Sports & Gaming

Working With Coaches

Lesson time 06:00 min

According to Simone, communication and trust are the two most important pieces of the athlete/coach relationship. In this chapter, she explores how to work effectively and cohesively with your coaches.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Communication Is the Key to Success • Have Confidence in Your Gymnastics Plan

Simone Biles

Teaches Gymnastics Fundamentals

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] SIMONE BILES: So my coaches are Laurent and Cecile. They're married. And I knew they were right for me because I've been working alongside them on assignments. They used to have Maddie Kocian, and I really like the way that they worked with them, as well as that they were in Texas. So they weren't too far. They were in Dallas. And it seemed like the right fit. And Laurent is also like a bar master, and I was really struggling on bars. And they're good overall on all four events. It's a good package to have whenever you both have Cecile and Laurent. Laurent is more of the pusher. And if you're ever having trouble, you usually go talk to Cecile to either calm him down or the situation. And they kind of play good cop, bad cop sometimes, which is really funny to watch. But they always have everybody's best interest in the gym and for your career. So I really like working with them because they're always there to push me, to motivate me. They know my goals from the get-go so that we can put down a good plan on how to achieve those goals. Because if they don't know your goals or what you want to achieve, then they don't know the right plan to get either. So it comes down to communication, as well. You have to communicate what you want out of your career. [MUSIC PLAYING] I think something you can do to help build a healthy coach/student relationship is to communicate. Communication is the number one factor, as well. Because if you come in tired, and they don't know the reasons why you're tired or even if you're tired, they can't help you that day. So I think communication is number one. There are many times where I wish I would've communicated a little bit better with my coach on my sickness, my illnesses, or my injuries, because they're going to keep pushing you. And then the longer you push with an injury, the longer amount of time that you're going to be resting, and you're going to be out rather than if you fix it. But most of the time I feel like you're scared to speak up because you don't want them to get mad at you. But they're not frustrated with you, they're probably frustrated that you didn't communicate properly. They always say that mental health and your health comes first before you walk into the gym and can become a good gymnast. So I think that's really important to know exactly how I'm feeling once I walk in the door and how to arrange the plan for that day of how workout's going to go. And I think it's really important, because they always say your health comes first before your gymnastics. And that just comes down to safety, ultimately. So on those bad days when your coach is pushing you, what you may think is a little bit too hard they're doing it for the better gymnast that you want to become. So I know I've taken those moments for granted, and it's like, oh, they don't like me today, or they're in a bad mood. But no, sometimes you have to go out of your comfort box, and they h...

About the Instructor

At 22, Simone Biles is already a legend. With 14 medals, including 10 gold, Simone is the most decorated World Championship American gymnast of all time. Now the Olympic gymnast—part of the gold-medal-winning USA gymnastics "Final Five"—breaks down her techniques for vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Discover how Simone performs under pressure, learn to practice like a champion, and claim your competitive edge.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Simone Biles

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

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