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[Flink]

This is terrible.

I experienced similar, if not worse, treatment when I was a gymnast back in the 80s/early 90s. Our coach would regularly hit us and force us into positions despite intense pain.

It's really weird looking back - one minute I'd be watching Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of Batman cereal, and the next I'd be getting slapped for my performance on the high bar.

 

[Symphonia]

Man this coach crossed the line with this athlete because of his poor technique or lack of knowledge but you guys are having a massive reaction. Walk into any competitive gym and you would see this being done properly with a lot more force. This looks like a rec athlete in a competitive program. The coach screwed up and is wrong he should be fired. I'm not defending this coach, but I am defending a proper coach and dedicated athlete form putting in the work and sometimes pain to improve.

No. Just no. No coach - proper or not - should force a 13-year old child in to doing splits while applying actual physical force to them. You can see they are in pain. There’s commitment to the cause, and then there’s cruelty/torture. This is the latter.

 

[crisdecuba]

Man this coach crossed the line with this athlete because of his poor technique or lack of knowledge but you guys are having a massive reaction. Walk into any competitive gym and you would see this being done properly with a lot more force. This looks like a rec athlete in a competitive program. The coach screwed up and is wrong he should be fired. I'm not defending this coach, but I am defending a proper coach and dedicated athlete form putting in the work and sometimes pain to improve.

Didn't he actually cross the line when he kept going after the girl begged for them to stop? Isn't that the key difference here (as opposed to poor technique or lack of knowledge)?

 

[Etrian Oddity]

No way I'm clicking that link

 

[Zoe]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/east-high-coach-let-go-from-previous-job-over-forced-splits/467142182

Some more quotes:

Ozell Williams, who is on leave from East in the wake of questions raised by 9NEWS, was terminated as a cheerleading consultant at Boulder High in 2016 following a parent’s complaint about “breaking” and an incident in which a coach saw him force a girl to do the splits.

9Wants to Know also learned that the owner of a gym in Brighton considered teaming up with Williams, but changed her mind after a week of watching him work with kids in her program.

"They would go to do things and if they would stop, like they would go into a tumbling pass and they would stop, and he would be like, ‘I'm going to punch you in the face if you don't do it next time,’” Julie Ledbetter said. “... You don't tell kids you're going to punch them in the face if they can't pull the skill."

Ledbetter said that she never saw any girls forced to do the splits but she also said she never left her athletes alone with Williams.

This guy shouldn't be coaching anyone.

 

[darscot]

Didn't he actually cross the line when he kept going after the girl begged for them to stop? Isn't that the key difference here (as opposed to poor technique or lack of knowledge)?

Like I clearly states this coach crossed the line. The people with massive reaction are screaming for blood and prison and raving that no coach should ever actually touch an athlete.

 

[darscot]

No. Just no. No coach - proper or not - should force a 13-year old child in to doing splits while applying actual physical force to them. You can see they are in pain. There’s commitment to the cause, and then there’s cruelty/torture. This is the latter.

Off course they should not do this to an unwilling person. You will see coaches stretching athletes in every gymnastics gym the world over and it will be painful and that is completely normal and acceptable.

 

[crisdecuba]

Like I clearly states this coach crossed the line. The people with massive reaction are screaming for blood and prison and raving that no coach should ever actually touch an athlete.

You said he crossed the line "because of his poor technique or lack of knowledge." I'm saying he crossed the line because she didn't consent or agree to what he was doing to her. Those are different things, no? (Also I'm not calling for prison or anything like that.)

 

[BajiBoxer]

No. I used one when taking karate.

Mine had a crank handle. Not a steering wheel.

Yeah, those things are fantastic

I could just about do the splits through just gradual stretching and practice over time, though I got hurt before getting all the way there.

The forced methods are only good if you want to get the best kids the fastest way possible, while leaving the other kids torn up and thrown out like yesterday's garbage.

