Um.. How do we ask a CB coach question?

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If I have a technical question specifically for coaches on CB, where do I post it??

As a parent, I've gained quite a bit of professional insight about the sport from reading posts on all the forums within CB. I for one am saddend that the coaches area is now closed to "outsiders". Respectfully, it seems like a step backwards. I've been turned away from a number of Gymnastic specific internet forums because i'm not a "professional coach". After all, it's the technical skills I want to learn and read more about. But.. apparently I must be a in-the-club to learn the secret handshake? Is that how it is? God forbid a nonprofessional learn the secrets of the craft.
Sad.
 
I'm putting my parent hat on (dd has made it impossible for me to take it off even for a second lately) as a coach if that makes any sense.

Personally I love this site, I love all the parents who let us into their world through gymnastics. I haven't posted much lately but I've been reading. Speaking for myself I'm always happy to answer any question thrown at me in a pm. Some parents already know that, it's been done before. My pm box is always open to any parent who feels comfortable asking me something.
 
To directly answer your question:
Post in the Q&A section with the "Question for Coaches" thread prefix.

I'll give a more complete answer later, when I have a bit more time to devote to it (if JBS or Bog doesn't beat me to it)
 
The Chalk Bucket - Announcements in Forum : The Chalk Bucket

The above post will answer your questions. I get where you are coming from Tim-Dad, but issues have arisen and we are trying something different. If it doesn't work out things can always change again. I think the question and answer forum will take over some of the old coaches forum duities and the coaches forum will become more of a coaching issues place.

GIve it some time and we will see how it goes, it is an experiment for sure and we mods certainly talked long and hard about this. We are hoping it helps all groups. The board has grown so much in the last few months since the Olympics and we need to find ways to manage some of the growing pains that are inevitable with such huge growth.

Bear with us....

Bog
 
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If I have a technical question specifically for coaches on CB, where do I post it??

As a parent, I've gained quite a bit of professional insight about the sport from reading posts on all the forums within CB. I for one am saddend that the coaches area is now closed to "outsiders". Respectfully, it seems like a step backwards. I've been turned away from a number of Gymnastic specific internet forums because i'm not a "professional coach". After all, it's the technical skills I want to learn and read more about. But.. apparently I must be a in-the-club to learn the secret handshake? Is that how it is? God forbid a nonprofessional learn the secrets of the craft.
Sad.

Tim_Dad....you are a very valued member here and I don't disagree with you on the "step backwards". However, I do believe that this step will allow us to take many more steps forward that were not possible before.

Technical info should always be posted in the "Technical Talk" or "Skills and Drills". The point of the private coaches forum is not to discuss scoring or freehip drills in private. We will make it a point to move these types of threads out of the coaches forum into the correct spot.

Please hang on for a few months and see if it works out. We truly believe that we are losing coaches due to the fact that we did not have a private forum for them. We are concerned that the board is being branded as a "parent" & "gymnast" site...which is what we want. However, we also want to be the board for "coaches".

In bringing more coaches to the site, it helps us realize our goal. More technical knowledge for everyone (because we have many public forums), and more coaches to get a taste of what parents go through in our sport.

Many times in our sport, parents seek ultimate knowledge of the sport. That is why this board was created. This site will give you ultimate knowledge. It will in no way hinder the gathering of technical knowledge.

The coaches groups is just a professional group to discuss matters that could possibly be sensitive. When a coach needs help, we don't want them to have to worry about the way they have to say it.

Not only are we here to help you, our hands are reaching out. When you are ready to join our world, we will shake your hand. There is no secret handshake...just a challenge.

Help out at your local club for a session or two, teach a intro boys or girls class. Join one of the most challenging, rewarding, and underpaid professions in the world. Become a coach, we have many parents here that have.
 
