WAG Has anyone ever made their DD take a month off in the middle of the season?

[momof2gymmies]

Thanks guys. You have given me a lot to think about. She is skipping gym today for a b-day party, so I don't need to decide for a few more days. There are other things about the gym that I don't like, but there are things about it that I love as well. And I suspect that if we changed gyms some of the problems would be fixed, but others would pop up. Plus, YDD is thriving there, and she is not an easy kid. She had a tough time in the beginning, but the very rigid approach works wonders for her, so i need to consider that as well. A more laid back gym would be great for ODD, but I think YDD would be kicked out before the first practice ended. And I am guessing if I ever tried to keep YDD there that they would tell me no way if they knew ODD was going somewhere else.

The gym I am looking at has a team that is like 1/3 the size of ours. Their kids do well, but not as well as our gym. We have two friends who go there. One loves it (she is a diamond). The other feels that the coaching is not great. (she is a bronze.) I don't even know where my kids would end up, b/c their levels do such different stuff. YDD is required to do ROBHS for bronze, yet her friend who has been competing for the other gym does not have her back handspring.

There is one other gym in the area, but they are just as rigid as our gym. They also have a much smaller team than we do. I talked to them last year about JO, b/c our gym says my 9 and 11 year olds (8 and 10 at the time) are too old for JO. The other gym basically agreed, but did say she would take a look at them and if she felt they would be able to score out of levels we could give it a try. My 9 year old could def. score out of 4, so maybe 5 would be an option. My 11 year old could probably score out of 5, although I think the bar part might be tough for her. She has all the skills, just not the cast requirements. But maybe an 11 year old level 5 would be ok? We compete against them at a lot of meets, and the girls all seem pretty equal. I guess it couldn't hurt to talk to both gyms and maybe go watch a practice. I just don't want our gym to find out because it will be the girls who will feel the consequences.

 

[Frase]

I don't have any advice on whether to swap gyms, take a break etc but I just wanted to say I have seen a few girls lose back tucks and round off back tucks at dd gym over the years - particularly at around that age. One of the strongest, bravest, most non-flappable girls on dd's team lost them for months when she was that age - at one stage couldn't even do a single flick on the floor. She's now 12 and is now round off flick straight backing with 1 and 1/2 twists.

What is it they say - 'this too shall pass'. I hope she feels happier about it all soon.

xx

 

[2G1B]

I would guess that your team scores higher than the other gym because your gym is competing WAY down. I'm in a very competitive Xcel region; but I have never heard of those requirements for silver!!! And a gym can still be "rigid" and use common sense. I would consider my kids' gym rigid; but we don't require 2 years at levels/ divisions and if an 11 yo had tucks on floor, BHSs on beam, could do a fhs over the vault, and had a bar routine that went to the HB then they would be gold (or in Jo). And if a kid has a block, and there are allowed skills that can be swapped, they will be allowed. I'm telling you, at least as a mom, go and visit the other gyms. A gym doent have to be too laid back to have girls competing at the appropriate levels and be willing to work with the individual gymnast.

 

[momof2gymmies]

I would consider my kids' gym rigid; but we don't require 2 years at levels/ divisions and if an 11 yo had tucks on floor, BHSs on beam, could do a fhs over the vault, and had a bar routine that went to the HB then they would be gold (or in Jo). /QUOTE]

It is so weird to me. I thought her routines were gold but..... She tucks on floor, her bar routine is kip cast BHC squat on jump to high bar kip baby giant tap swing dismount. Her beam routine is a handstand and a back walkover back tuck (connected) dismount. She has no problem going over the table in practice. She has her bhs on high beam as well as front walkover and round off. She has her fly away and clear hip on bars. Yet she has to do two levels. And is too old for JO. It is frustrating. But the good thing is all of this is making me think about things.

I think I am going to call the other gym this week and at least have a conversation with them. Can't hurt, unless other gym finds out. And I will keep her going to practices, and tell her not to worry about tumbling. Hopefully they won't even go to floor this week, so it won't be an issue!

 

[2G1B]

It is utterly absurd for someone with those skills to be doing silver. Well, I guess if she "has them"; but not really and they aren't safe to compete then it makes sense; but I get the impression that your DD has them competition ready. It is ridiculous for her to be a silver. Even with the floor back tumbling issues. If she has an arial I think that she could do a front tumbling pass (connected with flight) and the the arial and that might cover floor. Honestly, it sounds like she might be near platinum.

JO would be tough right now since she needs the RO/BHS/BHS for 4 and the RO/BHS/BT for 5; but I bet with a better environment she would get over her block quickly. And for now, she could be gold.

 

[l.c.o]

When my DD was blocked on beam flight, what finally worked was removing any pressure to do the skills. She took several weeks off of working them.

She lost a total of four "skills" at the end of summer. She was completely unable to work them for a month or so. One is usually still on low beam, two are on pit beam, and she's got one "back" (for now) on high beam. Coaches seem to be consistently but slowly encouraging her to progress and take these to the next step, one at a time, with probably an average of progressing 1-2/month.

I thank the stars for both her coaches' patience and DD's bravery and grit every day.

Good luck to your DD. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to peek around for other programs, like others have suggested?

 

[balancedmom]

My DD has always struggled with blocks and she is taking time off from doing those skills now-- pressure seems to make things worse. I hope your gym or another will let her continue and ease back into her skills. good luck

 

[NutterButter]

Thanks guys. You have given me a lot to think about. She is skipping gym today for a b-day party, so I don't need to decide for a few more days. There are other things about the gym that I don't like, but there are things about it that I love as well. And I suspect that if we changed gyms some of the problems would be fixed, but others would pop up. Plus, YDD is thriving there, and she is not an easy kid. She had a tough time in the beginning, but the very rigid approach works wonders for her, so i need to consider that as well. A more laid back gym would be great for ODD, but I think YDD would be kicked out before the first practice ended. And I am guessing if I ever tried to keep YDD there that they would tell me no way if they knew ODD was going somewhere else.

The gym I am looking at has a team that is like 1/3 the size of ours. Their kids do well, but not as well as our gym. We have two friends who go there. One loves it (she is a diamond). The other feels that the coaching is not great. (she is a bronze.) I don't even know where my kids would end up, b/c their levels do such different stuff. YDD is required to do ROBHS for bronze, yet her friend who has been competing for the other gym does not have her back handspring.

There is one other gym in the area, but they are just as rigid as our gym. They also have a much smaller team than we do. I talked to them last year about JO, b/c our gym says my 9 and 11 year olds (8 and 10 at the time) are too old for JO. The other gym basically agreed, but did say she would take a look at them and if she felt they would be able to score out of levels we could give it a try. My 9 year old could def. score out of 4, so maybe 5 would be an option. My 11 year old could probably score out of 5, although I think the bar part might be tough for her. She has all the skills, just not the cast requirements. But maybe an 11 year old level 5 would be ok? We compete against them at a lot of meets, and the girls all seem pretty equal. I guess it couldn't hurt to talk to both gyms and maybe go watch a practice. I just don't want our gym to find out because it will be the girls who will feel the consequences.

I remember you talking about your YDD before. A gym with a less rigid approach to Xcel doesn't necessarily mean they have a a less structured training approach so your YDD may be OK in another program. Also, my DD was a 12 year old L5 (and now a 13 yr old L7). She has been in the oldest age group at every meet except one. It looks like next year as a L8 she will be in the oldest age group for half of the meets. The 11 year old L5 age group was the median age here so definitely not too old.