With June 15th around the corner, gymnastics recruiting calls are about to start happening for you and the most powerful thing you can do for yourself is prepare to stand out.
For many gymnasts, the idea of talking to a college coach feels intimidating but here’s what you need to remember: you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. And honestly 90% of that is just by how you show up, tonality and the questions you ask.
You can easily intimidate them by getting these things right.
Gymnastics recruiting calls are not one-sided conversations where you sit and listen politely.
They are opportunities for you to show up powerfully, ask bold questions, and find out if this program is actually the right fit for you as you look to accomplish your dreams.
And one of the most important things to keep in mind? You don’t have to accept a vague or unclear answer. If a coach doesn’t really answer your question, ask it again. Ask a follow-up.
This is probably the NUMBER 1 thing I would tell you when it comes to questions and talking to coaches on gymnastics recruiting calls is to ask follow up questions. I believe you are better off with 1 powerful question that you deep dive and ask a handful of follow up questions based on their response…
Versus having 10 rapid fire questions and half of them they don’t actually answer and just accept their answer.
If you don’t understand their answer or feel like they didn’t answer the question, keep asking!!!
Here are five powerful questions plus a bonus to bring to your gymnastics recruiting calls.
1. What Is the Biggest Limiting Belief You’ve Had to Overcome to Become the Coach You Are Today?
This question does something most gymnasts never attempt on gymnastics recruiting calls: it makes the coach reflect. It invites vulnerability and honesty.
When was the last time that coach thought about how much they have grown, because typically when you grow you are just breaking old beliefs that you had that were holding you back.
Personally if they have not broken any beliefs I would say that they have not grown much.
A coach who can answer this question thoughtfully is a coach who has actually worked on themselves and again like that it allows them to bring their guard down a bit on the vulnerability side.
Now they are admitting where they were once wrong and that’s really powerful.
2. What Does Winning Look Like for You and This Program Over the Next Year?
Some coaches shy away from talking about winning. If you want to accomplish certain things in gymnastics during your career, then get clear on what their perspective of winning looks like.
Gymnastics recruiting calls give you a peek into a program’s priorities. Some coaches define winning by championships.
Others define it by culture, growth or graduation rates. Neither is wrong but you need to know which one aligns with what you’re looking for before you commit and easy to find out on your gymnastics recruiting calls.
3. What Type of Athlete Thrives in Your Program, and What Type Tends to Struggle?
This might be the most honest question you can ask on gymnastics recruiting calls.
It requires the coach to tell you the truth about their environment, the culture they are building and their philosophy. Also remember here that every program and environment might not be the right fit and that’s ok you are not trying to appeal to everyone.
You are trying to find the ONE that is right for you.
4. If One of Your Former Athletes Was Sitting Here Today, What Would They Say Makes Your Program Different From Every Other Program?
Coaches can tell you anything they want on gymnastics recruiting calls. But asking them to speak through the lens of their former athletes is powerful.
It gets the conversation away a bit from them trying to sell you on something to now talking through the eyes of their former athletes.
And if they have not coaches in college yet, I would hope they have coached somewhere before and can reframe the question to what would your former athletes say that makes you as a coach different/stand out from other coaches.
Now they describe themselves but have to choose words a little differently because they are speaking from someone else’s perspective.
5. When Athletes Leave Your Program After Four Years, What Do You Hope They Say They Gained Besides Gymnastics?
Probably one of my favorite questions because it forces coaches to future pace a little bit. You are asking them to paint you vision of the future. It’s hard to build something if you haven’t at least seen it in your mind.
And most coaches will tell you they want you “to leave here a better version of yourself” great tell me what that actually looks like in your eyes!
Because if they can paint you a powerful vision of the future, especially about a future version of you, that feels pretty epic!!
Now they are digging into the human being a program is trying to develop. This question shows a coach that you’re thinking long-term, and their answer will show you whether they are too.
Bonus Question
“What would need to be true over the next four years for both of us to look back and say this was the perfect fit?”
This one is awesome and very thought provoking and I am actually stealing this one from both of my mentors/coaches I use in my own life.
They will ask me what needs to happen in the next 90 days to feel like this has been successful so far. Now you are point blank saying what needs to happen.
It’s collaborative, forward-thinking and signals that you care deeply about the mission or dream outcome not just for yourself, but for the program too.
It also opens the door for a real, two-way conversation about expectations, goals etc.
The most powerful thing you can bring to gymnastics recruiting calls is preparation not just your gymnastics résumé, but thoughtful questions that reveal who you are and help you uncover who they are.
Preparation leads to execution and when you execute at a high level that power is felt in a room or even on gymnastics recruiting calls.
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