Coaches Spotting older beginners safely

[ubee0173]

So I have this one rec class for advanced beginners 9 and up. The focus is supposed to be on L2 skills but its very small and informal and I have mostly more advanced (skills at level 3 or so) kids who are in there because it works better for their schedules or whatever. It's my absolute favorite class because I get to teach everything from front limbers to front tucks. there are usually only 3-4 kids so it's very tailored to their needs. The only issue I have is spotting. I only have one kid that's smaller than I am, and it's normally not an issue until we get to bars. I have a few kids who've got about 3 inches and 15 lbs. on me who just aren't getting their pullovers or back hip-circles, and after we do bars I am more worn out than they are, and last week I had shoulder pain for 3 days after- I had a shoulder injury that has not given me a bit of trouble in 8 years, and I really don't want to re-injure myself trying to help them! We don't do conditioning because it's a one hour class, so they simply don't have the strength to pull their body weight over the bar like that. And no amount of telling them to work on strength training at home is going to make it happen. I feel like its not fair to them that I can't put them up to the bar and walk them through it like I can with younger kids, and I also don't want them to develope body image issues- being a pre-teen is hard enough without a grownup saying you are simply to big to lift! Has anyone else had this issue, or any tips on how to safely teach them the basics on bars, because hurting myself isn't going to help them learn anything!
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[CoachGoofy]

Do you have a spotting block? A drill I liked to use with these kids is to have them lay on their back on the spotting block & pull themselves over from their backs. They're more likely to be able to do it, & even if they couldn't quite it was way less wear & tear on me...and it trained what seemed to be the harder part of both skills.

Also, strength stations FTW.

 

[coachmolly]

I agree with CoachGoofy! Spotting bigger kids who are not even close on pullovers can be very physically demanding. You could set up a circuit of drills to do for the first few minutes on bars- the above drill, stand on a block/panel mat and attempt the pullover, use a wall or block to help them get their feet up and over, mix in some strength and that should ultimately help them figure it out with a lot less wear and tear on you. And it should help with back hip circles as well. I also try to work a lot on casts with older beginners- on the low bar and different cast drills.

 

[Kiwi]

Have them do one leg kickovers which are easier. If they can't do those then get them to walk their feet up a big wedge mat, or if you don't have one you can use a beatboard propped up against a block. You should still be able to fit some conditioning into a one-hour class.

 

[iwannacoach]

I gotta say CoachGoofy offered a pretty good solution that will give them a chance to approximately mimic a pullover. I'll offer one other "pullover rescue" that I've used a lot with well behaved 'oldish' kids.


Have you heard of killing two birds with one stone. I don't know how old these kids you're talking about are, but since they're bigger than you I'm going to guess 12 -14. I think with proper training, these older girls can help you spot their class mates right along with you. The second bird is they'll maybe get just a bit stronger from the spotting they help you with.

As far as how your program director feels.... I don't know, but the issue won't go away until something changes. I could see objection to class mates spotting coming from the parents, maybe, but as long as it's done safely and with supervision they'll quickly realize their child is getting a valuable lesson in team work, as well as getting more turns on the equipment.

Talk to the boss and see if it'll fly.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Kids like this a great because they teach you new ways of teaching skills. You need to use lots of drills.

as others have said, don't just spot them all on pullovers, or you'll kill your arms. Put a bar in front of the wall and have the run up the wall and kick over and then kick off a box or mat to go over the bar. Don't spot the pullover until you can see they are actually ready to do it.

the same with the back hip circle, you need to have prerequisites. Solid pullovers and casts before you even begin to spot the back hip circle.

 

[BlairBob]

Hit the weight room. Besides that, try to set up self spotting stations or devices. For bigger kids, I often just a back hip circle machine (tie them to the bar with a rope around their hips and waist).

Seriously, 3 days of coaching bars (after a 9mo break). I need like bionic shoulders or something.

Wrapping my elbows and wrists helps every few hours.

I would highly recommend doing some shoulder preventive maintenance if you spot a lot.

So sore.

 

[ubee0173]

Wow, guys! Thanks for all the ideas! I completely forgot about posting this but was pleasantly surprised to see all the great responses. some of these I could kick myself for not thinking of (spotting block, wall kick overs), others such as using a rope I never would have thought of. can't wait to try them all

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