Concerns about coaches response to daughter injury ( not asking medical advise) :)

[mygymnastrocks]

During floor work, my daughters top of her foot hurt (right where the leg/top of foot is) Her one coach gave her an ice pack. While on beam I could see she was favoring it, but she still continued. I left the gym and came back to hear another coach yell, I'm not coach so and so, get that ice pack off. After practice I asked her about the one coach. She said, he asked her why she wasn't doing vault and she said, because my foot hurts. His response, if it's not the size of a grapefruit, it's fine. Now, he said this to another gymnast about 6 months ago and her ankle ended up being fractured. I asked my daugther to jump up and down to see if she felt anything today and she said it felt ok.. If she has anymore pain, I will have it checked out. I just want to know how you would handle this. I got advise from a gym friend of mine.. but just wanted to get feedback on what you all think.

Thanks

 

[emorymom]

I don't know. I see both sides of this.

 

[1sttimecoach]

As a coach, I see both sides. If any of my girls have any complaints of pain than I always ask them if they can continue. If not then I have then ice it for awhile then if they still feel they cant come back and practice then I have them condition. Unless the have broken limbs or any obvious injury then thay can condition areas that are not injured. After practice I always make sure to tell the parents what happened and how it was handled. In the end its the parents call. If you feel she shouldnt practice then let the coach know. Maybe she can work on something that wont affect her injury.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

A girl at my DD's gym had broken her foot on beam and was complaining about it for the entire rotation. One of the coaches actually made the comment "you are making my ears bleed". This coach felt really bad when the girl came to the next practice in a cast.

 

[cher062]

It's hard to comment one way or the other without being there when it happens. I've seen girls say something hurts when they get to events or skills they don't like or want to do only to be fine the rest of the practice. With no bruising, swelling etc I can see both sides too. But that coach needs to find a better way to respond. I would still take DD to the DR though even is she says she feels fine. It can't hurt to get things checked out before she feels pain again.

 

[coachmolly]

I think the response was a bit excessive. As a coach, if that situation were to present itself I would take into consideration the particular child (is she one to complain about every little thing, try to find a way out of less favorable skills/activities?) and respond accordingly. If it's a kid who generally does not complain and is a hard worker, I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt and let them ice for a little then ask them to do what they felt they were able, either some of the stations the other girls were doing or conditioning. If it was a child known to create injuries, complain constantly, or try to work her way out of activities that were hard, I might be a little tougher. If there were no visible signs of injury, I would probably encourage them to work through it for at least a few turns. If the complaints persisted I would probably send them to condition. Age should also be considered because growth issues can lead to pain for one reason or another in a lot of kids. So when working with age groups typically experiencing growth spurts, I try to take that into account.
But like other posters have said, it's hard to tell without being there and seeing the specific situation.

 

[gym law mom]

Unfortunately some coaches want to play doctor and don't listen to the kids and tell them to work through the pain etc. Now, I know there are some girls that will pull the "it hurts" when they get to a skill or whatever that scares them or they just don't like. Usually the coaches know who those kids are and should deal with them in a different way.

What I've seen coming out of the yelling, the tough it out approach to injuries is the girls stop telling the coaches about any injury. Coaches should know when a gymnast is in pain or physically can't handle a practice. I know at our gym, there has been an ibuprofen popping behavior with many of the optional girls. They are hurting, know coach won't listen so just self medicate to make it through practice. Not at all a safe practice. One girl that was doing this has had to retire from the sport due to a repeat stress fracture in her back.

I would talk with the HC about the coach minimizing your dd's injury. She could have been pulled aside and spoken with about how much pain she was in and where and then either told to sit with the ice or maybe try some lower impact drills. No child should be reluctant to tell a coach they are hurt.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

very reasonable ^^^

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

As a matter of principle, if any of my kids say they're hurting too much to do something, I assume they're telling the truth and that the injury is real. Better safe than sorry.

 

[mygymnastrocks]

Thanks everyone !! This is the first injury my daughter has had. Several years ago she had an issue with her elbow and I had it checked out, but it didn't stop her from practicing !! She hasn't been back to practice since this occurred. She goes tomorrow, so I will keep an eye on her.
I appreciate everyone's replies, it's appreciated.