WAG Gym/Pre Team Requirements?

[josie55]

Yes I agree with what you are saying and can think of one who fit that description. I always thought that the fact that the sport trains young kids in a serious manner is attractive to true CGMs.

But I'm guess what I'm saying is that perfectly normal parents may find themselves over analyzing things, or caring about things that they really shouldn't care about, and it's the sport that can drive that behavior. As sane as we are, we have to keep ourselves in check.

 

[ntxgymmom]

I was wondering what CGM was! I wasn't sure if it was Crazy or Catty, because I've met both. Especially in the gym world!
And I'm sorry for not replying earlier. CB was supposed to email notifications of posts and I didn't get any.

Just so that I don't have to start any new topics. My daughter has started doing handstands to bridge kickovers. How long is she supposed to hold the handstand?

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Just so that I don't have to start any new topics. My daughter has started doing handstands to bridge kickovers. How long is she supposed to hold the handstand?

Don't worry about it.

 

[ntxgymmom]

Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about how long she holds her handstands? Why not?

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Don't worry about how long she holds her handstands? Why not?

That is her and the coaches job.

 

[ntxgymmom]

That is her and the coaches job.

That doesn't make any sense. So I'm just supposed to sit back and pay hundreds of dollars a month, all while having NO clue what my daughter is doing, or how to help her succeed? That's about as asinine as a previous mom who told me that she shouldn't be stretching at home. No wonder gymnastics moms have such horrible reputations.

 

[RTT2]

Chalkbucket could use a popcorn eating emoji.

 

[ntxgymmom]

Chalkbucket could use a popcorn eating emoji.

It was just a simple question about a handstand. I don't understand why the gym community feeds off of drama and everyone is so catty. When my kids start a sport, I learn everything I can about said sport so that they can thrive.
Perhaps someone can tell me why that is frowned upon in this sport.

 

[Flyaway]

ntxgymmon, I believe people are telling you to not worry about it because at some point, there will be LITERALLY nothing you can do to help her succeed or thrive. It has to come from her. In the early stages, I get it. You can encourage stretching at home (I do, dd has tight shoulders), you can encourage handstands. But as things progress, then what? What about a giant? A release move? The angle on her board entry on her vault? A parent knowing all the details of a skill might seem like they are helping their child, but in the long run they are only going to drive their kid into the ground because the only way you can talk about those things is to add pressure to what they are probably already getting in the gym. So I think people who are further in the process are trying to say, "don't start bad habits now". Your job as a parent is to make sure your child still loves what they are doing. Beyond that, it's better to let the coach and child develop the training relationship. A happy gymnast is one who's parents can simply smile and say, I love to watch you do what you love.

 

[ntxgymmom]

ntxgymmon, I believe people are telling you to not worry about it because at some point, there will be LITERALLY nothing you can do to help her succeed or thrive. It has to come from her. In the early stages, I get it. You can encourage stretching at home (I do, dd has tight shoulders), you can encourage handstands. But as things progress, then what? What about a giant? A release move? The angle on her board entry on her vault? A parent knowing all the details of a skill might seem like they are helping their child, but in the long run they are only going to drive their kid into the ground because the only way you can talk about those things is to add pressure to what they are probably already getting in the gym. So I think people who are further in the process are trying to say, "don't start bad habits now". Your job as a parent is to make sure your child still loves what they are doing. Beyond that, it's better to let the coach and child develop the training relationship. A happy gymnast is one who's parents can simply smile and say, I love to watch you do what you love.

I understand it has to come from her, and I completely get pressure. But why can't people just say that, instead of a vague "Don't worry about it"? Perhaps it's the online forum that makes everything come off as snarky, or possibly I read into the comment too much, but it just seems like everyone wants to tear each other down or compare their kids instead of helping others in this community and being happy for them.

 

[ayyyrial]

It's hard for people on the internet to answer skills-specific questions like that in a way that's useful to you and your daughter. This is my perspective as a coach...It's great if she can hold a handstand for a long time. But if she's working on routines to compete, there's a maximum length before it will throw off the rest of the routine. But also, if they are focusing on other aspects of the handstand and the bridge, the coach might not care for now how long the handstand is held. For example, sometimes kids hold archy handstands quite well, but the coach might actually want them to work on body position even if it means not holding as long. So the answer depends a lot on what the coach's and gymnast's goals are right now, which is something we don't know as strangers. It's also something parents usually don't know in detail for every single skill.

You don't want to get into a place where the coach is saying one thing and the parent is saying another. Even if eventually the athlete should be able to do both. Like in the archy handstand example, eventually that kid should be able to hold a handstand for a long time without arching. But it takes a lot of mental and physical energy to try to make corrections from your coaches alone. Focusing on multiple sources of corrections can be confusing and overwhelming, and corrections from parents often actually get in the way of the corrections the coach wants to see.

