Do people do alot of privates

[littlekateskate]

I am brand new to the sport so sorry about all the questions. In figure skating private lessons are almost a requirement. You cant really get by without them .

How many private lessons do gymnasts really do? Is it common or uncommon.

Also where can i find a list of the levels everyone is talking about?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

It varies from gym to gym, but personally I think a strong team program shouldn't have to depend on private lessons; the regularly scheduled practices should, for the most part, be enough. Which is not to say there's anything wrong with an occasional private lesson, but I would discourage kids and parents from making the privates their primary focus; they're part of a team.

 

[bogwoppit]

I think that you will find most gymnasts do not regularly have privates. From all the posts I have read here, and thats a lot , most gymnasts have occasional privates to help them with a skill they are stuck on, or before a meet.

Most of the coaches on here, based on previous comments, seem to think that regular privates are not in the best interest of the gymnast, but have value as a once in a while thing.

In the USAG system there are compulsory levels, all girls do the same routines at every meet. Within the compulsory levels there are Levels 1-3which most gyms do not train or compete, the L1-3 routines contain basic skills leading up to the next levels.

Level 4 seems to be the entry level to competition at most clubs, girls cannot compete until 6 years of age.

Levels 5 & 6 are the two compulsory levels that cannot be skipped.

Following that is Optionals, levels 7 - 10, where girls get to compete progressively harder skills in each level with their own choreography meeting certain set requirements.

To see any of these routines just go to youtube and search for them, there are a lot to see there, in fact you could be busy for a week or two watching all the gymnastics on there!

 

[MdGymMom01]

My 9 yr old dd just got moved up to Level 4 competition team after being on pre-team for about 6 weeks. She was practicing 2 days a week for 3 hours each. We did no privates and she still was able to learn all the routines and get all the skills in that amount of time.

She has been a cheerleader for the past 3 years so she is in pretty good shape. In cheerleading last year we did as many as 2 privates a week (1/2 hr tumbling) and to tell you the truth it didn't really help much. I say this because she had trouble with her back handspring and I thought the extra privates would help her get it. Actually, it stressed her out more. Since we cut out the privates at her gymnastics gym, she is doing just fine with her BHS without any issues.

I am new to this sport also, but not too many people at our gym do privates. Maybe the much higher level teams but nobody on my dd's team.

I would wait on the privates. You'd be better off doing some light conditioning and streching at home with her a few days a week. Just my opinion!

Good luck!

 

[gym law mom]

I know about skating vs. gym. Skating is really an idividual sport, so most kids get their own coach and do private lessons in conjunction with group lessons or as their only training. In gymnastics, the kids start out in group classes and even once the progress to team, most don't do that many privates. Certainly for a child in beginner rec, there is absolutely no need for a private lesson.

My gymmie is a L7(hopefully moving to L8) and over the past year did 4 privates to get the choreography for her floor/beam routines and that was it.

 

[flippymonkeysmom]

We've done privates to learn her level 7 beam and floor routine. Also last year she moved to level 6 kind of last minute so I had her do 1 or 2 just to work on the routines a bit before the first meet - but that is pretty much it. I spend enough money in the gym already, lol

 

[maddiekate]

When i just started i did privates once a week for a few months. Now i do less than one a month.

 

[lakshmi369]

We are probably in the minority but....

Our DD does private lessons usually once a week. She had come out of an ultra-competitive pre-elite group that scrambled to get every new skill and advance as quickly as possible. It was a big gym and the class sizes did not allow for my dd to really get the full effect of the lesson. It was a great tool in compulsories last year and gave a bit of an edge to getting the details really worked out. Everyone is different on this of course but if used correctly private lessons can be a great help! IMHO

 

[hammy]

I've never been at a gym that requires private lessons. As a gymnast I always did them just so that I could get some more time in the gym because I loved it so much. As a coach I encourage my kids to do them if they really want to accomplish something that they may need a little more time on.

 

[gymdog]

This varies wildly in my area. My old gym didn't like to do them at all unless they really felt like someone wasn't catching on. I had two in level 7 in order to get my giants (fear thing) and I think I was the only one that whole year. That actually makes me feel like a huge failure but whatever Anyway they didn't really have any optional coaches that wanted to do them, it wasn't worth the extra time for them. So they didn't want to encourage it anyway. It's pretty much still the same situation, I know one of the opts who is struggling with some fear issues has had a few privates. These are pretty extensive issues and so it helped to be able to set up some stuff that would normally take too much room to be doing while everyone is on the equipment. But other gyms in the area have completely different set-ups where frequent privates at the lower levels are used to get seen by the upper level coaches and accelerated more quickly. It's just how the program is set up, not necessarily good or bad, but it depends on what you're looking for. My personal evaluation of the situation is that all things considered if I was a parent looking for a program I would probably not prefer a situation where privates were necessary to get an edge, for various reasons, but mostly because of what I usually (but not necessarily...just a pattern thing) associate that with.

