Not being pushed by coaches?

[LucyTRA]

I'm what is probably considered pretty old for a gymnast at 20, and most of the places I train are adults only sessions (where I'm generally the youngest person present). For the record I do trampoline not artistic!

I'm just finding that in the past six months nobody is pushing me anywhere... I have my turn and the coaches turn their attention to the other beds because they know that I'm not going to do anything stupid that could land me on my face, but that also means that they don't teach me anything.

It's really frustrating because I often get asked 'what would you like to work on?' And then get yelled at if I say I don't know or ask for the coaches opinion, or if I name a skill that I WOULD like to work towards, I get told I'm not ready for it. That's fine, I understand that you have to be ready blah blah blah, but often I don't know what I need to be doing in order to BECOME ready, and nobody is telling me!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is it because I'm old? Is it because I'm a (fairly newly qualified level 1) coach? Is it because I'm doing trampoline and not 'proper' gymnastics?

 

[Kiwi]

I totally understand your frustration. I don't think it is because you are old (I'm much older than you) or doing trampoline (I'm doing artistic gymnastics). It seems to be the nature of some adult classes. The coaches don't really 'coach' as such, just supervise and give help here and there when someone wants to learn to throw a new trick. I guess there are a lot of young guys who just want to come along to an open gym and do stunts, etc. and they seem to be the majority of the customers so this seems to be the way gyms set up their adult classes.

At my previous gym we had an extra coach for a while who ran a more structured class for those who wanted it and he was excellent, but then his schedule changed so we lost him. I'm very lucky right now because I've recently changed gyms and now have an amazing coach who actually coaches me and pushes me quite hard.

Do they really yell at you? That doesn't sound very professional. I guess it is possible that if you are the youngest and most capable they might be taking you for granted a bit. But it is not fair if you are paying for a class and getting nothing out of it. Is there one coach there that you get on with better that you could talk to about what you want to get out of the class? See if you can get one of them on your side. Maybe make a list of skills you'd like to work towards, and ask about the path to get there. What skills have you been working and what would you like to learn?

 

[LucyTRA]

I've generally found that adult trampoline sessions are coached rather than supervised, just because it seems that for a beginner, a trampoline is more dangerous than a sprung floor. The trampoline sessions that I go to aren't like open gym, they are advertised as coached, and they ARE coached, just nobody is coaching me!

I actually train in a few different places, 3x per week in a leisure centre, 1x per week at my university, 1x per week at the BG club I compete for, and 1x per week at another BG club who I don't compete for, but have a good relationship with HC.

When I'm at the leisure centre I'm finding this to be the biggest issue, the coaches kind of expect me to know which move comes next (I know there isn't a specific order, but in general, like how you don't learn a front somersault before you've learned a tuck jump and a front landing) and I've got to the point where I don't really KNOW anymore, because I never really imagined myself getting to this level.

I very recently learned to Cody, which was super exciting for me. My boyfriend who coaches as the club I compete for taught me, but when I went to the leisure centre the coach there tells me she doesn't think I'm ready and that I shouldn't be doing that. She said the same things about crash dive ball outs but I learned them anyway, at my other training venues, and she recently said that it was fine and she recognises that I can do them now.

I want to learn straight barani, bargain ball out, I don't know, doubles?! As I said, I don't really know what comes next, and that's why I'm struggling.

 

[LucyTRA]

Haha, bargain ball out. That should be bargain ball out. Stupid autocorrect.

 

[LucyTRA]

Gah! BARANI ball out

 

[Kiwi]

they are advertised as coached, and they ARE coached, just nobody is coaching me!

It sounds like you may not be getting the coaching you are paying for! It sounds like some of these classes are aimed more at beginners and you may look too capable and get put in the too-hard basket. The way I'm reading this is that part of the problem may be that you are training a lot of different places with coaches who have different ideas. Is there some reason you need to train so many places? If you are competing for a club could you train there more? Do you have a coach there as you compete for them? Ideally I think you would have one coach that you get on well with as your main coach, who can advise you on progressions and introduce the new skills when you are ready (and make sure you don't hurt yourself trying things you really aren't ready for).

It can be frustrating when you are ready for more challenge. My older DD stayed in a beginner rec trampoline class for a long time until it was clear she had outgrown it as she was not being challenged. She was supposed to learn a back somersault to move up, but they never worked them in class! Eventually I approached the club and moved her to a more advanced rec class. Eventually they were teaching her the kind of moves you're talking about and one of her coaches realised she needed more challenge and recommended a move into a competitive group. Her new coach in the competitive class saw her moves and growled about how they shouldn't be teaching those things in a rec class! (She has her back cody, crashdive barani ballout, and is working on rudis and full-twist backs).

Bargain ballout gave me a laugh! Good luck, hope you can work it out for the best.

 

[LucyTRA]

Is there some reason you need to train so many places? If you are competing for a club could you train there more? Do you have a coach there as you compete for them? Ideally I think you would have one coach that you get on well with as your main coach, who can advise you on progressions and introduce the new skills when you are ready (and make sure you don't hurt yourself trying things you really aren't ready for).

I train in so many places because I want/need the regularity - finding a venue to train daily or almost daily is easy if you are six, but if you're an adult it is more difficult (I think this is much more of a problem in the UK, but I cant really speak for other countries!)

I do consider A to be my main coach as he is my coach at the club I compete for, and so I'm most inclined to listen to him. However, I only get to train there once a week because A) they only run 2 sessions a week anyway and B) they are expensive, and one of the sessions clashes with a leisure centre session which is twice as long and free for me to attend because I am a member of staff there. but he does also coach one session a week at the LC, so I get 2 sessions/week with him.


IDK, I think I'm just feeling discouraged. He told me yesterday that he's only going to let me compete a 4 somersault voluntary routine at my next comp when I wanted to go for at least 5 (the maximum is 7) and my new routine has a lower tariff than at my previous competition. I feel like they don't believe I can do it.

 

[Kiwi]

finding a venue to train daily or almost daily is easy if you are six, but if you're an adult it is more difficult (I think this is much more of a problem in the UK, but I cant really speak for other countries!)

It isn't easy here, either, especially if you want coaching, not just open gym.

It sounds like you need to trust this coach more, and get to understand each other better. Ask him what is his reasoning for his decisions about your routine, there may be good reasons you are not aware of. Let him know of your desire to do more and then you could plan out a path together.

 

[LucyTRA]

Your reply made me lol - I trust him plenty, he happens to be my boyfriend as well as my coach!

I'm feeling slightly better after training today - the category I'm entering only allows 5 somersaults (not 7 like A thought) and I put together a new vol with the coaches at the other BG club I train at sometimes, which has 5

AND they were telling me today that I should be prepping for doubles I'll just have to drop that one into conversation with A, because I can't imagine he's gonna be wild about it!!

 

[Kiwi]

he happens to be my boyfriend as well as my coach!
... I should be prepping for doubles ... I can't imagine he's gonna be wild about it!!

Maybe your personal relationship has a bearing on this, because his natural instinct may be to protect you, rather than push you to do more difficult (scarier) skills.