Coaches Gymnastics in Germany

[catou]

Hi every one!

I have a little gymnast (7 years old) from Germany in my group for the next three months. I was curious to learn more about the way it works there. If I compare to the levels here, she's doing great on bars (almost got her kip) but she can't do a backwalkover or a back handspring. She has a great carthweel on beam and great lines and form but he has never train a handspring on vault.

She speaks some french, and I my german is like... non existent! The other girls have been helpful showing her the drills.

I'm curious to know what is generally trained and competed at that age so when she goes back to Germany, she'll have progress in a useful way for her.

Thanks!

 

[gymisforeveryone]

@Sari or @Redford might be able to help

 

[Zayna]

My answer might be a bit late, but it is hopefully useful for anyone who's interested in the German Gymnastics system. English is not my mother language, I have just learnt it at school and hope that you can understand what I wanted to tell you!

Feel free to ask any questions if I did not explain it clear enough!

Gymnastics in Germany is much cheaper than in the USA. Gyms are mostly local school gym halls where you have to set up the equipment. Lots of gyms will only have single rail bars and vaulting horses instead of a table.
But there are some very well equipped gyms with pits and new apparatus, too. Coaches are often unpaid and work in an honorary capacity. This makes gymnastics really cheap and a sport for everyone (I have been at both types of clubs and you pay around 30 to 400 euros per year).



Basically there are two streams:
- The smaller stream is leading to Elite, called AK-programme
- The other one is for fun, there are two possibilites: compulsory routines (P-routines) and modified CdP (Code de Pointage) LK-levels

AK-programme
The aim of this programme is to build the national team. It could be compared to tops/hopes (USA) or national in-age levels (UK). Girls usually start competing in the year they will be 7 years old.
The programme was renewed this year, meaning there are mainly new routines. They introduced bhs on beam for AK9 and vault changed from simple fhs to timers and drills for fhs vaults, tsuks and yurchenkos.
Routines are compulsory routines, so you have to perform the skills in a binding order with specified choreography and compulsory floor music.
The AK-programm runs from AK 7 (seven year olds) to AK 11 (= 11 year olds). Then then they compete with a Junior Code of Points until they are seniors.
Usually there are not many girls who will make it to AK 11.
There are only few clubs offering the AK-programme.

Overview of routines:
Vault:
AK 7: forward roll onto block (60cm)
AK 8: fhs to dish shape (flatback?; block: 90cm, landing on back at 1,10m)
AK 9: straight forward salto (layout) to immediate roll forward (landing on block, 40 cm) OR roundoff on board to back layout on block
AK 10: both vaults of AK 9, block height: 60 cm
AK 11: two different timers with vault table (1,20m) onto block (1,30):
- fhs to prone position
- tsuk to back or kaz with ¼ turn to prone position
- yurchenko to back

Bars
AK 7: main parts: cast to 90 degrees, back hip circle, straddle on
AK 8: kip on low and high bar
AK 9: cast to 135 degrees, clear hip to 135 degrees, baby giant
AK 10: cast to handstand, clear hip to handstand, sole circle, two giants, layout flyaway
AK 11: clear hip – clear hip, cast to handstand with half turn (pirouette), bonus (max. 3x0.3 for following skills: stalder, toe on, bar change with flight (B and higher), two giants with half pirouette, giant full pirouette, forward giants, dismount: double tuck/ pike/ layout backward)

Beam:
AK 7: handstand
AK 8: back walkover, cartwheel
AK 9: flick to one (= bhs stepout), dismount: back tuck
AK 10: handstand or back walkover or tictac to flick to one, change leg leap, flick to two, roundoff on beam, front walkover or fhs to one, dismount: cartwheel to back tuck
AK 11: flick to one – flick to one, fhs to one, change leg to flick, dismount: roundoff back tuck to open position (bonus: max. 3, 0.3 each = max. 0,9 for: triple flick to one, flick-salto, aerial forward or sideward, dismount B and higher with salto backward)

