Do all gyms have certain coaches that choose to only work with certain girls?

[misshoneybee]

I am just wondering if every gym has certain coaches that really only give most of their time to a select group of girls? Or do some gyms give equal amounts of time and resources to every gymnast and are they in the minority?

 

[gymgal]

I'm not sure if you mean it this way, but dd's gym has coaches who work only with certain levels. There are rec and team coaches and they rarely cross over with the exception of the developmental program, where many of the girls are expected to make it to team. And even within team, certain levels are more apt to get more time with certain coaches than the lower levels. But I dont think it has to do with a coach preferring a level. It has more to do with those levels needing a higher level of expertise.

 

[misshoneybee]

I should probably clarify myself - what I mean is that if you have a group of L5's and the gym's best beam coach picks only a few girls to work with and leaves the others to work sort of on their own - so the coach shouts instructions or critiques them from afar - yet his real focus is only a small group of girls. So basically what happens is that the L5's are not getting equal time, support, or spotting from the coach. Which kind of leaves them hanging and they feel badly.

 

[bogwoppit]

I should probably clarify myself - what I mean is that if you have a group of L5's and the gym's best beam coach picks only a few girls to work with and leaves the others to work sort of on their own - so the coach shouts instructions or critiques them from afar - yet his real focus is only a small group of girls. So basically what happens is that the L5's are not getting equal time, support, or spotting from the coach. Which kind of leaves them hanging and they feel badly.

Well if my dd was in the left alone group week after week I would be asking questions. If this group changes weekly then it is just a coaching style.

Some of today's threads have me wondering what goes on in some clubs.

 

[misshoneybee]

yeah, my daughter is in the left alone group week after week. can't figure it out. I talked to another gym today and they said their philosophy is that every gymnast gets an equal opportunity and equal time with all of the coaches. they don't believe in having subgroups that are by invitation only within the regular training time/session. I thought that was just the way it was in all gyms. But after the conversation with a different gym today I realized "hey...maybe there are gyms out there that have a plan that is more fair, etc.".

Curious as to what others say too.

 

[Galadriel]

my dd coach DOES work more with certain gymnasts.
She will work with all of the girls but will definitely put more effort with some girls.
There are the ones that she can see are REALLY trying hard, and are paying attention to corrections and are highly focused.
Not just the most talented. Her favourites are the hard workers and that goes the whole talent spectrum.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[MaryA]

We came from a gym where certain coaches played favorites (that was one among many issues I had with the gym). Now we're in a gym where that isn't an issue. I honestly NEVER worry about that any more. I trust these coaches completely. I honestly believe that they want EVERY gymnast to acheive her full potential, not just the super-stars. When we switched, I felt like a weight had been lifted off me.

 

[Deanna]

It is kind of hard to answer this question. I too would be upset if my DD was ALWAYS left to work by herself.
But, at DD gym, they deal with each child individually. Some kids need a more hands on, quieter approach from the coach. Some kids work better with the whole.."show me what I need to do then send me on my own to work on it" approach. With the coaches keeping an eye on them too..but not right there by their side. Some kids need to be treated a little more gentler than others.
My daughter works best if she is shown a few times how to do it properly..with spotting...ect, then go and work on it herself. She doesn't do as well with the coach standing by her side. Thats just my DD. Also, my DD is better dealt with in a gruffer manner. (she is like this at home too..my son is the oposite...you have to deal with him in a quieter, gentler mode). Case in point with DD. They were getting ready for State. And her coach said to her, when they were working her floor routine....Kadee if you take more than three steps before you hurdle into the ROBHS one more time..you might as well put your boxing gloves on and meet me in the parking lot, because we are fixing to fight. Now of course she wasn't going to take her in the parking lot and fight her..but..it got her point across to my DD. Another example...last year DD fell off of beam during her mount (of all things..lol)..flipped under the beam..where she was holding on for dear life..and banged her forearm on the support under the beam. (should have got extra points for that skill..it took talent..lol). Anyway..the judge was telling her she didn't have to go on..just salute and walk away. (DD had a big scrape on her arm..and ended up with a nasty bruise). But her coach..convinced her to get back up there and finish her routine. (she made it seem like it was DD idea...but she planted that seed). Because for DD at that moment in time..what she needed was to get back up there and face it in that moment. Because if she waited..it would only compound her fears. Other girls in the same situation they would have let salute and walk away..because for them, the best would be to just relax and face it another day.
My point is...that each child is delt with in their own way. The way that works best for that child. And they do tend to "clump" the ones that are similar together. Because it's easier to focus on each one they way THEY need to be delt with.
If your child is always being left out. And she isn't mastering skills. She is obviously falling behind the others..then there is an issue at hand. Otherwise, trust the coaches to coach. That's what we pay them for, right? lol

 

[wallinbl]

The girls are broken up into groups partly on skill level and partly on effort level. The "higher" end group will get more work accomplished in a rotation than the other groups. But, they're not screwing around, so they're not losing as much time. While the girls are broken up into groups, they're broken up by the number of coaches at the practice and each group is always with a coach. So, they're getting the same amount of coaching time, but there is a disparity between what they get to work on. If you're perpetually in the screwing around group, you'll fall behind. The groups aren't fixed in stone, and they do change some from week to week, so the group you're in is partly your own choosing.

 

[step15]

I have a similar thing happening. Check my post out in the "Just need to vent?" forum. My issue is that the coach is spending most of his time on ONE GIRL and little time on all the other girls, including mine. People have suggested that I contact the owner of the gym about it, which I will most likely have to do. You could probably do the same thing regarding your problem. If you are like me, you probably want to stay at the gym and get a resolution, rather than have to leave.

