How to motivate gymnasts ? Help Needed !

[Dave]

Forgive me on this one its a bit long.....:D


To all Coaches and Judges I have a a simple Question for you

" What's the best way to motivate your Gymnasts so you can harness all there talents ?"

The reason I'm asking is I currently participate in a Men's four which was only started about 7 months ago of which I'm the oldest ( 23 ) and I'm kind of a mentor figure as they all look up to me and see me as a kind of role model, However every now and again they seem to go off the boil and it pains me to see such talent going to waste, now I know we are never going to set the world alight as a men's four but I still want the boys to be motivated, committed and give me 110% when we train because we could easily go to the NDP finals and do well which would give them some much needed confidence in their abilities and carry them further on after I retire in 1-2 years....

Up until recently I only really had 1 off the boys giving me 110% this young lad would listen to what I said and learn from his mistakes and he's continually improving and wants to improve further, the other two were at best what I would say "Just going through the motions " however one of these lads ( the other Base in the men's four ) over summer has really come into his own and has started believing in his abilities I think this is because I keep on at him that he could make a good gymnast if he gave me a chance to coach him and because I was injured over the summer I spent some time with him going over the basics of the moves he was getting wrong, since then his attitude has completely changed and he is now really enthusiastic about training, he is even pushing himself harder in stretching and conditioning which he never even bothered about before....Even the Other coaches have noticed this vast improvement in his attitude and we are all pleased about it !

Now we come to the final young boy who has bundles of talent and when he works is a super gymnast however he only works well if you give him one on one coaching and continually praise him but as he has become lazy his moves have dropped off and has an attitude of I can do the moves but I cant do them now ! the other two boys are now working 110% solid on perfecting there moves yet this other boy continually tries my patience with his lazy attitude.... now I have 2 of the boys working really well I'm keen to get all three of them working well so we can work as a team but I feel his attitude could ruin the other boys and disrupt the men's four altogether something I'm keen on avoiding...........I have said to all of them that if they don't give me 110% commitment and effort I will not return to the gym after my injury and there will be no more men's 4 and the the 2 boys who are working well will do a men's pair and I will work on my Mixed Pair I'm hoping this will cause a sharp change in his attitude but I'm not hopeful as it could have the opposite effect myself and the 2 other boys do not want to stop doing the men's 4 but its looking like we will have stop so my question after all of this is do any of the coaches here have any techniques I can try to turn this young talented gymnast round ???

[peter edge]

Hi Dave,
I`ve seen this before and the father of the boy who was a senior coach and national judge asked very much the same question, my reply to this was "does he really want to do it?"
It may be simplistic but he had not considered to ask, his son had talent but was training because his father was coaching and his father was only continuing in the sport because of his son.
The outcome is they are no longer involved in the sport, the son is doing what he prefers to do and the father has more family time.

Unfortunately for you, if this is similar, it affects more than the individual as he is an integral part of the team. If this is not the case does he realise how much the team depends on him and that he needs to "pull his weight",try giving him more responsibility,get some imput off him.
Its a differcult position that you`re in and I hope you manage to resolve it, good luck!

[Dave]

Thats the thing he loves doing gymnastics and he loves training but he messes around to much !

Believe it or not he has wanted to do the Men'd Four and a Men Pair with myself as not so long ago we asked all the gymnasts who they would prefer working with and that was his answer...

[*Sarah*]

Firstly, how old is he?

Secondly, could you not become a trio instead of a men's pair and a mixed pair allowing you to stay together with the two who do work?

[Matte Hart]

I have a similar situation with a group I teach. 5 boys (1 9yr old, 1 10yr old, 2 11yr olds and 1 13yr old). They're floor and vault gymnasts who train 4 hours a week.

The 9yr old is in this group because of his natural ability. He has as much power and flexibility as you could wish for in someone his size. I've had repeated problems in harnessing that power and teaching him how to control it.

Just this afternoon I had to have a one on one chat with him about our upcoming competition and the new skills he's hoping to compete. I had to really explain that while had can do the skills in some form it's the technique and "all the little things" we need to work really hard on to get right.

He can get bored, is happy enough with his work when it could be better and does require more individual attention that the others. Annoyingly, he rarely looks up to the older gymnasts where he could find inspiration in the hard work they give in classes.

