Women Could USAG limit training hours?

[TumbleTimes4]

I know that USAG has an age requirement for some levels to protect young gymnasts. While it’s highly unlikely and I imagine would be very difficult to monitor, would they ever consider capping training hours based on level to protect young gymnasts from overuse injuries and early burnout?

 

[CuriousCate]

I think that would be brilliant. But as you said, I doubt it would happen.

 

[LJL07]

A wonderful idea, but I guess it's gotten so competitive that it is unlikely to ever happen. There are child labor laws, but I guess doing 30+ hours of gymnastics is ok. The number of 7-10 year olds in very small day program groups doing absurdly high hours is alarming to me. Unless this has always been the case, and it just flew under the radar before social media.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Usaigc does this, but it didn’t seem to be monitored when we were involved, and if this was not strictly enforced it would likely be ignored.

 

[GymDadWA]

Other sports do this and what ends up happening is training and conditioning get classified as something else so the hours end up being the same your child just does "two different activities".

 

[txgymfan]

NCAA limits hours to 20 per week and has a starting date for practice and I’ve never heard of a D1 program strictly adhering to it. Voluntary work outs are rarely if ever truly optional.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It might make more sense to limit hours by age, instead of my level. Coaches need to consider the physical maturity of the gymnasts bodies, rather than the skills they can do.

But, it could also backfire, with many gyms deciding that means that the capped hour limit is what everyone else is doing, and theynhave to max it out to succeed. Like if they limit 8 year olds to 20 hours a week, they may push for every talented 8 year old to do 20 hours a week, instead of increasing hours gradually as the gymnast progresses.

 

[Flippin'A]

I definitely agree it would have to be by age, not level. Otherwise I can see gyms rushing kids to higher levels just to have more allowable hours. I also suspect it would turn into an NCAA 20 hour situation. The gyms that are currently high hours would probably have "optional" practices/open gyms/conditioning classes and find a way around the rule. It's a good idea but it'd be really hard to enforce, especially given the current state of the organization.

 

[NY Dad]

Usaigc does this, but it didn’t seem to be monitored when we were involved

I agree that some gyms blatantly ignore this rule in USAIGC. That puts the gyms that follow the rule at a big disadvantage.

I also wonder if USAG has the resources to enforce this.

 

[josie55]

Eh, I don't really think it would make sense. As many on this board have pointed out, all hours are not the same. One gym may get 10 bar routines into a 30 minute rotation, where another may only fit in three, so the amount of "pounding" per hour likely varies greatly from program to program.

People (coaches, gymnasts and parents) need to figure out what makes sense and works for themselves/their kids versus relying on USAG to figure out and dictate what's best.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Yes they could. And no they won’t.

 

[amiandjim]

Eh, I don't really think it would make sense. As many on this board have pointed out, all hours are not the same. One gym may get 10 bar routines into a 30 minute rotation, where another may only fit in three, so the amount of "pounding" per hour likely varies greatly from program to program.

People (coaches, gymnasts and parents) need to figure out what makes sense and works for themselves/their kids versus relying on USAG to figure out and dictate what's best.

Therein lies the problem! Not so much USAG, but some coaches filling people’s heads with visions of glory and putting 6 year-olds on the “elite track” and telling the parents they need these hours. In my opinion, that’s the biggest issue.

 

[LJL07]

Other sports do this and what ends up happening is training and conditioning get classified as something else so the hours end up being the same your child just does "

Therein lies the problem! Not so much USAG, but some coaches filling people’s heads with visions of glory and putting 6 year-olds on the “elite track” and telling the parents they need these hours. In my opinion, that’s the biggest issue.

This times 1000. We have a gym over here with level 2/3/4 babies checking out of school midday to do 15-20 hours a week for those low levels. Sure they win, but that is a rip off and taking advantage of parents with stars in their eyes. Most of these kids are burned out by level 7. The parents don’t get it. Can’t usag make some recommendations at the very least? And since USAG clearly has no resources to manage most issues, I think there could be more involvement at the state level as far as safety regulations and recommendations.

 

[doublestrike]

I don't get why people care what other parents do. It's their choice, money, time and their children.

 

[RTT2]

I don't get why people care what other parents do. It's their choice, money, time and their children.

Children aren't property, and we actually have many, many rules regulating things that concern children.

 

[amiandjim]

We care because of the mess that USAG has caused with their win at any cost mentality. We care because we see children being emotionally and physically abused under the guise of “its necessary to be successful.” We care because we see gym owners and coaches taking advantage of parents who don’t know better. We care because it’s the right thing to do.

 

[skschlag]

So, this article came across my twitter feed today, and I think it is good for here. It is about basketball, but it pertains to this. This is why we need to watch how much time our kiddos are doing their sport....

'These kids are ticking time bombs': The threat of youth basketball

In part one of a two-part series, ESPN explores the dangers of youth basketball -- and how the culture of perpetual competition is jeopardizing the futures of the very stars it hopes to create.

www.espn.com