Gymnastics Deliberate Practice

I would like to share my experience as a parent regarding @Srishti's participation in TN State Gymnastics Meet, in the context of deliberate practice.

Srishti had been practicing day in and day out for nearly 5 hours of intense training every day. As a parent, we support her by driving her to class which is 15 kms away from home. So, driving 60 km everyday is a bit of a stretch. While waiting in her class, I take videos of her training wherever required and then she sees them after the class gets over. This helps her in making corrections and improvements in her practice. Apart from that I also make my observations and give her feedback. Though I am not trained in gymnastics, been watching her class, been listening to coach's feedback and watching youtube videos of various performances by top gymnasts. So, I am able to give her some constructive feedback. But, I leave it to her discretion, because I might be wrong at times.

Also, before every class we discuss about two points - FOCUS POINT and DELTA.

FOCUS POINT is which aspect of her training she wants to focus on in that day's training session. Examples: Remember to bow after every element. Remember to maintain eye contact with coach. Remember to keep toes pointed.

DELTA is the small improvement that she wants to bring about in that day's training. Example: If she is able to do back walkover on the beam, now add the extra aspect of keeping legs straight. (or) Increasing height while doing front salto.

I am not sure to what extent these have helped her. But these are some of the conscious efforts that we have taken.

I must mention that Srishti has been training for a much lesser period (only 2.5 years). Children start training as early as 4 or 5 years of age she started only when she was around 11 years. So, all her peers have been in the field for much longer period. So, she had a lot to catch up. Now, she has almost reached their level - still more to go. The credit goes to her intense hard work and dedication during every single training session and also to her coaches for trusting her and challenging her to go beyond her comfort zone.