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knowledge as power

Hi, I am a parent with two children in competitive gymnastics in a country with a very small gymnastics community. Gymnastics is not broadcast on television (except for the olympics) and most information I have gleaned comes from the internet. Our club allows parents to watch only 4 training sessions per year and the coaches speak a foreign language, so it is difficult to learn what a particular technique or skill is about. For this purpose, I enjoy reading the coaches forum, also to understand a bit more of what gymnastics is about. I believe that the only way to grow the sport of gymnastics is by sharing knowledge. I am sure I would probably be interested in being a coach at some time, if I knew what it was all about :)
 
Hi, I am a parent with two children in competitive gymnastics in a country with a very small gymnastics community. Gymnastics is not broadcast on television (except for the olympics) and most information I have gleaned comes from the internet. Our club allows parents to watch only 4 training sessions per year and the coaches speak a foreign language, so it is difficult to learn what a particular technique or skill is about. For this purpose, I enjoy reading the coaches forum, also to understand a bit more of what gymnastics is about. I believe that the only way to grow the sport of gymnastics is by sharing knowledge. I am sure I would probably be interested in being a coach at some time, if I knew what it was all about :)

Wow...welcome to the site sporty. I can't believe they only allow you to watch 4 practices per year.

As stated above we are very happy to have you here. You must become a coach to know what it is all about. Don't wait...become a coach and you will learn.
 
"The coaches groups is just a professional group to discuss matters that could possibly be sensitive. When a coach needs help, we don't want them to have to worry about the way they have to say it."

I feel the same way when I post in the parent forum. I sometimes have to leave out personal detail when asking or answering a question because they are sensitive and I will not risk having my DD kicked out of a gym program due to something I posted on the internet. That said, I'm not crying about it.

I sometimes read the Coaches forum and it has helped me to understand their side of things. Before reading in their forum I just thought that coaches were a secretive group who don't have or understand kids and parenting, are lousy administrators and just threaten to throw you out if you 'say something', want to discuss 'their' behavior or have questions about the safety of your child and a certain coach (their insurance issues tend to get a hot response)

Oh well, I guess we'll just have live with the pink wall of silence.
 
Thanks all for the quick replies. I can understand the reasoning, I guess. It just appeared at first glance that CB was going to become yet another closed board when it comes to reading the thoughts of coaches. I'm glad to read that board isn't going in THAT direction. Frankly, sometimes coaches discuss things that I wouldn't think of ever questioning. Reading these thoughts is how I as a parent learn.

Just a little background, often whenever I ask very specific technical questions at our gym, the coaches tend to side-step the question completely, symbolically pat me on the head, tell me to be a good dad and sit quietly. It's just so frustrating. I don't want to coach my daughter, but I do want to understand what's the proper way, and what's not. I don't want to guess. I just want to learn what's right from an authoritative source. Heck, even some of the conditioning books I'm reading highlight that the information is for coaches and gymnasts, worded in a way that makes it seem like i'm just trying to learn a magician's trick.

Bottomline, I guess I'm getting tired of being scolded and blocked for wanting to become more educated about the sport. I sincerely hope the idea works out as planed and explained and we attract even more coaches that are as willing as CB coaches have been to answer our questions.
 
There will never come a time here when coaches do not have the time to discuss and answer anyones questions. Those duscussions will just now not be in the coaching forum. AS JBS said any post that will be better in the public forum will be moved there.

We really will not be encouraging the pink, or if you use the original black, wall of silence. We are all here for the same and different reasons.

We won't be scolding anyone, ever, unless you're a really bad boy. LOL
 
The point of the private coaches forum is not to discuss scoring or freehip drills in private.

This begs the question - What is the point of a private coaches forum? Is it safe to say that the popular by invite coaches only forum (forget the name of it) is a raucous place where coaches can gossip and dish on parents and gymnasts freely without any prying eyes or differing points of view. Do we really want that here?

Like Tim Dad, I'm also getting tired of the closed, condescending and heavy handed world of coaches.
 
I have to agree with the TDs(or maybe TD2s). What is one of the major complaints parents and gymnasts have regarding gyms they are at or ones they've left? Lack of communication!!! That was one thing that attracted me to this board to start with. Could read parent issues, gymnast issues, coaching issues. Yes, some topics in the coaching forum really opened my eyes to "the other side." Reading posts by coaches helped me understand some of the issues and problems they face.

