For Parents Privates

[gymnut1]

I think there might be a danger that if lots of girls are having regular privates then people might feel obliged to have them too incase their dd falls behind. Kind of peer pressure for parents. lol. Children do come on with individual attention of course they do. Then it might become a parental competition to leapfrog their children above other children by using privates. That could become a very ugly sort of expection and competition. We parents are just not rational sometimes. Perhaps that is why some gyms discourage them. I think we all worry about our children falling behind is school/ sport/ whatever. If your dd needs weekly privates over a long period (without a specific reasong like TOPS or injury) I would say your child is in the wrong level or wrong gym or you have succumbed to parent peer pressure lol.

 

[Mom2Gymgirls]

There are some girls at our gym that do privates every week. We've done a few here and there whenever we've needed to polish up a routine or for some extra help with certain skills but not with any regularity. It gets expensive though, and I don't see a lot of benefit in doing them on a long term basis.

 

[socko]

I can't imagine doing a monthly private for a Level 4 gymnast. As our coach used to say, "they're here enough hours in the gym , they shouldn't need privates". In some gyms, privates are a way of generating extra income for coaches but I don't see that unless there is something really specific that could not be corrected in practice that there would ever be a NEED for a private. (My daughter is a level 10 and has never had one)

I think it's true what a few posters have said about parents expecting better scores out of their kids because they get privates. In our current gym there are 2 girls who get 3 privates a week and they are just average gymnasts!! One girl barely made it to regionals! I think parents need to accept that some kids will never excel at the sport but they can still have fun with it. The added pressure of doing privates with parental expectations I think takes a lot of the fun out of it.

 

[Emma's mom]

My dd's gym does not do privates. Not sure of the reason, I just overheard some level 4 mom's asking and they were told no. Emma has never had a private lesson. I know that on the tumbling/cheer side of the gym, they do private lessons. Our coach won't let the team girls tumble over on that side because it is only a foam floor not a spring floor. I know that it is harder on the girls that have big teams. DD has always been on a small team. This year is her biggest team yet. There are 9 girls including her in level 6.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Alex has had 1 private lesson and it was just a couple of weeks ago. She really enjoyed it and I do think it helped. Her Level 4 team consists of about 14 girls so she needed help just polishing up her form. I asked a coach that is a stickler on form to help her out and it was great! Alex has always been able to get away with being sloppy because of such a large team so in her private no such luck! Made a big difference! I will probably do more if I feel she needs it.

 

[shellchelle]

DD (L4) had her first private a few weeks ago before her first meet to also work on form on floor and beam. It helped immensely. She loved it and wants to do another. As a deterrent, I told her that she had to earn half of the cost of the private...and she has! She really wants to work on her front hip circle, so she will have one more private this weekend.

However, this won't be a consistent pattern. There are about 10 girls on her team, so some one-on-one attention is nice, but not completely necessary.

 

[gymgramma]

Our gym does not offer private lessons. But I think that if a gymnast is really struggling w/a skill and is close to getting it that a 1 on 1 can help the gymmie get that elusive skill

 

[iggy1988]

I wonder why thnkgd4kds didn't answer this question... Hmmmm, she is probably scared to actually think of how many privates Cait has had, especially lately...

Well, in a nutshell, Cait has had a lot of privates. She cherishes the one on one time and with the short window to prepare for TOPs testing she was pretty much at the gym 6-7 days a week for a couple of months. On average Cait probably gets 3-4 privates a month. Most are for fine tuning before a meet, the little things...

These past few months, she has probably had close to 30 though.. She has one today and one next week to prepare for her first meet and then will probably go back to our normal schedule...

