Women When your athlete gets injured

[hublaur]

Hey,
So I have been coaching for six years now and none of my gymnasts ever got really injured. Except last Sunday. She over rotated a front somersault hit her head on her knee resulting in an orbital bone fracture and a concussion. I know it was an accident and I couldn’t have done anything. Accidents happen! But I can’t shake it off. i feel extremely guilty. I can’t stop thinking about it! I wish I could help her more but can’t. How can I deal with this situation? I don’t want to sound oberdramatic but I litterally feel like not coaching anymore... I don’t want anyone ever to get this injured under my watch... Does anyone relate?

 

[John]

I am not a coach but I understand. I think you should sit and speak to your athlete. Hear what they think and how they feel. Discuss what happened and learn from each other and then decide how you ultimately feel,

 

[Peachy88]

I am just a parent of a level 3 athlete but from your your emotion in your post I imagine the athlete and parents already feel your devastation for her and the accident. As a parent my kids get hurt doing things I sometimes allow/instruct them to do and it just happens. Forgive yourself and do as the previous poster suggested.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

I feel you! Been there done that... The day that I had to call an ambulance for my gymnast who fell from high bar, missed landing mats and landed on her back on hard floor and was unable to move, got me so anxious and depressed. It didn't help that there was another pretty bad foot injury in the the gym during the same day, just before that (that gymnast fell off the bars too). Both gymnasts fully recovered and are still happily doing gymnastics, but those injuries with several overuse injuries at the same time actually got me thinking about quitting coaching. I loved it (and still love it) but my worst nightmare would be that something very severe happened at my practice. Even writing this now makes me a little bit sick to my stomach.

Something that has always helped me is seeing the gymnast back in the gym after injury, talking on phone with the parents and going through the chain of events afterwards with other coaches. The last time one of my gymnasts got injured it really helped me hearing how the mother of the kid told me on the phone that the gymnast had said to her "But Mom, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Even if we both knew that the kid was devastated that her season was over and also in pain. The kids show you hope.

 

[eucoach]

It's a good thing you are thinking about it. It shows that you care and want to do everything to protect your athletes.
You need to get back into the gym and see many accident free skills to feel comfortable again.
This injury really sounds like a freak accident. I absolutely cannot imagine how it happened?
You need to remember that it is absolutely impossible to avoid injury 100 %. Even if you are super careful, freak accidents happen and/or gymnasts lose focus. It is part of the sport. A lot of bad injuries I have seen happened on fairly simple skills the gymnasts were more than prepared for. As I said - get back into the gym and don't show your gymnasts that you are scared - they will pick up on it easily!