Discouraged; chronic cheating

[fishchimes]

We don't do very tough conditioning compared to other gyms, but I think somewhere along the line the coach gave the team an assignment (conditioning or otherwise) that was too challenging, and no one said anything and just cheated. Over time, it must have become a habit, so now the coach expects that time consuming assignments will get done in less time than they actually take. I always try to do the whole assignment and usually end up finishing last. Once, we had to do 50 turns on beam, and I didn't stop to rest at all but finished WAY behind everyone else. We've also played "games" where if someone makes a mistake in their routine, everyone on the team has to do 10. I did 25 dive rolls, 20 front handsprings, 25+ back extensions and a bunch of turns, leaps, and backwalkovers because of one of these "games." I thought this was counter-productive because by the end of the assignment I was really tired and wasn't trying at all, plus my neck hurt. Of course, I was the last to finish.

I haven't been wanting to go to practice because I'm scared of not being able to finish an assignment, or messing up and having to do it over (for example, not finishing in time during suicides). Any advice? I feel like quitting because I'm not having fun anymore; I'm either in pain or scared of being in pain.

 

[jenniffir]

Oh thats tough, you need to talk to the coach and tell her whats going on. See if she/he might try being a little more vigilant and and catch a cheater and make her finish conditioning. maybe if one cheater is caught others might not be so quick to cheat, i get the hard conditioning but i am naturaly strong so if a girl finishes be fore me or before im even close to done a coach will call her out, it will take some time to resolve the issue if the whole team is cheating, so in the mean time you should try to convince your friends not to cheat.

P.S. a suggestion for your coach to decrease condition is to do timed strength excercises (running for 30 min, hollow hold, ect) that way you all have to be working at the same time or just count as a team on condition.

 

[gymnastgets10]

Aw, that stinks. Kudos to you for not cheating!

If you are one of the older girls on the team, I think you should call everyone together before practice and explain to them how it's important to always complete the assignment to the best of your abilities, that cheating only makes you progress slower, and how much easier your skills will become if you always do what you're supposed to do. If this doesn't work (and I'm really not sure how effective it will be) then you should probably talk to your coach... I know it will probably feel like you're tattling, but this sounds like a much bigger problem than Susie only doing 9 chin-ups instead of 10.

Hope this helps!

 

[fishchimes]

Thanks for the suggestions. Once I got upset and said I wouldn't do any more assignments until everyone did the whole assignment, but my coach basically just said that it was their problem so I shouldn't worry about it. I don't think anything ever got done about it >_<

 

[JBS]

Talk with your coach. It will help. All of your hard work will pay off in the long run.

 

[SamIam]

I'm not having fun anymore

speaks volumes right there

Agree with talking to the coach too. Wish you the best of luck.

 

[gymdog]

As a coach I monitor conditioning very carefully. I don't like cheating as much as anyone else, but I too have witnessed instances where the athletes basically had to cheat based on the difficulty of the assignment. I've been in that situation too. I had one coach (this was the least of the problems, which were many and varied) and I remember he would assign things like 40 pull ups, holding your legs at least 90 degrees in pike, alternating front and back (so pulling the bar behind your neck every other one - very difficult). This was "supposed" to be done as one set. I have always been very strong and I was very strong then, and I could maybe do 10 of that particular assignment, maybe some more on a good day, but not 40 in a row and not in conjuction with the 18 other ridiculous assignments we were given. He would stand there and count and get angry as we failed to do the full number or our legs dropped too low in the pike. Come on. Obviously no one in our group (girls) could do that. But he would never admit that he assigned something unrealistic.

As a coach I regularly modify things if I see they aren't going well or we need more work to get to whatever the goal is. I don't think this is a sign of weakness. It encourages good habits and communication. It doesn't teach anything to create a system where the kids have to cheat just to maintain appearances. Of course, sometimes kids do cheat on things they CAN do, and that is a problem where you need a couple approaches I think. The first is to be somewhat understanding - some kids are going to be a little weaker than the strongest of the group and they need to be able to modify to more sets of lower reps and the coach needs to assist in this and help them learn good habits to design this appropriately. The other is to make sure the kids understand why they are doing conditioning, and take an active role in it (not like in some instances I've seen where the coach is kicking back after giving out the assignment or even not in the room - don't get me started with that). If the coach doesn't care, the kids won't care.

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

Cheating only hurts those who cheat...you will get stronger and better, they will flail because they are not strong enough. The problem I have is that you are saying that the conditioning you are doing is causing pain because you are NOT cheating...THAT needs to be brought to the attention of the coach...by saying that you are in pain because you are actually not cheating gets both issues up front without actually feeling like you are telling on anyone, just pointing out that the conditioning is too strenuous because if you actually don't cheat, it is painful...

