Coaches Getting into coachint and advice for beginner coaches

[GymnastPotterhead]

How did you get into coaching? How did you learn to spot skills (and also, how do you spot athletes taller/bigger/larger than you)? How do you figure out the correction needed on a skill (I know this one's very broad)?

 

[Gymgirl84]

Most things you mention are practice, experience, trial and error, lol.
I started just helping around with my younger teammates and with the lower level groups at my gym, later on I did some of the coaching curses in my country and the rest was some researching, practice, see what works and what doesn't and when something doesn't work try something else.
For what correction is needed, first thing is knowing how the skill done perfectly should look like. For that you can look to high level athletes, then see what your gymnast is doing differently and break those skills down to parts.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Spotting: woodward had some absolutely phenomenal spotting clinics; shame they closed down their gymnastics and cheer programs. I don't know where you live, but if you ever run into Tony Eusini from Hills Gymnastics in Maryland, he's THE guy to talk to to learn to spot.
More broadly, talk to other coaches, especially if you see them spotting the skill you want to spot. Practice on kids who can already do the skill, just so you can build the muscle memory of getting your hands in the right places.

Figuring out the correction: that just takes time and experience.

 

[Coach Kate]

I started coaching at my gym as a 14 year old level 9. I was honestly probably too young but was great with kids and loved the sport and it was Wisconsin in the early 2000s. USAG does (did?) a hands on spotting course that I actually did find helpful, although there was a time mix up and our practice kids were late so we ended up spotting each other on the basic skills and there was a lot of laughter!

I grew so much though, especially when I started coaching more seriously after college. I worked with some great mentors who encouraged me to look at the skills and break down the shapes, the movement, and the muscles used to come up with conditioning and drills. If you can shadow a more experienced coach, it really does help. I had it built into my schedule.

And if you're working with preschool age especially, learning about child development can help a lot, especially with class management and expectations. We had a preschool training course taught by a former kindergarten teacher and it gave a lot of a insight into what their little brains and bodies are going through. It's actually helped me now as a parent as well - not as a gym parent, just a parent raising little people.