Floor:
Here you can find videos of the routines:
Sprung = vault
Sufenbarren = uneven bars
Schwebebalken = beam
Boden = floor
http://www.dtb-online.de/portal/tur...n/aktuelle-informationen/pflichtuebungen.html


P-routines

The P-routines are the compulsory routines for the majority of children doing gymnastics. They are usually practicing one to three times a week for one or two hours.
You can choose your level on every apparatus, there is an execution score of 10 points, the difficulty score corresponds to the chosen level (at P4 you get 4 points d-score, at P9 the difficulty score is 9 points.)
The P-routines are running from P1 (easiest) to P9. At most of the competitions you can choose from P4 to P9 on every apparatus.

P9 is like the American level 5 or 6
(vault: half on half off
bars: kips, sole circle, tucked flyaway
beam: cartwheel, free roll forward, full turn, dismount: front tuck
floor: bhs-back tuck, punch front tuck, double turn, cartwheel-bhs step out, handstand full pirouette)

Competitions are devided in age groups.




LK-levels

The LK-levels are more like Elite routines. There are 5 requirements per apparatus (one of them is dismount).
There are LK-levels from 4 (easiest) to 1. You choose your level and compete it on every apparatus.

Some examples:
Requirements of LK4 bars:
- skill of Code of Points
- circling skill backwards
- circling skill forward
-skill with half turn
-dismount of national skills table

Requirements of LK1 floor:
-dance passage, two leaps/jumps, land first one on one leg
-acro series with two different saltos
-salto forward/sideward and backward
-salto with turn
-dismount: B

You get 10 points e-score.
The d-score is calculated:
5 (LK4) or 6 (LK3 and LK2) or 7 (LK1) highest skill values per Code of Points + dismount
National skills are 0.05 each
A skills are 0.1
B skills are 0.2
C skills are 0.3
D skills …. And so on

Double this score and add 0.5 for each of the 5 fulfilled requirement (max. 2.5 points)

There are NO skill restrictions.


You can compete P and LK, you do not have to decide which one you want to do. But there might be some restrictions at some competitions


Congratulations, you made it through the terribly long text and you are now an expert

 

[catou]

Thank you Zayna! My little gymnast is leaving on the 21st, so about 5 trainings left. Her mother was able to write me the names of of the skills (mix of german and english) but I was finally able to understand what she had to work on. From what you wrote me, I think she might be AK7. I think she trains about 10 hours a week and her gym seems well equiped. She started gymnastics not even a year ago after doing hockey ( She has a bit of Canada in her as she was born here but moved really young ). She will be leaving after succesfully getting a her squat on, back handspring on tramp or mats and handspring vault with a mini-trampoline. So her time with us probably helped her.

Thanks you for all the informations. Really interesting to see the differences between countries.

 

[Redford]

Oh. Sorry catou, never saw this one, but Zayna explained it better than I could have.
Looks like you've done a great job with your little gymmie! Regardless of the gymnastics skills learned, she will certainly take a lot of great memories and a bit of a new language (?) with her to Germany.

Germany has traditionally been good on bars. This shows in the way our junior gymnasts are trained (lots of focus and progressions for strong and clean bar work very early on). The system also favours kids that are naturally strong on bars. By the time you do your first BHS on floor (both in AK an P) you are already supposed to be happily kipping on both bars. In our system your L5 bars basically goes together in one level with your L3 floor.

 

[catou]

Thanks for your answer Redford!

One of the first thing I noticed is her good kip swing. So bars are great yes, but she can't do a back walkover yet. Here you can have your roundoff backhandspring and no kip on bars. So I certainly saw the difference right from the start.

Bars are so hard, I think It's great They focus a lot on that.

She did gained french words. She already knew a good bit. But wow, the number of words she had to learn. From the skills names to understanding simple sentence like: Can you get me the red mat? I can honestly say I didn't learn a word of german... Pronunciation is so different from french which is my first langage.