Anon Just curious

[Anonymous Post]

I'm just curious how you all feel about coaches changing skills at a competition after a kid has had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at the skill during warmups. The skills in question were not in danger of being unsafe for the gymnast to perform, and even though the replacement skills were "easier," there was only maybe a .1-.2 increase in the score. Do you think a .1-.2 tenth gain is worth possibly messing with a kid's confidence when it is already shaky? I don't want to give to much backstory or context in the hopes of truly staying anonymous, but suffice it to say, this gymmie has lost a lot of confidence in the build up to this season due to her current coaching situation. I'm probably overreacting, but I'm just curious about how common this is, because it's definitely a new practice in our gym.

 

[Coach Kate]

As a coach, we've made this call before, and almost every time it's a back walkover in a gold beam routine. They always have a back up skill, either a handstand or a back shoulder roll, depending what their other acro is, and if they don't make any of their walkovers in warm up, particularly if they're not even getting a foot one, we will say "ok, warm up your back up". We still typically leave the decision up to them, and almost every time, they choose the easier skill. Once in a blue moon a kid will feel like she'll hit in the meet, and sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. In this case, though, it can be 0.5 -1.0 so a significant amount, especially if it's a kid who may be at risk of not qualifying to state.

I would say the only other example I have is kip cast vs pullover cast and again, in that case, it can be the difference of a half point or more. If the kip is warmed up with bent arms and the cast is low, or it needs a pause before it, we will have them try a pullover, explain the risk of not executing the kip well, and let them choose.

But I only coach Xcel and we do tend to try to give our gymnasts options!

 

[Anonymous Post]

The thing to keep in mind is that gymnastics is nominally a team sport. My daughter goes first on every single rotation, in every competition, every season. Not because she wants to, in fact she doesn't, but because she's incredibly consistent.

It could be that the coach didn't want the other kids to see your gymnast fall and then have it throw them off.

The one meet that my daughter went first on beam and fell, every single one of her teammates fell as well and everyone scored about a point lower than usual.

 

[Anonymous Post]

This is common at our gym. The kids know it, we as parents know it. My daughter was struggling with her kip-cast-squat on connection a few meets back and her coach suggested she downgrade, but my daughter REALLY wanted to compete her kip. Her coach let her.... and she fell off the bars for the first time ever during a meet. Moving forward, I think when her coaches suggest she downgrade, she will do it. We also see lots of girls downgrade their BWO on beam if they can't land it during warmup.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, but the decision is made in the best interest of the gymnast.

Safety is more important than anything else and always the first consideration.

As would be the gymnast losing points for a fall or being nervous and worried about the skill, in such a way that it affects their other skills.

 

[CoachPow]

It happens a lot. When a kid hasn't been making a skill consistently-especially a big skill- we'll back down a notch. I'm not so sure about the confidence part. Struggling in practice is hard on their confidence, then falling in a meet makes things worse. Over the years, we've had a handful of "gamers" that can fall all week long and nail it in a meet. The vast majority can't do that, so we will play it safe. And even gamers fall. Last night one kid has been struggling to find the landing on her double twist (piking down and coming out backwards) She's always pulled through in a meet, so we let her throw it. She kicked out early and is now dealing with an ankle injury-even on a relatively safe skill. (Not to mention the team loss of 1.5pts on floor and probably 1pt losing her on beam) Coaching gymnastics is a tremendous balancing act- we want our kids to excel, but we need to keep them safe and keep their confidence high. If you think the coach is undermining your daughter in general, then it may be suspicious. If not, it is likely the coach trying to act in her (and the team's) best interest.

 

[ODDBALL]

Our coaches are just the opposite. They always add things in routines at the last minute in a meet. For a gymnast and parent it is frustrating but the coaches have there best interest. They really want them to be able to adapt to quickly to changes and growing at meets as well as in the gym. Most are for level 9s and 10s.

 

[JBS]

I'm just curious how you all feel about coaches changing skills at a competition after a kid has had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at the skill during warmups. The skills in question were not in danger of being unsafe for the gymnast to perform, and even though the replacement skills were "easier," there was only maybe a .1-.2 increase in the score. Do you think a .1-.2 tenth gain is worth possibly messing with a kid's confidence when it is already shaky? I don't want to give to much backstory or context in the hopes of truly staying anonymous, but suffice it to say, this gymmie has lost a lot of confidence in the build up to this season due to her current coaching situation. I'm probably overreacting, but I'm just curious about how common this is, because it's definitely a new practice in our gym.

In my opinion... there is no way to really evaluate this without knowing the exact situation.

This is not unusual though.

To say that something is not unsafe or dangerous is a hard one. Just because a gymnast can hit a skill 10 out of 10 times does not make it "safe". The sport of gymnastics is dangerous.

 

[Anonymous Post]

That would be a good call in some situations and the wrong call in other situations. Hopefully, the coach makes the right call. That’s their job.

 

[CoachPow]

That would be a good call in some situations and the wrong call in other situations. Hopefully, the coach makes the right call. That’s their job.

Therein lies a primary difficulty in coaching. The "right call" is 100% a matter of who you're asking...

 

[Anonymous Post]

At my daughter's gym this would be a scratch, no question. They err on the side of safety and would not substitute skills during a meet. In optionals, gymnasts are required to make 10 routines on each event in the week before a meet. If they can't make the routines they don't compete that event. I don't know if that is the perfect approach or not, but I do know that when we're driving to a meet and my kid is nervous I ask, "Did you make 10 routines this week?" answer is yes, "Can you make one today?" I'd rather coaches err on the side of safety, and going into a meet I'd rather a kid feel confident that they can do the skills than just hope they make it under pressure.