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How to Prevent Coaching Burnout and Find Your “Why”

Most of the time in gymnastics, we talk about how to keep gymnasts happy and performing at a high level. We rarely consider the same concept for coaches. How do we make sure that as coaches we stay happy at work? How do we make sure as coaches…
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Crucial Coaching Secrets from Miss Val and Nick Ruddock

If you follow the world of gymnastics, you know that Valorie Kondos Field and Nick Ruddock are absolute icons in our sport. 'Miss Val', as she is more commonly known, is the head coach of UCLA Gymnastics and recently won the NCAA Championship…
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Why I Wrote My New Book, Achilles Tears and Tips to Change Gymnastics Culture – New Interview With the Routine Podcast

Hey everyone! Last month I was very thankful for the opportunity to be interviewed on The Routine Podcast with their hosts, Dianna and Chelcie. Originally, this podcast was going to center around the high rate of Achilles tears in collegiate/elite…
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Is It Possible to Produce High Level Gymnasts Without Sacrificing Health?

I'm going to flat out say it, that this is the question of the year for gymnastics. Every single person in the sport of gymnastics is grappling with this. Coaches, medical providers, gymnasts, parents, and outside spectators. In the last year…
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Increase Split and Shoulder Flexibility with These Easy (Yet Not Commonly Used) Exercises

Hip flexibility for better splits or leaps, overhead shoulder flexibility for better handstands, and behind the back flexibility for better pommel or bar swings are very common issues many gymnasts or coaches face. I've spent many years in…
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My Favorite 3D Hip Strength Exercise – Dynamic Side Plank Clamshells

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year! Today I wanted to talk briefly about one of my favorite exercises I have started use a lot: the dynamic side plank clamshell. This is a combination of a few exercises, aimed to recruit certain…
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Physical Preperation Must Haves for Gymnasts – A “10 Quick Tips” Guest Post by Nick Ruddock

Today, I'm excited to bring you Part 2 of the guest post series from my good friend Nick Ruddock. In his last guest post, Nick went over some fantastic points about preventing a toxic gymnastics training culture, and instead turning it into…
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Does Positive or Negative Coaching Style Increase Injury Risk in Athletes?

Today I wanted to quickly touch on a really interesting article I read last month. In The British Journal of Sports Medicine, a paper titled "Is there a correlation between coaches leadership style and injuries in elite football teams?" looked…
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Turning Toxic Gym Environments to World Class Cultures – A “10 Quick Tips” Guest Post by Nick Ruddock

Today, I'm incredibly excited to be featuring a long-awaited guest post from my good friend Nick Ruddock. In my 20 years of gymnastics, I've been fortunate to witness some of the most incredible examples of world-class training environments.…
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10 Quick Tips – Safely Developing Hip Flexibility in Gymnasts

I've written some pretty in-depth articles on my thoughts related to hip flexibility research, injury mechanisms, and in gym methods, I think are useful. If you want to check them out, take a peek here, here, and here. Also, if you want to…