Parents Question from a new L2 parent

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Avsma

Proud Parent
I have been lurking for a while, but I just can't stop thinking about what is expected from Level 2.

DD is 6 yrs old and competing L2 we started in recreational at 3, moved to the advanced pre-team, now L2. She has been having tons of fun, and still hasn't quite grasped the concept of the competitive spirit, because she's gotten a medal on each event. Her overall scores (to me) seem pretty low (35.1, 34.770, and 35.925). At our gym, she cannot move up to L3 unless she gets a 36.00, which after 3 meets she doesn't have yet. There are 4 other girls on our team that are definitely moving up.

My main question is, what is the expectation for Level 2? Should i pay for privates to help her refine the details, or should I just let her be. DH has made comments that I am being too involved, I am SO NOT the mom that goes on to the floor during practice to coach the coach. I always tell her that she did a great job, and she absolutely loves it.

She has mentioned that she would like to try a few other things "too" (dance, cheerleading, ice skating)but she currently practices 9 hours at our gym which doesn't leave room for much of anything else.

I guess I am wondering, will she always be middle of the road, or are there gymnasts that get to higher levels and totally rock out after being mediocre in L2? Will she get to a point where it "clicks" that she needs to pay attention to the details? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
I think this depends on your gym and region, to some extent. DD competed L2 last year (young 6), and her early season scores were similar to your DD's, though she did end up higher. Those scores were pretty typical for girls in many gyms we saw at meets, although some gyms start with higher hours and those girls scored higher. We never did any privates, and her hours were about half

DD is now L3, and while I expect her to score moderately well like she did last year, she still doesn't have as much body awareness as many of the other girls on her team. The body awareness piece develops at different times for different kids. This may be the case for your DD as well.

On to the matter of privates....what is your DD saying about scores/moving up? If she isn't worried about it, I wouldn't pursue it, personally. What if you invest money in this, and she decides to quit next season (which I have seen happen to several of DD's teammates from last year)? Now is the best time for her to try other activities, even if it seems tight. We have squeezed in every extra sport we could find for DD to try, because we worry that she isn't making an educated decision when committing only to gym, and my DD is one that would gladly give up anything else for gym.
 
She's only 6, my DD who is now a level 7, almost 8, repeated old level 3(same as level 2) then repeated old level 4(current 3). She was definitely mediocre when she was younger. So it really has to bearing on how far she will go in the sport. We have NEVER done a private lesson, so I would say no she doesn't need it, especially at age 6. :)
 
She isn't saying anything about scores or moving up. She doesn't totally understand how scores relate to her performance, and has not compared herself to anyone on her team. She says and I quote "gold means you did a very good job" Of course I am the mom that tends to look at the future and overthinks the present. I am an analyst by profession, so I do avg and graph her (not up against anyone else). I will speak to DH about dance and we will do ice skating doesnt seem like she will be satisfied until she tries both!

Thank you so much for the advice. I will not even mention privates, besides we spend enough on gymnastics already :)
 
You are graphing some data points. You are not graphing her. Make sure you aren't reading more value into the numbers than they are worth

I've been graphing my daughter's data for four years and will do so again in year five. It's neat to see how she trends over a season (almost always peaks in mid February) but very little value comparing one season to another. For example her old L3 scores were pretty high but her old L5 scores were low. But the trend was always the same....great vault and bars, poor floor and beam.

Recently her beam and floor have been improving and I can see how they have caught up now that she is an optional but she will still have good meets and bad meets.

Honestly with the numbers you are quoting and given how young she is, it might work ti her advantage to do a second year at L2, not because of talent or potential but because of body awareness. I wish my DD's coaches had made that more of a priority with my girl.
 
Thanks for the insight, of course I was referring to her numbers and not her as a person :) I think I mentioned that I am an analyst by profession, so I analyze data for a living. This tends to spill over into my personal life because it's referring to numbers. I do the same with our budget. (# of months we as a family stuck to our household budget TY vs LY etc. :)) did I mention I tend to over think?

I guess I am thinking of repeating a level in terms of repeating a grade. I have no idea what body awareness is. Maybe I should go look for a "competitive gymnastics for dummies" book. ;)
 
Repeating levels is definitely not like repeating grades. My daughter started competing old level 4 (the current level 3) when she was 6. She repeated level 4,repeated level 5, did a split year of level 6/7, then 7 again ,then level 8 and is doing level 8 again this year. She's always been a solid middle of the road gymnast and there's nothing wrong with that. She's seen many super talented and high scoring teammates retire from the sport and she keeps going along slow and steady. She's happy and progressing at her own rate, can't ask for much more!

I saw this article recently and though it was written by a dance parent, it easily translates to other sports. http://shadmartin.blogspot.com/2015/10/why-i-dont-pay-for-dance-anymore.html?m=1
 
I don't think that scores at early levels are an indicator of future scores.
My DD did old 3 (New 2) at 5yo. She competed 2 sanctioned meets and had a high of 32AA!! It was a rec gym & 1st year program.
She then (at a new gym) she was brought down to preteam for the season.
Then competed New L4 @ 7. Competing L5 @ 8, and will compete L7 as an 8yo.
Her body awareness/control got much better as she's gotten older. She went from bottom-of-the-pack at 5yo to a "top 5 AA" at 8.

As for other sports...... go for it while there is still time!! We had to drop soccer this year and DD misses it fiercely, but she says she doesn't love it as much as gym.

Finally, it sounds like your DD is close to the 36, it'll most likely happen. Scores tend to inflate a little, closer to State. And, repeating a level? Though I don't have experience, I can say that it is definitely beneficial if necessary. Also, it's nice being solidly in an age category than always being one of the youngest. Age & experience account for a lot.
 
