WAG Optional bars coach (male)- how essential?

[B.Gold]

OK. I took this thread to be more about being able to spot skills to help kiddos learn...not to catch them so they don't hurt themselves.

I always thought this to be the most critical part of spotting, being able to protect the gymnast when something goes terribly wrong.

 

[skschlag]

I always thought this to be the most critical part of spotting, being able to protect the gymnast when something goes terribly wrong.

Oh I agree! But that is more reaction, and being able to anticipate what is happening, than strength.

 

[Faith]

OK. I took this thread to be more about being able to spot skills to help kiddos learn...not to catch them so they don't hurt themselves.

This is spotting to my mind. Unless a kid is really tiny it's impossible to pick them up and shape them. Spotting is light touching or pushing to help them "feel" a skill, but mainly to prevent injury. So I don't really think it's about gender- you see female coaches on the bars at elite competition all the time.

I'm female, and not particularly tall. I spot to catch kids if it goes wrong, and to push them into the correct shape. If they don't have the basic principle of a skill, they should be back to doing drills- not doing the skill expecting me to haul them through it.

Also some people are just better at spotting, regardless of gender. It's more about anticipating what might happen and where the gymnast will be in 3 seconds time.

 

[duyetanh]

I always thought this to be the most critical part of spotting, being able to protect the gymnast when something goes terribly wrong.

Because I am clueless (no gym background), again I asked my little monster (so over the mood swings)...she looked at me, and said as nicely as she could without being condescending, "MOM....it's both, really."
Makes sense. Spots for skills and drills if needed, potential spots for safety...I would say she is 'spot on.'

 

[Sari]

Also some people are just better at spotting, regardless of gender. It's more about anticipating what might happen and where the gymnast will be in 3 seconds time.

My coach was very good at this. He once tore his biceps spotting a simple BHS. The gymnast in question could safely do the skill, so he was just watching from the sidelines, but he saw it was going to go horribly wrong that one time and sprinted across the gym to get his arm underneath her back.
Since then, I've always thought of spotting as "if it's a question of the gymnast or me getting injured, I'd rather have it be me".

 

[Deleted member 14190]

You do not have to be a man to coach or spot bars. The end.

 

[raenndrops]

I always thought this to be the most critical part of spotting, being able to protect the gymnast when something goes terribly wrong.

We had a vault go wrong once… it was a 5'2", 110 lb female coach that CAUGHT the gymnast, spun around 360º with the girl in her arms, and placed the gymnast safely on her feet.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

I agree that it is not necessary for a coach to be "male" to effectively spot bars/vault, etc. However, it is imperative as the gymnasts train optional levels that they TRUST the coach to protect them. I have overheard more than one carpool discussion about a male coach whom the girls did not trust, and the new male coach whom they totally trust. No doubt that appropriate (not heavy) spotting makes a huge difference in learning bar skills, from cast/handstands to bar changes. In general, I think there are more men who are comfortable with the level and frequency of physical effort required to "spot" bar training, but that is not to say that a female coach "can't" do it. I think as a gym owner, it would be harder to find a female coach interested in training optional level bars and competent at doing so. Of course, just being male doesn't make a coach a "better" bars coach either.

 

[lindsaygymnast7]

I think that it's not whether the coach is a male or a female, it's how well they can teach and spot skills and how much the gymnasts trust them.

 

[ForceForever]

I come from a gym where the head coach is a male. He always coaches bars for every level and vault for the upper optionals. He also does a lot of conditioning and tumbling work. Our make coach does a lot of the hard spotting as well. You can also learn some of the techniques that are taught in men's gymnastics. Although I don't think a male coach is required, the male couch I have is amazing.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I cannot stress the trust part enough. My YDD doesn't trust her coaches to spot her (and she's right not to) and it's been disastrous.

 

[fuzi]

You do not have to be a man to coach or spot bars. The end.

Ditto. That's all.

 

[eucoach]

I'm a female coach, 5'8" but only 115, and have no problem spotting bars. However - I run into trouble when I have to teach (and spot) a skill that I haven't spotted in forever. It takes some time to (re)learn how to spot a skill the most economic way. It's often quite painful (especially the back) using pure strength to spot until I manage to figure out where to stand and move.

However we are very limited with our space so it's difficult to set up drills for bigger skills.

Most male coaches I know are a lot "sturdier" and can take a lot more "wrong" spotting than I do.

So - a male bars coach is not necessary at all. If you don't have regular access to a pit, it might help though.

 

[Aero]

Good spotting requires good preparation, common sense, the ability to act without thinking, and a little bit of "peering into the future."

If someone has these traits and abilities, they will be a good spotter. Gender is irrelevant.

 

[pt coach]

I thought of this thread yesterday when I looked over to the bar area and observed my daughter's tiny female coach spotting her on giants between the bars. My daughter is 5'4" and I think this coach is maybe 5'0....but she is very strong and a very skilled spotter. We also have the tools to make this easier for her...loose foam pits, resi pits, spotting platforms, and spotting blocks. We actually have 3 female coaches that coach optional bars (levels 6-10) and one man. All are great spotters.