Ten Things Your Athlete Does Not Need You to Tell Them

“Sometimes being a parent means you know when to keep your mouth shut…” begins Janis Meredith’s wise article. Ms. Meredith then lists 5 things that your athlete does not need to hear from you: Your doubts. Your nervousness. Your worries about getting hurt. Your unhappiness with the coaching staff. Your frustration with teammates. All excellent […]

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The Power of Yet

“I’m not good at this…” “I’m not good at this…yet.” It’s amazing how that small three-letter word—yet—changes the entire meaning and direction of the sentence. When we say we are not good at something, ending the comment there, we commit to a limiting belief and a fixed mindset telling ourselves that the trait is beyond […]

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7 Keys to Understanding Motivation in Your Young Athlete

“I just don’t know how to motivate her…” It’s a common lament of parents and coaches. The child who just seems to lack the joie de verve toward an activity, and yes, sometimes that activity could be gymnastics. Before concluding that an apparent lack of motivation means you as the parent or coach is doing […]

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8 Lessons Gym Parents Can Learn from the Parents of the Final Five

Remember: fun is essential. What was the tweet Nellie Biles sent her daughter Simone just before she began her first day of competition? It was this: “Long terms goal is here/embrace the experience and have fun. I love you – Mom.”  Give her household responsibilities. Think Olympians are exempt from doing their part around the […]

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What a Penny Teaches Us About Success

  Suppose a magic genie gives you a choice that you have to make within 5 seconds: $3 million dollars in cash or a penny that will earn compound interest for 31 straight days. Which would you take? Most would choose the $3 million dollars. Unless you have an inherent understanding of the power of […]

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The Key to a Happy Gymnast?

We want our kids to be happy. So we worry about the outcomes. Learning the kip. Winning the meet. Making it to level 10, to elite, to National team or the to the Olympics. Earning the scholarship. We worry about the hallmarks of achievements. We want to give them the world. But what if we […]

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8 Myths We Need to Stop Believing For Kids to Enjoy Youth Sports

There is one definition of success. Success is not a black and white concept and it is certainly not synonymous with winning. There is one path to success. Just as it is not a black and white concept, success does not have one route of travel. If a child struggles with a sport at the […]

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The Streetlight Effect

It’s well past midnight and a man is on his hands and knees, underneath the lone light on an otherwise dark street.  Driving by on routine patrol, a police officer stops her car and steps out to ask the man what he is doing. “I’m looking for my keys,” the man wearily replies. “You lost […]

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Dominoes and Kips: Building Toward Success in Gymnastics

  This I know is true: There is no such thing as an overnight success, especially in gymnastics. For instance, anyone who has been a part of the sport can tell you this—it takes an enormous amount of physical preparation and carefully sequenced progressions to learn a kip. (Just ask Susie’s coach…) But anyone who […]

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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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