1st bad fall on bars...Am I an overprotective mommy or is there cause for concern?

[cadybearsmommy]

Ok so a bit of a background...These past few months, our gym lost several coaches. Basically a whole family (mom and two daughters) that were some of the main coaches at our gym left to coach at another gym across town. They have also lost a couple of preschool teachers. So needless to say they have recently hired a LOT of new coaches.

On my daugher's preteam, there are two coaches, one is a coach that has been there for quite a while and moved up from coaching developmental to preteam. The other coach is new and I don't really know her background.

They have just very recently started working on HEAVILY spotted front hip circles. My dd was working with the new coah today when she took a bad fall during one. She went down over the bar, and I'm not sure what went wrong, I think maybe she lost grip, or either the coach failed to catch her and pull her back up to the bar. Either way, she fell straight from the top of the bar to flat on her back on the floor. It almost gave me a heart attack, and I'm sure it looked MUCH more scary than it actually was, but it was all I could do not to run down into the gym to check on her. Luckily after a minute to recover, she hopped right back up and seemed fine.

I did go down to the front desk to talk to the owner a little bit later (she didn't see the fall). I told her I know a lot of the coaches are new and I was just concerned about Cady taking a fall like that on bars. She was very nice about it and said they have been doing a lot of training classes with them and she feels confident in their ability to spot the girls, but that she would look into it.

When I picked Cady up, the coach asked me if I saw her fall on bars, and when I said yes, this is what she said..."Yeah, she acted like she was going to cry and I told her to not even cry, and I bet she won't fall down from that bar again!" I kind of took this the wrong way, like she was putting all the blame on my dd for the fall. I'm just not sure what to think...If I have cause to be concerned, or if this type of thing happens all the time and I just need to step back and try to not be so protective???

 

[cbone]

The lack of a proper spot would have concerned me. Is the coach young? We have one young coach who often seems to lack focus while spotting. My best advice is to trust your instincts. If the changes have so radically changed the quality of coaching in your mind, a change of your own might be called for. If not, be patient, but involved.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

The lack of a proper spot would have concerned me. Is the coach young? We have one young coach who often seems to lack focus while spotting. My best advice is to trust your instincts. If the changes have so radically changed the quality of coaching in your mind, a change of your own might be called for. If not, be patient, but involved.

Yes, she is very young...most of their coaches are aside from the head coach, but it has never been an issue with any of the others, they are all very attentive while spotting. Mistakes happen but the way she tried to put it all on my dd rubbed me the wrong way. =(

 

[cbone]

Here's a funny story that I'll tie back to your original post. At my daughter's end of year banquet, I was sitting talking to my wife. Out if my peripheral vision, I see a little one coming up to give me a hug. Being a really affectionate dad, I wrap my arms around the little one and kiss her head. I look down and realize that I've just kissed someone else's child- the only other person in the room that was little like my daughter. Though I talk to that girl a lot, she's never hugged me before. The next day at gym I find her mon and say, "Your little one is so cute. Did you hear what I did to her at the banquet?" She didn't and I explained it to her and we had a good laugh.

I approached the mom because I was concerned that my actions could be taken wrong and I was worried that she would be upset. The coach in your situation obviously understood that this could be a problem and sought you out. The way I took those comments was that she helped your daughter tough it out and was trying to give her confidence that she could do the skill. Her saying "she won't fall off that bar again" sounds a lot like a mia culpa. I think, at a minimum, that her approaching you shows she understands the severity of the fall.

 

[skschlag]

cbone-That was my thought too. The coach doesn't want to say, in front of the child....well, sorry I didn't spot her well. That little girl would never trust the coach again. I think the way the coach handled it was good. She at least came out. She knew that the fall was seen, and she commented on it.

My son landed on his head while his coach was spotting him on a double back on the tramp. the coach caught him, and kept it from being severe (Thank goodness). WHen the coach talked to me about it, he told me what happened and said to D "I bet you won't throw your head back on that one anymore." I never thought he was accusing the fall on my son, just that he was giving him the information and confidence to get it the next time.

