Private lessons?

[Aussie_coach]

Privates have their limitations. Often kids will do very well with one or two privates to get some one on one spotting time or work on a specific issue. But ongoing privates don't tend to reflect the same long term benefits. A group situation is usually the nest way to learn. Peers are very useful in the learning process and they do need some down time. Kids will get tired much faster when all the focus is on them.

 

[skschlag]

I have to agree. WHen D has an occasional private, they are almost always very productive. IF we do too many close together, it seems to get less and less productive. He hadn't had a private in a long time, but had one today...got his giants by himself, fixed his vault run a little bit, and worked on his double back on tramp. Things that he needed to do. Now we can do without one for a while.
I think the biggest thing for D isn't so much the skills he gains, but he has confidence now that had been lacking for a bit. So, I think used correctly, privates can have a great outcome.

 

[CoachValk]

My gym does push private lessons, as a coach though I do not. I am not against them but I do not find them necessary in most situations. As was already mentioned, they should be receiving adequate time to work the skills, and provided the coach is skilled and knowledgable on gymnastics progressions, there should be little need for it. That being said, I find my level 4/5 girls are EXTREMELY distracted in class due to the amount of simultaneous classes going on during their practices. I find the best part of the private is getting them away from their distractions such as other classes, their best friends, chatting, goofing off etc. And as a coach, with eight to twelve kids, time constraints, scheduled rotations to follow, trying to make sure your getting in the appropriate exercises for the kids, trying to keep them standing up, not sitting, trying to keep them engaged and listening, while also trying to keep them from injuring themselves, the child that struggles unfortunately gets lost in the mix rather easily, another reason why you may see success in a private. However, from what I see with my kiddos, once they get a skill, or rather are very CLOSE t o getting a skill, or routine, their excitement goes WAY up and they work MUCH harder in practices. So yes privates can be very useful when appropriately scheduled, and not overdone. Because also, a full hour on skills with no real breaks can be daunting.

 

[kimskids]

Thanks for the insight. I do not do privates often and honestly hate to pay for them. Feel I pay more than I should for one child's activities as it is! With 4 kids there is never enough money! I guess as long as you do them for the right reason it's OK. I am not one of those parents who is trying to keep up with the Jones's. My daughter is progressing very well and I think she's amazing! It is good to see her so excited about a new skill and it is true that it makes them work harder. My daughter has never been crazy about bars but once she got her kip she really likes them now! I just love seeing her challenged!

 

[Coach_J]

As a level 7 coach I get inquiries about privates pretty often. I usually encourage parents to not do them because I feel we should be able to get skills in the amount of time the girls workout. Our 7s do about 18 hours/wk. I have successfully helped some kids with skills and though I hate to say it, I feel like girls respond better to certain coaches at times even if they are saying the same things but in different ways. I also 100% agree that girls who workout by themselves in our gym benefit from not having distractions. We have a lot of girls who are friends outside of the gym and sometimes practice is play time every time a coach turns their head.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I think privates from time to time are fine, and often quite helpful. I know that as a coach, I can get into the nitty-gritty details of a skill and tailor drills to a specific gymnast during a private in a way that I can't when i'm working with a group of, say, eight kids. I don't have to worry about making sure each kid gets the same number of turns, I can truly give the kid my undivided attention (as opposed to having to keep an eye on the rest of the group), etc.

Generally, I treat my private lessons as biomechanics lessons as much as gymnastics lessons -- during privates, I'll typically spend a significant amount of time (far more than I could during regular practice) drawing diagrams and explaining how the skill works. This is often helpful for the more analytical kids (not to mention great for prospective future coaches).

HOWEVER, I think they should be occasional, not regular. And if they become necessary to learn new skills, that seems to me to be a fairly strong negative statement about the quality of normal workouts.

That said, on my boys' team, I only have one team member at the optional levels, and I've basically offered to give him free private lessons whenever he feels like coming in. My motives for this, I'll confess, are not purely altruistic -- first of all, being our highest level boy (and in some respects our most advanced gymnast on either the boys or girls side) makes him somewhat of a mascot for the program; second, I'm hoping to get him into coaching as he gets older. So I'm offering him these privates as much for the gym's benefit as for his.

 

[jsfofec]

DD does privates sometimes. We try to schedule them during off hours when the gym is empty, that way there is no distractions. For example, DD has been having a very difficult time keeping her legs straight and has a tendency to split her legs apart when doing giants. Her coach was able to spend this time coming up with ideas and methods to help fix the problem. We would record her doing her giants and then play them back so she can see what she's doing. Then try fixing it, watch the video again. All this so DD can feel the difference between straight and bent legs and split legs. Coach also put a scrunchie around her ankles to force her legs to stay together, again to feel the difference. This would have been impossible during regular practice, or if it was attempted, it would have disrupted the normal flow of practice. For this it was worth every dime. The problem is not fixed, but it's definitely headed in the right direction.

 

[C's MOM]

My DD has only done two privates to date. Both, she scheduled herself after her first two level 5 meets. If I hadn't said anything and put a stop after the second one, she may have thought the private was an easy fix to her problem. I see a private as tutoring would be in school. If a child needs it, then fine on an ocassional basis. However for DD, she is fairly young. For now, what she struggles with is due to lack of experience. As she ages, her physical abilities should catch up with her mental capacity. Later on and if she chooses to remain in the sport, she may do a private here or there. But this will only be if what her coaches have tried with her in daily workouts isn't working. I do believe sometimes a kid may need certain things broken down and he/she may benefit from one on one. That one on one may not always happen while at practice with the whole team. But to teach my child that her progression in gymnastics is grounded on the fact that she has a regular private will NEVER happen. That is unfair to the child and all of the others around them. The playing field is not leveled then. Of course, I am NOT knocking those who take their child to regular privates. I have friends that do. Each parent knows their child. I also happen to know mine. She does quite well with out the regular private. I am in awe of her conflict/resolution skills. Sometimes I question whether she is too hard working. But could THAT ever really happen? She wears a perpetual smile!

 

[jsfofec]

C, you are exactly right, privates should be looked at the same way tutoring is in school. Sometimes kids need that little bit of extra something.