MAG Ages & levels

[jenjean70]

I don't understand why they don't have him do L9 if he doesn't want to do JD. That's just downright silly. Our region had more than 25 at regionals alone in the 15-16 YO age group. And I'd be very worried about overuse injuries with those kinds of hours -- unless it's a ton of conditioning, that just does not sound healthy for boys who are going through or have just finished puberty. It will be a heck of a lot harder to get on a college team with chronic injuries.

I agree. In my opinion they should have just let him do 9 and do what he can do. His scores might have been low but he would have been learning, improving and having fun with his friends. I know he's in all AP classes and that the work is tough but I really think he would have finished the season if he was in 9 with the other boys. As far as the hours- I have mentioned it to moms from other gyms and they are floored too. They condition maybe an hour- I know ours condition 30 min. in the evening. I know many of the home school boys go to airosti and the chiropractor a lot. I haven't needed to take mine yet. He's had heel pain and very slight wrist and knee pain in the past but nothing major (knock on wood) and I hope to keep him that way. Boys are different than girls- for girls it's a sprint so they might need those hours....I do worry about the boys though.

 

[profmom]

I know we've talked about this before. I am glad you're keeping a close eye on your guy for overuse stuff. He's doing very well, and I'm hoping he will stay healthy and keep moving forward all season. Seriously, don't be afraid to push back if you think it's necessary! But I'm looking forward to hearing about what I anticipate will be a great year for him.

My guy is also doing the honors/AP track, and even with our lower hours, it is tough to maintain a healthy balance. He's gradually getting better, however, at managing his time so that he's not burning his candle at both ends to keep up. It's possible to maintain a very rigorous academic program in a public school while doing this crazy sport, but it's no walk in the park!

 

[jenjean70]

I know we've talked about this before. I am glad you're keeping a close eye on your guy for overuse stuff. He's doing very well, and I'm hoping he will stay healthy and keep moving forward all season. Seriously, don't be afraid to push back if you think it's necessary! But I'm looking forward to hearing about what I anticipate will be a great year for him.

My guy is also doing the honors/AP track, and even with our lower hours, it is tough to maintain a healthy balance. He's gradually getting better, however, at managing his time so that he's not burning his candle at both ends to keep up. It's possible to maintain a very rigorous academic program in a public school while doing this crazy sport, but it's no walk in the park!

Thank you. Me too. He is in 6th grade this year and the twins have way more homework in 6th grade than my other two ever had. He has been late to practice a couple of times because of homework and most recently I had him take his homework to practice because we carpool and I couldn't take him later. Luckily the coaches are understanding and they let him sit and do his homework and join in when he was done. The coaches are great and they try really hard with all of the boys. Their goal is to create elite athletes and for them it's still trial and error. They are very open and willing to discuss issues and change so that's a good thing.

 

[profmom]

LOL, sixth grade was the worst for my kids! Eleventh second worst for oldest, who has since graduated. My daughter is grimly slogging through 11th right now -- she has two APs this year and honors physics. The thing that's driving her the most crazy is that she has to do all her labs in google drive. I feel like I should be getting paid for serving as her tech support person.

My guy has occasionally had to stop practicing early on Mondays because he has a huge biweekly assignment due in AP World History. His coach gives him a little bit of a hard time about it because that means missing strength (which is what he needs more than anything else right now), but he definitely understands. I don't mind a little bit of picking if it encourages my beloved child to do more of this particular assignment on Sundays!

 

[skschlag]

That is tough. D is not in a lot of honors/AP. He has one pre-AP but really, they do not believe in a lot of homework, and with the block schedule and an off period, so far, he has been able to get it done at school. Next year he hopes for 2 off periods, but that will be to go to the earlier practice, so I expect an increase in homework. I hope it works out that he can handle it. He will do 2 summer school classes this summer to try to get ahead a bit..

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Off topic. Why is everyone in the US so brave in doing homework? Here at least 75 percent of the kids doesn't do their homework and grades on tests are good in general...

 

[Madden3]

I don't know...It might have been the coach trying to soften the blow of JD- but that's just my guess...I know the coaches have talked to other coaches and they told me that they fear that men's college gymnastics will be gone in ten years...I sure hope not!

Well unfortunately the trend for decades has been fewer and fewer MAG college teams. Our team has lost promising boys because they and their parents think they will have better opportunity in other sports- and you cannot argue with that. Unless that trend is arrested and reversed, eventually you will have so few college teams that they will not have enough other teams to compete against.

But I still have no idea how that is relevant to whether a 15 year old can compete 9. Maybe the coaches did not want the kid on the team because they think his 9 scores would not reflect well on the gym, or that 9 skills are so far out of his reach he would be miserable trying to be a 9. But in that case they should say that. A 14 year old boy who has been doing gym for years will have a pretty good idea of his own status as far as skills, I would think. Implying that 15 year old 9s are not wanted by any gym is not true. But of course I have no idea how short this boy would have fallen as far as expectation for 9.

