Private lessons?

[kimskids]

I know from reading that a lot of people on here seem against private lessons or think they are not necessary. I really like the gym we are at and although it is not perfect it is a nice place. The one problem is that it almost feels like if your child needs help with a specific issue or help with a skill they are trying to get you almost have to get privates. For instance my DD has been working on her back tuck. During practice if she specifically asks a coach to spot her she will get spotted a couple times. We scheduled a private to work on her vault b/c she is having some issues since level 5 with her vault. When the coach asked what she wanted to work on at the private I told him mainly vault but if they had extra time she would love to get spotted on some back tucks. During the lesson they worked for 20 mins on vault, 20 on bars, and 20 on back tucks. Within about the first 10 mins. she was doing it herself.
Is this normal for it to take privates to get skills? Should skills only be worked on in the off season? I am just curious b/c for the most part I agree that when they practice 16 hours per week they should not need privates. Maybe my daughter is just a kid who constantly needs to be challenged and it drives her nuts to want a skill and not have it. Just curious what everyones thoughts are!!

 

[MaryA]

If you daughter wants a private, you can afford it, and you feel like they're useful, then why not? Different kids learn different ways and maybe your daughter needs fewer distractions and some one-on-one attention when she's first getting a skill. I think privates only become "dangerous" when they are used as a way to "keep up with the Joneses" to so speak. Little Mary had a private so I had better schedule my little Suzy for one too, or else Mary might do better than Suzie in next week's meet.

 

[bogwoppit]

It is a shame when the gym culture means they need privates to progress at the same rate as the rest of the kid, who are also always having privates.

My oldest had a few, she missed a lot of gym due to injuries and would have one before a meet now and again to help with her routines. Youngest had one, and hated it.

With 16 hours a week in the gym at L5/6 there really should be more than enough time for her to perfect L5 and uptrain L6/7 skills. It seems to me that most L5's train about 12 hours a week in the US.

During regular gym hours are the groups large? Do the coaches work with them constantly? Are the kids standing around a lot or are they constantly moving from the coach to different stations. I would really expect that in 16 hours she would get a huge amount of work done.

That being said, if you are okay paying for privates, and she likes them, it is up to you and the coach whether to do them or not.

But as to your original question "is it normal to take privates to get new skills?", I would say no.

 

[Ingwe]

I am not sure you should need a private to "get" new skills. For some girls being in that one on one situation seems to really help.

I don't think there is really anything wrong with them if it's for the right reasons. (not just to increase scores or keep up with so and so)

My dd has done them on occasion. Right now she is in a major war with the yurchenko. She has won a few battles and the yurchenko has won more then a few battles. She has done 2 privates in order to try and conquer this vault. The 1st private was a success, the 2nd one was a complete disaster. It really just added to the frustration.

We are now trying someting different and I hate to even say this out loud, but it seems to be working.

If your DD likes doing them and you are okay with it then go for it.

 

[JessLW]

I don't think privates should be necessary to get new skills, but if your daughter wants them then there's nothing wrong with getting a private here or there. Maybe your daughter enjoys the one on one time with the coach, or, like others have said, learns more quickly when she doesn't have the distraction of the other girls there.

I do agree with Bog that it is unfortunate when privates become the standard and parents feel pressure to pay for privates in order to keep up. When I was a gymnast I never had a private lesson but then we couldn't have afforded it -- as a teenager I was coaching to help pay for my own gymnastics as it was. I don't think it is normal to have to have privates in order to get new skills, but it also depends how quickly she expects to progress. I'm sure privates can speed up the process but that doesn't mean that she wouldn't have eventually gotten the skill without one either.

 

[wallinbl]

DD does them with some regularity, but they're her choice and her responsibility to ask for and schedule. She loves them and would do them every day if she were allowed. She doesn't really use them for the skills that are being worked in practice - they are usually working ahead in the privates (farther ahead than what happens in practice).

With 16 hours a week in the gym at L5/6 there really should be more than enough time for her to perfect L5 and uptrain L6/7 skills. It seems to me that most L5's train about 12 hours a week in the US.

Our L5's do 9 hours/week. Every time I hear about other gyms (local or otherwise), it seems their girls practice more than ours do. That's not a knock on anything - our girls perform well at meets/states and progress well, so I don't think they're not practicing enough.

 

[GymSurvivor]

Coming from a gymnast, I think privates are useful if you need specific work on a specific skill. Every once in a while this might help. But we have a couple team girls in my gym (Some at optional levels) that have weekly privates. I personally don't think this is very helpful and just from watching it doesn't seem like they get much done in the time. Esp. because after parents from the rec team complained that the privates were using their equipment during their practice (Which is understandable) So the privates do mostly things off to the side, on low beams, on rec. bars and stretch etc... This I find is pointless.

But when I was a level 4 I was scared of going for my back handspring by myself, and my coach just didn't have time in a 1 1/2 hour practice to get me through it. So I scheduled a private and she ended up spotting me, then taking one step away, then another, then another until she was on the other side of the floor and I was doing it myself.
So in that situation it helped.

In my opinion it depends on the child, the level and the specific situation.

 

[kimskids]

Our level 5's and up all practice the same hours. It is a lot of hours but my daughter loves it any never complains about going every day. I think my daughter is just a kid who needs to keep moving or quickly gets bored. It's been a while since she got a new floor skill b/c she's had her back hand spring for a long time. She is SO over the moon to have a new skill that she "has" now! She is telling me every day now how she is working to perfect it!

 

[bookworm]

I'm with Bog...I don't think with all the hours these girls have in the gym that your child should "need" privates to make any meaningfull progress. They should be able to get what they need in their regular practices. My level 10 daughter has had exactly 3 privates in all the years we've been doing this and that was to get her new floor routine, so I don't even know if that would count. As far as privates to get specific skills, never.

