American Levels

[Dsaramina]

I'm sorry if this question has been asked before (if so just link me to the thread), but I was wondering how American levels work?

In Canada our levels aren't the same as far as I know. (I just compete provincially.)

So if someone could either explain the levels or link me to a site that does so it would be super helpful.

Thanks.

 

[hammy]

I think it's been mentioned before, but I'm not sure where....so here's the information

Levels 1-3: beginner levels, competition are a few each year
Level 4-6: Compulsary levels--everyone does the same skills
Level 7-10: optional--everyone must meet certain requirments but may fulfill them doing a variety of skills
Elite: Olympic level

Level 1: extreme beginner--forward rolls, backward rolls, etc
Level 2: little more advanced---roundoffs, pull overs on bars
Level 3: front mill circle on bars (one leg over bar and go around in a circle forwards). learning backhandspring on floor. handstand on beam, etc
Level 4: first USAG sanctioned competitive level
Floor: handstand forward roll, back extension roll to pushup shape, round off backhandspring, etc
Vault: handstand flat back on a whale mat
Bars: front hip circle, cast back hipcircle, front mill circle, undershoot (underswing) dismount
Beam: handstand, side handstand, basic jumps, half turn
Level 5: roundoff 2 back handsprings and a front handspring on floor. cartwheel on beam, kip and long hang kip on bars (use of high bar). front handspring over vault table
Level 6: back tuck and front tuck on floor, back walkover on beam, fly away dismount off bars, etc
Level 7: back handsrping and round off on beam, back layouts on floor, back giants on bars, etc

Level 8-10: skill difficulty increases.

If you'd like some examples of skills for levels 8-10 just let me know.

Also, after level 10 is the elite level which I describe as the olympic level.

 

[gracefulone]

There are levels 1-10, then elite.
Levels one through six are compulsory; they have specific routines that each compettior must do.
skill examples Sorry our gym has no level 1 or 2 so I odn't Know that much
L.1: forward/backward rolls
L.2: straddle rolls
L.3: roundoff, pullover
L.4: r/o backhandspring, fornt/back hip circles, stride circles, wendee on beam, handstand plop vault into resi.
L.5: kip, squat on to highbar, cartwheel on beam, handspring vault to table, two backhandsprings, front handspring
L.6:back tuck, front tuck, hansdrping vault, clearhip, baby giant, flyaway, backwalkover one beam, full turn handstand-1/4 piroutte to wendee
levles seven and up are optionals. There are a, b, c, and d (elites e, f) skill ratings. each level has a different number of a, b, c , and d requirements to fulfill
L.7: 5 a's, 2b's
L.8: 4a's, 4b's
L.9: 3a's, 4b's, 1C
L.10: 3a's, 3b's, 2c's.( can do d's and e's for bonus credit)
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/women/2006/optreqchartappndx6.pdf

This goes a little more in depth. I can explain some more if you want.

 

[gracefulone]

I was still writing my post I guess when Hammy posted. Sorry for any repetitiveness.

 

[hammy]

repetitiveness is never a bad thing---we probably both missed stuff that the other one wrote

 

[Dsaramina]

Oh, that explains a lot.
Thanks to both of you for clarifying.

I was also wondering how many hours you would usually train at each level and how many hours of the training would be conditioning?

And, If you are interested, in my province (Saskatchewan) we have levels 1 through 5 and then a program for competitive girls in lower levels called gymcat.

Provincial 1 - Designed for beginner competitive and developing athletes, routines contain only 'A' skill requirements and there are three age categories within the level.

Provincial 2 - Designed for those athletes that have mastered Level 1, fully choreographed routines with 'A' & 'B' skills and there are two age categories within the level.

Provincial 3 - Incorporation of more 'B' skills into routines along with some specific difficulties and there are two age groups within the level.

Provincial 4 - Designed for athletes that have mastered Provincial 3 and ready for increased difficulty and the development of 'C' level skills, there are two age categories and athletes may try out for Western Canadian Championships.

National/High Performance - Athletes at this level aspire to compete at inter-provincial and national levels or are already national high performance athletes. Athletes compete national and international rules. Provincial, inter-provincial and national competition is provided in two age categories for nationals stream and three for high performance.

(taken from www.gymsask.com)\

 

[gracefulone]

Number of hours trained and doing condtitioning varies on the gym. Somewhere on this board, there's a forum "how many hours in the gym" that asks everyone what they do in their level/area. I compete for a YMCA, so it is a little less intense. We can choose how many times a week we practice, as long as it is at least two from September-March. 3, 4, and 5 usu. go two, occasionally three. Six on up usu. do three, sometimes 4, sometimes 2. It is very flexible. All practices are two a nd a half hours-strength depends on level. For a typical practice you can expect 30-45 min., but broken up. I love our system because it has allowed me to do other things. For three years I did cheerleading three times a week, and gymnastics the alternating(cheer tues.thurs/fri, gym-mon/wed, meets on weekend). in spring, I have track five days a week, so I go to gym once during the week, and once on the weekend. three hours of track followed by two and a half hour of gym would be impossibley difficult multiple days a week. If we miss a practice, we can come on a different day to make it up. But that's just us. We have two clubs nearby us, and they train every day for three-four hours. Everywhere's different.

 

[gracefulone]

here's a question. Are your a, b, c skills similar/same as the ones in the chart? If not, what are some examples?