Quality Over Quantity

What Does Quality Over Quantity Mean? 

I have heard this saying a million times. I'm sure most people have heard this saying at least one time in their life. It's a pretty straight-forward saying and it means what it implies: the quality of work that you do is more important than the quantity of the work that you do. 

For example, I can make ten bar routines at practice with sloppy form that score a 8.0-8.5, go to the meet and hope that I can get a 9.0 on it. Or I can make one or two clean bar routines that score 9.0-9.5, go to a meet and know that I can get at least a 9.0 on it. What you practice is what you will perform. Practicing quality over quantity is what you will get at a meet, and vise-versa. The beauty of this practice is that the mind and body will start getting used to doing quality routines, so at some point I will be able to do 10 routines that score a 9.0-9.5 easily. Then maybe I want to raise my bar and start saying that a "quality" routine scores higher than a 9.5. Quality is relative and we can always make the quality of our performance better. 


How Do I Practice Quality Over Quantity?

The practice of quality over quantity starts at its most basic level. In gymnastics, it would be conditioning and strength. How can you expect to practice quality in your routines if you can't do it in your conditioning? In school, it would be homework. In order to practice quality in exams and assignments, you must practice it in your homework. 

Now don't get me wrong: quantity is also important, but risking your form for quantity is where most people go wrong. What I'm trying to say is to do the most you can do without risking your form. If you can do that, you're golden. However, trying to figure out this balance can be difficult. I find myself sometimes taking too many turns and eventually performing turns with bad form when I get tired. And it's also hard for me to tell myself to stop when I've got bad form and I feel like I can make it better. In both of these cases, I have to back up a bit and either stop or limit myself to the number of turns I should do. 


Why You Should Practice Quality Over Quantity:

Let me ask you: what does it mean to practice quantity? When you practice quantity, it is in hopes of making whatever you're doing, gymnastics, schoolwork, etc., better. The belief is that if you do enough numbers, then it'll get better. However, if you're practicing quantity and making the same mistakes, then you're actually making a bad habit. 

Practicing quality is quite the opposite. When practicing quality, we put numbers aside and focus on the quality of our work. Eventually, our bodies will remember what it feels like to do the skill correctly and we will be able to do more numbers without sacrificing form. With this technique, we create good habits that will last. 


Anika at a Mock Meet for Level 7.


Comment below what you practice and how it works out for you. Thanks for reading!

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