Scenario Acro gymnastics is a team sport whereby gymnasts execute group skills whilst balancing and holding their own and each other’s weight in complex positions. Think of a human pyramid, but much more advanced. Gymnasts choreograph their own routines, and creativity and flair score very high. John Mulhern, Head Coach of Scottish Acro Gymnastics is facing the biggest challenge of his coaching career so far: the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships is in two months, but his biggest hope of a gold medal, superstar team Caroline and Nicola (who are also a couple), are experiencing tension. With such high stakes, John receives permission from British Gymnastics to hire a sports psychologist. Imagine that you are that psychologist and you have received the following email from John. He hopes your advice will not only help Caroline and Nicola, but future partnerships too. Here’s the email from John … From: J.M@scottishacrogymnastics.com Sent: 20 April 2022 12:36 To: info@openpsych.com Subject: PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL – I need your help I need your help! Two months from now is the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, and my star partnership and I have been working relentlessly towards this for two years. Caroline and Nicola are by far the Acro team with the greatest potential for international success: the girls have collaborated so well together, and have choreographed a creative, artistic, and beautiful routine. However, a problem has occurred … I have been Caroline’s coach since she was 4 years old (she’s now 19). We work brilliantly together; she’s my star student, and I know her parents really well too. Nicola joined the club three years ago and very quickly became close with Caroline. I have noticed that during training, Nicola seems a bit jealous of anyone who talks to Caroline. The other gymnasts have noticed this too. Whenever I try to be friendly or have a laugh with the girls, Nicola is frosty. Life would be easier if Nicola was less terse, but when performing, they work fantastically together, which is the most important thing. They seem to bring out the best in each other, and the creativity these girls come up with in their routines is breathtaking. However, sometimes conflict occurs between the girls. Recently, while waiting for Nicola to arrive at training, Caroline told me she was a bit unsure of part of their routine. Nicola had choreographed a section where they performed independently and then got together, but Caroline didn’t think this demonstrated creative collaboration; something that the judges favour over execution. Time was of the essence because that day was the deadline for submitting our routine plan to the championships, so we decided to change a bit of it. Creatively, it worked so much better: the flow of the routine just ‘clicked’. By the time Nicola arrived at training, Caroline and I had finalised and registered the new routine. Nicola completely blew up at us! She told us that she didn’t feel she had been included in the process and was annoyed that we had made decisions without her. Caroline told her it wasn’t about who made decisions, but rather ensuring they had the best routine to heighten their chances of winning gold. I don’t know if trouble had already been brewing, but this seemed to flick a switch inside Nicola, and she stormed out. She refused to speak to Caroline, isn’t replying to her messages, and has steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the Championships. Caroline asked if she could partner up with someone else. However, I had no choice but to remove them both from the competitive team. There’s no way, with only two months to go, that she could form a new partnership, develop rapport, and create a new routine from scratch. So, now I’m in the horrible position where Caroline is angry with me for not allowing her to try a new partnership, and Nicola is blaming me, at least in part, for the fight. I was hoping that you might be able to help by providing some psychological explanation as to why this conflict has occurred and how it might be overcome and prevented in future. Because the example with Nicola and Caroline shows that creative collaborations can produce excellent performance, I would also like to understand what makes such collaborations work both in Nicola and Caroline’s case as well as in other athletes in my portfolio.
Scenario
Acro gymnastics is a team sport whereby gymnasts execute group skills whilst balancing and holding their own and each other’s weight in complex positions. Think of a human pyramid, but much more advanced. Gymnasts choreograph their own routines, and creativity and flair score very high.
John Mulhern, Head Coach of Scottish Acro Gymnastics is facing the biggest challenge of his coaching career so far: the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships is in two months, but his biggest hope of a gold medal, superstar team Caroline and Nicola (who are also a couple), are experiencing tension.
With such high stakes, John receives permission from British Gymnastics to hire a sports psychologist. Imagine that you are that psychologist and you have received the following email from John. He hopes your advice will not only help Caroline and Nicola, but future partnerships too.
Here’s the email from John …
From: J.M@scottishacrogymnastics.com
Sent: 20 April 2022 12:36
To: info@openpsych.com
Subject: PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL – I need your help
I need your help!
Two months from now is the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, and my star partnership and I have been working relentlessly towards this for two years. Caroline and Nicola are by far the Acro team with the greatest potential for international success: the girls have collaborated so well together, and have choreographed a creative, artistic, and beautiful routine. However, a problem has occurred …
I have been Caroline’s coach since she was 4 years old (she’s now 19). We work brilliantly together; she’s my star student, and I know her parents really well too. Nicola joined the club three years ago and very quickly became close with Caroline. I have noticed that during training, Nicola seems a bit jealous of anyone who talks to Caroline. The other gymnasts have noticed this too. Whenever I try to be friendly or have a laugh with the girls, Nicola is frosty. Life would be easier if Nicola was less terse, but when performing, they work fantastically together, which is the most important thing. They seem to bring out the best in each other, and the creativity these girls come up with in their routines is breathtaking.
However, sometimes conflict occurs between the girls. Recently, while waiting for Nicola to arrive at training, Caroline told me she was a bit unsure of part of their routine. Nicola had choreographed a section where they performed independently and then got together, but Caroline didn’t think this demonstrated creative collaboration; something that the judges favour over execution. Time was of the essence because that day was the deadline for submitting our routine plan to the championships, so we decided to change a bit of it. Creatively, it worked so much better: the flow of the routine just ‘clicked’. By the time Nicola arrived at training, Caroline and I had finalised and registered the new routine. Nicola completely blew up at us! She told us that she didn’t feel she had been included in the process and was annoyed that we had made decisions without her. Caroline told her it wasn’t about who made decisions, but rather ensuring they had the best routine to heighten their chances of winning gold.
I don’t know if trouble had already been brewing, but this seemed to flick a switch inside Nicola, and she stormed out. She refused to speak to Caroline, isn’t replying to her messages, and has steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the Championships. Caroline asked if she could partner up with someone else. However, I had no choice but to remove them both from the competitive team. There’s no way, with only two months to go, that she could form a new partnership, develop rapport, and create a new routine from scratch.
So, now I’m in the horrible position where Caroline is angry with me for not allowing her to try a new partnership, and Nicola is blaming me, at least in part, for the fight. I was hoping that you might be able to help by providing some psychological explanation as to why this conflict has occurred and how it might be overcome and prevented in future. Because the example with Nicola and Caroline shows that creative collaborations can produce excellent performance, I would also like to understand what makes such collaborations work both in Nicola and Caroline’s case as well as in other athletes in my portfolio.
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