Gymnastics
Benefits
Gymnastics is widely renowned as a sport that can improve overall fitness,
strength, balance and body control as well as helping to improve athletic
performance in any other sport.
Also, participation in gymnastics classes also provides many additional cognitive
and psychological benefits that will continue to benefit an individual throughout
their life. These include:
·
Social interaction and discipline:
It provides an ideal opportunity to learn about teamwork; sportsmanship; fair play
and dedication. The time required to master the fundamental skills requires a great
amount of patience, dedication, perseverance and planning. Therefore it helps
children learn to work hard for objectives that can take years to achieve.
·
Improved mental focus and concentration:
By training the body to perform independently as well as interacting with static
equipment, the ability for faster development of spatial awareness and body
control is achieved. Gymnastics allows children the chance to think for
themselves, to stimulate their imaginations and to solve problems safely. Children
will also experience better hand-eye coordination and improve various
communication skills. Gymnastics can therefore provide opportunities for physical
development, character development and education that are hard to find
anywhere else.
·
Flexibility, balance and co-ordination:
Flexibility is a big factor in gymnastics. In order to achieve the various positions
needed to perform moves, suppleness is of vital importance. Increasing flexibility
can also be an effective aid to the reduction of injury, preventing people from
forcing a limb to an injurious range of motion. By learning movements and
combining them in a routine, the gymnast can attain greater flexibility and greater
control of the body.
To top this all, it's really good fun! Learning how to tumble, flip, swing, and come as
close to self powered flight as is possible anything but boring. There is always
another step to learn; it is possible to learn something new every single class you
attend. A regular workout also releases endorphins (the happiness chemicals that
improve mood) .
There are so many diverse and wide-reaching disciplines involved within the sport
that it is accessible to all ages and abilities and there are benefits at every stage.
So what are you waiting for? Come and join us!
Making children
healthier, fitter, smarter!
Sheth C. N. Vidyavihar, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad, 380006. Phone: 079 - 26463511 / 26463696
E-Mail: [email protected], www.cnvidyavihar.edu.in
Gymnastics
Making children
healthier, fitter, smarter!
Some of the interesting skills that shall be taught to the children are:
Tumbling Skills
Forward Roll
he forward roll is started from a standing position and then the gymnast crouches down, places their hands
shoulder wide apart and hands facing forward. They tuck their chin to their chest and place the back of their head
onto the floor.[4] They then push off of the floor with their legs and rotate over their head onto their back. The
gymnast then presses their feet onto the floor and whips the arms forward to stand up.
Forward Roll
Backward Roll
The backward roll is similar to the forward roll, but in reverse. The gymnast starts in a standing position and bends
to a squat/sitting position with their arms in front. They then lower and lean back slightly until their bottom reaches
the floor. They then continue this momentum and roll over their back onto their shoulders. They should then place
their hands next to their shoulders and tuck their head into their chin. The hands then push the floor strongly and
straighten their arms and continue to rotate their body over their head. The feet are then placed on the floor and
the gymnast stands.
Backward Roll
Sideways roll
A sideways roll is also known as a log roll, barrel roll, or pencil roll. This can be started by lying down on the back
and front with the body outstretched. The gymnast then rolls onto their side and does a complete rotation of the
body, remaining parallel to the performing surface. The log roll is a sideways roll with the hands next to the waist
and the pencil roll is with the hands stretched above the head. A sideways roll can also be performed when a
gymnast over-rotates or loses their balance in a vertical, forward or sideways direction.
Cartwheel
This move starts in a tall stance, one foot in front of the other. Gymnasts reach down with their hands, side
by side and in line with their front leg. They kick their back foot over their head, then kick their front foot.
They land in the lunge position, with the leg opposite of the one they started with in front. Their knee is
bent, slightly behind the toes, and their base leg is straight. Their chin is up, their ribs are in.
Animal Imitations and Races
Crab Walk
Bear crawl
Bunny Hop
Star fish jump
Inch worm
Gymnastics involves a ton of jumping and movement
patterns, and as kids relate these movements to animals,
we shall have kids imitate them. For example, they wull
learn the bear crawl, crab walk, inchworm from one side
of the floor to another, frog jumps where they touch the
floor while doing traveling squat jumps, kangaroo jumps
where they jump as far as they can and try to stick their
landing, bunny hops, which are just short repetitive hops,
donkey kicks with their hands on the floor, kicking their
feet into the air, and starfish jumps, where they do a
straddle jump with their arms in the air, looking like a star.
All these movements would also be played as a relay
race to make it more fun !
Floor Exercises
Bridges
Other Fun Activities
Hoolahoop
Ring
Jumping
through a ring
Sideways roll
Cartwheel
Trampoline
The trampoline teaches important skills that young
gymnasts will later apply to other apparatuses, including
the floor, beam, parallel bars, uneven bars and horizontal bar.
Preschoolers can learn different types of jumps, including
straight, tuck, straddle, 1/2 turn and seat drop. In the seat drop,
gymnasts jump up in the air three times and after the third jump, come
down to the trampoline on their bottoms and then bounce up to a stand.
Children can practice their finish or “ta-da” position, with their arms
extended over their heads and one leg out. Use of the harness helps
children stay centered on the trampoline and keeps them from falling.
While beam is a women's gymnastics event, at the preschool
level, both boys and girls use the apparatus. Preschoolers
use a 4-inch wide, padded, low beam that is just one
step up from the ground. Preschoolers may first practice
Beam
on a line of tape on the ground if they are afraid to step onto the beam.
After mastering walking across the beam with arms up, preschoolers
can try walking sideways along the beam. Then, they can learn kicks,
bringing one foot up to the knee on the other leg and kicking out, toes
pointed. Finally, preschoolers can learn how to dismount -- hopping off
the beam and sticking the landing in the “ta-da” position.
Preschoolers learn to swing and become comfortable with the
bar at the beginning level. First, preschoolers learn to hang
from the bar, and then to swing with their legs in the straddle
and pike positions. With spotting, preschoolers can begin
jumping to a front support, which is the starting position for
Bars
forward and back rolls and the finishing position for the
pullover. Preschoolers can practice pullovers with the assistance of a
padded wall behind the bar. With their arms on the bar, they walk up the
wall and finally kick over the bar, landing in a front-support.
Sheth C. N. Vidyavihar, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad, 380006. Phone: 079 - 26463511 / 26463696
E-Mail: [email protected], www.cnvidyavihar.edu.in