Parents Pre-Team

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Hi everyone! So I just wanted thoughts/opinions on this. Okay so my daughter was just moved to preteam. She is 5 and honestly should of been moved up in December. When talking to the coaches I asked if she has the skills would she move to L2 before competition season. She said no, that all the pre team girls will stay there for a year and move up next March. I worry about my daughter being stagnant. She’s does privates in addition to normal class so either way she will be working on next level skills. Just worrying about a year on preteam. Thoughts?
 
It's normal for gyms to do move ups just once a year. A lot of gyms don't even compete until L4 so the preteam commitment is often 1-2 years. If they are only working L2 skills for the next year, that would problematic, but most likely they will do a variety of skill progressions and strength building.
 
She's very young, so it's also likely the gym wants her to have more experience that will prepare her for competition. Having the ability to do skills at a young age does not necessarily mean a child is "competition ready". Good coaches will evaluate a gymnast as they develop and place them accordingly.

Also, is there a certain reason why she's doing privates in addition to regular practices?
 
She's very young, so it's also likely the gym wants her to have more experience that will prepare her for competition. Having the ability to do skills at a young age does not necessarily mean a child is "competition ready". Good coaches will evaluate a gymnast as they develop and place them accordingly.

Also, is there a certain reason why she's doing privates in addition to regular practices?
I have had her in gymnastics since she was 3 years old about 6 hours a week. She loves it and wants to continue progressing. She wants to do more than what is being done in practice so that’s why she does privates
 
A full year on preteam is common, especially for girls who are as young as 5. At our gym, many girls do 2 years. On my daughter's team it's pretty easy to tell which ones came through our gym's preteam as they have excellent form and pick up new skills faster. Point is, it's a system that works if the goal is to prepare a gymnast for the DP program. There are also age minimums, so even if they did move her to a team, she wouldn't even be able to compete L4 (where many gyms start competing) until age 7...
 
That amount of time on pre-team is totally normal at my daughter’s gym. It sounds well-run and I wouldn’t do privates. Don’t obsess over skills this year-if the coaches are doing a good job, she’s not going to be throwing back handsprings and learning new stuff every week. Instead they should be working on strength and shapes. It might seem a little tedious but it’s also a bit of a test of the girls’ mindset and ability to make corrections, develop body awareness, and work hard.
 
That sounds absolutely unreasonable. My daughter loves gymnastics too, and has been doing it since 2. That holds for a lot of kids, the vast majority of which aren't in the gym nearly that much at such a young age.

I doubt my gym would even allow it.
Okay well that’s your opinion. That’s the past anyway, she wanted to go that much and even now she asks for privates and more gym time so Why not feed the passion? Much better than having a child sit on an iPad or in front of the TV
 
Okay well that’s your opinion. That’s the past anyway, she wanted to go that much and even now she asks for privates and more gym time so Why not feed the passion? Much better than having a child sit on an iPad or in front of the TV
You do you. Just don't ask for advise on a public forum and expect not to get comments, because there's definintely not a world of space between doing privates at 3 and sitting on your butt watching TV.
 
My daughter recently had physical therapy for an elbow issue. Her PT, who treats a lot of gymnasts, said that kids generally shouldn't practice more than twice as many hours as their age. More than that can increase the risk of injury.

Just throwing that out there.
 
If you have other gyms in your area and you're confident that she has the skills needed, you could check if they would put her on team right away. But also know that for gyms with pre-teams, they use this year to help gymnasts transition from rec to team - more structure, a lot more drills, more focus on foundational skills and form. So while she may not progress all that much skillwise, she will be focusing on what she needs to be a successful competitive gymnast long term.
 
Privates at 5 years old. Wow
We used to do privates for a 3 year old. It wasn’t a case of pushy parents or anything. It was just the way the child learned best and the parents knew the great benefits of gymnastics.

It’s common for us to do occasional privates for 5-6 yr olds, if they want to work on something specific.

We don’t do a lot of privates because we are always so busy with group lessons. But there is often the idea thrown around that they are overkill or just a method for patents to push their kids ahead.

But it’s not always the case. Sometimes it’s just a case of giving the kid a little one on one time to reignite their confidence. Or supplementing the fact that there might not be a class of quite the right level available or something.
 
