Gymnastics, a sport where even a second's hesitation can be the difference between triumph and a tumble, calls for more than just physical prowess. Particularly in Singapore's rigorous athletic landscape, there lies an equally crucial component beyond physical acrobatics: mental preparation. Not only does this intangible skill set enhance competitive excellence, but it also serves as the scaffolding upon which confidence is built.

In this blog, we will explore several ways in which you can help your little one effectively navigate the complexities of competing strategies.

The Mind-Body Connection in Gymnastics

It's crucial to understand that the physical and mental realms are not two separate entities but a seamless interplay that influences a gymnast's performance. Anxiety, for example, can cause muscles to tense up, affecting the fluidity of movements. Having laid the groundwork, let’s dive into the various competing strategies to strengthen your child's mental fortitude.

1. Cultivating Positive Self-Talk

Have you ever noticed how a simple affirmation can change your mindset? That's positive self-talk in action. In competitive gymnastics, this becomes an invaluable tool. Rather than succumbing to self-doubt, gymnasts can employ this technique to elevate their game. Replacing limiting thoughts like "I can't do this" with empowering affirmations such as "I'm prepared for this" can transform their mindset and, by extension, dramatically shift their performance trajectory. Gymnastics classes often incorporate these principles, teaching kids how to harness their thoughts productively.

2. Overcoming Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety is a common but surmountable hurdle in the competitive gymnastics circuit, especially when young athletes strive to excel in Singapore's dynamic sporting landscape. Managing this effectively often requires a blend of mental preparation techniques and coaching support. Strategies such as deep breathing exercises and visualisation can be integral in shifting the athlete's focus from anxiety to execution. By learning and applying these techniques, gymnasts can gain a strategic edge in competition, enabling them to channel their energy into the performance more effectively.

3. Setting Achievable Goals for Mental Preparedness

Adequate mental preparation involves a nuanced approach to setting goals, a strategy that is often emphasised in quality gymnastics lessons. Beyond the allure of outcome-based objectives like clinching a medal, the wisdom of setting process-based goals — such as refining a specific gymnastics technique — provides a holistic roadmap for young athletes. This balanced strategy allows gymnasts to concentrate on actionable competing strategies and elements within their control, thereby cultivating not just skill but also the invaluable asset of self-confidence. This multi-pronged approach serves as a cornerstone for both physical and mental health.

4. The Role of Pre-Competition Routines

Crafting a solid pre-competition routine is an often-underestimated yet pivotal aspect of competitive gymnastics, particularly when the stakes are as high as they are in gymnastics-heavy locales like Singapore. Whether it's a meticulously designed warm-up or a carefully curated playlist to elevate the mindset, these routines serve as the blueprint for peak performance and mental preparation. By integrating these tailored strategies into gymnastics classes, coaches offer indispensable guidance on how to be more confident on the mat, effectively turning performance anxiety into focused energy that can help your child reach new heights.

5. Navigating Setbacks: Resilience in the Face of Challenges

Setbacks are not roadblocks but rather crucial stepping stones for growth and improvement. Especially when it comes to gymnastics for kids, resilience becomes a non-negotiable skill in such a performance-driven environment. A strong coaching support system plays a vital role in shaping this outlook, turning challenges into invaluable learning experiences. Through targeted gymnastics lessons, gymnasts are equipped with competing strategies that foster mental preparation and perseverance, empowering them to transform disappointments into fuel for future triumphs.

6. Working with Coaches to Enhance Mental Preparedness

A gymnastics coach serves as much more than just a technician of flips and turns. They are the architects of a gymnast's mental fortitude, offering essential coaching support to build not just physical skills but also mental preparedness. Effective communication becomes the keystone here, allowing the coach to devise customised mental preparation and competing strategies. By understanding the intricacies of a gymnast's emotional and mental state, they can offer more targeted guidance, thereby fortifying both physical and mental health.

