How do you feel about home gyms?

[MaryA]

my older daughter briefly had a tape line on the carpet in our basement that she used to practice her level 5 beam routine (she taped it up on her own). She was the level 5 state beam champion and a mom told me that her daughter said E was so good at beam because she had one at home.

That is TOO funny!!!

 

[NGL780309]

One video I saw in particular was a time lapse over the course of an entire weekend. There were subtitles explaining that this child was literally practicing for hours well into the night. I have seen others where the descriptions do say that the kids were "practicing for hours".

I see. I was thinking you were pretty dedicated if you were watching hours of some little kid training.

 

[NGL780309]

Oh gosh Md, I think that is the video I saw too. I was horrified, the child is the one with the glassy eyes that I was talking about in my post. THe kid was in the garage/home gym on a bar doing FHC after FHC, Dad would keep going in and videoing her progress and encouraging. I wanted to throw up after watching it. It was like watching child abuse in action. It had gone to the point where an adult should have stepped in and stopped it, but no they just kept on proudly taping.

THis is where Dunno is totally right, some people need to leave the gym in the gym, because they do not get the BALANCE that is needed.

I don't typically watch youtube videos, but now you have my interested. I love a good trainwreck in the making. (joking of course)

 

[NGL780309]

My DD doesn't personally have equipment at home. I considered it for a time when all her gym friends were getting bars and beams, but her dad who is a gym coach said it he didn't really think it was necessary. He said in regards to the bar that she wouldn't use it long enough for it to be worth the money. Level 4 and some of Level 5 is pretty much the extent of use for a home bar as far as skills go he thought. It's awfully expensive too in my opinion.

Now that's not to say DD doesn't practice at home. She practices her floor routine all the time and will sometimes do her beam routine. She's never learned anything at home, but I do think practicing her floor routine and beam routine has helped her polish things up. I don't look at people who have equipment and think they are all crazy, pushy parents. Most of them are quite normal.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I see. I was thinking you were pretty dedicated if you were watching hours of some little kid training.

LOL--I have plenty of other things to do then to watch youtube videos for hours on end let alone videotape my kid training for that long. The good thing is these "fanatic parent phases" don't last too long because the kid is burnt out before too long and not even participating in gymnastics anymore. It's a sad truth of the gymnastics world.

 

[Coacharella]

The good thing is these "fanatic parent phases" don't last too long because the kid is burnt out before too long and not even participating in gymnastics anymore. It's a sad truth of the gymnastics world.

...and when that does happen, that's the saddest part!

 

[NGL780309]

LOL--I have plenty of other things to do then to watch youtube videos for hours on end let alone videotape my kid training for that long. The good thing is these "fanatic parent phases" don't last too long because the kid is burnt out before too long and not even participating in gymnastics anymore. It's a sad truth of the gymnastics world.

I know. I barely have enough time to shower most days, much less coach my kid! You think I'm joking, but I'm a single mom to 2 kids with one full time job and one part time job. Some days that hair is just going into a ponytail.

 

[10.0]

Okay I'm going to admit it. I have a sick curiousity to see the hours of front hip circles video, I guess kind of like when you see a bad accident and don't want to look but do anyways. Can someone PM it to me or post a link?

 

[emorymom]

I have a metal high bar (that's rarely set high) I got for $125 used. I pad it with a twin mattress and the supports were already covered in carpet from its previous life.

I have a floor beam that folds in half and a folding mat that's about 4' x 8' open.

The bar has not been used for much gymnastics beyond pullovers. It is generally used for play. But you know, it should be fun! They don't really get to hang like monkeys from bars at the gym, and whereas I had a bar on my swingset for that when I was a little girl, we have moved around too much lately for any outdoor play installations, and by now it would probably only get used for a year or two. It's much cheaper to have a home bar with significant resale value, than install something outside and have a hard time giving it away.

As much as they have played on that bar, when I read that bars are not worth the expense ... I agree if you get it new your end expense will be a lot. But if you can buy a home bar used, you can almost allways sell it in short order for $150, and maybe more of you are willing to wait.

