Parents Hours

[Gymnast2017]

At 8 years old, usual grades pathway… what is most important, literal hours in the gym, or quality of facilities/coaching?

How many hours would you expect your gymnast to be doing? What do they need?

 

[Dahlialover]

At 8 years old, usual grades pathway… what is most important, literal hours in the gym, or quality of facilities/coaching?

Both training time and training efficiency matter. I’ve seen groups that get more done in 2 hours than other groups get done in 4 hours. Some coaches are very organized and have stations planned out ahead of time so there gymnasts are busy doing productive activities the entire practice and some other coaches don’t have any plan and put all the kids at one station where they stand in line for 15 minutes between turns. I’ve also seen coaches who are absent from the floor for long periods during practice and the kids are just hanging out by their lockers messing around in their phones. You cannot compare an hour with an efficient coach to an hour at an inefficient coach.

As far as training hours go, 6-12 hours is a good range for an 8-year-old with 16 being the high end of what I think is wise for the age. My 9-year-old’s group trains 20 hours but he stays home one day per week so he only trains 16 hours. I think that’s enough for a little kid and the coaches accept it.