Suggesting to coach to add element

[Obeg]

Ok - would this be a "no no bleacher coaching" issue - or a good idea?

My dd is 9 - on pre-team, working with lvl 4 1 day a week and trying to make team, and competing prep-opt R1. Her gym uses Prep Opt as it was originally designed for - to give pre-teamers competition experience and other rec gymnasts a less stressful competition experience. As a result, their routines are VERY basic with only the required elements. This results in decent scores, easy routines to learn, and a fun experience. However - some of the other gyms they compete against take it WAY more serious and are throwing this pretty complex routines even in R1.

Again - keep in mind DD's goal is to be invited to team in May. Currently in her FX routine - she has a requirement for a flight element. They satisfy that with a dive roll followed by a cart wheel. All well and ok. However - dd has been working her ROBHS and I think it should be her flight element. Many of the other gyms do this - or even ROBHSBHS.

The reason I would like to see this is because it will give her a head start competing it and also set her apart a little. The next meet is her gym's home meet - so she will get the attention of all the team coaches - and I think it would be nice if she could show them this even if it has to be spotted.

Thoughts? DD wants to do it - but she is afraid to ask the coach. Do I bring this up to her as a thought - or just stay out of it and let the coach run her own team?

 

[Gymdad2]

IMHO it would all depend on the coach and how they feel about input from parents. As we all know, there are some coaches who wouldn't object to a parent's suggestion and others who would feel like it was meddling. If you think your dd's coach would be open to the idea, then why not?

 

[coachmolly]

As a coach, I would be fine with it as long as it came across the right way. If a parent were to say, "DD had been working really hard on skill x and is feeling really confident. She would really like to try it at the home meet. Would this be a possibility?" Or something of a similar nature. If it was an honest question, they didn't seem like they were questioning coaching methods, and had reasons why they were asking. I would gladly consider the question and respond with reasons why or why not. The coach just might not see how much your dd wants to try the skill or see how comfortable she is with it and maybe you just need to make that known to them.
I would be a little upset if a parent approached me a little more negatively suggesting that not doing the skill is keeping her score down or something similar. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing the easier pass.
I would suggest giving it a try and just making sure you are open to whatever the coaches suggest.

 

[Obeg]

Thanks all. Coach Molly - yeah it definitely is not to improve the score - in reality I expect it will make it worse since her routine already has the required elements and the ROBHS won't be all that clean. lol It is all about experience and a challenge.

And another thing - I am not positive her prep coach has ever seen her throw it as she works it with other coaches in pre-team. (Actually I have never even seen it except in video! LOL)

 

[gymdog]

Depending on how the question is worded I don't think it would be disrespectful per se. But to be honest I think the reaction these kinds of suggestions is usually met with is somewhat eyeroll-y. For example, in this case, I would pretty much assume the coach is aware that RO BHS is a competitive option. If they are not using this option, the reason is probably that they don't think the child's RO BHS is competition ready. If I have to spot, then I consider things carefully, and it really depends situation by situation. I don't have a strict thing against it, but generally prefer to avoid it. I think the kids need to be able to have the confidence to do the skills they are competing and I think that needing to spot a competition skill is not really showing me this, in general. I reserve it for very specific circumstances, I probably couldn't even describe a general philosophy although I hate to be arbitrary.

In general I usually would assume when it comes to suggesting things to coaches about competitive options, that this coach has probably been involved in gymnastics for a better portion of their life and has a pretty good handle of what is going on. Exceptions, yeah, they exist. but usually that's quite obvious (and sometimes deliberate) and leads to bigger problems. Helpful information is things about your child that as a non-primary caregiver the coach cannot know...I'd say keep any suggestions very tied to your child's emotional/social/physical needs in phrasing...and only make them when you really think the suggestion is important for meeting these needs. I am not a parent but I have been a nanny (albeit to a toddler not a school age kid) so I have some idea of the difference of daily caregiving and instructing...I am very open to suggestions that reflect things I cannot know because I'm not the child's daily caregiver. I'm pretty open to people telling me anything, anyway, I'm laid back in that way...but if it's a suggestion about gymnastics I'm more than likely prone to ignoring it because I already know. It probably sounds really terrible put this way but I'm pretty sure a parent has never really told me anything I don't know about competitive gymnastics. But it's not going to annoy me or make me mad (unless it's an over the top situation, you know...) it's just...eh.

 

[bogwoppit]

YOu can always act the dumb parent who needs educating, and ask "why do some kids compete a dive roll rather than a bhs?". This way the coach can "educate" you and it opens the door for a discussion about the hows and whys of making a routine competition ready.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I would have your daughter ask the coach herself.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Just remember that she will get a lower score doing the round off back handspring than the dive roll. Doing harder elements does not get you a higher score, it usually means more deductions and a lower overall score.

Having said that, if she is aiming for team then it is quite logical she work on the skills she needs for that. And competing these skills is a good way to make sure they are worked on.

Whether or not the coach will accept this will depend entirely on the coach. Some are open to suggestion and some are not. All you can do is try. Be aware that in some gyms this can brand you as a pushy parent and affect your daughters chances of being accepted into team. That, however, is a very outdated attitude and I certainly hope it isn't the case in your gym.