In the same way as you described, he loves gymnastics and his parents always put his wishes first with sports and outside-of-school activities.

Although it can feel like an uphill struggle sometimes to be able to inspire him to work that little bit harder, I've found the best ways to reach him are to set firm goals and challenge him personally.

Right now, overall, I am getting good training sessions from him. He is working hard on a new vault and floor skills especially because I have set a deadline for them to be achieved adequately for me to consider them for the competition we have coming up. Setting such specific goals (and providing consistent reminders of them) produces an obvious focus and determination in his work.

If I credit the work he is putting in but challenge him to excel in a lighthearted way that can also be successful as he has a real desire to prove his ability. One example: all the boys competing have a list of floor skills they work one session a week. The best moves will be taken forward for the floor routines I will make for them soon. He is the only one to have elephant lift and jump 1 1/2 on his list. He is working so hard to achieve these because it's something that is specific for him and a chance for him to "show off" new skills and demonstrate his strength and control etc.

I hope some of this rambling has been useful. Each gymnast will react with various levels to different coaching and motivational techniques. I guess it comes down to the age and personality type of the gymnast as well as the environment and the work they are doing. By considering each of these I think you can identify the best way to motivate each individual gymnast you work with.

Good luck. I hope you succeed in developing his talent :)

[Dave]

This Young lad is about 11 or 12 can't remember which :o

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a Men's Trio in Sports Acro its either a Men's four or a Men's Pair - Shame because it would be a good laugh to see a Men's Trio but then again a Men's Four would always look better than a Men's Trio in my opinion...

Well I have said to the 2 that do work at the moment that if the Men's four were to spilt I would coach them as a pair, when I asked them if they wanted to do a Men's Pair again they both were hesitant but when I said I'd coach them they were both up for it !

Anyways we had another training session on Saturday and before the session began I told them all not to forget what was said last Tuesday, surprisingly they all worked extremely hard their were one or two moments when they messed about but nothing major.... For the first time in a while all three of them were working hard for a change ! (( God may it continue ))

I think one of the reasons why they all worked hard was cos of what I said on Tuesday and at the beginning of the session I also spent a lot of time encouraging them and correcting there technique in certain moves which worked wonders....

This is an example of how well this young lad can work when he wants too, when we do a normal Pitch he can never land it properly and always ends up with his bum on the floor as he is too lose, yet on Saturday when he was working well we tried pitch to catch and on the third attempt we nailed it - he was really excited and happy that he was learning new and difficult moves although he was scared of doing he pushed himself all on his own and got it in 5 minutes, his Handstand full turn was also better as was his Back walkover, the occasional handspring Round Off Flick was also better..... So it looks like there could be light at the end of the tunnel yet :) (( Lets Hope So ))

[BritCheer]

Your gonna kill me, but it seems like it could be a little bit of both you and this boy. You need to assert yourself, in my classes i had girls that didn't get on, and this one girl thought that just because she placed first at nationals in individual she doesn't have to do the work. Well i had a shock for her i sat her down and i said you know what you have two choices, either you go in their and work your backside off, or you call your mom tell her to come pick you up, i explained that she's making a lot of the other girls irritated, (she nodded went back in, and told the whole squad she wanted to talk). I was so suprised, but she explained she was on a high, and that she didn't want to be known as the 'think-she's-it' girl, and apologised, i was touched and now she's the captain! You need to make sure your kids know that they need to work, tell them that they will be taken off the team, and be serious about it, if they stop working take them off, you can always put them back in later!

[Dave]

I’m not going to kill you, all advice is welcome and if I can do something differently which makes a difference to the gymnasts and how they work thats great.....



I did on Tuesday evening site the boys down ( which I regularly do ) but this time I informed them I'm not happy with the commitment, dedication and there general attitude. I have also told them that as of this point of time there is not a Men's Four and that im not wasting my time if they aren't going to work hard.... They all looked upset and disappointed, i did tell them that if they work hard over the next 2-4 weeks i will happily start the Men's Four again....

I know its a little bit harsh of me to stop it altogether but i put alot of time and effort getting to the gym and coaching them that if they aren't going to work then im not going to bother wasting my time anymore.