Coach is getting Frustrated with me...

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gymfan4ever95

Coach
Gymnast
My coach is really nice and is always very encouraging. I am the only girl on my team who really likes gymnastics and works hard (i think). And my coach has realized that. I have been makeing HUGE progress lately and have been getting loads of complemints from my coaches...until yestarday. She got really upset with all the level 6's, encluding ME! We were supposed to be doing back tumbling into the pit, and we all have fear issues with that. Well, we were warming up (RO BHS Rebounds into pit) and after i did one i went to the bathroom. I came back out and she storms over and starts yelling at use because we hadn't fliped yet. Well, after that, it was my turn first, and i went and did it. That made her even MORE mad at me. I was going to tell her that i was in the bathroom so i hadn't even had time to flip, but i decided that making excuses wasn't the best idea :). And then on bars, she was still angry with us and kept saying how our clear-hips were not improving at all since we started doing them.
I guess i am just not used to this attidude from her. So, how can i get over my fear of tumbling into the pit or make my clearhips better? When we go to gym on wednseday i just want to be able to throw my skills so she will be really happy and so i will feel good about myself and be motivated.
But here is the thing...
i am not really scared to tumble into the pit, like, once i start to do my RO i know that i will go. But the problem is getting myself to even start running! If i run down the tumbling strip and i know that i am still scared in my head i won't go. In order to go, i have to have someone counting to 5 repeatidly, and after about 2 minutes of that i will go. It is frustrating for my teammates too (the ongoing counters). Ughh, i just don't know what to do.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated :)
 
sounds like my coach. he gets mad randomly at stupid things. if you give him some time though, he'll cool off. one thing to encourage you to go rather than wait 2 minutes to tumble, though im not sure you'll like the idea, is have your teammates count 5-4-3-2-1 and then have them count from the time they get to 1 to when you start running. then when you get back after doing the pass, you must do a pushup for every second you waited :) if you wait 2 minutes, thats a lot of pushups and a lot of pain
 
Well, as a coach, I can tell you 2 things. One, coaches have bad days as well. It sounds like that day something happened, and she just took it out on you. Is it fair, no its not. As a coach the one thing i always try to remind myself is no matter what is happening in my personal life, or even in the gym, I can not bring it out on the floor with me. Does it happen, unfort, it does. I'm sure by your next practice she will have cooled down. The 2nd thing, I understand being scared to tumble into the pit. But when I have 10 girls who are scared, it really does drive a coach crazy. We only have so much time to get things done, and the best way to learn new skills is by going into the pit.
 
Oh, yea, another reason she said she was mad was because she spent 24,000 dollars on the pit and that no one uses it. I guess that is true....highest level is level 6 except for one level 7 who hardly ever comes. So i can see why she was mad, i just really don't like it when coaches get mad at me (i am used to tons of compliments.) I just have to get myself to go so she will be proud of me!!
 
that happens to me too. i am also getting use to getting complements(there are only like 3 other girls in my group who actually work besides me) and one time on vault i just wasnt getting my steps rite (im scared of running toward the vault table) and i never really get my steps rite, i just studdered a little bit, and he got all made at all of us and just sent us all to bars. and he was like "we are making vault ur first priority tomarrow!!" i just keep in mind its not how loud they are telling u, it is wat they are telling u.
 
Coaches are people and they get upset, frustrated, and have bad days just like everyone else. Maybe it's nothing you did at all, it was just a bad day. Or maybe she was just getting tired of saying the same things over and over again. I know as a coach if I have to tell the same kids the same corrections repeatedly and they do not even make an attempt to correct it, I get a little frustrated. Or the same thing can happen if certain girls or a group of girls are fooling around, distracting their teammates, and just not having a productive practice. If several of the girls in your group are scared of tumbling into the pit, maybe she just felt like the practice was going nowhere and none of her efforts were making a difference. Just give her some time to cool off and see if things are better at your next practice. Work your hardest to go for all of your skills and make the corrections she gives you.
If you are taking several minutes to go for a skill into the pit and have to have your teammates count for you, that is something that you really need to work on changing as quickly as you can. You are keeping yourself from progressing and also limiting the amount of time your teammates have to work on their skills. If I had a kid who did that, I would probably send them to do conditioning until they were ready to go for it. I know tumbling into the pit can be a scary thing, but extra time standing around and people counting are not going to help. You just need to get yourself to go for it and prove to yourself that it's an okay thing to do and will only help you in the long run.
When I was a level 7 my coach stopped talking to me for some unexplained reason for several weeks, including when we went to meets. It was frustrating and hurtful and I was not getting better because she was not providing the support and corrections a coach should. So I know how it feels to work through a situation like yours. But just give it time, most coaches will get over their anger and/or frustration by the next practice.
 
Bad day = short fuse. Coaching in a way is very similar to parenting. While coaching is extremely rewarding, it can also be extremely frustrating due to a number of reason, in- or outside of the gym. A bad day can be as simple as having a bad night of sleep the night before. On a ordinary day even in bad mood, good coaches can set any bad feelings aside and concentrate on doing their best for the students. But, when the fuse is short, the tolerance gets very low and any frustration becomes very unbearable.

