thefellowsmom
Proud Parent
Adding: i took "spotting" too literally. Of course i (and our other coaches) are standing right there ready in case something goes wrong. My comment on not spotting squat ons was more of a no "hands on gymnast at all times through the skill"....
Yes, I think I took it this way as well. I also have personal experiences with my dd and spotting which color my opinions in this area.
Just want to quickly clarify and I'm sorry if my comments came out wrong. I am in no way saying that spotting for safety or other reasons is a bad thing. My dd and her teammates have received much spotting along the way for various reasons. But, it is not relied upon and the girls learn their skills and develop them with ability to know where they are in that development and are encouraged to think for themselves about what is going on in a skill. Scaffolding is provided as necessary but they are encouraged not to use crutches. This balanced approach has produced many successful optional gymnasts, but every kid needs different things and not all coaching styles and gym philosophies are right for every kid. It is important as a parent to examine this through the stages and if necessary make a change to provide the right environment for each child and their goals and motivations.
For tap swings and jumping to the high bar, blocks and the pit bar were used and floor bars then preschool bars in height progression with squishy mats were used. By the time a girl hit the real bar they were well prepared to successfully complete a skill and absolutely someone was standing there to catch them if needed.
With that said, the only time in my dd's career that I was concerned about her safety in the gym (outside of the normal dangers, of course) was with a coach that excessively spotted the girls and I watched an entire group of kids lose their confidence in their ability to achieve a skill on their own. This fear and dependency put them at much larger risk of catastrophic injury than any other situation or coaching style I have seen.
Being there to catch them if they fall is imperative and this should always be the case (I have seen my dd's coach sacrifice himself again and again for the safety of these kids - just wait until they are learning high bar release moves - Yikes!) and shaping is essential and best supported by hands on work. But, in many circumstances, it seems that stations and drills can accomplish much of what spotting accomplishes, providing a safe place to learn and develop a skill without depending on a coach to stand next to you while you do it.
I will also say that conditioning is key to safety as well. A kid who isn't strong enough to do a skill or at an early stage in the development of a skill would never be up on a high bar attempting anything alone with my dd's coach, they would be working at a station and doing targeted and personalized conditioning to get them where they need to be to safely learn the skill or on a pit bar or working on shaping or drills with a coach's assistance.
Anyway, just wanted to clarify as I didn't mean for my comment to come across as a bashing of spotting. But, because of our experiences with different styling of coaches, I think there is a lot more to it than just spotting and that used incorrectly spotting can cause dangerous situations and kill confidence as well as the appropriate use of it can build confidence, skill development and safety.
I have seen many parents of compulsory gymnasts get very hung up on what they can see from the seating area and spotting is one of those things that seeing makes them feel secure and like the kids are being coached properly and that being over in a corner working on a drill or doing extra conditioning is often seen as their kid being ignored, not given the attention or coaching that the other kid is getting or worse as somehow abusive when the fact is that they are receiving the coaching and skill development tools that are right for where they are, it just is hard to tell that through the window or from the viewing platform.
It sounds like the OP isn't seeing any of these things, just coaches standing around. I too would be concerned and would be watching closely and asking questions, respectfully and appropriately, of course.
