Can You Quit and Still Have Grit?

    While a cute rhyming couplet, “quit” and “grit” wouldn’t seem to go together. And yet, they can and do. According to grit expert, Dr. Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, quitting is a critical component of grit for this […]

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The Unlucky 7: 7 Setbacks Most Gymnasts Eventually Face (and How They Can Rebound from Them)

Resilience and grit are the best buddies of any gymnast, but are particularly tested when things go south. Stick around in the sport long enough and you (or your child/athlete) are likely to encounter many, if not all these ‘unlucky’ seven: Not Moving Up a Level. Despite your hard work, there remains an element or […]

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Is It Worth It?

Is it worth it? This is a question that comes to mind in many parents and athletes. It’s a valid question. Essentially it is a re-evaluation of goals and actions. It’s normal, even a good idea, to re-evaluate your goals in gymnastics. Including the goal to continue for another season.   Re-evaluating our goals allows us […]

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10 Tips for When Your Child Says “My Coach Hates Me!”

I knew something was wrong the second she walked out of the gym. The slumped shoulders and glum face told me that workout hadn’t gone well. The car door had barely opened when my daughter began sobbing, “Tom (not his real name) hates me!”  (Door slams.) If your child stays in sports long enough, the chances […]

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A Dozen Ways for Coaches to Make Sports More Fun

Why should a coach make sports fun? Aren’t coaches supposed to teach sports skills, develop competent athletes and develop a winning mentality? Aren’t sports about learning life lessons like coping with failure, good sportsmanship, discipline and goal setting? Well yes, of course, but sports are also about fun. “Fun” is a complicated word for me. Look, […]

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My 10 Hopes for Gymnasts Retiring

Summer brings a time of the year when it is logical that some of the kids in our gyms will decide to hang up their grips for good and head off into the sunset.  I’ve written before that there is a difference between quitting and ending, and most certainly, the end of a competition season […]

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10 Tips for Battling the Post Season Blues

It’s a common thing at the end of any sports season: the post season blues.  Even, and maybe even especially, among coaches. We get to the end of the season and we arrive at, as one colleague describes it, “the end of season jitters in their clubs…the nasty rumors about quitting or switching gyms.” It’s […]

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9 Beliefs That Will (Eventually, Probably) Lead Your Gymnast to Quit (or at Least be Very Unhappy)

It has been said life is equal parts what happens to us and how we process what happens to us. I think that is very true in gymnastics. The attitudes and beliefs that a gymnast has about herself and the sport will inevitably shape how long she participates, or at least how happy she is […]

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The Day Leah Didn’t Play

   A friend of mine posted (by his own admission, a rant) on his Facebook page regarding the fact that his daughter (and only his daughter) did not play in her school’s team basketball game, spending the entire game on the bench, in what was the last game of the season. When he asked the coach […]

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Should We Switch Gyms? 8 Ways of Knowing When It Is Time to Move On

Should we switch gyms? It seems to be one of the most frequently asked questions on gymnastics chat boards as parents struggle with the question of whether or not it is time to move on. Here’s the thing: Marriages break up.  Siblings stop speaking.  Life long friendships end.  So we should hardly be surprised that […]

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