 

[gymgurl]

Well, our coach is more a stand and observe kind of coach and will spot you if you need it, this way she sees everyone for a while. At the moment we are very close to comp season and she does focus on some people more but those are the people who haven't quite got the skills they need. THere are some people that get less attention but these are the people who don't try as hard. I guess now I think about it she chooses where she needs to be like the other day, me and my friend were working on full twists into the pit for done of the first times while everyone else was doing back tucks on tramp so she decided that me and my friend needed the attention more due to the skill.

 

[rsm]

That is not the case with any of the coaches at DDs gym. At all levels they seem to give all girls an equal chance to work each skill. Some girls would require more spotting or corrections than others, but they would usually get a chance to correct the next time around. DDs coach in particular gives each girl the same level of attention. She may take a little longer if someone isn't getting a skill to just spot them through it, but otherwise everyone gets pretty much equal time.

 

[misshoneybee]

Thanks for your replies. I don't think there is anything wrong with spending more time with one kid on any given day, etc. or spending time on the children that are working the hardest and not fooling around, or even spending time with a child that shows promise....it is all good to me. It is human nature to do things like that. But.....

In our current gym, one coach spends all of his time with one girl, every day of every month. The other girls wait their turn and then do their routines, albeit badly, with no input from the coach. I found out today that my daughter taught herself her fly away without any help from anyone. I think a coach ran over and spotted her at the last minute. She said she has taught herself all of her skills and doesn't get any tips, tricks or spotting from anyone. It is sad because she works so hard, shows up and for the money that I pay, she deserves some help and coaching now and then! Not to mention I am very concerned about the safety of my daughter.

 

[AGM78910]

My 2 cents

Thanks for your replies. I don't think there is anything wrong with spending more time with one kid on any given day, etc. or spending time on the children that are working the hardest and not fooling around, or even spending time with a child that shows promise....it is all good to me. It is human nature to do things like that. But.....

In our current gym, one coach spends all of his time with one girl, every day of every month. The other girls wait their turn and then do their routines, albeit badly, with no input from the coach. I found out today that my daughter taught herself her fly away without any help from anyone. I think a coach ran over and spotted her at the last minute. She said she has taught herself all of her skills and doesn't get any tips, tricks or spotting from anyone. It is sad because she works so hard, shows up and for the money that I pay, she deserves some help and coaching now and then! Not to mention I am very concerned about the safety of my daughter.

We noticed this sort of thing happening with a coach that was new to our gym that coached optional beam and floor. My DD said she picked out a few girls from the team and focused all of her attention on them, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. The girls would ask for corrections and would occasionally get her attention. This went on for 2 months right before meet season. I made a point to watch practice multiple times and I found that in an hour long beam rotation, she spent 90% of her time on her chosen girls. Needless to say, the first meet was a disaster with scores in the 6s for all the girls she ignored, the "chosen few" got high 9s. I spoke to the head coach and the gym owners who were very apologetic and promised to correct the situation. I pointed out that I paid the same as the rest of the parents and my kid should get equal time. Nothing changed, next meet, same problems. She came up to me with the score sheet, thrust it into my hand and walked quickly away, not giving me the chance to speak to her. I spoke with the HC and owners, but she had them over a barrel because meet season was underway. My DD was devastated by her scores on beam and floor. Every time I attempted to speak with the coach she would walk away from me and talk to another parent. I would have pulled DD out mid season except that the HC was wonderful on beam and bars and my DD had a lot of faith in him. I finally had enough and when I got the opportunity to speak with her personally I was pretty annoyed. She had nothing to say in her defense and even agreed with me. She soon left, taking her girls with her, which was the plan all along.
Happy to say, with a new coach, meet season was saved. DD and the other girls came up 2-3 points on her beam and floor scores.

 

[jackswwagar]

I don't think so that this happens in every gym but it may be possible in few gyms. It may be because of their coaches who had bad eyes on girls.

 

[3rd_time_around]

"She soon left, taking her girls with her, which was the plan all along.". Ugh! That drives me crazy!!!!!!!!! But in all seriousness, did you find it was better once they were gone? I've noticed how that seems to happen.

And to stay on subject our coaches do event coaching for the most part. This has worked beautifully, and the girls get fresh eyes on them at each event.

 

[Bajanswife]

That is not the case with any of the coaches at DDs gym. At all levels they seem to give all girls an equal chance to work each skill. Some girls would require more spotting or corrections than others, but they would usually get a chance to correct the next time around. DDs coach in particular gives each girl the same level of attention. She may take a little longer if someone isn't getting a skill to just spot them through it, but otherwise everyone gets pretty much equal time.

Same here for normal training.

An example of when not all of them may be working with her is if they are working on cartwheels on the low beam and she is spotting the high beam, and only girls who stick 3 in a row on the low beam can come to her - not all the girls may achieve that. Or she may require a certain number of cartwheels before she will allow a girl to come and work on back walkover with her. That's more of a motivator - those girls try darned hard to get a turn with the coach! An exercise like that might only happen in the last 30 minutes or so of training, and those who don't get to go to the coach were working hard on a specific thing anyway and weren't ready to move on, so it's not like they were missing anything.

I have never seen our coach being selective normally.

 

[LizzieLac]

All of our girls are expected to some work on their own, but no one is left by themselves repeatedly and not receiving corrections. I do think that coaches may give a little more "coaching" attention to the gymmies that work harder, complain less, goof off less, etc. I can understand this.

Your situation sounds a bit like favoritism (another thing which I think happens at times and it human nature). However, if it were blatant and affecting my DDs development, I would say something.

Good luck!