Providing knowledge and discussion about gymnastics to help grow this great sport. I started The Gymnastics Authority out of a passion for gymnastics and a desire to increase the sport’s online footprint. The posts and articles found on this site are meant to provide information about and create awareness for gymnastics, as well as provide an avenue for discussion.
About the Author
I have just over 20 years of combined experience as an athlete or coach in gymnastics. While competing, I was fortunate enough to attend six JO National Championships and qualify to some event and all around finals in those years. My favorite and best event at the time was Pommel Horse. The way I viewed horse, I saw it as an event that does not require you to have talent or be a daredevil, but instead requires hard work and patience.
Once I started coaching gymnastics in 2020, Pommel Horse is the event my athletes invested the most time into and have had the most success as a team. However, my favorite events to coach now are Parallel Bars and High Bar, two of my weaker events in my competitive career. I can think of a few reasons for this. Now, as a coach, I can see how my struggles may relate to the gymnast’s, so I may be able to communicate feedback or cues more effectively. Having spent time trying to understand the underlying principles of each event, I appreciate the high flying nature of P-Bars and High Bar much more. Finally, since those events were weaknesses of mine as an athlete, I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder and wish for some redemption.
Outside of gymnastics, I also have been interested in the field of Strength and Conditioning. After I closed the chapter of my competitive career in 2020, I started CrossFit. A sport built on mixed modality fitness, CrossFit has led me to explore avenues of fitness that I previously had ignored. I have developed an appreciation for Olympic Weightlifting and various types of endurance training. Likewise, I have spent more time researching topics in the fitness space. Looking into the principles involved in mixed modal fitness, I also wondered how we can take principles from other fitness fields to help improve gymnastics strength and conditioning. Especially important to me is the application of weight training to gymnastics.