Help Your Child Soar to Greater Heights

Don't underestimate the role of mental preparation, it’s the secret ingredient that often separates good gymnasts from great ones. So whether your child is a beginner learning the ropes or an aspiring champion, the aforementioned strategies can offer them a competitive edge — arming them with not just physical skills but also a strong, resilient mind. 

At The Yard, we offer a holistic approach to training young athletes in Singapore for competitive gymnastics. Our expert gymnastics coaches focus not just on gymnastics classes that build physical prowess but also on mental preparation techniques that instil confidence and resilience. 

Witness the transformation as we channel your child's raw potential into tangible accomplishments, turning their aspirations into reality.

In the mesmerising world of gymnastics, every breathtaking leap, twirl, and somersault stems from a foundation crafted meticulously over time. Particularly for children, understanding these essential techniques is pivotal. At The Yard, our commitment extends beyond regular gymnastics exercises. We emphasise the art of precision and the beauty of basics in our gymnastics lessons, ensuring that every kid is equipped to navigate the intricate tapestry of this dynamic sport with confidence and skill. With our uniquely designed gymnastics classes in Singapore, we aim to set the stage for a journey towards unparalleled success and a lifelong love for gymnastics.

The Importance of Fundamentals in Gymnastics

Gymnastics, much like the skyscrapers that punctuate Singapore's skyline, requires a robust foundation. That being said, fundamental gymnastics techniques are the pivotal building blocks that transform mere movements into a captivating dance of strength, agility, and grace. Mastering these foundational skills not only elevates the overall performance but also plays an instrumental role in minimising injuries. Delving deeper into The Yard’s gymnastics lessons, your little one will discover that a strong foundational grasp extends beyond the gym. It inculcates discipline, precision, and determination – attributes that serve as lifelong companions in a child's journey.

Body Alignment and Posture

A gymnast's body narrates a story, and the tale's eloquence hinges on impeccable body alignment and posture. In the realm of gymnastics techniques, maintaining a straight line, activating the core muscles, and achieving the ideal body positions are non-negotiables. Gymnastics classes for children typically underscore these principles, offering techniques like:

• Engaging the Core: Encourage your child to visualise pulling their navel towards their spine. This simple cue activates the core muscles, ensuring stability.
• Eye on the Horizon: Keeping the chin up and eyes looking forward helps maintain a straight neck and aligned spine, essential for several gymnastics exercises.

Balance and Coordination

Balance and coordination are the essence of gymnastics, serving as the foundation upon which intricate routines are gracefully choreographed. Especially in gymnastics for kids, the focus intensifies on exercises bolstering proprioception, the innate sense of body positioning. Fundamental gymnastics techniques introduce young learners to drills like single-leg balances, beam walks, and synchronised hand-leg movements. Through tailored gymnastics lessons and exercises, children in Singapore are primed to cultivate the seamless harmony of movement characteristic of top-tier gymnasts.

Strength and Flexibility

In the quest for gymnastics prowess, strength and flexibility emerge as the dynamic duo. Together, they determine how effortlessly and accurately a gymnast navigates the transitions across a variety of apparatuses. Fundamental gymnastics techniques often emphasise exercises such as planks and push-ups to bolster core and upper body strength. Concurrently, stretches like the pike and straddle are indispensable in enhancing flexibility. For little ones hoping to dive into gymnastics through comprehensive lessons in Singapore, a well-rounded approach that holistically addresses the nuances of strength and flexibility needed across various gymnastics disciplines is pivotal. It ensures learners, especially children, are adeptly prepared to tackle the diverse demands of this captivating sport.

Proper Technique and Execution

Gymnastics, a unique blend of artistry and athleticism, places paramount importance on the precision of gymnastics technique. This emphasis acts as a guiding star, illuminating the path towards both safety and excellence in performance. As aspiring gymnasts in Singapore weave through their gymnastics classes, they often encounter hurdles like overarching in handstands or neglecting to point their toes during leaps. However, with the right set of gymnastics exercises and coaching, they receive essential cues, support, and step-by-step progressions. This meticulous approach ensures that every move, regardless of its intricacy, aligns with the overarching goal of perfection.

