WAG I'm annoyed

[Deleted member 14190]

Your not recapping the event in the same way as the OP described. Kindly teaching and modeling good nutrition is different than how the op describes, which is being routinely told to cut back her dd's calories. It doesn't sound like a nutrition consultation to me, it sounds like judgement.

It's hard to be objective about weight. I look at the picture of that gymnast and see a strong, beautiful 9 year old girl. Obviously the coach doesn't see it the way I do. That coach needs to back off and let the pre-pubescent's pediatrician give this mother advice. It wouldn't take too many episodes like that for me to say, buh-bye...

Well thi is the internet so an exact transcript of the conversation would be handy.

 

[gymyogimom]

Again, it doesn't sound like that was the instance here. So while I totally agree with eating disorders etc.... I don't see what the problem is having a coach ask parents to feed kids healthy foods. And that is all I got out of the op, unless I didn't read it correctly.

It wasn't healthy foods, it was about calorie intake. One can get 1100 calories on candy bars alone, or just on raw fruits and vegetables and bulletproof coffee, or a mix in between...

 

[gymdog]

I have never spoken to a parent about their child's weight, it was just a thought. It also probably applies less to team kids since they don't rely on spotting as heavily.

I don't agree with that either but I think your coaching strategy depends on your size and the size of the gymnast, and there are a lot of strategies you can take and tools you can use. Most of us are not coaching Olympians so primarily gymnastics is an outlet for fun and fitness. The skills and lesson plans we develop should have that in mind. If we can't spot a child on a back handspring, we can use other tools and progressions, and incorporate other things into the lesson plan.

Spotting should be primarily to enforce correct technique, but in order to achieve a skill non spotted progressions that start at the gymnast's level until they gain enough strength to support their body on their own are the most important thing. Size will definitely influence some kids' potential in gymnastics. Trampoline programs may be a good outlet for some of these athletes.

As it relates to this topic, the coaches as role models for these children in fitness, and again primarily for fun and fitness, should be modeling the desired habits and creating plans that expose the children to different styles of exercise and encourage them to increase their strength. This means not using conditioning as a punishment, and developing motivating ways of helping the children. Because I am not developing Olympians, my athletes do run and work up to about a mile while I express excitement at how well they doing and how amazing that is. Over time the kids will start exclaiming how easy it now is, etc look how much we've improved. They are proud of their results and understand what they have achieved. You don't have to run a mile in gymnastics. I know that. And it isn't an everyday thing or our sole focus. But it's no longer done in the schools and when the kids come to me they have low cardiovascular fitness. So we work up to it. What little negative effect it has on non-elite gymnastics skill is probably worth it, because again most of what my kids will get out of gymnastics is the lasting benefits of the strength and cardiovascular training, habits that may affect them for life.

So I think the coaches need to look at their role and responsibility in how they want to influence the athletes. They shouldn't want to change an athlete's body shape to make it easier for them, or because it makes them look bad. They should be motivated by increasing the baseline level of fitness the child already has and modeling healthy habits.

And coaches need to understand that there are significant cultural, socioeconomic, and personal reasons for many families' eating habits. In addition, most coaches are not nutrionists or pediatricians. You really shouldn't dispense medical or nutrition advice to families, particularly not unsolicited, except to refer them to professionals. If coaches of a high performance athlete do notice a problem, they should really bring in a nutritionist rather than just make things up that they "think." Who knows if the child in question really needs to restrict calories, I'm pretty sure the coach has not seen exactly what she eats in one day, and yet we have a coach who dispensed that advice. That is very troubling to me. Either the coach is questioning the child about what she eats or the coach is just making things up because they think the child should be slimmer. Either way, huge problem. They really need to bring in a nutritionist and check themselves.

 

[B.Gold]

Well thi is the internet so an exact transcript of the conversation would be handy.

@coachp I remember a post you posted about 2 years ago advocating fueling gymnasts in a very responsible manner... you even showed a picture of an amazing burger with an avocado on it you cooked up for your kiddo. That post was a major "take-away" for me. I mention that because of all the new folks on this forum. I know you are a very sensible coach when it comes to nutrition.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

@coachp I remember a post you posted about 2 years ago advocating fueling gymnasts in a very responsible manner... you even showed a picture of an amazing burger with an avocado on it you cooked up for your kiddo. That post was a major "take-away" for me. I mention that because of all the new folks on this forum. I know you are a very sensible coach when it comes to nutrition.

I think you may be confusing me with another poster with the burger picture. But okay.

