I have just returned from a training camp in Iceland. Problems which I thought were more North American are evidently more universal. The question I propose is:
Where are the coaches?
There seems to be a crisis in coaching. Who and where are prospective coaches being taught how to COACH and how to TEACH? Sport and Exercise science has replaced physical education in college and university programs with a curriculum heavy on the sciences and no emphasis on pedagogy, HOW TO TEACH. Over the past few months I have seen numerous examples of this. As a colleague in Iceland observed:
most young “coaches” today could not organize a drinking contest in a brewery.”
Being able to explain all the substrates involved in muscle contraction or knowing what genetic signals are being turned off or on may be important in the laboratory but in the gym it comes down to the ability to coach, to teach, organize and motivate.
That is fundamental pedagogy. Who is being taught that anymore? I am sure there are some great programs out there- please let me know what they are. The exercise science/wellness oriented college curriculums are turning out personal trainers, personal training is NOT coaching. Coaching is teaching, organizing, and leading. Coaching is knowledge of fundamental skills and how to teach them, it is understanding progressions and age appropriate training.
I had a coach once ask me, “Where did you get your first elite gymnast?” As if I were able to go into a store and pick out an athlete. Coaching at ANY level requires dedication, commitment & working until the job is done. It is not a two-hour a day proposition where you show up “coach” & leave. At the Elite level you need an all encompassing program. Thought needs to be given to every aspect of the program. But still 90% of coaching is grunt work & it is the grunt work that often determines success or failure. Coaching is something you are, not something you do. It is not for the faint of heart or dilettantes.
Just because you are “certified” does not mean you are prepared to coach. Most of the certification programs (and I teach a lot of them) require no proficiency in teaching. Most programs involve sitting in a classroom or gym for hours or days and looking at slides and video in a mind numbing exercise in futility. To be certified as a coach you need to show you can coach not just take a paper and pencil test. We must wake up and do something to rectify this. Coaching is the lifeblood of our sport. Just look at the alarming rate of injury in our sport at all levels, look at some of the poor fundamental skills at the highest level of sport, those trends did not happen by chance. The injuries and poor skills may be closely tied to the decline of trained coaches. All of you who care must take action. We all do training of younger coaches in our gyms. Take it beyond the skills and teach them how to teach and be a better communicator.
Go to your school boards and ask hard questions about who is coaching the children in the school system.
We can and must improve coaching because coaching matters. And coaches (like you) make a difference.
I think a better question would be “where are all the coaches that want to TEACH other coaches?”
I’ve been in a club for 5+ years, (and a great one at that, too) however in terms of learning from the headcoach, the chances were very slim. there was lots of “lip-service” and “yes, next time we will look at it together (and never do)” or “your gymnast has bent arms” – yes, I can see that…but can you help me correct the mistake? there was no formal or informal education.
so, of course, I moved on
only to find the same thing happen at a different club.
I am now looking to move to a third club (which is so incredibly frustrating….because the kids I coach are great)
Yes, I do my own professional education…..but why should I need to fork out $100’s for day courses, or spend tireless hours internet surfing, when the answer could be right in front of me….but never pointed out by a more experienced coach and a few words of wisdom.
Maybe the older coaches dont WANT to impart their knowledge for fear of “loosing” their job to the younger generation…and jobs are so hard to come by now.
many coaches of the sport start coaching at a young age….15-19yrs…. without proper guidance within their gyms, how are they supposed to learn how to manage a bunch of excited kids, when they are only kids themselves!?
the point is….before criticizing university courses … I think we have to encourage the CURRENT generation of coaches to impart their knowledge to the new generation.
I think every coach is trying to “make” the next amazing elite. Coaching for the rest is left to coaches who don’t have a vested interest in an athlete’s success. Many gymnasts coach themselves on a regular basis. I have been to several high-caliber gyms, gyms where gymnasts spend time at the Ranch, the head coach works with 3 or 4 girls, the other 20 – 30 get the occasional comment and that’s it. That’s at level 10. Great level 10s that go to Nationals. But once the decision is made that a gymnast isn’t going to be elite, either by her or the coach, she is brushed aside. I believe that is a big part of the safety and the poor skill form issue at the highest levels. Even among the elite, if the gym has a few, the focus is the 1 who may “go all the way”. The rest are made to feel inferior and worthless. They drop back to 10 and hope that they can hold on long enough to make it to college where they might be truly coached again.
I couldn’t agree more Tony. In my opinion teaching/coaching gymnastics has declined into a “cookbook” approach. What meal (trick) does the customer want? A back with a full twist?! Okay – check… ingredients? Step by step instructions?
This menu request – service approach makes me want to scream!
Yes. Gymnastics offers a variety of skills but it is insane to teach/coach with such an approach. Teaching well requires FAR more structure to be effective and lasting. It’s a simple case of not seeing the forest for the trees. Or rather focusing on trees – but having no inkling of the forest and all the incredible commonalities and relationships between all these “tricks.”
As coaches we need to make understanding gymnastics movements SIMPLER – and better illustrate the foundational movement patterns and applied laws of motion and effective biomechanics (IN LAYMAN’s TERMS) or we will limit how far our gymnasts can progress.
ChalkBucket was created to be a place of information and learning. There are really starting to be some good discussions on the site.
Your article is being discussed at the following link…
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/interesting-article-on-the-state-of-gymnastics-coaching.46301/
We would love for you to join in the conversation.
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JBS
I did a master’s program in physical education and coaching at Boston University. I took maybe two hard science courses and all the rest (except the one required research class) were either all about pedagogy or psychology (another important piece to understanding your athletes and knowing how to get results). I would highly recommend the program. There is also a full year of required practicum where students must be actively coaching for a minimum of ten hours a week in order to take part in the class.
Thanks Tony for addressing this important issue. Yes there is a challenge finding talented and skillful gymnastics teachers and coaches. Clearly, knowing gymnastics, even if you are talented, doesn’t qualify someone to teach. Teaching requires so much more which you detailed so well.
USA Gymnastics has, over recent years, done a lot to help by launching their University courses and workshops, and I’m proud to be a part of that organization and one of their University Instructors and course authors. But as you said, taking courses and certification programs helps, but is not the answer. Much more in the way of ongoing mentoring,
planning, video study and an understanding of the science behind the skill needs to be understood if our teachers are to be able to deconstruct challenges into achievable steps for their students to experience success and stay enrolled.
There are a lot of resources available and I would like to inform your readers of one that I’ve been working on over the last couple years called Smart Moves. It is an online curriculum and lesson planning system with 1400 skill progressions, drills, games and activities, each with a demonstration video. There are also 250 sequential lesson plans and the ability to edit, customize and load your own content. Readers can check it out at http://www.smartmoves.co.nz/sports/gymnastics. There is even a free 10 day trial available.
I’d also like to suggest that clubs put in place a mentoring program for students enrolled to prepare them for a teaching position when they are old enough to be employed. I wrote
an article about what we do at Fun & Fit Gymnastics called our “Teacher In Training Scholarship Program”. It appears on page 16 of the February 2013 issue of USA Gymnastics Technique Magazine and can be viewed at; http://legacy.usagym.org/publisheddecade/2010s/
See you at GymCon next month.
Jeff Lulla
Founder & President, Fun & Fit Gymnastics
Curriculum Partner, Smart Moves Curriculum & Lesson Planner