UCLA Gymnastics: Building Another Championship Season
September 29, 2010 | Gymnastics
Sept. 29, 2010
By Lauren Seligman
On the UCLA campus, it is virtually impossible to not know who Coach John Wooden is. From the Wooden Center to Nell and John Wooden Court, everywhere you turn there are reminders that the greatest coach in the history of sport was one of us: he was a Bruin. Although John Wooden was first and foremost a basketball coach, his coaching wisdom extends into a wide array of arenas. As an intern with UCLA Gymnastics, I have witnessed first-hand how important Coach Wooden's lessons are to the gymnastics coaches and athletes alike. As a way to commemorate Coach Wooden's life and to provide an inside look into UCLA Gymnastics, we will build the Pyramid of Success block-by-block as the current NCAA champions seek to defend their title.
Wooden defines INDUSTRIOUSNESS as the use of careful planning and hard work to gain worthwhile results. Seniors Mizuki Sato and Niki Tom add further to this definition. Sato explains that "People who embody the pyramid block of industriousness know what they want and go after it with the best of their ability." Tom adds that industriousness is "directly associated with one's dedication to work towards achieving a dream or goal, no matter how big or small it may be."
Why is industriousness so important to UCLA Gymnastics? One important reason is the amount of time NCAA Gymnasts are allowed to spend in team workouts each week. College gymnastics teams are only allowed 20 hours a week of practice time, while some club teams practice upwards of 30. There simply is no time to waste. Additionally, working towards common goals is fundamental to building a strong team. Athletes who work hard every minute they are in the gym push their teammates to work equally hard.
UCLA Gymnastics' "Dynamic Warm-up" embodies the characteristics of Industriousness. Designed to get practice off and moving, the dynamic warm-up was created with functionality and efficiency in mind. Lasting approximately 20 minutes from the beginning of the pre-practice huddle, the Dynamic Warm-up is anything but an ordinary jogging and stretching routine. Although it may start with running, the routine quickly verges away from traditional warm-ups to include handstand walks, abdominal exercises, rebounds, stretches, and leap drills to name a few. All the while, the gymnasts are constantly in motion, and take no rest breaks between exercises.
Coach Waller emphasizes that the warm-up is all about being sharp and quick, about getting up and getting down. Whereas a more traditional gymnastics warm-up is focused around flexibility, the "Dynamic Warm-up" puts a long list of exercises for agility, endurance, strength, mental acuity, and endurance together in one complete package. In essence, it is industrious thinking at work.
Players Mentioned
