Sports & Gaming

Learning New Skills

Lesson time 4:57 min

Discipline and focus during practice are necessary for gymnasts to safely execute drills. Simone encourages you to master the basics, which are the foundation for learning harder skills and routines.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Stay Focused on Discipline • Taking Corrections on New Skills • Build Muscle Memory

Simone Biles

Teaches Gymnastics Fundamentals

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - I absolutely hated discipline whenever I was younger. Just let me run wild, do whatever I wanted. And then, once we were in the gym, it was a little bit more tighter. But I still didn't like it. I remember there were instances where we had to go to camp for the first time and thinking in my head-- I'm 12 years old-- we're going to go to summer camp? Sweet. Let's go. No. It was a training camp. It's very different than what I thought. And at the end of the camp, I told my parents, I'm never going back there. It wasn't fun. It was too much discipline. I'm like, there's no talking. There's no this. There's no that. And that's when I really took discipline into consideration. And I was like, you know what? If I want to be a really good gymnast, this is what I need to do and then find the fun in that discipline. Discipline goes a long way, especially in the sport of gymnastics. But it means showing up to practice on time, taking every turn that you do into consideration, fueling your body to the best so that you can perform to the best of your ability, going to bed at a reasonable time. I still make sure on the weekends I don't get too crazy so that on Monday I'm ready and refueled to go for the rest of the week. The number-one thing you can do is make sure you show up to practice on time or at least 10 minutes early so that, once you go into your gymnastic space, you're not running all over the place, giving your coaches excuses as to why you're late. Really give yourself enough time to clear your head, and go into practice with an open mind, and just do your gymnastics. Whenever I was younger, I was always the type of gymnast to be lollygagging around. And I'm like, oh, my god. It's my turn. Let's go. And as you get older, that doesn't really work. You really have to focus in on what you're doing because it gets more difficult and a little bit more dangerous. One of my coaches told me that once you're on the equipment-- I'll give an example. So for balance beam, you're usually on the equipment for a minute and 30 seconds. And she taught me that, yes. You can do whatever you want on the side. But once you step up and you raise your hand, your focus is one minute 30. If you can't give me one minute 30, then we need to work on that a little bit more. And I was like, you know what? You're right. Once I get up there, I just have to focus for that one minute 30, get off, breathe, and then do whatever I want to do again. And you can get back to it. But once you get up there, you need to be attentive of what you're doing. And so that really helped me stay in and be focused because one minute 30 is not that long, but it can feel like forever when you're up there. So sometimes if I'm having trouble focusing in on something, I try to count my steps through it so that it kind of gives me a distraction, but I'm still focusing on what I'm doing. Find out what works for you in your mental training. But every time you do a beam...

About the Instructor

At 22, Simone Biles is already a legend. With 14 medals, including 10 gold, Simone is the most decorated World Championship American gymnast of all time. Now the Olympic gymnast—part of the gold-medal-winning USA gymnastics "Final Five"—breaks down her techniques for vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Discover how Simone performs under pressure, learn to practice like a champion, and claim your competitive edge.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Simone Biles

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

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