Embark on a Gymnastics Journey in Singapore

Gymnastics, with its complex mosaic of moves and techniques, demands an unwavering commitment to mastering the basics. It's more than just attending gymnastics lessons; it's about embarking on a transformative journey. For parents considering enrolling their children in gymnastics classes in Singapore, The Yard offers an opportunity to witness your child's growth and development in real-time. Empower your little one to dive deep into the world of gymnastics, where each tumble, leap, and twist is a testament to the power of mastering the fundamentals.

As a parent, you want your child to excel in their chosen sport. But how do they go from beginner tumbler to accomplished gymnast? Nestled in the heart of bustling Singapore, a city known for its pursuit of excellence, resides The Yard, a distinguished gymnastics club where champions are made. The pioneering establishment has been steadfastly shaping the future of gymnastics by offering an unrivalled blend of technical skill development and holistic growth. At The Yard, we also strive to create a positive atmosphere for each athlete where they can always learn something new – all essential components needed to fuel success on the competitive circuit.

In this blog, we’ll dive into how The Yard is shaping future champions through professional coaching methods tailored for every level.

The Yard's Approach to Competitive Gymnastics

At The Yard, the philosophy is clear: the journey of becoming a competitive gymnast is multi-dimensional. The training regimen here is rooted in a triangular approach, balancing physical endurance, mental tenacity, and emotional resilience. Every coach is dedicated to moulding well-rounded athletes who demonstrate the ethos of discipline, perseverance, and integrity, both on and off the floor. This approach distinguishes The Yard as more than a gymnastics club; it's a transformative experience.

The Yard’s High Performance Centre was set up to serve as a portal to boundless opportunities. This innovative initiative by our Founder, Rosanna Trigg, was sparked by the objective to illustrate a broader vision of what young athletes could attain in gymnastics while simultaneously nurturing a balanced academic and social life. By aligning parental expectations of academic success with athletic prowess, The Yard paves the way for potential opportunities like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Collegiate Gymnastics Scholarship route in the United States.

Through expert coaching and a carefully curated gymnastics education programme, The Yard prepares young competitive gymnasts in Singapore for this unique journey. The scholarship route enables them to leverage their gymnastics skills to gain access to an outstanding academic experience. It's a harmonious blend of sporting achievement and scholastic excellence, ensuring a well-rounded future for every gymnast.

Nurturing Talent: Expert Coaching and Training

What truly sets The Yard apart from other gymnastics clubs in Singapore is the personalised attention provided to every athlete. A favourable gymnast-to-coach ratio guarantees that each budding talent receives the requisite guidance to bloom fully. The training programmes here are curated to match each gymnast’s unique skill level and ambitions, thereby crafting a blueprint for success that resonates individually.

Furthermore, The Yard boasts a vast collective of international coaches, providing our athletes with an extensive network of strategic relationships within the collegiate gymnastics community and national representation pathway both locally and internationally. Our programme is currently spearheaded by Darren Webster, a distinguished figure in the gymnastics field with commendable credentials, such as being a former national team coach in both Australia and Canada. As the sole club in the nation offering such a broad-reaching network, The Yard is uniquely positioned to place our gymnasts on the optimal path towards success.

Progressive Skill Development

The Yard has earned a reputation for its unique, progressive approach to skill development, perfectly balanced with the flexibility to accommodate academics. Each gymnast embarks on their journey by laying down a strong base, where focus lies on the mastery of fundamental skills. This secure foundation is progressively layered with more complex techniques, introduced at carefully calibrated intervals. This ensures a methodical, continuous growth path for every gymnast, promoting achievable, yet ambitious challenges that enhance their capabilities consistently. Most importantly, The Yard’s athlete-centric approach delivers a programme for happy, healthy and fit athletes, which is why The Yard as a single club produces more higher level athletes than most gymnastics clubs combined in Singapore.

