Do you need to compete all around to be in college gymnastics?

[beanbean]

Hi! So here's a little overview: when I was younger I did gymnastics and then switched to TNT. Since then, I quit and now I'm back in normal high school gymnastics. I take private lessons and classes weekly and I have level 10 skills on beam, vault, and floor. the only problem is that I have completely avoided bars, and fear that if i do not have bars, I will not have a chance of college gymnastics. Please enlighten me as to if i should or should not focus on getting bar skills back, or if i should just focus on other events. thanks!

 

[GymBee97]

Most colleges area looking for specialists. so what you have should be ok but you do need to talk to the colleges you are interested in and see what they want. You will need some video put together at the very least to give the college with you doing skills and competitions - what you need on it will depend on the college.

 

[bookworm]

Most colleges area looking for specialists. so what you have should be ok but you do need to talk to the colleges you are interested in and see what they want. You will need some video put together at the very least to give the college with you doing skills and competitions - what you need on it will depend on the college.

This is not completely true...as someone who has been through the recruiting process for the past 2 years i can tell you that colleges are looking for the AA gymnast first ...and this makes you more marketable. It is the college's decision if you are to be a specialist AFTER you get there but going into the recruiting arena, the All Arounder is what they are seeking (unless of course you are like a Mckayla Maroney and are the World Gold Medalist on Vault...)

And beanbean, are you on a team?

 

[gym law mom]

We went to a talk about college gymnastics given by a coach. He said the it is easier to be recruited as an AA gymnast---schools can put you in any of the events. After that he felt bars or beam specialists who also had several other strong events were the most likely to catch the attention of a college program.
You said you have L10 skills---do you do complete L10 competitive routines?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

currently, it is bars and vault that they are seeking.

 

[BlairBob]

It will vary from school to school depending on coach preference and what they are lacking.

Let's face it, once the girls get collegiate sized, bars is a big issue. High beam SV is always welcomed as being able to do big vaults. I'm not sure if there is a real push for a girl doing 2 vaults from what I keep hearing about collegiate vault.

 

[Granny Smith]

It has always been drilled into us parents by my dd's HC that it is vault & bars that drive the scholarships. We just attended a college showcase this past weekend and the way the gym was set up - the gym was a rectangle, bars were on the left, vault table on the left in right of bars, floor right in the middle and beams on the right. I kid you not when I say that the 20 college coaches that were in attendance were clearly looking to their left (where bars and vault were) the whole time. This is not to say that floor and/or beam are not a factor, but I would guess that bars and/or vault can be a deal breaker. Like a PP said AA is best, but if you are going to weak on an event, I would say beam is probably the one event that will affect you the least.

 

[bookworm]

It has always been drilled into us parents by my dd's HC that it is vault & bars that drive the scholarships. We just attended a college showcase this past weekend and the way the gym was set up - the gym was a rectangle, bars were on the left, vault table on the left in right of bars, floor right in the middle and beams on the right. I kid you not when I say that the 20 college coaches that were in attendance were clearly looking to their left (where bars and vault were) the whole time. This is not to say that floor and/or beam are not a factor, but I would guess that bars and/or vault can be a deal breaker. Like a PP said AA is best, but if you are going to weak on an event, I would say beam is probably the one event that will affect you the least.

I love how people will always say that about beam or comments like "anyone can do beam"....in watching recent NCAA championships over the past few years it was beam that took out the contenders...Florida 2 years ago and Georgia last yr...just ask Jay Clark what he thinks of beam, as falls on beam in the big meet, and not getting into the Super 6, cost him his job.

 

[wandrewsjr]

I would agree with dunno and granny smith that bars and vault are more likely to get you on a team if you are a specialist(of course it is always better to be good at EVERYTHING). But it doesn't have anything to do with beam being easier(beam is I think the hardest event to hit as a team)

I think it is because there are more girls out there who can perform a beam or floor routine with an NCAA start value of 10 than there are girls who can do the same on vault and bars. The talent pool on vault and bars is a little smaller.

And I may get myself in trouble here, but I think it is because there are fewer coaches out there that can teach a competent yurchenko full or great single bar release move than can coach the equivilant beam and floor skills.

 

[Gymdad2]

Bean,

You will need to define what you want in 'college gymnastics'. College gym ranges from D1 with a scholarship to D2 and some D3 schools (little if any athletic financial help at this level) all the way to NAIGC and college club gym. You will need to contact college coaches at the appropriate level and let them know you are interested in their program. Coaches' names and addresses are available on the web. You will need to make a video of your skills and make that available to the coaches as well. Do your research and go for it. Good luck.

 

[Granny Smith]

I love how people will always say that about beam or comments like "anyone can do beam"....in watching recent NCAA championships over the past few years it was beam that took out the contenders...Florida 2 years ago and Georgia last yr...just ask Jay Clark what he thinks of beam, as falls on beam in the big meet, and not getting into the Super 6, cost him his job.

Anyone can do beam is not true, my own dd is horrible at beam. In her last meet, she didn't fall off of the beam but I classified that she fell on beam 3 different times. Above, I said that I believe this, it's my opinion. I never said once that it is an expert's opinion. Your opinion is different and the opposite of mine. Who knows who's right or if there is even a right. But I will say once again if my dd is weak on an event, I'm glad it's beam and I feel it will have the least affect on her going forward. I believe that if her only strong event was beam, it would not take her very far. JMHO.

 

[BlairBob]

I would agree that there are more girls out there that can do floor and beam that can really vault and do advanced bars.

Similar to Men's gymnastics. Every guy out there can do floor to some degree. They can all vault well enough at the Elite/Collegiate level. It gets really specialized on the apparatus though. There is a big difference between the AA gymnasts and the events specialists on PH and SR and HB. PB not so much.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I would agree with dunno and granny smith that bars and vault are more likely to get you on a team if you are a specialist(of course it is always better to be good at EVERYTHING). But it doesn't have anything to do with beam being easier(beam is I think the hardest event to hit as a team)

I think it is because there are more girls out there who can perform a beam or floor routine with an NCAA start value of 10 than there are girls who can do the same on vault and bars. The talent pool on vault and bars is a little smaller.

And I may get myself in trouble here, but I think it is because there are fewer coaches out there that can teach a competent yurchenko full or great single bar release move than can coach the equivilant beam and floor skills.

your entire post is 100% accurate.^^^