BEST exercises to do to improve shoulder flexibility in each of the different issues that the gymnast may have.

HOW strength can improve flexibility.

The split complexes YOU NEED to get your athletes splits flat.

HOW to create a cardio program for preseason and the offseason.

ALSO...

BARDIO! It’s cardio but specifically to improve upper body endurance and stamina for bars.

RELATED EPISODES:

How To Build Explosive Power in Gymnasts with Diwesh Poudyal

The 3 Steps for Building Explosive Speed and Power in Gymnastics

How To Build Gymnastics Strength and Power with Ellie Black's Strength Coach, Scott Willgress

Next Episode

Why Coach to Coach Gossip Can Create Toxic Gym Cultures, and How To Fix It

This week on the podcast we discuss a very important topic, with my buddy Nick Ruddock, and mental health counselor Rebecca Grady, who was recently on the podcast. We touch an ‘elephant on the room topic’ that I think so many people in gymnastics are realizing is a huge problem and needs addressing. Which is; coach to coach relationships, staff gossip, and drama, which can really bring the vibe down in a gym. We talk about where these things stem from, whether they're related to coaching ego, personal conflicts, or if your gym just isn’t the best fit for your own morals. We review all the things that we've experienced, what we've gone through and offer people constructive solutions on what to do because we know this is a huge problem a lot of gyms face.

We DISCUSS; Nick and Becca’s experiences with not-so-great coaching teams and coaching dynamics, and what they thought were the root causes for them were.

WHY empathy, communication, and the ability to deal with problems, not in front of the athletes or parents and not on social media is so important.

Nick SHARES HIS IDEAS on philosophy differences and how to compromise when someone thinks differently with how you should coach skills and drills, but also how you should run a gym.

Having the RIGHT mindset, you don’t know what you don’t know.

A MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE on how to have harder conversations? They sound great but the idea is terrifying for so many coaches.

STRESS RESEARCH; how social connections or bonds can either be the biggest source of stress for some or it can be the biggest buffer of stress to be protective and build resilience.

WHY being part of a team isn’t trying to make people like each other, it’s about making people respect each other.

ALSO...

WHY when you’re trying to find a gym to fit into, it is not a case of how good you are, it's about how compatible you are.