For Parents 5 Sports To Try After Gymnastics!

[JBS]

Ladies and gentlemen... here is our next article from our excellent author... Jen Kula!

5 Sports To Try After Gymnastics

While your gymnast can move on to just about anything, here’s a guide to some of the sports gymnasts most easily transition into.

chalkbucket.com

 

[JBS]

Has Your Child Done Any Other Sports?​

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Tell Us About Them!​

 

[ProudGymnast]

I did a brief stretch of high school track (barely a season), and I excelled in long jump. I have found that participating gymnasts do good in that for whatever reason. I also tried hurdles and was good, but it was not my thing.

 

[Coach Kate]

I did high school track and then college cross country and track! In high school I pole vaulted, did long and triple jump, and did some sprints/relays, and then in college I pole vaulted and did some mid/distance stuff in addition to steeplechase. I had an amazing time and loved.my.division 3 sports experience. I even liked cross country, even though I wasn't great. The team was so.closely knit - the men and women shared a coach and this I had lots of people looking out for me, and I actually think it was good for me to be bad at something for once. I did end up making our regionals team one year (top 6 on our team), which was so rewarding!

 

[rlm's mom]

DD13 has started rec climbing, 1 hour session once a week and is loving it. She wants to increase her hours once this gym season is over. Her gymnastics skills, strength and flexibility translate well over

 

[LucyRobinson]

As I experimented with a few different sports when I was a wee one and then stuck to gymnastics, I'll speak for some other gymnasts I know too.

• We have a senior gymnast, also a diver, who decided to dive in college.
• Our gym has ninja warrior too, but it is mostly for younger kids.
• A handful of gymnasts also do track & field.
• Never had any experience with rock climbing, though it sounds like fun!
• Cheerleading...yes! A lot of the gymnasts perceive cheerleading as 'easy gymnastics' and 'for the popular/mean girls', though.
• Dance seems to be a favorite for gymnasts who liked floor. Also some gymnasts who tried aerial dance.
• I know several gymnasts (who were not high-level athletes, but made it to Level 4-6) that decided to play volleyball instead.
• Soccer- not a common one, but we have a couple gymnasts who also play soccer or quit to focus just on soccer.
• Rhythmic Gymnastics- We don't have a rhythmic gym in town but it seems like it could be a good option!

 

[bookworm]

My daughter dove in college after gymnastics was off the table after she blew out her knee , and 5 surgeries and 2 years of thrice weekly PT, it never was the same. She never dove until fall of her freshman year and only did the 1 meter that year....by her Sr year, she had set the school record in the 3 meter! And she now works as a part time diving coach so there's that....as a parent, I found diving to be WAY less stress at meets or maybe because I knew way less..

 

[ldw4mlo]

2 of our gymmies did Division 1 pole vaulting. 2 did diving, 1 at a Div 1 school, 1 div 3.

Mine a sophomore in HS is doing gym and lacrosse

 

[mcaggie]

My daughter dove in college after gymnastics was off the table after she blew out her knee , and 5 surgeries and 2 years of thrice weekly PT, it never was the same. She never dove until fall of her freshman year and only did the 1 meter that year....by her Sr year, she had set the school record in the 3 meter! And she now works as a part time diving coach so there's that....as a parent, I found diving to be WAY less stress at meets or maybe because I knew way less..

So you mean she starts diving as a freshman in college?

 

[bookworm]

So you mean she starts diving as a freshman in college?

Yes, October of her freshman year

 

[3cats]

My daughter quickly transitioned to golf and Tumbling & Trampoline. She then added school cheer. She is also going to try a season of track before she begins high school next year. Middle school allows for more freedom and variety in school athletics. Once she gets to high school she will need to narrow it down as high cool sports require more year around commitment. Which I think is a bummer because I've enjoyed seeing how many things she can do in place of all those hours spent at the gym.

