Comparing methods of preparation by gymnasts and musicians

July 30, 2009 4:48 AM

How do Olympic gymnasts (and other gymnasts at the elite level) train for their routines? Do they break their choreography into segments? Is there a set, systematic schedule or program used across the sport? A way to measure their progress? How might this compare (or apply) to the way a musician might prepare for an audition or a competition?

(Incidentally, to give an idea of the sort of answers that are being sought, this question arose after noting points of comparison between programming in weight training and practice in musical performance.)

posted by Busoni to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 comments total)

Mother of a former competitive figure skater (DD) and a professional musician (DS). I have not observed that much parallel between the way these two endeavors practice, (although somewhat this is attributable to the different personalities of my kids) because while music-making can be a highly physical activity, it simply does not require the level of physical fitness that something like gymnastics does. A gymnastics or figure skating routine lasts a few minutes at the outside (4 minutes for a Senior Lady in FS), in which you literally deplete your body of its entire store of energy and then some. But in terms of breaking down the routine, I think, yes, it's very similar-- you work on the really hard stuff, you work your way INTO the really hard stuff, and you practice the whole thing together.

There are some parallels to gymnastics and figure skating, so here's a brief outline of how figure skaters do it.

Routines are indeed broken into segments, consisting of specific required skills (isolated), connecting moves, segments of the choreography, endurance training, and full routines in various "phases." To be more specific:

Required skills-- these routines have specific components that every athlete must complete (in skating certain jumps, jump combinations, spins, gliding, and footwork maneuvers). These skills must be perfected both in isolation and within the flow of the choreography. In practice this often means always practicing a certain jump with the same "set up" as in the program, but without the full program. There isn't really a competitive parallel here, but you can imagine the music correlation with the more difficult or virtuosic passages.

Connecting moves-- the choreography from one required element to the next. Ditto.

Segments-- breaking the choreography into pieces for practice purposes. Again, musicians do indeed practice this way.

Endurance training-- both on ice and off ice, learning to work through the routine with enough juice left by the end for the difficult skills. Difficult skills get more value in judging if they happen after the midpoint of the routine. Many coaches train this by having the athlete run two full-out routines in a row with now break.

Phases-- "walk throughs" without any specific skills, just place markers where those skills go; run-throughs with jumps only or spins only or lesser levels of the more difficult elements; full run throughs; double run throughs.

These last two I think have only minimal parallels in music, because the needs are so different. I think that the correlating skill a musician needs to develop is the ability to focus over a long period, especially for something like a concerto where there's a lot of downtime, but you can't let the intensity drop.

The closer you get to performance the more you do the single full run throughs and the less everything else. Most athletes do not work full out right up to the competition, but try to "peak" at that point. Probably parallels with music here too.
posted by nax at 5:16 AM on July 30 [3 favorites]

with NO break.
posted by nax at 5:17 AM on July 30

Another thing with gymnastics as that moves and combinations of moves are given specific difficulty ratings. A good coach will give a gymnast a routine that is of an appropriate difficulty grade for their skillset - this always serves as a de facto measurement of progress.
posted by Sparx at 6:38 AM on July 30

Well I was never "elite" but I did do competitive gymnastics as a child and then later competitive dancing in high school and nax is pretty spot on. You learn your routine usually in parts (my coach was my choreographer so the routine didn't come to me finished) and then you practice the parts that need practicing.

Usually a practice went like this: warm-ups, work on tricks that need work (including the entrance and exits to the tricks), work on choreography that needs work (the stuff between tricks), do a run-through. Gearing up for a competition usually consisted of making sure I could DO everything in the routine, tweaking as needed, about a week to two weeks before competition practices would slow a bit to let the body rest up a little and to hope for no injuries. The days before would consist mostly of run-throughs and small adjustments.
posted by magnetsphere at 8:38 AM on July 30