I remember when my kid first started on the competitive team the “veteran” moms were all concerned about the poor little ones having to work with Coach. “He won’t have patience for them. He’ll scare them.”
Then I remember one of her first meets. The session before hers was running really late. Her group was sitting on the floor with her coaches. She was sitting right next to Coach, he was leaning back on his hand and she was wrapped around his arm. I thought, “She doesn’t look afraid of him to me.”
Over the years I’ve learned that some of the girls do have problems with Coach’s style. Not my kid.
Just recently she told me that she got to work on her Yurchenkos and Coach didn’t spot her at all, except for the first two.
She explained how he catches them for the first few runs so they can get their steps right into their round-off. Then he told her that he would spot her for two and then she would be on her own, which, she said, is what she thought he would do.
Once he spotted her, then he said, “Okay, you’re on your own.”
So as she got ready, she told be she was thinking to herself, “I can do this,” and then Coach called over, “You got this, Em.”
Then, after she did her Yurchenko, he said, “Good, just turn over your round-off more.”
And then, wait for it, he actually came over and patted her on the back and said, “Good job.”
She was very excited to get this low key positive feedback.
In my opinion, just my opinion, the way to NOT have a personality conflict with Coach is to work hard. For the most part, the girls that can’t get along with Coach are the ones that don’t work very hard, from what I’ve seen, anyway.
Which is not the case with my kid. She works hard and he gives her quiet compliments, when she earns them, which she values like rare jewels.
megakaos2013 