Parents Balancing fun/strictness at Gym?

[Deleted member 18037]

Fun environment and a positive one are not necessarily the same thing.

As with most of life as things progress it gets more serious and harder.

And there is drudge, in the weeds, not fun stuff in every single aspect of life.

Folks who expect happy and fun all the time are in for a hard life in general.

Happy is a choice, to a large degree.

And at some point whatever you do is about internal reward, not external. There is satisfaction to be had in working hard and improving. If it is only about the external stimulation providing fun, that won't last long.

 

[duyetanh]

For my little, the daily 'grind' is fun.
And when I think to myself how much this is nuts, I remind myself of how I swam back and forth, back and forth, back and forth....and thought it was fun.
Clearly my child is as nuts as me.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

For my little, the daily 'grind' is fun.
And when I think to myself how much this is nuts, I remind myself of how I swam back and forth, back and forth, back and forth....and thought it was fun.
Clearly my child is as nuts as me.

But that is not nuts.

Its about what comes from within.

 

[AWGym]

Thanks all for the replies!!! I went and watched part of practice last night (something I never do), and I do have to say that their HC is pretty emotionless. Robotic-like, and definitely reminds me of the military. That said, their are 4 other coaches in the gym (ODD has been around before this HC switch) and they all are very expressionable and joke around with the kids every now and then. Esp the two younger ons (mid 20s). ODD did a lot of basics....tons of forward/backward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, more cartwheels, different variations of cartwheels, etc. She didn't actually get into tumbling her optional passes until the last 10-15 minutes and she only got a few turns in before they were about to rotate. Same with vault....tons of running drills, then TONS of board drills (25 minutes worth), finally some front-handspring drills, and then finally over the actual table at the very end. I didn't see the other two events.

So I think it's more that she doesn't want to UP-train....more that she's bored of the little stuff and wants to train her own level stuff.

I talked to ODD after practice, I asked her if it was her HC that made gymnastics boring, or the repetitive drills every day. She said a combination of both, that if her HC was fun, the drills would be more fun. Or if her HC was the same, and they actually worked on more of their competing skills then gym would be better. She said she doesn't think she's going to be ready for comp because she barely works on her own level skills, except on beam.

On the other hand, YDD has settled in nicely and is going to compete L3 for the first time this year. She is excited, so I'm not going to move gyms. I think ODD needs to decide if this is the sport for her or not. Talent wise, I think yes. She hangs in with the "big girls" nicely, skill wise. But definitely not as tunnel-vision focused as them. So we will see.....

 

[Deleted member 18037]

did a lot of basics....tons of forward/backward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, more cartwheels, different variations of cartwheels, etc. She didn't actually get into tumbling her optional passes until the last 10-15 minutes and she only got a few turns in before they were about to rotate. Same with vault....tons of running drills, then TONS of board drills (25 minutes worth), finally some front-handspring drills, and then finally over the actual table at the very end. I didn't see the other two events.

So I think it's more that she doesn't want to UP-train....more that she's bored of the little stuff and wants to train her own level stuff.

It is exactly those basics and drills that are required to raise their game and have up the level of success the team is having.

Our girls spend very little time, especially in the summer doing their meet routines in total. They spend tons of time doing parts, perfecting a leap, or a turn, a tumbling skill. And tons of drills. Just Blocking and the like. Breaking down and drilling parts of those skills. Taking things one section at a time. As meet season gets closer then it gets put together. And when they are focused on coregraphy they don't even do any tumbling. They walk/run for the tumbling passes and get down to the nitty gritty of the coreography.

That is what is getting your team, results. And she will see the fruit of that labor as the season gets closer and she starts putting it all together.

And when the season starts it will be all about just her level and that will be repetitive as well.

 

[Sasha]

It is exactly those basics and drills that are required to raise their game and have up the level of success the team is having.

^^^ This 10000 times.

This is gymnastics at the optional level. It is going to take a mindset shift, as it seems your daughter moved quickly and is used to a quicker pace in the early levels, coupled with less focus on basics from former coach (and lower team scoring as a result). Believe me, I went through this as a new parent wondering why my kiddo training Level 4 a couple years ago wasn't doing the ROBHSBT that I knew she could do, and was instead doing a zillion RO-fall back on a mat, endless cartwheel-steps-ins, and yes, zillions of running drills... Well, it paid off in spades. And continues to pay off. But I totally went through that phase of worry and had to make mindset shift myself. I totally get it.

If your daughter wants to achieve polished skills (and the competitive scores that come with it) at the optional level, this is what it will take. If it's not a fit for her, completely OK! There are programs (like Xcel) and gyms that will have a different focus.

When season comes, she will get plenty of time to 'do the skills', worry not But those drills ARE making her better! They are the key parts to the whole! She needs to believe that and buy into it 100%, so that is something you can help her with if she hasn't gotten there yet.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I am also thinking that when they make mistakes they get corrections. Not necessarily "chewed out" but I don't know your gyms coaches.

