Coaches Motivation

[coachmolly]

I have a group of girls struggling with motivation and I'm hoping to find some wisdom here!
They are Xcel Silvers- ages range from 8-11. All but one competed Bronze last year (the other is a first year competitor) and they did exceptionally well. I had trained the girls to be ready for Silver last season before HC decided all would compete Bronze, so they went into the season with a bit of an advantage, got huge scores, won lots of medals. So I think maybe they are feeling a bit over confident. I've talked to them about requirements being harder, judging being harder, and competition being a bit stiffer this year and given lots of talks about listening to their coaches and putting in their best effort every time. But at the moment, it's like there is just no fire lit for them.
They have their skills and routines, there are no glaring problem areas, it's just nagging little things- not finishing skills, rushing through routines, performing their floor routines like they are asleep, sloppy form, not fighting to stay on the beam or stick a landing, girls who had splits all the way down no longer do, sloppy conditioning, etc. When I glue my eyes to them individually and nag they can do it, but when I go to work with the next kid or the next practice day, it's back to the same old thing.
I've tried practice "scorecards" where they get a score on each event corresponding to their effort, most hover in the "okay" range every day and are totally okay with that. We've tried games, partner work, pep talks, etc. We've gone back to doing more basics and less new stuff until they can show me they can do the "easy" stuff well, but even that just causes them to get an attitude rather than realize they can get back to new skills with a little effort.
We also had a critique meet with judges who told the girls that most of their deductions were small details that added up. But they also still mostly scored in the 9s, so I think the comments fell on deaf ears.

Last season I only had one group of girls to myself, so they got tons of attention. This season I am coaching 2 groups simultaneously. I have an assistant each day (rotates between 2 different coaches), both are fine, but they aren't super committed. So I think that has caused some resentment that my time and energy are being split and that at times they have to "only" do what the "little girls" are doing. I've also had reports from both assistants of girls giving them attitude.

They are a great group of kids, so I'm really struggling with how to "fix" it because I really didn't expect this from them at all. Any ideas for some new ways to motivate them (other then them just getting to a meet and having their eyes opened, which is currently the direction we're headed) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Miss Alyssa]

Hi! I would love to know the solution for this myself as I coach rec classes with this age range as well, and something I've noticed as a struggle too.
From your description of your situation it seems they have fallen "content", going through the motions, or with their team they have been with, but with no real urgency to put in the effort to get to that next level.
I would try maybe stressing their accomplishments so far and taking a stance of more so that you see the potential they have and how far they could go! That it's right in front of them, but what separates that from the winners is just the ones who put in the work -- and we all know there is no shortage of up and coming gymnasts, it's a really competitive sport! Along with that, also maybe outlining goals, for upcoming skills or otherwise, or making a chart in the gym of who has achieved those skills.
As far as working with the other 2 assistants, that seems it also probably plays a part, since they don't have your undivided attention. For this maybe just explaining to the girls how much you are counting on them to work hard even when you're not around, and being a good example for the younger students. This might give them more of a sense of responsibility to their own gym time and how they work out. . . hopefully

 

[Aussie_coach]

It sounds harsh but the first thing to do is always check yourself, if you have a whole team of kids who are sharing similar concerns they may be reflecting your own energy. Are you feeling pumped, excited and motivated when you come in to coach this group? Or do you come in worried and wondering how you will motivate the, these kids can be a total mirror.

Secondly what about the training sessions, are they varied or repetitive. Repetition is essential to master skills but kids just slide into a rhythm and do just enough to get by. Each training session should be different and unique to keep them engaged. You can disguise repetition by adding new challenges. Keep changing the way you do things, for example when it comes to conditioning sometimes we do it as a big group, smaller groups, partners, individuals, sometimes it's a game, sometimes it's a competition with prizes, sometimes we try to set gym records. It it's never the same day after day after day.

Do you often add new drills and use different pieces of equipment in different ways, are you always looking for new and fun drills?

Also how busy are your training sessions? Are the kids moving all the time or do they get a lot of down time sitting or waiting for turns. When kids sit down and chill they slow down and the motivation starts to fall.

