facebook
twitter
instagram
Gymnastics Dad
  • Author
  • Gymnast Spotlights
    • Current Spotlight
    • Spotlight Application
    • Archived Spotlights
  • Gymnastic Links
  • Contact Me
  • Gymnastic Swag
×
  • All
  • Coach Perspective
  • General

Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready.

April 26, 2020 0 Comment admin
Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready.

Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready.

 Hey, Gymnastics Dad Nation, and welcome back to another blog. First and foremost, I want to give a big shoutout to all our frontline workers. You guys are the most amazing people on the planet, bar none! GD Nation and I genuinely appreciate everything you have done and are continuing to do for us. Since the world seems currently on house arrest due to the Coronavirus, I figured I’d write a quick blog to give GD Nation something to do besides vegging out on Netflix’s. As a blogger, you realize how much your daily interactions in life impact your blogging. When something like a pandemic takes out your daily routine and communications, so too goes what you blog about. Being a blogger during a pandemic in the area of youth gymnastics is not easy. I try to strike a balance between providing interesting material to read yet, avoiding being a painful reminder that sports have been temporarily stripped from us. Fortunately, the idea of this blog came after having a conversation with the fam while having breakfast. 

 Before we get started, I want to send a shoutout to Connor Preston. He is the first athlete selected in our new monthly feature at GDN Apparel called Gymnast Spotlight. He was actually the gymnast for March and was slotted to be featured in March’s blogs, but then the Coronavirus blew everything up. Moving forward, every month, we will spotlight a different gymnast for their accomplishments in and outside the sport of gymnastics. To learn more about Connor, please visit here. Now on to our regularly scheduled programming.

 ~The Scene (Picture this….)~

It’s a Sunday morning, and I finally decide to get motivated to cook breakfast around 11:30 am. I mean, the family has to eat, right? After surviving a mental flogging from my wife over the fact that I continue to wash clothes but never fold or put them away, can we sit down to eat. The minute my wife says, “would you mind…” I know sh$t is about to go all the way left. fellas, FYI, “would you mind” is code for “I have told his ass about this a million times, and he keeps doing it.” But, I did manage to talk my way out by leveraging an”ole skool” strategy of “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullcrap.” After munching down a few pieces of bacon, I looked over to my daughter and said to her, “Hey, girly, you ready to head back to practice yet.” Her response was “kinda, but I am not feeling that double back on the beam yet.” At that point, I realize her statement gave me an opening to satisfy my coaching fix. Still, I needed to do a balancing act between being a coach and a dad. I figure this is an excellent time to dip into coaching mode and explain to her the benefits of preparation and reducing the amount of rust when getting back in gymnastics shape. For the last 3 weeks, her gymnastics coaches have been doing a virtual practice, which is fantastic. In conjunction with the coach’s practices, we have had a conditioning plan in place since they shut down the state. Still, even with that, my internal coaching clock is starting to tell me that we need to kick it up a notch. 

 

~The Convo ~

Our conversation that morning was about preparation. In a nutshell, I was trying to express to my daughter the importance of staying ready, so she doesn’t have to get ready when she returns to gymnastics. This pandemic has created a situation where young athletes have to rely heavily on household discipline and dedication to maintain focus on training. Continuing to train outside of the purview of coaches can be difficult for anybody. If you come from a household where general fitness is not typically a priority, it is almost impossible to maintain. In sports, it is not always about the training ability of a coach. In many instances, parents are looking for someone who can motivate their children. They are looking for someone who can have those hard conversations with their kids. In a nutshell, parents are quite honestly looking for someone who can get in their “kiddos” asses and motivate them to be better athletes and people. Being able to manage training during this pandemic will give athletes a considerable advantage when returning. 

