Coaches Coaches hopping around

[Scott W.]

I've got a question for all you team coaches out there. How are your coaches divided up? Do you have dedicated coaches by level? Event? Do your coaches like to hop around (not like a rabbit)? ie With one group one day, then to another, etc. Right now that's what our team is like. Sometimes a coach will be with our level 3s on one event, then the'll jump to the level 4s on another event, and so on. And then the next day it will be completely different. Is that detrimental to their learning experience or no? I mean there is some consistency, but there is often a lot of group switching.

 

[ayyyrial]

At the gym I trained at, we had a set of 2-3 coaches for compulsories and 2-3 for optionals. Once a week or so there would be some exchange between the coaching groups.

In compulsories, the team was divided up by L4, L5, and L6. I think L6 sometimes practiced on different days. We had one coach who mainly coached vault/bars, and one who mainly coached beam/floor. They all worked with all the compulsory levels, at different times or on different days. There were also one or two assistant coaches who would coach an event or supervise conditioning sometimes.

In optionals, the team was divided up into two groups by approximate size/age, to make settings easier. We had a coach who coached bars/floor/vault, and one who coached beam/bars/vault. The frustrating thing about this was that the bars/floor/vault coach was only good at coaching bars, both in terms of her instructions and her ability to give each gymnast attention. So my tumbling really lagged behind my other events.

In general I think it's good for a group to have multiple coaches over the course of a week on any given event, as long as the coaches communicate and plan what the assignments are so they can hit everything that needs work. Every coach has a different style and knowledge base, and sometimes having that variety is very important for gymnasts. Of course scheduling in a gym is a complicated beast so that is not always possible.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

We really don't have "level" coaches, everyone pretty much coaches all levels, some more than others. But we do have a set schedule and the kids have a majority coach on each event.

 

[coachmolly]

We have 3 designated upper level coaches, they work with the girls each day they are in and rotate events periodically. Typically one of the male coaches does the event that requires more spotting for that particular day.

Then I am the solid lower level coach who has 1 other coach with me that changes depending on the day. I decide who will work what event when I do planning for the week and take into account the strengths of the coach who is working with me and where the groups need the most work. I try to rotate around so I can see each event at least once throughout the week to make sure things are moving in the right direction.

Our upper level coaches do not work with the lower level kids at all, probably don't even know their names. Lower level coaches will periodically sub in the higher level group. It's not a particularly strong system, as I feel we would get more benefit for all levels by combining coaching abilities and switching things up periodically to get some fresh perspective.

 

[raenndrops]

We have several coaches. Sometimes, they are needed for rec.
We have one coach that ONLY coaches L3. We have others that coach wherever HC needs them that day. They usually rotate with their groups, but sometimes, they will keep a coach at Beam the whole practice.
This past Thursday, they actually had 10 coaches working with team! It was great!!!
They had 4 coaches working with L3, 2 coaches for L4-L5, 2 coaches for Xcel, and 2 coaches for L6+.

 

[Jeannie6]

We have one coach for pre-team and L1 and 2 which are non competitive. We have 2 coaches for all Compulsories, 3 through 5, and 1 Coach and a helper for Optionals. We also have 2 Excel coaches. The same coach that does the preteam two days a week coaches Excel on the other three days.
We help out when necessary in other areas, but generally stay with our own teams.