Parents I am new here + question

[aspiringymnastmom]

There was a lot of coaching turnover at the lower levels. From what I can tell some of the L7 girls got reasonable scores in L3-5 (33-36 range)

 

[Committed]

Personally, I would look at the other gym. 11 hours at level 3 is PLENTY of time to get skills. I think our L3s only practice 6 hours. Our L4s go 10.

 

[bogwoppit]

Look at the other gym.

 

[amiandjim]

I do agree that 11 hours at level 3 is plenty without privates...ours do 9 and our 4s do 12.

 

[SMH]

I'd check out the new/other gym.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Yeah I am kind of terrified of the kip, and with all I read it takes months to get, so you'd think they'd at least start working on it.

Time to look for a new gym... We have another option closer to our house, and they generally dominate the meets we competed against them.

Kips are 90% timing and 10% strength. Some girls get it quickly while other struggle for months.

 

[Flyaway]

Our coaches say if a kid needs privates, they (the coaches) aren't doing their job. Look at other gyms.

 

[Seeker]

So normally kids are actually able to get good scores without privates? It's not an insane idea, right?

No, not crazy. My dd is a L9 and does quite well and has never had a private. There really isn't any or much opportunity for them at this point anyway since the practice hours for L9 are already high. If your dd needs help with something specific, maybe ask her coach to work on it in practice or just tell them she is struggling on X. Also, the biggest thing that will help any gymnast at that age is building core strength. That can be done safely at home, basically for free.

 

[2gymkids]

11 hours a week should be more than sufficient to get down decent L3 routines without privates.

My daughter just finished competing L4 and only practice 9 hours/week (we are at a low hours gym). She had her first private this year, just one, the week before her first meet, as she had been super sick and lost almost all of her bar skills. So, she had a private to work on bars. One other girl in her group has had a lot of back tumbling fears after an injury so she has had a few half hour privates after practice just to get some more work/slower progressions in. Other than that, we don't uptrain much and the scores were very low at the beginning of the season for my daughter, anyway, but they steadily rose. Same in Level 3. We aren't a gym that kills it at meets by any means but the 3s and 4s do manage to get out there and look fine. I cannot imagine paying extra on a regular basis for privates for something that they should be learning in regular practice. I do not have enough $$ for that!!

 

[GymDad9.9]

Sounds like your gym has major problems training bars.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

To be honest, it sounds like the girls were pushed to compete level 3 before they were ready. Some girls not hitting a skill is one thing, but an entire team not able to do the bar routine is a problem, as is the need for everyone to do private lessons. My DD is just moving to 3 from 2 but our gym had 22 level 3s last year, the majority of whom scored 36+ at every meet with 9 hours and no privates. I would be looking around at other gyms.

This.

My kid placed at states doing 7.5 hours at L 3.

Our gym uptrains.
We are a low hour gym, even at upper levels, so privates happen. Some kids do none, some do tons, some like mine from time to time. Mine usually does a couple before states to tweak the details on floor and beam. This works for those of us who choose this gym because it gives us less hours and flexibility. If they went more hours we would pay more regularly. So for us it works.

But as a team the kids uptrain, condition like crazy at practice. And score well.

Of course if all your parents are willing to do privates, why uptrain them, Ca Ching.

 

[aspiringymnastmom]

Yeah I am very ready to be done with regular privates. Calling the new gym today.

 

[aspiringymnastmom]

Asked my daughter if they are working on kip drills at all. She said no, the coach is waiting on *all* of them to be able to do the front hip circle every time. (She can now do it every time, but I am guessing quite a few still cannot)

 

[SMH]

Is your meet season over yet?

 

[amiandjim]

Is your meet season over yet?

That would be my question because there isn't a front hip in the level 4 routine.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I agree with the others. My dd did level 3 on 9 hours a week with no privates and she was very successful. You should not need regular privates in order to get the skills for a level. I think it does sound like the team is too big for those coaches to handle. Also, dd didn't do a whole lot of uptraining when she was in level 2, 3 or 4, but they did work on drills and conditioning for future skills. So when they actually started working on kips after the end of the level 3 season, all the girls got them really quickly. It doesn't really sound like your gym is doing that, but I did want to say it is possible to not do a lot of uptraining and still be successful.

 

[SMH]

Do they have the 22 kids split up for training? Our big level 3 team is split into two during training so everyone is working on what they need. One of the littler ones in my kiddos group 'got' her kip the other day so now during bars she trains with the other group (who all have their kips). That way she's getting the training she needs and the kids who don't have their kip get a little extra help/attention.

 

[bogwoppit]

I agree with the others. My dd did level 3 on 9 hours a week with no privates and she was very successful. You should not need regular privates in order to get the skills for a level. I think it does sound like the team is too big for those coaches to handle. Also, dd didn't do a whole lot of uptraining when she was in level 2, 3 or 4, but they did work on drills and conditioning for future skills. So when they actually started working on kips after the end of the level 3 season, all the girls got them really quickly. It doesn't really sound like your gym is doing that, but I did want to say it is possible to not do a lot of uptraining and still be successful.

The drills and conditioning are the up training we talk about. Building for future skills.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

The drills and conditioning are the up training we talk about. Building for future skills.

I agree that it is building for future skills. But I think most people when they think of uptraining at the compulsory levels are thinking of actually working on skills like the kip, squat on, etc that are found in future levels? Maybe spotted, but at least recognizable.. I know when dd was a level 3, they did not do any level 4 skills until after the season was over. They did condition and worked on shapes, etc, but no spotted kips, no high bar work, no cartwheels on beam, no front handspring vault, etc. They learned all there new skills for the next level between December and June. And they all did well. I don't think it is ideal personally, but that was how they did things. I do have to say that they seem to be changing philosophies lately. I suspect that the girls in the levels below my dd will be working these skills sooner than my dd's group. I guess everything evolves over time..

 

[Getoutyall]

We had a very similar situation this year my daughter is also a level 3. They got a brand new coach and there are 12 girls. We kept expressing concern about the coaching and would be blown off. Oh the improvement from beginning to end of season is huge you can't judge their progress yet. Well after the first few meets the parents realized how far behind we were and started doing privates to help their daughters. By the 4th meet with scores getting worse every meet and tired of paying for privates the parents called a meeting and basically forced the head coach/owner to admit that the girls were not getting the training they needed. There were 4 practices before the next meet and a experienced coach worked with the girls. They all scored 1.5-2 points higher, every girl. And it wasn't the judging they carried it into the next meet too. Imagine what they could have done with the good training from the beginning! Right now we're staying I feel confident in the level 4 coach if they ask my daughter to repeat I'm not sure what we'll do. We also do not up train until after states at least level 3 isn't since they're still working on perfecting level 3 :/