Okay well that’s your opinion. That’s the past anyway, she wanted to go that much and even now she asks for privates and more gym time so Why not feed the passion? Much better than having a child sit on an iPad or in front of the TV
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I put one of my girls in gymnastics at 3.5 because she just needed a positive outlet for her energy and also something to keep her busy! 6 hours a week is slightly more than I would recommend for a 3 year old (mine did 4-5 hours) but better that they are active than watching TV.
Now about privates at that age… that’s another story.
 
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I put one of my girls in gymnastics at 3.5 because she just needed a positive outlet for her energy and also something to keep her busy! 6 hours a week is slightly more than I would recommend for a 3 year old (mine did 4-5 hours) but better that they are active than watching TV.
Now about privates at that age… that’s another story.
I am unsure why I’m getting attacked about privates. She wasn’t overworked at 3/4 by any means. Her coach did about 10 min on each event with 10 min stretching/warm up and 10 min cool down and she has always enjoyed the one on one. Her privates are focused on correct shapes, and the one on one allows for more reps to be able to master the skill. I would never force my daughter to do anything she doesn’t want to but when she’s asking for more gym time I’ll support it.
 
I am unsure why I’m getting attacked about privates. She wasn’t overworked at 3/4 by any means. Her coach did about 10 min on each event with 10 min stretching/warm up and 10 min cool down and she has always enjoyed the one on one. Her privates are focused on correct shapes, and the one on one allows for more reps to be able to master the skill. I would never force my daughter to do anything she doesn’t want to but when she’s asking for more gym time I’ll support it.
@JMASR080615, I'll chime in here, since I think I was the first to ask about the privates. I wasn't asking in an accusatory tone, I was honestly curious. I'm amazed that a 3 year old could focus on such things! (But, I'm the parent of a "late starter" gymmie). The hours you mentioned when she was younger did make me raise my eyebrows, simply because of age and potential for injury (see my previous PT post). I agree that it's better for a kid to be doing something active instead of being glued to a screen. I think those commenting about the privates come from a genuine place of concern, as we are all aware of kids (in this sport and others) that have been pushed - by coaches or parents - too hard at a young age. Too much of a good thing can happen.
 
We used to do privates for a 3 year old. It wasn’t a case of pushy parents or anything. It was just the way the child learned best and the parents knew the great benefits of gymnastics.

It’s common for us to do occasional privates for 5-6 yr olds, if they want to work on something specific.

We don’t do a lot of privates because we are always so busy with group lessons. But there is often the idea thrown around that they are overkill or just a method for patents to push their kids ahead.

But it’s not always the case. Sometimes it’s just a case of giving the kid a little one on one time to reignite their confidence. Or supplementing the fact that there might not be a class of quite the right level available or something.
I just don’t get privates at a young age just to get to pre-team. Now optionals ok I get all that m, but it just seems like a whole lot to me just to get a skill for pre-team.
 
@JMASR080615, I'll chime in here, since I think I was the first to ask about the privates. I wasn't asking in an accusatory tone, I was honestly curious. I'm amazed that a 3 year old could focus on such things! (But, I'm the parent of a "late starter" gymmie). The hours you mentioned when she was younger did make me raise my eyebrows, simply because of age and potential for injury (see my previous PT post). I agree that it's better for a kid to be doing something active instead of being glued to a screen. I think those commenting about the privates come from a genuine place of concern, as we are all aware of kids (in this sport and others) that have been pushed - by coaches or parents - too hard at a young age. Too much of a good thing can happen.
Our daughter started before she could even walk at a place called “the little gym” it wasn’t really gymnastics instruction just more of a mommy and me class. When she turned 3 the gym we started going to offered 3 days a week for her age group but quickly moved her to level 1 because she was catching on so fast and said that leaving her in the toddler class would hinder her development and progression. So here she was 3/4 with kids 6-8. We added in an additional day as well as privates because at that time and gym there was only one coach for the group classes and she was wanting more gym time. She has never been rambunctious and coaches and teachers are always amazed by her maturity. When we moved her new gym and she was evaluated they wanted her in their “stars” program which is prior to pre team and she had to have certain skills mastered prior to moving up so we continued privates once a week so that she could not only perfect the skills needed for pre team but also work on L2 skills that wasn’t being done for the entire class at the time. With pre team she will have 4 coaches. My original question was just in terms of is a year in pre team normal
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

Back