Sports Psychology: The Role of Parents in the Training Process

When the coach and parents work together, children benefit.

Rhythmic gymnastics is a beautiful yet demanding sport. Challenges appear not only in mastering complex elements, but also in building relationships between the coach, the child and the parents.

Much depends on how parents behave. They shape the child’s personality and choose sport as a path for development or future profession.

It is important to understand where the line is: the parent does not become the coach, and the coach does not become the parent.

Parental involvement in training

Every parent wants the best for their child. When you enrol your daughter in rhythmic gymnastics, you entrust her not just to a school but to a specific coach. The wish to get to know the coach better, to talk and share advice is natural.

However, a few key principles are worth remembering:

  • provide full support for your child;

  • build a relationship of trust with the coach;

  • do not interfere with the training process;

  • do not interfere with the coach’s decisions;

  • refrain from criticism.

These principles help maintain the child’s psychological balance. Parents do not interfere with training, and the coach does not step into the child’s home life. Parents do not comment on performances, and the coach does not teach table manners.

Sometimes coaches face parents who feel it is their duty to attend every session and comment on how to perform elements correctly. In such situations, the coach may feel unnecessary, and the child ends up torn between the two.

How not to cross the line

Parents and coaches have different roles and competencies, but their actions should always be in the child’s best interest, not driven by personal ambitions.

A few recommendations:

  1. Look for compromises. If something concerns you, talk openly and find solutions together with the coach.

  2. Put yourself in the coach’s place. You develop your child’s personality, the coach focuses on sporting success. These areas will overlap, and you should be ready for that.

  3. Be present in the right way. Support the organisational side of your child’s sport life, such as travel or meals at training camps, but do not interfere with the training itself.

How to build your child’s self-belief

Parental support is key to a child’s confidence and enjoyment of training. Support every effort and achievement, even the small ones. Love and stand by your child even when results are not what you expected. Avoid comparisons and do not push your own vision of a sports career onto them.

There are no perfect parents or coaches — what matters is learning to build healthy and honest relationships with each other.

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