WAG Coaches, what do you think ?

[Misunderstood]

I have a level 4 gymnast. I’ve been hearing that a lot of gym do not have level 5. So they either have the gymnasts repeat 4 or move to 6 if they meet the requirements. My child qualifies for level 5 but not to skip to 6 which you need 2 score of 36 or higher. We have 2 comps left and states and she’s only made a 36 once. She has been getting 35’s so she’s really close.
If she doesn’t make it to skip 6. I don’t know if I agree with her repeating a level all because the coaches don’t want to do level 5. Ugh
Coaches, please feel free to comment

 

[Coach Kate]

You may get a variety of opinions here, and it's ok for us to not all agree with each other.

I've got two somewhat related thoughts


To me level 5 and 6 are extremely similar so I understand not wanting to do both. There's a reason USAG made it easier to move through these two levels. Keep in mind that scoring a 36 twice does not mean to automatically move from 4 to 6 and athletes might repeat for a variety of reasons. There's also no reason why her coaches couldn't decide she is actually ready for 6, have her do one score out of 5, and then move on. It's all up to what they're seeing. They could absolutely give her summer training to see how things are progressing and then make a decision then.

Level 4 is one of those big deal levels. You've got the kip, tap swings, front and back tumbling sequences, and the vault table. You want complete mastery of these basics. Unless there are a bunch of random text errors or things related to the routine as opposed to the skills, I really don't think a 9.0 average is asking too much to demonstrate this mastery.

 

[NutterButter]

It’s not very clear in your post…do you know your gym’s requirements? Do they always skip L5. The gym could easily have the kids who didn’t have the mobility score do one L5 meet (even an in house meet) to move to L6.

 

[JBS]

I have a level 4 gymnast. I’ve been hearing that a lot of gym do not have level 5. So they either have the gymnasts repeat 4 or move to 6 if they meet the requirements. My child qualifies for level 5 but not to skip to 6 which you need 2 score of 36 or higher. We have 2 comps left and states and she’s only made a 36 once. She has been getting 35’s so she’s really close.
If she doesn’t make it to skip 6. I don’t know if I agree with her repeating a level all because the coaches don’t want to do level 5. Ugh
Coaches, please feel free to comment

We don't do L5... it's a waste of time by us... hardly any competition in that level around here anymore. The same skills can easily be taught during an upgraded 2nd year of L4 or L6.

Can she do a kip cast handstand on bars?

 

[Dahlialover]

If she barely misses the mobility score for level 6, she could still move up to train level 6 and just do one level 4 or level 5 competition at the beginning of the season to get her mobility score and then finish the season as a level 6.

However, your gym would have to agree with this plan.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Keep in mind all gyms handle things differently. My daughter repeated level 4 and then moved right to 7. During my daughters second season of 4 she had a kip cast handstand, giants on bars, series on beam etc. At the time I remember being frustrated she was repeating with all those skills, but it ended up being fine. She had teammates do one season of 4, then 6 and then they ended up back together again as 7s. As long as the coaches are working proper progressions for higher level skills what level they compete at the lower levels doesn’t matter so much.