All great advice! I just wanted to let you know that there are coaches out there that truly care about their gymnasts and want to help them succeed in this sport! Best of luck to you and your DD.
How do you not hate this sport?
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D
Deleted member D3987
some coaches are legends in their own minds. and some are afflicted with ridiculopathy of the brain.
My younger dd competed on the gyms Rec team and had a great time. She wanted to move to "level" team, so she worked hard to get the skills. They almost didn't let her do lvl 4 because she didn't have a beam cartwheel down pat, and her bars were weak. She was L4 state vault that year, almost won beam and floor. Then she did Prep 1. She got 6s on bars, but did well otherwise (not spectacular). This year she went to lvl 5. Her bars were still weak, but we celebrated every score that didn't dip below 8. She was winning AAs at meets and most events. She was older--13--but she was doing pretty good. At the state meet, she did her bar routine (I thought it looked pretty good), but the score board was off and didn't flash her score. We had to wait it out. She was way across the floor and holding up her fingers--11111 1111!!! It was her first 9 EVER on bars! She was grinning so big! We go to awards and she is state champion!! Her first 9 and she wins state! But all those years of 6s & 7s, her coach focused on improving her skills and celebrating ANY score that was higher than the last time, and especially if it wasn't a 6. You should NOT put up with the coach hurting your dd that way. There is always hope of improvement and success with a hard-working, determined gymnast. Your child needs an encourager and coaches that believe in her.
You should NOT put up with the coach hurting your dd that way. There is always hope of improvement and success with a hard-working, determined gymnast. Your child needs an encourager and coaches that believe in her.So sorry to hear what your daughter had to endure. That would never be acceptable behavior from a superior of any kind. There are a lot of sound advise in this thread. I don't need to repeat them. Good luck.
Wow it totally seems like this is a gym/coach problem and NOT a gymnastics problem. Gymnastics is an extremely frustrating sport, and it always will be. The combination of the physical demands and the emotional/mental strength it takes makes it extremely difficult to succeed at a high level in gymnastics. But, no matter what level of natural ability your daughter has, its the enjoyment of the sport, and the will to keep going that takes a gymnast far in his or her career. The attitude of the gymnast often reflects the style of coaching, and while i do believe that the coaches are meant to push the gymnast, your coaches comments are completely unacceptable and rude. I highly suggest that you either call a coaches meeting and reveal the problems you have been having, or find another gym with a different perspective and coaching attitude. Although Harsh comments can sometimes be used to motivate the athlete, it seems to me that this situation needs to be dealt with a different way, and fast before your gymnast loses her love for the sport.
M
Magnificent7_Fan
Hi,
I am 29 and am just about to start gymnastics for the first time. Me, at 29, if I was told that, I would find another gym. I don't plan on going to the olympics, and that shouldn't matter. Im 29 and MY feelings would be hurt by those kinds of comments that I read. Who says stuff like that to a 10yr old( forgive me, I am new). But I think over the years, its not so much The Gym, but its The Coach that can make all the difference in the world. Just my two cents. Tell you daughter to smile cause she could kick my butt in this sport any day of the week, Im sure of it !
I am 29 and am just about to start gymnastics for the first time. Me, at 29, if I was told that, I would find another gym. I don't plan on going to the olympics, and that shouldn't matter. Im 29 and MY feelings would be hurt by those kinds of comments that I read. Who says stuff like that to a 10yr old( forgive me, I am new). But I think over the years, its not so much The Gym, but its The Coach that can make all the difference in the world. Just my two cents. Tell you daughter to smile cause she could kick my butt in this sport any day of the week, Im sure of it !
I don't know if this is relevant anymore, but thanks to my coaches who not only pushed me extremely hard but also supported me I have overcome tremendous doubts from coaches, parents (not mine!!), and judges and not only did I succeed in getting out of compulsory's I skipped level 6 and am now a level 8 training to compete level 9! All of these people had these doubts in me because I am extremely inflexible, and have been plagued throughout my career with back injuries, and numerous ankle injuries. I stuck to the sport I loved even though I wasn't the best at it, and my hard work is paying off. Even though she may not be the best now she can succeed in her own ways and be successful in this sport!! If I can do it anyone can do it! By the way, I have never gotten higher than an 8.975 on beam or bars. Everyone has their strengths I guess! Tell your daughter good luck in her future with this sport!
Sounds like the coaches have extreme expectations. We tell our girls: 9-10 is like an "A" in school, 8-9 is like a "B" in school, 7-8 is like a "C" in school. Teachers don't expect children to get straight A's...neither should coaches.
Gymnastics is hard enough...bad relationships with coaches only makes it that much worse.
Gymnastics is hard enough...bad relationships with coaches only makes it that much worse.
Even this is further than I would go, honestly.
A lot of this comes down to the philosophy of the coach and gym, but I don't want my students thinking of scores as a measure of their success as gymnasts at all.
Yes, there's a correlation (and a looser one than many people realize) between being a good gymnast and getting good scores, but the scores aren't the end goal; they're just something that happens along the way.
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Not an analogy that would have worked for us! my DD who was not unhappy with 7-8's would be devastated with a C in school, even one B would be very upsetting!
This was just a simple analogy for our girls to understand what gym scoring means. A "C" is average...not terrible. While scoring all 9's is wonderful, it's not the norm for a lot of kids. I meant that teachers expect a range of grades, so coaches should expect a range of scores....It's all about best effort! And personal progression. That's our motto
I went through 5 gyms, because my daughter was, stagnant in the one, I was told she wasn't ready to move up in another, was constantly picked on in another and so on! I finally ended up at a gym, where she started level 4 at 6 years, competed level 5 at 7 yrs, had tremendous skill and scored out of level 6 and went straight to level 7 and is 8 years old! My advise to you is, along with you leaving that gym, constantly converse with your daughter about how great she really is. Gymnastics is a very hard sport and she is special just because she can compete!
Switch gyms now!! And be sure to let the gym know WHY you are leaving! This is terrible and she's 10 and sounds like she's doing well in the sport!!!!!!!!!!
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Deleted member D3987
well...gym is harder than school. so i would say level 8 is high school, level 9 is graduate school, level 10 is a Phd. program and elite is...MMmmm...uhhhh...NASA!
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