I wouldn't over-think the situation too much, unless it becomes a recurring thing. Whatever the reason might have been is irrelevant. In fact, if the coach is as decent as you have described, she probably already regretted taking it out on you kids.
 
A wacko female competitive gymnastics coach, ya don't say. I've never heard of those.

I hold the opinion most female competitive gymnastics coach are even crazier than females in general and some are really off the deep end.
 
I don't like tumbling into the pit or resi either. I can make myself go for it, but if I'm having trouble that day, I just set to my back. But heres the thing, its more dangerous to stop in the middle of a skill, than to go for it. One of our coaches just today was telling us about how important it is to just do it, NO MATTER WHAT. Tell us how it goes with your coach at your next practice.
 
As everyone said--coaches are people and have bad days. I tell my girls that all the time--if the coach is going off the deep end, listen respectfully and then blow it off--it's her, not you.

And I'll say that the one going off the deep end for us more is the male coach ;-).
 
As a coach, sometimes we take out our frustrations on the entire group. One or two gymnasts might be working really hard and doing a great job, but when the group, as a whole, doesn't seem to be trying, sometimes it's easier to reprimand the group.

Don't take it personally. Just let it encourage you, and hopefully your teammates, to work harder.
 
A wacko female competitive gymnastics coach, ya don't say. I've never heard of those.

I hold the opinion most female competitive gymnastics coach are even crazier than females in general and some are really off the deep end.


My coach is the best coach in the world! You don't even know her so don't be predjudice (sp?) against female coaches! I can not belive you just said that!!
 
And i have my next practice later today, so i will post back and tell you how it goes. I have been visualizing tumbling into the pit for the past 2 days, and so my plan is to not think about it and just GO! Well...i just hope i can make myself go...
 
We don't have a pit at my gym, but I know I tend to be the sucker who bails out during tumbl trak time. I'm just scared I'll land anywhere but the mat. ._.

And if we did have a pit, I'd be scared of whacking into the side. XD I'm fairly new to back tumbling, so the round off back handspring has a quite variable length...

Anyway, like everyone said, she probably just had a bad day; don't take it too personally :) Just do your best, she will cool off.
 
I was thinking about your situation some more after I posted. I think it's very possible that because your coach sees what a hard worker you are and really does appreciate your efforts, she might expect a little more from you. When she saw that you were having some of the same problems as your teammates maybe it just set her off because she expects you to be an example to your teammates. If I have a girl who is usually a really hard worker, not easily distracted, does what she's supposed to I sometimes expect a little more of her. Then if she is having an off day, not going for skills, or just fooling around with her teammates I sometimes get a little more irritated with her than with the other girls who might be doing the same thing but who usually act in the same way. Does that make sense?
I usually try to just let it go and understand that everyone, even the best kids, have their days and usually that works but sometimes I probably am a little tougher on the hard workers in that situation.
 
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Okay, so i just got back from practice. Today was a lot better than Monday was. I got my flyaway better on bars and did really good and worked hard on beam. But at the very begining, one of my gym friends was playing around with the coach as soon as she walked out of the office, and my coach said "Brittni, don't even start that right now!" and we could all tell she was having a bad day, but after about 10 minutes she was our normal, encouraging, happy coach again! On bars, she did get agrivated with the level 6's again on bars, but i can see why. She said that we weren't working fast enough, and i agree. I was at the chalk bucket way to much and way to long, so i don't blame her at all. But we didn't get to tumble today, so i didn't get to tumble into the pit (oh darn, i was sooo dissapointed :p)! But i have another practice tomorrow and i will see if we get to tumble into the pit then.
 
Heheh, I do love to be an instigator.

With the guys, either we are pretty cool or we're the complete flipside of being total jerks. There is no flipflop, it's that way all the time.

Of all the gals I've coached with at many gyms and knowing others, aiyaiyai. Especially the ones who have all sorts of interesting problems stemming from their years as an athlete ( OCD, other mental disorders, etc ). I do know a few sane ones and they are absolute sweethearts and a testament to how things should turn out.
 
My coach does that alot!!! He will get mad if we dont go for a skill and every time we fall/don't go for it he makes our teammates do 100 push ups. Once we had to do 900 push ups because a girl wouldn't go. He did that yesterday with me on beam for back tucks. And when your whole team has to do condetioning and are staring at you with the "i hate you" eyes you will go pretty fast. :D And lucky you, we dont even have a pit to tumble into!
 
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A wacko female competitive gymnastics coach, ya don't say. I've never heard of those.

I hold the opinion most female competitive gymnastics coach are even crazier than females in general and some are really off the deep end.

Ok that is REALLY mean... and i do have an AMAZINGLY nice and helpfull female coach...and two decent ones...but the other one. wow idk even where to start. so i agree with you somewhat... but for me the two most helpull coaches ive had BY FAR are both male.
 

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