I have been told that colleges do not want a gymnast to be at L10 for more than 3 years. Is this correct?
Featured content
DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!
Members see FEWER ads
ChalkBucket may earn a commission through product links on the site.
ChalkBucket is now running an activity based ad removal system. The more you post... the less ads you see. The system is based on a "rolling post" total over the past 7 days. The system is below...
eye You are seeing reduced ads.
low-vision If you have posted at least 1 time in the last 7 days... the sticky footer ad will be removed.
eye-slash If you have posted at least 5 times in the last 7 days... then you will see NO ADS!
Ad removal is automatic and may take several hours.
You...
A Parent’s Questionnaire
Dr. Alan Goldberg
Competitive Advantage
Take this questionnaire to see if you’re doing everything possible to help your child have a successful and healthy sports experience.
Answer each question with a 1, 2, 3 or 4.
1 = never true; 2 = occasionally true; 3 = mostly true; 4 = always true.
1) I get really frustrated and upset when my child performs below his/her capabilities.
2) I give my child critical feedback on his/her performance after each game.
3) If I...
Just for fun, what crazy gym parent behavior have you seen this season. I have several but will just share just one. I had a parent say my child didn’t deserve the score she got on an event. It was a high score but his daughter had a score higher than my child. My child is his child’s competition at every meet.
As a Head Coach for many years now... I just wanted to start a conversation about one of the largest things that we see impact the ability of kids to move forwards into upper level gymnastics... eating habits.
I've been playing with ChatGPT a bit and decided to ask it a few questions about muscle mass and the way some kids eat.
Here is what I asked ChatGPT...
Are there any studies showing that picky eaters and people that don't drink milk struggle to build muscle mass?
Here is the...
Here are his Instagram posts about it...
Our daughter was born a few months before we created ChalkBucket. Her second season in college is off to a great start! Go AIR FORCE!
Not sure who all remembers me, but just wanted to pop in and say hi and give an.updare on my girl. I don't know when I first found this site but I know it was when she was pretty young, maybe level 3?? I was definitely one of the crazy gym moms (not quite as crazy anymore). So many of you have followed her journey from compulsory, to optionals, to hopes/elite and back to level 10. She's now in her first season of college gym at Oklahoma and she's never been happier. Seeing her smile and joy...
How much to share on social media about your recruiting journey in gymnastics is a very interesting topic that seems to be evolving with each new year of athletes. What do you all think about this topic and the following question...
How many hours a week do your bronze girls practice?
Our gym offers either 2 or 3 hours a week. I feel this is not enough time in the gym to develop their skills and prepare them to level up. As the competitive season moves along, I feel like the other teams are improving their skills and performing better at each meet, while our girls’ skills are pretty stagnant. How can they possibly keep up with only 2-3 hours a week in the gym. I also feel that 1 hour sessions are too short.
What’s it...
I just thought this would be an interesting thing to list. Just post all of the clubs that have 10 or more Level 10's this season and I will add them to the first post of this thread. Post a link to their website or social media and the state they are in if possible.
Large Level 10 Teams (10+ Athletes)
Apex Athletics (New York)
American Twisters (Florida)
Brandy Johnsons (Florida)
Georgia Elite (Georgia)
Legacy Elite (Illinois)
Phenom (IL)
Aspire (IL)
Twin City Twisters (Minnesota)...
My girls both started gymnastics at the same time. There is a a 3 year age difference between them. Currently they are 1 level apart (3 and 4), but I anticipate that next year they will either be at the same level or my younger one may pass her older sister. How do I navigate the jealousy that is already starting (younger one came home with all 5 medals for her first meet while my older one has never gotten more than 1 medal at a meet)?
What are everyone’s thoughts/experiences with how a young athlete’s strength and muscularity relates to their skill acquisition and success in the sport?