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

Sometimes in gymnastics falls just happen, that's a big part of the sport! Coaches can't always do everything. I've been dropped as a gymnast and I've dropped kids as a coach. Usually after a few minutes the coach and the kid forget about it. It'll happen again I'm sure--best thing to do is stay out of it unless its real serious!
It's hard watching kids fall but you just gotta trust they're gonna be okay.
Best wishes for your daughter.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Thank you all for your input! Still being new at the slightly more advanced gymnastics, I wasn't sure if this was just a normal occurence that happens or if it was a serious error. It makes me feel better to know that this sort of thing does happen and doesn't always mean a lack of experience or expertise on the coaches part. She has been very happy in pre-team so far, besides just being tired after due to the increased hours. So I think it will be a good experience for her. I will try to internatilize the helicopter mom inside of me a bit, it was just a heart stopper for me...I'm sure it gets easier as time goes on!

 

[MeetDirector]

Begin now to steel yourself for what comes down the road. Later compulsories and optional gymnastics will involve some falls that to the casual observer look BAD. If the athlete is taught correctly how to fall, they will survive; my dd is testament to that.

Good Luck!

 

[gymgal]

I think how the coach handled it was appropriate and like the others said, I wouldn't take that comment as the coach blaming your child. She was reassuring her that she will do better next time. It's a rough sport. Accidents will happen. It really not unusual to see gymnasts fall of the bars repeatedly. It's tough when they land on their back rather than their bottom but the the fact she got back up without incidence shows she was fine.

DD is L7 and I pretty much have stopped watching her train except when I know she is doing something she has relatively perfected. My heart just can't take it...

 

[mustlovejumping]

It sounds like the coach handled the situation pretty well :] I have taken a couple of falls with my coach spotting me (nothing serious, although it may have looked bad from afar), and as soon as it happens (right after he asks me if I'm okay), he tells me he knows exactly what went wrong and then gives me a correction to think about for the next one. I like this because he is always honest about what happened, but also gives me encouragement that I will be fine on the next try and the fall will not happen again. When the coach doesn't dwell on what happened and moves on to the next attempt quickly, so does the gymnast (even a 21-year-old)

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

With me being a gymnast, falling is just part of gymnastics. When I had my first bad fall, it was off beam and my mom freaked out. Falling for a gymnast is like making a mistake, because it kind of is. Making mistakes are the best way to learn! Thats what my coach tells us.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and your coach is right!

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Falls happen all the time in this sport. It just cant be helped. I know that fall just about gave you a heart attack, but that was a very simple fall. Just wait til she splits the beam for the first time, falls off doing a backhandspring or peels off the high bar learning a giant! Seriously, thats why most of us eventually adopt the "drop and dash" method of getting our kids to practice. (not to mention avoiding the gym drama). Sounds like the coach handled herself the right way.

 

[Natasha]

Falls do happen all the time, but with the recent changes at your gym, I can understand your anxiety. While falls can be scary to watch, they are not "red flags." However, some red flags for me are: Do they make sure that the proper matting is under the equipment EVERY time? Do they use progressions to teach skills rather than allowing kids to just "chuck" a skill? Most skills have drills that lead up to the skill. Also, do they first learn the skill on the safest equipment? I.e. when my dd first trained almost all skills were mastered on the star bars before moving to the big bar set. Even in L7 she learned her clear hip to handstand on the star bars (a much smaller drop if she falls) Beam skills are mastered on floor beam & low beam before high beam. Finally, are they teaching the kids how to fall? I remember my dd's team actually doing drills to learn how to fall from various skills on the bars. If the coaches are doing all these things, then relax and know that they have safety in mind and you can look at the falls as learning experiences.
Gymnasts will fall when learning skills, but all of the above things help to minimize injury when they fall, since really, it is not the falls that are scary, but the possibility of getting injured from the fall.