Anybody Else Start Late?

[alliegracecole]

I started very simple tumbling classes at a cheer gym when I was ten (maybe eleven.. I'm now fifteen). I was not committed to tumbling whatsoever, it was only once a week and I would sometimes skip practices or would just stop going for a whole month. Also, my teacher was very lazy, he almost never pushed us and would run each class very slowly. At that age, I really needed the 'push' too I liked tumbling more than any other sport I had tried (I've tried so many sports it's ridiculous), but I was just very lazy and silly and young. I even stopped for an entire year because my dad bugged me into starting karate. I stopped karate after the year was over, and went back to tumbling. After being in tumbling for about three years, I had stayed in the same level the whole time. When I came back, I was really motivated to get the rest of my skills and move up to the next level. Eventually I started learning more and more about gymnastics, and had wanted to do it SO badly.. So I moved to another gym, where I did all four events gymnastics in an adult class. I didn't like it all that much and neither did my mom, so now I've moved to a much better gym and am going to be on the competitive team in a few months I'm SO unbelievably excited!

 

[Gooshie]

I started when I was in Second Grade, and did Recreational Gymnastics until 8th Grade when the doctors told me I had to stop. I loved/ love every minute of it and miss it so much. I was the oldest one there- but I didn't care- I just loved the feeling of flying.

 

[sunshinegymnast]

I started gym when I was 10 and started level 3 my second year which was pretty good. It's 4 years later and I'm training level 6. Anything is possible when you reach for the stars

 

[gymnasticsbarbie]

i started gym when i was 10 also.
i am in rec-op now, about level 5 or 6.
so anything can happen if you work hard!

 

[Brandon]

Oh yeah.
I started when I was 10. And on top of that I only go 5 hours a week and can't compete. Yet I've managed to do pretty well considering my limitations on time. I would be level 9 tumble/vault specialist if I were to compete. So you can definetly do well no matter when you started. Most of it is ard work, and the rest is pure gym time. Good luck!

 

[GlitteryGymmie]

I started late too, I started when i was 9 in a rec program, and I moved up to team in a few months, As a 14 year old I am currently training for level 9 and i'm moving up to level 10 next season. Before that though, when I was 8, i did a simple tumbling program from a flyer they gave out at school, thinking it was gymnastics, I went and figured out it was not like that at all, but the good part is that i learned some skill! :cheerful:

 

[gymnasticky]

I started when I was three, which you would think would be an advantage, but I'm still a level 4 on bars, vault, and beam, and a level 5 on floor. I have always been a recreational gymnast, which was fun as a little kid, but once I got to third grade, I started wanting to get good. I wanted to be on the team, and I could be now, but religious issues and the rest of my life got in the way. I mean, I thought being at gymnastics 4 times a week for hours at a time sounded fun when I was little, and I wanted to have a lot of friends like all the girls on the competitive team seemed to. But now I'm 14, and I feel like if high school is coming up next year, then I won't have time to spend my whole life on a team with 6-8 year olds, you know?

If my high school had a gymnastics team, my life would be complete. It doesn't (yay for private school...), so I'm gonna spend one and a half hours, twice a week (3 hours total) working with a group of other girls, mostly middle schoolers, from various levels who aren't on a team. It's fun now, because there are still kids my age, but once they all go to high school and join their teams, I'll be alone. Like, I'll be a senior, and everyone will be at least 4 years younger than me (or really bad, and just doing it because they want to make the cheerleading team, but have absolutely ZERO experience, and think that in two weeks, they will already have their back layout. Except they don't know what a layout is.)

ANYWAY, my point is, starting early is not necessarily an advantage if you don't work hard at it. I did not work hard at it, and therefore, I am not gonna be successful with gymnastics.

So good luck. Hope you can be better than me
Also, it's never too late to start. Don't let anyone tell you when is a good time or not.

Okayyy. Goodbye.

 

[RisingGymnast]

When I was younger I did recreational gymnastics for about 3 years (ages 5-7 and then at a new gym age 8-9), but I learned very little. At 14 I started gymnastics at a new gym and I tried their prep-op program (I'm a novice so I think that's L 4/5) . It's been such a blessing the past 9 months and to be able to have the opportunity to compete is amazing. As much as I regret quitting when I was younger, I probably would've never been able to compete.