I have had several of my teenage gymnasts tell me on different occasions that they would want to be pushed harder. They feel like they got results quicker when they had a coach who pushed them HARD. She was pretty extreme sometimes and even used methods like making a crying gymnast stand on the beam until she made the X skill. Also, the gymnasts had to sometimes stay very late at practice when everyone else left to finish conditioning if they didn't make X skill.
On the other hand, some of these gymnasts who were coached by this coach tell me that they are still trying to handle some of the stress, anxiety and trauma that those methods caused. That coach was very demanding and wanted results - and yes most of the girls did pretty well at competitions.
I hate forcing, yelling, humiliating and frighting the gymnasts. I want them to find their inner motivation to do the X skill. I cheer and encourage but I rarely push them over their limits. I get where they are coming from - they are teens and getting scared of everything especially on the beam and would want some external pressure to get up on the high beam and just throw the skill when forced.
But I struggle to know when to push that hard. They are teens, so they can one day tell me that they need to be pushed more and then the other day look at me murderously when I say that today is the day that they are not allowed to use that mat on the beam anymore. I struggle to know when they are actually receptive to external pressure and when they are not. Again, they are teens so they easily blame tiredness, soreness or aches when they are not making progress with X skill. Sometimes it's definitely real and I need to back off but sometimes it's just an excuse because they are scared. I struggle to know the difference.
Please help me wrap my head around this! How to push them harder using only methods that are not abusive or harmful for their mental health? I want them to reach their full potential and if they want to be pushed I'm going to do that, but I would want to have some guidance on how to do that in a healthy and positive way.
On the other hand, some of these gymnasts who were coached by this coach tell me that they are still trying to handle some of the stress, anxiety and trauma that those methods caused. That coach was very demanding and wanted results - and yes most of the girls did pretty well at competitions.
I hate forcing, yelling, humiliating and frighting the gymnasts. I want them to find their inner motivation to do the X skill. I cheer and encourage but I rarely push them over their limits. I get where they are coming from - they are teens and getting scared of everything especially on the beam and would want some external pressure to get up on the high beam and just throw the skill when forced.
But I struggle to know when to push that hard. They are teens, so they can one day tell me that they need to be pushed more and then the other day look at me murderously when I say that today is the day that they are not allowed to use that mat on the beam anymore. I struggle to know when they are actually receptive to external pressure and when they are not. Again, they are teens so they easily blame tiredness, soreness or aches when they are not making progress with X skill. Sometimes it's definitely real and I need to back off but sometimes it's just an excuse because they are scared. I struggle to know the difference.
Please help me wrap my head around this! How to push them harder using only methods that are not abusive or harmful for their mental health? I want them to reach their full potential and if they want to be pushed I'm going to do that, but I would want to have some guidance on how to do that in a healthy and positive way.