Do you have a say in your daughters Floor Music?

[flippymonkeysmom]

Related to this topic - how many of the parents have a say in their dd's optional music? My dd's coaches are Russian and we really have no say in their music. They let us listen to it and if we absolutely hate it, they might consider changing it - but usually not. Of course my dd loves her music (me too) and her coach is doing an awesome job with the choreography, so I'm not complaining. Just wondering how the rest of you all do it.

 

[bogwoppit]

I chose my oldest DD's last piece of floor music, I found it online and it was all good from there. Usually our coach will have lots of ideas for each gymnast and lets them choose between two or three pieces. For the younger girls, 8-10 years, she usually has three routines that they have to choose from, so there may be 4 or 5 using the same music. The older girls definitely have their own. Only once did I hate a piece of music, but I ignored it as the routine was so cute and perfect, the coach was right, I just thought it was lame! Judges agreed with the coach too.

I imagine in power gyms the coaches are looking for certain things in the music and know how to package them for each gymnast.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

Parents should not have a say in their daughters floor music. When my coach gave us or tapes with our selections on it( we tell her what kind of music we want and then we have a few choices on it but If we hate all of them she will give us more) she specifically said DONT LET YOUR PARENTS LISTEN TO THIS WITH YOU. YOU PICK YOUR MUSIC BY WHAT YOU WANT! You don't want your parents to be sitting in the stands at meets like jamming to your music because they love it and have you not into the floor routine because you hate it. Who cares if your parents don't like your music? You are the one dancing to it not them!
thats just my opinon, I don't want to offend anyone!

 

[gymnasticsbabie]

well me and my coaches really make the final decision, but i always go to my mom for her say in it. but she's always liked my routines.

 

[gymnastmom96]

I thinks it's usually the coaches call because they know the child's personality. However, having said that, my daughter heard a song during a commercial last year and decided then that it would be her floor music. We found the song and had her coach listen to it. She loved it as well. It did get expensive having it cut for floor music.

 

[bogwoppit]

Parents should not have a say in their daughters floor music. When my coach gave us or tapes with our selections on it( we tell her what kind of music we want and then we have a few choices on it but If we hate all of them she will give us more) she specifically said DONT LET YOUR PARENTS LISTEN TO THIS WITH YOU. YOU PICK YOUR MUSIC BY WHAT YOU WANT! You don't want your parents to be sitting in the stands at meets like jamming to your music because they love it and have you not into the floor routine because you hate it. Who cares if your parents don't like your music? You are the one dancing to it not them!
thats just my opinon, I don't want to offend anyone!

That's too bad you think that way. 'cos we pay the bills. HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously though, the coach always has the final say anyway, so I don't think it hurts to have your parents like the music. I am the coolest Mom on the planet and would never inflict my favourite music on my kids, even though it's way cooler than theirs. Who can resist The Cure, Prefab Sprout, The Cocteau Twins with a bit of New Order thrown in.

If I hear any more Pirates music at meets, I will weep. I love origianlity and a good fit for the child. Nothing worse than a non perky child with upbeat funky music looking hopelessly "not with it". It should always be a good fit, no matter who chooses it!

This is also my opinion, and I would never want to offend, just amuse.

 

[a_gymnast_forever]

our coaches always lets us choose. my coach has never actually had a say. hahahha. my last lets see 4 routines my mom found some music and I really liked it. so we bought it and brought it in the gym and was like ok hopefully ya'll like it. hahhaa. but I have been a dancer for 13 years. so we know stuff about music. so they trust us not to pick something crappy.

 

[gymnastmom96]

If I hear any more Pirates music at meets, I will weep. I love origianlity and a good fit for the child. Nothing worse than a non perky child with upbeat funky music looking hopelessly "not with it". It should always be a good fit, no matter who chooses it!

This is also my opinion, and I would never want to offend, just amuse.

That is too funny!!! We have a standing joke at our gym about "pirates".

 

[hunde2]

My DD's floor routine and music was picked by the coach when she was a Level 7.As a Level 8 we let her listen to floormusic and she picked it out.It is an upbeat piece and it fits her better then the last one.Our coach and a teammate did the choreography and we are very happy with it.I'm sure if the coach though the music would not fit my DD she would have mentioned it.Our coaches encourage the kids to develop their own styles.They also get to make up their beamroutines for the most part.

 

[Tuduri]

choosing music

In our gym, there is a give and take process between the coach,gymnast and parent in choosing dd's floor music. Basically, the coach asked my daughter and I if we had a favorite piece of music or style. We were thinking of something flamenco like, as we hail from an Iberian/Carribean background(amongst other things). I found a piece of music on a french web site called the Bullfighter's Dream. It was close to what I wanted. I sent this music to our coach/director who also choreographs the routine. She worked with another one of our coaches who cuts the music(he is a well known coach,artist, musician-a real renaissance guy)and they came up with the final music. It incorporates flamenco with some modern music. It turned out very nice. Our coach/director then choreographed the routine around the theme of a bull fight. Nothing gory, of course. And I really like it.

Speaking of Pirates, one of our level eight girls has this music. But I must say it is great. Her routine is choreographed around the theme of a swashbuckling sword fight on a pirate ship. It works. It is very cool.


Tuduri

 

[iluvgym]

We do not give our parents a say in their child's floor music. It's not done that way to purposely keep them out of the loop or anything, we just feel that the coaches and the gymnast who will do a routine to that music are the experts at gymnastics and what would be a good fit or not. Parents are not gymnastically informed enough to pick the right music for the right kid.

The comment about the cool Pirates routine is the perfect example............ I can't tell you how many judges cringe as soon as that music starts.........doesn't matter how good the routine COULD be, they are so sick of hearing that music that it's hard to really enjoy watching the routine. Judge's are only human.