Sean

 

[Gymnasticsgirl521]

In our gym privates are hard to come by because the coaches are booked solid during most of their free time. We have girls sharing privates. It is all levels at our gym that have them. Many are using them to get particular skills. We do not have our's scheduled for that purpose. DD is using her privates to fine tune her routines. This is time that her coach can push her and make the adjustments that are missed with the large group. DD has all of her skills for level 4 and level 5 so we are using these for the sole purpose to push the routines in the 9 scores. I know some of you are cringing hearing that but there are little details that DD needs to concentrate on that will help gain her points in her routines. In one private she had corrections that could give her .5 on one event which is well worth our time. This is something that DD probably would not be able to focus on with her 2 routines she does for her coach on the event. When you have our ratio it is hard for the coach to see all and correct all the tiny things that is needed for DD. Mind you she looks good and is fully ready that she could go and compete right now but she has her goals and she is not there just yet.

DD enjoys the privates and she has brought all of her adjustments to practice. So that is a big positive for her. I have found this a very intersting topic and was really surprised to hear about how many of your gyms do not do privates. All of the privates are paid directly to each coach so the gym itself does not make anything on them. I have seen our Level 4 coach have 4 girls scheduled back to back at $$ she made major money. Also I must add that privates just started back up this month. I don't think many of our girls have had them prior.

Lastly DD has been having privates since she was 3 years old. They were once a month or every couple of months. Typically they were presents from grandparents or holiday gifts. Then on preteam she had them a bit more frequently and now here we are. Last year I saw some of our level 4's that had privates weekly. Some of our level 5-6 had a certain time every week that was their privates. We are not to that point and I can not afford to be one of those. I am sure after the holidays we will have to look at the schedule and will get some scheduled inbetween meets and the couple of weeks leading up to states we will be grabbing what we can.

 

[Gymnasticsgirl521]

When does your dd meet season start? I have a feeling she is going to do great. She's been preparing for this moment a looong time and with 6 privates.....she's going to rock!!!

DD starts in Nov with her first meet in just a few short weeks. Which has me and her both on pins and needles. That is part of the reason for the ramped up schedule with the privates. Yes she has been preparing for this a LONG LONG LONG LONG time. Between now and Christmas she has two meets and then we have them just about every other week or so. She is very excited. I just hope she can hold it all together.

 

[iggy1988]

DD starts in Nov with her first meet in just a few short weeks. Which has me and her both on pins and needles. That is part of the reason for the ramped up schedule with the privates. Yes she has been preparing for this a LONG LONG LONG LONG time. Between now and Christmas she has two meets and then we have them just about every other week or so. She is very excited. I just hope she can hold it all together.

I hear you.. Cait is so ready to compete although the trip to Houston helped her competitive streak. After this meet, she is done until end of January though. I know that will be hard for her but then we have 7 meets in 2.5 months so we will be busy...

Sean

 

[cher062]

I was just wondering how many privates your gymmie average a season. We are heading into our compeitive season and right now we have 6 privates scheduled between now and Christmas. I am sure we will have more after that but to get DD ready for her first couple of meets. I was just wondering what the average number you all do is and your thoughts on privates. DD has been doing one a month for the past couple of years and has enjoyed the individual attention. I am just hoping this year they can really tweek her routine to get the higher scores.

I don't like the price but I do want to see her skills sharpened a bit so she can achieve her personal goals. Is this a common practice in all gyms? We have 18-20 girls on our level 4 team to one coach if that helps paint a better picture.

Well since Begining of Sept I've done 3 with anothe next week. I usually will schedule one before a sectional, state meet etc. Then as I see her compete I make note of there is a need for a private or not based on how her skills compare with the others in her level. On average we do 1 or 2 a month.

 

[thnkGd4kds]

I wonder why thnkgd4kds didn't answer this question... Hmmmm, she is probably scared to actually think of how many privates Cait has had, especially lately...

Well, in a nutshell, Cait has had a lot of privates. She cherishes the one on one time and with the short window to prepare for TOPs testing she was pretty much at the gym 6-7 days a week for a couple of months. On average Cait probably gets 3-4 privates a month. Most are for fine tuning before a meet, the little things...

These past few months, she has probably had close to 30 though.. She has one today and one next week to prepare for her first meet and then will probably go back to our normal schedule...

Sean

Lol! Actually, I did respond, but it was deleted somehow before it was posted, and I didn't feel like typing it all again at the time.

