Advice for gymnast from small gym

[ryantroop]

^^^ Woot! clear, concise, and without an argument. Fantastic post, and one I agree with.

A loose foam pit, however, is not the only answer.

 

[GymSurvivor]

YouTube - ‪Lauren Mitchell : Espoir 2011 - Aspire Gymnastics Academy‬‏

Lauren has gotten to quite a high level and her gym is a set-up/take down gym with no pits.

You can do it to

 

[NGL780309]

YouTube - ‪Lauren Mitchell : Espoir 2011 - Aspire Gymnastics Academy‬‏

Lauren has gotten to quite a high level and her gym is a set-up/take down gym with no pits.

You can do it to

Something about her reminds me of a young Simona Amanar.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

YouTube - ‪Lauren Mitchell : Espoir 2011 - Aspire Gymnastics Academy‬‏

Lauren has gotten to quite a high level and her gym is a set-up/take down gym with no pits.

You can do it to

lauren is very good. a level 9-10 gymnast. but eventually, she will move to the national team training center. she will not progress to where her biology could take her without the proper facility. and if you know britain's NTC you know that it is chock full of training devices and pits.

 

[nationalchampion97]

We use our pit for pit bar and stuff, and its a great necessity, but it won't make or break your career. We don't really use it tumbling wise, a lot of the class kids play in it..

 

[ivyagogo]

We have a big Resi, but no in ground pit. The water table in our area is too high for a pit.

 

[iluvgym]

We have a big Resi, but no in ground pit. The water table in our area is too high for a pit.

That was our problem too so we built up. We built a raised platform for the tumbling strip/vault runway, and at the end is a loose foam above ground pit.

 

[Northstar2400]

Well here is my POV. I am from a very very small gym. No pits no tumble track and only one regulation set of bars and one reflex beam. we are training level 8s after many of our gymnasts quit do to age a long time ago when our coach moved. We have a new coach who works really hard and has set up a practice for the optionals and a seperate open gym at our "sister" gym that is about 20 mins away. That gym is much bigger and has 2 differant pits a tumble track a few in ground tramps a resi pit pit bar etc. that we get to use for 6+ hours a month. So even though we are from a small gym we have worked with another gym to work out pits...the only problem is most of us optional girls hate using the loose foam pit as this is the first year weve ever used it and its hard to get used to and some of us are scared to use it because it is soo different!

 

[gymalex]

You really don't need a pit for lower optionals. Once you start training release moves it's helpful, but if you have a coach who is a very experienced spotter you should be okay. I wouldn't worry about it until your daughter is going to start training for L9.

 

[ccgmom]

Look at the big picture

There are always going to be other gyms that have something we think seems our gym is missing. Better equipment, lower prices, produce more champions, etc. As a parent, the thing I have to care about most is the safety, well being, and happiness of my child.

If you are confident that your coach is well trained to work with upper level gymnasts, and you believe he or she has your child's best interest at heart, and relates to your child in a way that elicits her best gymnastics, then my advice is to talk to your coach about your concern. I'll bet a coach like that has already spent a lot of time thinking about the lack of pits and how they will still provide adequate training.

If the answer to any of those things is no, then you owe it to your talented child to look in another direction whether that is another sport or another gym.

 

[Flippers Mom]

Flipper went to a very small gym with minimal equipment through level 7. We loved the owner and coaches and felt a strong sense of loyalty since she had been attending classes there since she was 3.5 years old. However, we choose to change gyms for level 8. The difficult skills at higher levels are hard on the body. We ended up at a gym with excellent coaches and good equipment (nothing fancy, but the old gym didn't even have a strap bar). Pits help alleviate some of the wear and tear of dismounts and tumbling on growing bodies.

 

[stargym8]

our gym doesn't have any pitts either. but a few times a year they take thte upper level girls to a gym that does... and it really helps!

 

[jdf]

My 12 year old has had three over use type injuries. Anything you can do to reduce the number of hard landings will be of lasting benefit to their joints.