Apologies in advance. This is just something that has been bothering me for a while.
Lately I have been spending a great deal of time in gyms throughout North America and into Europe. No matter what gym I am in I hear the same complaints from coaches. “We would be better if we only had…. (insert name of piece of equipment)”
I am not giving myself a free pass. I have my wish list like everyone else. I just do not believe that it is the newest piece of equipment that is going to change gymnastics. I LOVE MY PITS, MY TRAMP, MY TUMBL TRAK. But the majority of the drills I use were drills that made me really break down skills and think around problems.
A brief history- I taught my first double back and full twisting double back with out a pit. I am a good spotter but I didn’t rely soley on spotting. I stacked mats, we did drills, I broke the skill down to its smallest parts and made sure they were solid before we moved on. I made sure the girls were strong enough to do the skill (and to take the inevitable bad landing). In the end, these gymnasts competed these skills successfully.
I am a far cry from the smartest coach. I over trained. I don’t think I developed a real systematic approach until about a decade after that first group. I picked the wrong skill for the wrong kid and wasted time. With time, I got smarter. More efficient. More organized. I spend hundreds of hours at conferences and clinics learning from the best gymnastics minds. I remember having the chance to analyze triple twists on floor on super 8 film (Thank you Don Tonry). I traded videos tapes (Yes VHS tapes- I am that old) with other coaches of skills and drills (Thank you USECA Video club for making that easier). As I tasted success, thanks to a group of very talented athletes, I started being a clinician at conferences.
I had two goals at every conference and every clinic.
#1 was to share what I could. To make the next generation of coaches job easier. Very few coaches are inventing skills. Someone has already done the work. Share the knowledge.
#2 to learn something every day. Each coach has unique situations that come up in training. If another coach shares something, possibly I can avoid that problem or at least know what to do if it does come up.
No matter how big your gym is, how much equipment you have in it, The most important piece of equipment in your gym is your brain. You need to organize and run a practice based on the needs of the group as well as the individuals. You need to be part of a team of coaches. No equipment will help you with those tasks.
Remember- you are NOT alone. Seek help. Offer help. Gymnastics is the most beautiful sport because of YOU.
Words of advice-
– Learn to fail quickly and move on
– Be a better communicator.
– Make corrections, not observations
– Remember: We are all in this together
Thanks for this rant! Im a head coach for a high school team who started out with only 4 years of high school experience myself, over a decade before! I love the sport and the team i coach wouldve dissolved had i not stepped in. We are self funded, and at the time i took over, the girls had been taught bad attitudes about why they were where they were- their school didnt care and wouldnt give them money, we cant do this that or the other thing because we no one cares, blahblahblah. So we dont have a pit-or new mats or… who cares?! It would be nice but what about those resi mats the track team uses for high jump? Maybe we can use those! The girls needed to learn how to see things differently to solve problems. For me, it was getting the girls to find some gratitude for what they did have and realize they had set their own limits. I heard alot of ‘we dont have (equipment), so we cant do this’.
Now its a few years later. Our small division II team is a top team in our conference and we had 2 girls go to state last year for the first time in 10 years! Ive also started a competitive team, only levels 2 and 3 right now, and its a blast! I continue to learn daily, as much as i can, and im so thankful for the coaches and resources available- the gymnastic coaching community is wonderful! I wish for things too- from equipment to affordable opportunities for clinicsand coaching camps- but not having those at hand hasnt stopped me from coaching! And the best part- the girls get great life lessons- no excuses, write your own story, the only limits are the ones you place on your own self…
So again, i say THANK YOU! For the rant- and so much more
Rebecca,
Great job thinking AROUND the problem. Keep the passion!
Tony