Every coach dreams of the day a member of their team makes it to the big leagues. Gymnasts who make it to top teams have put in a lot of hard work and effort to get where they are. Days and hours of practice week in and week out will eventually pay off and they will take their place in the spot light. Behind the spotlight, somewhere in the shadows of every gymnast great, there is a coach who has spent hours and hours developing and honing the skills they need to excel. One of the most important aspects of coaching is to give each member of the team value. The fact that each girl or boy has made it this far, and are now a contributing member of a Gymnastic team, speaks volumes for their ability and dedication. As a coach it's essential that you keep this high moral by employing the following tactics as you interact with you're team members.

• Embrace Mistakes At this point in the game, the ability of your team members is not in question. They are clearly ready and able to dedicate a portion of their life to excelling as gymnasts. It's also at this point when gymnasts become very critical of themselves. What may be small mistakes or tribulations to you, can be crippling errors in the minds of your gymnasts. With this in mind, it's important teach you're team members the importance of mistakes. Without making a few mistakes here and there it will be impossible to improve as a gymnast.
• Point Out Positives It's fairly easy to be overly critical of your team members. As a coach, it's your responsibility to point out errors in an attempt to fix them. Unfortunately, all too often, we tend to focus on the negative and never give any attention to the positives. As a coach, it is your responsibility to keep moral up. In order to do that, it's essential that you strike a balance of sorts between positive and negative feedback. Next time you're watching a team member perform a routine, make it a point to find something positive about the performance and bring it to their attention.
• Get to Know Them These individuals spend a large amount of their time with you practicing or performing, but that doesn't mean they don't have a life outside of gymnastics. Since you're a predominate figure in their daily life, it's important that you take an interest in their life. Do they have any other hobbies? What do they do for fun? Getting to know you're team members is a great way to show them that you really care. When your gymnasts know you care they will take your feedback seriously and will respect you more.
• Give Personal Attention When you're working with a team, you may find it difficult to single out each individual and offer the one on one coaching that they may need. However, it's important that at some point during the practice week, you work with each individual gymnast on a personal level. Spending one on one time with a team member shows them they they are a valuable part of your team and as such, deserve you're attention.