WAG Age for Level

[LinnieC]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

 

[LinnieC]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Very interesting article, but I strongly disagree with the notion that all skills need to be introduced by 13.5 if they are ever going to be of competition standard, or will ever be performed in s routine.

That is just not the case. I am sure all of us as coaches introduce brand new skills to our kids at 14, 15, 16, 17 and so on. These skills may never have even been touched on before, and they can successfully get these skills to the standard where they can compete with them with great success in a routine.

Sure the model that is successful most of the time is when we teach the kids the skills at a younger age. But this is not always the case for all gymnasts.

Yes, the growth spurt can wreak havoc in a child progress. But many gymnasts don't have a rapid growth spurt, especially girls. Many will grow slowly enough that they can continue to reset themselves enough that they don't lose any skills at all (I was like this). Many girls also don't loose any skills during their growth spurt, others lose them but get them back with careful training. Many come back even stronger after their growth spurt as their adult muscle develops.

Of course as coaches we need to be profoundly aware of our gymnasts needs when they are changing physically, as the rick of injury is higher. But putting the idea out there that kids can't learn new skills after this is highly detrimental.

Also the idea that fear gets in the way once they reach a certain age is limiting. Yes, for some kids fear does start to develop at this age because for the first time the gymnast can think in the abstract, they can consider the possibility of things going wrong even if they have never seen them go wrong. But this just isn't the case for all gymnasts. Some gymnasts develop less fear as they do into their teen years, their rebellious nature can cause them to want to take new leaps in life. Other kids might not really change at all on this area. But most kids who do develop fear can work through it. Learning to cope with and move through fear is an important life lesson, we can't just say "oh well, too late to learn anything new now".

The other problem with these claims is that they are assuming fear is a bad thing in gymnasts! But it is not! I am sure we all have those gymnasts who we wished had more fear! The ones who want to come and throw that skill they are not ready for! Fear is an important response that keeps us safe and it keeps us alive. Older gymnasts can learn to use their fear to their advantage to read when they are ready to try a new skill and when they need more drills.

Obviously spotting is harder when a gymnast becomes older. I do personally try to ensure kids obtain at least their round off flic, tuck and standing tuck before they get bigger than me (I am 5'0") so that doesn't take long. But constant spotting is not needed to learn high level skills. As coaches we need to coach smarter and not harder. There is so much amazing equipment available these days to mean we can do more drills and spot less, and teach skills more effectively. I don't know about all of your but when I teach a skill with more drills and less spotting the skill is almost always better at the end of the day.

The final notion I disagree with is that gymnastics has to be a race against time. The only time I can see this situation being 100% correct is when the child is going for a college scholarship (we don't even have college gymnastics in Australia so this is irrelevant to us).

Sure the minimum age for the Olympics is the year you are 15 turning 16, but this seems to give coaches the idea that if you are not ready for international competition by this age then it's too late. But why is it too late? This is the minimum age and there is no maximum age. A gymnast can qualify for the first time for elite at 17, 18, 19 there is no reason why not. Amazing gymnasts like a hush and Mohini have taught us that our elite gymnasts are certainly not over the hill at 21.

But the same goes for our gymnasts who are just competing through the levels. Why is it so commonly an issue in gyms in the USA that high school graduation is the end of their gymnastics careers. It is certainly not the case here in Australia. I have kids on my team who have finished High school - and might be 18, 19, 20. There is no notion here that you have to quit or stop competing after school. Many will continue to train and compete beyond heir school years. Sure these numbers are lower than our abundant supply of 10 year olds but why are they written out of so many programs when they are 18.

And of course adult gymnastics and masters games go right against the theories of this article. Lots of,people don't even take up gymnastics until well into their adulthood and they still manage to learn and compete new skills with much success.

End rant!

 

[ascarter1]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

Dd competed level 6 at age 10. Our gym doesn't compete lv 5. She didn't start gymnastics until 8 and skipped lv 4 and lv 5. She's 11 and is lv 7.

 

[Musicmama]

Cool article. Interesting thoughts on need in all your skills by 13 1/2...

Here is another article showing the age/levels of various elite gymnasts.

http://thegymreport.weebly.com/news/timelinenatteam

To clarify - the levels mentioned in this article are all pre-2013 and so would be the old levels, correct?

 

[MomIdidit!]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

Yes, our gym will skip level 5 depending on the group of girls.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

Dd's gym competes both 5 & 6. But not every gymnast does both. Some skip 5 and go from 4-6. Some compete 4, 5 & 6. Some compete 4, 5 and then go to 7. It really depends on the gymnast. Honestly we aren't there yet, so I have no idea how it it is determined. I do know we have a gymnast that just competed level 4 that is now training with a 6/7 group, so I know it sometimes happens. But *most* gymnasts seem to do 1 level a year including 5 & 6. The average level 6 is probably 10-11 years old.

 

[cbifoja]

Our gym hasn't competed L5 since the new level switch of 2013. Our girls have scored out of L5 at either an in-house meet or their first invitational and then moved to optionals.

DD competed a half season at new L6 as a 9 year old but our current L6s range from 11 to 14.