I’ve always just assumed that kids who are really strong are at an advantage in gymnastics and will likely be able to do well if they are dedicated and put in the work. Additionally her coach told me when she first made team that typically kids with her kind of muscularity will get the skills quickly as they progress. However, my DD(about...
By far one of the greatest posts on ChalkBucket ever! Thank you for this post @mezzamare!
The data can be found in the following posts...
First set of data: Post #2
Second set of data: Post #27
Seems to be quite a few posts recently about fast tracking, skipping levels, switching gyms, pushing for advancements...
I think some (especially new) gym parents may assume this the norm.
But I think most gymnasts follow a pretty "boring" path.
What was the path of your child?
My daughter is a 9yr old Gold
2 yrs baby class (1-2yrs)
1 year toddler class (3yrs)
1 year advanced toddler class (4yrs)
1 year pre-team (5yrs)
1 year Bronze (6yrs)
1 year Silver (covid year) (7yrs)
1 year Level...
Thanks to @Gymmomsarethebest for posting this thread. Looks like some great conversation here... keep it up!
Since my DD is starting this process, and since the information exchange seems pretty asymmetric with all the information tilted toward the programs I thought I would start this thread to see if others would want to compare notes, observations, experiences, and opinions. My DD is a freshman in high school, multiple-year L10. Some observations and opinions: (I will admit I am more focused on DI)
Several of her gym mates are 2024 graduates. It really surprised me how quickly the recruiting...
I'd like to thank @Summer01 for starting this thread. I'm going to promote this thread as I really think this is a great question...
Ladies and gentlemen... here is our next article from our excellent author... Jen Kula!
https://blog.chalkbucket.com/5-sports-to-try-after-gymnastics/
Here is our next article by Jen Kula...
Link Removed
The Most Common Gymnastics Injuries
Thanks to Jen Kula for another great article that you can read at the following link...
https://blog.chalkbucket.com/have-you-met-the-crazy-gym-parent-and-is-it-you/
What's your biggest CGP moment? What about the biggest CGP moment you have seen or heard about from another?
https://chalkbucket.com/articles/xcel-or-development-program-which-is-the-right-path-for-your-gymnast.1/
Here's my second blog entry, and the first of a multi-part series about the physics of gymnastics!
https://blog.chalkbucket.com/technique-with-taucer-the-physics-of-gymnastics-part-1/
In this article, I described several at-home physics experiments; let me know if my descriptions aren't clear, and I'll try to explain them better, or put together a quick sketch to illustrate them.
If you all find any good gymnastics memes or cartoons post them here for all to see!
Thank you to @Becauseisaid for originally posting this thread!
I found the article below to be very interesting. It's a different perspective on the coaching dilemma that I've seen referenced a few times. What do others think? For parents who have had a bad or less than ideal coaching experience (I'm not talking about a general disagreement about level placement, but a real disconnect between coaches and athletes, a spike in gym related injuries, really poor communication, etc.), does this help explain any of the issues you faced? It definitely made me...
Looking for suggestions on how to build confidence and motivatation.
There have been several elite gymnasts that are not doing elite meets anymore and just the regular competition meets. Most have been accepted by colleges already. They compete in the same competitions that a non-elite gymnast does and of course they are always on top 1st or 2nd place at all meets as they are excellent elite gymnast.
How do you motivate your gymnast to do the best and have the confidence to show the...
EDIT: This is a conversation split out of another thread. You can view that thread at the following link to see how the conversation started...
https://www.chalkbucket.com/threads/level-4-much-harder-than-3.63006/page-2#post-562017
The concept of this conversation is basically... "Can you use long term athlete development to get an athlete into upper level gymnastics?"
EDIT2: This is about WAG & MAG... athletes in general.
------------
L4 is much harder than L3... L4 is really the...