When I stopped gymnastics as young teen I tried horseback riding and then fell in love with vocal music and theater. So it doesn't always have to be athletics, there are so many doors that open when artistic gymnastics ends.

 

[KIPSOG]

I currently do Track and wrestling, while still competing as a diamond gymnast. (Advantage of Xcel, I can also do high school sports) I live in a state where girls wrestling is a offical high school sport, and I made it to state this year as a sophomore who didn't start wrestling until high school. Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing collegate sports right now, so its quite possible that I could wrestle in college. Wrestling is very similar to gymnastics in the abilities needed, strength, speed, flexibility, body awareness, etc.

I also do track. 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles. Triple jump. Discus. I would love to try pole vault, but my school doesn't offer it, it's too small. I do quite well in all my events.

 

[Amanda]

My daughter is enjoying CrossFit and ballet. She likes to do her makeup ballet classes in the Acro class. She does miss bars!

 

[novagymmom]

I really wanted my daughter to try diving and/or pole vaulting after transitioning from JO to Xcel. But she chose field hockey, basketball and now lacrosse. So fun seeing her try completely different things! (And I'll never forget her comment after her first game - "I was nervous to get the ball in a game at first. But then I realized how different it is than gymnastics. You don't have to be perfect. You mess up, recover, and keep going. Multiple times." )

From my own personal experience, I went from gymnastics to cheer (and kept up with HS gymnastics). My best friend went from gymnastics to diving and ended up diving in college.

 

[JBS]

I have a Level 9 daughter that is also running track. She is trying many events but she likes the hurdles the best so far.

 

[pt coach]

I think I may have posted on this thread already, but my daughter is doing track in college and her intention was to do what she focused on in high school - the throws (shot put, discus, hammer, javelin). However, the new women's coach found out about her gymnastics background and decided she belonged in the pentathlon (indoors) and heptathlon (outdoors). She is having a great time learning all the new events. The coaches are impressed with her ability to make corrections, which I think is directly attributable to her years of gymnastics.

 

[kecks]

Throwing at higher levels is usually not the typical ex-gymnast go to as hopeful throwers have to be rather big (heavy) and tall (think 185cm or more).

We had a lot of success with transferring former gymnasts in olympic weightlifting (being small is a bonus there, since pulling up 100kg to 160cm is way easier than pulling to 180cm), weight classes in competition, so everybody fits in and gymnasts usually are very coachable and make corrections very fast, which is big bonus in such a technical sport).

 

[pt coach]

Throwing at higher levels is usually not the typical ex-gymnast go to as hopeful throwers have to be rather big (heavy) and tall (think 185cm or more).

We had a lot of success with transferring former gymnasts in olympic weightlifting (being small is a bonus there, since pulling up 100kg to 160cm is way easier than pulling to 180cm), weight classes in competition, so everybody fits in and gymnasts usually are very coachable and make corrections very fast, which is big bonus in such a technical sport).

Generally very true about throwing! My daughter is actually relatively tall (at 5'9" very tall for a gymnast and average for throwers on her team) but she is probably 40 pounds lighter than her teammates. However, one of her high school throws coaches was a former gymnast who turned into a hammer thrower and was a 3x NCAA All-American (qualified for Olympic trials and everything) so you just never know.

 

[TheXcelMom]

My D loves swimming so the idea of diving seems perfect. Her high school won't have it but we aren't far from a big university that has an olympic diving apparatus. I wonder if they have lessons. (taps chin)

 

[CLgym]

My D (former L8) has been “retired” from gymnastics for 7 months now. She is involved in both competitive climbing and diving. In fact, she had her first dive meet last week after only 8 weeks of lessons, and finished 3rd (novice). She plans to dive for her high school next year, and continue climbing for a local club. Interestingly, she does not seem interested in getting intensely involved in any one sport, like she was with gymnastics. She has thrown out track or sideline cheer as additional sports/activities she might be interested in trying next year at her new school….