Gymnasts Essay: The Effects Of Verbal Abuse On Athletes

The Effects of Verbal Abuse on Athletes As I stepped into the large, open arena my heart was racing with adrenaline. My teammates and I stood side by side in our shiny leotards, unpainted nails, and hair tightly tied back. After our team was announced on the loud speaker, we were assigned to our first event: vault, my worst and least favorite. I was trembling with the same fear I always felt in the gym and in competition. At the time, I thought the fear and nerves was normal, but I soon realized that it greatly intensified around the same coach, the one who would abuse and belittle her own gymnasts. In women’s gymnastics, the vault table is a piece of metal covered in a padded surface that stands four feet and three inches tall. Gymnasts
The blame is put in the hands of USA Gymnastics, a facility monopolized by Bela and Marta Karolyi. This sexual abuse took place in the isolated camp in Texas, known for being called The Ranch. Hundreds of gymnasts recently came out to state that they were all abused by the Karolyis as well as sexually assaulted by the doctor, Larry Nassar. Holy Yan, author of the recent CNN article, “Karolyi Ranch produced champions and a culture of fear, ex-gymnasts say”, discusses and elaborates on the details of the ongoing abuse as well as interviews the victims. In the article, olympic gymnast, Mattie Larson explained, “The complete detachment from the outside world, on top of careless and neglectful adults, made the ranch the perfect environment for abusers and molesters to thrive.” Several elite gymnasts agreed with this statement as the Karolyis most likely kept the doctor because he kept the Karolyi secret safe. The gymnasts also reported they were heavily struck by the Karolyis themselves (Yan). The result of this abuse has abolished their love and desire for gymnastics. Simone Biles, all-around Olympic gold medalist stated, “It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart even more to think that as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I
The old school technique is often pressure, fear, and verbal abuse. The coaches using this technique explain that the pressure to exceed and please others leads to discipline and the desire to do better. However, pressure and nerves often gives athletes a little boost of adrenaline, the fear tactic is nothing but detrimental. A recent study conducted by Purdue University and Dr. Joan Duda, surveyed elite gymnasts and concluded the main causes of stress and anxiety in their article, “Anxiety in Elite Young Gymnasts.” This study found the main causes of stress include; fear of evaluation, making mistakes, and expectations from others (Duda). The anxiety associated with these inducers can easily be extinguished through proper coaching. For example, although many athletes expect to be perfect for their own standards, gymnasts often get hurt, make mistakes, and become anxious from the pressure put on them from their coaches. The percentages of stress in these gymnasts would greatly decrease if coaches treat their students like human beings; without any variation of verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse. The olympic gymnast, Wendy Bruce Martin, explains in her article, “4 Techniques of Old-School Coaching that DON’T Work, so Stop Using Them”, better coaching techniques can include; encouragement (even encourage mistakes that they can learn from),