Women Compulsory made for specific body type?

[mOm2gymnast<3]

I was at the gym today and a coach told me that soon I will realize that dds strongest events will be bars and vault because of her body type. Urgh ...I don't really want to drag this topic but I just want to ask for reassurance that maybe, maybe, he is wrong? She said that compulsory esp floor and beam are geared towards leaner longer body. Coach said that in optionals She can tweak things that doesn't show my dds body but not in compulsory. Is this true?

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

To add, my dd has been scoring 9.2 and up on beam and 9.2 up on floor. Her vault is 9.6 and beam she's been scoring 9.5. So I don't know... Maybe he is talking about the future???

 

[profmom]

In terms of what I've seen with skills, it's more common that good floor workers are good vaulters and vice versa because the scores often reflect how powerful/dynamic the tumbling is. As DD progressed through the compulsory levels, her teammates of various shapes and sizes all had their better and worse events, but none of this seemed to correlate much with how they were built. In her current cohort, the two best girls on floor are completely different in terms of their builds.

 

[wgymmom]

I don't really understand the problem. Every gymnast has strong and weak points.

 

[purpleleomom]

Just curious how much the gymnast's "favorite" apparatus comes into play. Is their favorite usually their best? (Maybe it's the favorite because it comes more easily?)

 

[profmom]

At least for my two, favorite does not necessarily equal best. DD can hit her beam routine every time, but she currently wants to chop up and set fire to all balance beams because of frustration with a particular skill she wishes to acquire. Today her favorite event is floor because she's getting new skills there. DS is in his third full year of passionate love for pommel horse, but I think his best event is parallel bars for the moment.

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

My dds fav event has always been bars and beam. She struggled on vault for a while until just recently something click!

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

However, I've noticing though that the leaner longer gymnast tends to score higher on floor. But maybe I'm just paranoid. Lol who knows

 

[HoldThePhone]

It's only our first year competing but so far, my DD has been her teams highest floor scorer, and has won floor the last 2 meets. She's the shortest on the team, and more muscular, not the long and lean type.

 

[profmom]

Your daughter is very young, competing at level 2 or 3 if I remember right? That's waaaaay too early to know what her best event's going to be! And it will almost certainly change, probably more than once. DS's best event two years ago was floor. Last year floor was probably his worst event! Now it's good again. I wonder if he will stink next year?

 

[Aussie_coach]

Whether or not it is true it is the worst possible thing to say. Once a gymnast gets I their head they they are not built for a particular apparatus it will affect their attitude towards it and as a result their scores will go down.

It is a totally unhelpful criticism as a gymnast can do nothing about her build, so why even bring it up.

Instead the coach should be focusing on what she can do to improve her scores on those apparatus.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

Yeah profmom is right! I was the worst bar worker on the entire team in level 4 and 5. I scratched bars a few times in level 5 because it took me forever to get kips.

Flash forward to level 8 and level 9. I was the best scorer on my team every single meet on bars and I was in the top 3 every single time on bars at meets too.

 

[my4buffaloes]

Well, what is wrong with bars and vault? Those are great events to be good at!

For what it is worth - my short stocky gymnast is best at floor and beam and my long lean gymnast is best at bars and beam. You never know!

 

[2G1B]

Both of my girls are "long and lean". I'd say floor is likely both of their worst event. I feel like it is just so much more obvious if those long legs aren't perfectly straight. And both of my girls have knobby knees. They really get nailed on floor. So far bars has probably been their strongest event with beam probably a tie for my younger DD. But she only just did level 2 and is moving to level 3 (though her beam routine for level 3 is already looking pretty darn good).

I have no clue how things will go now that older DD is moving on to level 4 and the definitely tougher skills. One of her coaches did say to me one day that when they "get it" that long and lean girls are so pretty on bars. I think part of him saying that though was that one of my DDs was complaining that it looks so much easier for the girls with shorter legs and that she really wished she didn't have her "dumb long legs". We all keep telling her that in a few years she will LOVE her legs; but she doesn't believe us. LOL

 

[GYM0M]

DD just finished her L5 season & is 8 years old. She is very, very short and stocky! By far and away, beam and floor are her best events. Since January 2013, she's competed 3 different levels in 8 competitions & lost beam 1 time, won floor 5 times. Sometimes gymnasts with longer lines "look" more graceful, but I don't think any of the routines are geared towards body types. (DD is 43 in tall & weighs about 51 pounds.)

 

[iwannacoach]

Whether or not it is true it is the worst possible thing to say. Once a gymnast gets I their head they they are not built for a particular apparatus it will affect their attitude towards it and as a result their scores will go down.....

Darn fine post. I've been proven wrong too many times, and have come to the point where I can expect some degree of what they want to achieve. No matter what they want, or how impractical their goals, they come a lot closer to all of it when I give them the same sense of hope as the kid with an "ideal" gymnastics body.

Consider the number of young gymnasts built like the "Flying Squirrel." They aren't a dime a dozen, but they pop up at gyms all over the country. I figure there could easily be 50 or more flying squirrel clones who should be able to make the olympic team just like Gabby Douglas. Geez, maybe Kyla Ross, Mckayla Maroney, Ali Raisman, and Jordyn Wieber were't paying attention the day this coach's "memo" came out. Perhaps he'll remember to add them to the recipient list in time for his next wisdomatic proclamation.

Whoaaaaa, I can't believe it! I just found this picture of quintuplets who were lucky enought to make the team....... Identical..... each and every one!
Link Removed

 

[cbifoja]

Mine is short and muscular. Last year her highest scoring events were bars and vault. This year her highest scoring events are beam and floor. Next year, she might decide she wants to try pommel and rings.

I think the "best event" thing fluctuates from year to year. I can't imagine TPTB would plan a routine around the build of a gymnast.

 

[gymnastmom38]

My dd has the build of short and muscular (similar to a Shawn Johnson type). Her strongest events have always been beam and floor. There goes your coach's theory about the longer and leaner being geared towards those events in compulsory.

 

[gracyomalley]

I really think it varies - but I have to say that my strong short daughter who in sixth grade already has about as many curves as a gymnast in serious training ever gets, generally has always been a beam/floor girl - in that those skills come easy and are her usual events to count on a descent score....vault is of course fine now (still HS) but she's really looking forward to her yurchenko (woohooo...was scared of it and that's one reason she repeated L7) as her coach thinks it will be a strength for her. Her good scores on floor and beam as a compulsory were based on good form - high toes, straight legs,being able to hear the music and stay on it, etc...which many of her age group just didn't have yet - long/lean or not...

On bars when its strength she wins (cast handstands) but I will be the first to say her giants with perfect form just don't look quite as amazing as those of her team mates who are stick thin but tight....when she's in perfect position she still has a bootie and thighs that make curves in the line....AKA Jordan or Allie....NOT IN ANY WAY TOO HEAVY...I think that is what some coaches refer to...it has just meant that she does tucks instead of picks sometimes, and other details of optional routines are tailored as need be...

It did bother her coach in compulsories...she told me she hated to see deductions for various things that she knew were body type...but we are at a gym that isn't score preoccupied...so those tiny differences didn't really matter long run except it made her think she was "bad" at bars...something we are still fighting even though she always places on bars now!

 

[Midwestmommy]

Yep--strong, fast, flexible, athletic in any shape or size..... versus the general population of kids at school

Sort of like comparing marathoners. You will see all shapes and sizes once you get past the first elite pack, but let's face it less than 1% of the population has or every will accomlish that marathon. So they are all pretty amazing coming accross that finish line, whatever the journey is that brought them there.

Perspective, perspective.....