Sometimes parents complain that their child isn’t making much progress…that she wins too few prizes and hardly ever gets to travel to competitions…and should they, therefore, continue spending the family’s hard-earned money on her gymnastics lessons. I think you have to look at this from the child’s point of view, because the reason children do gymnastics is that they simply enjoy it. And if your child gets enjoyment out of sport and it’s not interfering with her education, why stop it? I don’t think you should get hung up on the fact that she’s not won any prizes and doesn’t get invited to serious competitions – it wasn’t for the prizes that your child chose that type of sport. But it’s a different story if the training sessions are interfering with her school work. In that case, you need to have a chat with her and perhaps suggest that she makes a choice: either cut down on the gymnastics lessons or try harder in both areas. At any rate, you shouldn’t make any sudden changes, as this could traumatize the child. And another very important point: a serious interest in sport or any other useful activity helps to keep adolescents away from other “hobbies”. There’s no 100% guarantee, of course, but it does produce a kind of immunity.

I get quite a lot of letters from parents who don’t know what to do about conflicts between trainers and children. These really are difficult moments that you have to live through together with the child. First of all, don’t rush to conclusions. Advise your daughter to be particularly attentive during training sessions and wait to see the result. The main thing is not to say anything negative about the trainer in your daughter’s presence.

I myself, for example, was thrown out of my first choreography lesson in Novogorsk for talking. And I wasn’t even talking, but just listening to some small tips from a girl from my part of the country who had ended up in Novogorsk before me. After being thrown out I cried and thought that was it – I’m finished. Anyway, Veronika Borisovna (the lady who kicked me out of the class) later became one of my favourite teachers.

Most questions about rhythmic gymnastics and training come from girls aged 9 to 14-15. If something isn’t going right or they’re worried about something, they’re often too shy to mention it to their trainer or their parents because they’re afraid of being put down or being laughed at by other children, or getting some hurtful comments. My message to these kids is: If something’s really important to you, DON’T BE AFRAID!

Don’t be afraid to have a serious conversation with your trainer or parents; don’t be afraid of somebody’s emotions or perhaps even hurtful words. In real life people don’t always behave considerately to one another, and you have to learn not to let this inconsiderate behaviour get to you, don’t let it hurt you. You have to learn to maintain a distance and keep your cool, to ask questions precisely and politely and insist on getting an answer – not a COMMENT on your question, but a clear and informative ANSWER to it.

If people just fob you off with a lot of words instead of giving you an answer, you shouldn’t be afraid to remind them that you need a proper reply. And it doesn’t matter who you’re talking to – your Mum, your teacher or head teacher, the Governor of your region or the President of Russia. If your question is a serious one and has been put politely to the right person (to the person who should be able to help with what you need because of his job or position), you have every right to expect that person to give you a proper answer.

But if timidity or shyness really get in the way, there’s no need to make heroic efforts. You can ask your Mum or Dad to act as a go-between and speak to the trainer, say, on your behalf. That’s quite normal. They have experience and will be able to get more information on the thing that’s important to you. And the next time, you’ll definitely do it yourself.))

If your friends say your child is exceptionally gifted in rhythmic gymnastics there’s no need to rush off to Moscow straight away. Go to the specialists and get them to take a look at the child – trainers from the Olympic Reserve schools, for example. They won’t necessarily advise you to go straight to Moscow. For a good start, it’s not at all necessary to remove your child from familiar surroundings and take her away somewhere. Many top gymnasts began their careers outside Moscow. The important thing is for the child to feel good. You need to listen to her and be ready for the fact that she might not adore something you’re really keen on. It’s often the case. So take care, and good luck!

Parents often complain that because of muscle pains after training sessions, children can be reluctant to go to classes or even want to give up training altogether. Muscle pains are a problem, but they can be reduced. I’d advise you to do massage and special exercises to get the muscles back into shape after a training session (after stretching or straightening the back). You can also take salt baths (using sea salt) for 15 minutes each time. And another thing: it’s very important not to miss the training session the day after heavy exercises, because that will help overcome the muscle pains by fighting fire with fire. You need to explain all this to your child and tell her that there’s always a lot of hard work, stress and exhaustion behind any beautiful performance, whether in sport, dance or ballet, and I think the issue of whether to force her to train or not will then just disappear.

