Last week we focused on pushing new routines for the Summer season. Our goal is to have each athlete be able to get adequately through one or two levels above what they were able to do prior to Spring, three levels would be ideal. For instance, if an athlete was competing at Level 2, then our goal is to have them at least get through both the Level 3 and Level 4 routines by mid-summer. Perhaps even Level 5. We believe athletes should be able to perform routines that are at a higher level than the ones that they are currently competing. The Japanese & Chinese coaches believe in the same training philosophy. For instance, if their athlete is competing a Full, then he/she should be training Double-Fulls regularly at practice. And if an athlete is competing a Double-Full, then she should be working a Triple-Full at practice. And so on and so forth. Of course, this concept cannot be taken literally all the time. It merely serves as an example of the training philosophy: that your practice routines should be much harder than competition routines. When pushed in that manner, the competition routines become a walk in the park.
