Parents Compete or (Not) Compete

[NewGymMominCA]

Hi All,

So, my DD lost her "squat-on". She's had it - since early this summer, but, somehow lost it!!

She's an Xcel Gold gymnast (or at least for now - I'm wondering if they might need to drop her back to Silver - at the rate she's going!). And, the first competition of the season, is January 20th.

It really doesn't look like she's going to have it back - in 3 weeks.

And, honestly, as her mom, I'd rather her NOT compete. But, her coaches think it's Ok for her to compete. I don't know - how - this could be Ok - since that skill is REQUIRED.

I just feel like this would be nothing but a bad experience. And, told her that's "it's OK" - if she doesn't want to do this.

But, she still wants to do this... And, I think she (somehow) thinks that she'll magically get the stupid squat-on - the day of the competition. And, is not being realistic...

Should she still do this? Or - should I try to find a way to convince (or bribe) her out of this...

I probably have a bad attitude...

 

[rjb123]

I have found that when things go missing for my DD they do turn up, and often more suddenly than they arrived the first time. Let it go, tell her to work the process with her coaches and that you are FULLY confident she can do it! Also tell her to check under her bed or in the back of her closet as many lost things end up there (lol!). I generally tell DD to look there when things get lost for her and at the very least she gives me a small laugh.

 

[3rd_time_around]

A squat-on is not required. If she misses it, it's a fall, and she can climb up and continue from there. It's really only about .5 for the fall and maybe a few tenths for form. I would not move her back for 1 skill. Lots of gymnasts struggle with the squat-on. Just relax, she will find it again. My dd had no bars dismount last year 4 days before her first meet. But the next day, she got it at the very end of practice, and won bars at her first meet 2 days later.

 

[jessifrostR]

A girl on my daughters team lost her straddle sole cirlce dismount recently. She has been doing it for 2 years and just randomly lost it. Mental block I guess. Her parents had her do a private with the coach and she got it back. The next day was the girls first ever meet and we all held our breath when she did her bar routine but she was able to do her dismount and her team cheered so loudly for her. It was really sweet.
Gymnastics has so many ups and downs and bumps in the road. I know its really frustrating when they can't do a skill that they should be able to do or that they have done a million times but I'm sure she will get it back soon! Maybe a private to just work mostly on getting it back?

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

DD does Xcel, and we have seen a lot of "nonstandard climbs" at meets when gymnasts do not have their squat ons. It isn't actually too big a deal. I'm sure someone will correct me but I think the deduction is like .2?

 

[acam1103]

I would absolutely let her compete because she wants to. Otherwise you're basically punishing her for something she can't (for whatever reason) control right now. That could very well get in her head and make the skill stay lost even longer. Plus, there's no harm in competing without a skill. So she might get a low score on that event. She could also get a low score with a fall or any other number of incidents. Let her go and have fun and do her best.

 

[raenndrops]

Hi All,

So, my DD lost her "squat-on". She's had it - since early this summer, but, somehow lost it!!

She's an Xcel Gold gymnast (or at least for now - I'm wondering if they might need to drop her back to Silver - at the rate she's going!). And, the first competition of the season, is January 20th.

It really doesn't look like she's going to have it back - in 3 weeks.

And, honestly, as her mom, I'd rather her NOT compete. But, her coaches think it's Ok for her to compete. I don't know - how - this could be Ok - since that skill is REQUIRED.

I just feel like this would be nothing but a bad experience. And, told her that's "it's OK" - if she doesn't want to do this.

But, she still wants to do this... And, I think she (somehow) thinks that she'll magically get the stupid squat-on - the day of the competition. And, is not being realistic...

Should she still do this? Or - should I try to find a way to convince (or bribe) her out of this...

I probably have a bad attitude...

A squat on is NOT a required skill.
Of our Xcel Gold and Xcel Platinums, I think 3 of 17 compete a squat on.
The rest do the "non-standard climb" onto the low bar and jump to the high bar. Our 3 highest scoring Golds do NOT compete a squat on.
I say let her compete. It isn't a big deal.
1. She can attempt it and hope it is there... if not, either fall or just come back to the bar, depending on how close she is.
2. She can leave it out completely and just do the climb up.

 

[raenndrops]

DD does Xcel, and we have seen a lot of "nonstandard climbs" at meets when gymnasts do not have their squat ons. It isn't actually too big a deal. I'm sure someone will correct me but I think the deduction is like .2?

I know the deduction used to be 0.1 (last season) ... but I thought they changed it and it isn't a specific deduction now... just a tempo deduction if it slows the flow of the routine???

 

[raenndrops]

Oh, and YG struggled to get her squat on FOREVER. Then she finally got it at the end of the summer. It stayed around for about 2 months. It is back on vacation - darn growth spurts!!!
She competes Xcel Platinum and doesn't even attempt it at meets right now.

 

[NewGymMominCA]

Thanks so much Everyone for your replies!!!

I'm so glad to know it's not a required skill!! That really helps a lot!!! (I was so worried that she would be traumatized by this!)

I will keep you posted!!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Puma Jr struggled BIGTIME on that darn squat the year she did XG. I think she fell on it at about half the meets that year. Then at States I remember holding my breath...and she hit it! And got a 9.3, her highest score ever! She didn’t fall on it once the following season (L4). So she’ll get it! I agree with the others, let her do the best she can and make it no big deal if she misses it. The less attention you call to it the better. Then it will be on to the next breath-holding skill...LOL Good luck!

 

[Flippin'A]

Just to add to what everyone else is saying, as a kid I did my first front hip circle ever in a competition. I was inches away from making it before and the pressure and adrenaline of being in front of judges was exactly what I needed to get it around. Especially for a skill she had and then lost (so you know she's physically capable of doing it,) I'd say she actually has fairly good odds of making it in the meet simply because she'll have that little extra oomph of nerves/excitement/pressure that might put her over the top. Everyone reacts differently to the atmosphere in competition, but it can't hurt to give it a shot, and certainly shouldn't be a scarring experience. Even if she falls, so will a bunch of other kids. As long as you don't treat it as any kind of failure, she won't see it that way.