All-Star Old Coach New Cheer Mom

[cupieqt]

I've been coaching longer than I've been a mom and this will be my third year coaching my daughter. I've turned absolute klutzes into good and great tumblers. My own child, who has grown up in the gym has yet to progress her tumbling beyond a round off. She is 8 and will be 9 in December. This is the best age to get those skills!! I don't push her too hard bc I want cheerleading to be something we can enjoy together. If she doesn't progress she won't love it tho bc shell eventually weed herself out as being an asset to a team with the complete package of skills missing. Seriously, she still can't do her bwo by herself (it's not a mental thing, she needs to correct her technique).

Any advice on how to push her without starting battles? I really want this to be an activity she excels at (she says she loves it but I always tell her if she ever doesn't then she doesn't have to do it and I'll be fine).

 

[RazzyJazz]

this will be my second year coaching at my cp gym and I get were you are coming from. My husband was the one that would ask our daughter what did you learn today, "show me what you did" and she would attempt her back bend, then it was back-walk over and then front. She is working on her back handspring . She now always wants to show him what she learned once she gets .
She basically shows off to him. Im glad so I dont have to be the one to push her.

 

[cupieqt]

this will be my second year coaching at my cp gym and I get were you are coming from. My husband was the one that would ask our daughter what did you learn today, "show me what you did" and she would attempt her back bend, then it was back-walk over and then front. She is working on her back handspring . She now always wants to show him what she learned once she gets .
She basically shows off to him. Im glad so I dont have to be the one to push her.

I will be telling my husband to be more encouraging!! That's a great idea. In fact, I'm going to tell all of my family to ask her about it! Shell love the attention!

 

[RazzyJazz]

honestly, it made things so much easier. It wasnt just me asking her all the time.

 

[cupieqt]

Thank you for replying! I think that will work wonders!!

 

[LoveOnTop]

She's 8. -_-
Some kids progress faster than others.

 

[cupieqt]

She's 8. -_-
Some kids progress faster than others.

Yes I agree and that's why I haven't pushed. I'm getting concerned though so I'm looking for a boost in her interest to progress.

 

[Mamarazzi]

I think @RazzyJazz has a great idea with that. She'll want to show more and more, and she might even come to you, eventually, to increase her skills.

I can tell you this too- when I was learning to ride a bike, my mom tried and tried to teach me. She was patient and encouraging, but I just wasn't getting it with her. A family friend came in and helped me learn. Took me many years to figure out, but what I finally understood was that instead of worrying about what she was teaching, I wanted to be perfect for her. I wanted to be some bicycling prodigy to impress her and succeeded only in frustrating us both. Silly, but it wasn't anything she did, it was me.

 

[Fameous MOM]

Maybe having someone else work with her would work. My kids always do better with others! I think Mamarazzi is right!

 

[CheerMomNTx]

I think having someone else working with her is a great idea. She has to 'deal' with you at home and now has to work with you in the gym. Sometimes they listen better when taught by someone else. Take school for example, if you try to teach her a math problem, she might not get it. A teacher in school might have another technique that she will easily understand. Good luck and I hope it all goes well!!

 

[CoachPam]

It is funny when the parents will say to me, "How can you get her to listen and she won't listen to me?" I agree with the solutions above. It helps not to have the parent coach the child, but at the same time I'm sure she feels comfortable with you and probably knows to work harder.

Having another person work with her is a great idea. If you tell the child the same thing over and over and over then another person says almost the exact same thing, but in a different manner, they seem to understand and something just clicks for them.

For example: We had a flyer who for some reason could not keep her heel stretch to the front. The coach worked with her til she was blue in the face and still did not understand. All I told her was to pretend there was a cylinder over her body and her leg was not able to go outside the cylinder...her leg had to be as close to her body as possible. She fixed it immediately and it was beautiful. Some kids just need a different way of explaining how to do the skills...which doesn't mean your wrong or you're not a great coach...the child just needs to view how to do the skill in a different light.

 

[TwistersPride]

i 1000% agree with having someone else work with her more than you do during practice. I also coach my CP and i have found that she does better with other coaches.

 

[lifeoftheparty]

I agree that maybe it would be best if someone else works with her. Although I don't coach anymore, I sometimes work at home on skills with my daughter and we both end up frustrated. I no longer initiate it, if she asks than I will work on things with her. Her coaches get so much more out of her, so I think it is best to leave it to them.

 

[ipaysheflies]

Heck, I'm not a coach and my daughter ends up frustrated with me. The gym laughs that she had a good forward roll when she came in green two years ago, but about 5 months into the season, she bonded with one particular coach - they just clicked and she has quickly progressed. It also helps when she has a friend or two working on the same skills, they push each other. They're not overly competitive (she just turned 10, her friends are 10/11), but just competitive enough that when one gets a desired skill, the other(s) work harder to get it too. Does she have a friend she can "buddy" up with, work on progressing together?

 

[kristenthegreat]

My mom coaches my old HS's volleyball team, and my bro, sis and I will go in for the summer to help. Sometimes, it just helps having another set of eyes/ears/way of explaining things to help things 'click.'