Sometimes LESS is MORE.
At a recent competition I saw 2 coaches working with a group of Level 5 gymnasts on vault. There was SO MUCH coaching going on I am surprised the gymnasts could even function.
Both coaches spot all vaults.
Gymnasts does a Vault, Looks at Coach #1
Coach #1– Are you awake? You almost hit your back. Run faster and pop off.
Coach #2- Seriously Emma, Hit the Board
Emma starts walking away
Coach #2– Move your steps back
Next Gymnast vaults- looks at coach #1
Coach #1- You guys need to stop fooling around down there. You looked like a banana.
Coach #2- Do you realize that this is a big meet? You are not going to beat anyone with a vault like that. Swing your arms
Next Gymnasts vaults (and does hit her back on the table)- looks at coach #1
Coach #1– You just landed on your back. You need to Pop
Coach #2– (rolls her eyes) C’mon, you need to get going. Try running faster.
This goes on for the rest of their allotted warm up time. By each gymnasts third vault in warm up the kids don’t even look at their coaches. They just do their vault. Pretend to listen and walk back. These two coaches were relatively young and inexperienced. One thing is for sure, THEY ABSOLUTELY CARE ABOUT EACH ONE OF THEIR GYMNASTS AND WANT THEM TO GET BETTER. They just don’t know how.
A Great gymnast may be able to 1 or 2 corrections in a vault. An 8 year old Level 5? Realistically, MAYBE 1.
Here are some quick guidelines for effective coaching
-KEEP IT SHORT and SIMPLE. As a general rule, take a child’s age and put that in seconds. That is the amount of time you have to give a correction. (an 8 year old = 8 seconds. ALL BOYS ARE 5).
-GIVE A CORRECTION NOT AN OBSERVATION. Telling a gymnast she looks like a banana is an observation. Telling her to squeeze her butt and stomach is a correction.
– PRAISE THEM WHEN THEY MAKE A CORRECTION. The best example is that if you tell a gymnast to “run faster” and they do. They will probably mess up their steps. Praise them for making their correction. Then fix the next step.
-DON’T POINT OUT THE OBVIOUS. Telling a gymnast she fell or that she landed on her back is OBVIOUS. They know that already. Give them a correction.
-DO YOUR WORK BEFORE YOU GET TO THE MEET. In other words. Be Prepared. As a coach you will be more relaxed. Your gymnasts will be more relaxed. Meets will be fun.
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This is a funny situation to me because I definitely “understand” what those coaches are going through. You get to a meet, and (suddenly or maybe not suddenly) the girls aren’t doing what you recall them doing in the gym. Then the pressure, emotions, etc., start overwhelming you, and your natural reaction is to start machine-gunning corrections at a kid because YOU feel YOU need to do something to fix it.
What I’ve observed over the years is a little cynical: younger/inexperienced (or even just insecure coaches at any age) start making these excessive corrections because they’re trying to save face themselves. Like they realize their kids aren’t doing very well and/or that they haven’t done the prep-work back in the gym to get their kids ready, and now they’re trying to look (for the other coaches at the meet) like it’s the kids’ faults, not theirs. The thought is, “I can’t just stand back and say nothing, that will look like I don’t know how to coach. Or it will look like that’s what I do all the time in the gym, and that’s why my kids are doing poorly right now.”
Maybe that’s too jaded, but I don’t think so. The ultimate point is that you should just “manage” at a meet, and save the coaching for the gym. You’re not realistically going to “fix” anything in the ten seconds you have to warm up.
J.A.O. makes some very good points and observations.
“The ultimate point is that you should just “manage” at a meet, and save the coaching for the gym. You’re not realistically going to “fix” anything in the ten seconds you have to warm up.”
We were all young and inexperienced coaches once. I am hoping that through this site we can make the whole sport stronger.
Completely agree with all of the points raised, over coaching is a real problem and not just at meets. It’s most evident when you have two or more coaches (often with large egos) each trying to get their opinion in, and that often happens in a normal training session.
I like the comments about tailoring the length of the feedback to the age of the gymnast, and along those lines I think coaches should also become more aware of the language they use when talking to young gymnasts. You can’t expect kids of any age to know the jargon that coaching texts use, and yet many coaches use this vocabulary when giving feedback. I’m always checking whether the gymnast has understood the correction, and if they don’t rephrasing it is not always the best option, try putting them through the shape or showing them it.
Is this just a problem at my gym or do other people notice this?