Parents Coaches with college competition experience???

[BearMAK]

Where are they? I run a year round wrestling school and every coach I have wrestled at the college level and all but one was an All-American. The one was still on scholarship as an athlete. Why do so many clubs in gymnastics seem to be so limited with coaches who have actually competed at the college level? Am I missing something?

 

[gymdog]

Well, first of all, gymnastics has changed a lot even over the last 10 years. Second of all, gymnastics is extremely difficult and most people aren't THAT good at it, but were still good at level 3 or 4 or 5 or whatever. And third of all, there are tons of former NCAA gymnasts coaching out there. But there is a major coaching shortage at the moment and NCAA programs disappearing left and right so the future of that remains to be seen. There are very good gymnasts who aren't great coaches and mediocre gymnasts who are great coaches.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

FWIW, dd's gym has a fresh out of college gymnast as a coach right now. She graduated in May and started at the gym shadowing the compulsory coaches later in May. I think it was initially more of an internship, but she definitely works there now. She helps out with Xcel, levels 2-5 and some rec classes and I think she is taking coaching classes to get certified. The kids love her because she is young, obviously can still do upper level gymnastics skills and is nice to them.

One of my dd's main compulsory team coaches competed in college about 10 years ago and another was on the national team in China. The main optional team coach competed at UGA and our gym owners/head coaches both competed in college and one on the national team many years ago.

 

[GymMom4]

We are lucky right now to have a new coach who competed for a great college program. She is tough and expects a lot from them which has upped the quality of their gymnastics. The girls are looking a lot more sharp than previously.

 

[GymDad9.9]

Our gym had a former All-American college gymnast who coached for a number of years at the gym with optionals and was recently hired to coach at the college level.

 

[Sasha]

Hmmm..

- Number of gymnastics clubs in US compared to wrestling clubs? Thinking many more gymnastics clubs (outside school programs), so not enough supply of college-level gymnasts to go around?

- Number of college gymnastics programs compared to wrestling? Seems like there are more wrestling programs than gym, but I could be wrong there...

- Gymnasts as a population are often cited as among the best students (though I don't have data) - perhaps they are choosing a more lucrative career instead of going into coaching? No idea how that compares to wrestlers, though.

Curious question! I don't think any of our coaches competed in college...

 

[e'smum]

our HC/wife was a Penn State gymnast. his wife did gymnastics at college up here in NE as well but i'm unsure as to which college. the girl we had come in to choreograph our level 6 floor routines went to Stanford and she also was a Olympics contender (we were able to watch some youtube videos of her). needless to say our level 6 floor routines are very nice! she is also a level 10 judge - she was a lucky find. our level 3/4 judge did gymnastics and dance in high school but she just got her judges license and was able to accurately predict my dd's scores on beam towards the end of last season (and she's a picky judge). our excel coach (who coaches excel with the lvl 3/4 coach) i think just did gymnastics in high school but is very good as well. at one point she was coaching our town's gymnastics team. that being said, it was hard to find another coach when we needed one and i think we could use another one (but i'm not the owner so i have no say - haha). there are some good coaches in the area but none looking for jobs. they did finally find one who had quit another gym. not sure her qualifications but i really like her as do the girls.
our HC also hired a coach just for movement and conditioning. he was also a college gymnast and then moved to cirque du soleil for a couple of years after. now he strictly looks at the girls movement and to individualize conditioning based on weakness and he's there to hopefully prevent injuries. honestly, i think we are better set up than a lot of the gyms around us. another good gym has russian coaches and i do not like their style at all. a gym we went to for a private down by my parent's home in the atlanta area also had HC that were from russia and have very good qualifications coming out of russia.

 

[gymgal]

I would think salary plays a part. These gymnasts have gone through college, gotten degrees, and want to start careers or go to grad school. I have to imagine that beginner coach salary cannot compete with that.

 

[gymjunkie]

It depends on the gym. At our gym, we have 1 Olympian (didn't compete NCAA) and 7 former NCAA-ers (2 were All American).

 

[BearMAK]

It's been my experience that great athletes don't always make great coaches-in any sport. That said, I just feel like there is an abundance of arrogance when it comes to what coaches know or can create in athletes without having done as much as they require themselves. With so little experience in gymnastics, it has made it difficult to determine what good practice and what poor practice might be. My daughter doesn't know what she doesn't know but we are quickly finding out that the quality of coaching can make and break a girl's dreams. But we'll save that for another post.

 

[gymdog]

It's been my experience that great athletes don't always make great coaches-in any sport. That said, I just feel like there is an abundance of arrogance when it comes to what coaches know or can create in athletes without having done as much as they require themselves. With so little experience in gymnastics, it has made it difficult to determine what good practice and what poor practice might be. My daughter doesn't know what she doesn't know but we are quickly finding out that the quality of coaching can make and break a girl's dreams. But we'll save that for another post.

I don't really know what you mean by this. Most people coaching gymnastics are coaching relatively low levels, and nearly all of them in my experience at least did these relatively low levels themselves.

Not everyone can be an NCAA D1 gymnast, that's just the reality. Participation in this sport would be severely limited if that was a coaching criteria.

