WAG Help internalizing/applying corrections?

[H.J.]

What has worked for kids who seem to have a hard time processing/applying corrections? My DD, 12, L7, has I think always relied on her body’s ability to just “do stuff” and has never really had to learn to think through and make corrections. She got by without them (I mean obv not all of them) until now when skills are truly getting harder. She’s just never been one for finesse and detail - she’s done enough to get by and has done ok. Now she — and her coaches! — are getting frustrated. She has flatlined and literally repeats the same mistakes over and over, despite verbal corrections. Besides mental drive/focus, what else would help? Does she need to feel the correction (spotting), does she need to say the correction out loud (repeat back to coach), what? She swears she’s trying and I believe that she thinks she is ;-) but she struggles in school too with focus and processing so I’m just wondering if a diff approach is needed here. The coaches are flummoxed I think bc they always comment on her talent but don’t understand her lack of progress. TIA for ideas/thoughts!

 

[MILgymFAM]

I have two very different DDs. For one, she needs physical spotting to feel corrections. Short of that, a video of herself doing skills with corrections while watching can help. My other DD really had to be able to repeat corrections back to (1) give it time to sink in and (2) to make sure she understood the correction as she heard it. Personally, I think if a coach is giving the same corrections again and again with no improvement, they clearly need to at least try to give the correction differently. No one wants to keep making the same mistakes, so there must be a disconnect.

 

[RTT2]

How do her coaches give corrections now? My DD says they may need to demonstrate what they mean- showing the shapes, demonstrating the body position needed to go into the skill while not needing to actually do the skill themselves (maybe your daughter's coaches already do this, but it's what my dd says is helpful for her!)

 

[moogacat]

Have they tried video? My daughter's coach will often let them have a teammate video them (only on the gymnast's own phone, for safety reasons), and then they review the video together. It's a lot easier for her to see the problems visually and make corrections after watching the video.

 

[CuriousCate]

My DD also likes videos or even still shots of the shape she is missing. She also likes when a coach will help to physically shape her into the position they are aiming for. She definitely does not respond quickly to repeated verbal corrections...she just can't seem to translate the words into physical corrections.

 

[mommyof1]

It could definitely have something to do with her learning style. My daughter is not an auditory learner and had trouble dealing with one coach who only gave verbal corrections. She does much better with visual aids (demonstrations, marked-up video, a jointed paper doll type thing the coach uses) and hands-on shaping.

At age 12 and with coaches who sound as if they want to make things work, your daughter is in a good position to start advocating for herself. Two possible strategies are:

1. If she gets the same correction twice in a row, it means she's not understanding or applying it. This is a signal to speak up. "Coach, you've given me the same correction more than once, so I don't think I quite understand what you mean. I think it would help if I could see [feel] what you are looking for. Can you please show me [spot me]?" She will have to do this over and over.
2. Set up a meeting with the coaches. Have DD take the lead in explaining that she doesn't feel that she is understanding and applying verbal corrections and would like to try other strategies. She can then make specific suggestions: video, stick figure drawings, spotting/shaping, etc.

 

[mommyof1]

Adding:

It also sounds as if your daughter has been picking skills up naturally, and is just now hitting the point where she has to start thinking consciously about what her body needs to do. This is a big transition and takes practice. My daughter is one who doesn't easily pick up most skills and really needs to think about everything. In the beginning, she'd complain about a skill she was having trouble with, I'd ask her what she needed to do to improve, and she'd just say, "do it." It was a couple of years before I started to hear her talk analytically about timing, body shapes, and the physics behind the skills.

And: If she isn't already, she needs to be listening to and thinking about the corrections the other girls get. This is a big thing in dance class--every student is supposed to take every correction as if it were aimed at her individually.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

My daughter is a visual and interactive learner. She writes down weekly and monthly goals/corrections that she hangs in her locker at the gym and in her goal board at home. Her coach will go over them with her after she has written them down to make sure they are correct. Before practice and on her breaks, she reviews those goals/corrections. She has two per apparatus. When she has mastered a correction, she writes down a new one. Writing them down, looking at them several times during practices, and minimizing the number of corrections at a Time helps her to focus on what she needs to do. We have seen great improvement since she started this.

She also does really well when watching videos of herself. If she is struggling to understand what she needs to do, her coach will video her and then they will review it and her coach will show her the errors and what it should look like.

 

[H.J.]

