Kate Sarisska is the head coach of Dutch gymnastics team BATO Haarlem, and a former gymnast who performed at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. Kate grew up in Czechoslovakia where from an early age she knew she would be a gymnast. At the age of 5, when Sarisska saw Věra Čáslavská perform she told her parents “That will be me when I grow up”. This motivation did not leave her and she ended up competing at four world cups and in the Olympics. In this article she talks about the history of gymnastics and the future of air.
In the 1980’s, the typical gymnastics training facility wasn’t what you’ll find today. Nothing had padding and everything was hard. This made training tough and often painful. Nowadays Kate teaches gymnastics to young elite gymnasts as the head coach of BATO Haarlem. The club partnered with AirTrack Factory and uses most of the equipment made by AirTrack Factory for gymnastics.
The soft touch of air
The AirBag S by AirTrack Factory is one of our latest innovations. This new training tool is there to help you back down safely. It’s the small version of our bigger built in AirBags and can be placed anywhere in your gym. But what makes this new equipment so smart, and how is it beneficial for your gym? Let us explain.
First and foremost the most important and predictable argument is that it is soft. But like all our equipment, it is soft in a smart way. A simple pressure regulation system was built in so that gymnasts or coaches can easily alter the internal pressure. Very soft for nice backlandings, getting rid of that fear barrier and getting the athlete comfortable with their movements. Then something in between soft and firm, to get more comfortable with upright landings without losing that safety for when things don’t go as planned. Then there’s the most firm option, to be able to stick your landings and getting fully comfortable with trying it on a mat. This variety in pressure makes learning new skills more pleasurable and less freighting.
Become a home equipment expert within 5 minutes!
If you’re a gymnast yourself, the amount of options for our home equipment might be a little daunting. If you’re a parent, looking for home equipment for your son or daughter, the amount of options might make you want to close your browser and hope they’ll think of another present for their birthday.
Luckily, when broken down into steps, the options we provide are manageable and after reading this article, you can call yourself an expert on AirTrack Factory home equipment.
AirTracks in high level gymnastics
A growing number of gymnastics clubs rely on the quality of AirTrack Factory. In elite gymnastics, where differences are very small, good equipment is of great importance. In recent years, the use of AirTrack Equipment has greatly proven its value and offers numerous benefits to guide athletes to reach a higher level.