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I disagree with a gymnastic coach – who's right (ref: splits for 6 year old girl)?
Just over a year ago my daughter attended a local gymnastics club and was in the squad from age 4-5 as she had a natural ability. When she was 5 she started to get upset because she was being forced down into the splits and it really hurt her. One time she couldn’t walk properly for a few days where she was over stretched. After speaking to the club after the first 2 times, I was furious when it happened a 3rd time and I pulled her out + had serious words with the club and told them it was tantamount to child abuse. I did gymnastics as a child and was never "pushed down".

Just as I was pulling my daughter out, her best friend then age 5 started training – and was also on a fast track. She recently just tried out for the squad and the training pace has been stepped up. She’s now 6. Last week she started crying and didn’t want to go to gymnastics. She said that her coach is pushing her down in the splits and she didn’t like it. Her mum will see how it goes and pull her out if she doesn’t want to go anymore but she did speak to the Gymnastics Club who told that that children need to be pushed as the body won’t do it naturally. Since the mum has never done gymnastics before she’s not sure what to believe.

However, I think the opposite. I did gymnastics as a child and my thoughts on the splits are this:-

Training for the splits should stretch you to the point of being uncomfortable but not be unbearable pain and then you should stop at that point. Continual practice will gradually see the point of discomfort change until eventually she will be able to do the splits. Ideally her daughter should be controlling the splits and her comfort zone – and doing it little but often. However I baulk at a coach (not sure if they are a trained "coach" or another gymnast who is helping teach the younger children) PUSHING a child down and hurting them. To my mind the coach should be saying "tell me when it hurts"…"can you go a bit further?"…."stop if it hurts too much"…."hold"….now come up.

Speaking to my sister who is an osteopath, I’m also given to understand that a 6 year olds body is more pliable and the ligaments aren’t fully formed – so there is a potential for injury (life long in some cases) if the child is continually forced/overstretched into the splits. .

I told the mother I’d come on here and ask the community to find out "Who is right?"

Weather you think your right or not doesn’t really matter. You are uncomfortable with the method, and your daughter doesn’t want to attend this gym because of it. That’s more then plenty of reason to switch gyms.

Gymnastics isn’t viewed as a "sport" for young children. It’s just recreation with a purpose. If the gym coaches remove the fun and enjoyment for the sake of advancement – it’s pointless to attend. Personally I loath coaches that over-work young kids, and there are a lot of coaches that do. Gymnastics should be a fun and happy memory. It shouldn’t be a memory of pain. Especially unnessesary pain.

Now to your question:
Coach assisted static stretches were once a very common practice. It’s still a method used by eastern countries (China) where the opinions and feelings of young athletes are basically ignored. The method has been backed away from in many other countries. Few gyms in the US still use this method anymore as it could indeed be painful to the athlete and expensive if the athlete needs medical attention. Liability is also a major and costly concern.

This doesn’t mean coaches can’t adjust an athletes form – we do all the time. If we add any pressure, it’s minimal and consistant. It’s very slowly and deliberately applied. I think I can count on one hand how many athletes actually told me to stop in all my years of coaching. The pressure applied just isn’t that much. Nothing like is seen in many of the gymnastic "horror stories" videos, which show children in tears. As If tears aren’t enough…

Only muscles stretch. Ligaments and connective tissue do not – and should not. Only the athlete can tell how much is too much. No coach, no matter how trained or experienced, can determine the appropriate overforce for any athlete of any age. This does risk injury.

Your sister is partially correct. Young children are very pliable and they will stretch longer/wider. But this is without too much fear of any permanent damage. Children are naturally very bendy. Especially if they have been busy and thier muscles are warm and tired. For many children, the level of tolerance to pressure is quite low. What they call ‘painful’ is more often just ‘uncomforable’, and anything past this is more shock then real pain. But this doesn’t answer the concern about "real" pain! How much is too much? Again, only the athlete can answer this question. A coach doesn’t "know". They are simply guessing. It’s gambling without fear.

In my opinion, the old saying "no pain, no gain" is stupid, and physiologically flawed. If there is pain — there is something wrong. the result is NO gain. Making pain something every athlete wants to avoid.

Coach Alice ATC/PT | Jan 26, 2010

to correctly stretch for splits, they should hold until it hurts for ten seconds then shake it off, and try again.
Sami | Jan 26, 2010