Advantages to Competitive Gymnastics?

[AmyB]

My dd is uptraining to move to Team at Level 4 next season. She is 6, strong, flexible, makes good corrections, and team coaches like her. We go to the best gym in our city which consistently produces high level optional gymnasts. Before committing to team, I am wondering what advantages she will get from the experience. The time and costs are obvious, so I am looking for the advantages to help justify the commitment. Things I think about: DD loves gymnastics, but what about missing out on other sports. She is likely to be very tall. College is already paid for. Please help me see what you love about this sport. Thanks.

 

[coachmolly]

Competitive gymnastics provides opportunities to learn so much more than gymnastics skills. It provides a great place to learn the importance of setting goals, making steps towards achieving them, and feeling success when they are finally reached. It teaches how to deal with disappointment and overcome it, how to take corrections, hard work, and discipline. It gives children something to be committed to, to love, to work hard for. I'm in college now and have so many friends who have yet to find something to commit themselves to and work hard for. I am so grateful that I had gymnastics to take that roll in my life.

 

[AmyB]

When her first grade teacher described her, the first words were "confident, all-business" I know much of that goes to gymnastics success, but I still worry that she will work her hardest, love it, commit herself, and then physically grow out of it. I know it would break her heart to quit advancing now, but I wonder how much worse it might be if she can't do gymnastics when she grows.

 

[GymnastsMomma]

Besides the physical advantages it gives your gymnasts, but friends, memories, and experiences for a life time. My kids love gymnastics and the friends they make.. they are 9,7, and 4 and they love their coaches and teammates. Even if she grows out of it, she still have the memories that last a lifetime.

Good luck to her!

 

[CoachGoofy]

Things that I learned from gymnastics, & that my team girls are learning, besides skills, include:
-hard work
-being a good teammate
-working towards a goal
-Perseverance
-Strength & coordination-I've seen studies referenced that indicate that gymnasts learn new sports faster than other athletes, which is pretty awesome, isn't it?
-It's an object lesson in everyone has their own strengths-there are many things at which one can shine.
-Dealing with pressure
-Being both a gracious winner and a graceful loser. My compulsory girls awe me with this one.
-The concept of "journey, not a destination". Because there IS no instant success in gymnastics, and that's not a bad thing.

I don't believe in "too tall" (my little sister stopped training when she was 6' tall...to focus on basketball. Cliche, right? But she was good at both). She's 6. She has years before she'd theoretically have to worry about adjusting bar settings to accomodate height. Until that point, enjoy the journey. The scenery is AWESOME.

 

[greyhoundrescue]

What I've found to be our biggest benefit from competitive gymnastics is that it has given my girls the confidence that if they set their minds to do something, they can figure out how to do it. It might take a scraped knee and a failure or too, but when they "get" it, they've made it! That's a really important life skill for a kid to learn at such a young age.

Also, I guess I look at gymnastics as a marathon, not a sprint. They might get tired or lag behind or take a different route down the line, but in doing so they will have the foundation of hardwork, discipline, looking at both the whole and the parts, and solid conditioning to help them achieve any future goals.

Do I think my girls will end up in the Olympics or even on a college team? Probably not. But, do I think they will still be amazing, well-round, and successful? Definitely.

I feel the same way about any sport or activity. My boys are competitive swimmers (and divers....gulp, I still panic at that thought--they're tiny) and they work HARD to be their best. But, in my opinion, they are gaining just as much if not more than what they would if they played six or seven different sports at just the recreational level.

Side note--gymnastics is GREAT conditioning for hundreds of other sports. Did anyone catch the Olympics puff piece about Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek's training regimes? Definitely some gymnastics there.

Whew, sorry I was so long winded. I'm horridly verbose

 

[greyhoundrescue]

--double post deleted--

 

[greyhoundrescue]

Whoops, sorry for the double post. No Idea how that happened. Any way to delete one of them?

 

[Shelovesthebars]

I just watched a college gymnastics meet where on of the best competitors is 5'9". There is a girl at our gym who is 6'2" competing level 8 going to level 9 this year and she is 13. Her mom is one of the lower level coaches and I sat next to her one day. She said she would have thought by now that her daughter would have quit because of her size but her daughter loves it and could not leave her friends. She is also just plain good. We are at an elite gym that produces a lot of great gymnast too. If she loves it, let her do it. Don't assume that she will be missing out. What could be missing if she finds something she truly excells at and loves? Gymnasts who go on to do other sports excell at the new sports too because they are in tip top shape. So it is a win win situation regardless.

 

[AmyB]

"I just watched a college gymnastics meet where one of the best competitors is 5'9". There is a girl at our gym who is 6'2" competing level 8 going to level 9 this year and she is 13."

This is very encouraging to me. My dd's coaches said if she was strong enough she could overcome her potential height, but wasn't aware of any very tall high level gymnasts. Thanks for the encouragement.

I'll worry less about the future and just let her enjoy herself today. Her first love really is gymnastics, and she is good. She can learn competence, confidence, team work, and graciousness. Plus she is super fit - six pack abs at 6 years old, so I know the sport is good for her. I like hearing her recognize the different skills sets of her peers, and beam with pride when she improves herself.

As an aside, my husband (former college basketball player) is overwhelmingly impressed with the coaching and her workouts. I think he was surprised to see how hard the girls work and how much the coaches get out of them.

 

[emorymom]

Be sure to base your predictions on her adult height, upon her current height, if her height percentile has been fairly consistent. DD 6 is about 95th percentile for height (currently 93rd percentile) and always has been right around there. So she will be about 5'9". Based on her parent's heights she would be a bit less.