 

[Billy]

My DD has only done two private lessons, to work on her vault and to help her gain confidence with her floor routine before competition season started. Usually private lessons are not necessary unless there is something specific to work on.

 

[gotgym]

I think this depends on several things.. In our area there are 4 highly competitive gyms within 5-8 minutes of each other. All the teams have 80 -100 kids on team. It is very common at all the gyms though required only at one(not ours). We recommend it if the child is struggling but, often have requests when they just want to build confidence, and tweak things. There are also some that ask for standing once a week privates. We will tell the parents if we feel it is not necessarry.

 

[eeyoretumbles]

For my gym its uncommon. The only time you have a private, is when you miss a practice during the week of a meet, then you are required to take one. I don't think privates are really that necessary, but if you are having trouble on a skill, its nice to have one on one time. I've found that usually in privates if you are having trouble with a skill, the coaches are a lot nicer and you get the skill pretty fast.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Our gym's philosphy is if you attend practices, there is no need for privates. My oldest DD is now level 8 and has only ever had 1 private for bars skills. Her other privates for choreography for floor or beam routines. They get 1-1.5 hr for choreography, then practice at regular team practices.

 

[GymnastRaeRae87]

I took priavte lessons every Sunday for an half hour sometimes and hour. They were really fun! They are absolutely necessary, it really depends on what you want to do in the sport (and what your parents want to pay for) it also depends on the program.

 

[T.Gymnastics]

I have lessons once a week and unlike some others it does wonders for me! but it could depend on the coach too so you can always try it and then stop. regular practice is just as important. i live at the gym. practice mon wed fri sat for four hours and a one hour lesson on thursday. its a very demanding sport

 

[cher062]

Well this past Jan - Mar my DD did alot of privates 2 - 3 a week (an hour to an hour and a half) but it was more to catch up. She had an over use issue with her left ankle and had tumbleing restrictions and PT from Sept - Dec so her tumbling was not where it should have been by Jan. After 6 weeks of privates her scored went from an average of 33 to an average of 35- 36 AA. Big difference.

In our gym you don't need privates to do well but most of the girls do some (maybe 3 -5 a season) during a season the week coming into states everyone wants one to tweek those moves that need it. It's more to get some skill or move they are stuck on and just can't seem to get for what ever reason. I like a few privates especially on the floor because its hard to get the time I would like DD to have in the regular practices. There is only one floor and a good 30 girls and 15 boys and who knows how many rec classes all wanting to get floor time.

I know this summer I will have DD do at least 2 or 3 a month to work on the new routines (especially floor) so when Sept comes for the Fall/Winter seasons of Competion she will be ready. That one on one really does help alot.

As for the level you can get those on USA Gymnastics web site (our gym does the USAG program) if that is the type of gymnastics you are doing. There are several different programs with their own levels but they are similar skills at the levels between the programs.

 

[nicci1999]

I have been doing privates once a week because I like the individualized attention I get from it, and feel as if I get a chance to work on skills I may not be able to work on in a class. Also, being an adult gymnast, having classes actually available to me is pretty slim, so that is another reason I do privates. but I find they help a lot

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

They're not required at my DD's gym, although as some previous posters have stated, there ARE some parents who have standing weekly lessons for their 8 and 9 year old daughters.

I did do about 5 of them for Katy this past spring. Her vault and bars coach didn't speak English, didn't seem to care about coaching (in fact, he's gone into "limbo" right now... who knows if he'll come back (keep fingers crossed!)) and Katy was sorely lacking in some skills during to HER injuries this past season. And then she developed some tumbling fears a month before the state competition - yikes!!! So yes, I had one of the high level coaches work w/her for a few Sundays to try to build her confidence back up and improve those bar and vault skills! Hopefully that won't be necessary next season - once again... keeps fingers crossed that she doesn't get hurt!

 

[lilmonkeymom]

My daughter does an one hour private lesson each week. It has helped her clean up her rountines (which she can not really do in regulur training). At our gym private lessons are $25 an hour or $15 for semi-private lessons. They also offer a punch card of 5 one hour lessond for $100.