Coaches want to improve as a coach with zero gymnastics experience

[beccahannah]

hello!! i did do rec gym as a kid, but couldn’t do anything harder than a back walkover so don’t think it counts towards my coaching. i live in australia and have been coaching for just over 2 years. i have my bronze and silver qualifications under RGA (recreational gymnastics australia) allowing me to coach springs skills, and i’m working towards my gold, which would allow me to coach saults. i have been coaching in rec programs for my whole journey, but this year am coaching 5-7 year olds pre squad (not even level 1). i am coming in once a week for about 2 hours unpaid to work with a squad at my gym, working on my spotting but just general knowledge also. i want to give my pre team the absolute best opportunity to progress so if anyone has any drills they love or any tips at all i would love to take them. THANKS GUYS

 

[Dream]

I dont have advice but I don't want to say "wow" to your dedication to your career. I love that you are invested enough to your craft that you are willing to put in all that time and effort to learn and grow. Your students are lucky to have such a wonderful coach!

 

[Dream]

Sorry that should say I do want to say "wow"!

 

[sun]

Be sure to communicate your passion to the squad coaches. I will eagerly invest energy into coaches who want to improve and I would think most team coaches are this way.

Feel free to DM me whenever if you need help with anything. Happy to give my 2 cents.

 

[TravelingCoach]

Is there a reason you aren’t being paid? You have qualifications and are doing a job.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Is there a reason you aren’t being paid? You have qualifications and are doing a job.

I got the impression that it's two hours a week unpaid shadowing a squad coach outsideof their paid coaching. Volunteering their time to learn from someone, just a more formal arrangement.

For the OP, there are thousands of drills online that we all have access to - the art of coaching is how to effectively convey technical information in a simple way to (young) children so they understand and can apply technical concepts.

My advice would be to hear what is being said and watching if the athlete can apply it.

Tell them what you want them to do! Avoid commenting on the result of errors.
I.e- kid is bending arms in a standing back handspring
Saying 'don't bend your arms' isn't telling the kid what to physically do to change it.
Instead it could be 'push harder out of your legs'

If you have time, you could pick a skill a week, look at all the drills you can find, think about what it leads and the feedback you might give for common errors.