 

[marie83]

Oh, I really feel for you! I've seen this happen in my gym too - some coaches just don't understand that conditioning has to be achievable! My gymnasts currently do some core conditioning before beam. They have to do 50 of everything. Now, they have built this up over time - when they first started they only did 10 of everything! One coach heard me tell my girls to do 50 and decided that she'd have her group of beginners do the same! Of course, they all cheated, or ended up crying! Then the coach actually told them off! At the end of the session I had to explain to the coach that it wasn't actually her gymnast's fault, but hers - it was a valuable lesson she had to learn.
I am also a firm non believer in group conditioning if one person makes a mistake (In fact I don't believe in conditioning as a consequence of mistakes unless it will help achieve the skill, but that's another story!) Again, In my gym I've seen gymnasts fall off the beam, then be told to do 5,10,15,20+ sit ups or press ups etc. To me, this just means the gymnasts spend more time on the floor than the beam, and more time conditioning (probably badly) than learning skills!

Anyway, I really think you should perhaps talk to your coach (or have your parent do it) or the head coach or owner, whoever is most approachable or likely to make something change. Explain that you aren't having fun and sometimes don't want to go, explain that the conditioning hurts you. Good Luck! I really hope something changes and you start enjoying gym again!

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

My group has this problem, well not exactly the same, but close.
We condition at the end of every class and the younger girls in our class (11-13) finish about 20 minutes before the rest of us that are 15 and 16. We know that they cheat because their is no way that they would finish that fast, and if you watch them if the number is 20 they do 5. The problem is our numbers keep going up because they finish so quickly. I think its about time for both of us to have a talk with our coach.

 

[cher062]

Talk to your coach and parents with your concerns. All should be involved in a discussion together.
Just remember the only one that will get something out of conditioning will be the gymnast that actually does it. Your time will come.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Some things our coaches do to discourage cheating is to have us do about 4 or 5 exercises at a time, then meet up before we move on. This way, the coach can see who is getting done early every time and they don't get too far ahead. Also, we have a section of our strength (leg lifts, handstand holds against the wall, handstand holds on beam, pull-up levers, and press handstands) that we are all supposed to do together - sometimes the coach doesn't actually do this, but it's a g ood idea. I think breaking the strength down into groups helps to make it seem less intimidating, therefore more achievable as well.

 

[Mag_7_Fan96]

Maybe you could suggest to the coach a friendly competition for the conditioning exercises so he can see who is cheating and who isn't. Someone would be watching them and counting how many they do to keep them from cheating again. That way he'll be able to see who finishes later or at the same time. That will tell apart the cheaters from the ones who actually do the whole thing. Maybe it can be an evaluation instead of a competition. He can tell them he just wants to see how they are doing in conditioning and help them improve whatever they are weaker in.

I hope this helps.

 

[fishchimes]

Thanks for all the replies I'm a bit worried that my coach won't believe me because I don't have any real proof that the girls are cheating, I just know that they get done uncannily fast. Also, I think some of the younger ones may even have a problem with losing count or not counting at all, especially when they chat during conditioning. We just had a strength evaluation though, hopefully the results will make the coach think more carefully about conditioning; maybe break people into groups based on ability? If not maybe I can ask my mom to send my coach an e-mail.

I think the main reason why no one said anything is that they wanted to save face, because often when people don't do well the coach will say "you know, the level 4s can do this already". I think this is an unfair comparison because the level 4s are quite a bit smaller than the level 5s, which can be an advantage with some (not all) conditioning. I've observed that the number of reps gymnasts are able to do on exercises involving the lifting of the legs is a function of how tiny their legs are. :/ The highest-scoring gymnast on the level 5 team "only" did 65 elbow V-ups, as compared to one of the tiniest (and one of the lowest scoring) level 4s, who did 200. (I did 30... ) For the record, the level 4s do not exactly wow the judges on the competition floor.

 

[gymnastbeth]

Also, I think some of the younger ones may even have a problem with losing count or not counting at all, especially when they chat during conditioning.

Actually, I think that's quite possible. I asked one of the little pre team girls I teach/coach "How many did you do?" When she said she was done with the little bit of strength they had assigned. She replied with "We are supposed to COUNT?!" They can really be a hoot. I definitely agree with the group conditioning, its a motivator for older girls not to cheat, and for the younger ones to just know what they are doing.