WAG Back to Back Meets

[Muddlethru]

Looking at our meet schedule, our coaches have scheduled three meets in a row leading up to states. I've never done gymnastics so I don't know the strain, stress, recovery, toll a meet has on a gymnast. Seems like it could go either way. Having two meets two weekends in a row before states could better prepare a gymnast for states OR could be too taxing/exhausting. Any thoughts. Coaches? Anyone? We will need to fly to states and one of the meets prior will also require flying.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Interesting question as DD has 4 meets within a 5 week period.

 

[Jabba]

As a coach, I've never gotten why some gyms do this. If you have meets every weekend, you're always just running routines and not able to stop and correct or perfect things to improve. I can see how extra meets can build confidence, but I can also see how, if you have a kid with a more major issue on an event, it could kill confidence/self esteem, going out weeks in a row, doing the same mistake/problem over and over. I dont think that goes for just major issues either - my group of L5s is working on perfecting things at this stage of the season (we have 1 more meet plus States) and the time we're spending on this is really reflecting positively in their scores. It wouldnt be possible for us to work this way if they had a meet every weekend. When I first started competing, my YMCA team did the meet-every-week thing and I hated it for the reasons above. As a coach, I still feel the same way. I schedule one or two meets a month for my team, that's it.

 

[MaryA]

Our gym does this. This year we have 6 meets in an 8 week time period, with one of them being an out-of-state meet where we'll be gone Thurs-Mon. I wish this was not the case. I know that last year, in the "crunch" of meet season, my DD's scores started going down and she was definitely burning out. And she's a kid who loves to compete! I'm happy that she'll have 6 weeks between the last meet and States. That was the way it was last year too and her scores came up during that time. But I know that once she hits level 8, States is earlier (so that they have time to do Regionals, etc.) so in another year or two she won't have nearly as much of a breather. I have actually told the coach that I thought it was too many meets (I feel like, if I'm going to complain about something, I owe it to the HC to let her know that I'm complaining about it) and her response was essentially "She's an optional now. This is what she needs to do." Heavy sigh. Anyway, I feel your pain.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Looking at our meet schedule, our coaches have scheduled three meets in a row leading up to states. I've never done gymnastics so I don't know the strain, stress, recovery, toll a meet has on a gymnast. Seems like it could go either way. Having two meets two weekends in a row before states could better prepare a gymnast for states OR could be too taxing/exhausting. Any thoughts. Coaches? Anyone? We will need to fly to states and one of the meets prior will also require flying.

that's too many in a row. what recovery???

 

[Muddlethru]

Thanks for everyone's insight. Just to clarify, we have two meets back to back and then states immediately following. That is three meets every weekend and that includes states. I don't know if that makes a difference. We have 4 meets within a 5 week period. So, we have a meet, a weekend off, meet, meet and then states. We have the option of not competing at all the meets. I already thought it may be too much to have two consecutive meets and then states. So, I put a "maybe" on one of the last two meets before states. Based on responses above, I will opt out of the meet that we have to fly to. I'll keep the meet before states. Does that make sense?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

NO MEET the week end before state meet. that's all.

 

[Muddlethru]

NO MEET the week end before state meet. that's all.

Thanks Dunno. Got it.

 

[MaryA]

I think, if given my choice between skipping a meet the week before states or a meet that I had to fly to 2 weeks before states, I'd also pick missing the flying meet... at least up through level 7. Maybe once there is something you can aspire to beyond states (regionals, etc.) it would be worth skpping the meet the week before, but otherwise I don't know that it's such a big deal. Not that you don't want your DD to do well in states, but if it's a matter of going to a meet that costs hundreds of dollars more to go to or competing the week before states, I'd opt to have her compete the week before states. But then I'm feeling especially poor at the moment...

 

[htimcj]

Our gym competes back to back to back meets all the time. If we want more than 4 meets per year you kind of have to. It's really not that bad though. It depends too, how much your DD enjoys competing and how worked up she gets about each one. If it is a highly stressful time everytime whe goes out then back to back meets would be more problematic. We do take a two-three week break before states though.
Also, once the season is under way we don't spend the whole practice doiing routines. The girls do 4 or 5 at each event, practice anything they fall on a few times more and then work on uptraining. We practice about 16 hours a week so it seems to work out pretty well. Those that have the routines down clean practice and move one, those that need a bit more work, work more.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

her daughter is NOT a level 6...she's a level 9. big difference.

 

[MaryA]

her daughter is NOT a level 6...she's a level 9. big difference.

Yes, definitely you want to be at your peak for level 8-10 states.

 

[htimcj]

Very true, I was talked specifically about our compulsories (should have specified) but our optionals have a pretty tight schedule as well. They can go to 9 meets in three months with 3 long distance travel meets. Our state only has something like 10 level 10s and 4 of them at our gym so to get some variety of competition they travel out of state a lot.