I’m often asked for advice on how to stretch properly – the splits, the crab position and so on. I must emphasize that you can’t give advice on stretching without seeing and knowing the child directly. In fact, it’s dangerous. You definitely have to seek advice from your trainer and ask her to describe in detail how the child should do her stretching exercises at home. As a last resort, go to see an experienced trainer who can judge your child’s flexibility and other physical capabilities. It would be wrong for me to give advice here. If the stretching isn’t done properly (for example, if the leg muscles are turned out wrongly) this could mean serious trouble or even injuries in the future. The right foundations need to be laid in childhood. It’s always more difficult for a child to change the way she does something than to learn to do it properly from the very start.

The question here is: What is meant by harsh treatment? On the one hand, you can’t achieve anything in sport without discipline, but on the other, training sessions shouldn’t be a source of constant psychological stress.

If you think there’s a problem you need to attend training sessions, talk to the trainer, see how different trainers work, find out what demands they make, perhaps talk with other parents and only then decide who you want to train your child.

Prepare your child in advance for the fact that strict demands will be made and they will have to try and meet them, and then see how things work out. Your fears might turn out to be greatly exaggerated.

I’m often asked how my parents got me interested in sport. After all, even if a child’s mother and father set an example by practising sport, this is often not enough. How were you PERSUADED?

To be honest, sometimes I really wanted to take a day off. I would call Mom from school and say I couldn’t train that day because I had classroom duty. Mom would always answer: “OK, clean the classroom and then come home, have a bite to eat and go train.” There never was any pampering. My parents knew when to be strict, and I obeyed them because their opinions were important to me.

I think if a child finds it difficult simply obey and trust his parents, than parents have to be creative and find ways to inspire their child. However, this is not something anybody can help you with, because nobody knows your child better than you – his likes and dislikes, what he responds to and what leaves him totally cold. May be you should change his routine - put him to bed earlier so it’s not that hard to get up in the mornings. Perhaps you should go for a run as a family, and then your child will be less likely to stay at home alone. There are many options - you just have to choose what suits your child best.

Each club has its own system and fees for classes: some clubs include various additional options, while in others the fee is for the classes alone. As far as funding of competitions and uniforms is concerned, the rule here is that if the child is not in a team but wishes to take part in competitions this has to be paid for by the parents. When the child is selected for a team, the cost of taking part in competitions is covered by the state.

It was the same for us. A child has to prove by results that the state should fund his sporting successes. Everyone has different abilities, of course, and parents can’t always afford to send their child to competitions. The decision to take part in a competition is often a very difficult one.

So that’s why I have the greatest respect for parents who try to support their children’s successes in sport, even if this requires serious family expenditure. All children understand this perfectly and try their hardest. I think this attention is an investment in the child’s future, and it doesn’t matter whether he becomes a champion or not - the important thing is that he learns how to set targets and achieve them.

I get an awful lot of letters asking me to take a look at somebody’s little girl and assess her abilities. These come from parents, grandmothers and grandfathers. I truly understand their concern, but my School of Beauty and Grace has not yet opened – it’s still in the planning stages. Of course, I look at the little girls when I have the opportunity, but I’m quite unsystematic about it. It’s usually when I’m travelling around the regions on State Duma business or in connection with my charity. Once the school is open I hope I’ll be able to do it more regularly.

As for the requests to help people meet Irina Alexandrovna Viner, I think it would be best to apply directly to the Rhythmic Gymnastic Federation, because my relationship with Irina Viner nowadays is merely one of personal friendship.

In modern rhythmic gymnastics it becomes clear by the age of roughly 11 or 12 whether a young gymnast has a future in sport. So it’s at that age that she and her parents need to think very hard, take advice from a trainer and decide whether she should stay in professional sport or concentrate on her schooling and other things. It’s very important to decide your priorities in good time, because you can start developing skills and achieve success in another area. You can’t continue with gymnastics as a hobby. I personally had to take this decision at the age of 12 and was basically ready to accept that I might have to give up gymnastics. When Irina Alexandrovna (Viner) found out that I was 12, said that I was already “too old” for gymnastics. But when she saw me perform she changed her mind. So my final choice was in favour of rhythmic gymnastics.


Addition

Sometimes, when you’re in doubt, it’s worth going to see several trainers and listening to their opinions. But the most important thing is to listen to yourself, but to be very honest about it - without exaggerating your strengths or underestimating your weaknesses – and after that make your choice.

