MAG When do boys 'get it?'

[MrsAnderson]

My son is 8 (almost 9). He has done gym for almost 3 years, pre-T, level 4 and level 5. Sometimes, I swear he just doesn't have what it takes to be competitive. He is not a terrible gymnast, he has a lot of his level 6 skills even. For some reason though, when he competes, he is a mess. Will he just grow into looking as polished as his teammates?
He also REALLY struggles with mushroom. It holds him back so much for AA. There is NO way he'll go to level 6 unless a miracle happens on that mushroom before Aug. He FINALLY got a single circle last Dec, but he still struggles to do more than 2. Why?! It's got me tearing my hair out. All the other boys can do oodles of circles. How can a kid have a back tuck on floor, a flyaway, a handstand on PB, but still not be able to consistently do 3.25 circles?!
Thanks for letting me vent.
I know the most important thing is hard work and happiness. It's just so hard to watch him sometimes!! I keep telling myself he will just mature into this stuff.

 

[skschlag]

And mature he will. It is frustrating. For my son at that age it was high bar. He could not swing at all. He stayed in L5 for 3 years (7-9) because of it! Now...yesterday, he won high bar.

They do mature, and things get better. Then his best event will become his worst, and vice versa. And then he will grow and start all over again

This is not for the faint of heart. I have been stressing myself out the past few days looking at scores for nationals. My son....eh. He wants to go, but knows what he has to do. For me, I have no say, and that is the hard part. It is totally him.

Good luck! He will get it. They almost always do

 

[samsmama]

They do mature, and things get better. Then his best event will become his worst, and vice versa. And then he will grow and start all over again

So true! My son almost never got around the mushroom as a L4 (thank goodness they still did the horse!), but by the next season at L5, he was doing full bonus routines and now a year later at L6, it's consistently a strong event for him.

His other big struggle has been rings -- never got the muscle up as a L5 and had a tough time with the back uprise right up through the beginning of this season, and the press handstand bonus seemed impossible. A few weeks ago, I would have said he could never win rings. But yesterday he did just that, with a gorgeous press. So you never know! They will surprise you.

 

[profmom]

Mushroom circles can take a long time, but once they come, they're there and you too will be reassuring parents that they do figure it out eventually. And it's so true that good and bad events aren't consistent over time. My guy went from being really good at pommels as a compulsory to its being his worst event last year and this year, but I know if he just hangs in there, he'll figure it out again. Boys' gym is a fascinating rollercoaster!

 

[LLmom]

Agree with all...but a quick thing that an excellent coach once told my son...the muscles/physics for rings and mushroom are kind of the opposite...so usually kids either excel quickly at one or the other. That's not to say they won't get it eventually...but usually one is natural and the other takes work. My son is a "rings kid" so much so they he once scored a 4.0 (![emoji15]) on pommel. He now "gets" the rhythm of circles and with his new growth/weight/strength can swing beautiful circles and get most bonuses on mushroom but also still scores big on rings...even won pommel in December and still places every meet on rings.

 

[jolah89]

My son is 8 and competing as a 2nd year level 4. Last year on mushroom he literally hopped around mushroom. It was rough and always brought his AA way down. His first meet he got like a 4.5! His coach kept telling me it would eventually click-that was was strong enough but he needed to figure out the rhythm. Confounding the problem was that he hated practicing it (because he couldn't succeed at it) and so he never progressed throughout the season. I think him getting held back at level 4, probably partly because of it, propelled him and he figured it out. This year he is doing 5.5 circles and has won 1st or 2nd at every meet this season!
I hope the same holds true for the kip, because now he is stuck on learning that, ha!

 

[profmom]

You know what's really awesome about mushroom circles? For the most part, it does not seem to be one of those skills where they "get" it and lose it five million times before it sticks for good. Once they are doing around 5-10 consistently, they just have it.

 

[MrsAnderson]

You know what's really awesome about mushroom circles? For the most part, it does not seem to be one of those skills where they "get" it and lose it five million times before it sticks for good. Once they are doing around 5-10 consistently, they just have it.

Oh, I hope so!! We thought that once he could do 1 or 2, he'd be good to go, but that has not been the case.

 

[rosiekat]

Oh, I hope so!! We thought that once he could do 1 or 2, he'd be good to go, but that has not been the case.

That's what I kept hearing, too, but wasn't the case for DS. He's also 8/L5, and he can finally do nice solid 5.5 circles, but the other kids on his team can do 10 million and the bonus flairs and spindles. He gets everything else fine, but ugh. The mushroom. We're now in a lull having had a meet yesterday and no more until April, so my hope is that he gets to try some of the other stuff. It might make it a little more interesting, even if he doesn't get good enough to compete it yet.

 

[SPX]

It seems like it took ds, 8 yo L4, forever to get that first circle then he was stuck at 1.5. Finally made it to 2 then it clicked and he can do 20 or so now and just stops because he's tired. He's been adding 2 or 3 every couple weeks all season.

he seems to bounce between rings and high bar being really good and pommel being really good. The other suffers. Alas, vault is his curse but he did really well in one competition on it. He just hasn't been able to replicate it. Consistency is elusive and he is horrified at the thought he might lose skills due to growth spurts and such. I think this will be a long road and not for the faint hearted.

 

[Madden3]

Repeating compulsory levels was easily the best thing my kids ever did in the sport. In both cases it improved their form and their confidence tremendously. Older DS repeated 5 and younger is repeating 6 this year. I am not saying your child should repeat 5, that is something you will not know for some time. I am just saying, if it turns out to be the right call, it can be a good thing.

 

[jenjean70]

You know what's really awesome about mushroom circles? For the most part, it does not seem to be one of those skills where they "get" it and lose it five million times before it sticks for good. Once they are doing around 5-10 consistently, they just have it.

My son didn't do well with pommel until level 7 when he finally broke the 10.0 barrier as far as scoring goes. He was always hit or miss when in level 6 and under when it was the mushroom and the pommel but on the pommel- less pommel he has been pretty consistent....this year getting 1st or 2nd at most meets.

 

[profmom]

Haha, mine was the opposite. Great on mushroom, terrible on pommel-less horse. But when I say getting it, I don't mean that they never fall but rather that they get to the point where they can put together consecutive circles. Unlike a lot of other skills (ones I've seen my son or others experience include kip, giants on high bar/rings/pbars, stutz, Magyar, blind change, and twisting, just to name a few), once they can put together a bunch of circles, they don't seem to lose that capacity completely here and there for a few weeks to a few months without some trigger like an injury or substantial time off.

 

[skschlag]

Haha, mine was the opposite. Great on mushroom, terrible on pommel-less horse. But when I say getting it, I don't mean that they never fall but rather that they get to the point where they can put together consecutive circles. Unlike a lot of other skills (ones I've seen my son or others experience include kip, giants on high bar/rings/pbars, stutz, Magyar, blind change, and twisting, just to name a few), once they can put together a bunch of circles, they don't seem to lose that capacity completely here and there for a few weeks to a few months without some trigger like an injury or substantial time off.

I agree...those other skills like to go on vacation, or just hide under the mats....for months...just for fun.

 

[LLmom]

I agree...those other skills like to go on vacation, or just hide under the mats....for months...just for fun.

Haha! Yep! I'm just going to tell my DS that his kip "went on vacation" every time he loses it...that should soften the blow

 

[MrsAnderson]

I agree...those other skills like to go on vacation, or just hide under the mats....for months...just for fun.

LOL...we have a few that are especially stubborn and just want to stay under the mats.