My daughter is a visual and interactive learner. She writes down weekly and monthly goals/corrections that she hangs in her locker at the gym and in her goal board at home. Her coach will go over them with her after she has written them down to make sure they are correct. Before practice and on her breaks, she reviews those goals/corrections. She has two per apparatus. When she has mastered a correction, she writes down a new one. Writing them down, looking at them several times during practices, and minimizing the number of corrections at a Time helps her to focus on what she needs to do. We have seen great improvement since she started this.

She also does really well when watching videos of herself. If she is struggling to understand what she needs to do, her coach will video her and then they will review it and her coach will show her the errors and what it should look like.

Wow, this is awesome. Love how driven and focused she is, and really love how her coach helps her stay accountable. Having something manageable like 2 per apparatus is a really good idea.

I like the video idea too, and her coaches do that once in a while but very rarely. There are a lot of girls and the gym is a busy place and they might fee like they can't do it for everyone so they don't do it for anyone (don't know if that's really true but it might be the excuse).

I don't want to be the one suggesting the videos, but DD asking her coaches for them might work ...

Thanks for your support!

 

[H.J.]

It could definitely have something to do with her learning style. My daughter is not an auditory learner and had trouble dealing with one coach who only gave verbal corrections. She does much better with visual aids (demonstrations, marked-up video, a jointed paper doll type thing the coach uses) and hands-on shaping.

At age 12 and with coaches who sound as if they want to make things work, your daughter is in a good position to start advocating for herself. Two possible strategies are:

1. If she gets the same correction twice in a row, it means she's not understanding or applying it. This is a signal to speak up. "Coach, you've given me the same correction more than once, so I don't think I quite understand what you mean. I think it would help if I could see [feel] what you are looking for. Can you please show me [spot me]?" She will have to do this over and over.
2. Set up a meeting with the coaches. Have DD take the lead in explaining that she doesn't feel that she is understanding and applying verbal corrections and would like to try other strategies. She can then make specific suggestions: video, stick figure drawings, spotting/shaping, etc.

Yes-- great ideas. Thank you! Giving DD a specific criterion such as getting the same correction x times in a row might help her feel more confident about knowing when it's time to speak up (vs. feeling like she has to make a judgment call each time or whatever).

Her coaches are def. mostly verbal and aren't too creative with finding other ways to show/communicate the ideas, but maybe they would be open to ideas. They're super nice folks.

 

[H.J.]

My DD also likes videos or even still shots of the shape she is missing. She also likes when a coach will help to physically shape her into the position they are aiming for. She definitely does not respond quickly to repeated verbal corrections...she just can't seem to translate the words into physical corrections.

Exactly -- not being able to translate the words into action is a good way to put it. I wish her coaches would do more with video.

 

[H.J.]

Have they tried video? My daughter's coach will often let them have a teammate video them (only on the gymnast's own phone, for safety reasons), and then they review the video together. It's a lot easier for her to see the problems visually and make corrections after watching the video.

Letting the girls ask a teammate to video is a great idea -- that way it doesn't have to take away from whatever else the coach is doing. I like that. Maybe I'll suggest to DD that she ask her coaches if they'd permit this.

 

[H.J.]

I have two very different DDs. For one, she needs physical spotting to feel corrections. Short of that, a video of herself doing skills with corrections while watching can help. My other DD really had to be able to repeat corrections back to (1) give it time to sink in and (2) to make sure she understood the correction as she heard it. Personally, I think if a coach is giving the same corrections again and again with no improvement, they clearly need to at least try to give the correction differently. No one wants to keep making the same mistakes, so there must be a disconnect.

I like the idea of having to repeat the corrections back -- and probably also to somehow show what the correction will look like (like showing what open shoulders look like). And yeah, you'd think the coaches would naturally work to find other ways to give the corrections if they see a girl not taking them, but who knows. Thanks!

 

[H.J.]

How do her coaches give corrections now? My DD says they may need to demonstrate what they mean- showing the shapes, demonstrating the body position needed to go into the skill while not needing to actually do the skill themselves (maybe your daughter's coaches already do this, but it's what my dd says is helpful for her!)

I don't really know - it seems like they mostly rely on verbal but at meets I see a lot of times after vault or something they'll raise their arms and hunch their shoulders slightly as a reminder of shape, I guess, but who knows if DD is even watching haha. I'm sure they try more things than I'm aware of but like I said, it mostly seems verbal (and that's what DD says too but she's not always the most reliable source of info).

 

[kecks]

in track here we have team kids age 12 and up write a "practice diary" after every session. they write down the assigments they did, they rate how they feel (1 out of 10 is worst), they note the results of timed runs, they note corrections... we introduce that by going through old practice diarys of older athletes or these athletes do it with them. works wonders for us. athlete becomes actively involved in his/her own learning.