WAG What feedback should a parent expect from a coach?

[3 Gymnast Household]

My 7yo daughter is part of the "WAG mini squad" working towards her Grade 6 in 2024. The club have asked us to increase the hours of coaching from 6 hrs a week to 9 hrs a week. I have no issue with this at all, however so far in the gymnastics journey there has been very little feedback provided to parents to say how my daughter is doing in her gymnastics, its just like we do the classes and drop her off and then pick her up. There is no indication of any skills that she is very good at or areas that could do with some work to ensure that she is really going to smash these grading competitions.

What sort of feedback should we as parents be expecting from the coaches? and how often should the coaches be checking in with parents to say how the gymnasts are doing? Feels like the club are happy to increase hours and take our money but less forthcoming in giving parents value for money through constructive feedback.......

thanks in advance for your replies

 

[Coach Kate]

As a coach, let's say I have 8 kids in a class. I only have 15 minutes between classes. Every week, I might try to briefly talk to 1-2 parents and say something like "she is so close to her pullover" or "she did some beautiful handstands today". So realistically, I might talk to any one parent once a month. However, if parents have questions they are free to approach me. If I don't have time to go fully into it then, I will send a follow up email. At our gym, for classes, we do progress reports by request (sign up at front desk) at the end of each session, which is 12-14 weeks during the school year and 8 weeks in the summer.

 

[rd7]

UK coach here, we don't have any time between classes to talk to parents as we run back to back but we are always open to a talk with a parent if they request it, preferably by email so that we can arrange a suitable time.

Grade 6 is the first club grade and has very simple skills. Club grades are more about the gymnast learning good basics and passing their grade rather than a big competition to see who is the best. (although it's nice to place and win a medal )

6-9 hours is about right for gymnasts working for club grades and I'm sure the gym will approach you if they feel that something needs work or if there is a problem, no news is good news. Most gyms in the UK are "not for profit". We keep fees as low as we can so that more gymnasts can take part. The downside of this is that funds have to be prioritised and writing gymnast progress reports is a lengthy process.

All that being said, if you are paying very high fees, or there are other problem areas then I would approach the gym and ask some questions!

 

[3 Gymnast Household]

Thanks very much for the response.

So currently for 9hrs of coaching a week we are paying £175 a month. Would you say that is average or expensive from your experience?

 

[mark031111]

Ideally, these updates could come every few months or at the end of terms.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It is not unusual to get no feedback from coaches about your gymnasts progress. It is not like school where there are report cards and parent teacher interviews.

there are a few reasons for it, First if all the majority of parents don’t have a great deal of understanding of gymnastics. When a school teacher says they are having trouble with reading, it excelling in Math. Everyone gets it. But when we tell the parents their Yurchenkos are coming along nicely, but we need to spend more time on her toe ons toe offs for bars, we get blank stares.

Sometimes if feedback is given, we have a parent who will then push their child to workout at home or practice the skill. Without coach supervision, the skill can then fill with bad habits. Or their parents can burn them out and make them resent the sport.

I know most parents wouldn’t do this, but it’s not uncommon for parents to want to help their child. But this isn’t like kicking a ball around in the backyard.

 

[Dahlialover]

I get a grin and a “he’s doing great” occasionally. If I want more info than that, I wait until private lessons are offered (happens sporadically several times per year) and I buy one and tell the coach that I want to save the last 5 minutes for a check-in. Otherwise the only way to get info is to follow him out the door like a crazy person (which I did recently because I had a question about ordering grips). It’s not ideal but I get what I need.

 

[Dahlialover]

I watched an interview with a gym owner/coach on the Shift Movement Science Youtube that changed my perspective of coach-parent interaction.

The coach/gym owner explained that parent-coach interactions are a major source of burn-out and job dissatisfaction for coaches. She said that good coaches feel constantly criticized and devalued by parents and that contributes to them leaving the profession. As a gym owner, she strictly regulates and restricts parent-coach interactions to protect her staff mentally. They give out a skills checklist (without comments because those caused drama in the past ) a few times per year and that is it. If a parent wants to talk to a coach, they have to set up a formal meeting with The gym manager present. Families get one meeting per year and are told that they should not waste it.

Hearing this made me rethink my interactions

 

[Gymbletot]

Thanks very much for the response.

So currently for 9hrs of coaching a week we are paying £175 a month. Would you say that is average or expensive from your experience?

We pay £90 a month for 8 hours (also UK, completed club grade 6 earlier this year, now preparing club grade 5) so more expensive than us, but no idea what the 'standard' would be.

 

[3 Gymnast Household]

We pay £90 a month for 8 hours (also UK, completed club grade 6 earlier this year, now preparing club grade 5) so more expensive than us, but no idea what the 'standard' would be.

Hi @Gymbletot thanks so much for your reply. May I ask what area of the UK you are in? I should have said that we are in the Greater London area…..

 

[Gymbletot]

Hi @Gymbletot thanks so much for your reply. May I ask what area of the UK you are in? I should have said that we are in the Greater London area…..

Midlands - would definitely expect London to cost more!

 

[Pollylou]

I don't get any feedback for my daughter but I would welcome if if the coaches were in a position to provide it to us. My daughter loves gymnastics and is asking me for feedback all the time. It would be great to be able to give her useful suggestions.

 

[NutterButter]

What sort of feedback should we as parents be expecting from the coaches? and how often should the coaches be checking in with parents to say how the gymnasts are doing?

Very little feedback. If she is moving up with her cohort and is happy overall, then that is your 'feedback'. Our gym did annual coach-parent meetings at the end of the competition year and even this feedback was short and sweet.

Regarding cost - in the US the monthly tuition range is hundreds of dollars depending on regional cost of living and cost of surrounding gyms. I'm in a medium cost of living area but gyms here are as expensive (or more expensive) than areas that have a high cost of living.