For Coaches how young is too young?

[jes.the.gymnast]

i'm coaching some level two girls they are just under 10 years of age. they are all very good at what they do and are much better than level two. i want to start to push them to their limits so they can doing their best and hardest skills. but they want to keep gym fun but also get anoyed when i do not teach them new skills. i dont know if they are too young for me to be pushing them into thing they dont want to do even if i konw they can
i would lvoet o et your veiws

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

That's Level 2 by the Aussie system, right?

I really can't tell you; I don't know the Australian level system. I know we have a few other Australian coaches here, though...

 

[Aussie_coach]

Well I am an Aussie, definatly by the age of 9 they are ready to go further with their gymnastics if they are keen to do so. A child will tell you by their actions whether they are ready to be pushed or not. Some kids will thrive on it, you will know. One important thing is to work closely with that parents, if you start building up their training days to quickly or their hours you may find some parental burn out occurs.

Level 2 is still a very basic level and the average age of level 2 is around 7-8 years of age, with many kids as young as 5. They should be ready to go further.