WAG Purpose behind Coach's comments

[Lynn]

We have been gone from our former gym just a few short weeks. I spoke to a dear friend who's DD was on team with mine. She said things have gone downhill with a particular coach. So I told her I would reach out to the CB community and see what others have experienced as well as hopefully some coach's input. For Mary Beth...

Admins I wasn't certain where to ask this question exactly so feel free to move if needed.

There are 2 "HC's" with one being the gyms main coach. Coach A ( main woman's HC) is phenomenal! She pushes the girls and pushes hard but never really says "negative" things especially right to the girls. Now I'm sure behind the scenes may be different..sadly that's just a fact of life. However, Coach B is the polar opposite. When she came to the gym, she wasn't like that. But worked alongside a former coach who was all about putting the girls down. Now she is starting to sound just like the coach who used insults as a coaching tool. I guess at a recent practice, the comments were constant. On one event she pulled them aside and said something along these lines..."only one of you is good enough to compete level X the rest of you are going down 2 levels" "so and so is much better than the rest of you" "so and so has all her level X skills and then some" "so and so is the only one who's shown any effort all summer", you get the idea. Now, being this girl was on my DD's former team I am familiar with her abilities. Can she do skills mentioned? Yes and no. The gym has a very high set of standards and she is nowhere near those standards on all events. There are other girls who have things a lot cleaner. So she's really not more advanced than the rest. Now, I would hope this had nothing to do with it but her mother is also a coach at the gym.

So with all that being said, question is what would be the reasoning behind this type of coaching? I know I've read many posts about how girls should not compare themselves to another gymnast just focus on what you are doing.

While we were there with Coach B, my DD never mentioned any of this but when the girls talked today and her friend told her what was going on in the gym, we talked about it and she said it doesn't surprise her one bit. She said all summer long she was becoming more and more like the former negative nancy.

Any input would be great! I thank you and I know Mary Beth will appreciate any perspective on this subject.

 

[Lynn]

Our family moved out of state that is the reason why it's now our "former" gym. I cannot say Coach B's comments shock me as I watched her behavior at a meet that was totally appalling.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Not all gymnastics coaches are actually good teachers. Many coaches take it a little too seriously and forget that these are kids doing extra curricular activities.

 

[cbifoja]

What Aussie_Coach says is SO true! We also have a coach who uses similar tactics to what the OP described: insults, threats of "demotion", comparing teammates..... and a lot of us moms are teachers and we just cringe when the girls tell us what is being said or when we actually hear them.

Of COURSE you don't compare kids to one another. And doing that to teammate just wrecks the team dynamic. It certainly doesn't inspire anyone. You don't do it with your own kids. Your kids' teachers shouldn't be doing it in the classroom, and a coach shouldn't be doing it in the gym.

No advice, just commiserating and lots of sympathy.