When dd first began gymnastics, I was anti-privates. I felt that the gymmies had enough time in the gym, that those with money to have privates had an unfair advantage, and that privates could lead to burn-out. I still believe those things; however, since last December, dd has had 1 or 2 a month. (I know that contradicts the amount dh said. I, of course, am right! ) For the couple months before TOPs Nationals, she lived at the gym, basically, and I have to admit that I was glad when it was over so that we wouldn't be spending that much time and money on gym. Besides TOPs preparation, why would I let dd have these privates if I hold the aforementioned beliefs? One, we barter with our gym for the regular tuition, and so we can afford them. (Plus, dd has an arrangement with one coach where she can "earn" some privates by memorizing Bible verses!) Two, dd is definitely a one-on-one personality. As dh said, she absolutely thrives on the personal, undivided attention. Three, we let dd have privates only when she requests them and will turn them down if we think she needs the break (though she'd spend every day there if she could), that there is too much pressure, or when we don't have the money. Fourth, honestly and sadly, I guess I do fall into the pressure of trying to let dd reach her full potential and to compete with others as well as she wants to, and I see a way of doing that is to let her have privates.

 

[Midget's Dad]

We do privates here and there right now. Mostly to polish a few things here and there that seem to slip through, or lately to work on that Mill and her fear of the dismount.

But we let Midget decide, if she wants a few then we are more than happy to pay for them. I know some parents are a bit more competitive and insist on their dd taking privates but that is not our approach. I think Midget really enjoys the one on one time and it really has helped her with cleaning up her routines and/or working on something tricky so I see the benefit.

Plus I sometimes use them as a bribe. She is a finicky eater so I tell her if she tries something new I will get her a private. Works more often than not.

 

[Tim_Dad]

As usual, I'll be the odd-ball of the group.
Nastia has a 45 minute regularly scheduled private lesson - Weekly.

Unlike some gyms that have 12 - 16 hour a week practice sessions, our gyms L4's weekly practice is 5-7.5 hours a week. (Three days for 2.5 hours each, with the 3rd day being optional).

Our L4 team is 40 strong, with split practices (20 athletes per practice w/ 4 coaches). As it probably should be, our coaches focus the activities based on the skills and needs of the team. Private lessons give Nastia more one-on-one time with the coach to work on specific skills, and on rare occasions (depending on the coach) she'll be able to try an advanced skill. Since advanced skills and up-training is off-limits until the team (as a whole) is ready, ANYTHING that is beyond L4 is a treat. She may spend the 45 minutes working on two or three skills. Or, they'll split up the time between all four rotations. That's up to Nastia and her coach.

Mom nor I give the coach any directions whatsoever. We are strictly transportation. Nastia will also do a non-competitve private lesson from time to time with the tumble coach to work on things that are not offered at the compulsory level. Such as BHSBTPF, BHSBLO.

But again - Nastia does these lessons strictly for fun. She has a passion to learn and improve her skills. As a parent I encourage this as much as possible. (if only she had the same passion for math & science?)

AFAIC, Private lessons will be available for her as long as she wants to continue. If other parents see this as somehow "unfair advantage", then this is something they'll have to deal with on thier own. Nastia competes with her team. She has no contempt for anyone that scores higher then she does. Her score is not why she's doing gym.

Our gym doesn't have a policy (afaik), and only gets 20% of the lesson fee. The coaches don't encourage or push them either, but will try to make time available if someone asks. Funny thing is - private time is often booked solid, month ahead. These coaches are full-time, and are not bored.

 

[gym mom]

Privates are offered in our gym the coaches are not aloud to push them the parent has to ask. There are several girls who get privates routinely .We had only done a few before L5 until this summer she went to visit my parents for a month 1/2 and during that time they learned there routines.I should have scheduled privates right away but gave it some time .She was becoming very frustrated and having a hard time with the floor routine stop doing all of her main skills(bhs bhs,cartwell on beam and cast squat on)so her coach stopped having her do routines just skills .After watching her struggle for 2months she decided she wanted privates.So now after 1month of 30min privates a week she is back on track doing all of her skills again and routines.We are still doing them for a while longer anyway they have helped her confidence soar.