 

[Esoteric]

DD loves privates! She has to use her own money- gift money and proceeds from selling leos on ebay- and has only had a few, but seems to really enjoy the one on one with the coach. When she has them it is always to up train a new skill that she has set her mind to doing. She is level 4 but has had privates on working on level 5 and 6 skills that she is unable to focus on during team up training. I used to think it was unnecessary- in fact, I still do- but dd has been quite resourceful coming up with the funds, and she comes home excited and positive- so I will continue to provide chauffeur service on the occasions she wants one.

 

[skschlag]

We tend to use them in 2 ways. one, my son has a serious mental block on his giants right now. They have tried in practice, but he is not making any progress. we are trying a private to see if coach can get him over the block.

The other way we use them is instead of camp! D isn't ready to go to camp, and our coach is not a big fan of gymnastics camps. So we tell him he can have X number of privates to use instead of camp.

Sometimes, also, I think D just needs to reconnect with the coach. Teams get big, and he is hyper, so he can get in trouble a lot in a workout for not focusing. So the atmosphere of a private gives him that focus.

That being said, we probably do about 6 privates a year..so it isn't too much.

 

[shelovestoflip]

Privates here are expensive....$70/hour. So no one on any level really is doing them regularly. My daughter seems to do one a year....maybe to get a specific skill that some 1:1 might help in a quieter environment. One year I asked the coach as I knew my daughter was struggling with the elusive flyaway and that extra time alone really was worth it.

I think with what I already pay for tuition and the number of hours she is there, I don't really think I want to spend more money or have her there more hours!

But if she asked for one or if a coach thought it might help (they don't push them there) then I would do it as it's a rare thing.

 

[kimskids]

What I am really wondering is why she can be in the gym 16 hours a week and not get a skill and get that same skill in 15 minutes during a private? I am not saying she would never get the skill eventually in class but it's just weird? We honestly don't do privates often either both due to price and time. My friends daughter they are wanting to score out of level 6 and she is missing several of the skills which she is now having to do privates to hope she gets them. Just odd to me...???

 

[skschlag]

I think because of the focus of the lesson, the 1:1 and the fact that there are fewer distractions would be major reasons. Plus, the coach is tailoring the instruction specific to her rather than to a group.

 

[Esoteric]

Just like in academic education, there are several different learning styles. Some children are more receptive to a particular style. When , during regular training, there are many children to a coach, the coaches will typically coach to a certain style that is effective for the majority of the children. Typically, if a coach recognizes that a specific child has the ability and desire to do a skill, but it just isn't "clicking," they will have the kiddo do skill specific drills to create muscle memory or strength needed to overcome that obstacle, but it isn't time effective to always stop to address a particular child's needs. During a private, the coach is able to focus specifically on that child and will often custom tailor the verbiage or demonstrations to that gymnasts needs. This is why often times the kiddos who are having a difficult time during their intensive team training will walk away from a private with the skill, and their confidence.

 

[gymgal]

DD has only done a few privates in 4 yrs of team and they were to catch her up after a wrist fracture just before meet season. This year, I offered to pay for a few privates to give her more practice time perfecting some skills and working on others she wants in her routines (xcel - she gets to choose) but she said "no"! I couldn't believe it. She feels she has enough time in the gym (16 hrs) and is progressing well enough that she doesn't think it's worth the money. Heck, I'm cool with that! LOL

In general, privates for upper level girls tend to be to get them over a hump or catch up from an injury. Lower level girls are the ones that tend to get more regular privates to just five them a leg-up on their teammates. But from what I've heard, our coaches are pretty good about being honest with the parents whether a private is needed or not. A lot of times the parent still chooses the private but at least they have all the information (yes, suzie will get her kip in practice without privates.).

 

[LizzieLac]

Our gym does not offer privates (at least discourages them). Coaches feel that the kids should be able to get their skills with the amount of scheduled practice. If practices are organized and run efficiently without a lot of standing around, I would agree. That being said, DD has done a couple of privates when we were on vacation and did not want to miss too many workouts. In this instance, I believe it was the perspective of a different coach rather than the private itself than was helpeful.

As it stands now, DD doesn't have a ton of free time with the gym schedule and homework. If she were to do a private she would have to do it on one of her few days off and we (DD included) think she needs to rest her body and and mind from the intensity of gymnastics

 

[Krystan]

I think privates can be good for things like fear/anxiety issues. This way a particular skill can be worked on one step at a time and the specific fear can be addressed without worrying about other teammates watching or needing attention. They can also be helpful for a skill that is *so close* but just needs some focused 1-on-1 time to figure out the problem and a bit of repetition. I don't think they should be necessary or even encouraged on a regular basis though; if everyone on a team needs privates to keep up, then somethings wrong! Also, the desire should really come from the gymnast. A parent should never "make" their child do a private lesson.

 

[gymluvr33]

Our L5's do 9 hours/week. Every time I hear about other gyms (local or otherwise), it seems their girls practice more than ours do. That's not a knock on anything - our girls perform well at meets/states and progress well, so I don't think they're not practicing enough.

Just so you know, as a level 5 I practiced 6 hours per week, so I know the feeling and I agree with the other posters that you shouldn't need privates to get a skill, but if you are blessed enough to have the financial stability to be able to do them, and you daughter likes them, then why not every once in a while

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

I learn better and faster when it's just me and my coach. Especially because there are no distractions in the gym during privates! I usually have a private every couple weeks with a dance coach as well to help me with dance on floor and stuff because that's not a big stress on those skills during team workouts. I definitely think privates are essential..you can never be doing too many hours of gymnastics