 

[Kenstar]

Jesus Christ sports must be a big deal for a black man to be on video with his hands on a white girl screaming to stop and NOT be in jail

 

[darscot]

You said he crossed the line "because of his poor technique or lack of knowledge." I'm saying he crossed the line because she didn't consent or agree to what he was doing to her. Those are different things, no? (Also I'm not calling for prison or anything like that.)

Ah sorry let me clarify. What I was trying to get across was I didn't think he had malicious intent. I don't think he was trying to torture or hurt the girl. He was just a shitty coach and didn't understand the level of the athlete. I am in no way victim blaming. Girls are hard to coach they can be dramatic and carry on. He probably thought she was just putting on a show. He of course should have had the experience to recognise that was not the case here. I don't think he belongs in prison he just a shit coach and should not be a coach he doesn't have the ability. A good coach has the ability and knowledge to know when to push and athlete and when not too. A good coach knows when to tell a girl stop crying and get to work. This coach does not have that ability.

My daughter was an elite level gymnast and I saw her take slams that made me want to call an ambulance. I saw her coach tell her to get control her emotions and fear and get back up there and do it again. I also saw him say thats it for today. A good coach has that knowledge and technique.

 

[crisdecuba]

Ah sorry let me clarify. What I was trying to get across was I didn't think he had malicious intent. I don't think he was trying to torture or hurt the girl. He was just a shitty coach and didn't understand the level of the athlete. I am in no way victim blaming. Girls are hard to coach they can be dramatic and carry on. He probably thought she was just putting on a show. He of course should have had the experience to recognise that was not the case here. I don't think he belongs in prison he just a shit coach and should not be a coach he doesn't have the ability. A good coach has the ability and knowledge to know when to push and athlete and when not too. A good coach knows when to tell a girl stop crying and get to work. This coach does not have that ability.

Ah, I can see your thought process - thanks for taking the time to clarify!

 

[gaiages]

Jesus Christ sports must be a big deal for a black man to be on video with his hands on a white girl screaming to stop and NOT be in jail

Come on, this isn't about race. Christ's sake.

 

[LiK]

Saw clips on the news and it literally looks like torture.

 

[methane47]

Spoke to a few gymnasts who say this is pretty normal procedure... atleast in holland.

 

[crisdecuba]

Spoke to a few gymnasts who say this is pretty normal procedure... atleast in holland.

Is it normal to continue when the student is telling them to stop?

 

[methane47]

Is it normal to continue when the student is telling them to stop?

Apparently yes.

 

[Yiazmat]

Spoke to a few gymnasts who say this is pretty normal procedure... atleast in holland.

Olympic champion Aly Raisman says it isn't tho:

https://twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/901252564804620289
https://twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/901252999347089408

 

[Duxxy3]

I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[tci]

Spoke to a few gymnasts who say this is pretty normal procedure... atleast in holland.

If they do, then they are not properly educated. I have basic education in how to train people, and even I know that is wrong. It may cause injuries, pretty severe ones as well.

 

[methane47]

Olympic champion Aly Raisman says it isn't tho:

https://twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/901252564804620289
https://twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/901252999347089408

Supporters of the sport circling the wagons probably.

I assume this is WAY more normal than what we as lay people suspect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaguqZWa6rY

I've seen a couple videos on youtube... and some of them specifically state that they mute the sound so we dont have to hear screams.

I'm not saying this is good by any means. but i wouldn't doubt that this is practiced often.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNZlnllWSxk

Im just thinking logically... the human body just isn't designed to move naturally in some of the ways that these gymnasts move... These are people are that in the upper eschelons of flexibility in the world... its kind of niave to think that everyone is able to get there without excruciating pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fl8p21N40o

I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Agreed

 

[-tetsuo-]

That was an everyday thing in my taekwondo class

 

[Zoggy]

Ban this shit ban football too.

No need to give kids brain damage and ligament tears to "build character".

 

[santi_yo]

That's fucked up. Cannot believe something like that actually happens in US highschools. They're kids, come on.

 

[Symphonia]

I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I wouldn’t be surprised if more evidence crops up of other coaches doing this. It’s too big to be an isolated incident, and we all know cheerleading is huge in America.