Parents private tumbling at a cheer gym? yes or no?

[pullover]

My daughter is currently on preteam. There is a very reputable cheer gym near my house that offers private lessons -I've heard of kids coming from far and wide to take lessons there. I have heard that cheer tumbling is different from gymnastics and can cause bad habits but I'm torn because I'd love to ramp up her practice a bit (currently she's only in 3 hours) and she's anxious to learn some tumbling skills (she hasn't learned a BWO yet). Preteam is mostly focused on conditioning. Any thoughts?

 

[cbifoja]

I'd ask your coach. When mine was pre-team or maybe L3, I asked about getting some tumbling classes at OUR gym and was told absolutely not because the person she would be taking from was a cheer coach. I'm guessing that form isn't preached enough through cheer coaches when it comes to gymnastics.

 

[LJL07]

I am by no means an expert, but I would think it depends on the coach. My child did tumbling at a cheer gym over the summer and has done some privates, and I don't think it's hurt her any. Her cheer coach made it as far as level 9 before switching to cheer, so she did have a gymnastics background. A friend of ours had her child in cheer tumbling, but the child had to relearn her backbend kick over because she was doing it with the wrong leg. In gymnastics, if the cartwheel etc is right side, they want all the skills to be on that side if that makes sense. Just something to watch for-

 

[JessMom]

I didn't read the other responses and I'm not an expert but cheer tumbling is different from gymnastics tumbling. Tumbling is set differently maybe because the floor surface is different? That's what I hear from the coaches at my gym that do both.
Just something to be aware of. No privates are available at your gym?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

If I were you, I'd ask your coach.

If I were your coach, I'd say "no."

In my opinion, to say tumbling technique is "different" in cheer flatters cheer far more than it deserves; I think "nonexistent" is the term I would use. Cheerleaders are not evaluated on form or technique the way gymnasts are. This being the case, cheer coaches will not emphasize form or technique, in most cases; they'll emphasize getting the skill, however ugly it may be.

It's easier to teach good technique from scratch than it is to fix bad technique, and odds are extremely low that any place billing itself as a cheer gym will teach proper gymnastics technique.

 

[vagymmomma]

I know the answer should be - ask the coach. Completely understand. I'll probably get shot for saying this, but my DD went to a couple tumbling classes at a cheer gym last summer and got her full ... that she'd been working on for a year in the gym. The cheer coaches were all former L10 male gymnasts (one actually coached team gymnastics at our prior gym), so they know their stuff. They quickly identified DD was twisting the wrong direction and the problem was solved.

This is a big caveat: I knew the background of the cheer coaches because 1/2 of DD's level 6 team from the old gym quit and went there to do cheer. I knew the quality of the coaching. It was honestly scary watching some of the cheer girls tumble, but that didn't take away from the quality of the coaching. We did a couple classes for a very specific skill, for a limited period of time. I'm very hesitant to recommend cheer classes without a lot of background. The tumbling is not the same - you can tell the former gymnasts because their form is SO much better. However, I don't think it's fair to completely discount the knowledge and skill of some cheer coaches.

 

[rjb123]

I think that you should just wait for it to happen in the gym. I know in our gym that one of the biggest insults they can get is to be called a "cheerleader". As in "that looked like a cheerleader did it." (kind of funny imo but sadly true). Plus, if our coaches ever got wind of it I feel quite certain there would be heck to pay and you would be swiftly shown the door. If she is that impatient, you could always go the private route with her coach. Good luck!

 

[CoachTodd]

It depends on the coach that will be teaching. If that coach doesn't teach form and technique over just throwing the skill, I'd stay away from them. I spend many classes trying to correct technique with cheer tumblers.

 

[Jen H.]

Heck no!!!

I have a gymnast and a cheerleader, and the tumbling can not be compared.
In cheer they pretty much just Chuck it and throw the skill, where as with gymnastics...well you know, it is about the opposite of that.

And yes Rjb123- if my cheerleader wants to tick off my gymnast, the easiest way is for her to tell her that she should be a cheerleader, or that she looks like a cheerleader.

On my cheer daughters team they have a former gymnast, and everyone always comments on what a pretty tumbler she is!

 

[BlairBob]

Heck no is a nice way of stating my thoughts on it.

 

[wgagym]

I am with Blair Bob. Just the title of this thread made me say a very assertive NO out loud and there is no one in the room with me

Cheer and gymnastics tumbling are not at all comparable. It will take your gym coach much longer to fix the form and execution issues learned from cheer tumbling than it would take them to teach your daughter the skill from scratch.

Do they offer any rec tumbling classes at your gym? I think that would be much more effective if she wants to learn her tumbling skills faster.