WAG ability v. motivation

[mommyof1]

Here is an interesting tidbit I read the other day that seems to have direct application to youth gymnastics. Running coach Jack Daniels classifies athletes into four types based on inherent ability and motivation:

1. Those with both ability and motivation,
2. Those who have ability but lack motivation,
3. Those with little ability but great motivation, and
4. Those who lack both ability and motivation.

(See Daniels' Running Formula - Jack Daniels - Google Books)

Obviously, coaches will want to coach Type 1 athletes, and Type 4s probably won’t participate in the sport. The question is what to do with Type 2 and Type 3 athletes. Daniels asserts that encouragement from coaches can help Type 2 athletes find their motivation and transform themselves into Type 1s, but coaches should also be willing to discuss with Type 2s whether the sport is the right place for the athlete. He also argues for keeping Type 3s on the team:

“I don’t think we should discourage high-motivation, low-ability runners (type 3) from running; their perseverence might lead to considerable personal satisfaction in the sport. Plus their enthusiasm might provide type-2 runners with just the influence they need. Type-3 athletes are fun to coach and deserve your appreciation and attention.â€￾

It occurs to me that how you classify athletes depends greatly on how you define “abilityâ€￾ and the scale of the ability axis. For instance, if “abilityâ€￾ in gymnastics is defined as the capacity to learn skills quickly and without much instruction, then kids who take a little longer to pick up skills but then do them consistently and with good form will fall into quadrant 3. And if you’re aiming to produce elites, you will probably place the ability line dividing quadrant 1 and quadrant 3 higher than a small local program might.

So how does your gym define “ability,â€￾ and how does it deal with Type 2 and Type 3 athletes?

 

[Amber]

In our gym, there is pretty structured evaluations on ability throughout the summer. Ability seems to be flexibility, strength, and speed. Also, picking up skills quickly and correctly. Some kids have that right away, and some will eventually get there. Some will always have limitations. The girls that show less natural talent are encouraged to participate in the Excel path. The ones that work really hard, score well, and have focus will eventually go into the USAG level stream. Girls who are not progressing that well for whatever reason, stay in Excel, or have the choice to go to advanced rec. We have had some girls who were "diamonds in the rough" and started in Excel, and went on to high levels in USAG.
I have seen our coaches more aggravated by lack of focus and motivation. They will give the harder workers more of a chance in moving up levels.
My youngest DD is quadrant 1, and is on TOPs and gets a lot of coaching attention. I think there is a lot of expectations on her performance and progress. Luckily, her attitude is great...My oldest DD is definitely quadrant 3, is in Excel, and will probably stay on that path. But she enjoys it, her coaches enjoy her work ethic, and there are reasonable expectations for her, so that's all that counts !
I'm sure every gym is different, curious to hear responses!

 

[iwannacoach]

Never dsicount a highly motivated child athlete. They will make progress until they hit one of their limiting factors like slow twitch muscles, or spatial problems. They just keep working and working and......working until we catch on to the fact that their contribution to their passion has far out-paced contributions from the coach, the team mates, and the parents. They can become the core of the team's value system.

Kids have a lot of time to develop. The motivated ones use that time, and under a coach's supervision they use their time well, do gymnastics home work, and learn how to become the best athletes their body will allow. As long as they are able to moderate frustrations from progressing slowly there can be amazing, positive results for every one they include in their experience.

I'd put a type three on the team any day, as long as they know the odds are against them, and their hard work may end up being just that....hard work with few result, and the only reward is in knowing they believed in themselfs and did what they could with what they had.....that's not such a bad thing...is it.

 

[wgagym]

This is why I love my rec gym. It is full of Type 3 kids who may have never done gymnastics before but many of them have been weeded out of other programs because of their lack of natural ability. They work so hard and although they may never be a level 10 or an elite their determination to learn the sport and get skills that I never thought they could get are so gratifying as a coach!! Type 1's are great but I absolutely love 3's!!

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

My coach loves to say she prefers to coach motivated kids than talented ones (assuming either all one and none/little of the other)...but observational evidence shows that's not true.

 

[Faith]

Thing is, it's often difficult to spot ability, especially at an early age. In gymnastics at least. That really flexible, graceful 6 year old might be a rising star until they start tumbling, then find they don't have enough fast twitch to throw a double back, or have fear issues. Meanwhile the little kid at the back who struggled with a bwo has worked on her flexibility, and has the power for some incredible tumbling.

I'd pick motivated kids every time, and so would every coach I know, in any sport.

 

[wallinbl]

Thing is, it's often difficult to spot ability, especially at an early age. In gymnastics at least. That really flexible, graceful 6 year old might be a rising star until they start tumbling, then find they don't have enough fast twitch to throw a double back, or have fear issues. Meanwhile the little kid at the back who struggled with a bwo has worked on her flexibility, and has the power for some incredible tumbling.

Our HC seems to have an ability to tell which kids are look good right now but are not good long term and which kids look bad right now, but are going to be good. He doesn't seem willing to explain it to me, but he's been right so far on the ones we've discussed. I used to blow him off when he'd say it, but over time, I realized he was seeing something (or just lucky).

 

[LizzieLac]

My DD is probably closer to 3 than 1, but as others have said, natural ability presents in different ways. She is definitely not the first one to get a skill and her success is probably more due to hard work (don't think she is loaded with fast twitch fibers,ike me). However, she has one of the best toe points on our entire JO team (she level 6) and this includes the 9s and 10s. She has very good body awareness, so legs are together and straight, etc.

I think one of the things that slows her down is fear and this might partly be due to age. She is 12. I find that the younger kids don't give much thought to doing certain skills, so they are willing to try things sooner. This could be mistaken for ability.

I have seen coaches get more frustrated with lack of motivation, than lack of ability. But the "favorites" tend to the ones with more ability.