Benefits of Participation in Gymnastics at JLT Gymnastics Academy

All children benefit from classes and participation in gymnastics at JLT. The areas listed below are some of the life skills, and physical benefits that gymnastics activities provide. First, we would like to say that you have done a terrific job of parenting by getting your child interested in this educational sport. Many of the benefits of gymnastics are not related to learning handstands and cartwheels, although they are a plus. The major benefits of gymnastics are in the more important developmental areas that will help your child become a better student and young adult. Gymnastics programs are not solely about creating gymnasts; At JLT we are teaching young children how to become well-rounded adults. All children, regardless of ability, should stay in gymnastics for 3 - 5 years, if not longer, to get the full benefit of its teachings.

Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle

The United States is becoming increasingly full of obese children who risk their health and happiness by being overweight. What better gift can you give to your child than one that teaches and encourages an active life? Not all people who participate in gymnastics are Olympians. In fact very few are. That does not mean that gymnastics is not for everyone. Participating in classes at JLT teaches children to enjoy physical activity. This love of movement translates into other sports as well as a lifetime of activity. All of our programs keep kids active while they're in the gym but also encourage kids to be active outside of the gym. By teaching children they can be successful at physical skills, it encourages them to get up off the couch and put down their iPads!

Coordination

Gymnastics instruction helps develop better coordination and body awareness. For young children, interacting with their surroundings is mostly physical in their early years. Gymnastics provides them with the skills to interact with their environment in ways that other children cannot.

Strength Development

Gymnastics produces, pound-for-pound, the best athletes in the world. Gymnastics uses almost exclusively body weight exercises to build upper body, lower body, and core strength. Kids who do gymnastics show off this strength at a young age. It is also great fun for them to hold all of their school records in gym class for push ups, sit ups, and flexed arm hangs.

Flexibility

This is something that I think we all wish we had a little more of. Flexibility is important in injury prevention and helping prevent the everyday aches and pains. No sport gives an athlete the flexibility that gymnastics does. Not only is flexibility great for gymnastics, but it aids in the development for other sports as well. Next time you watch a professional sporting event keep an eye out for how flexible the men and women participating are.    

Social Skills

At all ages, gymnastics provides an opportunity to develop social skills. Younger children learn how to stand in line, look, listen, be quiet when others are talking, work and think independently, be respectful and others. The older kids in the gym learn to inquire about why something works the way it does. They also learn how to set a good example for the people who look up to them and become role models at a young age. All of these skills are stressed by our staff because they are so important for a good learning environment.

Self Confidence

Here at JLT, skills are learned through progressions. By teaching in this manner children gain confidence as they progress through these skills. With each step, they become more confident in themselves and that carries over into all aspects of their lives.

Politeness

At JLT, politeness is a two-way street. Our staff prides itself on conducting classes in a way that is polite to all of the students and in turn we expect that the children are polite to their instructors, along with the other children in the class. Through politeness from our staff, gymnastics classes led by example, and we strive to aid in your efforts as parents to raising a respectful child

Work Ethic

Gymnastics is a difficult sport. Nobody can give you anything. Every skill you learn is earned through hard work and repetition. A great thing about gymnastics is being able to see the direct relationship between hard work and results. The harder children work the more quickly they progress. There are few better ways for a child to see how hard work and determination pay off.

Discipline

This is a very important aspect of gymnastics and it comes in two parts. In the gym there are rules for the children's safety. These rules must be followed and this takes discipline. The other part is self discipline. Each student must have the self control to make corrections when a coach asks them to. Children must also have the self discipline to stay on task when a coach is working with another gymnast. Working hard, even when you think no one is watching, is a great asset to any individual's character and cannot be overlooked.

Determination

Gymnastics breeds determination. Most skills in gymnastics take a number of tries to get them right. This is true with a number of things in life. Gymnastics encourages kids to get up and try again even if they messed up, because they know if they continue to work hard that they will achieve their goals.

Overcoming Fears

There are things in gymnastics that are scary. A lot of this has to do with the fear of trying something that you have never done before. We encourage our gymnasts to express their fears to us, and we set attainable goals to work through their fears. This goes hand-in-hand with building confidence. Our gymnasts are often challenged to try new things and our coaches lay out a path that allows them to achieve those challenges in a step-by-step manner. This approach allows kids to develop strategies to overcome things that they see as impossible and encourages them to try new things both in the gym and in life.

Performance

One thing that is overlooked by our population is the ability to perform in front of people in a pressure situation. In gymnastics, it becomes second nature. At JLT we encourage all of our athletes to watch their teammates because they can learn by watching as well as doing. This creates confidence in our children to step up and do their best when people are watching. Gymnasts are often first to volunteer in schools to demonstrate or raise their hand to answer a question they are unsure of. They gain the confidence in themselves to be right, and the understanding that even if they are wrong, that they gave their best effort.   

Compassion

All of our gymnasts learn compassion through the example set by our staff. At JLT we know that every child, regardless of ability, can benefit from gymnastics. Our staff is committed to making sure that every class and child gets all of the great things that gymnastics has to offer.