Parents Coach giving scores during practice?

[Stranger.maci]

My DDs coach sometimes gives them scores when they practice routines during practice. Is this often done and is it accurate for scores during competition season?

 

[CuriousCate]

My kids' coaches do this frequently. I would say that they tend to fall within the range of what my kids will ultimately score, give or take .5 or so. So big range for sure, but it does seem to give them a general idea.

 

[JBS]

We do this all the time... many coaches are able to score fairly accurately... others are not.

 

[mommyof1]

My kid had a coach who was also a judge and would score routines in practice. It was not helpful for my daughter because it would either discourage her or set up high expectations and pressure, depending on the score. The worst was the time she was told she should score really high at states, convinced herself she was going to be on the podium, then choked and did a routine that was just okay. If she had been told “focus on doing XYZ things that you are doing well” instead of “you are doing 9.7 routines,” the result might have been different.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

One of my daughter's coaches does that sometimes. I think the girls definitely don't take it seriously. Most of the time he scores them lower on purpose (takes max deductions). I think he probably does have a pretty decent idea what they would score in a meet though.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, it’s common. Yes, it’s usually quite accurate. But I personally don’t think it’s incredibly helpful unless they are getting specific feedback as to where points are disappearing.

Just a score, often doesn’t help them learn. More helpful would be “you would get an extra 0.3 here is you did this” and so on.

 

[raenndrops]

I sometimes do this for the girls, but only if they ask ... and even then, I ask them if they want me to take max deductions or "discretionary deductions." This is where I put on my (specific) judge "hat" and judge them as that certain judge would judge them (using her tendencies).
And then, I also let them know where the "easy" fixes are in the routine (and what the big deductions were). That way, they can make the changes.

 

[Stranger.maci]

My kid had a coach who was also a judge and would score routines in practice. It was not helpful for my daughter because it would either discourage her or set up high expectations and pressure, depending on the score. The worst was the time she was told she should score really high at states, convinced herself she was going to be on the podium, then choked and did a routine that was just okay. If she had been told “focus on doing XYZ things that you are doing well” instead of “you are doing 9.7 routines,” the result might have been different.

This was kind of my thought process. It was a vault score and shes been really proud and excited about her vault lately. When she came home yesterday and told me he gave her an 8.2 she seemed a little dejected, which was kinda sad to see after all the excitement. She didn't mention if corrections followed but hopefully they did cause i could see that being way more useful. We don't compete til atleast January so plenty of time but of course as a mom I like seeing her excited and confident in her skills.

 

[Jenny]

This was kind of my thought process. It was a vault score and shes been really proud and excited about her vault lately. When she came home yesterday and told me he gave her an 8.2 she seemed a little dejected, which was kinda sad to see after all the excitement. She didn't mention if corrections followed but hopefully they did cause i could see that being way more useful. We don't compete til atleast January so plenty of time but of course as a mom I like seeing her excited and confident in her skills.

You actually mention a really common issue. You can be all excited as a coach and a gymnast and as a parent about a gymnast getting a new skill or improving a skill a lot. So in everyone's head that skill is going to score great because it is such an achievement for that gymnast! But realistically it isn't going to score great because of x, y and z. And then everyone can be really disappointed. It's very hard to bring expectations down without squashing the euphoria everyone is feeling. You want to celebrate the achievement but have to prepare/ manage the disappointment in competition. Coaches want to see them excited and confident too and you don't want to take that away. It can be tricky. That is why it's better to celebrate achievements rather than scores in competition.

 

[Stranger.maci]

Yup this exactly! Vault was usually her worst event last year and she felt very much improved after the return from covid closure and then to get that score which was pretty much what she was scoring last year it was like a balloon being deflated. You are very right though, its hard sometimes to not focus on scoring but achievements are definitely where the focus should be.