Once I saw someone bring a little girl to see my trainer (I.A.Viner). She was all stiff, hadn’t done any stretching and was totally unprepared for gymnastics lessons. “What am I supposed to do with her?” said Irina Alexandrovna. “Her muscles are made of wood, they’ve got no plasticity.” It looked like the child was totally unsuited for rhythmic gymnastics. But she had a very strong desire to get into that sport. She wouldn’t give up, and continued training. And when some time later she came back for another audition it was, as they say, “chalk and cheese”. And now that girl is in the team and has performed successfully in various competitions. Her stretching and are back are things to be envied. So that’s the kind of result a child can achieve through persistence, hard work and the support of an experienced trainer.

Rhythmic gymnastics is a wonderful sport, but even it should never be idolized, especially by parents. Life is much broader and more varied than just sport, and to make it too dependent on winning and loosing competitions is very dangerous. I’m grateful to my mother and family for not crying together with me at difficult moments, and making me understand that life doesn’t come to an end just because you’ve lost today…that you can always recover again - not only in sport, but in other spheres as well. I think there would be a lot fewer broken lives if people didn’t idolize things, be it sport, cinema or anything else.

First you have console the child, wait until she has calmed down and then ask what it is she loves most of all: gymnastics or the prizes and awards. If its prizes and awards, then you find a different – easier - activity for her; and if its gymnastics – why cry? She will always have the opportunity to continue competing, even if she didn’t win anything at all in the competition. The main thing is that she took part in it, because it’s only the chosen few who get to the competitions, while dozens and hundreds of others have to stay at home. There are always more competitors than prizewinners. The jury has to choose the best, and it’s perfectly normal for some to achieve more while others are NOT YET up to it.

Take every opportunity (using various examples from life) to show the child that in any profession and any activity there are victories and defeats. You have to deal with them the right way, which means, above all, looking for the causes within yourself: Did I do all I could? Did I get a bit lazy? Did I make some tiny slip? Did I perhaps listen too closely to all the praise and take it easy?

There are lots of exceptional people, including sportsmen, who achieved the very highest results in their sphere only after suffering a defeat and understanding the cause of that defeat. So defeat or failure is a reason not to cry, but to think things over. In actual fact, it’s another step forward.

When I was small, my principal trainer - Irina Alexandrovna Viner – worked mainly with older children, and so didn’t give a lot of attention to me and the other younger gymnasts. But still, we always had excellent teachers.

I think a change of trainer isn’t in itself such a terrible thing as long as the new one is of the same caliber. And in any case, before she moves on you can ask the trainer to leave a plan for each gymnast to work through by the time she returns.

To be honest about it, I used to hate those plans. It would say, for example, that I had to run through each routine 3-4 times. But if Irina Alexandrovna was present at my training session and saw me do something very well twice in a row she would never insist on me repeating it a third or fourth time. But when she was away I had to work through the plan from start to finish.

Stretching is a very painful thing, but you have to work on it (doing your stretching exercises) constantly. I was “stretched” at classes ever since I was a child. Mum used to tell me how she would sit there during my classes and hear my crying and comfort herself by saying “Yes, it’s painful now, but it will be fine afterwards”. I remember how I was always worried about those stretching sessions.

But if you set yourself a goal – to learn the splits – and train hard, you can achieve it at any age. The capabilities of the human body have not been fully researched yet, so it’s hard to set any boundaries. If you have a goal and the will to achieve it, you’ll definitely get there.

Rhythmic gymnastics does not stop you growing. Artistic gymnastics may do, yes, because it involves some strenuous positions. But in rhythmic gymnastics there’s practically no strain. Look how many tall gymnasts there are in our sport!

There is a risk of this in gymnasts with a high foot arch. You definitely have to be aware of this and watch the strain on your feet.

People quite often write to me on the website asking for help finding the rules of rhythmic gymnastics for 2009-12, as laid down by the Technical Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation. I’m very well aware how important it is for sportsmen taking part in competitions, especially international ones, to know the Technical Committee’s rules and standards, so I’ve decided to post them on my website (see here).

Apart from my website, you can also find the rules on the websites of the Russian Gymnastics Federation: http://rusgymnastics.ru/xml/t/default...07&pid=247
and the International Gymnastics Federation:
http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vna...st,00.html (Code of Points, Rhythmic)

I quite often get questions about how to lose weight, what the best diet is, what vitamins to take, and so on. The first thing I always say in these cases is to listen to what your body is telling you - your OWN body, rather than what you might imagine or what you really want to achieve. This is extremely important, because even the most hyped-up diet could turn out to be unsuitable (or downright harmful!) for you personally.

You need to take advice form a doctor (or even better, from a dietician) and do all the proper tests. Find out why you are overweight or underweight (in your opinion). But never invent a diet for yourself or take miracle slimming potions. These self-prescribed diets can be disastrous, because you can upset your body very easily and quickly and it’s then a long hard slog back to health.

