Parents Any words of wisdom? XCEL Gold to Level 4

[For Flip Sake]

My daughter just finished her Xcel Gold season in spring. She began practicing with the level 4s in summer and decided she wants to change from Xcel to DP because it’s more intense at her gym and she wants to challenge herself. To be honest, I’m nervous for her. I liked the flexibility and less intense Xcel path but it’s her sport so I’m following her lead.

For those of you whose gymast went to a more difficult program at some point, any advice on what to expect?

 

[GymnastGirlypop]

Well, I competed silver 3 seasons ago and then switched to level 4 which I did for two years, I did ok my first year and then improved a ton on my repeat year. I would just say that the scoring is a lot harder than excel, and level 4 is a challenge but if your daughter is looking for that I think she will do great.

 

[For Flip Sake]

Thank you! I had heard about the tougher scoring too, hopefully it won’t hurt her confidence too much.

 

[Dahlialover]

She can always go back to xcel if she doesn’t like DP. It’s good to try new things!

 

[estamey21]

Definitely take your daughter’s lead! If she’s motivated, this could potentially be a very rewarding experience for her. I would give her a whole season to adjust to the Level 4 curriculum, and then at the end of the year, make the decision to move back to Xcel if she’s not tolerating it well. It might take her a few months to adapt to the “mood” of DP, so if she’s struggling a bit, just remind her to be patient and stay positive. And definitely don’t get discouraged by the scoring at competitions. She will likely score lower than her peers in her first year, which is normal.

Good luck!

 

[raenndrops]

Be ready to have "text errors." In Xcel, the judges judged based on what they saw. There was no deduction if you switched the order of your passes or substituted a skill that was working that day for one that wasn't. The judges know exactly what the Level 4 routines are supposed to look like. They are comparing each gymnast to that.
The good news is that your daughter, coming from Gold and working with the L4s for a while now, could have a good first season. If her scores are a little low early in the season, she will still have time to get them up. If she can get a ≥36.0 all around 2x, USAG says she can skip L5 and go to L6, an optional level similar to Xcel Platinum (but with higher split angle requirements and cast angles needed for no deduction).

Good luck!

 

[For Flip Sake]

@Dahlialover @estamey21 @raenndrops thank you for the great insight! I’ll be better prepared knowing to expect lower scores overall and likely lower than her teammates at first. Love this community

 

[BusyMomof2]

Hi. Having been through this myself - she might be bored. Xcel gold is a lot more fun than level 4. Depending on how your gym trained gold, she might not learn any new skills and will instead be focusing on form/shaping. My daughter went from gold to L4 and was miserable/bored out of her mind. The gym decided to have her score out of L4 so it was out of the way, she did another year of gold to work on form/shaping and is now a level 6 and doing better than ever. I know not all gyms use Xcel in the same way but in our case, same coaches for Xcel/DP and this path worked really well for her. She did have to score out of L5 as well but that was also a breeze. So - in some cases, Xcel is a great path for getting to DP optionals.

 

[DataMom]

My daughter competed L4 last year and had 2 girls on her team that had moved from Xcel Silver that did well. Another girl tried to move over but didn't like it, so she competed Xcel Gold and I believe is planning to switch to L4 this year instead. I think the advice you've gotten is spot on as far as text errors and potential boredom.

 

[jm_gymmom]

Scores will be lower, so prepare for that. Also agree with the person above who mentioned “text errors”. Attention to detail is extremely important in compulsory levels.

 

[For Flip Sake]

Thanks everyone!!