 

~The Timeline~

The game is simple, reduce the amount of time it takes to get back into prime gymnastics training shape. The faster an athlete can get back in shape, the quicker they can get back to sport-specific training. At breakfast, I told my daughter that most people don’t consider how condensed their timeline to competition season will be when they return back to the gym. I told her to factor in the traditional schedule to the first competition and then decrease time due to the pandemic. For every one week that an athlete eats terrible and doesn’t exercise, then that is additional two weeks of work to get back in shape. The negative impact of lack of training can be exponential, depending on the athlete and the family situation. For my daughter, who is moving to Level 9, her first meet is typically around the first week of December. If the meet time frame doesn’t change, that means currently, if they return back to training in June, we will lose approximately two months of training time that need to be accounted for. This pandemic is condensing every sport’s training schedule. With that being said, it would behoove both athletes and parents to reduce the conditioning curve as much as possible. The goal is to expedite and reduce the time that needs to be allocated for general conditioning. 

 

~The Top Athletes Are Training~

The second item I bought to her attention is that the top athletes are still training. There is one thing that is always universal when situations like this occur. The beasts will always train. Winners figure out how to get training regardless of the conditions, remember Rocky, the Russian, and running in the snow? Let’s not act like I am the only one that watched Rocky movies back in the day. Old heads, this is the point in the blog you start humming the words “there’s no easy way out, there’s no short cut home…” from the Rocky soundtrack. Since this pandemic, there have been hundreds of youtube videos posting with people creating homemade strength equipment. Depending on your craftsman skills, I am not necessarily advocating building your own vault or bars. What I am saying is that “winners figure it out.” If you have read my blog, Talented vs. Hardworking, then you know I believe hard work will always outweigh talent in the long run. This pandemic has created an environment that is ideal for any athlete who values working hard. This pandemic will give hard-working athletes a chance to separate themselves from the pack. The more innovative and creative you can be to overcome training challenges, the further ahead you will be of your competition.

 Lastly, this is a tough time for everyone, but as the old adage goes….. This Too Shall Pass. Until this passes, set up a routine with your athlete and stick to it. Challenge your athlete to keep that mental and physical edge by focusing on the basics. Remember, hard work doesn’t require equipment, effort doesn’t require a building and dedication doesn’t require a coach.  

 In closing, once this pandemic is over, gymnasts will want to show up to practice like it is the first day of school. Might as well let them show up in style! Check out our new Beauty and the Beast collection at our GDN Apparel Swag Shop. 

 

 

  • About the author
admin Administrator
Michael Montgomery, a Cleveland Ohio native currently residing in Atlanta. Having a son who ran track allowed Michael to be re-introduced to track and field but this time as a coach. With coaching becoming one of his new found passions Michael realized that coaching provided a great opportunity to see inside not only athletes but parents also. If you want to see true colors of a person then put them in a sporting environment.
web
http://mikemontgomery.me
follow me
×
admin Administrator
Michael Montgomery, a Cleveland Ohio native currently residing in Atlanta. Having a son who ran track allowed Michael to be re-introduced to track and field but this time as a coach. With coaching becoming one of his new found passions Michael realized that coaching provided a great opportunity to see inside not only athletes but parents also. If you want to see true colors of a person then put them in a sporting environment.
web
http://mikemontgomery.me
follow me
Latest Posts
  • College Recruiting (Myths and Assumptions)
  • Back To The New Normal
  • Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work?
  • Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready.
admin
admin admin@gymnasticdad.com http://mikemontgomery.me
Michael Montgomery, a Cleveland Ohio native currently residing in Atlanta. Having a son who ran track allowed Michael to be re-introduced to track and field but this time as a coach. With coaching becoming one of his new found passions Michael realized that coaching provided a great opportunity to see inside not only athletes but parents also. If you want to see true colors of a person then put them in a sporting environment.

Previous Post

Growth vs. Image

Next Post

Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work?

Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Gymnast Swag

Parent Swag

Family Swag

Lil Brother Swag

Recent Blogs

College Recruiting (Myths and Assumptions) July 18, 2020
Back To The New Normal June 15, 2020
Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work? May 10, 2020
Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready. April 26, 2020
Growth vs. Image February 17, 2020

About Me

facebook
twitter
instagram

Recent Blogs

College Recruiting (Myths and Assumptions)
College Recruiting (Myths and Assumptions) July 18, 2020
Back To The New Normal
Back To The New Normal June 15, 2020
Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work?
Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work? May 10, 2020
Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready.
Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready. April 26, 2020
Growth vs. Image February 17, 2020

Stay In The Loop By Signing Up for our Newsletter

NEW BLOGS POSTED THURSDAYS
Name
Email address:

Follow Us On IG @ gymnastic_dad

gymnastic_dad

@gymnastic_dad

Gymnast Dad
Shout out to Summer Levell of Storm Gymnastics for Shout out to Summer Levell of Storm Gymnastics for being selected GDN Apparel’s student athlete for the month of July.  To learn more about Summer please visit
https://gdswagshop.com/pages/gymnast-spotlights
#gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnawpparel #browngirlsdogymnastics
Shout out to Summer Levell of Storm Gymnastics for Shout out to Summer Levell of Storm Gymnastics for being selected GDN Apparel’s student athlete for the month of July.  To learn more about Summer please visit
https://gdswagshop.com/pages/gymnast-spotlights
#gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnawpparel
New blog fresh off the keystrokes. Here is a smal New blog fresh off the keystrokes.  Here is a small snippet to pique your interest "This pandemic has everyone shook and for a good reason, but the fear of the unknown is often worse than the reality of the situation itself. Don't get me wrong, the risk and consequences of catching the Coronavirus are real, but what we had to do to mitigate that risk was beginning to make me feel paralyzed." To learn more visit 
https://gymnasticdad.com/back-to-the-new-normal  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel #browngymnast #browngirlsdogymnastics #melaningymnast #melaningymmom
Shout out to Triniti Montgomery for being selected Shout out to Triniti Montgomery for being selected GDN Apparel's spotlight athlete for the month of June.  To learn more about Triniti visit 
https://gdswagshop.com/pages/gymnast-spotlights  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
#browngymnast #browngirlsdogymnastics #blackgymnast
Whoa, New product release! We are in the process Whoa, New product release!  We are in the process of building a  new platform specifically designed to help gymnasts streamline the college recruitment process.  To learn more and to get on the waiting list visit: 
https://chalkyhandsprofiles.com/ ***We are giving away 25 free profiles when released.**** #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
New swag shipping today. This swag is going to on New swag shipping today.  This swag is going to one of the dopest gymnasts in the game and future GDN Apparel Ambassador @cpreston_gymnastics.  You definitely rep gymnastics ”365247”  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
New blog released. This blog is titled "Zoom Trai New blog released.  This blog is titled "Zoom Training Sessions And Do They Work?" Just a snippet to pique your interest: "This is a topic I received from a reader because their coach is beginning to charge for virtual practice over Zoom. Her question was, "does the amount of training and the quality of training justify the cost." She was apprehensive because she felt that since she paid $275.00 monthly when her daughter was going to the gym four times a week, four hours a day, but now the coach is charging $175.00 for three days a week and 2 hours a day." https://gymnasticdad.com/zoom-training-sessions-and-do-they-work/  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
Happy Mother’s Day to all my gymnastics moms out Happy Mother’s Day to all my gymnastics moms out there  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
Take 15% off GDN’s Entire selection. Visit http Take 15% off GDN’s Entire selection.  Visit https://gdswagshop.com/  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel
Shout out to Makayla Fernander for being selected Shout out to Makayla Fernander for being selected GDN Apparel's spotlight athlete for the month of May.  To learn more about Makayla visit https://gdswagshop.com/pages/gymnast-spotlights  #gymnastics #gymnasticsswag #gymnasticsmom #gymnasticsforlife #gymnasticsforever #gymnasticsforkids #gymnasticsdads #gdnapparel #gymnasticslife #gymnastic_dad #gymnasticsapparel #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsclothing #gymnasticsswag
#gymnasticsgear #gymnasticsrocks #gymnasticstshirts #gymnasticsshirts #gymnasticscoach #gymnasticsleos #gymnasticsleotards #gymnasticsdad #gdnapparel  #blackgymnast
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.