WAG Can you come up with a reason why...

[Flyaway]

...a gym would continue to move a gymnast up levels despite not showing proficiency? This question is not entirely hypothetical and I know completely none of my business. But I AM curious.

Little girl spotted at a level 5 meet. Her scores were low enough that I was curious and looked her up on mymeetscores.com.

She's done one year at each level.
Level 3 - AA average 32.9. Did not qualify to state.
Level 4 - AA average 30.2. Did not qualify to state (and perhaps technically did not reach a mobility score??)
Level 5 - AA average 30.3. Has not yet qualified to state.

She is in the youngest age group at each meet, so I'm guessing not older than 7-8.

Why? Why continually move her up each year? She's young, there's time... why the rush? I know, I know, scores don't tell the whole story. But when a child is consistently scoring under 31 at a meet, I feel like there must be some proficiency missing.

I'm not trying to be super critical. And again I know it's none of my business. So please don't think I'm picking on this little girl. I'm more just curious about the gym philosophy behind this. Different gym philosophies are so interesting to me. If this were a gymnast at our gym she most certainly would not be competing level 5 this year. So it makes me wonder what would cause a gym or coach to feel the progression is warranted. Thoughts?

 

[mommyof1]

Is she an outlier at this gym, or do their other kids move up with low scores?

When you say "spotted" do you just mean that you noticed her, or that she was actually spotted on skills?

 

[BritBrat]

At my DD gym we have a gymnast that pretty similar to what you've described. I questioned this to one of the parents on her team and was told that the gymnast works hard, highly motivated, compassionate and love the sport. I took that answer to be perfect for her situation.

 

[profmom]

My guess would be competition anxiety. What happens at a meet is only a tiny slice of how a child is progressing in the sport.

 

[spider_monkey]

Some gymnasts thrive on being challenged with new skills and that's what's important to them, not scores at a meet. Also, mymeetscores does not tell the whole story. My gymnast probably has fewer than half of the meets she's competed listed on the site (including her personal best scores).

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Lots of good answers above or a crazy parent that insists.

 

[Flyaway]

Is she an outlier at this gym, or do their other kids move up with low scores?

When you say "spotted" do you just mean that you noticed her, or that she was actually spotted on skills?

Sorry, I mean that I noticed her.

 

[Flyaway]

At my DD gym we have a gymnast that pretty similar to what you've described. I questioned this to one of the parents on her team and was told that the gymnast works hard, highly motivated, compassionate and love the sport. I took that answer to be perfect for her situation.

At what point does safety outweigh working hard and loving the sport? And why would working hard and loving the sport mean not repeating a level? Those things are not mutually exclusive. Particularly for a young gymnast who has time on her side. Highest level at this gym currently is level 7. So we're not talking about an elite pathway or anything.

 

[Flyaway]

Some gymnasts thrive on being challenged with new skills and that's what's important to them, not scores at a meet. Also, mymeetscores does not tell the whole story. My gymnast probably has fewer than half of the meets she's competed listed on the site (including her personal best scores).

Sure, the same is true for my dd. However, when the 30 or so scores that are reported are all below a 32, I don't expect that the few scores that aren't reported are going to be so much higher that they tell a different story. Maybe she has had a stellar meet or event that didn't make it to mymeetscores. It's possible I suppose.

 

[BritBrat]

At what point does safety outweigh working hard and loving the sport? And why would working hard and loving the sport mean not repeating a level? Those things are not mutually exclusive. Particularly for a young gymnast who has time on her side. Highest level at this gym currently is level 7. So we're not talking about an elite pathway or anything.

She can perform the skills with no issues. Her issue is form. Bent legs, toes not pointed, not fluent, etc. Of course with that, those issues equal lots of deductions.

 

[John]

its possible her coaches believe in as many skills as possible before fear sets in. DD had a coach like that at one point. My DD loves learning new skills she can't wait for states to be over so she can learn new skills.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

There are 2-3 kids on our team. who were low scorers in level 4 and 5. A 33 would of been a huge score for them. They were not unsafe. They were definitely not pretty, froggy comes to mind. They are now starting to shine in optionals.

