Difficulties with Coach

[Gladiola]

I had a great time & hit some PR's on Friday (with a team mate, NOT my coach), great session of lifting again Saturday, Monday was HORRID! One of my worst days in the gym ever, was stressed to begin with (hadn't slept enough, failed at leaving office stress behind), & form just stunk. Getting frustrated & generally more stressed (& in agonizing pain in my hands that was tough to take), coach says, "You're not doing so well today."

I actually said to him, "No shit." Like I needed it to be pointed out to me!

He proceeded to remind me & point out to me what was wrong (even though I already knew - it was mostly my same old errors- & I couldn't fix it) - long story short, he made me feel worse. I feel like I have to PROVE to him that I am capable, rather than him helping me belive I can do it (which would be nice).

When I know, cognitively, what I'm doing wrong & I'm in the midst of trying to kinesthetically fix it, being told OVER & OVER again by him what the error is (that I'm already struggling with), makes it so much worse.

I'm not used to being coached, didn't do many sports in high school, none in college. Opinions, please? Should I tell him he's psyching me out? Or keep my mouth shut so I'm not the "wussy chick" (I'm currently the only woman he coaches regularly who's planning to compete. I don't know if he's coached any/many in the past).

 

[BigEasy]

Because you don't know him that well and lets assume that this is just his style. At a minimum, I would guess that he doesn't coach too many women, and probably isn't the father of a bunch of daughters either....

Since you are still getting to know each other, I don't think I would try and tell him how I wanted to be coached.....yet. He may interpret your comments to be arrogant, or, as you suggested, that you are a wuss. More than likely its just his male logical-sequential thinking that says; hmmm somethings broken, me can fix with logic!

As Spatts suggested you could tell him your thoughts and analysis. I wouldn't mention anything about his comments though. If he's smart, he will catch on that you are already beating yourself up, so he doesn't need to pile on too.

I'll shoot you a PM too.

 

[FitFossil]

I've experienced the entire spectrum of coaching styles from my days as a competitive rider. Some of my best coaches were the "meanies", not because they were mean (meaning tough), but because they really knew their game - I wouldn't put up with any meanie if I didn't believe in their ability as a coach though.

The main thing is not to take what they're saying personally. Just listen to WHAT they say rather than how they say it. I'm a very hard worker and don't need anyone to light a fire under my butt. I do however lack confidence sometimes, so I interpret my coach's toughness as meaning he/she thinks I'm capable of more. It usually worked, and it was good training for staying cool under pressure - a definite advantage in competition.

It sounds to me like your coach believes in your ability, otherwise he wouldn't keep after you like he did.