WAG Event vs level coaches

[Rockygym]

Hi just wondering everyone's experiences with having event versus group/level coaches. Pros, cons etc.

 

[Aussie_coach]

In an ideal world I would have event coaches over level coaches. Gymnasts benefit greatly from working with a variety of coaches. All coaches have their weaknesses and strengths, but if the gymnast has just one coach their weaknesses become the gymnasts weaknesses. It is also great for kids to have a variety of adults in the gym caring able ut them and looking out for them, a variety of adults who know them, and can take them to competitions.

It also allows a coach to delve a lot deeper into their chosen specialist events. I am sure most have heard the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none". Event specialist coaches become experts in their fields.

The other problem with level coaches over event coaches is most gyms have their best and most experienced coaches with their highest level kids. And often this leaves the less experienced coaches working with the developmental kids. And these kids need solid foundations as they are our future. Event coaching allows great coaches to work across the levels from beginner to elite.

 

[l.c.o]

DD has experienced both. She prefers event coaches, for sure. At her current gym, they sort of do event coaches by level-ish. So, there's maybe four main coaches who'll coach beam, and two primarily do optionals and two primarily do compulsories... though there is some overlap. And there are also some part-time coaches who sorta don't have a niche per se, but might sometimes coach DD one day/week.

One coach does mostly bars/vault. A couple mostly do beam/floor, but one often will coach DD on beam, floor, and vault on different days of the week.

I'm having some trouble explaining this, but DD usually doesn't have the same coach for more than two events on the same day. This is an example, not by any means accurate:

Day 1: Coach A beam/strength, Coach B floor, Coach C bars
Day 2: Coach B beam, Coach C bars/vault, Coach A strength
Day 3: Coach A beam/floor, Coach B vault, Coach C bars
Day 4: Coach B beam, Coach A strength, Coach D floor, Coach E bars
Day 5: Coach F beam, Coach B floor, Coach C bars/vault

DD is 11, and is really liking having event coaches this way. She feels a bit less frustrated/annoyed - there's a little less "battle of wills". Say DD has two primary beam coaches and two that might occasionally sub... often hearing that "new" voice or perspective really helps my DD, even if it's technically a "lower level" assistant coach who's just subbing in on a given day. Sometimes, to me as a parent, it almost sometimes seems like some good cop/bad cop action when it comes to fears/head issues.

One girl in DD's group is moving on to level 7, and lost her flyaway the week before scoring out of level 5. It was nice to see coaches going into triage mode to try to help her - she had a variety of bar coaches throughout practices trying to help. She managed to compete it.

The down side of this is when a kid really, really does well under a given coach, and only gets them occasionally on that favorite event. Or like my DD, who prefers Coach A on beam (goes easier on DD), and coach B on floor (DD excelling here so she likes the more strict push here), and has to deal with both on both.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

We've never experienced event coaches, only level coaches but I think it's a great idea! I like the idea of all of the coaches getting to know all of the kids from the start instead of waiting until the higher levels to work with the head coaches, etc.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My DD has had both, and enjoyed both. I like the idea of event coaches because everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so why not work with that. Right now my DD has a level coach, but still an event coach on beam since HC doesn't coach beam at all. I almost wish he did, though, because on those occasions when the beam coach isn't able to be at the gym, she just emails assignments for the girls and they do beam without a coach. That is obviously not ideal.

 

[aerials]

Most gyms here that I've seen have level coaches for compulsaries and event coaches for optionals.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We only have 2 main coaches. 3 other coaches. 2 assistants. The assistants never go to meets. All the other coaches, coach all levels. The do have their event specialties though. They usually have their main event and one other. All can cover each other in a scheduling pinch.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I think our gym is moving towards event coaches, but they still have mostly level coaches in the lower levels. The gym definitely has a bars coach who works with all the level 4's and up. He also does vault coaching frequently for the optionals. And they have a floor/beam coach who works more on the dance/routine type skills. And a coach that focuses on the floor skills.

But, they have a coach who only does level 2 and training group. My dd (level 3 now training for level 4) has a coach that primarily works with her team on all events (i.e. as a level coach), but she also works with the higher levels on some event specific things. And they have another coach that usually works with her team and main coach specifically on vault. The level 4's (training level 5) have a main coach and then they go to some of the other coaches for bars and maybe other things.. I'm not really sure. And then there are several other coaches in the gym that do a little of everything wherever they are needed.

My dd really liked the level 2 coach because she was nice and encouraging and just very personable (she also has 3 kids and is kind of mom like to her team). The level 3 coach is a really good coach, but no where near as warm and fuzzy. They all love her, because she really pushes them. But they also really like when they get to work with a different coach because it is something different and keeps it interesting. I do like the idea of event coaches for the higher levels.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Even though event coaches sounds ideal, a possible downside could be when a particular gymnast responds well with one event coach and not the other. Couldn't that can lead to mismatched skills between events - I guess it's better than a gymnast having a coach they don't respond to for every event , but it would frustrating to be ready to work next level skills on one event and not have what you need for your current level in another.

Plus what happens when one event coach has a completely different opinion about that gymnasts competition-level, evaluation, long term potential, etc.

Also, who goes to meets with them when they have event coaches?

So I guess I can forsee risks for power struggles and chaos in an event coach system, where at least there is a clear chain of command in a level coach situation - almost like having 4 bosses at work for each aspect of your job .

 

[Aussie_coach]

Gymmommy, I think that is another advantage of event coaching. If a gy,masts moves to a level and gets a coach who they don't work well with they may have this coach for all their training for a year or even longer. This can be enough to slow their progress to a stand still or even cause them to drop out of the sport. Having multiple coaches can help to tame this problem.

 

[sewgood]

I like the event coaches better than level coaches. I think you get more consistent training that way.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

All things being equal, I'd favor event coaching over level coaching, mainly because it allows coaches to construct progressions that continue accross multiple levels. Often the drills you are doing at one level don't really pay off until a level or two or three later; if the same coach is coaching all of those levels, they can see what works and what doesn't and adjust accordingly. They can plan not just for a season in advance, but for many years in advance.

Having said that..... I've worked as a single event coach, and hated it. For about half a year, I was coaching bars for 30 hours/week, and it really came to feel like a slog. Coaches who are excited are almost universally more effective than coaches who are feeling burnt out, so I guess I'd say the ideal setup is to have event coaches, but have those coaches switch it up from time to time to keep things fresh (for both gymnasts and coaches).

(My current position is sort of the best of both worlds; the site where I work is a small enough program that I coach pretty much everything except beam and dance for levels 4-6).