The "performer, Coach, Parent Triangle"

To have a successful performer there must be understanding and co-operation among coaches, performers and parents. The progress your youngster makes depends, to a great extent, on this "triangular" relationship.

Please take the time to read this (if you are a performer bring it to your parent's attention!)

As a parent you have worked hard to nurture your child, in its environment and values, however human nature makes it very hard to remain detached and objective in matters concerning their achievements, (and the coaches are no exception in this!) . The following guidelines will help you keep your child's development in perspective and help them achieve their full potential.

The coach is the Coach!: We want the performer to relate to their coach easily and quickly. This will produce the best results. When parents interfere with opinions on training or competition it can cause genuine confusion in the performer over whom to listen to. You are allowed opinions but, in the first instance, please direct them to the coach .

The best kind of parent: The coaches' job is to motivate and train. The parent's job is to supply love recognition and encouragement necessary to give the child the confidence to perform well.

Under twelves: These performers can be inconsistent and as parents you may find this frustrating (so does the performer!). You must be patient and allow them to enjoy trampolining. There will be periods when, due to growth spurts, progress may be slow but, as the body catches up with itself, improvement will start to be seen. In some instances form may appear worse but this may only be due to harder or new routines and in this case progress will come with confidence.

Not every time: Even the best performer will have competitions where they do not perform well. Sometimes there will known reasons for this, but there will be occasions where it just doesn't happen! Please be supportive at these times - this is not the time to apportion blame.

In General…

Please try to get your child to training on time - they are working hard and need your support, encourage good habits at home and they will help your children to perform well.

One of the main gaps that can occur in communication is that some parents find it easier to discuss their disagreements with coaching policies with other parents rather than directly to the coach. This does not resolve the problem and can often create new ones - below are some guidelines to help you raise difficult issues with a coach:

· Try to remember that both you and the coach have the best interests of your child at heart. Trust that the coaches goals match yours, even though their approach maybe different, and in doing so you will have a common goal and immediately a better rapport will develop. If you find you cannot approach them directly, feel free to speak to one of the other coaching staff.

· Keep in mind that the coaches must balance your perspective of what is best for your child with those of the whole squad. Although trampolining is an individual sport there are times when an individual performer's need may not fit with the schedule for that time, but in the long run the benefits of membership to the training group compensate for the occasional short-term inconvenience.

· If another parent uses you as a sounding board, listen empathetically, but encourage them to speak directly to the coach. They are the only one who can resolve the problem.