 

[Madden3]

Jard, the way I understand it, many High Schools in the US base grades ("grades" means the academic score for each class) on work product as well as knowledge demonstrated on tests. In other words, getting ok grades depend on the kids doing the required homework. And college admission depends on grades (and other things) and not just the SAT. A great SAT score can do wonders, but it has to be pretty darn great if the kid's HS grades are poor because they never did any homework. Additionally, if a kid has any hope of doing Div 1 or Div 2 college sports in the US (at least, the first year in college), they have to have met the grade point average the NCAA requires for all four years of HS. At least this is my general understanding, we have homeschooled since my oldest was in 5th grade, so this is stuff I have just started learning recently as my older DS may go back to school for high school. I am sure other parents here can correct me.

 

[jenjean70]

Well unfortunately the trend for decades has been fewer and fewer MAG college teams. Our team has lost promising boys because they and their parents think they will have better opportunity in other sports- and you cannot argue with that. Unless that trend is arrested and reversed, eventually you will have so few college teams that they will not have enough other teams to compete against.

But I still have no idea how that is relevant to whether a 15 year old can compete 9. Maybe the coaches did not want the kid on the team because they think his 9 scores would not reflect well on the gym, or that 9 skills are so far out of his reach he would be miserable trying to be a 9. But in that case they should say that. A 14 year old boy who has been doing gym for years will have a pretty good idea of his own status as far as skills, I would think. Implying that 15 year old 9s are not wanted by any gym is not true. But of course I have no idea how short this boy would have fallen as far as expectation for 9.

I don't know. He struggled with level 7 last year so 9 might have been a stretch.

 

[Madden3]

Ok that makes more sense. JD may have been the most appropriate option in that case, and while I think it is unfortunate that JD is not given more credit/respect, I can understand a kid not wanting to do JD when in fact they might be a decent 8 but are just not ready for 9! This is the trouble with this stupid upper age limit.

 

[jenjean70]

Ok that makes more sense. JD may have been the most appropriate option in that case, and while I think it is unfortunate that JD is not given more credit/respect, I can understand a kid not wanting to do JD when in fact they might be a decent 8 but are just not ready for 9! This is the trouble with this stupid upper age limit.

Yes! I agree!

 

[profmom]

I don't see how someone could be a decent 8 and not be "ready for 9." The only thing that changes across the board is the dismount, and I'd think that any kid who's managing all the special requirements in 8 is well prepared to upgrade at least a few dismounts. Routines that fulfill all of the L8 requirements would do well at L9; plenty of L9s are not yet there on rings.

In some ways, because of the lack of special requirements for L9, it might be easier to do 9 than 8. I agree that going from struggles with L7 to either 8 or 9 would be tough, particularly on pommels, rings, pbars, and high bar.

 

[jenjean70]

I don't see how someone could be a decent 8 and not be "ready for 9." The only thing that changes across the board is the dismount, and I'd think that any kid who's managing all the special requirements in 8 is well prepared to upgrade at least a few dismounts. Routines that fulfill all of the L8 requirements would do well at L9; plenty of L9s are not yet there on rings.

In some ways, because of the lack of special requirements for L9, it might be easier to do 9 than 8. I agree that going from struggles with L7 to either 8 or 9 would be tough, particularly on pommels, rings, pbars, and high bar.

What dismount changes in level 9? I am curious since mine will only be a level 8 this year.

 

[sce]

What dismount changes in level 9? I am curious since mine will only be a level 8 this year.

The dismount requirements are tougher. At level 8 you need A dismounts, level 9 B dismounts and level 10 C dismounts (for full credit that is).

I will say that beyond the dismount requirements, level 9 is more flexible than level 8, since 8 has the special requirements. Level 9 requires a swing to handstand on rings, but only about 10% of level 9s here had that requirement last season. There was a range of abilities at level 9 and JD here. There were JDs that I thought would have done fine at level 9 and JD's that did basically level 6 routines. There were very strong level 9s and some less strong.

 

[jenjean70]

The dismount requirements are tougher. At level 8 you need A dismounts, level 9 B dismounts and level 10 C dismounts (for full credit that is).

I will say that beyond the dismount requirements, level 9 is more flexible than level 8, since 8 has the special requirements. Level 9 requires a swing to handstand on rings, but only about 10% of level 9s here had that requirement last season. There was a range of abilities at level 9 and JD here. There were JDs that I thought would have done fine at level 9 and JD's that did basically level 6 routines. There were very strong level 9s and some less strong.

Do you know what type of dismount double backs off rings, p-bars and high bar are?

 

[skschlag]

DOuble tuck....
Pbars is a B, high bar B, rings B

I think.....

 

[jenjean70]

DOuble tuck....
Pbars is a B, high bar B, rings B

I think.....

Thanks! He has his mock meet tomorrow so I am interested to see how his routines are constructed and how he executes them. Supposedly he is double tucking off high bar, par bars and rings (although he did that last year-they want him to try to add a full twist this year- don't think it's gonna happen)....I am nervous and excited at the same time!

 

[sce]

DOuble tuck....
Pbars is a B, high bar B, rings B

I think.....

Yes, correct

 

[profmom]

I thought double back off pbars was a C.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

From the FIG MAG CoP 2017-2020:
Rings is B
Pbars of the end is B, of the Side is C
Hbar is B