Expert: Robert Davis - 10/25/2009

Question
Is it reasonable to expect my daughter's coaches to go over her routines with her after meets and explain to her why she is getting the scores she is getting from meet to meet?  It has never been explained to us parents what the deductions are.  Should the coaches be sharing that information with us?  Thanks so much.

Answer
Hi Susan,
Yes that would be great (having the coach explain to the parents what the deductions are), though it could take awhile for one coach to explain the deductions for each part of each routine for each gymnast to each parent after each meet...  If you want to understand it better you could ask your daughter's coach if they have any study materials for judges or if they can point you to a resource (websites, books, etc.) where you could learn about that process.

It is reasonable for the coach to provide some level of feedback to their gymnasts after competitions, but after awhile the gymnasts themselves may understand better than their coaches why they get the scores they get.  It is reasonable to expect some sort of dialogue about the subject between gymnasts and their coaches on a continual basis, not just after meets.

If you have specific questions it is very reasonable to ask your daughter's coach about them - for example there may have been a significant difference in scores between one meet to the next or a routine looked better than before but got a lower score.  If you ask about small differences, the coach may not know the answers because there is some level of subjectivity in judging.  But significant differences they will probably be able to explain to you, or they may be willing to ask the judges about it to get their feedback.

Regards,
Robert