Mental and Emotional Support

The mental and emotional aspects of competitive gymnastics cannot be overstated. At The Yard, the well-being of every gymnast is a priority. Strategies for managing stress, maintaining focus, and building mental resilience are incorporated into the regular training routine. Not to mention, The Yard cultivates a community of camaraderie where gymnasts support each other, fostering a nurturing environment that extends beyond the physical aspects of the sport.

Competition Preparation and Success

The Yard's approach to competition preparation is meticulous and thorough. Overseas competitions, targeted training sessions, specialist clinic and training camps hone skills, build confidence, and acclimatise gymnasts to the rigours of competition. Yet, it's not only about the medals. Character development, resilience in the face of defeat, and the euphoria of triumph all contribute to the invaluable life lessons imbued within the competitive spirit.

Athletes like Keira Hunt and Lucy Warburton stand as testament to The Yard's success in shaping future stars. These gymnasts have excelled, not just on the gym floor but also in their personal and academic lives. They have produced examination results at the top of their class whilst maintaining a steady training programme, thereby debunking the notion that excellence in sports and academics are mutually exclusive. Despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19, both these athletes have managed to secure significant scholarship offers from colleges in the U.S., a first for any gymnast in Singapore. This achievement not only sets a precedent but also paves the way for our upcoming 2024 graduating class, inspiring those who will follow in their footsteps.

Alongside them, we celebrate the successes of Alena Tan, who valiantly represented Singapore at the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, held right here in Singapore earlier this June. Following the conclusion of the Singapore Gymnastics National Championships 2023, Singapore Gymnastics also announced her as one of the National Squad athletes for 2023/2024 under the Women's Artistics Gymnastics (Junior). This accolade resonates powerfully as a tribute to her steadfast commitment, exceptional talent, and the elite level of training she's been privy to at The Yard.

These athletes’ inspiring journeys and achievements underscore the remarkable possibilities for competitive gymnasts in Singapore when nurtured by The Yard's comprehensive programme. We continue to support and elevate each gymnast, manifesting dreams into reality, one gymnastic feat at a time.

Ensure Your Little Ones Unlock Their Full Potential

At The Yard, we understand the importance of helping young gymnasts reach their performance goals. With our comprehensive training programme and talented coaches, we create an environment where competitive athletes can soar. We are dedicated to providing a well-rounded experience that ensures each athlete develops his or her own winning formula: physical strength, mental fortitude and grace on the floor. Our speciality is producing highly-skilled gymnasts who have the ability to compete at any level.

For parents in Singapore aspiring to give their children an unmatched experience in gymnastics, The Yard opens its doors. Enrol your child in our classes and camps and witness firsthand how we can transform your little one’s potential into achievement and their dreams into reality. Let us be the launchpad for your child's journey towards becoming a confident, capable, and committed competitive gymnast today.

By Rosanna Trigg, Director and Co-Founder, The Yard

Gymnastics is a complex sport. In the course of his or her sporting career, a gymnast will be provided with an educational buffet beyond biology and artistic athleticism: physics, teamwork, patience, nutritional science, physical and psychological toughness, planning, social skills, and work-life balance, to name a few. All these learnings weave together to form smart children and strong leaders.

In fact, in 2015 the Harvard School of Education released a research project titled, “Why Your Kid Should Do Gymnastics if You Want Them to Develop the Kind of Character That Helps Them Succeed at School”. Despite its long title, the outcome was quite simple. The study of more than 4,000 young adults in the UK uncovered the most important characteristic to predict a child’s success: grit.

Grit – or determination, courage and a ‘growth mindset’ – had more bearing on a child’s future success than their general intelligence or exam results, the study claimed. However, it turns out gymnasts are pretty classroom-savvy, too. In the US, an NCAA study found more than 35% of gymnasts at the college level achieved a GPA of 3.5 or better. And more than 90% of college students involved in NCAA gymnastics graduated – a significantly higher rate than those who didn’t participate in gymnastics.