 

[cher062]

Oh gosh Md, I think that is the video I saw too. I was horrified, the child is the one with the glassy eyes that I was talking about in my post. THe kid was in the garage/home gym on a bar doing FHC after FHC, Dad would keep going in and videoing her progress and encouraging. I wanted to throw up after watching it. It was like watching child abuse in action. It had gone to the point where an adult should have stepped in and stopped it, but no they just kept on proudly taping.

THis is where Dunno is totally right, some people need to leave the gym in the gym, because they do not get the BALANCE that is needed.

Ok where is the link to this I want to see this train wreck

 

[10.0]

Ok where is the link to this I want to see this train wreck

For real! Some one cough it up!

 

[Sunobo]

Ok where is the link to this I want to see this train wreck

I was thinking the same thing. I tried searching for it and couldn't find it but I did find other videos that made me cringe.

The only thing I have for the home is a beam that folds in half. The rest of that stuff is just too expensive and too big to store when not in use.

 

[bogwoppit]

THe video was removed from youtube by the member. There were some very interesting exchanges in the comments and then the video was GONE! I wonder why?

 

[Bella's Mom]

I don't have strong feelings either way. Bella has a 8 foot floor beam that she uses for leaps and those pivot turn things. She's not advanced enough for all the flips and things. She has played around her cartwheel some. She didn't ask for the beam but it was a replacement for an outdoor beam she has played for the past two years.

For Christmas, she is getting a junior kip bar. She has been begging for one for almost 9 months now. If she uses it for simple skills, then fine. If she hangs like a monkey, fine. But again, she isn't advanced enough to be trying anything more difficult than a mil circle. If she plays with it for 6 months and then quits gym, it's easy enough to sell.

Bella is also getting a panel mat from my mom for christmas. Not really sure what she's going to do with it except for practicing something she calls "tick tocks." I see more imaginative play than actual gymnastics use and that's also fine with me.

So I guess I will kind of have a home gym and she can use what she will for as long as she wants. When she quits or outgrows the items, up goes an ad at the gym. She won't be required to practice at home and she knows that I can't coach her.

And she isn't the next Nastia Lukjin.

ETA: I am also aware that once the weather warms back up and she can play outside, her gym toys will be ignored!

 

[cher062]

THe video was removed from youtube by the member. There were some very interesting exchanges in the comments and then the video was GONE! I wonder why?

Oh sure wet our appetite for a juicy video!! LOL.

 

[Bella's Mom]

Something I find interesting......

Parents put up basketball goals to help their kids practice free throws. Parents buy soccer goals to help their kids practice goal kicks. Parents buy special gear to help their kids learn how to connect a bal with a bat.

As far as I know these parents don't get their parenting skills called into question. I wonder why if parents buy their kids floor beams or junior kip bars, it isn't met with the same attitude as a way to help our kids perfect their skills in a sport they enjoy.

Bella plays soccer and no one has ever accused me of living my unmet soccer goals through my daughter when I buy her a practice ball and a home soccer goal. No one tells me how unlikely it is that my daughter will ever play in the World Cup or quotes me statistics on how many soccer players there are in the ranks compared to those who "make it."

Why is gymnastics SO different? It is the oddest phenomenon and one I find absolutely fascinating. So far gymnastics is the only activity where my support of my daughter's interest and talent is seen as something "crazy."

 

[bogwoppit]

Oh sure wet our appetite for a juicy video!! LOL.

I am such a tease!!!

 

[bogwoppit]

Some gym skills are just way too dangerous to be practicing at home, it's that simple. Basketball and soccer are hardly in the same league as working a squat on at home. Ask any coach and they will be able to tell you tales of horrific falls whilst learning what seems a simple skill, when parents do not know these things they often let their kids try them without realsing the risks involved.