Our coaches are not going to say good job either for mistakes. They will give them corrections. Doing it OK, is not necessarily cause for good job either. Its just Ok.

Our kids aren't perfect so they get a lot of corrections

Good jobs might be for hard work during conditioning.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Obviously outstanding basics are important but there is no point having amazing basics if you have no gymnasts.

One big thing that many coaches forget is that competitive gymnasts are still kids. They are often mature beyond their years, but they are still kids. No matter how serious their training is, they really are still there because they enjoy it. Gymastics is not school, there is no law requiring there to be there gymnastics is not a job they are not being paid to be there.

The ultimate goal in gymnastics is not in winning those competitions. With all the hours the kids put in those moments of winning gold and few and far between. In the long run, the purpose is not even to master all those skills. Once they stop doing gymnastics, they will never do most of what they have learned again.

They joy needs to be in the process of learning. The idea that when kids enter team, the fun should end is ridiculous. Great gymnasts love what they do and great coaches have positive, exciting training sessions.

 

[twinmomma]

Obviously outstanding basics are important but there is no point having amazing basics if you have no gymnasts.

One big thing that many coaches forget is that competitive gymnasts are still kids. They are often mature beyond their years, but they are still kids. No matter how serious their training is, they really are still there because they enjoy it. Gymastics is not school, there is no law requiring there to be there gymnastics is not a job they are not being paid to be there.

The ultimate goal in gymnastics is not in winning those competitions. With all the hours the kids put in those moments of winning gold and few and far between. In the long run, the purpose is not even to master all those skills. Once they stop doing gymnastics, they will never do most of what they have learned again.

They joy needs to be in the process of learning. The idea that when kids enter team, the fun should end is ridiculous. Great gymnasts love what they do and great coaches have positive, exciting training sessions.

^^^^^^^ a million times THAT.

 

[Sasha]

The idea that when kids enter team, the fun should end is ridiculous.

??

No one said this.

My kid is having the time of her life with coaches who are more strict than fuzzy. If it wasn't fun, of course she wouldn't do it anymore.

??

 

[Sasha]

I think people are arguing over the word 'fun' here, as it means something different to different people.

And if I'm interpreting correctly, some parents commenting here value or prefer a more "upbeat", traditionally "American" (not sure about Australian ) atmosphere with a good dose of fist bumps, smiles, games, "good jobs!" and the like. Perfectly OK!! Everybody's gotta find their fit in what feels the like best atmosphere for their child. By all means!!

I'm not personally arguing that an atmosphere above is "bad" in any way. In fact I like the occasional games and fun days at our gym (as stated earlier). I am just saying that those specific kinds of qualities from a coach or program are not, in my opinion, necessary nor sufficient in order for a child to enjoy what is, in reality, a long, slow, arduous process of learning optional level gymnastics. Ultimately the fun - or enjoyment if you will - of gymnastics needs to come from a place inside oneself - the intrinsic reward of accomplishment through one's own hard work and overcoming challenges.

Our coaches are not super smiley and high-five-y. Kids are treated respectfully, but receive blunt corrections in a neutral to stern tone. Verbal praise such as "Good" is reserved for something actually good (or at least high effort). I don't see coaches smiling super often in practice (sometimes). They are taking their job seriously and giving concentrated attention to each athlete.

Occasionally there is something like a crazy sock day. The girls like it. I like it.

But if our gym stopped crazy sock day? I would not immediately quit the program due to lack of 'fun'.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

??

No one said this.

My kid is having the time of her life with coaches who are more strict than fuzzy. If it wasn't fun, of course she wouldn't do it anymore.

??

^^^^ this

There is also a difference between fun and being entertained.

I hate to run, it is not fun to me. My husband likes to run, it is fun to him. No coach on the planet could make running fun for me. My husband doesn't need a coach to make running fun.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

The ultimate goal in gymnastics is not in winning those competitions.
.

Except not all parents and coaches get that.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Except not all parents and coaches get that.

And adding don't kid yourself.

Those young ladies and their coaches at the Olympics this week, they may be having fun. But they are there to win. They want to win.

 

[dani4]

It's tough. I can see all the points raised in this thread. My daughter's coach is not a very smiley upbeat person, but she motivates the kids by providing appropriate challenges - maybe this is lacking. It's one thing to assign 100 cartwheels (when the gymnasts are already competing higher level skills). But it's another to be able to make 100 cartwheels an interesting challenge. I think my daughter's coach does that (though she is at a much lower level, so it's more like holding shapes). I have been rowing for a long time, and I have had coaches who get this and those who do not. We're adults, and we still need help to keep things interesting and learn more. The people who go on to be great can find their own motivation and still learn from uninspiring coaches. But the inspiring coaches still get the best results from everyone, if they can motivate the athletes to do all the repetition with gusto.