How does your gym do it?

[kimskids]

I am just curious which approach your gym takes as far as move ups. I personally find it confusing because different gyms do things so much differently. It seems like some gyms want to get the girls through compulsories as quickly as possible while some will keep them longer in the lower levels until they are very clean in the skills. I know moving up is "fun" for the girls but is one approach better than the other? I am talking about levels 4 and 5 not really levels 2 and 3. I have heard some places want to get the younger girls to harder skills while they are young enough that they don't have much fear. I am really just curious in some different opinions from coaches and other parents on this.

 

[Bajanswife]

Our gym tends to move the girls up as soon as possible. There are a couple of reasons for that (and I could be missing some because I am not a coach, just an observant parent). We are a very small country first of all - we don't have a big population to draw talent from. Our owner/head coach has always wanted to make gymnastics accessible to as many kids as possible, including at a competitive level. Her team is also the national team of our country because we are the only gym training competitive gymnasts right now. If she pushed the girls too hard or kept them doing the same routines over and over for too long, she'd have many more drop-outs than she does now, and her team would be very small. She really enjoys training optionals much more than compulsories, and she'd have barely anyone left to train in level 7 if she didn't let them move up and do new things on a regular basis. Yes it does mean that our girls aren't as strong in compulsories as they could be. We are OK with that. The reality is that our girls are not headed for college gymnastics scholarships or the Olympics (though we'd love to get one girl there some day) so we don't need to have that perfect foundation at the lower levels - we just need to move up safely (to avoid future injury). Gymnastics has got to remain fun enough to keep a good sized team - our head coach has figured out the right balance to strike to keep her team happy yet safe. It helps too that we are small enough that our training groups are not organized rigidly by levels, so girls can start competing a new level and still remain in training with their friends for the most part. I have found that most of our girls don't care that much about what level they are competing - they care more about who they are training with.

Other gyms may have different goals that are longer term, and it may make more sense for them to give their girls a better foundation at compulsories so they can go further in optionals. If they have a big pool of talent to draw from they will find enough girls who are committed to the rigors and sometimes boredom of repetitve routines and drills; they will also be more likely to find girls who have so much natural talent that they can move up easily each year without having to repeat levels.

 

[wallinbl]

It's largely based on scores. It's laid out in the parent contract when you join the gym. Sometimes, girls move up without the scores, but if you get the scores, you're guaranteed. If you didn't get the scores, you might move up depending on the coach's assessment of your skills.

 

[Esoteric]

Our gym uses previous level scores, proficiency with next level skills, "coachability," work ethic, up to date account balance,and family fit.

 

[thefellowsmom]

This seems to be a moving target at our gym, but generally each girl is evaluated and a long-term plan is created and they are trained accordingly. There is not an emphasis on levels at all. The girls are placed in training groups based on their strengths and weaknesses, age, size, working nature and what skills they are working on. This has nothing to do with what level they will compete when competition season comes. As a girl matures or jumps ahead or hits a road block they may be moved around to different workout groups. It is fluid and based on where they are at at the time and their long term plan.

This is once they get past the first year of level 4 which is our first year of competition. These girls come in as a group and seem to be run through the same program of intense conditioning and fundamentals. They are taught their routines and do compete, but there is no expectations of high scores this first year. It is all about experience.

What level they will compete is determined pretty close to competition season and in some situations has changed even mid-season if the girl is now ready to compete a level up or is really just struggling at too high a level. There is often girls competing different level in the same workout group.

From what I understand they should be working skills 1-2 levels up from where they compete and where they compete will be determined by where they can be successful. The goal is to maximize the potential of each individual girl and build great high level optional gymnasts. The emphasis is definitely not placed on winning at level 4 and 5, although as the system has matured winning seems to have come along with it.

We have been kindly, but firmly, told that we are to stop talking about and emphasizing levels and that we are to encourage our daughters to do the same. This is definitely more of an issue for the parents than the girls. The culture inside the gym builds confidence and team camaraderie and the girls are comfortable with where they are and know they will compete where they can be successful and that working hard and progressing will move them where they want to go. It is the parents that are having a hard time adjusting to not having everything laid out in stone.

