WAG Conditioning for Rec kids?

[Iwannabemargo]

Its been a while since mine did badges (and P&F only did up to badge 5) but they were taught shapes and tested on them during lessons

 

[Ex member]

Its been a while since mine did badges (and P&F only did up to badge 5) but they were taught shapes and tested on them during lessons

Dd is only 6 and has passed every badge first time, she can do 8 out of the 10 things needed for badge 1, she is struggling on the Jump full turn (its messy and she doesn't land right - but she can do a nice 3/4 turn) and she can not do the splits the way they want them - she can do a front leg split with left leg forward but I think they also want her to do a right leg split as well, they haven't asked for a box split ( she cannot do that all the way down), they don't practice splits or jump full turns during lessons just during badge week one a term. Dd should pass ok as they need 7 or 8 to pass, dd can do the other stuff needed without much practice - she just picked it up after a few tries, things like handstands were learnt outside the gym by playing - the same with cartwheels.

 

[SXS524]

Iwannacoach- Totally get where you're coming from, as a gymnast I've always been very self motivated- tell me to do conditioning and I'll do it. I find it really frustrating having to try and motivate gymnasts to do conditioning when, like you, I've never needed any convincing. As you say I guess there's no point spending lots of time going through exercises etc if they're not going to bother doing them properly.

Wow TinyDancer I wish all my gymnasts were like your daughter haha- that's great that she enjoys conditioning!

Love the idea of the shape game Aussie_Coach, might try and incorporate that into the warm ups

Also like the idea of a strength competition! And that's very encouraging to hear that your gymnasts were meeting up to practice, Redford- sound like a great bunch of gymnasts!

As for badges, sadly this club doesn't do badges. It's something I suggested to the head coach a little while back as I thought it would be a good idea to help keep the kids motivated and also as a record as to how the girls were progressing. Sadly I don't think it's going to happen though.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Are they a BG club ? What rec progressions do they use then ? Is their rec programme just a selection field for the competitive gymnasts ?

 

[Galadriel]

Have the badges changed?
A good many years ago dd had to flic and handspring vault and handstand pirouette on floor for badge 1 !

 

[SXS524]

Are they a BG club ? What rec progressions do they use then ? Is their rec programme just a selection field for the competitive gymnasts ?

Yup, It's a BG Gym Mark club. It's basically a recreational club with a small recreational squad of about 5 girls who train 3 times a week. All the gymnasts can complete in rec competitions so can as such progress though them. As for progression within the club.. well it's not so structured, hence why I liked the idea of badges. The girls start at sessions on the weekend for an hour class and may be asked to come to a weekday session for 2 hours if they become more advanced. Within the sessions we work towards skills we feel the kids should be working towards. As a coach I had different groups of gymnasts each week so was sometimes hard to keep on top of who was learning what. Luckily they've recently changed that so that I will now coach the same groups of gymnasts every week which will make things easier!!

In my first year of university I did actually coach at a club where all the rec kids worked towards the clubs own badge system which was great, I knew exactly what everyone was working on and the kids loved working towards badges.

Whoops, went off on a bit of an essay there haha

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Oh yes - much lower skills base now, badge 8 is pretty much can you stand still and pay attention - here have a badge.

this club lists the skills for the badges

Link Removed

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I agree that a defined path and structure is desirable, one of my gripes as a parent is the secrecy surrounding gymnastic advancement

 

[SXS524]

I agree that a defined path and structure is desirable, one of my gripes as a parent is the secrecy surrounding gymnastic advancement

Totally understand that. I might try and talk to the head coach again..

 

[Galadriel]

Margo -- mad!
I suppose inclusiveness and keep kids involved and active !
Some of the bronze silver gold skills were badge 5 even!!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Some clubs feel that the BAGA badge scheme is unsuitable for them and have devised their own schemes, but the do follow a scheme.

 

[Ex member]

The early badges are really that simple that you just have to turn up to pass but they do get harder once you get down to the last 3 especially when you don't really work towards them during lessons - just 1 week of practice or 2 weeks to work on the skills then test on them, the ones that pass are the ones who can naturally do gymnastics and can probably do with more advance gym than 1 hour of 1 size fits all classes , the 4-7 year old rec classes at dd's gym seems to be like that. Dd is nearly 7 and has just moved up to the 7 plus group where they seem to do more conditioning exercises that the younger ones don't do.

I agree with the confusion of the move out of rec to other groups thing, I am frustrated with the way things are going with dd - she has passed all her badges first time , she did badge 2 a few weeks ago with 1 practice and passed straight away, she seems to pick up things quite quickly but could do with conditioning to strengthen her up and improve her flexibility - she can do the front splits left leg dominant but not the right. They have been making new development groups at gym but dd has not been asked to join and they have asked girls to join that haven't got as much skills as dd, they don't appear to have anything dd doesn't have in strength and their flexibility is not as good as dd's except 1 girl, they only thing that is different is that they were born a year after dd, dd was born at the end of 2006 and they were born 2007 +. If dd passes her badge first time again then I will have a chat when the coaches and see what they think the future is for her. I have had positive feedback from the coaches over the past few months saying how good dd is at gym.

