Blackie6
Proud Parent
- Mar 1, 2007
- 1,279
- 249
Seriously, I am just throwing this out there to anyone who wants to comment. I am curious as to why level 4's are held back for 2 or even 3 years. I can tell you about my DD and why she was held back. She went to L4 without having very many L4 skills and thrown into her first meet after only 6 months being on L4 and barely knowing the routines. She did good for a 6 yr old, qualifying for sectionals her 2nd meet and qualifying for States after only 1 sectional. She competed at states as a 6 yr old last year and got a 31.700 (I think). It was obvious she needed to repeat to fine-tune and mature. We are fine and in no rush. While at states last year there were some outstanding 6 yr olds. From highly competative/TOPS gyms these girls at age 6 were already getting 35's and 36's at states! In the 7 and 8's last year there were also some huge scores like 37's and 38's and even higher. Some girls were 1st timers and some were on their second year. Records were broken. Can you believe that some of these girls were back again this year at states? I mean the girls that broke the records last year actually broke their OWN RECORD this year again? There were scores like 9.9 and 9.85 all over the place...huge scores! There were parents saying this was their DD's THIRD state meet? I mean, with a 6 yr old, maybe a repeat year because of age, but the 7's,8's and 9's that were already obviously capable of near perfect routines? It was a smash to our gym who really doesn't believe in holding back for 38's. As a parent though I am not sure I would be willing to have my DD held back again. The one 3rd year girl that I knew didn't score all that much higher than last year states so maybe even she didn't benefit from that extra year? I see that this year she even competed for a different gym, maybe her parents were tired of L4. We also heard that one gym doesn't allow their girsl to compete until after they score at least a 35 at an in house meet. Wow!
Are these gym rules? Coaches? Maybe more girls would stay in gymnastics if they didn't spend so many years perfecting L4. L5 seems much harder, I would think that is the level girsl get held back in more. Why level 4? Isn't it better to keep the girls moving up towards optional levels as long as they are doing well? Is a 38 such a big deal as a level 4. Wouldn't it be more impressive to score a 38 as a level 7 or level 8?
Just curious, even last year I did not see scores anywhere near as high as these this year, which means that more gyms seem to be holding L4's back. Why?
Are these gym rules? Coaches? Maybe more girls would stay in gymnastics if they didn't spend so many years perfecting L4. L5 seems much harder, I would think that is the level girsl get held back in more. Why level 4? Isn't it better to keep the girls moving up towards optional levels as long as they are doing well? Is a 38 such a big deal as a level 4. Wouldn't it be more impressive to score a 38 as a level 7 or level 8?
Just curious, even last year I did not see scores anywhere near as high as these this year, which means that more gyms seem to be holding L4's back. Why?