Parents Hours in the gym?

[LasswadeCoach]

My gymnasts do not have any injuries, i can assure you, their parents are perfectly happy with this too, as its a school of gymnastics, they spend half of their 40 hours in class doing lessons. And when they are training, they are training in a purpouse built facility,withsome of Britains top coaches, and no JBS they never ever train on a hard surface, our whole gym is matted.

 

[JBS]

and no JBS they never ever train on a hard surface, our whole gym is matted.

When I say "hard surface" I am referring to a spring floor, a 20cm landing mat for vault, or a springboard. When I say "soft" I mean a tumble track, resi-pit, or tramp board.

Like I said though...lots of hours or a few hours...a gymnast can get injured either way. It's really just a matter of how talented the coaching staff is (which it sounds like yours is very talented and experienced).

Another reason why American gyms have reduced hours is to maximize profit...how much do your kids pay for that many hours? How do the parents afford it?

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Did I say my dd could only do one straddle press? actually that is not the case... My dd is 5, your girls are 6 - there is an entire year difference perhaps? Let me be proud of my little one and you be proud of yours.... I feel like this is turning into my girls are better than yours conversation, and that needs to stop. I believe that your girls can do what they say, I have a young girl and I know that they listen intently and when they want to get something they go after it. That said you are very young yourself and most likely don't have children of your own. You still do not know the long term affects of assisting with training your girls so many hours, as you said it is a new program. I hope it works out wonderful for you all.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Megley,

How exciting!! Jan will be here too fast I'm sure. We don't have a TOPS program at our gym, but perhaps someday we will... I am sure it requires a great deal of training. Yes, they have plenty of time Practice makes perfect....

 

[LasswadeCoach]

We do most of our conditioning on specialized exercise equipment, however our girls do perform full routines every day ont he sprung floor and of course other pieces

No i am not comparing your daughter to my girls, and i understand there is a full years difference, i am sure your daughter is very talented too.

 

[LasswadeCoach]

Oh sorry JBS i forgot to mention, the girls do not pay very much at all for this, as its there school as well as their gym, Myself, and the other coaches do not get paid for our coaching

 

[Megley]

LGCM (sorry your name is so long!), we don't have TOPs at our gym either but there is another local gym that does have it. I don't want to switch now because my daughter is so young still and who knows what the future holds. I think we are going to let her compete Level 4 at this gym and see how it goes. If she turns out to have a lot of potential and be really good then maybe we will switch to the other gym or I will pester the powers that be at our gym to get involved in TOPs. I just hate to have two kids at two different gyms, though actually the two gyms are really not that far apart.

Meg

 

[JBS]

Oh sorry JBS i forgot to mention, the girls do not pay very much at all for this, as its there school as well as their gym, Myself, and the other coaches do not get paid for our coaching

WOW!...how do you earn a living? Does the gym provide room and board?

 

[LasswadeCoach]

i still stay with my mum, and im at university, which i get paid for going to

 

[gym law mom]

First to address the questions on TOPS. Many gyms have the program and really like it. It does increase the amount of time a kid is in the gym and also the cost to the parents. It is more than just going over and climbing the rope. All of the strength tests are very specific about how they are to be done(full explanation on USAG site) as are the skills tests. The kids do a state test then a small handful move to regional testing and then up to national. Just getting out of your own state can be a very difficult task.

We have a 2 hour TOP class for pre-team girls and a strength class(both optional) for girls that need extra work in that area. Thats it. What they do is incorporate some of the strength/skill elements into the regular practices for Level 5 and up. I've heard from parents at gyms with big TOPs programs that the girls get tired of the strength training and sometimes they don't devote as much time to learning skills as they should. Alot depends on the gym.

As a question to our UK coach---where does the money come from to fund the gym, pay coaches etc. Sounds like the gym is very new with top of the line equipment and you mention that some of the coaches are top in the UK. Is the government funding all this? It does sound like a the old eastern European system of training----the girls all go to school, practice together all week. You said they are there 40 hours/week, but that includes school? So, how much time is actually spent in the gym vs. the classroom?

 

[ahs]

There is so much information in this thread- I'm not sure exactly where to start.

For the mom's who have been posting you are amazing- gymnastics is a tough sport at any age, but you have the right attitude "as long as they are happy" we will continue. When to know if they are ready for more- they will tell you. Right now it sounds as if they enjoy their time at the gym, but they are still so excited when they come home to "play" more. I competed through college and was lucky enough to have great coaches who taught us to love the sport. After practice in college we would still move furniture and have handstand contests, or strength contests.

Its not always about how many hours are spent in the gym, but what is getting accomplished during that time.

Lasswade- I'm sure you feel that everyone is attacking your system in the UK, but we are just trying to understand. Gymnastics in the US was criticized for many years for training our girls too hard, too young and not producing any results because of burnout and injury. Do these students live at home or is the UK adopting a system similar to China, in which they move away from family and live, train and go to school.

