For a number of reasons, many parents have difficulty approaching their child’s gymnastics coach.  One of the main reasons is that it is an extremely rare parent who understands enough about the sport to have any opinion at all.  Gymnastics is a complicated sport with obscure and ever changing rules that even coaches have trouble keeping current on.  Parents have little chance to do keep up.

Beware Who You Listen To
Because of the complexity of the sport, as say compared to basketball or baseball where everyone knows the rules, there is a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation passed among parents on the sidelines by other parents or “experts.”  This may lead to as many “problems” as real situations in the gym.

Coaching is Already a Full-Time Job
Coaches rarely have the time to sit down and explain everything they are doing and why.  With practice time and planning time and other coaching management responsibilities, coaching is a more than full-time job with barely time to explain the sport to gymnasts, much less parents.  You should not realistically expect a presonal consultation for every little thing that may come up. 

Beware the “Phone” Game
Gymnastics team practices are usually too long for all but most compulsive parents to sit through and observe.  Thus parents only hear second hand what is going on in the gym either from gymnasts or parents.  We all know how accurate secondhand information is.

Is There a Real Problem?
So the first thing parents need to consider in approaching the coach is whether the problem is real and worthy of taking the step to approach or confront the coach.  Gymnastics coaches and perhaps coaches in general are often known for being arrogant and difficult to deal with.. 

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