MAG Ages for MAG levels and practice times

[momintexas]

I'm a parent of a level 4 gymnast and in looking around I'm trying to get a feel for the ages and workout schedules of other boys to see how the future looks. My son just turned 7 and is working out 4 hours a week. We are doing local meets with other branches of our gym for level 4 and then when he moves up to level 5 he will do USAG meets.
I'm also really excited about the MAG forum!

 

[sportyspice]

My son is 11 and training Level 5 skills for 14 hours per week. I don't know how the US MAG levels compare to ours in New Zealand though.

When my son started gym at age 7 he trained pre-comp class for 4 hours per week. There is a lot of emphasis on strength conditioning so that any new skill they are presented with is relatively easy to achieve and just needs tidying up.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I have two level 4 boys; one is 10 and one just turned 8. They train 6 hours a week.

Right now my level 4s compete at USAG meets, but starting next year, I'm probably not going to have my 4s compete at all.

 

[BlairBob]

I've heard of a lot of gyms not competing L4's. Cypress Academy in Texas, one of the largest MAG programs in the nations does not and simply holds in-house meets.

I know of some other gyms that do not because they have some many other boys competing in other levels so it's a matter of # of coach's or program philosophy ( only the bonus skills make L4 remotely interesting ). However L4 has been created to get boys onto team easily. This is why there is a L3 in the USAIGC program. There is a goal of getting boys onto team within a season like they can do in other sports which are taking away our base of athletes ( whereas girl's don't really have this problem in WAG-and they tend to take 2-3 years before being ready to compete as a compulsory and now they even compete L1-3! )

Our 4's currently do 9 hours which is 3dx3h. Sort of on the high end of the spectrum for L4. Last year my L4 and 5 did 7.5 together ( which was somewhat of a nightmare and not enough for the L5 IMO ). At one gym I worked at our boy's team L5-7 did 9 hours I think which was on the low end. Many L5-6 do 11-13 hours per week. Many optional boys do a minimum of 14-16 with L8-10 doing around 20-25+.

Some L4 teams only do 4 hours, 2dx2h/week. Some do 5@ 1.5hx2d/w +2h on another day or 2hx3d/week. Or 2-2-3.

Next year I will probably move up most of these 4's to L5 but I think we'll stay at the same amount of hours. Because of scheduling issues I don't think I could add much hours also due to their age (8-10). They currently get out at 7-730 ( 2 nights at 730 ) and it's a push to get them here at 4 instead of 430. 330 won't work I think. So maybe we'll extend 2 days a week to 8 or 830. I'll probably be adding some new kids to 4 hopefully. Officially, I have the advanced rec boys train with team for 2 hours per day 1-3d/week. These are boys who are beyond the current rec classes and have talent and are fairly well behaved ( though my 4's can be trying ). I'd like to get them on team but that will depend on commitment and all. If I get any new boys, I might set them up to only train part of the practice time the compulsory group does since I won't have enough boys to split them into two seperate groups.

As well, I want to train one boy for future stars but I don't think I will have him train this seperately though maybe I will have him spend more time with me afterwards ( since he tends to be more focused ). I'd like to have him skip L5 but I don't think his tumbling will come along. We might add hours for the summer which many gyms do or change them to earlier afternoon or morning ( which will depend on my schedule ). I will have to figure this out after we get through the season as I just took over the program.

 

[Shane]

I think just doing little meets for him at Level 4 is a great idea. Level 4 is simply to get the gymnast to realize what it is like to be on a gymnastics team. If he enjoys competing, then he should move up when he is ready and compete at USAG events.

The Level 4's at my gym that compete work out 7 hours a week (2 hours Tues/Thurs, 3 hours on Saturday), and the Level 4's that do not compete have the same, except they don't come in on Saturday. They do not have to work out a whole lot, especially if they are new to the sport.

 

[munchkin3]

In our YMCA in FL L4-6 all practice 9 hrs a week. 3 days 3 hrs.
Ages range from 6-12.

HOWEVER...the L6 comes for an additional 1 1/2 hrs per week.

There is also a L8 that comes 4 days a week for 3 hrs per workout....

These are the standard workouts for our gym, but they are also flexible...some kids can't make it right a 3 pm.

Pre-team comes twice a week for 3 hrs total....

The coach is quite understanding when it comes to adjustment period...

Our gym only competes USAG...and YMCA Nationals...

We go to 4-6 meets a year...

No matter how you slice it.....this sport is VERY time consuming for our whole family.....it also affects eating habits and general well being for everyone..( for the better of course!)

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I have two level 4 boys; one is 10 and one just turned 8. They train 6 hours a week.

Right now my level 4s compete at USAG meets, but starting next year, I'm probably not going to have my 4s compete at all.

To add to this: my L5s train 9 hours a week and my L6 and up boys (two L6s, one L9) train 12 hours/week.

 

[Hammy20]

My L4s workout 9hrs/wk. 3days/wk, 3hrs each day. All of the L4s compete at USAG sanctioned meets. They typically do 3 to 4 meets a year (one of those being the state meet).

My L5s workout 12hrs/wk. 3days/wk, 4hrs each day. Our 6s workout 16hrs/wk, 4days/wk, 4hrs each day. And the 7s and up do 20hrs/wk.

As for my pre-team, they workout 3hrs/wk. 2days/wk, 1.5hrs each day. I also have a few that have an additional 1.5hr workout during the week.

The biggest jump in training time comes between pre-team and L4. Especially at my gym. This is why we make the transition during the summer.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I'm In Australia so its slightly different. But our levels are quite similar to the US levels. For us the norm is.

Level 1 - 2-3 hours per week
Level 2 - 2-4 hours per week
Level 3 - 4-6 hours per week
Level 4 - 6-10 hours per week
Level 5 - 10-15 hours per week
Level 6 - 12-18 hours per week
Level 7/8 - 18-24 hours per week
Level 9/10 20-30 hours per week.

We compete the boys from level 1 and feel it is beneficial because the biggest things you are going up against is team sports with boys. Boys can start competing straight away in team sports and many would rather this than spend years training and perfecting skills just to be ready to compete.