MAG DS and his enemy, the mushroom

[Madden3]

Well I am no expert but to me that sounds like he is more advanced on floor and rings and not as far along on HB and pommel (?) Nothing wrong with that of course, it is the way it is. My son thinks those skills you mention generally span our level 5 and 6.

In US the first level to need 5 circles on mushroom is level 5, and that is our second competition level. And at competitions I have seen many kids unable to complete them without 'falling" at least once. It is nothing unusual. Now that USAG has eliminated the horse part of the routine at those early levels, kids who take longer to get the circles but were good on the horse part (like my sons) are probably scoring pretty low on pommel. But at a meet, in our experience good scores on other events can really make up a couple of lower scores. I mean, psychologically.

From a previous thread I think that our gym skews to a higher practice hour count at least amount the US gyms represented here, (even though it is not a super competitive gym) and iirc at level 5 my boys trained about 12-15 hours a week. Level 6 more like 12-18.

 

[acam1103]

It seemed to take my boys forever too. I was so worried that mine would be the first ones to just never get them ever. But they did . It is very frustrating when they are upset though. Now we have graduated from mushroom frustrations to kip frustrations. It will always be something!

I didn't realize Canadian levels were so different. We live near the border and have had teams from Ontario at some of our meets. I wonder how that works? Do they just learn our routines to come to those meets?

 

[profmom]

Yes, in the US, that package of skills would be around L5. Kips are definitely the next adventure for most boys after the mushroom circles come. Muscle ups and then uprise on rings are also fun. If they hang in, they can survive to be frustrated by pbar and ring giants. The fun really never ends!

 

[Sourkey]

It seemed to take my boys forever too. I was so worried that mine would be the first ones to just never get them ever. But they did . It is very frustrating when they are upset though. Now we have graduated from mushroom frustrations to kip frustrations. It will always be something!

I didn't realize Canadian levels were so different. We live near the border and have had teams from Ontario at some of our meets. I wonder how that works? Do they just learn our routines to come to those meets?

I think the routines must be somewhat similar but our first competitive level is level 1 and since there's an overlap in some levels with our American friends, I imagine it's possible to do some meets on both sides of the border.

 

[Sourkey]

(And based on what I'm learning here today our level 1 seems equivalent to your level 5)

 

[rosiekat]

I agree, sounds about like USAG L5. My son is now training L6, and is a really good gymnast, but mushroom is his bane. L5 mushroom required 3 circles, with bonuses for 5 circles total, flares, and spindles. He was only consistent with getting the circles after maybe 1.5 years? He was only allowed to even train the flares and spindles beginning about a month before State! This is a kid who could do (imperfect) giants at L5. So yes, different skills definitely take longer than others, even for talented kids. And mushroom is still tough for him, but he did get his circles!

 

[rosiekat]

https://chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/i-shall-conquer-you-mushroom.58799/

You might enjoy the photo I pasted in the first post of the (hopefully correctly) linked thread.

 

[buttercup]

Another Ontario here- and our level 1s also train 16 hrs a week. 2 and up are 20.
It is not at all unusual for a level one not be able to make all 5 circles at the first meet. (DS judges as well- it's a hard event to "get" but it will eventually click) They will come, he just needs to give it time, and take it easy on himself. Mushroom and pommel came easy to my DS but high bar was always a struggle. They all have one weaker event.

 

[Sourkey]

@buttercup it turns out that we don't actually even know what level he's in! I assumed 1 since it's his first year of the provincial program, but I've learned that they will let us know in a few weeks whether he'll be in 1 or 2. Apparently when he told me he has to be able to do 5, he meant by the end of the summer whereas I assumed he meant the first competition. Hopefully this means he stays in 1! I'm not ready for more hours yet.

That's neat that your DS judges as well!