 

[munchkin3]

Lol!
OP- is the coach foreign?

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

Lol!
OP- is the coach foreign?

No she isn't. Born and raised in US

 

[mommyof1]

There are exactly two situations in which I would want my child's coach to speak up about weight/size/eating habits. In both cases I would want the coach to address the issue with the child.

1. Kid has a growth spurt and loses skills. Coach explains to child and parents that it is normal for growth spurts to cause issues and skills will return.
2. "Suzy, if you are going to spend your snack break goofing off with your friends instead of eating your snack, don't complain to me ten minutes later that you are starving and tired."

Otherwise, I don't see what good it could possibly do for the coach to say anything about the kid's size or eating habits.

 

[mommyof1]

I think you may be confusing me with another poster with the burger picture. But okay.

I remember that burger! Was it JBS who posted it?

 

[B.Gold]

Maybe, or @iwannacoach who has such a great nutrition philosophy .... just spent part of the morning looking for that burger... haha. I couldn't find it. But what I did come across was the very same question from several years ago that sparked a thread with same amazing posts and information:


http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/told-she-gained-weight.42690/

 

[z2akids]

And coaches need to understand that there are significant cultural, socioeconomic, and personal reasons for many families' eating habits. In addition, most coaches are not nutrionists or pediatricians. You really shouldn't dispense medical or nutrition advice to families, particularly not unsolicited, except to refer them to professionals. If coaches of a high performance athlete do notice a problem, they should really bring in a nutritionist rather than just make things up that they "think." Who knows if the child in question really needs to restrict calories, I'm pretty sure the coach has not seen exactly what she eats in one day, and yet we have a coach who dispensed that advice. That is very troubling to me. Either the coach is questioning the child about what she eats or the coach is just making things up because they think the child should be slimmer. Either way, huge problem. They really need to bring in a nutritionist and check themselves.

Just a reminder that the term nutritionist has no defined meaning or required education. Anyone call call herself a nutritionist.

The healthcare professional that requires at least a Master's degree and a license is a Registered Dietician.

Please be cautious when taking advice from a self-styled nutritionist

 

[munchkin3]

Your Daughter is perfect, and there is nothing wrong with her. Her body type is just fine and she should never be made to feel bad because of how she was made.

With that said, gymnastics is also a sport that tends to select the smaller types BUT this is changing. So IMO some of the old school type coaches genuinely feel that all gymnasts should be small in order to be successful. As if it is a simple equation that small=good. It is black and white for them......These people wont change and I think they have it ingrained in them that larger is not good. (my dad is one who definitely is this way and created one child with eating disorders, and my brother and I don't).....My kids had an eastern European coach who always told them not to eat a lot for thanksgiving. He would actually NOT spot larger girls or simply NOT teach them certain skills on bars. We since left for other reasons.

For those wonderful coaches out there who understand that most kids they coach wont be going to the Olympics....they know how valuable gymnastics is to ALL kids and that all kids have their particular strengths and weaknesses. They know that different sizes and shapes produce different gymnasts, some are explosive, others are graceful. These coaches nurture their kids and make them into strong young women and prepare them for the tough world out of the gym. These coaches will stick in our girls memories for a lifetime.....I am sure you have done a fantastic job teaching your DD she is capable of anything in gymnastics, or any sport. All you can do is prepare her to love herself no matter what and remind her that ALL kids have their 'physical' issues.

My DD is tiny...she wishes at times she had the weight to explode on the floor or vault......she wishes she was a fast twitch kind of kid......But I remind her all the time that she never falls off beam....and her bars are beautiful!
BTW, my Son, an ex gymnast has been told to loose some weight by his Dr. He is 16 and he knows exactly what he is eating....a lot of junk food....but I cant control what he does at school so he knows what to to....he is CHOOSING not to. But this will change one day.

It our job to make sure our kids love themselves no matter what.....puberty takes a toll on them and we must prepare them.....your DD current coach is definitley NOT an asset here....If I were you I would quietly meet with your alternative gyms, or try to meet with parents from those gyms and do some detective work.

These coaches are spending a lot of time with our children. They have to be good people.

 

[twinmomma]

RUN. It's one thing to encourage healthy snacks and eating. But any conversation about weight or the like is asking for eating disorders and is the PRIME reason I hesitated in putting my DD in gymnastics for a full year before relenting to her requests. As a chronically underweight child the last thing I wanted after all the work we did to get her in a "normal" weight range was to be told she was fat or needed to lose weight.

