Parents Inappropriate Coach Behavior Guide

[Gaby]

I am a little uncomfortable and confused and not so sure if It is normal for male coach to hold gymnast’s thigh and low waist in order to assist the upside down push-up , sometimes touch a little bit butt accidentally, for female gymnasts?

 

[JPC13]

Only you can know for sure if it's weird, assuming that you're there watching it happen, but incidental touching is going to happen -- I saw a female gymnast get (accidentally) punched in the face during a coach's mad dive to save her from a nasty fall. This is a physical sport and some side butts and thighs are going to get touched. It never seemed odd to me, so I've never paid particularly close attention, and most would say that I'm overly protective (I've met many many Nassar victims).

If you're not comfortable, I think it shouldn't be hard to find an all female coached gym. Most girls coaches are ladies.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Coaches will often hold a child’s thigh and waist when spotting many skills in order to control the centre of gravity.

Holding these two areas is genetic considered normal, coaches work to avoid their hands going near the chest and pelvic area.

It’s not always easy, to hold a gymnast up or catch them as they fly at you and avoid touching any inappropriate areas. But most coaches are as careful as possible to mage sure they hold by the waist and thigh, to avoid the chest and pelvis areas.

If you have concern, watch their behaviour within a wider context. Do other things happen that make you uncomfortable?

 

[Flipping Awesome]

I think it is important to understand that many, many gyms will have male coaches on bars and vault for the simple fact that they are more physically capable of literally catching bodies flying through the air if necessary. I think it is also important to understand that for spotting and for teaching kids how to hit correct body shapes, there will be a certain amount of incidental touch on the outer thigh/buttocks area. If your gymnast is telling you that anything feels off or inappropriate, by all means listen to her and take action. If your intuition is telling you there is something off or inappropriate, ask your gymnast about it and take action if necessary. Also, I have never seen our coaches touch inner thigh at all. I have seen drills for handstands where the girls partner with a teammate, the teammate stabilizes the other child by placing her hand at the upper inner thigh, and they are focusing on squeezing their legs/glutes in a handstand. Inner thigh would make me personally much more uncomfortable than outer thigh/buttocks.

 

[ZB55]

For assistance on handstand pushups, I usually see hands at shins. For spotting on bars though, waist and outer thigh are standard because the coach is to the side of the gymnast standing on a spotting block.