Parents Frustrated DD

[twinmomma]

DD just turned 8 and is a new level 3 after competing a successful Xcel bronze season. The problem is xcel competes spring and compulsory competes fall, so she and two other xcel girls were moved up to 3 and have just the summer to get skills they weren't working on in xcel. Specifically, she does not have her front hip circle or mill circle on bars. She almost has a kip but this isn't required though they are working as if it is.

She came home last night frustrated saying all the other girls have their skills. While this isn't true some of the girls are able to get the mill circle and front hip but they've been working on them for a month or so while dd has only had three practices where they've worked on bars of the five she's had since moving over.

Is the summer a reasonable amount of time to achieve these skills?

 

[billise]

Yes. My DD was 6 years old when she moved up to level 3 last June. All the other girls had been training level 3 since January. With competitions starting in September that gave her only 3 months get her skills and she hadn't even started learning FHC yet! Mid way through the summer I had resigned myself to the fact that she wasn't going to get her FHC prior to the start of meet season. Well, about 3 weeks before the first meet she got it and, although it wasn't always pretty, she never missed one in a meet

 

[iwannacoach]

A day is enough if she listens and is given spot on corrections. Of course that assumes she has a very basic level of strength, has done some forward upside down work (forward rolls), and hasn't convinced herself that it needs to be done a certain. The "certain way" happens when kids conjure up a mental picture of the skill, how it works, and then decide which aspect of the skill requires the most effort.

I admire and respect the kids who've done the mental work to come up with their certain way, and will tell them so as a prelude to telling them that they'd probably do better forgetting everything they think they know about the skill. That's the only way they can make room for the corrections I'll give them. Without that room for corrections they'll just paste what I want onto their concept of the skill and make little improvement until they accidentally do something right.

That is a fairly common problem that seems invisible to more than "a few" coaches and almost every gymnast. The worst of it is the slow or absent progress tells both the coach and the gymnast that the skill is too difficult for her to learn, or at least to learn easily.

You can't combine correct and incorrect in equal proportions and make progress.

 

[IreneKa]

DD was in the exact same boat last year. She switched from Xcel to JO at the end of May. Being from Xcel, she could do pullover and BHC, but that's about it. The group of girls she joined had competed the old L3 that year, so they all had mill circle, and have been working on FHC, shoot through, etc. for some time.
DD got her mill circle by the end of August, but still didn't have her FHC, so they decided to keep her at level 2. She got her FHC by the end of October though, and was moved up to level 3 in December. She did fine competing L3, and training for L4 now.
So, don't worry, it takes time, but she' ll get there.

 

[HoldThePhone]

We're in the same boat. Did AAU 2 not Xcel, but we're going from a spring season straight in to fall without having trained the 3 skills. So DD is missing her FHC and mill circle as well. I'm trying my best to just take a backseat and be confident she'll get them. Her coaches have confidence in her, so why shouldn't I?

 

[twinmomma]

EmilyisOk - yeah. I'm trying to trust that they see the right things. I just hate seeing her frustrated.

 

[gracyomalley]

So hard when they are frustrated - but get ready, its going to happen A LOT>>>>although the mill circle and FHC are rights of passage for gyms that compete L3, they aren't ever used again, so I would say that its good that she hasn't spent years working on them, but rather training kips and BHC (which are used again or lead to other elements).

If she has the strength and listens well, these skills will likely come. I love the idea of getting the "incorrect" ideas out of kids heads - DD has been trying to do that with her tap on giants for several months!

Some skills come fast, some slow and its different for different kids - but they all hit those road blocks over and over - the ones who learn to persevere continue to thrive in gym - and likely life! If she's frustrated, one of the things that helped DD repeatedly has been when older (level 10) girls let her know of times they struggled similarly. When the girl heading to college gym tells you she had trouble with her kip, or her acro series on beam, or release moves, or whatever, it goes a long way to building confidence.

 

[Ali'sMom]

I didn't have the chance to read all the responses, but yes.
DD moved up to L3 last summer. A lot of the girls had the front mill and hip circle already (the go-getters who would work on it in open gym). DD didn't have them, nor her BHS. She took two straight weeks off in the summer for a trip with my parents, and had an odd day out here & there, and did indeed manage to get it all by the first meet in September. (not always pretty, but DD also wasn't the kind to even go to open gym and TRY a little more...)

Good luck!!! (and for what it's worth, DD just moved up to L4, with only completing her kip ONCE... so she's kind of in the same boat of needing to REALLY get it before meet in September.)

 

[twinmomma]

DD has her BHS, but not in combination with a roundoff, only because nobody's ever worked on it with her. So I'm more hopeful on that front for her. I think part of what worries me is she did so well in Xcel and had such a great start to her gymnastics journey I'm worried about the "sophomore slump" and whether or not she's going to get discouraged. And with 18 girls on team I wonder how much individual attention she is going to get to get there.

The only thing that is good for her is that other than those three skills, she can do all of the rest of the L3 skills. They've started on learning the beam routine, and she did the L3 vault during her bronze season. Why does this sport have to be so anxiety inducing for the parents as well? I don't get nearly this worried with my son's sports.

 

[IreneKa]

DD has her BHS, but not in combination with a roundoff, only because nobody's ever worked on it with her. So I'm more hopeful on that front for her. I think part of what worries me is she did so well in Xcel and had such a great start to her gymnastics journey I'm worried about the "sophomore slump" and whether or not she's going to get discouraged. And with 18 girls on team I wonder how much individual attention she is going to get to get there.

The only thing that is good for her is that other than those three skills, she can do all of the rest of the L3 skills. They've started on learning the beam routine, and she did the L3 vault during her bronze season. Why does this sport have to be so anxiety inducing for the parents as well? I don't get nearly this worried with my son's sports.

DD didn't have any problems with any events other than bars after switching from Xcel to JO. She also didn't have ROBHS, but had a standing BHS. She got her ROBHS after about 3 weeks on her new team. Even now, training for L4 she has a bit of an advantage on the floor, since she's had BWO and FHS since her Xcel year. And, as you said, vault is the same, and the only thing she needed on the beam was a dismount, which also didn't take long.

With all that, I have to say that DD didn't have such great season as L3. The judging is much tough in JO, and the competition is very strong. There are some "repeaters" and the gyms that "sandbag", and it's hard to compete against those. But DD didn't get discouraged by not-so-great season. She's still loving gymnastics, and working harder than ever in preparation for L4 season, and hoping the next season will be better.

 

[meganliz77]

My daughter started gymnastics at 5 (almost 6) last year Feb. 2013... She was asked to join team level 3 in June 2013. She competed level 3 this last fall. Her first meet she didn't have FHC, but had it by meet 2. These kiddos can pick things up crazy fast!!! Given that practice amounts usually increase in the summer months, I would not worry at all! She should have plenty of time to polish her level 3 skills!