Parents Bringing in your own coach

[Ppgmom]

Hi,
Our gym s handbook says we can bring in our own coach for privates . Does anyone know where to find coaches for that? We lost the women's Optionals coach over the summer and still don't have one. The boys coaches that have never coached women before have been filled been filling and it is not going well. Boys corrections are different and have resulted in injuries. So I thought maybe bringing in someone in might
help

 

[GymDadWA]

Is there a "retired" coach or assistant coach that is still in the area that isn't working at another gym that would have time?

Is there a university nearby that has a gymnastics team, If their is maybe one of the girls on that team would be available for a few hours for privates.

 

[2G1B]

This is honestly really odd IMO. If they can't provide a coach for your child's level I'd be looking for a new gym. That being said, I'm not sure why corrections for boys would be different than for girls. My son has had many coaches who coache both girls and boys and has even had some great coaches choose to coach girls because really that is where the jobs are. The coaches would have to learn beam and a few changes with bars but really I'd think a high level guy's coach could transition to girls.

 

[MeetDirector]

Our gym s handbook says we can bring in our own coach for privates . Does anyone know where to find coaches for that? We lost the women's Optionals coach over the summer and still don't have one. So I thought maybe bringing in someone in might help

You are kidding, right? Your DD's optional team doesn't have a coach, has been using boy's coaches, and you want to bring in an outside coach for a private? All snarky-ness aside, I would be running to a new gym with a qualified staff as fast as my little feet would carry me. Training optional gymnastics is not something to be done with a set of boy's coaches or a outside coach during a private.

 

[Ppgmom]

There was one when we got there. He left in the summer so it was too late to change. . We kept being told we on the brink of a replacement. DD got a stress fracture in wrist on vault because she got a boys correction. She k we it was wrong but she had been trained never to question the coach. So she did it and sure enough she felt something . She had two and a half months just conditioning so mid November before she could work her way back. Score super low . I'm trying to find a way to salvage something from the season.

 

[skschlag]

This is honestly really odd IMO. If they can't provide a coach for your child's level I'd be looking for a new gym. That being said, I'm not sure why corrections for boys would be different than for girls. My son has had many coaches who coache both girls and boys and has even had some great coaches choose to coach girls because really that is where the jobs are. The coaches would have to learn beam and a few changes with bars but really I'd think a high level guy's coach could transition to girls.

I agree. Our head coach is helping with the girls now, and really it isn't that different.. (beam aside)

 

[skschlag]

There was one when we got there. He left in the summer so it was too late to change. . We kept being told we on the brink of a replacement. DD got a stress fracture in wrist on vault because she got a boys correction. She k we it was wrong but she had been trained never to question the coach. So she did it and sure enough she felt something . She had two and a half months just conditioning so mid November before she could work her way back. Score super low . I'm trying to find a way to salvage something from the season.

What correction did he give her that would be different for boys and/or girls?

 

[Ppgmom]

This is honestly really odd IMO. If they can't provide a coach for your child's level I'd be looking for a new gym. That being said, I'm not sure why corrections for boys would be different than for girls. My son has had many coaches who coache both girls and boys and has even had some great coaches choose to coach girls because really that is where the jobs are. The coaches would have to learn beam and a few changes with bars but really I'd think a high level guy's coach could transition to girls.

Males and females have different centers of gravity so they have to do skills differently.
It probably takes a while to learn how to coach the other gender and coaches do it all the time,

 

[Ppgmom]

Is there a "retired" coach or assistant coach that is still in the area that isn't working at another gym that would have time?

Is there a university nearby that has a gymnastics team, If their is maybe one of the girls on that team would be available for a few hours for privates.

Those are good ideas. Thank you!

 

[Ppgmom]

You are kidding, right? Your DD's optional team doesn't have a coach, has been using boy's coaches, and you want to bring in an outside coach for a private? All snarky-ness aside, I would be running to a new gym with a qualified staff as fast as my little feet would carry me. Training optional gymnastics is not something to be done with a set of boy's coaches or a outside coach during a private.
[/QUOTE
I was hoping to salvage the season a bit. It may be a waste of money and time. Only other option is to sit tight until April I suppose.

 

[bookworm]

I am appalled by this situation...there is nothing to "salvage" here as you are paying for your child to work out in a gym with unsafe coaching! She's been injured, they promised you a coach and nothing has materialized and the season has started , cut your losses and move to a gym with qualified JO coaches and put this debacle behind you.

Kind of amusing that they have a "handbook that says we can bring in a coach for privates " ... translation for that is , we got nothing but you're welcome to try and scrounge around and find someone. That would be a hard NO from me and we'd be done there.

 

[Ppgmom]

I am appalled by this situation...there is nothing to "salvage" here as you are paying for your child to work out in a gym with unsafe coaching! She's been injured, they promised you a coach and nothing has materialized and the season has started , cut your losses and move to a gym with qualified JO coaches and put this debacle behind you.