If she isn't worried about the scores or levels, don't you worry either. At some point, she WILL be worried and will compare herself to others and you will wish for the days when she was happy just doing the sport she loves.

And performance or scores can change significantly from year to year. Dd was one of the lowest scoring vaulters on the team in old L5 (new L4). This spring, she took 4th at states on vault.

And yes, if she wants to try things, now is the time to do it!
 
I think it sounds like your dd is doing very well. It's hard when you are on a team with a lot of high scorers to not compare, but those scores are not at all bad for first competitions. And your dd is still very young.

We are by no means experts, but my dd was a 6 year old level 2 last year and she didn't score very high at the beginning of the season. Her first meets were 24.55 (she scratched vault), 35.725 and 35.475. She had a few 2nd and 3rd place awards, but they were rare. At the state meet things finally clicked and she got a bit over 37. This year she is doing amazing as a level 3. She started the season with over a 37 and just today got a 38.1 and first AA. She's really improved so much in the past year.

I wouldn't worry about privates personally. And I do agree that now is the time to explore other sports if you can. My dd did swim team this past summer and played soccer last spring (she loved them both). It's only going to get harder as they go up in levels and hours.
 
Privates for a lvl 2 seem to much to me. But we never did them as a lvl 2 either. My DD started last yr as a lvl 2 getting a 32.4 then at the end of the year she was getting 36's. So its tough to say. That darn stride circle. No one on the team did that very well. Oh well, its only lvl 2. Just like this yr is only lvl 3.

Also 9 hours for a lvl 2 seems high to me. That is what we are doing for lvl 3. We did 6 for lvl 2.
 
Being only 6 and scoring near 36 actually sounds quite good to me!

My DD is level 4, and we often like to look up the 'level' history of gymnasts from other teams who score high. The high scorers today at level 4 (even in the younger categories) are all over the map in terms of scoring/repeating in previous levels. Some repeated 3 after a low scoring season, and/or are now repeating 4 (many level 4 repeaters in our area!); some came out of the gate with 36-37's but have stayed steady; some had 38's in L3, but are now struggling in L4. And some seemed to have jumped from 33's in level 3 up to 36's in level 4 in one year. Each child is unique!

You really do see all patterns of progress and scoring as they move through levels and mature!

Bottom line: There is absolutely no reason to think that 35's in level 2 as a 6 y/o means your daughter lacks talent or potential. Quite the contrary - that looks like loads of potential :)
 
So at our gym our coaches always said "it doesn't really matter at this level. It really only starts to matter around level 7-8" Meaning, what she does at age 6 level 2 will have little bearing on her at level 7. When DD was 6 she competed old 4 (now its level 3). She truly had NO CLUE what was going on. She did fairly well, but seriously didn't even realize she was getting scored until she did new 4 at age 7! And then, she knew she was getting scores but for a few months the decimals really eluded her- "mom I got a 95 on floor!" LOL! Let her have fun. It SHOULD be fun. She's 6! She's doing great!
 
Privates should never be needed at Level 2, period...I have 2 girls who went through Level 10 and we did a grand total of 4 privates between the 2 of them , and it was probably for their floor routines when the choreographer came in...I did only 1 private for my youngest when she was a level 9 for a bar issue but never did any others ...they're in the gym enough hours and if they can't get the skills with the hours you're paying for to begin with ( and there are some gyms that EXPECT their athletes to do privates as a matter of course...a total revenue generator) , change gyms to one who can. The sport is expensive enough without adding guilt driven privates from Level 2 on...if you start doing them that early, you'll be swirling the eddy of privates til doomsday....
 
I also think privates for a L2 are a little much. That being said we did two in 3 and two in 4 but they were both for a singular issue that the coach felt repetition without waiting in line would solve. To this day I am not sure if they helped or if it was the regular practice that did it.

If you are just looking for overall scores to go up and she is happy just let move along on their own terms. We had a few gymnasts that were doing private once a week last year closer to the end of the season in and two of those girls quit.
 
My DD did privates at the equivalent of L2 every week for the entire season. She was the most awkward floor worker you've ever seen. Even with weekly privates, she barely got into the low 9s. Great bar worker, great vaulter. But watching her on floor would make you cringe.

But if you're just thinking privates for up skills or you think she won't move up at the the end of the season,,then I would save your money for something else. It's still so early in the season. But if there is an overarching problem that the coach suggests privates and you can afford it, then I say go for it.
 
No privates,
Take advantage of your time and have her try other things too, while keeping her in gymnastics.
If she is happy, then don't even worry about it.......
It takes time for kids to figure out the whole competitive thing......and your DD will decide where she fits in with it.....some are super competitive, some aren't, but it should come from her, not you.....
Sit back and relax.....
 
Those scores aren't bad for a first year competitor. My dd had very similar scores, and also wasn't concerned as long as she got a medal of some sort. Enjoy it - now she cares very deeply about her scores, and we (me and coach) are trying to remind her to focus on the skills rather than the numbers...
 
Ha! At 6 my DD was scoring about the same as you've described. I believe she finally finished the season at states with a 36. And it was level 1, not 2. Even easier. By end of next season a year later, she was scoring in the 37's and placing high at meets. She has some little quirks here and there as I guess they all do, but she is an 8 yr old level 4 now and has come a lonnnggg way. The girl who won the state meet as a level 1 isn't even doing gym anymore, so no, this is in no way a predictor of her future success. And I think we all get "overly involved." It's nerve wracking watching your child go out there by herself to get judged whether it's level 1 or 9!
 

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