 

[duyetanh]

Are you possibly talking about my child, lol?
Stunk at compulsories. No, let’s make it clearer. She SUCKED at compulsories. Made the score outs but that was about it. But the coaches just knew something we didn’t, and we trusted the process....and it worked.

 

[raenndrops]

As said above:
meet anxiety
has the skills, but not the polish (connection, bent arms / legs, toe point, low relévé, etc)
hard worker (may not be evidenced in meets, but coaches SEE it every day in practice)
get her out of compulsories ASAP to get to where she can have routines tailored to her
loves working new skills and catches on - form may not be the best
get to the harder skills before fears set in
Parent wants the move up... and since not unsafe, coach allows it
Scores missing from mymeetscores where she made the minimum and that is gym move up requirement

ALSO:
Gym philosophy (don't repeat unless unsafe)
Gym philosophy (parent / gymnast / coach "triad" makes the decision together)

 

[Flippin'A]

How's the balance between events? One extremely low event (i.e. 5s on bars) could tank her in the all around even if her other scores are decent. Perhaps the gym doesn't believe in holding a gymnast back because of a single event. If she's pretty balanced, then it's one of the things people have already mentioned. Doesn't sound like too much fun, though.

 

[Flyaway]

How's the balance between events? One extremely low event (i.e. 5s on bars) could tank her in the all around even if her other scores are decent. Perhaps the gym doesn't believe in holding a gymnast back because of a single event. If she's pretty balanced, then it's one of the things people have already mentioned. Doesn't sound like too much fun, though.

In the case of this particular gymnast, at the last meet her scores ranged from a 6.5-8.0. And at the previous meets listed on mymeetscores she has scored at least 1 event in the 6's and 2 events in the 7's every meet. I don't want to get too specific. Can form issues alone land a kid in the 6's?

 

[mommyof1]

Can form issues alone land a kid in the 6's?

Yes. Ask me how I know.

 

[Flippin'A]

In the case of this particular gymnast, at the last meet her scores ranged from a 6.5-8.0. And at the previous meets listed on mymeetscores she has scored at least 1 event in the 6's and 2 events in the 7's every meet. I don't want to get too specific. Can form issues alone land a kid in the 6's?

It's definitely possible to score in the 6s without actually missing any skills, particularly on bars. Usually it's a combination of major form issues and rhythm deductions. If a gymnast has consistent frog knees, bent arms, arched, low casts, and pauses between each skill, then you're looking at a 6.5 if you're lucky. How do I know? Because I literally just described my level four bar routine from back in the day. Lucky for me, something clicked shortly after and I didn't end up doing that over several levels the way you're describing, but it's for sure a possibility.

 

[Flyaway]

Yes. Ask me how I know.

It's definitely possible to score in the 6s without actually missing any skills, particularly on bars. Usually it's a combination of major form issues and rhythm deductions. If a gymnast has consistent frog knees, bent arms, arched, low casts, and pauses between each skill, then you're looking at a 6.5 if you're lucky. How do I know? Because I literally just described my level four bar routine from back in the day. Lucky for me, something clicked shortly after and I didn't end up doing that over several levels the way you're describing, but it's for sure a possibility.

Interesting. I always assumed a score in the 6's was indicative of a skill deficit. Learned something new.

 

[gymgal]

How's the balance between events? One extremely low event (i.e. 5s on bars) could tank her in the all around even if her other scores are decent. Perhaps the gym doesn't believe in holding a gymnast back because of a single event. If she's pretty balanced, then it's one of the things people have already mentioned. Doesn't sound like too much fun, though.

I am confused by the last statement. There is more to gymnastics than scores and medals. For the first 3 years of dd's competing, she couldn't have cared less about her placements and scores. She just wanted to learn new skills and compete them. At that point, gymnastics was very fun. The medals meant nothing to her. It wasn't until about age 11 that she started caring about how she "looked" at meets. But it has now come full circle again and as a L10, she doesn't care about her scores (well, except for qualifying for post season meets). She wants to compete the skills she has worked on and can perform safely, even if they are not perfected.