 

[txgymfan]

Sometimes when a skill comes easily to an expert ( NCAA athlete or Olympian) it can be hard for them to explain it.

 

[GYM0M]

Only one of my dd's gym coaches has any experience as a collegiate/elite level gymnast. However, her other coaches are equally awesome!

 

[MaryA]

In our gym, our highest-level coach, with the most impressive coaching accolades to her name, has the least amount of competitive gymnastics experience of any of our team coaches. I don't think that there is necessarily a direct correlation between high-level gymnastics competition and high-quality gymnastics coaching.

 

[profmom]

Aimee Boorman seems to have done OK despite her appalling lack of college competition experience.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

a lot of our coaches originally got sucked in when their children started in rec, I'll just help out while I'm here. Fast forward 20 years and these are now some of the top coaches in the area as they have trained and developed over the years.

 

[gasrgoose]

I would think salary plays a part. These gymnasts have gone through college, gotten degrees, and want to start careers or go to grad school. I have to imagine that beginner coach salary cannot compete with that.

I think this^^^^^ is the answer to the OP's question. You have to have a strong passion for gymnastics and coaching to take the long hours and low income. Especially when you have a college degree and the likelihood of a University booster willing to employee you.

We are lucky enough to have just such a coach and she's amazing!

 

[BearMAK]

This is all good insight. I'd never expect every coach to be a college level athlete themselves. It's interesting though that some of what past college competition can provide is what a kid may NOT want to work for. Some girls aren't meant or interested for the grind necessary to get to that level. I understand that. I'm just learning more and more that it is a very important aspect for gymnasts to have a coach they really can gain a lot from. Unfortunately, due to a lack of experience as gymnastic parents, we've trusted a group of coaches that weren't providing what they should've been. It doesn't have to do as much with their inability as competitors as much as it is simply their inability as coaches. I'm wondering if I've put too much stock into the college competitor side of a coach out of ignorance. Either way, it's been a learning experience for sure.

In my previous post, I should've clarified that I was speaking to my own lack of experience in recognizing good and bad coaching.

 

[twinmomma]

I definitely agree that a) the best athlete doesn't make the best coach; and b) the pool of college gymnasts is elite enough that there's no way for there to be enough of them to go around. Additionally, I'd add, athletics is no different than any other endeavor. My brother was a horrific student until college. He's a very successful history/student government teacher. The best analyst doesn't make the best manager. Etc, etc, etc... Just because you can DO doesn't mean you can TEACH. And, coaching is so much more than just the athletics aspect of it. It's mentoring, it's dealing with emotions and fears and all the things that go along with excelling in whatever the endeavor is. I'm much more impressed by what someone has done in their coaching career and what other parents/athletes say about that person (and more importantly what I OBSERVE in relation to my child) than I am at all by what they did 20 years ago.

 

[gymdog]

This is all good insight. I'd never expect every coach to be a college level athlete themselves. It's interesting though that some of what past college competition can provide is what a kid may NOT want to work for. Some girls aren't meant or interested for the grind necessary to get to that level. I understand that. I'm just learning more and more that it is a very important aspect for gymnasts to have a coach they really can gain a lot from. Unfortunately, due to a lack of experience as gymnastic parents, we've trusted a group of coaches that weren't providing what they should've been. It doesn't have to do as much with their inability as competitors as much as it is simply their inability as coaches. I'm wondering if I've put too much stock into the college competitor side of a coach out of ignorance. Either way, it's been a learning experience for sure.

In my previous post, I should've clarified that I was speaking to my own lack of experience in recognizing good and bad coaching.

It sounds like more of a coaching problem. I personally know some fantastic athletes who I have found mediocre as coaches (sorry, it's the truth). And other elite athletes who have produced more elite athletes. It really can go either way in my opinion. Things change often in gymnastics and a willingness to learn/stay current is more important. Some of the great athletes I know, better athletes than me are still trying to coach the way we did things when I was a kid and it's just not enough. Things were different then. (I was a pretty high level gymnast but not amazing - working hard and loving gymnastics was more of the reason of how I got that far, I have relatively little natural ability for gymnastics. More than average but not a lot).

I'm not really trying to be defensive because I don't have a chip on my shoulder about it. I'm proud of what I accomplished because I know I don't have that much natural ability. There's really no way that with any amount of effort I could have been an elite gymnast though, I'm just not good enough. This is not to say at all that any elite no matter how much talent they have can just get there based on natural talent. No way, it is still grueling. Just saying there is kind of like a Venn diagram with people on both sides and if the ability and the effort match up in the middle you MIGHT get an elite assuming they don't get injured or their parents don't lose their job. And I go to meets and my team beats teams coached by coaches who I competed against and I know are much better athletes than me. So I don't really care. I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from because it seems kind of random to me.

Things change on a dime in this sport, that kid who was recruited to UCLA at 13 needs elbow surgery or her mom loses her job and can't bankroll gymnastics anymore or her brother is hospitalized and the family can't sacrifice the time anymore. Yet you think that person is destined to be a subpar coach because they "haven't done as much as they require themselves"? Unless they just competed yesterday it doesn't really matter what level they were, there are tons of things the kids are doing and equipment they are using today that we didn't have.