 

[cathiann]

In your case, I think privates are more than justified--I'm shocked that no one is allowed to uptrain unless the whole team is ready. that just seems so wrong! I don't personally feel privates are unfair advantage to those with more money--heck, the entire sport of gymnastics is like that (or really--any sport). Do many girls at your gym do privates?

 

[coffeebean13]

We are guilty of a few privates in '08.
When we decided to schedule dd for them it was because of a situation at her old gym. Not the reason one should normally schedule a private and I wouldn't suggest scheduling a private to anyone else for the reason we did but at the time we felt it was the only thing we could do. DD had been placed with a coach that just didn't seem to see the girls individually; and we felt Zoe was really suffering.
To make a long story short, the privates enabled dd to be fully recognized for her skills and strength...something that should have happened without the use of privates. Like I said before, it was a tricky situation for us and a learning experience also. Anyways, it all worked out (and since then we moved from TX to WA and obviously changed gyms) and we have not since needed to even think about privates.
I know our gym offers them but they do not seem very common. I don't plan on spending anymore $$$ on training right now, dd is at a good place with her skills and unless we have an injury or comparable set-back it'll be a looooong time before I write a check for a private!

 

[Tim_Dad]

In your case, I think privates are more than justified--I'm shocked that no one is allowed to uptrain unless the whole team is ready. that just seems so wrong! I don't personally feel privates are unfair advantage to those with more money--heck, the entire sport of gymnastics is like that (or really--any sport).

I don't care for the rule either as it hold back the potential of a lot of girls.

However - it's been explained to me that if they were to up-train, the number of training hours would have to increase. This might make the monthly cost of gymnastics unaffordable to some kids. So from this perspective, I have to agree with the policy. It's frustrating for Nastia and about a dozen other team members. But we have found our own work-arounds. (adv. tumble class being a big one! + private lessons) Thankfully we have some coaches that will bend the rules a bit during private lessons.

We have gyms that train L4's 16 hours a week in our area without the option for private lessons. With that much training, one would only expect them to take ALL the medals at competitions. Oddly - they don't. In fact, they only merit a few positions, rarely are they the top 3 spots. To me, this says more about the coaches then then athletes. 16 hours a week of poor coaching doesn't make for a better athlete.

Do many girls at your gym do privates?

Hard to say. Maybe about 8-10 in the whole team do regularly. Right before a competition the volume of private lessons soar. A day or two before a competition ISNT the best time for a private lesson. It should be WEEKS before. It takes time for your athlete with absorb the information, and apply it to their routine. Breaking bad habits doesn't normally happen in a day or two.

Just my opinon is all.

 

[mtbmom]

Warning looong!

We probably fall into the "wrong level" category.

Here's the Readers Digest version.

Gym A - started at 5yo, invited to inv only class in a week. Did IO class from Sept to April. DD was miserable at this gym, so we decided to try another gym or leave gymnastics - which she did NOT want to do.

GYM B - better than A but was learning nothing there. Gained one skill and aatually lost what little skills she had. She was a devo (think level 1-2). I nicknamed her coaches, Coach Bi-polar and The Screamer. Than gym B imploded(Yay!) We were there from apil 07 to April/may 08

Gym C - started in devo. Was going to stay in devo at "move up" time in June. But... She learned so many new skills in about 6 weeks that we were given the choice to stay in devo or move to lev 4. We decided to move up (sigh). She struggled in lev 4 and still did nit have all her L4 skills by end of lev 4. We were gonna stay at lev 4 but. Coach said it's better to do 2 years at 5 rather than 2 at lev 4.

So, here we are playing catch up again. The privates (which started this month) are to help her work on skills that she needs for lev 5. She is not a fast learner but has incredible form. She also is ADHD and the 1 on 1 time helps immensely. So I work 1 extra shift a month and that covers the privates and she LOVES them and is progressing much better with them than she was without them.

Yupp, we do privates and it works really well for us. For some they're great, for others' they're a money pit. I think for us, they're great.