 

[ntxgymmom]

It's hard for people on the internet to answer skills-specific questions like that in a way that's useful to you and your daughter. This is my perspective as a coach...It's great if she can hold a handstand for a long time. But if she's working on routines to compete, there's a maximum length before it will throw off the rest of the routine. But also, if they are focusing on other aspects of the handstand and the bridge, the coach might not care for now how long the handstand is held. For example, sometimes kids hold archy handstands quite well, but the coach might actually want them to work on body position even if it means not holding as long. So the answer depends a lot on what the coach's and gymnast's goals are right now, which is something we don't know as strangers. It's also something parents usually don't know in detail for every single skill.

You don't want to get into a place where the coach is saying one thing and the parent is saying another. Even if eventually the athlete should be able to do both. Like in the archy handstand example, eventually that kid should be able to hold a handstand for a long time without arching. But it takes a lot of mental and physical energy to try to make corrections from your coaches alone. Focusing on multiple sources of corrections can be confusing and overwhelming, and corrections from parents often actually get in the way of the corrections the coach wants to see.

I appreciate your answer. Perhaps I should have been more specific in my question. For a Level 3 floor routine, is there a specific amount of time that the handstand HAS to be held on a handstand bridge kickover? 3 seconds? 2 seconds? I've seen some hold for longer and some barely reach a handstand before they arch over into a bridge. Hence my question. From what I understand gymnastics is cut and dry, so I posted the question hoping experienced parents or coaches would be able to give me an answer. I really wasn't trying to start anything.

 

[Flyaway]

I understand it has to come from her, and I completely get pressure. But why can't people just say that, instead of a vague "Don't worry about it"? Perhaps it's the online forum that makes everything come off as snarky, or possibly I read into the comment too much, but it just seems like everyone wants to tear each other down or compare their kids instead of helping others in this community and being happy for them.

I understand. And you're not completely wrong in your assessment. I think the longer you're here the more you'll learn the writing style of several frequent posters. Deleted member 18037 has a tendency to be brief and to the point. I think even she'd agree with that. I don't think the intention is to be snarky, but as was mentioned above, it's hard to tell in an online forum sometimes.

I also get the desire to understand all the ins and outs of the sport your child spends so much time in and you dish out so much money for. Once meets start it gets even worse. What a parent might see as a near-perfect routine is tenthed to death and the score is so low it's natural to want to know why? We're about to begin our 4th competitive season and I still struggle with that sometimes. But I'm getting better at looking at dd's routines a bit more critically and understanding that there are A LOT of things I don't know, which will likely be reflected in the score. And I'm getting better at being ok with NOT knowing what those things are. I'm ok with it because knowing what those things are won't help her. How could it? So after the meet I tell her, "well, you didn't hit 180 on your split jump did you?". What good does that do? See what I mean? It's better to just let her worry about that with the coach. I get to play good cop and tell her how much I love watching her do what she loves.

 

[amiandjim]

I believe the answer to your question is, there is no time requirement. They simply must reach a vertical handstand before the bridge.

 

[amiandjim]

https://quizlet.com/33578530/level-3-floor-2013-2021-usag-compulsory-program-flash-cards/

This website is helpful

 

[ntxgymmom]

I understand. And you're not completely wrong in your assessment. I think the longer you're here the more you'll learn the writing style of several frequent posters. Deleted member 18037 has a tendency to be brief and to the point. I think even she'd agree with that. I don't think the intention is to be snarky, but as was mentioned above, it's hard to tell in an online forum sometimes.

I also get the desire to understand all the ins and outs of the sport your child spends so much time in and you dish out so much money for. Once meets start it gets even worse. What a parent might see as a near-perfect routine is tenthed to death and the score is so low it's natural to want to know why? We're about to begin our 4th competitive season and I still struggle with that sometimes. But I'm getting better at looking at dd's routines a bit more critically and understanding that there are A LOT of things I don't know, which will likely be reflected in the score. And I'm getting better at being ok with NOT knowing what those things are. I'm ok with it because knowing what those things are won't help her. How could it? So after the meet I tell her, "well, you didn't hit 180 on your split jump did you?". What good does that do? See what I mean? It's better to just let her worry about that with the coach. I get to play good cop and tell her how much I love watching her do what she loves.

I'm sure eventually I will get to that point. I'm going to have to let go of my Type A personality when it comes to gym. I know that eventually she will get too advanced for me to be able to help her. So while she's 6 and I can, I'm going to enjoy it.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Deleted member 18037 has a tendency to be brief and to the point.

Yep. Blunt.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

https://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Junior Olympics/compulsory/illustratedroutines_feb14.pdf

 

[LindyHopper]

As long as your child is at a gym where they care about her as a person, she is making consistent progress (which will be sometimes two steps forward, one step back), she is generally enjoying gymnastics, and you trust the coaches to keep her best interest at heart, do your best to sit back and enjoy it

Can I just say how much I truly agree with this quote? It came along at the exact right time for me today.

 

[LindyHopper]

I was wondering what CGM was! I wasn't sure if it was Crazy or Catty, because I've met both. Especially in the gym world!

I used to think it was Competitive Gym Mom. The mom who thinks her kid deserves special attention.