Great coaching starts at Level 4, 5, and 6!

During my 40 years of coaching I’ve heard this comment from upper level coaches time and time again.
“I’m an elite coach----I don’t coach compulsory levels”.
Here’s my philosophy on real coaching. Anyone can coach a talented athlete----to a point. But the coaches who started their careers working with the lower levels like Level 4, 5, and 6 gymnasts (and in some cases still do) truly are the best coaches on the planet.
Only a few gyms around the country seem to have the best gymnasts year after year. You can bet there is a common denominator among them. These gyms have a farm system where they hand pick future gymnasts from their preschool programs. The top coaches are connected to the lower levels and have a definite influence over the direction of their feeder program.
The video below shows a potpourri of drills for the round off and the back handspring series for young gymnasts.