My attitude towards vitamins and food additives is the same. You should never trust the adverts. The best way of being sure is to consult a doctor.

I can’t give you any special recipe for how to become an Olympic champion, because there isn’t one. So I’ll answer the question in a different way: it’s hard to achieve supreme mastery in any sport – in fact, in any profession - if you’re not truly committed to it, if you’re not really striving for perfection through hard work and discipline.

I think it’s important to enjoy even your very smallest successes, and to spare neither time nor energy on classes and training. Remember that nothing is too small to be unimportant - each detail and each element can be crucial in a performance. So it’s vital to practice all the elements. You mustn’t give up under any circumstances and you should look upon difficulties as tasks to be addressed rather than hiding from them. And one more thing: you must never look down on those who have fallen behind. There’s a wise saying I really like about having the right to look down on others only if you’re helping them get up.

The best way to prepare yourself mentally before going out is to train right up to the last moment – keep rehearsing your routine up to the last moment. And in those two or three minutes while you’re waiting for your name to be announced, continue to go through in your mind the element that you worry about the most. And you have to realize that nothing is too small to deserve attention here. Even when you’re passing an object from one hand to another, something can go wrong. Everything is very important, and the brain must always be working. You can only relax after you leave the stage. But nerves are a good sign, at least for me.

It was very hard, of course. I’d come back from the world championship as the winner, the champion, and everything was just great. Then two days later, in the morning, there was call and I was told that I’d been disqualified and stripped of my world title…

They’d taken the samples at the Goodwill Games, three months before the world championship. That’s plenty of time to do a medical test, wouldn’t you say? So it turns out we were allowed to take part in the world championship because they realized that it would be boring without the Russian team. We won the championship, of course, and then they told us about the drugs…

It was a huge stress for me, of course. Six months later, I was allowed to take part in the European championship, and I won again, but then I was reminded of my disqualification and was banned for another six months. It was just awful! All my life, all my plans – EVERYTHING was connected with rhythmic gymnastics, and they’d just gone and taken that life away from me…

It was all very distressing for me. From the outside, I might have looked as if I was enjoying myself going to discos and clubs, just hanging out…But in fact I was simply trying to somehow take my mind off my miserable thoughts. But then I suddenly realized that that kind of life wasn’t for me. And I realized that time was flying and I wasn’t doing anything. In the past I’d always had a goal and was working towards it. But what now? I could give up rhythmic gymnastics, but what would I do instead? Or I could continue training – but for what?

Actually I’m glad I went through that period in my life. It was perhaps precisely because of those events that I’ve been able to find a place for myself today, now that my sports career is over. And what I’m doing nowadays is really fascinating.

In fact, I think it would have been much harder to live through that time if I hadn’t had the support of my mother, my trainer and my friends, and if hadn’t been dreaming of taking part in the Olympic Games. Thanks to everyone for that!

It was in Tashkent. I was only just over three years old when Mum took me to a rhythmic gymnastics section. She really loved that sport, and at one time even took it up herself, though in her case it was artistic gymnastics. My very first trainer was Margarita Samuilovna. She understood child psychology well and really loved children. She mainly just played with us, including games that involved elements of rhythmic gymnastics.

I used to really love those classes. I got enormous pleasure from them and used to look forward each time to Mum taking me to the next class.

Actually, if you want your little girl to do ballroom dancing it’s best to enroll her in rhythmic gymnastics first. There she’ll be taught plasticity and stretching. And then afterwards, when she takes up ballroom dancing, she’ll be in control of her body. In fact, you can combine ballroom dancing and rhythmic gymnastics, and music as well. Let the child try all of them and see which she likes best. As for the minuses, I don’t see any minuses in rhythmic gymnastics – just pluses!

In actual fact, there are fewer injuries in rhythmic gymnastics than anywhere else, and I think it’s the least injury-prone type of sport. But a lot depends on the trainer, of course. She needs to have a good sense of how the child feels so as not to push her too far. Because when you push your body too far your attention falters and that’s the point at which an injury can happen. The trainer needs to know how to listen and feel how the child is doing; she needs to understand who’s cheating and dilly-dallying, and who’s working flat out. Irina Alexndrovna (Viner), for example, has a very good sense of these things, and we had hardly any injuries.

