Why does Yang Tae Young, his rival, not deserve gold?

Perhaps more convincing is reason as to why Yang Tae Young, Paul Hamm’s Korean rival, does not deserve gold medal so many have attributed to him. Firstly, Korean gymnastics team’s representative was late in calling in a complaint, which made investigation itself - and all stress associated with it - completely invalid (Olympic rules state, that a protest needs to be made before end of any full game, such as with parallel bars, and Koreans did not do so). Even then, judges were suspended, and probing took place. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, even if judges gave Tae Young extra .10 points warranted by difficulty of his routine, he still would have scored lower than he did because of yet another ancillary error. After tapes were reviewed, it was revealed that Tae Young accidentally made four holds on bars rather than allotted three, which would have resulted in a deduction of .2, still leaving him with a deficit of a tenth of a point.

The snafu regarding Paul Hamm’s gold medal - versus, of course, giving medal up to South Korean team - is regretable. There should have been no question that Hamm deserved his medal, and he certainly should not have had to deal with problems around world. Nor, indeed, did he deserve all of ill press surrounding his name. The gold medal was well-earned. It certainly bears no tarnishing, and neither does his record.

By Murray Hughes Gymnastics Secrets Revealed ”The book EVERY gymnastics parent should read”

http://www.gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/gymnastics-articles/paul-hamm.htm

Constructive Criticism

Used in conjunction with positive feedback, constructive criticism gives an athlete an idea of what needs improvement in a tactful and non-offensive way. If your child is particularly sensitive to criticism, it may be a good idea to just offer positive feedback, but most generally, combination of two works nicely together. There is a note you must be aware of before you give your child any amount of constructive criticism, and that is its timing. It’s advisable not to do so right after they have finished their training session. Wait until just before they start next one, so they have some perspective on what they need to improve upon, without feeling as though you’re ready to “shoot them down,” so to speak. They’ll definitely appreciate it.

Competition/Reward

Finally, for more experienced gymnast, there is concept of competition-and-reward in sport. This is sometimes used by coaches to encourage their athletes to compete against one another and to improve, all with promise of some kind of reward. It may be a pizza party, it may be a day off, it really depends upon what level of sport your child is in. You can use it to your advantage, too, in just about any way you can imagine!

Take note that punishment is not one of recommended motivational methods. Punishment is always negative and decreases motivation in long term. In fact, it may even lead to development of phobias or aversions in future.

With this in mind, I hope that your gymnast is motivated and successful!

If you want to read more about motivation, I recommend you take a look at another article I wrote giving specific advice on increasing motivation: Gymnastics Motivation Or check out my favorite book on subject: http://gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/good/motivate.htm .

By Murray Hughes Gymnastics Secrets Revealed ”The book EVERY gymnastics parent should read”

http://www.gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/gymnastics-articles/gymnastics_motivation.htm