Could you run a gym?

[JBS]

Could you run a gym? Do you have any desire to run a gym? In your opinion what is the difference between a coach and an owner/director? What traits must a coach have? What about an owner/director? What does an owner/director deal with on a daily basis? What about a coach?

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I definitely have some theories about how I would run a gym if I were to do so. However, from what I've seen, most people who "run" gyms have very little time to coach at them. And all I want to do is coach.

[gymbabisMom]

Our head coach owns her gym and she definitely gets pulled six different ways from Sunday. It's a pretty small gym too. I have no idea what she'll do if the program grows a lot.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I think a better question would be if/how you could run a gym, but if/how you could run the program at that gym.

Were I running the team program at a gym, there would be little to no emphasis places on competition and scores. Our primary goal, and I would make sure every coach agreed with this, is to have fun and make the kids better gymnasts. As a coach, I find that, with surprising frequency, the goal of getting better scores and making the kids better gymnasts come in direct conflict with each other. Were I head coach, my instructions to other coaches when they run up against something like that would be to focus on making the kid a better gymnast, regardless of the effect on scores.

A perfect example of what I'm talking about is girls' level 4 vault. A handstand flatback on a mat. If I want to very easily teach my girls a zero-deduction body shape on preflight, all I need to do is scoot the board really far away from the mat and have the mat surface low, forcing them to stretch out their bodies to reach the distance. However, this does not teach heal drive, hinders ability to get a proper block, and forces the kids to completely re-learn vault when they take it to the table. This being the case, I say to hell with their scores, and teach them to vault with the springboard close and the mats stacked high. They most likely would score lower as a result of this, but they'd learn proper chest position on the board, proper heel drive, and they'd have a much easier time transfering to the table when the time comes. Thus, I sacrifice their scores to make them better gymnasts.

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Taucer I definitely have some theories about how I would run a gym if I were to do so. However, from what I've seen, most people who "run" gyms have very little time to coach at them. And all I want to do is coach.

Very true. Over the years as I have moved into management, I have moved further away from coaching. I don't think it's impossible to coach and own at the same time, many do (Valeri Liukin). The key is to have an outstanding staff working along with you.