WAG Coaching

[livelifetumble8dx]

In order to coach all levels of competitive gymnastics...do you have to be a high level (9 to elite) gymnast your self prior? Coaching competitive gymnastics is something i want to do in the future but i don't think i will make it to those levels before i graduate which worries me. Do you?

 

[Aussie_coach]

No, many top level coaches have never done a day of gy, astics in their lives. There are many ways to learn to coach at this level.

In fact those who never reached a high level can make excellent coaches, many of the top level gymnasts learned their basics at such a young age that they don't even remember learning them.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Experience helps, but it's not by any means necessary.

 

[herrmannt]

No!

 

[iwannacoach]

I think a good understanding of what it takes to be an athlete is more important than having been a gymnast. In some ways prior experience as a gymnast can make it harder to coach because those people (with experience) had gymnastics fed to them by a coach, and have little experience in different ways of getting the same result from a variety of kids.

I'd say if told to rank qualities in importance that experience as a gymnast falls about 3rd or 4th on my list.

 

[jago]

iwannacoach ... What would you say are the top qualities that make a great coach?

 

[iwannacoach]

iwannacoach ... What would you say are the top qualities that make a great coach?

I guess you could start with passion...... for the sport and helping kids learn no matter what the context. In other words the best in me is drawn out by wanting to pass on whatever I can to anyone who will benifit. Whether that takes place in a gymnastics context, or in a completely different pursuit, isn't important because the desire to be a part of other people's problem solving process is the central ingredient in my model of what a coach should be.

Why??? Because a person with passion will use their resources to be the best they can be (I hope) and will improve themselves through learning and trying to understand how to use their surroundings, the equipment, the kids, the parents, and the coaching community to their advantage to benifit those who want to learn. If you combine this type of person with kids who want to learn and are willing to put in the work to be as good as they say they want to be, you end up with a little progress for the coach and the kids every day...... and that's all it takes as long as the coach can stay one step ahead of the kids and can find a mentor to help them avoid the hazards in the sport. So figure that they will compensate for no experience by getting some from what's around them

Certainly I'll agree that a former national level gymnast has a likely advantage, but I'll appeal to everyones' logic that a great athlete who's lacking the passion to be the best coach they can be will eventually lag behind the coach who is a genuine mentor that's in it for their own prides sake...... as long as that pride is based on learning and being able to pass that trait on to the kids they work with.

All of this needs to be massaged with a grain of salt because each person has a certain amount of intuition that they can use to help them figure out the nuances of how a gymnast's body can move to take advantage of the laws of physics. If you don't "get it" at all, you likely be limited to the extent you can develop that particular skill.

I'm getting carried away with this so I'm just goint to make my list an let you figure it out from there........

Passion as been described............. because it's a "multiplier" of whatever gifts you bring to the sport.

Knowing how to train and motivate athletes, and the desire to be a part of that process

Movement intuition to help you figure out the basic reasons why a correction isn't working or what an attempt is lacking.

Understanding that a child and her parents have other demands in their lives, and that all you can ask for is that the child is as prepared to learn astheir circumstances dictate, because that's what you have been given to work with. ie...... if it's not the way it needs to be, get it the way it needs to be (nurture) before expecting the most fro a childs physical attributes. You can just teach the body, because bodies don't listen, crave for the progress, respect and seek respect, honor themselves and the coach, nor instill the discipline and optimism needed to be a gymnast..... that stuff comes from the kid..... so you gotta be able to coach the kid.......

That's why prior experience comes, in my mind, after all of the above traits. Really, past experience as an athlete means only that the athlete was able to learn.... not teach, mentor, care, motivate and adapt to others.

 

[jago]

iwannacoach ... Thank you!

I always thoroughly enjoy reading your posts!

 

[iwannacoach]

iwannacoach ... Thank you!

I always thoroughly enjoy reading your posts!

I do what I can, and enjoy every bit of it.

 

[millymomof4]

Mary Lee Tracy never did gymnastics. She is one of the best coaches in the country.

 

[CoachTodd]

No experience needed. I've seen experience actually have a negative impact on some people's ability to coach. It's basically becoming a teacher. If it's a subject you love, you will figure out the best way you can to teach it.