This is definitely outside the norm from what I can tell from hanging out around here for a couple of years and it isn't for everyone. We have had some girls leave as the system develops, either because they can't handle the ambiguity or they don't like the increasing intensity and expectations of a program like this. There is nothing lax or laid back about the way things are heading and some parents and girls have had a hard time adjusting to that.

Personally, I am impressed. Even on the days I want to pull my hair out and have to shove my control freak crazy gym mom back in the closet. I am very confident that this program is working well and will continue to work well for my daughter.

 

[GymBee97]

usually the L4 and L5 girls move up every year but if they aren't ready they could repeat. Many of the gyms don't even count L4 when talking about competion so the do L4 but everyone will go to L5 unless they are really bad which never happens. Most of the gyms I know of usually require they make it to states to move up in the compulsory levels and at the optional levels make it to states and have a specific score at states depending on the level you are currently at. Then for the summer the kids train the new level and by end of August the level move is confirmed depending on the skills they have or don't have. most of the gyms I know of though its all about "do you have the skills or not" Nothing is set in stone when it comes to moving up or not.

 

[wallflower]

This sounds like my daughter's new gym that I was having a little bit of culture shock with. It's really different and like you said they are not neccessarily grouped by level. At her old gym you knew your child was in the level 5 group for example and would be competing that level unless they just really weren't ready. Her new gym has a mix of groups and from girls that haven't competed 5 to girls that have competed 6 all working in different groups and working lots of basics. I'm having to learn to think if terms of she is training to be a gymnast, not necessarily a certain level.

This seems to be a moving target at our gym, but generally each girl is evaluated and a long-term plan is created and they are trained accordingly. There is not an emphasis on levels at all. The girls are placed in training groups based on their strengths and weaknesses, age, size, working nature and what skills they are working on. This has nothing to do with what level they will compete when competition season comes. As a girl matures or jumps ahead or hits a road block they may be moved around to different workout groups. It is fluid and based on where they are at at the time and their long term plan.

This is once they get past the first year of level 4 which is our first year of competition. These girls come in as a group and seem to be run through the same program of intense conditioning and fundamentals. They are taught their routines and do compete, but there is no expectations of high scores this first year. It is all about experience.

What level they will compete is determined pretty close to competition season and in some situations has changed even mid-season if the girl is now ready to compete a level up or is really just struggling at too high a level. There is often girls competing different level in the same workout group.

From what I understand they should be working skills 1-2 levels up from where they compete and where they compete will be determined by where they can be successful. The goal is to maximize the potential of each individual girl and build great high level optional gymnasts. The emphasis is definitely not placed on winning at level 4 and 5, although as the system has matured winning seems to have come along with it.

We have been kindly, but firmly, told that we are to stop talking about and emphasizing levels and that we are to encourage our daughters to do the same. This is definitely more of an issue for the parents than the girls. The culture inside the gym builds confidence and team camaraderie and the girls are comfortable with where they are and know they will compete where they can be successful and that working hard and progressing will move them where they want to go. It is the parents that are having a hard time adjusting to not having everything laid out in stone.

This is definitely outside the norm from what I can tell from hanging out around here for a couple of years and it isn't for everyone. We have had some girls leave as the system develops, either because they can't handle the ambiguity or they don't like the increasing intensity and expectations of a program like this. There is nothing lax or laid back about the way things are heading and some parents and girls have had a hard time adjusting to that.

Personally, I am impressed. Even on the days I want to pull my hair out and have to shove my control freak crazy gym mom back in the closet. I am very confident that this program is working well and will continue to work well for my daughter.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Our girls move up when they have the skills necessary for the next level cleanly and consistently. If they don't have their mobility score, they can test out. Simple as that...there is no time or age limit. I guess if someone has been doing a certain level for many years there could be a push to put them in prep-op. For compulsory levels, my gym requires that the girls have all the skills for the level before they compete it. They don't have to have those skills forever in advance, especially the harder ones for the particular level like flyaways for L6 or RO-BHS for L4, but they can't compete until they have all their skills on every event. I believe to move up to L6 the gym asks that you have a few 35 all-around scores at L5, which shows the ability to have good form and not freak out in competition. That doesn't seem too steep for L5 to me, personally, but I don't know. I was scoring 35s and 36 when I was a L5, but now in L7 I struggle for 35s.