Although to many, gymnastics might just seem like a sport about swinging on bars and doing flips in the air, the best thing your children will receive from being exposed to it is education. The strong characteristics gained from doing gymnastics lend themselves well to leadership positions.

Here is an overview of some of the life skills gymnastics can impart on children to develop them into well-rounded adults with leadership tendencies.

Discipline and perseverance

For many of us, probably one of the biggest barriers to success is our inability to push ourselves beyond our limits. Too often when we fail, we become demotivated. When something is too difficult, we give up or pass the task onto someone else we feel can do it better. Resentment builds inside of us when we have to stay late at the office because we just couldn’t manage our time effectively.

Gymnasts are taught discipline very early on. This doesn’t mean they’re expected to work through pain or suffer – but they understand that in order to achieve their best, they must work hard. Children who focus on gymnastics as a competitive sport will have razor sharp focus. They might pass up school trips or sleepovers to train late nights and early mornings. They are aware that success requires setting goals, and they have the discipline to achieve them. Imagine if everyone in your office had the same level of discipline as the average gymnast…

No fear of failure

Failure is a scary word for many of us. We have been raised in a society that discourages mistakes and berates those who don’t succeed the first time around. Thankfully this is changing – especially with the influx of the ‘startup mentality’ that encourages agile thinking and learning from mistakes – and our children know that failure doesn’t equal the end of the road.

Gymnasts are familiar with failure. It can take weeks or months of failing to land a move or achieve a new skill before they succeed. Gymnasts are used to falling down and getting back up on their feet again. And even once they nail their routine, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be the one walking home with the gold medal. It can get frustrating at times, but they are hyper aware that failure is part of the process. No one gets everything right on the first try – and this is an exceptionally strong mindset to instill in young children as they grow.

Work ethic and time management

The average tech CEO works roughly 14 hours per day and 300 days per year. That comes to about 4,200 hours every year. But 30% of that time is spent on emailing, and another third is spent jumping from meeting to meeting. With the final third of their day, they’ve got to actually do their job.

Now look at a gymnast. A gymnast training for a competition might be in the gym for about 15-20 hours per week – sometimes more. That’s on top of a full day of school, homework, and social activities with friends. Some gymnasts are managing this delicate balance from a young age – but it’s what young athletes do. And it moulds incredibly capable and efficient adults who understand the benefits of planning, prioritising and working smart. I’d bet any CEO would have loved to learn those skills from the age of 10.

The importance of teamwork and individual accountability

Gymnastics is an individual sport, but teamwork is also necessary for the overall success of the school, club or country they are representing. During training, gymnasts work alongside a group of people who become their friends, mentors and benchmarks for success. They learn how to balance the need to lean on their teammates for support and advice with their drive to perform individually and show what they are capable of. Their tolerance levels are higher because of this, and it helps them to strive for perfection.

This level of self-awareness instills accountability, self-reflection and the ability to absorb critical feedback – all useful skills in the ‘real’ world, beyond sports.  

Resilience and determination

Success takes time. While some people are naturally talented in certain areas, even the best still need to practice and hone their craft. An expert chef will cook until the recipe is perfect. The top performing salesperson in your company likely took years to polish their technique. And gymnasts, well, they truly know that the road to gold is paved with practice – and delayed gratification. In today’s world of quick-fixes and instant results, gymnasts learn to work hard towards achievements that can take years to reach.

In sport and in business, there is always competition nipping at your heels just waiting to steal the limelight. Just because you’ve won before, doesn’t mean you’ll win again – and if you’re only as good as your last win, then you need to constantly work to be at the top of your game.

This resilience and determination to constantly succeed is part and parcel of gymnastics – and they know how to have a good time while doing it, too. Their competitive edge always comes with a side of fun!