3LittleGymmies
Proud Parent
Does your gym allow team members to have private lessons? If so, are there certain rules about it? (i.e. a coach has to agree it is necessary or no uptraining or only so often) If yours does not, and your child was struggling with one thing that he/she just could not "get" during regular practice time - would you find it frustrating that she could not get "extra help"?
Our gym allows privates for rec kids. Actually, I don't even think you have to take classes at the gym. The handbook does not specifically say that team kids can NOT do privates. It states: "Because these gymnasts spend so much time in the gym for regularly scheduled practices, it is generally not recommended or necessary for them to add private lessons. Gymnasts, like all athletes, need time for their bodies to rest. Private lessons for team members may only be scheduled with their direct coaches under limited circumstances when performance or safety issues exist."
I know that some girls have done privates in the past, though I don't know any details. The problem that we are having is that our daughter has seriously struggled with her FHS vault (she is in new 4) this year. After the first meet, where she had a low 6 (her lowest score on any event last year in old 4 was a high 8), we asked about doing privates. They said no. We also asked if they could video tape her, because she is a very visual learner. They never did. The second meet, she barely scored any higher. She was frustrated, so we told her to ask on her own and that maybe they would respond differently if they knew that she wanted to fix the problem so badly (she just can NOT block off of the vault table). They said no. Her highest score this season before states was a 7.8. But most of her scores were in the high 6's and low 7's. They videotaped her (all of the girls) the day before states, and her score at states was an 8.450. Well gee, ya think? It still is NOT pretty at all, though.. and I think that score was a bit inflated with it being states. She is extremely frustrated because she has not been able to get her AA score above a high 35 because of her vault and has never placed in AA. She does the math and is so sad that her scores would be a full two points higher if she could fix it. She works so hard on it, but they do not set up any drills specifically for her (no one else has an issue) and they just keep telling her that she is not blocking. She knows that she is not blocking. I really don't think that she is controlling it though, does that make sense? She has no issue with any of the other skills on any other event. She does a ton of shoulder flexibility exercises at home, but she can't vault at home. We had parent/gymnast/coach conferences recently, and it was mentioned that vault is her weakest event (ya think?) and that it would be judged even harder next year IF they moved her up (she has ALL of her level 5 skills - maybe a few aren't polished - but they don't compete for another 8 months). We again asked about privates. Nope. I have to say, we are thinking of switching gyms over this (and some other issues). It really bothers me that we pay so much money and our daughter commits to so many hours (and did not miss one single practice this season!) and they won't help her.
She is not trying to do privates to get ahead or learn new skills. I "get" that gymnasts already spend enough time in the gym, but would 30 minutes a week really be a big deal when she already does 15 hours? There is just something that she is NOT getting mentally about it, and I truly believe that some privates with drills specifically set up for her (or even going back to the basics) combined with video would work wonders. I just don't get why it is such a big deal. I don't need my daughter to win every meet, and she is not a "super star" anyway, but scores this low should just not be okay, in my opinion. Not when the gymnast is capable of 9's on everything else and had AA's in the 37's-38's last season (at another gym, we moved to a new state). The coaches have some "favorites" and I just do NOT see them allowing those girls to get scores like this EVER.
Ugh. Sorry for the vent. What would you do?
Our gym allows privates for rec kids. Actually, I don't even think you have to take classes at the gym. The handbook does not specifically say that team kids can NOT do privates. It states: "Because these gymnasts spend so much time in the gym for regularly scheduled practices, it is generally not recommended or necessary for them to add private lessons. Gymnasts, like all athletes, need time for their bodies to rest. Private lessons for team members may only be scheduled with their direct coaches under limited circumstances when performance or safety issues exist."
I know that some girls have done privates in the past, though I don't know any details. The problem that we are having is that our daughter has seriously struggled with her FHS vault (she is in new 4) this year. After the first meet, where she had a low 6 (her lowest score on any event last year in old 4 was a high 8), we asked about doing privates. They said no. We also asked if they could video tape her, because she is a very visual learner. They never did. The second meet, she barely scored any higher. She was frustrated, so we told her to ask on her own and that maybe they would respond differently if they knew that she wanted to fix the problem so badly (she just can NOT block off of the vault table). They said no. Her highest score this season before states was a 7.8. But most of her scores were in the high 6's and low 7's. They videotaped her (all of the girls) the day before states, and her score at states was an 8.450. Well gee, ya think? It still is NOT pretty at all, though.. and I think that score was a bit inflated with it being states. She is extremely frustrated because she has not been able to get her AA score above a high 35 because of her vault and has never placed in AA. She does the math and is so sad that her scores would be a full two points higher if she could fix it. She works so hard on it, but they do not set up any drills specifically for her (no one else has an issue) and they just keep telling her that she is not blocking. She knows that she is not blocking. I really don't think that she is controlling it though, does that make sense? She has no issue with any of the other skills on any other event. She does a ton of shoulder flexibility exercises at home, but she can't vault at home. We had parent/gymnast/coach conferences recently, and it was mentioned that vault is her weakest event (ya think?) and that it would be judged even harder next year IF they moved her up (she has ALL of her level 5 skills - maybe a few aren't polished - but they don't compete for another 8 months). We again asked about privates. Nope. I have to say, we are thinking of switching gyms over this (and some other issues). It really bothers me that we pay so much money and our daughter commits to so many hours (and did not miss one single practice this season!) and they won't help her.
She is not trying to do privates to get ahead or learn new skills. I "get" that gymnasts already spend enough time in the gym, but would 30 minutes a week really be a big deal when she already does 15 hours? There is just something that she is NOT getting mentally about it, and I truly believe that some privates with drills specifically set up for her (or even going back to the basics) combined with video would work wonders. I just don't get why it is such a big deal. I don't need my daughter to win every meet, and she is not a "super star" anyway, but scores this low should just not be okay, in my opinion. Not when the gymnast is capable of 9's on everything else and had AA's in the 37's-38's last season (at another gym, we moved to a new state). The coaches have some "favorites" and I just do NOT see them allowing those girls to get scores like this EVER.Ugh. Sorry for the vent. What would you do?
