Benefits of Wheel Gymnastics

How does a child benefit from participating in wheel gymnastics?

Children experience a profound sense of accomplishment from their first encounter with the German Wheel. The sheer size of the Wheel and the need to stand inside it and stretch their arms out to grab the handles, akin to DaVinci's Vitruvian Man, is a feat in itself. The substantial weight of the Wheel, perfectly balanced and smooth-rolling, is a testament to its craftsmanship. Control over the Wheel, using simple laws of kinetics, is a skill children quickly master, instilling a sense of pride and confidence in their abilities.
A child performing his first "cartwheel" inside a wheel steps onto the boards of the large, steel frame, straps his feet in, shifts his weight in one direction, grabs the handle on the other side, and sets the Wheel in motion, following the lead of the child. It catches the child's momentum and carries him around and upside down. When the child is again upright, he releases the front handle. This subtle motion is enough to shift the weight back for a counterforce. Momentum slows, reverses, and the Wheel obediently rolls to a gentle stop. The child has generated, harnessed, and controlled the kinetic energy of the Wheel (this large and somewhat intimidating apparatus) and felt the compelling force of motion.
The cartwheel is often the first trick a new wheeler learns. It is relatively simple to master, and children and adults quickly move on to other fun and exciting skills. Since 1925, when the Wheel was invented, people have been finding novel ways to maneuver it. As in any gymnastics discipline, some of these tricks are incredibly daunting and take years and a lot of practice.
From a physical standpoint, wheel gymnastics provides fantastic rewards.
First, it's fun. Young children love playgrounds and jungle gyms. They naturally rock, hang, flip, swing, climb, jump, and slide and enjoy exploring what their bodies can do. They're just playing, not realizing how much they learn and grow. (They've never heard of a cardiovascular or vestibular system.) They have no idea how good this movement is for them—their bodies, minds, and spirits. They're just busy having fun.
Unfortunately, at some point – at a relatively early age – children leave the playground behind. It's not that they've outgrown the need to move and explore; they've merely maxed out the playground, and very often, they don't know where to take this natural human urge to push.
The Wheel is like Playground 2.0. It extends the joy of the playground into adulthood, allowing children to continue challenging their bodies, facing and overcoming fears, learning, growing, playing, and having fun, just like they did at the playground. This continuity of physical activity from childhood to adulthood is a reassuring aspect of wheel gymnastics.
Just as in exploring the playground, wheel gymnastics engages the vestibular system. The vestibular system "closely relates to gravity, safety, survival, arousal, and attention." Occupational therapists find that children are not moving as they used to in years past and that this affects children beyond our standard measures of physical fitness. Their prescription is to get children moving – especially rolling, jumping, swinging (upright, upside down, side to side, spinning), and moving, putting their bodies – particularly their heads – in as many different positions or movements as possible. Wheel gymnastics fits the bill perfectly. Moving on and around the Wheel helps develop spatial and body awareness and build or enhance a robust vestibular system.
- http://www.growinghandsonkids.com/vestibular-system-affects-child's-behavior.Html
Regular exercise calms the mind and body. It allows a child to handle the school environment better, sit, concentrate, and focus on mental activities, such as listening to a teacher's lecture and doing homework.
Additionally, wheel gymnastics requires strength and flexibility. Indeed, regardless of their fitness level, anyone can do some tricks on the Wheel. However, as people grow in their wheel gymnastics practice, they must build strength in their arms, legs, and core to control and do gymnastics within the Wheel. Other tricks, such as doing the splits inside the Wheel, require flexibility. Thus, flexibility and strength training are part of an advanced wheel practice, and improving on the wheel/mastering certain tricks provides an excellent incentive for tuning the body.
Physically, it is very satisfying. As the student grows in his practice, more challenging tasks require developing core strength and flexibility, as with a gymnast doing backflips—building up to one day being able to do what seemed impossible.
With the physical achievements of the Wheel and gymnastics come psychological benefits. Gaining expertise in the Wheel requires discipline. Many of the wheel tricks are daunting, so the ability to face one's fears and overcome them is also needed. (Serious practice requires physical toughness, which can be developed while slowly building proficiency in the Wheel.) The reward (for putting in the hours and effort to overcome challenges/tame the wheel/control the body and the Wheel) is confidence in one's body and abilities, a sense of pride and self-esteem that extends into one's life beyond the gym.
Another unusual aspect of wheel gymnastics, and somewhat unique to this program, is that children care for one another's safety and well-being from the outset. Built into wheel gymnastics is the need to spot and be spotted. For example, a trick a young child can learn on the first day of a wheel gymnastics class is standing on top of the Wheel. The Wheel used for this trick is much larger/taller than the child. For the scheme, the child steps onto one of the horizontal rungs of the Wheel and holds on to the wheel rims. The coach stands on the other side of the Wheel and then rolls the Wheel down, thus hoisting the child up until the child is crouched on top of the Wheel. The child then releases his hands from the rungs and straightens his legs to (shakily) stand on the Wheel. For an adult coach, pulling a child up is an easy task.
However, children are taught to take on the coach's role, hoist, and hold one another up. Depending on the relative size of the child being pulled up, this may require two children to do the lifting. If the spotter(s) were to let go of the Wheel, the child standing on top would suddenly find himself swiftly crashing down. Children understand this, and instinctively, they take their spotting roles very seriously. Spotting the Wheel to ensure your friends and peers don't get hurt requires focus (and strength), and children are always up to it. They recognize the importance of their role in spotting and caring for one another.
These traits of taking on significant responsibilities and looking out for one another are also brought out when older or more advanced students teach younger or new children how to work the Wheel. Some of the beginner tricks can look intimidating. Still, children who take Wheel practice seriously can master these tricks in a short amount of time. Because of their time doing tricks and spotting one another, they can quickly teach children new things about the wheel. As with sports, the responsibility of teaching is one that children take seriously. Children as young as nine can take this responsibility on. Being able to teach others instills a great deal of pride and self-confidence.
Thus, watching out for and caring for one another is built into the Wheel. Even though children compete against one another in competitions and try to achieve their personal best, the cooperation inherent in wheel gymnastics leads to a culture of encouragement… This way, it cultivates this character trait and brings out the best in children.