For optional levels, we require a giant at level 7 and a front or back handspring on beam (not a round-off), in addition to all of the special requirements for L7 set by USAG. I think for the other optional levels everything is just the SRs, except they want you to be working towards 10.0 SVs at L9 and 10 by the middle of the season.

 

[Empowered]

My daughter's gym couldn't seem to give a flying fig about scores. Move-ups are entirely skill based. There is a very clearly posted list of skills to move to the next level and you must have them by May to compete the compulsory season that starts in September or the optional season that starts in January. Our girls are tested on the skills, so it's not just that the coach has seen you do it in practice or a private, but you have to be able to do it when it counts.

Girls are moved to the next level in sort of a trickle down manner that usually starts at L8 at the end of the optional season. As 7's move to 8, 6's move to 7 freeing up spots for 5's... yada yada... The order of move-ups ALWAYS causes drama, even with the skill sheets. Some parents are in denial, some feel scores should count more, but the coaches don't seem to be bully-able. They move who they want when they want based on what they expect at the next level and how the kids are performing the skills.

 

[gymgurl]

Ours is very casual, you pretty much assume you are competing up a level unless told otherwise, during comp season or even before we are told what level our coach wants us to compete at next year i.e. a few weeks ago (we go into comp season in about 3 weeks) I was told that my coach wants me to compete level 8 or 9 so that leading up to comp season and during we can focus on getting to that level, there are some people who probably will repeat a level but they are told that fairly early, this is good because it avoids disappointment

 

[Aussie_coach]

It Australia the process is slower because girls compete all levels from level 1-10. Most states even have state championships that kids can qualify for straight from level 1. The average is 1 level per year, so it would take 6 years of competing to hit level 7. Kids also do a lot more hours at the lower levels. Level 1 is between 3-6 hours a week in most gyms, level 2 is 4-8 hours a week. The average for level 3 is 9 hours a week but gyms will do as much as 12. Level 4's average 14 hours but it can be 20 or more.

This does not mean our levels are any harder. In fact they are surprisingly similar to the US routines. But the expectation for perfection is very high. It does drive a few kids from the sport. The long hours, the years and years spent perfecting straight jumps before moving onto the more exciting skills. Competitions are large, we don't have an array of age divisions. Often just 1 or at the most 2 divisions in an age level, which can mean up to 120 girls competing.

We don't give out medals to 50% either like I have heard in many places. If a division is small (10 or less kids) only 1st to 3rd will be given on apparatus and overall. If any larger (even up to 120 girls) then 1st to 6th will be given.

But we are not trying to get our kids to elite so the slower path works better. Kids who go through the levels system will end up hitting level 10 and have no where to go in the sport. Elite kids are chosen at 5-6 years of age and train in a separate levels system and compete in separate competitions. There are very few of these kids in the country.

 

[kimskids]

Thanks for the replies. I was really interested in hearing how different gyms do things. We currently switched from a gym where they moved girls through the levels pretty quickly and had them try to score out of level 6 before a lot of them were really ready to do so. Old gym would then put the girls in prep op until they were ready for level 7. New gym keeps girls in a level until they are very ready to move up and most girls do 2 years in a level. They do a lot of uptraining so I am not worried about my daughter being bored but I think it is going to be a change for her because she (in a gym that competed starting level 2) went from level 2-5 in 2 years. I really feel this is a good program we are in and that in the end this approach will save a lot of stress on both me and her. Much funner to compete a level you are really confident in I'm sure!!

 

[gymmomtoo]

Our gym has girls move up as soon as they are ready for the next level. There are no rules about getting a certain AA score (beyond what's required by USAG, of course) or staying two years in a level (I've heard of gyms that have that rule!). The goal is to get the girls to Optionals as soon as they are ready. That means some move up a level a year, some do two years at one level, some do two levels in one year.

I LOVE that our gym has meetings each year with each gymnast & parent to discuss the plans for next year. The decisions aren't made and handed down behind closed doors. The gymnast gets to say what she'd like to do and they work towards that. Sometimes it doesn't work out (skills aren't mastered in time), but they do communicate--which I really like.

 

[gymgurl]

I am surprised that gyms have strict policies on scores to move up, you would be holding back a lot of potentially talented optionals if scores was all you looked at. For me personally, if it were scores that counted i would have been in level 4 last year bored out of my brains because in level 4 I had a less than adequate coach and my skills were disgusting!