WAG Practice times

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juliasmom

Proud Parent
My daughter is currently a level 5 gymnast. She practices 6 hours a week. When she was at her last meet, she was talking to some girls she was competing with from another gym out of state. They practice 20 hours a week with the option of practicing 24. Wow! It almost seems unfair that we have to compete against this gym. Do you think that all gyms should compete together regardless of the amount of time they practice? I have to say that my daughter did place higher than some of their gymnasts, but there were some that it was obvious that they practice a lot more than we do. Six hours is the most that our girls can practice. There are no privates available.

The good news is that we are probably one of the cheapest gyms in the U.S. I'm sure our tuition only a fraction of what it is for the other gym.
 
I have to say by reading CB for the past few months that you are definitely in the minority as far as hours! I'd say most level 5s are practicing between 14-18 hours weekly! If she is getting what she needs out of gym, then I'd say you are in a good place, it's not all about the scores! And, I'm jealous that you don't have to fork over an arm & a leg for gymnastics!! :)
 
Our L5 team typically practice fourteen hours/week now. They may do a little more this summer and they often loose practice hours during meet season because they are at meets when practice would happen.

In a sport where small details matter it does make sense that girls who have more time to address those small details would likely perform (and thus score) better. Of course there is also some point where you hit a point of diminishing returns (for your time investment) and perhaps another point (which may be quite variable for child to child even at the same level) where you reach the realm of overtraining which can have a very negative performance (and health) impact. To an extent I think the HC at our gym did try to do a bit of hours adapting for the kids as it became necessary. Our daughter kind of broke the mold on that training around twelve hours/week the year she did L8/L9 but that was her reality and I credit him with being very smart about what could be cut to accommodate fewer hours and what was essential to allow for safety and some general (even if slower than might be possible with more hours) progression in the sport. She is training more hours now (but still less than twenty hours) but her coaches are very good at making practice sessions efficient (no down time) and she gets a lot of mileage out of this. In her case, we have some real concerns of how her body would hold up with more hours so she will likely not exceed twenty hours during her L10 years. She hopes to compete in gymnastics in college where the hours playing field is a bit leveled.
 
When my daughter was at the Y, NO level practiced more than 7.5 hours a week (and the lower levels didn't practice that much). I really think that probably they should have just competed in Y meets rather than attempting to compete against the gyms that practice so many more hours. I saw the Y level 7's (there are only 2 of them) compete a few weeks ago. Both of these young women have A LOT of talent. Certainly more natural talent that my DD. I know both of them from when we were at the Y and also I know how hard it is to get those optional skills even when you have plenty of practice time. But even though they had the skills, they didn't have the polish of the girls who are practicing 20 hours a week. There is just no time to polish! Sure, some of the girls do OK and come home with medals, especially at the lower levels. But I think sticking to Y league or Xcel is probably the way to go when a team is so limited in their practice hours. I think it's great to have a lower hours/lower cost option to do gymnastics. You shouldn't HAVE to give up your entire life and your entire life savings to be a gymnast. But I think it's setting those kids up for failure to compete against girls who are competing MANY TIMES more hours than they are.
 
I know we are in the minority. It's the area that we live. Most of the other gyms at our meets practice 2-12 hours weekly. I was shocked at 24 for level 5. My daughter will probably never get past level 8. It is now taking her a couple of years to move through each level. However, she absolutely loves gymnastics and still has time for other activities and friends. It's the best of both worlds. So, I'm not complaining about our hours. I just wondered if there was a better way to divide them at competitions. Don't get me wrong. Considering the difference in hours, our team holds its own. We live in a very rural area. We are lucky to even have a gym. We have lots of people driving an hour to get to our gym because it's the only one in the area.
 
Well the gym is deciding to keep hours low even knowing their girls will have to compete against girls who train more hours. If you choose the program because of the low hours then progress through levels will be slower, skill acquisition longer and your monthly tuition bill cheaper.

It is all about what works for you.

But to answer your question there is no way they will divide meets up based on training hours.
 
Level 5 at our gym does 20 hours a week. But, if you DD isn't looking to go to the Olympics then less is more bc she'll have a life. Best of luck to her at her next meet!! Happy child happy life.
 
Most of the gyms in our state practice no more than 12 hours. I am fine with that. But, why would a gym from out of state that practices 24 hours a week even want to compete against us?

Also, I always enjoy reading comments like, if that's what you choose for your daughter or if your coach chooses to practice so few hours...

This is not a choice. If you want to do gymnastics, this is all we have and are lucky to have it. We don't have YMCA's or league gymnastics or high gymnastics or college gymnastics.
 
I also had girls in gym in a remote area. Our gym trained very few hours, and we competed against big city clubs who trained many more hours.

Our club also took 14 weeks off at summer and every school break the gym was closed too. So it is not that I am not sympathetic.

We competed against the same clubs at every meet so our girls just knew nothing would change. How do you compete against full time clubs with bigger hours? Well you just do because you have no choice.

Our girls competed the best they could and did place and did progress, but more slowly than the gyms with the bigger hours.

We had no choice, they wanted to do gym, so that is what they did.

Life isn't fair and I was not prepared to move to a big city for them to train more.

No college gym here, no other leagues either. Every one was in the same big group regardless of hours.
 
There's no way to add more hours. We only have one coach and all the time slots are full. There are no other coaches available. Also we have a very small team. Many of the parents already complain that we go too many hours especially those who have to drive an hour to get there.
 
Training hours can be all over the board. Our L5s practice 10-12 hours, which is low locally, but they win quite a lot of meets (with no level -repeaters) anyway. Our L8-10 do 16 hours (more in summer) max., and they still do very well regionally and nationally. They also have the option to come in for extra hours independent training as needed. I really think a lot of it is how productive the practices are. Also, there must be a point beyond which you would have an increase in burnout and overuse injuries with high hours. I have wished at times dd had more hours, but again they're doing really without, and spending more money isn't top of the list right now!
 
There's no way to add more hours. We only have one coach and all the time slots are full. There are no other coaches available. Also we have a very small team. Many of the parents already complain that we go too many hours especially those who have to drive an hour to get there.


I totally hear you. My drive was a 45 mins one way a good day. Longer practices meant later bed times.
 
Anyway, the reason I asked that question about hours is because I was thinking that to participate at certain levels at a dance competition, you couldn't practice more than a certain number of hours a week. It's fine the way it is. My daughter generally places in the top 5 so it's all good.
 
Our compulsory girls only get 6 hours a week as well. Just the current situation we're in. But I think their parents are paying close to $230 or so a month. So yes be grateful for that $80 tuition. :)
 
Only other note is that more hours isn't necessarily better. It's about how the quality of the practice (which means coaching and equipment). Our gym is on the lower end of hours and still manages to place as a team at states at many levels.

We've competed against the gyms with the crazy hours and it often makes a difference. However, I worry some about overuse injuries with little ones in those environments. Part of it is lifestyle choices and smart coaching. I thought I remembered reading that Shawn Johnson only trained around 20 hours a week up to the elite level. May not seem fair, but a talented gymnast can do a lot with lower hours.
 
I go to a Y and I'm in level 7. Optionals and new level 5 practice between 11 and 16 hours a week depending on if we have a meet and other things. New levels 3-4 practice between 7.5 hours and 10 hours a week, sometimes more, though. I think some people work better with less hours and some with more, but especially for optionals, those who train more score better.
 

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