Kristen Rule

I coach gymnastics levels 1-9, pre-team, all levels of recreational gymnastics, tumbling, dance, and cheer.

I have been coaching high-level competitive gymnastics for nine years! Most recently, I worked at Lakewood Ranch Gymnastics in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and played a key role in earning the 2024 Florida Xcel Club of the Year award. Our team of eight coaches coached five state-champion teams. My athletes achieved numerous spots on America’s Top 100 Teams for Xcel Bronze and Silver with multiple 29+ team event scores and 118+ team all-around scores. I served as the primary floor coach for Xcel Bronze and Silver and directly contributed to ninety-nine scores of 9.5 or higher, forty-two 1st places, and eighteen scores on America’s Top 100 for Bronze and Silver across all events.

I began my coaching journey at Georgia Elite Gymnastics (GEG) in Athens, GA - a gym that routinely sends athletes to NCAA Division I programs. There, I received mentorship from UGA GymDogs Kim Arnold and Cassidy McComb, UGA GymDog coach Doug McAvinn, owner Pete Arenas, a member of the J.O. and USA National Staffs, and Olympian Courtney McCool, who choreographed my Level 8/9 floor routine and routinely taught dance while I was an athlete at GEG.

I LOVE coaching all ages and have worked with gymnasts ranging from age two to age eighteen! <3 I typically stick to coaching competitive gymnastics because I personally enjoy the competitive element, but I believe there is no better reason to do gymnastics than doing it purely for fun!

I was the Level 8 Georgia State Champion and Level 8 Region 8 Silver Medalist on Floor. In my prime, I trained skills such as:
- Yurchenko layout and twisting (Vault)
- Double flyaway, straddle back, bail, free hip, pirouettes (Bars)
- Standing Arabian, standing back pike, front tuck (my favorite!!), backhandspring layout step out, creative leaps and turns (Beam)
- Double backs, arabians, double fronts, double twists, creative leaps and turns (Floor)

Injuries led to retirement before competing these Level 9/10 skills.

I switched to dance, becoming proficient in ballet, jazz, hip-hip, contemporary, and lyrical. Dance opened up a world of possibilities because I had learned how to add emotion and passion to my once strong, rigid gymnastics training.

I earned a spot onto the Mercer University Cheerleading team, having never cheered before. I was a flyer for stunts and baskets and a mid-layer for pyramids and competed in 2018 at the NCA College Nationals in Daytona. I caught on to high-level stunting very quickly given my background in gymnastics and ability to understand the fundamentals of body positioning, twisting, setting, weight distribution, stability, control, conditioning, and safety. I have experience with simple skills -- switch up, half up, full up, tick tocks, arabesque -- as well as more elaborate stunts -- roundoff up, rewinds, back handspring up, handstand up -- and combinations of those mentioned with twisting or flipping dismounts. Next, I have experience with collegiate-level pyramids, such as 1-1-1 full around and rewind up, 2-2-1 shoulder split and Swedish fall, A-frames, and other creative variants. Finally, I have experience with basket tosses, ranging from a simple back tuck to full-twisting and arabian baskets.

Then, missing dance, I transitioned to the Mercer University Dance Team. I routinely performed for football games and men's and women's basketball games, often doing acro skills during the dances.

There is no more important place to begin than with a warm up! Even if the athlete tells me they've already warmed up, I still begin with a warm up. Simply so I can see it with my own eyes! Warming up properly is essential to happy, injury-free athletics. I always do the warm up with the athlete so they know exactly what to do and start off the lesson with immediate connection.

Then, I focus on what the athlete's goals are and set the expectations for the day. Since every athlete is unquestionably unique, I run each session tailored personally to that individual athlete and their individual needs at that point in time. I enjoy incorporating games - like spelling I LOVE GYMNASTICS with no-wobble full-turns - and incentives - like picking the next conditioning exercise or a one-minute dance party!

I always end the session with a five-minute cool down and stretch, which is, again, essential to happy, injury-free athletics. I specifically use this time to connect with my athlete about how they felt about the lesson, what they would like to achieve next time, what to work on at home until the next lesson, and anything else the athlete would like to share with me.

Conditioning is not typically a part of the lesson unless training for a specific goal or specifically asked for! I ALWAYS give conditioning and flexibility homework as something to do EVERY DAY! <3

Finally, I summarize the lesson in a concise way and communicate with parents directly after. I "score" skills, flexibility, and conditioning on a scale of 1-5 and keep detailed progress of the athlete's scores over time to see progress. I believe it is always beneficial for the athlete to be present during conversations with the parents, if possible, as it promotes honest, positive communication between the three parties.