The next important question is, are the kid learning new things? If their conditioning is going backwards, I am guessing their skill development is slowing. Have you ever noticed that kids seem to get multiple new skills close together, for example today one of my gymnasts got her first back handspring on high beam and 30 mins later got her first giant. Getting new skills sparks their confidence and more success follows.

If your kids are not learning new skills you can reignite that passion by going sideways a bit. For example here in Australia we don't do front hip circles or stride skills at all in any routines at any level. So kids don't work it, so we might have a team of level 5 and 6 girls who have not learned anything new in a while, so we teach them front hip circles and stride circles, these skills are easy for their leve, so they can pick them up quickly and all of a sudden they feel like they are progressing quickly again.

Yiu can come up with new dance steps on floor, try some of their basic floor skills on beam, new trampoline skills, or even steal from another gymsport, why not teach them mushroom circles.

 

[coachmolly]

Thanks for the feedback!
While I say it's the whole group, it's probably really only 3 girls with this issue, there is a 4th who can go either way depending on the day. They are always moving at practice, there is really almost no down time. Lots of drills and side stations, hardly any waiting in line. And I'm always changing up the conditioning assignments- circuits, with partners, etc. I used to have a conditioning chart where they could mark off different conditioning "milestones" that we stopped using when the groups changed, maybe I need to bring that back? They get lots of praise for improved conditioning and I also try to point out when I see how their increased strength is helping them learn new skills ("Suzy, your kips are looking really good! It shows that you've been working hard on your leg lifts.") And am always reminding the girls of the "Whys" for the things we're doing so they understand the reason behind doing pull ups, leg lifts, and the less fun stuff.

There have been new skills lately- shortly after I posted my original thread 2 of the girls struggling the most finally got their tumbling figured out (breakthroughs on big mental blocks for both of them) and I was hopeful this would motivate them on other events, but that has not been the case. This particular team also has an extra Saturday practice on their own which is mostly new skills and "fun" stuff- different challenges, trampoline time, new skills, games.

I think part of it might be that we have a really long "pre-season"- routine prep starts in September, a practice meet in Dec. and no real meet until late January. I was hoping the practice meet would get them in the mindset of the season starting and get them pumped up, but I don't think they see it as a real meet. We are nearing our first "real" meet and it's a big one they all really enjoy, so I'm hoping this does the trick.

And really they are not doing a poor job or displaying serious attitude problems, they are all really great kids for the most part. I think it's just that it's not what I'm used to seeing from them and I want to stop it before it spreads.

 

[coachmolly]

Though in reading back over my last post I realized they have missed Saturday fun practices for the last month or so due to holidays, bad weather, and other circumstances- so that could be part of the problem.

 

[Aussie_coach]

If it is 3 or 4 girls it could be the toxic kid or 2. Certain kids can have a big impact on the rest of the team. Just like your energy a kids energy can be very catching. Sometimes yiu have kids in the group who lift everyone up and build the whole energy of the team and some times you have kids who pull everyone down and rain the energy of the team.

If you have energy drainers you may be better off removing them for the team their attitude can spread like wildfire.

 

[catou]

As of next monday, I'm gonna start a new motivation system for skills they are struggling with. Every time they'll succeed it, they'll mark it. Each time they reach a milestone, they're will be something fun. Each gymnast chose its own skill (mostly kips, low/high bar, back tucks and layouts on floor).

• 10: No stretching at the end of the training
• 20: you chose what you work on for an aparatus
• 25: The gymnase chose the special video. We're going to watch and do a video (workout, zumba, yoga) once a week, starting next week.
• 40: No conditioning that day
• 50: I bring a special snack

We train 3x/week, each training has its conditionning. On wednesdays, there's no repetitions given. They mark down how many they did and try to beat their score the following week.

When it's closer to competitions, I have a poster with numbers going from 1 to about 300. Each time they complete a routine successfully, they write it. Last time, I ask them to get to 150 so they wouldn't do conditioning during the last training before the comp (I wasn't planning to make them condition anyway ). They really worked hard to make it and we had a great competition.

We also have competitions that are far apart. (begining of december and end of march). We are lucky, we move in a really bigger gym... really helped with motivation except for one girl...