MAG Any advice for new to preteam/team?

[OwlGalLiz]

My son is still young, but wants/will be able to compete next season. He's level 3 pre-team up training this summer (two days a week, 1.5 hours each day) plus any open gyms he can attend. Extremely strong upper body, muscles, etc. It all seems to come naturally to him (was recreational for a year then developmental class this past school year) and he never stops moving - he's an active kid. The plan is for him to be official team in the fall (six hours) at level 4 in preparation for meets. We know (and are working with him to understand) that his first season will be a great experience for him (all local meets), and he'll be there for the experience. He loves gymnastics, would go more days if we let him, and is a determined young fella, even at such a young age. Biggest hurdle is chatting too much and goofing off- basically being a five year old. Coach, Dad and I are working on discipline, but it hasn't sunk in yet- though it's improving a lot. For those of you whose DS have been doing this a while, any advice for a novice boy gym parent?

 

[profmom]

1. Learning mushroom takes a long time and can be frustrating, but if he sticks with it, someday you'll look over and see him doing a billion circles consecutively. Yes. You will.

2. Most boys' meets begin with what is in effect a 1.5 hour practice. Go to the bathroom while this is happening, because once they start competing, it's event event event event event event and then they're done.

3. Sometimes it seems like the awards take longer than the meet. You know to expect this if the ceremonies start with the fifteenth place 6 year old vault winner.

4. Men's coaches at all times have to strike a balance between keeping a fun atmosphere that keeps the boys engaged and maintaining discipline so they don't go nuts. Smart ones will do this in ways that encourage the boys to compete with each other constructively (i.e., who can hold the handstand the longest), because if not, it will happen non-constructively (i.e., who can make the best fart noises with his armpits while standing in line waiting to vault).

5. With this sport, the stakes are a lot higher for paying attention and not fooling around when the coach explains things or introduces a drill. The beginning soccer player won't kick a ball very hard if he does a drill wrong. The beginning gymnast could get badly hurt. What may look at first like overly strict discipline may in fact be directed at keeping your child safe, especially with tumbling and swinging skills. (Shorter version: unintentional headsprings are not fun to watch.)

6. Boys can be just as sensitive, if not more sensitive, than girls about learning skills and doing the hard things this sport demands. It's a strange sport in that as soon as they finally master something, they almost immediately move on to some new thing they'll have to fail at about 1000 times. Get your "if you keep working on it and don't give up, you will get it eventually" speech ready now. And congratulations: you've just been promoted to sports psychologist.

7. So much of what they learn will be relevant in their lives long after they've done their last back handspring or swing to handstand. Done right, gymnastics is a great foundation for teaching persistence, sportsmanship, patience, courage, and empathy. Enjoy the ride!

 

[emorymom]

My son's L4 season, I stayed with my general self-imposed rule of only buying gymnastics equipment on Craigslist at a price point where I could easily resell it. MIS-take. I didn't find him a mushroom until the end of his season. Having a home mushroom really helps when they first are learning the circles. If he can't circle, get a home mushroom even if you have to pay $300 new.

 

[sbonham]

Profmom,
Wow! Great advice!!! REALLY great. I especially liked your comments regarding the infinite values/qualities that gymnastics instills in our participants. Nice to see that some folks get that!

Sports psychologist indeed!

Steve

 

[skschlag]

It sounds like he has a lot of fun. Make sure that fun continues! The "career" for boys is much longer than girls, so at this age, fun is key. When you talk to him, focus on the fun and not always on the skills unless he is wanting to talk about it. D will often tell me the fun stuff he did first, and then the "oh yeah, I got my XXX"

Also, for you, sit back and relax. It is so easy to get caught up in the levels, excitement, and gym drama. It tends to be a lot less than on the girls' side, but it can still be there. Enjoy your son's passion, watch him have fun, and let it be his!!

