All-Star Conditioning As Punishment

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Haven’t used conditioning as a punishment in two years after learning about Proactive Coaching and utilizing their materials with my team.

The end result...

I get full out effort from my team virtually all the time.

No kid does conditioning as a punishment with full effort and intensity. It’s pretty much a waste of valuable practice time.
Proactive Coaching is the BEST. PROGRAM. EVER. :)
 
Haven’t used conditioning as a punishment in two years after learning about Proactive Coaching and utilizing their materials with my team.

The end result...

I get full out effort from my team virtually all the time.

No kid does conditioning as a punishment with full effort and intensity. It’s pretty much a waste of valuable practice time.

Yesssssss.

I spent more time mad at half bear crawls than actually seeing them get anything out of it.
 
I like this so not criticizing, just curious. What do you do if a stunt doesn't hit? Just work more on it and... coach? :)

For me I can't see how bear crawls can help a stunt hit. The kids are just more tired after the conditioning punishment and that seems more dangerous.

Any other coaches not doing C as P much?

Proactive Coaching - Home | Facebook
 
I like this so not criticizing, just curious. What do you do if a stunt doesn't hit? Just work more on it and... coach? :)

For me I can't see how bear crawls can help a stunt hit. The kids are just more tired after the conditioning punishment and that seems more dangerous.

Any other coaches not doing C as P much?

I do not do conditioning as punishment.

When I did conditioning as punishment, most of my practice time was spent on well, conditioning and policing them not "cheating" it.

If their baskets do not hit and I assign 30 burpees, that takes like 15-30 min judging by the slowest burpee girl I have.

That is 30 min I could be using to actually coach and FIX THAT BASKET SECTION.
 
My justification for conditioning if routines or stunts are a hot mess: when stunts and tumbling fall it says to me that you are not strong enough or don't have enough endurance to perform the skill, so lets condition and make you stronger. Not a punishment, just a logical consequence :)
This is exactly, word for word what I tell my kids. It’s not punishment, it’s fixing the problem.
 
I do not do conditioning as punishment.

When I did conditioning as punishment, most of my practice time was spent on well, conditioning and policing them not "cheating" it.

If their baskets do not hit and I assign 30 burpees, that takes like 15-30 min judging by the slowest burpee girl I have.

That is 30 min I could be using to actually coach and FIX THAT BASKET SECTION.

THIS!!!

What i run into is my feeder middle school coach makes the team run a mile when they don't hit. So they come to me saying "you're not hard enough."

To which, I'm almost FORCED to reply, "she hasn't hit a routine on a comp floor in the 14 years I've lived here, and you think THAT'S the RIGHT thing to do?"
 
The only issue I have with conditioning as punishment is when they have been conditioning on and off for lets say the better part of almost half of the practice because of something not hitting...their bodies are now to the point of being pretty tired. It is not exactly reasonable to expect them to be able to hit that stunt at that point. If they needed to conditioning to get stronger to make it hit, it is not immediate and when they are tired is not exactly the best time to push it. Just asking for injuries and total frustration at that point.
 
The only issue I have with conditioning as punishment is when they have been conditioning on and off for lets say the better part of almost half of the practice because of something not hitting...their bodies are now to the point of being pretty tired. It is not exactly reasonable to expect them to be able to hit that stunt at that point. If they needed to conditioning to get stronger to make it hit, it is not immediate and when they are tired is not exactly the best time to push it. Just asking for injuries and total frustration at that point.
No one should be conditioning to the point of exhaustion. At any time.
So 10 burpees for not squatting in your dip and causing the stunt to stall and fall...2-3 times this happens is acceptable.
But running 50 laps before one practice is half over bc two stunts fell in the full out...over the top.

But don’t confuse basic conditioning reps with abusive. Too many full outs in a practice can be abusive also. Bodies MUST have time to anaerobicly recuperate before making further attempts.

Coaches must know the balance of how far to push and when to ease up. It’s their JOB to know how to train athletes.

Monkeys and mamas can hit play and count to 8.
 
No one should be conditioning to the point of exhaustion. At any time.
So 10 burpees for not squatting in your dip and causing the stunt to stall and fall...2-3 times this happens is acceptable.
But running 50 laps before one practice is half over bc two stunts fell in the full out...over the top.

But don’t confuse basic conditioning reps with abusive. Too many full outs in a practice can be abusive also. Bodies MUST have time to anaerobicly recuperate before making further attempts.

Coaches must know the balance of how far to push and when to ease up. It’s their JOB to know how to train athletes.

Monkeys and mamas can hit play and count to 8.
Totally agree with that. I have seen it be used both ways unfortunately.
 
Totally agree with that. I have seen it be used both ways unfortunately.
I have too. It’s very unfortunate when it happens. I’ve felt powerless to stop it when it wasn’t my team or my concern. And then you have that feeling that, as a steward of proper pediatric training, I SHOULD be speaking up whether it’s my team or not.
 
When our older kids are conditioning, which they do have to do in order to get better, we constantly remind them that this is to make them better and make their routine easier in the long run. We're super lucky to be partially partnered with an elite training centre in our city that works with NHL, CFL and olympic athletes and they're currently training all our coaches who are on Team Canada/working towards Team Canada. It's changed our entire outlook on conditioning and training.

If things aren't hitting, its our job as coaches to figure out why and adjust accordingly. Doing 1000 jump squats and 7 hours of wall sit won't make things hit, it'll make kids angry, upset and exhausted. I've never understood attaching a negative emotion to something that they *need* to do in order to get better. There's a difference between conditioning instead of stunting because kids are unfocused, since stunting unfocused can lead to injury, and conditioning because your full up fell for the 4th time and I'm livid.
 
Over conditioning of athletes is a major cause of injury in youth sports. Conditioning is something that has to be built over time. Coaches who do this haven't been properly trained on the risks this causes or don't care if they injure the athletes who have been put in their trust.
100%the truth! Adults in the work force have more protection than children in sports. The tragedies this year during preseason high school football came from good intentions gone wrong ...
 
Too many full outs in a practice can be abusive also. Bodies MUST have time to anaerobicly recuperate before making further attempts.


Murphy's Law of Fullouts also states that for each additional full out assigned, the routine becomes progressively more tragic.

Fullout 1: 4 of 5 elites hit. 5 of 6 second stunts hit. All baskets hit. All tumbling hits.

Not satisfied. Want them to hit zero.

"AGAIN."

Fullout 2: 3 of 5 elites hit. 3 of 6 second stunts hit. A basket is off. WTF at some of those tucks.

"AGAINNNN."

Fullout 3: Down to 2 elites. The groups in stunts that never bobble are starting to. Baskets travel. Tumbling devolves to tragedy.

Fullout 4: Elites drop like dominoes. LOL at that second stunt. Was that a kick single or are they dying? OMG tumbling someone is going to die.
 
OP is your daughter on level 1 or 2? Why I ask is because you mentioned many kids with back pain which is very common on those levels until they develop the strength, and shoulder and back flexibility to do walkovers properly. I still feel strongly a PT or orthopedic dr. should be asked when it comes to back pain, not us. Fair warning though, our kids PT's never suggested taking exercises away, but gave them additional strength and flexibility exercises to do at home so they would be able to stay in cheer. The alternative to them is quitting if the pain won't subside, because their theory is you either have the strength, flexibility and stamina to do it without pain, or you don't.

Back Walkover Article
Back Walkover Problem - Gymnastics Zone
 
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