Parents Hardest lower level

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Depends on the kid. Some do really well in 3/4 due to having good form on basics then get afraid of 5 skills and struggle. Others start off in level 3 without much body awareness but then start doing better in 4/5. Some do well in 3, struggle with the increased demands of 4, then get it back together in 5 because they already have some basics down. Some do about the same in all 3. A few are able to skip most of it.

Also, I did a mill circle more than twenty years ago so you're up against a fairly high wall there.
 
So far, they are all about the same for my dd. She struggled a little at level 2 with the vault, but by the end of the season, she was doing well. She said level 3 was the easiest for her. Level 4, again, the vault was her only struggle. She never really excelled at it, but she did improve over the season. Still it definitely hurt her AA placements at most meets. She has always loved bars and might be one of the few that actually loved level 3 bars though. :) She loved level 4 bars too. Right now they are training for 5 (or maybe 6/7) so I can't comment on those levels yet.
 
Depends on the kid. Some do really well in 3/4 due to having good form on basics then get afraid of 5 skills and struggle. Others start off in level 3 without much body awareness but then start doing better in 4/5. Some do well in 3, struggle with the increased demands of 4, then get it back together in 5 because they already have some basics down. Some do about the same in all 3. A few are able to skip most of it.

Also, I did a mill circle more than twenty years ago so you're up against a fairly high wall there.
So gymdog, what do I make of my daughter who could always kip better than a mill? In all fairness she was wearing grips and it was 6 weeks till end of season when all the coaches were trying to figure it out and an upper level coach said the grips were inhibiting the correct shift. While she became more successful I wouldn't have called it perfect.
 
So gymdog, what do I make of my daughter who could always kip better than a mill? In all fairness she was wearing grips and it was 6 weeks till end of season when all the coaches were trying to figure it out and an upper level coach said the grips were inhibiting the correct shift. While she became more successful I wouldn't have called it perfect.

Maybe, I can't see what difference the grips would make on a mill shift. I think it would be more annoying on the front hip from front support myself.

But again that's why I said some kids do better in 4 than 3. I have had kids that inexplicably couldn't do a single leg shoot through without hitting the bar or their arm even when their arm is straight, that didn't have trouble with other bar skills (kips, squat ons). And sometimes it's just awareness. I have a little kid now who can do a cast handstand but not a controlled mill circle. She likely won't break a 9 in level 3 bars, but she will be good someday, I can tell. And I've coached tons of older girls with perfect mills that may never have a good cast handstand. There are a lot of paths out there, but every level is hard for the kids as they master. Some struggle more at the beginning and some struggle more at the end.
 
Very true, I mean what in the heck is the point of a skill that you use once at a very low level and then never use again!?! We should protest
Y
I think that it is something about getting the shoulders over the bar and shifting the wrists...
Yes....and it truly is an intro to shifting that will show up again...and again....and for tiny hands, shifting sucks.
 
LVL 4 is tough as many have said... the Vault alone does most in.... as always though, Bars separate and define who will move on... the kip and the high bar work is really a step up from LVL 3... especially for the younger / smaller gymnasts...
 
Interesting, the earliest I have ever seen grips on any team is L4.
 
Oh, that mill circle! It was my gymnast's nemesis. Believe it or not, she had a much easier time getting her kip than her mill circle. I do believe the vault change from 3 to 4 is a big deal. A lot of girls who were getting mid-9s in L3 are struggling to get low 8s. I'm not a judge, so I don't know where they are struggling (other than landing), but there seems to be quite a difference between the 2 levels.
 
Oh, that mill circle! It was my gymnast's nemesis. Believe it or not, she had a much easier time getting her kip than her mill circle. I do believe the vault change from 3 to 4 is a big deal. A lot of girls who were getting mid-9s in L3 are struggling to get low 8s. I'm not a judge, so I don't know where they are struggling (other than landing), but there seems to be quite a difference between the 2 levels.
My YG has her kip, not competition ready, but good enough to say it is there... Only ever managed a mill circle twice on the preschool bar… and that was in her 3rd year at that level.
We also have a L8 that managed a mill circle in competition once at old L4. She never missed a kip at old L5+.
 
My DD went straight to Level 4 as a first year comp kid and did two years there. I'm glad she never had to suffer through the mill circle! She spent two years perfecting skills that will actually be useful as she climbs the ranks and now has beautiful swings and a lovely kip CH as a Level 5.
 
As a parent I say my nerves have gone up as dd has progressed through the lvls. Lvl 3 was rough and lvl 4 has its own challenges.
 
I think each has their own "OMG is this ever going to work out moments" 3 to 4 is a big one for a lot of kids bc of the kip and introducing the high bar as well as using the vault table. But glory that stinking mill circle...I'll just say that Little Bit did a Kip mount in L3 and I had zero concerns that she wouldn't make it but I held my breath during the mill circle EVERYTIME

that #$%^ mill circle! she had it but i also held my breath. and then she had a growth spurt and couldn't figure out how to get her now longer leg through on the shoot through. she fell at 2 meets on it, landing her in a lower AA rank.
 

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