Anon Coach is not good at coaching

[Anonymous (5d42)]

My coach is not good at coaching. She means well but is just not good. Changing gyms is not an option for me nor do I want to leave as I am happy where I am at. My coach has been coaching for 7 years and is the head xcel coach. I get very few corrections (as in one or two the whole practice) and she doesn’t push me or anyone else for that matter. All the corrections I do receive are things that are obvious like keep your arms straight in a handstand. Obviously. I have always been a person who watches my videos to make corrections because I find it very helpful. I think that I have a really good understanding of the mechanical side of things from watching so many drills and routines of all levels online. That enables me to give myself really good corrections. But that is where all of my corrections come from, myself. I am not entirely sure my coach even understands how skills work to even give corrections. She know a lot about the world of gymnastics just not the mechanics. I also never have assignments. She will say work on upgrades or do routines or work on skills. But no assignment. I am a very self motivated person and hold myself accountable so I create assignments for myself that I follow. If I am struggling with a skill and ask for help, I don’t receive any actual help, she tries though. I have to find drills online myself and proactively do them at practice. I have asked my coach is she can be more hands on but that didn’t change anything. I am not trying to say that I hate my coach or anything here but I am not really sure what I should do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous (14b4)]

Sounds like you do not really have a coach. If changing gyms or coaches is not an option there is very little what you can do about this. Keep it up, it sounds you are making the best out of a difficult situation.

 

[Dahlialover]

One way you could try to engage her would be to ask specific questions. For instance say: “one of my goals for next season is to have ___skill, what drills or progressions do you recommend to help me reach my goal?” Or say, “I’m having a problem with ___skill, could you give me some feedback?”

But, if she is a dud, your best bet is to pay for private lessons with a good coach and then use your regular gym time to practice what you learned in private lessons. Also, you can send videos of your routines into meetcritique for detailed feedback.

Good luck!