Anon Question for proven coaches of level 8-10 gymnasts... how long did it take to become a good 8-10 level coach?

[Anonymous (881d)]

Looking for personal growth stories of how a strong 6-7 optional coach took the leap to being a strong 8-10 optional coach? How smooth was the transition? What helped you most to gain the knowledge and ability to progress higher level gymnasts with their skills? If you won't necessarily have a direct mentor to teach you or investment from your existing gym, can you still make the leap alone with solo research and hard work?

 

[JBS]

Wow… what a great question. I’ll have to post on this later… but the simple answer is “forever”. I’m still learning everyday.

 

[Anonymous (fe9c)]

I am just getting started climbing the coaching ladder. I work alongside a a coach/judge/program director with 30+ years of experience in the industry. One of her job responsibilities is to train and mentor younger coaches. I am sooooo happy to have her as a resource. What I’ve learned so far is that I need to wait 30 years before I can become a good coach. Challenge accepted

 

[JBS]

I'm going to start with this...

If you won't necessarily have a direct mentor to teach you or investment from your existing gym

You do not need a direct mentor that is from your gym.

As far as an investment from your existing gym... you must have a gym that is interested in you becoming a high level coach or at least a gym that is interested in high level gymnastics. This means that they must either have high level athletes... or they will allow you to take current low level athletes to that level.

can you still make the leap alone with solo research and hard work?

No... you will need help... networking with other coaches around the area / nation / world will work just fine though. Coaching at camps is an excellent way to meet other coaches and learn.

 

[Anonymous (fe9c)]

> Coaching at camps

@JBS , can you elaborate on what types of camps would offer good coaching experience?

 

[JBS]

> Coaching at camps

@JBS , can you elaborate on what types of camps would offer good coaching experience?

Pretty much all of them. Right off the bat... all camps will allow you to network with other coaches. Make sure you get their contact info and ask if you can reach out from time to time.

I have coached at...

• In House Team Camp
  • We used to do a camp for our team as we had 2 locations. Both locations would come together for a fun 3 day camp in the summer.
• Lake Owen (now closed)
  • This was my first real camp coaching experience. Very fun and attracted some high level clubs. I had a group of athletes with a group of coaches. I was made the master coach on vault (meaning I had to lesson plan and run vault).
• Woodward Pennsylvania (no longer offers gymnastics)
  • We started taking our team here after Lake Owen closed. Woodward was basically the "camp of all camps". Hard to explain the networking available... from the Danish National Power Tumbling team to Top Gun Cheer to the Teeterboard Acrobatics team to pro BMXers and skaters. I used to take my BMX bike so I could have fun after hours with the staff.
• FlipFest
  • Did FlipFest too... very fun... but more theatrical and scheduled out than the other camps I had worked. There really is no down time there... the kids are scheduled out all the time.
• College Camps
  • Any college camp you can get into and help with is great. Many of the coaches that work these are "camp pros"... they will show you the way.
• Regional Training & High Performance Camps
  • These will get more people to know you in your area and allow you to see what others in your Region are doing.
• Camps At Other Clubs
  • Have done a couple of these... they are fun... but not really a true camp experience.

Then there are also camps I have been a part of... but not staff.

 

[JBS]

Then there are camps I have been to as a regular coach...

• TOPs Camps
• Invite Camps (at the Ranch)
  • One of the most educational things I have ever been a part of head up by Valeri and the National Staff
• W300 / W400 (went to the first one at the Ranch)
• College Camps (going with our team kids)
• Showcase Camps (like Best Darn and JPAC... again going with our team kids)
• Regional Training & HP Camps (with our team kids)

Also... workouts at other clubs across the Nation...

• Have had many opportunities to attend workouts at other clubs (our athletes worked out along with these other teams)

 

[JBS]

National / Regional Congresses are also good for beginners. Back in the day I could find tons of lectures to go too and loved them all. Now that I have been to congress so many times... it's not so good... I can usually find one or two decent lectures to attend. USAG seems to be controlling the lectures more... so they are not as good.

Uneven Bar Boot Camp was really good... did that in Colorado Springs.

 

[JBS]

Looking for personal growth stories of how a strong 6-7 optional coach took the leap to being a strong 8-10 optional coach? How smooth was the transition? What helped you most to gain the knowledge and ability to progress higher level gymnasts with their skills?

Here is my experience...

• Class I MAG gymnast from back in the day (not very good though).
• When I was an older high schooler I helped out with the pre-team / younger boys sometimes. I would just get a station and spot them on whatever my coach told me too.
• I was 20 when I started coaching full-time. My first schedule was 6 days per week... 2 of the days were triple shifts... another 2 of the days were split shifts... did private lessons on Sundays. I had 23 preschool classes per week (17 were 3 year old classes)... plus 9 or 10 other classes per week. I ended up coaching all recreational gymnastics for 8 years. You learn very quickly when coaching 23 preschool classes per week. Preschoolers learn faster than any other age. So 25 to 30+ rec classes per week for 8 years.
• Then moved to a new gym in 2007 and started coaching team... rec still too. Coached girls as well as head coach of the boys team. Now I am the director and head coach along with my wife. Only coaching girls now.

 

[JBS]

Now here is the thing... I don't really know if I would ever consider myself a strong compulsory or L6/7 coach... other people are better at that. In other words... if you want to win L4 or L7... don't come looking for me. L6/7 is basically just a continuation of the compulsory program... you want to win... you run stock routines and make them look a certain way.

Now L8... that is were we begin gymnastics in the DP program. My whole game is to get them to the beginning point as quickly as possible (within reason)... the beginning point basically being L8. The TOPs program is a really good guide.

I love trampolines... I want kids to be able to fly like I used to... that is what trampolines are for. Trampolines are also for "movements" or "building blocks"... not skills. Create all the proper building blocks and you can create any skill. Cruise... cody... cradle... kaboom... crash dive... etc.

Many work up the levels... 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10

Many high level coaches don't see it this way... they just coach... and then place the kids at the proper level.

Also... things are not trained for L4 or L5... everything is trained for L10 or beyond. In other words... don't teach something wrong just to get a higher score at L3... teach it the way a L10 would do it. Compulsory gymnastics messes tons of stuff up.

 

[CoachPow]

Depends where you are located. In my neck of the woods (MN) most of the colleges and many of the top club and HS programs will hold camps in the summer. Any camp you can work alongside seasoned coaches will help you gain experience. I had to learn quick, fast and in a hurry after being shoe-horned into a coaching/spotting job. I learned a ton by watching (I wish we had YouTube back then!!) Watching warm-ups before high-level meets was very helpful. I would watch how they spotted skills, and listen as they coached their kids. I was able to convince a couple of camps to hire me on to help with the lower-level athletes, and from there I could listen, watch, and eventually help spot the bigger skills. Double-spotting is a great way to learn with relatively low risk. Coaching/Spotting clinics are excellent ways to learn as well, but you may have to bring some athletes along.

I second what JBS says about coaching kids and placing them where they belong. That's one of the things I love about coaching where I do. You can just help them advance their skills. More than a few times I've caught static from some club coaches when their athletes have come to our camps, and we've worked on skills that the coaches didn't want them working yet-because "they need to spend more time on beam" or the like. Maybe its my lack of gymnastics background prior to coaching, but I've always failed to see why the fact a kid can't do a handspring on beam means they can't work BHS-full on floor...