Personal opinion is the internet is not the place to discuss "highly sensitive issues"---blocked or not. Many of us have limited time when we log on---parents, coaches etc. Now, we will have to post a question in the Q & A and hope a few coaches have time to look there and respond---or scan through the technical forums to read about what is bring discussed there and if we leave a response then hope someone comes along to follow up on it.

I hope the plan for the future plays out and the moderators can find a way to make this all work. The approach, while meant to attract coaches, may alienate others.
 
Bottomline, I guess I'm getting tired of being scolded and blocked for wanting to become more educated about the sport. I sincerely hope the idea works out as planed and explained and we attract even more coaches that are as willing as CB coaches have been to answer our questions.

I hope the idea works also. If not, I am open to changing back. I would like to give this a few months to see how it is working out.

This begs the question - What is the point of a private coaches forum? Is it safe to say that the popular by invite coaches only forum (forget the name of it) is a raucous place where coaches can gossip and dish on parents and gymnasts freely without any prying eyes or differing points of view. Do we really want that here?

Like Tim Dad, I'm also getting tired of the closed, condescending and heavy handed world of coaches.

Coaches are paid to do a job...the point of the forum is to help them do their job better. To gossip...NO...to talk about situations that they need help with...YES.

I have to agree with the TDs(or maybe TD2s). What is one of the major complaints parents and gymnasts have regarding gyms they are at or ones they've left? Lack of communication!!! That was one thing that attracted me to this board to start with. Could read parent issues, gymnast issues, coaching issues. Yes, some topics in the coaching forum really opened my eyes to "the other side." Reading posts by coaches helped me understand some of the issues and problems they face.

Personal opinion is the internet is not the place to discuss "highly sensitive issues"---blocked or not. Many of us have limited time when we log on---parents, coaches etc. Now, we will have to post a question in the Q & A and hope a few coaches have time to look there and respond---or scan through the technical forums to read about what is bring discussed there and if we leave a response then hope someone comes along to follow up on it.

I hope the plan for the future plays out and the moderators can find a way to make this all work. The approach, while meant to attract coaches, may alienate others.

Good point. This site was created to help with the lack of communication.
 
Here's how I see it;

Discussions of technique, drills, the ins and outs of the code, etc, should be in the Q&A and Drills and Skills sections of the forum. I have no problem with sharing my technical knowledge with parents.

The problems arise when other coach issues come up; suppose we need advice on how to deal with a problem child (or problem parents), or dissagreements with gym owners, or something like that. These are areas where we, as coaches, can really benefit from sharing experiences and discussing what has worked and what hasn't. However, these are definitely NOT things that should be broadcast where all our students and their parents can read them.

This, in my mind, is what the private coaches forum is for.

We do not intend to shut you out and prevent you from learning the techniques and philosophies behind our coaching; I still intend to share those, and I hope all my fellow coaches do as well.
 
The problems arise when other coach issues come up; suppose we need advice on how to deal with a problem child (or problem parents), or dissagreements with gym owners, or something like that. These are areas where we, as coaches, can really benefit from sharing experiences and discussing what has worked and what hasn't. However, these are definitely NOT things that should be broadcast where all our students and their parents can read them.

This, in my mind, is what the private coaches forum is for.

But what about parents who need advice on how to deal with a problem coach or gym owner? Should they not deserve their own private forum to discuss those issues in private?

I understand why coaches want a private forum. But what I don't understand is why one group deserves one and the others do not.

We do not intend to shut you out and prevent you from learning the techniques and philosophies behind our coaching; I still intend to share those, and I hope all my fellow coaches do as well.

I hope so too. But it appears as if all the former threads in the coaches forum, which were posted with full knowledge that they were going to be viewed by everyone, are now blocked so we can't see them anymore. If the intent was not to shut people out, why were people shut out?

The old coaches forum should be put back and locked down so people can read it but not post to it, and the new coaches forum should be created if the powers that be insist on having one.
 

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