The New issue of The Gym Press - March 2008 Vol2 Is1

[blantonnick]

Yes I agree with Valentin on this one...you can try and coach gymnasts at lower levels getting away without being their 'friend' however later on down the line you will lose their respect. At the higher/older levels of training you must establish a geniune friendship with your athletes or they will not work with you to attain their goals.

[Tuduri]

I don't think my daughter could tolerate being in the gym for 27 hours a week if she did not genuinely like her coaches. And she likes her coaches because,while still being firm and professional when they teach, they are also patient, caring and genial. They don't yell. They show sincere concern when dds hurt. They let her enjoy herself in the company of her fellow gymnasts. They make the gym a pleasant though professional place to train. They've earned my daughter's respect and I think dd has earned their respect with her hard work. They may not be "friends" but they enjoy being around one another.

Three years ago my dd was nine years old and in level five. She was training for Tops and I hired our optionals head coach(who was also our Tops director)to train dd. Although she was a tremendous coach, this person totally alienated my daughter with her harsh style. Fortunately there was a happy ending. I am not saying that the coach needed to pretend to be my daughter's friend. However, at least in this case, the harsh, yelling style of coaching proved counterproductive with this young gymnast.

By the way, I still respect this coach very much because she is a heck of a coach, though I think her style is better suited for older, thicker skinned girls.

[blantonnick]

You said on one hand that the coaches 'dont yell' yet on the other 'the harsh, yelling style of coaching proved counterproductive with this young gymnast'....are you referring to another coach in this situation???

[Valentin]

Hi
The truth is that there is a time and place for everything. My personal style is that i am a different person between when i coach, and when i am not coach (that is with the gymnasts). When i coach, i let me gymnasts know its time for buissnes. I don't yell, there is no point, but my tone of voice lets them know what i am thinking and want out of them. Sometimes a silence i speaks much louder then words (not my saying). I think it is important for the gymnasts to know that when they are training its time to put on their game faces., and its time to get to work. When its time to play its time to play. Its also important to coach at the age group, and maturity of the gymnast.
One thing though that is for sure is that stricter coach do get better results long term them the quite coach. Studies do show this.

[lannamavity]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valentin I dont know if this is so true..Personally i feel that you have to be friends with the gymnast, but you have to be a professional friend when at the gym. You and the gymnast are there to both do a job. The first and foremost responsibility of the coach is to teach i believe, but to do this the gymnast must trust you, and respect you. If they don't respect you then really its all in vain... and i think as a result most coaches turn to intimidation. The scare tactics are much easier, anyone can yell and scream and scare kids into doing what you want them to do, then to earn their respect and attention. Have you ever seen a realllllly mean coach with adult gymnasts? i know i haven't, but i know for a fact many of the best gymnasts and coaches create strong ties with each other. Kyle Schewfelt is very close to his first coach for example (check out his blog if you want..very cool), so are the Hamm Twins, and many of Russian Gymnasts with Arkaev.

Those "friendships" are the result of years of working together...which happens to people who are stuck together for that amount of time.

I was referring to more to maintaining leadership of the group, and finding strategies to use the group's dynamics to enhance training, instead of becoming a member of the group, socially and emotionally. Many coaches fall into this trap. It's usually the ones who participate in lots of social activities with some kids outside of the gym, which is just weird. It brings resentment, jealousy and added emotion to the group...and actually makes the Ringleman Effect worse.

"Friendship" itself is not bad. Sorry I wasn't clear.

[Tuduri]

Blantonnick:

The "harsh" coach went back to Europe after the year she met my daughter. She had been with us for several years before this. She is now back in the USA at another gym and is doing quite well. Unfortunately it is for one of our main competitors!
It was the loss of this coach, our head coach at the time, which tossed our gym into turmoil for two years. She was a great coach and was sorely missed by the optional girls and their families. Many of these optional gymnasts left at this time. My daughter had only recently started gymnastics when she first encountered this coach during Tops training . She was nine and in level five. Had dd been a bit more mature at the time, she would have had a better appreciation of how good this coach was and still is. My only criticism is that I wish she would have been able to take into account my daughter's age and recent start in gymnastics by tempering her stern style a little bit, to coach with the child's age and maturity in mind.

Valentin puts it nicely when he says that when it comes time to practice, the gymnasts must put on their 'game faces'. The girls need to be serious and focused when they practice, even if they're having fun. They must have a certain degree of maturity to be able to do this. Fortunately, my daughter has matured a lot since those early days. She practices as though she were competing and competes as though practicing, always with focus and intensity, even when doing conditioning. That's why I mentioned that my daughter had earned her coaches respect, because she had demonstrated a serious and focused nature.

We've had a new co-head coach for only the last 3 months. My daughter has nevertheless established a good working relationship with him. I believe he is much like coach Valentin. He does not yell. But my daughter tells me that his tone of voice or even silence conveys a great deal of meaning. He is a very serious guy, but now that my daughter is much more mature, they work well together even after only a few months.

[Valentin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuduri Blantonnick: The "harsh" coach went back to Europe after the year she met my daughter. She had been with us for several years before this. She is now back in the USA at another gym and is doing quite well. Unfortunately it is for one of our main competitors! It was the loss of this coach, our head coach at the time, which tossed our gym into turmoil for two years. She was a great coach and was sorely missed by the optional girls and their families. Many of these optional gymnasts left at this time. My daughter had only recently started gymnastics when she first encountered this coach during Tops training . She was nine and in level five. Had dd been a bit more mature at the time, she would have had a better appreciation of how good this coach was and still is. My only criticism is that I wish she would have been able to take into account my daughter's age and recent start in gymnastics by tempering her stern style a little bit, to coach with the child's age and maturity in mind. Valentin puts it nicely when he says that when it comes time to practice, the gymnasts must put on their 'game faces'. The girls need to be serious and focused when they practice, even if they're having fun. They must have a certain degree of maturity to be able to do this. Fortunately, my daughter has matured a lot since those early days. She practices as though she were competing and competes as though practicing, always with focus and intensity, even when doing conditioning. That's why I mentioned that my daughter had earned her coaches respect, because she had demonstrated a serious and focused nature. We've had a new co-head coach for only the last 3 months. My daughter has nevertheless established a good working relationship with him. I believe he is much like coach Valentin. He does not yell. But my daughter tells me that his tone of voice or even silence conveys a great deal of meaning. He is a very serious guy, but now that my daughter is much more mature, they work well together even after only a few months.

Quote:
was referring to more to maintaining leadership of the group, and finding strategies to use the group's dynamics to enhance training, instead of becoming a member of the group, socially and emotionally. Many coaches fall into this trap. It's usually the ones who participate in lots of social activities with some kids outside of the gym, which is just weird

I don't know of any coaches like that, and persoanly i don't want to know any. It is weird and that is definitely crossing the gymnast coach boundary. Unless both parties are adults.

[munki]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valentin I don't know of any coaches like that, and persoanly i don't want to know any. It is weird and that is definitely crossing the gymnast coach boundary. Unless both parties are adults.

It's not always quite as simple as that. I coached some kids and then I stopped being their coach for a good while. During that time I became friends with their parents and we're still all good friends. When things weren't going so well during their kids training, the parents asked if I would lend a hand and so I did. I still coach the kids again and I'm still friends with the parents outside of the gym. We go to church and have meals together and these are social activities that we're all involved in. So here is an instance like the one being described that isn't weird at all.

[munki]

I am Warren Milburn, the author of the Gym Press article on the Ringelmann Effect. Thank you to everyone who has contributed feedback and thank you to Valentin for introducing me to the Chalk Bucket.