 

[Committed]

Our gym competes 1/2 season of L5 then moves directly to L6 or L7 for the following Optionals season.

 

[gymmiemom]

Random question- but for those who say their Level 6's are on average 9-10 years old, does your gym typically skip Level 5? I know that is a trend in many areas, and I was wondering if that affected average ages for Level 6. Thank you!

Our gym skips 5. And 6 if they have the skills for 7.

 

[MomIdidit!]

OP I hope I'm not intruding but this post has me wondering......is it very difficult for most gymnasts to score out of 5 and move from 4-6? I know the gymmie would be required to do a back walk over or backhandspring on the beam and a front and back tuck on the floor. In my opinion, the level 5 bar routine looks very difficult compared to level 4. Does anyone have experience with moving from 4-6 and scoring out of 5?

 

[Texasmomof3]

We daughter went from 4 to 6, scoring out of 5. Basically, you need all the 5 skills for 6, so if you can't score out of 5, you probably aren't ready for 6 either.

The 6 bars requirements are tougher than 5.

 

[RAMS]

My dd scored out of 4 and 5 in a few months and competed 6 last spring. She struggled mostly on bars, the cast fly away. This season she's a level 7 and I would say bars is still the main struggle. Getting her start value for cast handstand seems to be the biggest issue. I'm not sure I would recommend moving that fast. It has caused my dd confidence issues at meets. She's doing well in practice and struggling mentally at meets. Wish we would have slowed down.

 

[ascarter1]

OP I hope I'm not intruding but this post has me wondering......is it very difficult for most gymnasts to score out of 5 and move from 4-6? I know the gymmie would be required to do a back walk over or backhandspring on the beam and a front and back tuck on the floor. In my opinion, the level 5 bar routine looks very difficult compared to level 4. Does anyone have experience with moving from 4-6 and scoring out of 5?

DD moved from lv 3 to lv 6 last year. She had a successful year finishing 4th at state with a 36.925. She is competing lv 7 this year, and so far so good.

Skipping levels ins't for everyone but it worked for us!

 

[raenndrops]

To clarify - the levels mentioned in this article are all pre-2013 and so would be the old levels, correct?

Yes, that would be the old levels.

 

[Musicmama]

Yes, that would be the old levels.

Wow, so there were a few current level 3's at age 8 in there and the average at age 8 would be current level 4.

 

[raenndrops]

Wow, so there were a few current level 3's at age 8 in there and the average at age 8 would be current level 4.

Yep, YG turned 8 in 2012. She was a level 4 repeater that year. It made her feel better to know that Gabby Douglas competed L4 at the age of 8 too.

 

[thefellowsmom]

My dd skipped over level four and five and competed six all in one season. The level 6 season was a bit rough, but mostly because this wasn't a willy nilly or rush through plan for her. It was thoughtfully planned and implemented by very good coaches. They took the level six season and focused on work in the gym. They hardly worked on routines at all, which of course made her less competitive, but the work in the gym has led to successful level seven and eight seasons and she is well set up to move to nine next season barring injury or setbacks and is currently working on several level ten upgrades as well.

She was eight/nine when they did this and our gym generally competes six and not five. There have been exceptions to that but not the norm.

There seems to be such a rush these days with this notion that you have to be elite by 11 or ready for college recruitment at 13 that I think many gyms try to skip through without the foundation, experience and plan to make it all successful. Unfortunately I think this many times leads to frustration, burnout, injury and attrition.

 

[meganliz77]

OP I hope I'm not intruding but this post has me wondering......is it very difficult for most gymnasts to score out of 5 and move from 4-6? I know the gymmie would be required to do a back walk over or backhandspring on the beam and a front and back tuck on the floor. In my opinion, the level 5 bar routine looks very difficult compared to level 4. Does anyone have experience with moving from 4-6 and scoring out of 5?

My DD just did this... she began the season competing Level 4. Had a successful state meet, then the pressure was on... within 2 weeks she learned the Level 5 routines and competed them (4 girls total on our team did this - DD youngest at 8 and the others were 11 and 12 - the other level 4's remained 4's for the time being). She got her mobility score and then next practice began learning her Level 6 routines. Our gym doesn't compete Level 5.

She had two weeks to learn those also. Just had her first level 6 meet and did okay (qualified to State even). Mentally (for us both) it has been pretty stressful as of recently and I am looking forward to it all slowing down a bit now. I would imagine she will stay a 6 through all of next year. She's got plenty of time. And now fears seem to be creeping in when there weren't really any before (BWO on beam and this last week the ROBHS-BT on floor - both of which she has but is afraid she will "land on her head" so has been inconsistently doing them).

I would imagine it is not for every kid. And I will let you know here in a month or two, how things are going and if it is something I regret - once my head stops spinning! LOL

 

[MomIdidit!]

Thank you for all your responses. It seems like right after earl February states dds team will have about two weeks to learn the level 5 routine and have a meet to see who will score out. I'm glad to read that this is a feasible plan. Is

Te team is so young.....6-8 years old so not sure what the rush is all about. Unfortunately it seems like this is the trend.

I still feel like the lvl 4 bar routine looks much more difficult then 5, am I wrong on this observation?