Food isn't "bad" or "good". This mindset fuels disordered eating. And be aware you can have disordered eating without having an "eating disorder." Coaches need to stick to coaching gymnastics. When they become registered dietitians or physicians then they can speak about my child's eating habits and weight.

 

[CLgym]

My DD was denied a spot on our first gym's JO team (and put on Xcel instead) because the Head Coach of the gym has very strict body-type requirements that my DD apparently did not meet. It wasn't just weight, but also height and body proportions. (FWIW Photo of DD attached, taken this past summer around her 8th birthday.) There are still gyms like this out there -- and some are very, very successful. After a year of Xcel, we ended up changing gyms. Now DD is able to compete JO, and I feel better as a parent sending her to gym with a more inclusive philosophy.

To the OP -- Not sure if your gym is one with a "body-type" philosophy or not.... and I would never flippantly say "change gyms!" because I know how hard that decision was for us... But keep an eye on it for sure. Sports should make a kid feel proud and powerful and positive. If that's not happening, then it might be time to look at other options.

 

[duyetanh]

My DD was denied a spot on our first gym's JO team (and put on Xcel instead) because the Head Coach of the gym has very strict body-type requirements that my DD apparently did not meet. It wasn't just weight, but also height and body proportions. (FWIW Photo of DD attached, taken this past summer around her 8th birthday.) There are still gyms like this out there -- and some are very, very successful. After a year of Xcel, we ended up changing gyms. Now DD is able to compete JO, and I feel better as a parent sending her to gym with a more inclusive philosophy.

To the OP -- Not sure if your gym is one with a "body-type" philosophy or not.... and I would never flippantly say "change gyms!" because I know how hard that decision was for us... But keep an eye on it for sure. Sports should make a kid feel proud and powerful and positive. If that's not happening, then it might be time to look at other options.

Dang. That is nuts. Unless she is 6 foot 2 in this pic, I don't get it.....

 

[GymDad9.9]

My DD was denied a spot on our first gym's JO team (and put on Xcel instead) because the Head Coach of the gym has very strict body-type requirements that my DD apparently did not meet. It wasn't just weight, but also height and body proportions. (FWIW Photo of DD attached, taken this past summer around her 8th birthday.) There are still gyms like this out there -- and some are very, very successful. After a year of Xcel, we ended up changing gyms. Now DD is able to compete JO, and I feel better as a parent sending her to gym with a more inclusive philosophy.

To the OP -- Not sure if your gym is one with a "body-type" philosophy or not.... and I would never flippantly say "change gyms!" because I know how hard that decision was for us... But keep an eye on it for sure. Sports should make a kid feel proud and powerful and positive. If that's not happening, then it might be time to look at other options.

That is Nuts.

 

[gymmom10]

There are exactly two situations in which I would want my child's coach to speak up about weight/size/eating habits. In both cases I would want the coach to address the issue with the child.

1. Kid has a growth spurt and loses skills. Coach explains to child and parents that it is normal for growth spurts to cause issues and skills will return.
2. "Suzy, if you are going to spend your snack break goofing off with your friends instead of eating your snack, don't complain to me ten minutes later that you are starving and tired."

Otherwise, I don't see what good it could possibly do for the coach to say anything about the kid's size or eating habits.

 

[twinmomma]

^^^^^ THAT.

 

[CLgym]

@duyetanh
Nope -- not 6 foot 2 -- actually 4 foot 2 (50th percentile) at 8 year check-up. But still a good couple of inches taller than girls who made the cut. We've moved on in any event...

Interestingly, I heard from one JO mom at old gym that comments were made directly to her daughter (also age 7/8) about the size of her snacks. I think it's a mentality that permeates some gyms. Can't tell if the OP's gym is like that or not -- but her daughter looks great to me!!

 

[gymmom10]

My child's coach has talked to me twice about her weight. Both times she was struggling with skills and even I knew it had to do with a weight gain. The coach only spoke to me and not her and it was very respectful. As much as I wish weight weren't a factor in this crazy sport, you have to hurl your body into the air or over a bar, etc and yes, it does matter. That doesn't mean different body types can't be successful- of course they can. My daughter has a stocky, strong build, and while she would be considered perfect weight by anyone looking at her in regular life, in the gymnastics world, she is probably a little on the heavy side. The bottom line is that her coach wants her to be successful and we approach the whole eating/ food thing in a healthy way. It is a very tricky subject and we navigate carefully.