There are a variety of reasons to attend and pick a particular gymnastics camp. Since we are so often asked for our opinion about which summer training camp is best, we thought we would lay out the criteria we use to choose.Innovation.

We are not unbiased in our choices as we run a summer training camp and we, of course, think it is an excellent choice. The reason our camp is unique and to be recommended is because of the innovative training concepts that we use. Our books are full of innovative concepts that we know are not being utilized anywhere else because we developed the concepts. Our camp offers many of the following advantages as well, but we don't know of any other camp that is as innovation oriented as we are.

A High Level of Training Available.The second reason to attend and pick a gymnastics summer camp is the level of training available. Parents and gymnasts might choose a gymnastics camp run by a gym with coaches who have or are currently training Elite International competitors. That level of training is not available to every gymnast in every town. Thus the choice for a summer camp might be based on a high level of training and there are a limited number of gym camps that would qualify in this category. Parents and gymnast will likely look at the most successful gymnasts of the last year and check into attending camp at one of their gyms.

Training Equipment.There are still gyms around that don't have all of the latest gymnastics training equipment. Gymnasts and parents and even coaches may want their gymnasts to be able to take advantage of training equipment they don't have available during the year. This is especially true of gyms that don't have pits. Certain skills are very difficult to teach and learn without pits.

Other equipment gymnasts and parents might be looking for might include trampolines, tumble tramps and Bungee training systems for trampoline, beam and tumbling.College Scholarships.For gymnasts (and parents) who are interested in a potential college scholarship, it may make sense to attend camp at a number of colleges that the gymnast is interested in attending. This offers both the chance to see if the facility and coaches are a good fit for the gymnast and to make personal contact and let the coaches get a look at the gymnast and hopefully be impressed enough to add them to their recruiting prospect list. A good strategy may be to attend three or four college summer camps in the years before graduation that are scholarship potentials.Elite Contacts.

We are hesitant to recommend any camp or coaches that are so well known for their yelling and screaming style of coaching and we never appreciated programs trying to recruit both our gymnasts and coaches when they attended their camp. But there is one camp whose director has more control over who competes internationally than anyone else in the country. For gymnasts who are interested in competing at the Elite level, Karolyi's summer camp gives the opportunity to train in the same facility that all TOP and National Team Training camps are run. This could also potentially allow gymnasts the opportunity to be noticed by Women's National Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi.

And who knows maybe the Karolyis have mellowed since they retired from coaching their own team training program.

Enter the Gymnastics Zone.GymnasticsZone.com is a web site for gymnasts, coaches and parents with numerous FREE articles and information, fun pages and activities available for viewing. Check out our unique Gymnastics Makeover Summer Training Camp at: http://gymnasticszone.com/Camp.

htm.For More Information.A variety of interesting and useful products and even more in-depth information books are available at: http://gymnasticszone.com/eBooks.htm.

By: J Howard