Welcome ot MAG! it is a fun journey

 

[OwlGalLiz]

Thank you so much for the advice! It sounds like we are headed in the right direction, we have a mushroom (sister of a friend was selling it at a great deal) and he and the boy across the street (age 8, level 4 about to move to level 5) practice on it frequently. We've been to one meet to watch the neighbor, and that fueled DS excitement even more. I see now what you mean about finding the right balance in the coach/kid- and I know we've got it (DS won the rings "competition" during practice last week, got to pick a buddy to go play in the pit for five minutes of free time - coach periodically tosses in stuff like that). Discipline is improving- he was almost "disqualified" from the "competition" but Coach explained to him and his teammates why discipline was important. So I guess here we go! I love seeing how excited my son is when he gets out there and does things. Thanks again for the great advice!

 

[J&A's mom]

When does he turn six? He can't compete if he is not six on the competition day.

profmom had awesome advice. Also, ignore crazy gym mom's, even if it seems impossible. Oh, and they don't need to have all the level five skills to compete level four. And he shouldn't be there more than the level five boys. The season is long, and he will get where he needs to be by the end if he listens to his coaches and works hard; a million private lessons are not necessary.

Bet it sounds like this advice comes from experience.

 

[OwlGalLiz]

When does he turn six? He can't compete if he is not six on the competition day.

He turns six on Dec 25- so he will miss one meet in Dec but things really start happening in January so he'll be good to go! There are several of them with Oct/Nov/Dec birthdays, but some of them are going to opt out this year and start when they are in first grade. DS doesn't want to wait, so we will start Jan 2014 as long as all goes well. He is super excited and it's an absolute joy to see him do what he loves.

I've figured out who a few of the CGMs are already and am making sure to stay clear of them!

 

[skschlag]

That's cool! Of course, he will probably have to do 2 years of level 4, because I think the age cutoff after level 4 is their birthday as of Sept 1. But, it will be so much fun, and if he is excited, then go for it!!!

 

[OwlGalLiz]

Yeah. We figure the first year will be a good experience for him and let him see how it all works. It will all be local meets anyway. He can't wait.

 

[CoachTodd]

Let him have fun
focus on the basics being done correctly. Boys are quick to just start chucking skills because they can and not because it's correct. Once his basics are strong, the skills will start to show up and he'll have even more fun showing them off.

 

[BlairBob]

When he is 7, he can compete L5. MAG doesn't really follow the September rule. This means we end up with some L4's competing 2 years as a 6yo.

Yep, get him a mushroom or build one. Sometimes, we used to let the boys take home a mushroom if they wanted (but they had to carry it out). One of the issues about this is that many mushrooms will simply be too big for 5 or 6yo. They often need to start off a panel mat or have a smaller custom built mushroom.

He is 5yo, expect him to be a 5yo. That being said, I've had some 5yo who always listen and don't talk or goof around as much as what we generally expect 5yo boys to be like.

What I generally recommend for compulsory MAG gymnasts till L6 is a pair of PVC parallettes and a pullup bar and maybe even a set of rings besides a mushroom or bucket. I would be cautious about rings seeing as he is so young unless they can be hung fairly low (which can be a benefit since they can be hung much lower than a door pullup bar).

And some wall space. Let them "play" with it rather than having them do it. They either have to want it or don't.

 

[sjm2b3]

I would agree with everyone about the mushroom, but it sounds like you already have one. My dad made my DS one and it made all the difference. This summer he practices a few minutes on it every day.

I would encourage you to have him try other things now (eg, baseball, soccer etc) because once he moves up, he will essentially have NO time!!! I am so glad we had him try other sports early so he could see what he enjoyed--I am not sure if you have other kids but it's hard to do multiple sports with gymnastics.

I have two on team, and I guess what I try to enforce is that it's a true privilege that can be taken away at any time. If either kid ever got in trouble in school, it would mean missing a gymnastics practice. I have explained how expensive it is and how I expect that they will try their best and listen--now at 5 years old they may not have fully done that but at 7 and 9 they definitely understand the 'privilege' aspect.

My last advice is to just try to have him take it slow. You really want him to want to be at the gym MORE than he is. DS is a level 6 and our coach still only has him practicing 9 hours / week but he would LOVE to go more. It's a tough sport on the body and they are just little kids. Take videos every once in a while so you can show him his progress because it will be amazing!!!! I love watching my kids do gymnastics.