- Sep 25, 2007
- 3,528
- 825
Coaches, parents and gymnasts:
Some of you know that my daughter just switched to a new gym after a frustrating past 6 months at her old gym. We had lost our head coach who was very good with compulsory routines, the little details, conditioning, etc. There have been many new coaches that have come, many other coaches have gone and it has been very rough on the girls because of inconsistencies with coaching, one coach saying to do the routine this way, the next saying to do it this way, and then another one saying, no, do it this way. No organization to practices and girls making the same mistakes over and over again at meets and during practice at well and not getting correction. And the list really goes on and on...
She is 6 1/2 years old and has big dreams. She really, really, really wanted to move up to level 5 after this season so she could compete level 5 in the fall. She loves a challenge, working new skills, etc. However, she didn't have the best season as a level 4,started out at end of October with 27AA (scores of 5 on beam, 6 bars and 7s on vault/floor) and topping out at 8s on everything and a 33AA in March. I think some of it was her and some of it was the coaching situation at the gym.
We decided to switch before finding out about the move ups since we had heard that she might be moving to level 5. I knew there was no way I could get her to consider changing gyms if she knew she had been moved to level 5, because the gyms near us would definitely have her repeat level 4. Of course, now that we have left, we find out that they were moving her to level 5.
I do think that she will have a great year as a repeat level 4. She is very confident out there now and the new gym does well at compulsories (as well as at optionals, just a good gym all around) and is good on the little details, form, etc. I think her scores will improve quite a bit by the end and that she will place well at all her meets. They do uptrain and their main season is Fall. During the Spring season, they uptrain and do a couple of meets just to keep the girls motivated, so it won't be 6 months of just competing level 4.
SO, I am wanting to hear all the positives to repeating L4, especially at her age. If you/your DD repeated level 4 and it was a great thing, please tell me your story! I know in my heart that we did the right thing, but also know that she would LOVE to be doing L5 in the fall instead of L4, and it is hard to think about the coulda-beens. I know she is young, but she is also very motivated and like I said, has big dreams of getting to level 10.
I really want to get positive about this so I can get her thinking positive about this. She is loving the new gym, but is a little sad because she wanted to do level 5 so much. I know that many have had great experiences with repeating level 4, or know someone who did, so I would love to share the stories with her so she can see that it can be a GREAT thing.
Some of you know that my daughter just switched to a new gym after a frustrating past 6 months at her old gym. We had lost our head coach who was very good with compulsory routines, the little details, conditioning, etc. There have been many new coaches that have come, many other coaches have gone and it has been very rough on the girls because of inconsistencies with coaching, one coach saying to do the routine this way, the next saying to do it this way, and then another one saying, no, do it this way. No organization to practices and girls making the same mistakes over and over again at meets and during practice at well and not getting correction. And the list really goes on and on...
She is 6 1/2 years old and has big dreams. She really, really, really wanted to move up to level 5 after this season so she could compete level 5 in the fall. She loves a challenge, working new skills, etc. However, she didn't have the best season as a level 4,started out at end of October with 27AA (scores of 5 on beam, 6 bars and 7s on vault/floor) and topping out at 8s on everything and a 33AA in March. I think some of it was her and some of it was the coaching situation at the gym.
We decided to switch before finding out about the move ups since we had heard that she might be moving to level 5. I knew there was no way I could get her to consider changing gyms if she knew she had been moved to level 5, because the gyms near us would definitely have her repeat level 4. Of course, now that we have left, we find out that they were moving her to level 5.
I do think that she will have a great year as a repeat level 4. She is very confident out there now and the new gym does well at compulsories (as well as at optionals, just a good gym all around) and is good on the little details, form, etc. I think her scores will improve quite a bit by the end and that she will place well at all her meets. They do uptrain and their main season is Fall. During the Spring season, they uptrain and do a couple of meets just to keep the girls motivated, so it won't be 6 months of just competing level 4.
SO, I am wanting to hear all the positives to repeating L4, especially at her age. If you/your DD repeated level 4 and it was a great thing, please tell me your story! I know in my heart that we did the right thing, but also know that she would LOVE to be doing L5 in the fall instead of L4, and it is hard to think about the coulda-beens. I know she is young, but she is also very motivated and like I said, has big dreams of getting to level 10.
I really want to get positive about this so I can get her thinking positive about this. She is loving the new gym, but is a little sad because she wanted to do level 5 so much. I know that many have had great experiences with repeating level 4, or know someone who did, so I would love to share the stories with her so she can see that it can be a GREAT thing.