How do world champion gymnasts cope with injury?

I was happy to read the news today and to hear that our 4 female British gymnasts at the World Championships in Montreal, that’s Amy Tinkler, Claudia Fragapane, Alice Kinsella and Georgia-Mae Fenton have all put in solid performances in the first of five qualifying sub-divisions. They now have to wait for the remaining nations to compete to see if they have made it through to the finals. Good luck girls…

I was particularly pleased to hear that Amy Tinkler (aged 17 years) did so well knowing that she has had an operation on her ankle this year and is still in recovery mode.

Amy said today, “I’m buzzing. I’ve had some injury difficulties this year and have felt a bit ill this week so to have made it through today is a huge relief. I’m top of the standings now but there’s a long way to go with some amazing gymnasts ahead so I’ll just be hoping I can keep my place.”

I’m sure that Nick Ruddock, former coach of Amy Tinkler, will be following her progress at the World Championships closely and will be delighted that she performed so well yesterday. Nick was also one of our very first Flair coaches and is still heavily involved in the development of our coach training programme.

NICK RUDDOCK, FORMER NATIONAL COACH

So how do world champion gymnasts cope with injuries? Unfortunately, gymnastics can be a hazardous sport and when gymnasts are performing at such a high level of difficulty, the chances of accident are inevitably higher. When gymnasts are told by their doctors that they need to rest and recover, whilst taking this advice seriously, they are also anxious to get back to training, so often take the minimum rest time possible.

Amy had been coping with an ankle injury for a long while and managed to work through it during her amazing performance at the Rio Olympics last year when she won the Bronze Medal for her floor routine. You can just imagine how she might have done if she was 100% fit!

Amy had a couple of floating bones in her ankle which happily have now been removed. After her operation she has been on crutches and has only been back training for 7 weeks so she is not expecting to do her absolute best at the World Championships in Montreal, considering her long lay-off. 

Amy says, “I’m happy with where I am considering where I was at the beginning of the year. If that’s good enough to get a medal, great. If not, it’s not. There’s a reason.”

Most gymnasts suffer with injuries at some point in their career because of the long hours of training and the incredibly difficult skills they perform, pushing their bodies to the limit so it’s not unusual for gymnasts to just carry on and work through their injuries with the help of their physios. 

At our gymnastics clubs in Surrey we do everything we can do to minimise danger and accidents. It’s incredibly important to us that we make sure the gymnasts warm up properly so that their muscles are ready for activity to minimise the risk of sprains or tears.

WARMING UP AT GYMNASTICS CLASS

We have created our Tumble Teddy ‘Safety Samuel Bear’ to highlight the importance of safe behaviours for members, parents and staff. His TOP PRIORITY is ‘keeping your child safe at their club’  by teaching the children to:

• Practise safe behaviours in everything they do
• Listen closely to what the coaches are teaching
• To speak up if they see something that might put them or their gym friends in danger

‘The Tumble Teddies’ are a fun way of helping the children build vital life skills and our members learn more as they continue to use their Student Training Diaries and progress through the awards syllabus.

Your child’s coaches do their utmost to keep your child as safe as possible whilst keeping classes super-fun.

We make sure that the gymnasts are well supported by our coaches when they are learning new skills to avoid injuries until they have the strength and confidence to perform the moves unaided.

If you would like to find out more about our clubs why not come along for a Trial Class.

FIND OUT MORE HERE > www.ukflair.com/clubs

LEARNING NEW SKILLS WITH SUPPORT

Another way that we keep your child as safe as possible is by making sure that they have enough practice time on their routines. When you practise a routine over and over it commits it to muscle memory and because your body knows what is coming next you are less likely to jar your body as you take an abrupt turn when you remember at the last second which way your body is supposed to go next.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

If somebody does suffer an injury whilst at their gymnastics club then rest assured that we make sure that our awesome coaching team are completely up to date with their safety and first aid training with every club having qualified first aiders and full child protection procedures in place. Our extensive safety measures are in place to give protection and peace of mind to parents, members and our staff. We want to make your time and your child’s time with us a super-fun experience and will do everything we can to keep your child safe whilst they are in our care.

 
SAFETY FIRST AT YOUR GYM

We hope you enjoy following Amy and the rest of the British team’s progress at the World Championships this week. The World Championships is taking place from 2nd – 8th October in Montreal, Canada. Come on Team GB!!