Our Vision
It is the objective of Andrei's Gymnastics to provide the environment, equipment and coaching expertise that will allow all members to develop physically, in skill and in character in the sport of gymnastics and to reach the highest level that they are each capable of achieving.
To one child the goal may be to do a cartwheel, to another it may be to become a National Champion.
Gymnastics is widely renowned as a sport that can improve overall fitness, strength, balance and body control as well as helping to improve athletic performance in any other sport.
However, what many people don’t realise is that extended participation in gymnastics classes also provides many additional cognitive and psychological benefits that will continue to benefit an individual throughout their life.
These include:
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, and how to be respectful of others. The older kids learn how to set a good example for the people who look up to them and become role models at a young age.
FITNESS
Gymnastics moves themselves are designed on a progressive scale to allow further development to make them harder and more intricate. With each level achieved through suitably planned training, participants are able to improve their joint health, maintain muscular development and improve cardiovascular fitness.
MENTAL FOCUS, DISCIPLINE & CONCENTRATION
Gymnastics provides a unique and valuable social education and experience. It provides an ideal opportunity to learn about teamwork, sportsmanship, air play and dedication. The time required to master the fundamental skills requires a great amount of patience, dedication, perseverance and planning. Regular gymnastics therefore helps people learn to work hard for objectives that can take years to achieve.
FLEXIBILITY
Flexibility is a big factor in gymnastics. In order to achieve the various positions needed to perform moves, suppleness is of vital importance. Increasing flexibility can also be an effective aid to the reduction of injury, preventing people from forcing a limb to an injurious range of motion. By learning movements and combining them in a routine, the gymnast can attain greater flexibility and greater control of the body.
STRENGTH
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.
BALANCE & COORDINATION
Gymnastics can also improve co-ordination. Gymnasts do not react with as large a “startle response” to sudden imbalances as non-gymnasts. By applying this conditioning outside the sport, people become better equipped to avoid hazardous situations by quickly identifying them and naturally correcting body alignment when walking, standing or jumping etc. This therefore means that gymnasts can tolerate larger disturbances to their posture because they have become more familiar with these positions
EDUCATION & UNDERSTANDING BODY PHYSICS
Education is perhaps the most important part of gymnastics. When an activity is naturally orchestrated to provide participants with unique and valuable learning experiences, it serves the participants better than any book, television show, or website.
As time progresses, noticeable benefits in performance provide individuals with a high level of self-motivation and allow further enjoyment and progression within the sport. This pursuit of success indicates a “healthier” outlook on competition, an improvement in self esteem and an understanding of the importance to function independently and be self-reliant.
One of the most interesting elements of the activities involved in gymnastics is that the gymnast can experience a variety of effects in practice rather than just in theory. For example, physicists discuss the principle of conservation of angular momentum; the gymnast experiences it. The physics teacher may discuss moment of inertia and its relation to angular momentum, but the gymnast can see and feel this while performing skills. The richness of such experiences goes far beyond reading about them in a book.