I have noticed some gyms will compete girls as level 10s but will compete “easier” skills that may still earn a 10.0 sv or slightly below. (I realize no lvl 10 skills are easy but there is a wide range). You will see easier, cleaner routines out score more difficult ones that have more errors. So I am curious what is more beneficial when it comes to colleges recruiting. If a gymnast is a freshmen and theoretically has 2 maybe 3 seasons to really be recruited is it better to compete...
After a competition, what does your gym do? We've seen scores for all apparatus but curious if other gyms do some type of debrief or modified training to address shortfalls? Or is it practice as usual?
Did anyone else read the NY Times article titled A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men? I have seen first hand the realities of this disturbing world and I am thrilled to see it being brought to light by big mainstream sources like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (Who also recently ran an article about child influencers).
I wondered if we could have a little conversation about this on here. What have you seen of this world? Do you believe this...
My daughter (10) is on pre-team level 3 and is loving it. The coach of her pre-team is good, but she has not made teaching roundoff back handsprings a priority for the girls. Up until a few weeks ago, none of them could do them unspotted, even on the tumble track.
My daughter has been doing hers for months on tumble track at open gyms, and a few weeks ago at open gym, a coach that was there spotted her on the floor and she can now do hers unspotted on the floor easily. She is still...
Hi parents,
It’s becoming close to the end of our season. I am one of the team moms on my daughter’s team. Looking to have a survey for the parents to get their feedback on this season, ,communication, what can be helpful for next season, team building, questions they may of had, their suggestions for next year…really just any feedback and advice.
Obviously they could say a lot and doesn’t necessarily mean what they say will make changes overnight, but I feel like getting true, anonymous...
Our practice schedule just came out for the fall. My DD is schedule three nights a week from 6pm-9pm and Saturday afternoons. We usually eat dinner between 7-7:30 due to it typically being a time when everyone is home. I do not mind feeding her separately. Would you feed your gymnast dinner before practice with a snack after or snack before practice and dinner after? She is 12 years old, 6th grade. I am going to ask her for her input but wanted outside opinions as well.
Just trying to understand TOPs. A few of our girls tested TOPs and qualified to do those level 4 TOPs routines in competition. Great news! I'm curious if those routines have a different starting value than those of standard JO. I know TOPs girls aren't separated for competition so I'm trying to understand how a judge compares/grades each routine. Thanks for your help
For those of you that have been through the recruiting process, what is your best recruiting advice? My daughter will be of recruiting age next year. She has already been emailing/ sending video's as well as posting to her Instagram account. We follow Jill Hicks as well. We are thinking* of hiring their service for further help closer to time. She has had a few colleges that consistently send mail both to our home and gym, as well as DM her info about the school. ( Would you assume they have...
What is your driving distance/time limit?
What is your gray zone of driving distance that leaves you debating if the cost of flying/car rental is worth it?
Not sure if anyone follows college football, but the NCAA has proposed creating a new subdivision specifically targeted towards the large Power 5 programs (Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, etc). This will create a division that allows the universities to directly pay student-athletes, NIL money versus the various NFP collectives that do that now.
You might be asking what does this have to do with gymnastics? The proposal outlines that to participate in this subdivision, schools must...
This was such a big thing for my daughter for a long time. Every season there was an event she either really wanted to start on or really didn't want to start on and it could impact her entire perception of the meet. Now she doesn't even care anymore what they start on, which I think it definitely healthier! But it's been funny to watch that transition. Does your gymnast care or just roll with whatever they start on?
What was the most surprising thing you learned about gymnastics when your child started out in it?
Let us know and while your at it... read our latest article by Jen Kula!
https://blog.chalkbucket.com/gymnastics-for-newbies/
(Image added and thread featured by ChalkBucket)
So my Gymnast is just entering her teenage years, her head coach has said she doesn't have an athletic body. Since last year her body shape has changed, she has hips that are round and a much fuller chest, but she isn't anywhere near fat, she isn't stuck thin either, but i know that this is what her coach would prefer as every girl in her squad seems to be more of the expected body shape, and coach feels like this is making her sluggish in...