WAG Leaving a gymnast on one event all practice?

[Lucy's Mom]

Good coach, bad coach, good idea, bad idea? All of practice, as in about 6 hours!

What are your thoughts?

 

[gymgurl]

six hours is far too long to be left on a single apparatus I have had coaches keep me on an apparatus for maybe an extra half an hour to an hour if a certain skill was being particularly difficult but IMHO i think that six hours will accomplish nothing but squash the kids confidence

 

[Seeker]

Age and level would help, but 6 hours is way too long IMHO. Was there a specific skill or goal to be achieved?

 

[iwannacoach]

Sounds like a tug-of-war situation between a very determined coach and a kid with some sort of hurdle to get past. I think it's important you allow the coach a chance to make his/her point....... but that said, I'd probably move her to another event before six hours went by.......probably.

The bottom line is your dd walked out of the gym in one piece and fully aware of what's expected of her. In that sense there's a benefit that may help your dd get past the hurdle. Is there a better way...... possibly, maybe, and maybe not, as the answer to that question depends entirely on the dynamics between your dd and the coach, and whatever tools have been used unsuccessfully to this point.

I guess an appropriate frame to put the incident into is if and when your dd gets past this hurdle.....will she have something new that she's happy with?.... and will that feeling of accomplishment last longer than any feelings she's retained from the 6 hour tour on that single event.

Just wondering...... was it beam?

 

[J&A's mom]

Way too long. This was one of the reasons I quit in fifth grade.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

c'mon, seriously??? completely inappropriate. geesh...[Dunno places both his hands on his face again in angst]

 

[JBS]

Good coach, bad coach, good idea, bad idea? All of practice, as in about 6 hours!

What are your thoughts?

6 hours...long practice...is your child trying to go elite?

 

[Aussie_coach]

Part of the art of successful coaching is also to know when to walk away from An apparatus or a skill.

 

[skschlag]

My first reaction was to the sheer length of the practice! 6 hours seems long. What level/age is she?

I cannot imagine it ever being a good idea to be on one apparatus for 6 hours. I can, however, see having a child do extra reps if they are getting over a fear. It is a time where the coach needs to know the gymnast well. Having my son stay on something for a specific reason would result in him buckling down and doing it. We had a gymnast who kept gettign his back full, losing it, getting it, losing it. The last time he lost it (all mental), the coach told him to stay on the tramp until he did 5 in a row that were good. He was on the tramp for abotu 30 more minutes, and did it. Had he not pushed like this, the boy probably would have lost it for a long time again (3rd time through this).

6 hours is too long however. There has to be a target that is attainable for the gymnast. Otherwise IMO, it is just punishment.

 

[gymgal]

c'mon, seriously??? completely inappropriate. geesh...[Dunno places both his hands on his face again in angst]

What he said...

 

[profmom]

Only time I've ever seen anything like this was when someone had a foot/lower leg injury and spent all practice alternating between strength/conditioning and bars. Other than that scenario, it seems kinda nuts to me (speaking, of course, just as a parent) and a recipe for frustration and injury.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I'd think a 6 hours of practice period, regardless if it's multiple events, is too long...I think our L8/L9's only go 4 hours at a time (it's just more days).

As far as a long practice on a single event, I'd think beam would be the only one that could be done for an extended period of time since it's not as tiring...like wouldn't girls eventually just get physically exhausted after tumbling too long to the point that it's dangerous...and same deal w/ bars and vault. My DD says she could and would do beam for an entire practice if they wanted her to/let her ...

 

[Lucy's Mom]

It was beam. She is a level 10 and just turned 15. The coach didn't give her an assignment. The day before she had trouble on her competition set but did finish the assignment. The next day he just told her to go to beam and had the other girls go to a different event. She did all their warm ups (they have more than one for different days) all dance work, dance routines, upgrade turns, leaps, jumps, combinations. All basics and basic skills and drills. All the skills in her routine many times, dismount round off drills and timers and real dismounts. Upgrades on low beam and some on high beam. First halves, last halves, routines... She worked everything. And after that she even asked if she could move on to a different event which her coach did not appreciate. He angrily glanced at her and then looked away and raising his voice said, "No. You are on beam all day."

I don't know what to think...

 

[Lucy's Mom]

I also forgot to mention that she has no fears to get over and is confident and safe on her skills.

 

[MeetDirector]

To the OP -
I think this is one of those things that you just have to let go of. Chalk it up to the coach having a bad day or whatever, but don't make a big deal of it. She is 15 and a level 10 and has probably already let it go herself anyhow. This is one of those things that I would characterize as a "pick your battle" moment and choose to move on as if it never happened.

Good Luck.

 

[LizzieLac]

Seems excessive to me, even ay level 10.

 

[JBS]

It was beam. She is a level 10 and just turned 15. The coach didn't give her an assignment. The day before she had trouble on her competition set but did finish the assignment. The next day he just told her to go to beam and had the other girls go to a different event. She did all their warm ups (they have more than one for different days) all dance work, dance routines, upgrade turns, leaps, jumps, combinations. All basics and basic skills and drills. All the skills in her routine many times, dismount round off drills and timers and real dismounts. Upgrades on low beam and some on high beam. First halves, last halves, routines... She worked everything. And after that she even asked if she could move on to a different event which her coach did not appreciate. He angrily glanced at her and then looked away and raising his voice said, "No. You are on beam all day."

I don't know what to think...

Are you happy with your gym and coach? Is this the first time you have had an issue like this? If so...it's just one issue and nothing to get alarmed over.

Not what I would recommend...but if you have never had any real issues before...I would let this one go. If more happens in the future...well???

 

[skschlag]

I would try to ask the coach what his goal was with that. He may have something, and it may have been a bad day. The only way to know is to ask.

 

[Lucy's Mom]

I would ask/talk to him but I can't even have a conversation with the coach. Everything you say can be used against you. He is unsupportive and a lot of times full out rude. He can be great too though. Some days he's fantastic but a lot of days leave my dd in tears. He's done things like this in the past and I don't like it. The teammates don't get along with dd and trust me, if I could I would leave the gym but I can't do that. I'm out of options. Thanks for your opinions and sorry for my mini vent.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

well, from the sounds of it, i wouldn't ask him jack at the risk he might put you in the corner and nose to the wall for 6 hours so you can think about how you're going to ask the question correctly.........................................