 

[gracefulone]

It's really up to us at my gym. I really liked a couple different choices, and I let my parents give their input. In the end, I went with my favorite, which happened to be one of my dad's all time favorite songs, one of mine too.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

For my older DD's first optional routine, she and I picked 2 pieces and her choreographer (who was not one of their coaches) suggested the one she thought would be better. For her 2nd routine, her choreographer/coach picked 3-4 pieces for us to listen to and DD had final say. We were very pleased both times.

For younger DD's first optional routine (for USAIGC Bronze) - it was a one size fits all - the music was very peppy. All 10 girls (ages 6-12) used the same music and most of the older girls/parents did not like it at all. For this year's Bronze routine, again it was one size fits all but a much more "mature" tune. Even though DD made it work and took 1st the first time she competed it, I think at 7 yrs old, she should have something that is more "cute-sey". :floor:

 

[Aussie_coach]

I don't give the parents or the kids a choice in floor music and so far that has made them happier, I find pieces to suit the child and their style and when the parents and kids hear it they are generally very happy with the choice and it's usually something better than they would find themselves. If a child really did not like the music I would reselect but so far that has never happened.

Here in Australia all gymnasts have their own floor music and their own floor routines from level 4 up, so these kids are generally very inexperienced as are their parents in understanding their personal style.

 

[Tuduri]

Choosing music

I almost always defer to the coach about anything because, afterall, he or she has the knowledge of the sport. But at the same time, I don't cotton to a coach who assumes he or she is the final arbiter of all things. I think that a coach who can't, within reason, deal with a parent has an inferiority complex. I, the parent, am the one who pays the bucks and I insist in having some say so over what goes on with my daughter's training. Moreover, if our coaches weren't as wonderful as they indeed are, we would go elsewhere. There are other gyms that would die to have my daughter in their gym. But that really isn't the point. All gyms, their coaches, their owners, etc, need to appreciate the value of all their customers, that includes the gymnast and their families. While gymnastics is a great sport, it also is a service provided to customers. And if the gym/coaches won't accomodate their patrons, they will suffer the economics of the market.

Tuduri

 

[iluvgym]

Didn't mean to offend, just meant that you pay for a service, and part of coaching is things like selecting floor music. Just like you pay a mechanic to fix your car, you don't stand over him and tell him how to do it right? Well at least I don't, that's what I pay him for. I've had a car for years, but it doesn't make me an expert.

I'm sure your daughter is great, and this next comment ISN'T geared towards YOU personally, just a comment you made about how other gyms would just die to have your daughter. Let me tell you, ALL team members are important, and if I had a parent who wanted control over skills, choreography and music, I'd show them the door no matter how good their daughter was. Gyms don't make money off team anyway, it's an EXTRA service they provide, and they'd actually make more money without it.

 

[Imat3]

At our gym, the parents and athletes has some say in the process. My girls' coach has actually already told them to start thinking about what kind of music they would like and let her know if they find something. Once we find something they like we will take it to her. I'm guessing she will either say it would be okay or keep looking. Ultimately it would be up to her, as she knows what works best, but it is nice that she is letting us have fun looking. My girls are getting a feel for what they like. And they really need to like it...it is their routine afterall.

Happy Easter weekend!

Imat3

 

[lannamavity]

Didn't mean to offend, just meant that you pay for a service, and part of coaching is things like selecting floor music. Just like you pay a mechanic to fix your car, you don't stand over him and tell him how to do it right? Well at least I don't, that's what I pay him for. I've had a car for years, but it doesn't make me an expert.

I'm sure your daughter is great, and this next comment ISN'T geared towards YOU personally, just a comment you made about how other gyms would just die to have your daughter. Let me tell you, ALL team members are important, and if I had a parent who wanted control over skills, choreography and music, I'd show them the door no matter how good their daughter was. Gyms don't make money off team anyway, it's an EXTRA service they provide, and they'd actually make more money without it.

Couldn't have said it better.

How would any parent feel if a coach walked into that parent's office and told them how to do their job? A little annoyed?

Do parents walk into a school and tell the principal/teacher what the kids should learn from week to week and month to month? The teachers wouldn't need to be educated themselves, would they?

If you want to pick the music, skills, etc, then coach a few decades, learn the trade and open a gym! If you trust the coaches, fall in line with their procedures and let them do their job.

 

[bogwoppit]

Couldn't have said it better.

How would any parent feel if a coach walked into that parent's office and told them how to do their job? A little annoyed?

Do parents walk into a school and tell the principal/teacher what the kids should learn from week to week and month to month? The teachers wouldn't need to be educated themselves, would they?

If you want to pick the music, skills, etc, then coach a few decades, learn the trade and open a gym! If you trust the coaches, fall in line with their procedures and let them do their job.

Firstly a coach would not walk into a parents office and tell them how to do their job, because the parent has not been hired by the coach to do a job for them. And yes, of course we parents see the teachers and talk to them about what's going on in school and how things could be a better fit and what could be done differently , that's what parents are for, to be an advocate in our childs life.

We all love our coaches, on the whole, but they are doing a service that they are paid to do. As Tuduri says, "we can always let our pocket book do the talking". The bottom line in children's sport will always be parents with money to spend on kids. I do know this story from the coaching side too.

lannamavity, quite a few of your responses on the board have been quite negative, leading me to name you in my head "Negalannamavity". It is fun to share views and ideas, but a few emoticons and a bit of humour thrown in can save a thread from the snarky abyss of internet chat. I am sure you do not mean to offend, but you do.

 

[awposey1]

Our head coach is russian and his wife used to do the choreography. Usually the coach picks a few, the kids pick a few and then together they narrow it down. My duaghter is not a great dancer so I always defer to what the choreographer thinks will work for her best.