Sovetsky Sport. November 29, 1967. After the Tokyo Olympics, or more precisely after Dortmund, the USSR national team underwent a quick change of scenery. Young men and women aged 16-20 filled all the places in the Olympic version of the national team.
The rejuvenation wasn't achieved through artificial means, but through a purely practical approach. The course of increasing the difficulty of the exercises, adopted by the Japanese in Tokyo as a new powerful weapon against standardized routines, clearly outlined the contours of the modern direction in gymnastics. Before we could even blink, the young athletes, naturally with the help of skilled coaches, managed to master the entire complex of increased demands that have become world standards. And in open competition on the platform, the young athletes earned their place in the spotlight, displacing the seasoned veterans. This happened because the young men and women who are now leaders began practicing gymnastics - or rather, specializing in it - at an earlier age than their older counterparts.
What do I mean by 'early specialization'? First and foremost, it means lowering the age limit for children entering gymnastics sections. While previously coaches recruited beginners at 13-14 years old, now it's 10-11 years old. Some coaches believe that children can start practicing gymnastics at 7-8 years old. However, specializing children in one sport at such a young age is probably not a good idea. And here's why.
It seems that the main prerequisites of a gymnast are strength and coordination of movements. If you start training children at the age of seven, as Yu. Titov suggests, then neither choreography nor acrobatics at the initial stage of training will provide the necessary foundation, nor will they create the 'material' from which you can 'mold' a gymnast with creativity and imagination. Only regular participation in various sports activities in elementary school will contribute to the good physical development of schoolchildren and strengthen their bodies. However, the teaching of physical education in schools leaves much to be desired.
It is noticeable that if a coach has a boy in his group who is gifted in gymnastics, he stands out from his peers primarily because of his physical strength. It is easier for him than for others to withstand increasing loads, and his body adapts to them more easily. But it is also possible to 'instill' strength and health in children. There is also this path of early specialization: if we are going to recruit seven-year-old children into gymnastics sections, why not create special preparatory groups for them, in which the emphasis would be not on choreography and acrobatics (although these would still be included), but on engaging in sports that provide general physical training?
For example, the talented young gymnast V. Karasev tried a little bit of everything before taking up gymnastics (which he started at the age of 13). To be precise, here's what he 'sampled': football, hockey, swimming, cycling, tennis, and skiing. This is why Karasev has excellent coordination and jumping ability. And M. Voronin was an excellent football player in his childhood. Therefore, coach M. Levin is right: specialization should not begin from the very start, but after a certain period of training. And without focusing on achieving a specific rank or level.
Let me explain my own example. I was injured. Then I returned to training, and they hastily started preparing me for the second adult rank - the competitions were approaching, and there were no reserves in the team. Naturally, I was only focused on not falling during the competition, completing the routine to the end, and getting the qualifying score needed for the team. Of course, there was no question of presenting the routine impressively to the judges, or trying to stand out in any way. And I had practiced so many routines that I probably wouldn't have been able to perform the individual elements taken from them separately. I barely managed to scrape together the required score for the rank. And I was lost for what followed.
It is not the fault, but the misfortune of many children's sports school coaches that, without getting dispensations from the Federation, they still 'ruin' a certain percentage of their students from the very beginning. This is because the competition regulations state that at a certain age, athletes must compete at a specific level.
In summary: early specialization is necessary and absolutely essential (as a consistent method of training), but in general, there's no need to rush to reap the 'fruits,' but rather to allow them to ripen.
V. GOLUBEV, master of sports