WAG 11 yr old wants to switch from cheer to gymnastics...too late?

[Pirouette]

My daughter switched from competitive dance to gymnastics just after she turned 11. She had the basics from a couple of years of acro at the dance studio, and some tumbling classes and clinics at the gym (geared toward helping her with the tumbling so popular now in comp dance). She is not a natural by any means, and still has very little upper body strength. She has struggled most with bars. She spent her first year in the pre-team/developmental level, and what a difference! Great coaching -- very patient people, those coaches -- and a supportive group of girls, all younger than her. She wanted to quit a couple of times, because it can be a little depressing to watch all the little ones get the skills so easily, but her love for the sport helped her persevere and she is still going. She's XCel Silver this year.

We feel fortunate that the gym we found meets her needs and was willing to take a relative novice onto the team. OP, good luck to your gymnast!!

 

[gymcoach1]

Look up Laney Madsen!

 

[AnnabelleC]

Look up Laney Madsen!

Laney is awesome! Bars is her biggest hurdle in gymnastics as well....but I am sure all gymnasts have events that they are strong on and events that are a bigger struggle for them regardless of how long they have been in gym.

 

[coachmolly]

Look up Laney Madsen!

I was just coming on to suggest that! She is sort of an extreme case of extreme natural ability and not the norm for a cheer to gym switch, but it does go to show that crazy things are possible. And if your daughter's goal is just competitive gymnastics in general, I say go for it!
I currently coach a kiddo who came into gymnastics last spring as a self-taught tumbler. She had taught herself backyard bhs and ro-tucks with questionable form but clear natural ability. She started in classes, moved to team after about a months and picked up everything remarkably fast. In months she has learned the level 3 vault with amazing proficiency- actually, she got that in a day (I think she will easily transition to fhs), picked up all the bar basics with exceptional form (pullover, back hip, front hip, shoot thru/mill circle, squat on) as well as a very nice kip and cast handstand, does a stunning beam with a huge leap and cw and can also do a beautiful back walkover on high beam and full turn, and nice clean level 5 tumbling on floor. Really remarkable stuff!
So definitely let your daughter give it a try! It sounds like she has a great sense of body awareness with how far she went in cheer and that will likely transition to the other events in gymnastics.

 

[AnnabelleC]

I was just coming on to suggest that! She is sort of an extreme case of extreme natural ability and not the norm for a cheer to gym switch, but it does go to show that crazy things are possible. And if your daughter's goal is just competitive gymnastics in general, I say go for it!
I currently coach a kiddo who came into gymnastics last spring as a self-taught tumbler. She had taught herself backyard bhs and ro-tucks with questionable form but clear natural ability. She started in classes, moved to team after about a months and picked up everything remarkably fast. In months she has learned the level 3 vault with amazing proficiency- actually, she got that in a day (I think she will easily transition to fhs), picked up all the bar basics with exceptional form (pullover, back hip, front hip, shoot thru/mill circle, squat on) as well as a very nice kip and cast handstand, does a stunning beam with a huge leap and cw and can also do a beautiful back walkover on high beam and full turn, and nice clean level 5 tumbling on floor. Really remarkable stuff!
So definitely let your daughter give it a try! It sounds like she has a great sense of body awareness with how far she went in cheer and that will likely transition to the other events in gymnastics.

Sounds like my kid. She was also pretty much self taught.....taught herself bwo, BHS, RO BHS, RO tuck, standing tuck, aerial. Once she started getting all of these skills, we decided that it be best to get her some private tumbling with a coach to clean things up and learn proper technique before habits became too difficult to break. Her dad is a self taught tumbler as well, and so is her cousin who is the same age. At the moment, my daughter is trying to teach herself a full on the tumble track....she can currently do a half, but can't quite twist enough for a full. I suspect that she will require assistance on that one..lol. She is very determined. She even made a line down her mat at home so that she would tumble straight.

 

[Popcorn]

There are advantages to coming to gymnastics at a later age. One is maturity. Another is less burn-out (they are more clear on what they want at 11 than at, say, 6 when they start committing to long hours). And still another is less injuries so far (hopefully). Keep us updated; I think determination will be the key for her and since she has that, she will figure out the rest.

 

[raenndrops]

There is a 14 year old in her first season on our team... came from a competitive dance and (school) cheer background. She did privates an hour once a week for 4 months and was put on our Xcel Gold team. She is our highest scorer. Once she gets her kip, she can move to Platinum. She is hoping her high school fields a team next year, and if they do, she will be petitioned into L6 at the start of our season (or L7 if she has the bar skills) then will compete the high school season and come back to our team after. Beam is her best event based on scores. She also does well on floor. She is working on Bars and Vault... but she has only been doing gymnastics for 10 months now total.

 

[balletmom42]

There are advantages to coming to gymnastics at a later age. One is maturity. Another is less burn-out (they are more clear on what they want at 11 than at, say, 6 when they start committing to long hours). And still another is less injuries so far (hopefully). Keep us updated; I think determination will be the key for her and since she has that, she will figure out the rest.

I agree!! It depends so much on your daughter's maturity as well as support from you, coaches, gym... My 11 year old was more focused and driven than a lot of adults I know. If she wants it, she will do it!

 

[Jolette]

We are in Canada too and my daughter is doing competitive gymnastics this year for the first time after doing cheer for 3 years. She is actually doing both this year. She is 9 but I see older girls at her gym around the same level. She is best at floor but she has picked up beam very quickly. Bars have been the slowest to get the skills on but they are coming.

ETA - she is level 2 for both cheer and gym

 

[AnnabelleC]

We are in Canada too and my daughter is doing competitive gymnastics this year for the first time after doing cheer for 3 years. She is actually doing both this year. She is 9 but I see older girls at her gym around the same level. She is best at floor but she has picked up beam very quickly. Bars have been the slowest to get the skills on but they are coming.

ETA - she is level 2 for both cheer and gym

My daughter is level 2 in cheer as well, although she does have some higher level tumbling. My gosh, how do you find the time for both? I find cheer takes up so much of our time.

 

[Muddlethru]

Certainly possible. We had a girl (I think she was 15 when she started gymnastics) transition from competitive dance to gym. Competed mobility meets for Level 5, 6 and 7 and first competition season was as a Level 8 at 16 years old. She was very talented and did great at Level 8 (1 year) and Level 9 (2 years-because of an injury she barely competed one season; hence had to repeat). She even made it to Easterns (Level 9 national championship). She also made it to a Division 2 college gym after only about 2 1/2 years of actual training. She did college gym for two years before getting injured again and quitting. Only time will tell. But if your daughter wants to try it, I think you should let her. It will only make her an even better cheerleader if decides to go back to cheerleading.

 

[Shooosh]

- mp

 

[Jolette]

Cheer is 3.5 hours a week with 6 competitions from Oct - April and Gym is 6 hours a week with 2 competitions April and May. We are making it work. The hardest part so far is all the birthday parties she has had to miss so far this year. (I tell myself that this isn't at all crazy because there are so many of you with kids who do many more hours than this lol.)

"It will only make her an even better cheerleader if decides to go back to cheerleading." - this is so true. Everything she is learning at gym is helping her at cheer. Even though the skills are different the strength training, conditioning, flexibility is all helping her at cheer immensely. I can see it happening already!

 

[Muddlethru]

Cheer is 3.5 hours a week with 6 competitions from Oct - April and Gym is 6 hours a week with 2 competitions April and May. We are making it work. The hardest part so far is all the birthday parties she has had to miss so far this year. (I tell myself that this isn't at all crazy because there are so many of you with kids who do many more hours than this lol.)

Gymnastics is a huge commitment. It will have to come from your daughter whether the sacrifice is worth it. My daughter is 14 years old and a second year Level 10 and she has very little good friends, if any, in school. But she LOVES her gymnastics friends and would not trade those or the time she spends in the gym. I am telling you, the commitment, hardwork and dedication required to be a gymnast puts them above all the mind games, bs, and trouble kids not in a high level sports can get into. They have no time to think idly or nonsensically. Consider yourself lucky your daughter is driven to do things.

 

[AnnabelleC]

Gymnastics is a huge commitment. It will have to come from your daughter whether the sacrifice is worth it. My daughter is 14 years old and a second year Level 10 and she has very little good friends, if any, in school. But she LOVES her gymnastics friends and would not trade those or the time she spends in the gym. I am telling you, the commitment, hardwork and dedication required to be a gymnast puts them above all the mind games, bs, and trouble kids not in a high level sports can get into. They have no time to think idly or nonsensically. Consider yourself lucky your daughter is driven to do things.

So true! I find she seems to escape some of the girl drama (already in grade 5!) because she is busy with cheer practice, open gym, or tumbling lessons. She often hears about the drama after the fact from her school friends but is rarely involved because it all went down while she was at a comp or at the gym...

 

[sewgood]

Xcel would be a great fit for her!

 

[AnnabelleC]

Xcel would be a great fit for her!

Could you explain Xcel to me? I have seen it mentioned here a lot, but we are new to the gymnastics world, so I am finding everything confusing

 

[sewgood]

Don't even get me started on the notion that these boys should be able to continue doing gymnastics even if puberty does them no favors! I know countless boys who rocked through compulsories, and had a rough time through puberty ultimately quitting.

That's a big problem with the girls, too. Your body just changes so much at that time and it's hard to figure out what to do with it!

Could you explain Xcel to me? I have seen it mentioned here a lot, but we are new to the gymnastics world, so I am finding everything confusing

Xcel is great for several kinds of gymnasts, including late starters and/or girls that develop skills asynchronously. Say your daughter can do level 7 tumbling/dancing for a great floor routine, but can only do a handstand-flatback vault. Xcel would work great, because the routines can be customized to the gymnast's strengths while they work to catch up in the other areas. She wouldn't be stuck in a lower level, not able to utilize and practice her FX skills, while she tried to catch up on VT.

 

[Kristi440]

No it's never too late! I didn't start gymnastics full time until I was 13—I just did it on and off before then—and at 13 i didnt have most skills but worked hard and competed within a few months

 

[Ali'sMom]

I'm going to "second" the xcel. It's definitely better in that she could do higher skills that she has while still customizing the lower skills in other events. Pretty sure if she had to start with, say, level 2 compulsory, she would quit because of the lack of tumbling. It would get old really quick...