Kind of amusing that they have a "handbook that says we can bring in a coach for privates " ... translation for that is , we got nothing but you're welcome to try and scrounge around and find someone. That would be a hard NO from me and we'd be done there.

 

[txgymfan]

It’s an unsafe gym. You believe your child has been injured by following the coaches directions. Leave now and find a new gym or a new activity. Do not give your child a choice, do not pay the gym another dime.

 

[Ppgmom]

My daughter loves this gym .The friends, the one coach that can do a couple of events she feels is her gymnastic partner not her boss and she likes it that. The other day that coach suggest a change in her floor routine to something a bit more difficult, she got a couple of drills and nailed it on her first time. The smile on my DDs face was HUGE. She has had precious few moments of that experience where she was from. So it is going to be tough to extricate her.All the girls love it there because they are treated well. Hopefully this is a blip.

 

[skschlag]

My daughter loves this gym .The friends, the one coach that can do a couple of events she feels is her gymnastic partner not her boss and she likes it that. The other day that coach suggest a change in her floor routine to something a bit more difficult, she got a couple of drills and nailed it on her first time. The smile on my DDs face was HUGE. She has had precious few moments of that experience where she was from. So it is going to be tough to extricate her.All the girls love it there because they are treated well. Hopefully this is a blip.

SO they do have coaches? Just not the hc? Or is this still the boys' coach?

I still don't agree that a boys' coach cannot successfully coach the girls, as I have seen it done a LOT in our time in gym. (and stress fractures usually come over time, not a one time event..) It sounds like there are some positives for sure.

 

[bookworm]

Is this a USAG member gym or YMCA gym or just a big warehouse with mats and a couple of “coaches “ who can do a couple of events? It just doesn’t sound kosher to me from all my years in the sport ...

 

[txgymfan]

You expressed a SAFETY concern in your initial post. Optional gymnastics done in an unsafe environment can have catastrophic results. That’s alone is a reason to leave a gym. Friendships can be maintained outside of the gym.

If you believe that she is safe but not progressing then ask the owners for a timeline, set your own date for how long you are comfortable paying for this environment and make an exit plan. If you are not comfortable with the changes made by the date leave.

 

[Ppgmom]

SO they do have coaches? Just not the hc? Or is this still the boys' coach?

I still don't agree that a boys' coach cannot successfully coach the girls, as I have seen it done a LOT in our time in gym. (and stress fractures usually come over time, not a one time event..) It sounds like there are some positives for sure.

The Excels have 2, Compulsory 1, Boys . 2 The owner is HC and coaches preschool assists with Excel and Compulsory and coaches the Optionals when she isn't coaching all that. She is spread too thin. Floor and beam I think are covered by her. Although she physically unable to spot any event.One of the boys coaches wants to work tumbling with her but she refused because of what happened with the other boy coach on vault.One if the moms is a former gymnast who used to coach. She has been listening and observing. She said the instructions are just plain wrong. DD came home yesterday miffed that the boys coaches asked her how she should be spotted on a bar skill.
.

 

[Ppgmom]

Is this a USAG member gym or YMCA gym or just a big warehouse with mats and a couple of “coaches “ who can do a couple of events? It just doesn’t sound kosher to me from all my years in the sport ...

USAG Gym

 

[skschlag]

The Excels have 2, Compulsory 1, Boys . 2 The owner is HC and coaches preschool assists with Excel and Compulsory and coaches the Optionals when she isn't coaching all that. She is spread too thin. Floor and beam I think are covered by her. Although she physically unable to spot any event.One of the boys coaches wants to work tumbling with her but she refused because of what happened with the other boy coach on vault.One if the moms is a former gymnast who used to coach. She has been listening and observing. She said the instructions are just plain wrong. DD came home yesterday miffed that the boys coaches asked her how she should be spotted on a bar skill.
.

This still does not sound like a "boys' coach" issue. (full disclosure, I have a boy gymnast, and our coaches frequently help with the girls since their coach just quit. The girls love them. We have had many leave boys to only coach girls and be very successful. Even they say there is no difference in the instructions, and one of them has been coaching boys for 15 years. So, there is more going on here than boy coaches causing issues. It sounds like coaches there do not have good training in general)

Also, unfamiliar coaches should always ask how someone wants to be spotted. My son has had clinicians and high level coaches ask him that. That is perfectly normal, especially for an older gymnast. In addition, many coaches will give instructions differently, does not make them wrong. My son has had 2 coaches tell him how to do a skill 2 different ways. HE tried both and stuck with the one that worked for him. A girl's vault coach gave him a correction one time that was completely different from what his coach had said, and he nailed the vault. Sometimes it is just the way they say things.

I am sorry your daughter got injured, but a stress fracture does not happen on one vault. There had to be some overuse injury to her hand before that vault.

It sounds like you like your gym and your daughter does too. But if you truly think it is a safety issue, and your daughter knows this, it is not a good place for her. If those coaches are well trained (any coaches, does not matter girl/boy) then they can safely coach a gymnast, if the gymnast trusts them. Otherwise, you do need to look at your options.