Dd was a bit worried about joining the older girls rec group as she was the only one her age there apart from a girl 1 year older then were all 4 years plus older then she is, I had a chat with the coach after the session and she said dd did well and I told her dd was worried and that she was only 6 and she seemed a bit surprised that she had been moved up and then asked her when she was 7 (next month) and said that as she was nearly 7 and the younger group was a bit easy for her that was probably why she moved up - if she was too good for her peers why not move her into a development group instead of moving her into a later rec with girls 4 years plus older than her - sigh.

Sorry its a bit long... thanks for reading

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Margo -- mad!
I suppose inclusiveness and keep kids involved and active !
Some of the bronze silver gold skills were badge 5 even!!

But I, and some others here (mentioning no names ladies but you know who you are) are of a more mature vintage than you and in our era the badges went from 4-1 and on 4 the vault was a through vault I think. Definately walkovers were included higher up !

 

[Galadriel]

I remember 6 - 1
Squat through was level 4 then? Y balance quite a low badge and headspring (tough for a 1 hour a week class) level 2 or 3 vault and 1 on floor?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

@Galadriel , check out this thread

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/gymnastics-memorabilia.40003/#post-223034

 

[SXS524]

The early badges are really that simple that you just have to turn up to pass but they do get harder once you get down to the last 3 especially when you don't really work towards them during lessons - just 1 week of practice or 2 weeks to work on the skills then test on them, the ones that pass are the ones who can naturally do gymnastics and can probably do with more advance gym than 1 hour of 1 size fits all classes , the 4-7 year old rec classes at dd's gym seems to be like that. Dd is nearly 7 and has just moved up to the 7 plus group where they seem to do more conditioning exercises that the younger ones don't do.

I agree with the confusion of the move out of rec to other groups thing, I am frustrated with the way things are going with dd - she has passed all her badges first time , she did badge 2 a few weeks ago with 1 practice and passed straight away, she seems to pick up things quite quickly but could do with conditioning to strengthen her up and improve her flexibility - she can do the front splits left leg dominant but not the right. They have been making new development groups at gym but dd has not been asked to join and they have asked girls to join that haven't got as much skills as dd, they don't appear to have anything dd doesn't have in strength and their flexibility is not as good as dd's except 1 girl, they only thing that is different is that they were born a year after dd, dd was born at the end of 2006 and they were born 2007 +. If dd passes her badge first time again then I will have a chat when the coaches and see what they think the future is for her. I have had positive feedback from the coaches over the past few months saying how good dd is at gym.

Dd was a bit worried about joining the older girls rec group as she was the only one her age there apart from a girl 1 year older then were all 4 years plus older then she is, I had a chat with the coach after the session and she said dd did well and I told her dd was worried and that she was only 6 and she seemed a bit surprised that she had been moved up and then asked her when she was 7 (next month) and said that as she was nearly 7 and the younger group was a bit easy for her that was probably why she moved up - if she was too good for her peers why not move her into a development group instead of moving her into a later rec with girls 4 years plus older than her - sigh.

Sorry its a bit long... thanks for reading

Sounds like your DD is doing well, shame that her group seems much older than her. Perhaps ask the coaches if your dd could join one of the development groups or what she needs to work on in order to join? Perhaps your Dd has simply been overlooked? My sister was much better then the rest of her rec group so my mum asked if she could join the squad. The coach was happy for her to join the squad and she's been in it ever since, and that was 6 years ago!!

 

[Ex member]

That link was an interesting read, you can easily recognise elements of those badges and see them in todays badges, looking at the charts of the older badges dd would be able to pass the badges down to 2 but wouldn't be able to do most of no 1 as the skill level is a lot higher and is probably incorporated in the Bronze Silver and Gold Advanced Proficiency Badges that are designed for older children of 11 years plus according to the British Gymnastic Website (dd will be starting them next of she passes)

 

[rockyrose]

At my gym, conditioning is left to the discretion of the coaches (most are teens and don't do any). HOWEVER, if I were a coach, I would schedule at least 5 minutes of conditioning per class that would include 10 pushups, 1o crunches, 30 sec plank, and maybe 10 pull ups.

I'm a rec gymnast & take privates, but I condition for a few minutes with my coach, a few minutes after my class. And if team is conditioning (they practice during my private), I often ask if I can join in. Conditioning is important even for those of us who don't compete!

 

[Ex member]

Sounds like your DD is doing well, shame that her group seems much older than her. Perhaps ask the coaches if your dd could join one of the development groups or what she needs to work on in order to join? Perhaps your Dd has simply been overlooked? My sister was much better then the rest of her rec group so my mum asked if she could join the squad. The coach was happy for her to join the squad and she's been in it ever since, and that was 6 years ago!!

Dd passed her last Core Proficiency badge today at her first attempt and got her medal, she is really pleased. I am now wondering what is next for her in Gymnastics, the next lot of badges will be the Advanced Proficiency Awards Bronze, Silver and Gold at the tender age of 6. I am now seriously considering asking about higher classes like advanced rec or development but don't want to come across as a Gym Crazy Mum, the negative side of me saying that if they thought she had potential she would have invited to one of those classes already but the other side of me is thinking that as she has passed all her badges first time (with just 1 practice before testing - they don't normally work on them during normal classes just 1 session before testing once a term or longer) and with all the positive feed back from the rec coaches and other parents that I should speak up for dd.

 

[Jenny]

congratulations to your dd for passing her badge. I have looked at the skills and I think that if she has passed badge 1 at 6 years old she must have some real natural talent. That is quite nuts! I don't understand why they haven't picked her up for a competition squad. Can you get her evaluated at another gym just to see what they think?