Question
Dear Alina,

I’m writing to you on behalf of the parents of 6 little girls who go to the Reutov Olympic Reserve Sports School. We have a problem with the school’s director, who says that under the regulations they can’t enroll children under the age of 6. Our children have already been going to classes for a year, but they won’t give them choreography lessons. They only give them one and a half hours of training three days a week, though the kids would like to go six days a week. After just three months of training like this they won first place at a competition in Tolyatti. But they won’t let them go to competitions, again because of the regulations. The director says that the kids are too small (born in 2001) and are not allowed to travel to competitions (the parents took them to the Tolyatti competition themselves at their own expense).

Please help us. Are there really age restrictions for young sportsmen? How many hours a week a child can train?


Answer

Dear parents,

Here are the answers I got to your questions from the Department of State Policy for the Development of High-Level Sport under the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation: The only regulations currently in force regarding Olympic reserve sports schools are the Sanitary and Epidemiological Regulations on Children’s Extended Education Establishments “SanPiN 2.4.4.1251-03” (which I talk about in para 2).

These regulations recommend that children do not enroll for classes in more than 2 groups (sections, studios etc.) and that they combine sports and non-sports activities. It is recommended that the number of lessons of any one kind be limited to no more than two per week. Children’s classes in extramural establishments may be held on any day of the week, including Sundays and public holidays. These classes should not last more than 1.5 hours on school days, or 3 hours on weekends and public holidays. After 30-45 minutes, there must be a break of at least 10 minutes to allow the children to rest and ventilate the premises. As far as choreography specifically is concerned, they recommend 2 classes per week of 30 minutes each for junior pupils, and 2 classes of 45 minutes each for other groups.

However, as you have probably noticed, these regulations are mainly recommendations. The Department also explained that the Ministry of Health has given official permission for children to start training from the age of 6 in sports schools and from the age of four and a half in sports clubs. They are also allowed to take part in Level 3 Young Gymnast competitions from the age of 6, according to the Unified Russian Sports Classification. Children may travel to competitions with their parents or accompanying adults with the mutual consent of the sports school management and the parents.

There are quite a lot of schools these days: there are private schools where you can learn at any age; and there are Olympic reserve schools, but they only taken talented children up to a certain age. It’s usually quite difficult to get into those schools. You might try a private gymnastics school or club to start with, and if the trainer sees that the child has talent, she’ll recommend sending her to an Olympic reserve school.

It all depends on the parents’ plans. If the parents want the child to go into professional gymnastics, you have to try and get into an Olympic reserve school. If they are more interested in general development, there are masses of schools and clubs where you learn rhythmic gymnastics. Incidentally, there are lots of health clubs offering gymnastics now. I can’t recommend any specific school, but in the future I’ll be inviting everyone to my own School of Beauty and Grace.

Responsibility for this lies perhaps entirely with the child’s parents. First, you have to speak to the trainers, see what conditions the children train in and sit in at training sessions. And it’s best to go to ordinary classes rather than to open lessons, because there the trainer knows she’s being watched by parents and might run the class differently than she normally would.

You might be advised to choose a specific trainer, of course, but no advice can substitute for what you see yourself at a training session. You know better than anyone else what will suit your son or daughter. So however busy you may be, try to find time to look into this.

I’m often asked whether you can start doing rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 11, 14, 19… and so on. The thing is, there’s no rule for everyone here. As far as professional sport is concerned, it’s a bit late to start rhythmic gymnastics at that age, though I remember a case of a girl who started at 12. But she was really keen and wanted to succeed, and she eventually became world champion! That was Amina Zaripova.

As far as doing rhythmic gymnastics for general development is concerned - for your own pleasure – you can start at any age. As long as you want to do it. But in any event you have to choose your trainer very carefully.

I think it’s perfectly possible from the age of 4 or 5, though I began slightly earlier – at 3. Mum had noticed my abilities and took me to lessons in a rhythmic gymnastics club. Let me stress, though, that this wasn’t a specialized sports club, but just a group where toddlers learned rhythmic gymnastics, or rather played it. The focus was on games and dancing. We had a very wise teacher. She loved children and understood their psychology very well, and included elements of rhythmic gymnastics in the games that we adored. They didn’t set us any super-complicated tasks because they realized that we were children and the most important thing was to instill a love for this type of sport and a desire to do it. In all that time I never once had the thought that I didn’t want to go to the gymnastics class. That’s why I’m against treating small children the same way as adults and putting them under lots of pressure. Even if the child is really enthusiastic about the classes to start with, after a year or two she might lose interest in it for ever and just say “Mum, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to go any more.”