Gymnasts Not nice people in gymnastics

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I've noticed coaching tends to disproportionately attract two specific personality types:

1) People who delight in the accomplishments of others. These are some of the most delightful people I've met

2) People who delight in wielding authority over kids who have no real ability to challenge them. These are some of the most unpleasant people I've met

I'll also say that in my completely-anecdotal-and-not-statistically-meaningful experience, mental health problems (especially narcissism and alcoholism) seem to run much higher among coaches than among the general populace.

I think there's some pretty significant overlap in the venn diagram of "traits that make people unpleasant to deal with on a peer-to-peer level" and "traits that make one likely to coach competitive gymnastics as a primary career."

(Note that I make no claim of being exempt from this; I work with kids because I find most adults exhausting)
 
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I've noticed coaching tends to disproportionately attract two specific personality types:

1) People who delight in the accomplishments of others. These are some of the most delightful people I've met

2) People who delight in wielding authority over kids who have no real ability to challenge them. These are some of the most unpleasant people I've met

I'll also say that in my completely-anecdotal-and-not-statistically-meaningful experience, mental health problems (especially narcissism and alcoholism) seem to run much higher among coaches than among the general populace.

I think there's some pretty significant overlap in the venn diagram of "traits that make people unpleasant to deal with on a peer-to-peer level" and "traits that make one likely to coach competitive gymnastics as a primary career."
ya i have to agree
 
There is a certain amount of anxiety that drives high performance... and sometimes those people are not fun to be around.

Anecdotally I have an Olympian (close to top of their sport) in the family and they can be a very difficult person for many in the family to understand/interact with. That drive extends to nearly everything they do, if it's not scheduled they struggle to function.
 
There is a certain amount of anxiety that drives high performance... and sometimes those people are not fun to be around.

Anecdotally I have an Olympian (close to top of their sport) in the family and they can be a very difficult person for many in the family to understand/interact with. That drive extends to nearly everything they do, if it's not scheduled they struggle to function.
yeah but i find it hard to understand why they have to be like that, they cld try to just be normal and not be a bully, idk, it just irks me
 

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