Spotting

Hi everyone,

How important is spotting in terms of achieving gymnastics strength goals? Is it just a "nice to have" or in reality is it a necessity to ensure correct technique development and help span the relatively large jumps between progressions in GST?

Are those of us that train alone at a major disadvantage by not having a spotter, and would some of the struggles and slow progress that people are having with the Foundation series be mitigated were correct spotting an available option?

Thanks in advance,

Neil

This is a good question.  My first thought is that with certain skills, it is imperative to have a qualified spotter, especially if the move would result in the heading coming down hard if there is a mishap.

 

As to strength training, I would think that a trained coach spotting you would always be advantageous, and I suspect would result in better progress than training alone.  However, that is something to which most of us do not have access.  I think that this is something that is contemplated as part of the programming, though, in the foundation series.  It gives those who do not have access to a qualified spotter the best opportunity to progress the skills at home, at the park, etc.

I would rather have a spotter on everything than not. at the very least, it saves you a lot of time if your form is wrong and you don't realize it. You would be surprised at what an outside eye can catch that you didn't notice. I have wasted a lot of time because i may have known how to do something, but didn't realize i wasn't quite up to that standard. Video also helps.

Having a properly trained spotter is a tremendous advantage as it allows you to fast track your progress.

That being said it is very difficult to find a properly trained spotter. And a poorly trained spotter often does more harm than good. They either:

1) over-spot and you fail to get stronger

2) they under-spot and you get injured

3) they have not the slightest clue about what they are doing (e.g. how to make appropriate corrections) and you spin your wheels endlessly.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer