Parents 4.5 year old gymnast how much practice time ?

[Ishkaitt]

Hello I have a 4.5 year old and she’s amazing! Almost has her back hand spring. Both me and dad were tumblers and I know she has it in her ? (; Although I feel like she has so much potential I feel like she’s not reaching it to the max. Like her coach definitely knows what she’s doing but I don’t know if one hour a week is enough? She does 1 hour of class and open gym and once a month a 2 hour clinical focused on one obstacle. The gym my daughter attends is new not even a year old maybe that doesn’t make a difference idk. . No hateful comments please I just know my daughter has more potential then what it seems like. And I can help but she won’t let me lol. But what’s the appropriate hours of training anyone else’s daughters had at 4.5 years old? She does start preteam in May which is 1.5 hours once a week. Thank you!!

Also another question, I don’t know the wording for it, but my daughter is small really small for her age and you know how babies are really flexiable and obviously there ligaments work differently. Well I feel like my daughters body hasn’t matured yet for certain things. Its hard for me to explain!
Thank you any help appreciated !

 

[txgymfan]

She’s not even 5 years old. Her goals should be gaining strength and most of all having fun! If you think she needs more of a challenge sign her up for dance and/or swimming they are both excellent forms of cross training. In addition, swimming is a necessary life skill and dance should help her musicality. Most of all, she should enjoy being in the gym, without that potential means nothing.

Also, if you trust her coaches then do not coach at home, leave the gymnastics at the gym. If you don’t trust her coaches, find a new gym.

 

[trampolinemom]

It can be hard to lean back when she has so much potential, but that is exactly what you should do. Let her have fun, explore other sports.The 1.5 hour preteam will be plenty. If she is that good, it will show at whatever hours she does. Of all the kids that put in excessive hours at a young age none (yes none) made it to even junior elite at our gym let alone senior. They got out early with injuries or were just burnt out. The kids that are flourishing now as a junior elite are the ones that did take it "easy "at a young age. They put in the hours that the gym required , but no privates, extra hours and their parents let them have room for holidays and birthday parties. So if your goal is for her to medal at 6,7,8 years old yes let her practise more. If you want her to last beyond that, take a step back ad just enjoy the ride.

 

[profmom]

If you think she's maturing slowly, then definitely don't rush her forward. No 4 year old needs a whiplash injury! I think there was some discussion on here a few years ago that discouraged BHS for the under 5 crew for this reason. Preteam in May sounds great.

 

[ausnat83]

That is plenty for a 4 year old. We all want our kids to reach their full potential, but the best thing you can do is sit back, not coach (or try to), and let your daughter have fun and learn. Let her explore other sports and activities and let her leave the gym wanting more. Pushing her and making it about your goals for her and what you want is a great way to insure an early exit from the sport (and possibly all sports if she doesn't learn to associate athletic activities with fun). The strength, joint stability, and body control will come as she matures.

 

[M2Abi]

If you think she's maturing slowly, then definitely don't rush her forward. No 4 year old needs a whiplash injury! I think there was some discussion on here a few years ago that discouraged BHS for the under 5 crew for this reason. Preteam in May sounds great.

This. Not only back handsprings, but bridges, back bends, back walkovers all should be discouraged before the age of 5. Let her have fun. There is still plenty of time for her to reach her potential.

 

[beachgirl]

No offense to the OP, but it seems like there should be a Forum just for this type of post. It seems that the same post with the exact scenario pops up every few months at least and garners all of the exact same replies. Maybe it would help the posters with young gymnasts to talk to others like themselves.

 

[LJL07]

No offense to the OP, but it seems like there should be a Forum just for this type of post. It seems that the same post with the exact scenario pops up every few months at least and garners all of the exact same replies. Maybe it would help the posters with young gymnasts to talk to others like themselves.

Yes, or there is a facebook group with a number of these types of posts. Not to be unsupportive or unhelpful, but 4 year olds should be having fun.

 

[kendo348]

No offense to the OP, but it seems like there should be a Forum just for this type of post. It seems that the same post with the exact scenario pops up every few months at least and garners all of the exact same replies. Maybe it would help the posters with young gymnasts to talk to others like themselves.

Agree - except that when you put a group together comprised only of people who are all asking the same question, there’s nobody around to answer the question

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Agree - except that when you put a group together comprised only of people who are all asking the same question, there’s nobody around to answer the question

Yes and then they all encourage each other to over do it.

 

[Flyaway]

Since you specifically asked for no hateful comments, it makes me wonder if you already know the answer you're going to get here? Of course, every seasoned parent here is going to tell you to slow down. One hour is enough. And they're right. You have plenty of time, potential or not.

I encourage you to stick around, read old threads and absorb the collective wisdom. I have learned so much from being here - it's made me a better mom to my little girl who happens to be a gymnast (aka - not a "gym mom". )

 

[Deleted member 18037]

No offense to the OP, but it seems like there should be a Forum just for this type of post. It seems that the same post with the exact scenario pops up every few months at least and garners all of the exact same replies. Maybe it would help the posters with young gymnasts to talk to others like themselves.

New people here all the time. Same conversations come up on many things.

Why arent the coaches paying attention to my kid.....
Why is my kid not moving up......
My kid wasn’t scored fairly because a kid fell got a higher score then mine without a fall......
Why are kids held back to score higher.....
How many hours......

and on it goes.

In a few short weeks it will be how fair/unfair qualifying to nationals are....

The folks move on, new folks become more seasoned. That’s how it goes.

 

[Flyaway]

New people here all the time. Same conversations come up on many things.

Why arent the coaches paying attention to my kid.....
Why is my kid not moving up......
My kid wasn’t scored fairly because a kid fell got a higher score then mine without a fall......
Why are kids held back to score higher.....
How many hours......

and on it goes.

In a few short weeks it will be how fair/unfair qualifying to nationals are....

The folks move on, new folks become more seasoned. That’s how it goes.

The cyclical nature of the threads doesn't bother me so much. I consider it to be real-time discussion. Yes, you can search for your question and possibly get it answered in old posts, but sometimes it's nice to just put your specific situation out there for opinions, even if it is very very similar to other threads from previous years.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

Please listen to the wisdom and advice given here. These are parents whose kids have been in the sport for many years and they have witnessed the burn outs and injuries that have resulted in young gymnasts that were training far too many hours at too young of an age. All the potential in the world won’t mean a thing if she’s burnt out or injured by the time she’s 8.

My daughter at 4 did an hour a week in a rec class. At 5, she did two hours a week to prep her for preteam, and at 6 she went 4 hours a week while on preteam. The gradual increase was done purposefully to prevent burnout.

I will say that when my daughter started team, I am very thankful to have found chalkbucket before the crazy Facebook groups. It probably prevented some crazy gym mom moments. Otherwise, I may have thought that high hours and private lessons were necessary and normal. Gymnastics ca be an incredibly hard sport to navigate for parents, especially those that are completely new to the sport like we were. Please encourage new posters to ask questions, even if they have been asked before. The new parents need the wisdom of the seasoned parents, not a separate forum. The crazy could potentially be encouraged and not curbed without seasoned members responding.

 

[txgymfan]

^^^ Yes! Thank you! We have many awesome parents who have been in almost every gym situation. New parents need the wisdom of veterans, please share without judgemen.

 

[LJL07]

Please listen to the wisdom and advice given here. These are parents whose kids have been in the sport for many years and they have witnessed the burn outs and injuries that have resulted in young gymnasts that were training far too many hours at too young of an age. All the potential in the world won’t mean a thing if she’s burnt out or injured by the time she’s 8.

My daughter at 4 did an hour a week in a rec class. At 5, she did two hours a week to prep her for preteam, and at 6 she went 4 hours a week while on preteam. The gradual increase was done purposefully to prevent burnout.

I will say that when my daughter started team, I am very thankful to have found chalkbucket before the crazy Facebook groups. It probably prevented some crazy gym mom moments. Otherwise, I may have thought that high hours and private lessons were necessary and normal. Gymnastics ca be an incredibly hard sport to navigate for parents, especially those that are completely new to the sport like we were. Please encourage new posters to ask questions, even if they have been asked before. The new parents need the wisdom of the seasoned parents, not a separate forum. The crazy could potentially be encouraged and not curbed without seasoned members responding.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you are saying here. Problem is that most people posting these types of questions never seem to listen. I personally found chalk bucket very helpful. It prevented me from going along with a crazy high hour program with unreasonable level skipping and coaching for my youngest. She might not make it to the olympics, but she has a reasonably balanced life and is doing really well. I think I'm just jaded by all of the parents who think it is a great idea to have their little level 3 train 20+ hours per week to score 39s. They will be exhausted by the age of 10. If the message reaches one parent that it is a marathon and not a sprint, it is worth it to keep reiterating the same info.

FWIW, my older daughter did a rec class one time per week at 4. She started level 1 team at 6 years old and went 5 hours per week. She is a level 9 now. My younger daughter did a one hour "hotshots" class twice per week at the age of 4--it kept her entertained while big sister was practicing too. She started level 1 team at 5 years old and practiced 2.5 hours twice per week. At 6, she did level 3 and "trained" 9 hours per week. At 7, she did level 4 and went about 12-ish hours a week. She is now in 4th grade and a level 7 and trains about 25-ish hours per week. She enjoys it now. No way would she have enjoyed all of those hours at 6 or 7 years old on top of school.

 

[Cmumgym]

As long as she is in a squad with a coach teaching them the basics for development and having fun at the same time it doesn’t matter at this age if she’s training 1 hour a week 1.5. 2 or 3 hours. You shouldn’t be worrying about skills at this age. Just having fun while gaining strength and flexibility and also being able to learn to focus during that period of time.

 

[duyetanh]

Well at that age, Simone Biles did zero hours....just saying....
She will be fine.

 

[AtlGymMom2020]

Hi there congrats on your talented little tumbler! My DD is 7 and is in the middle of her first completion season as Xcel Silver ( our team uses Xcel Silver and Gold instead of Level 4&5 compulsories). After being pulled out rec classes at 5 (already in kindergarten) they placed her on the “Training Team” which is 4-5 year olds at 1.5 hour practices twice a week. This class was mostly conditioning. At the end of the school year she moved up to “Developmental Team” which was 2 hour practices x 3 times week. Mostly rising 1st-3rd graders. Now at 7 she is practicing 3 hours x 3 nights per week on a Silver team. We’ve never had any complaints with her at any stage with the time commitment, so if you are looking for more practice hours there are gyms that do pre-teams at her age at 3 hours per week. Hope this helps!