 

[LasswadeCoach]

No my gymnasts live at home, but come to lasswade for school education and gymnastics training,

We have recieved outcomes already, I realise our gymnasts are young, but their current routines are packed with difficulty, and they perform all skills correctly

 

[GymAunt]

Wow.. this IS an interesting thread. I'm still waiting to hear the answer to gym law mom's question though, which Lasswade hasn't addressed. You stated at the beginning that your girls worked out 40 hours a week. Then as you were somewhat attacked for overworking them, you added that about half that time was spent studying school subjects. So I'm wondering just exactly HOW MANY hours a week are spent working on gymnastics. It sounds like you were bragging about 40 hours, when that isn't the actual time they spend working on skills and conditioning. If your half statement is true that would put them working out 20 hours a week.. which is normal for SOME U.S. gyms at Level 4/5. But I'd be careful even with 20 hours a week on 6 year olds. They're still very small and growing.. while spring floors are nice and bouncy, they don't offer a whole lot of cushioning from hard blows and falls. I watched last weekend as two girls were injured in a meet because they landed wrong on a spring floor. And we have one girl in my niece's gym (Level 8 and much older than a 6 year old) that broke her foot in two places landing on a padded area of the floor.

As for the hours discussion... my niece competed as a Level 3 last fall and is competing at Prep Optional 1 (with the exception of one PO2 meet) this season. She's going to State in two weeks and spends 9 hours a week in the gym. We've competed against the gyms who put them in for 20 hours a week. Yeah, the girls got higher scores, but they looked like little robots out there who were so afraid of messing up that they broke down in tears the moment they made a minor mistake. There's on gym in the state (I read their gymnast's handbook online) that will REMOVE a girl from the meet - and the team - if she cries or becomes upset. They require them to attend all practices AND meets regardless of any prior school or family obligations, or they're removed from the team. It seems some coaches are just out to make a name for themselves, even if it means sucking all the fun out of the sport for the girls. Luckily, my niece's coaches aren't like that. They cheer right along with the girls at the meets and give them hugs and high-fives at the end of their routines, even if they did mess up. They do all they can to make it fun while still stressing (in a non-mean way) the basics and importance of doing the skills properly. They strive to keep them excited and interested, even during strength exercises by adding in games (Simon says is one of their favorites). Ash has only been competing for about a year, and has made great progress (she's a perfectionist) in that time. But most of all, she LOVES it, and has dreams of owning her own gym one day... after she goes to the Olympics, of course!

 

[LasswadeCoach]

I cant answer the questiion. because the answer constantly changes, my gymnasts hours change depending on what they need more work on, school or gymnastics, or if they have a competition coming up, and its not the hours in the gym that cause injuries, its either because a gymnast has been moved onto a skill they are not physically or mentally prepared for, or they are being spotted incorectly, or the padding, matting is not suffiecient, none of my gymnasts have suffered ANY injuried in our gym, ever.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Gym Aunt, please tell your niece congrats and keep up the great work and Good Luck @ state. It sounds like she has great coaches and is very happy which is beautiful... I am curious to learn more about prep op as I am unfamiliar - do they choose their own music, and what skills to they get to perform at their meets? Thanks

Lasswade, I think it is wonderful that you are sharing your experiences. It is exciting to learn about how other countries/gyms are training and I am happy you share that as well as your opinions. I don't think that any posters are attacking per say, but rather just trying to get more info about your program that your gym is using. I will be curious to find out the status of your gymnasts in the future and am sure they will do great!

 

[gymbabisMom]

GymAunt,
Our old gym had that policy. If the kid cried they were supposed to be sent off the floor. I rarely saw it enforced though. Most kids were pretty discreet with their tears.

 

[gymbabisMom]

I think saying injuries only happen when gymnasts are improperly spotted or prepared is inaccurate. I just watched a college athelete severly jam her ankle on a skill she's been performing beautifully for years. Human error comes into paly even in the most superbly trained athelet
Also Overuse injuries are just that, injuries caused by overuse. No amount of conditioning is going to completely avoid this. If your kids spend very little time actually working the skills, maybe that's why you don't see any cuncussive injuries. But the persistent heel, knee or elbow pain of growth plate injuries seem to show up in even the best programs eventually. Also there are changes that occur in gymnasts that don't manifest as painful. Changes in the bone structure that are apparently caused by overuse. Not to mention the delayed menses in girls when they work out too much, which is absolutely known to cause other problems related to lack of estrogen.
LasswadeCoach, I'm not saying you don't work in a wonderful program, or that your kids aren't exceptionally healthy. I think it sounds great for kids to be able to go to school with other kids they share a great passion with. God knows, gymnasts in public schools often don't get much understanding when it comes to their lack of free time for sleepovers and playtime. I think there's at least one school like that over here, but it's geared towards older kids trying to make elite.

 

[jewel7275]

My daughter trains 10 hours a week and is in her level 4 season.

 

[jewel7275]

What city and state?

 

[LasswadeCoach]

No I do not spend little time on skills, as my girls perform 5 full routines on each peice with highly difficult skills, so it is not because they are not performing the skills, they sustain no injury because they are spotted correctly, and are in very good facilities, and do high repetition of each skill, I think repetition is very very important in gymnastics, especially on the basics.