Doing the basics is one thing, but getting into advanced skills is troublesome. But in any sport parents can get carried away and overinvested in their childs progress, and sometimes a parents feels the need for their child to progress faster because they see their child really does have the potential. But as any coach will tell you, there is a system to learning skills and a progression to be made that ensures safe and effective learning, and learning wih good form is very important in the gym. Many kids can learn to chuck a BHS a t home with Dad spotting, but then how long will it take the coach to reteach the skill properly?

I personally don't think of it as living through your kid, I see it as teaching her to do something that you do not know how to teach., unless of course you are a coach and are fully able to get it right at home. I tried to avoid the home gym concepts as I felt the coaches at the girls gym were more than capable of moving them along according to their abilities.

But as always to each his, or her, own. Oh and my kids have done more than their fair share of gymnastics at home, climbing walls, handstands going down the stairs and all manner of crazy stuff, I just didn't encourage them to take it further.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Something I find interesting......

Parents put up basketball goals to help their kids practice free throws. Parents buy soccer goals to help their kids practice goal kicks. Parents buy special gear to help their kids learn how to connect a bal with a bat.

As far as I know these parents don't get their parenting skills called into question. I wonder why if parents buy their kids floor beams or junior kip bars, it isn't met with the same attitude as a way to help our kids perfect their skills in a sport they enjoy.

Bella plays soccer and no one has ever accused me of living my unmet soccer goals through my daughter when I buy her a practice ball and a home soccer goal. No one tells me how unlikely it is that my daughter will ever play in the World Cup or quotes me statistics on how many soccer players there are in the ranks compared to those who "make it."

Why is gymnastics SO different? It is the oddest phenomenon and one I find absolutely fascinating. So far gymnastics is the only activity where my support of my daughter's interest and talent is seen as something "crazy."

If a kid is kicking a ball at a soccer goal at home, the worst that could possibly happen if she messes up is that she'll have to go and retrieve a ball that went past the goal. If a kid is trying to flip on a backyard trampoline or swing on an at-home bar, the worst that could happen if she messes up is the she could fall on her head, sever her spine, and spend the rest of her life quadriplegic.

I don't object to floor beams at home, so long as the kid only practices very simple and basic skills that she has already perfected at the gym with a coach.

I do object to parents coaching their kids at home. And if I saw a youtube video of a kid spending hours kicking a ball at a soccer goal while a parent tells her to do it again and fix this or that element of technique, then yes, I would consider that parent to be just as much of a wackjob as if they did so with a gymnast.

 

[gymdog]

I do object to parents coaching their kids at home. And if I saw a youtube video of a kid spending hours kicking a ball at a soccer goal while a parent tells her to do it again and fix this or that element of technique, then yes, I would consider that parent to be just as much of a wackjob as if they did so with a gymnast.

This is the bottom line for me. I'm not talking about that because I have no interest in those sports and consequently do my best to know nothing about them and have no involvement in them. I'm sure there are parents in those sports who are taking things over the top and possibly endangering their kids, even physically. That said some sports (and gymnastics isn't the only one) by nature seem to lend themselves to this problem, probably partially by selection (not many people are willing to invest the time and money required by competitive gymnastics) and partially because the commitment is so intense at a relatively low level.

But I don't really take that to justify home gyms. What we need is perspective.

Is the equivalent of casually kicking around a soccer ball really having a bar set up for actual bar skills? Eh. By my budget and mindset, that is not really the same thing, but whatever. To me the equivalent of that would be doing handstands on a tape line or jumping rope. The idea of having a bar at home to me is pretty strange. I'm just going to throw that out there. More power to anyone who makes it work I guess but I automatically think "What the heck?" in my head when I hear that one. That level of gymnastics in your home just seems strange to me. And I used to practice the compulsory beam dismounts off the edge of the bed and whatnot, but a BAR? mmm. Don't know about that. I suppose to me it's the technical component of the event. Something like a mill circle is not something in my coaching philosophy that would be an undirectly supervised "side station." I still spot my level 4s on mill circles every warm up during practice to get the control and strength at the end I desire - and they were geting 9s at their first meet so they've technically mastered the skill solo. The idea of them just kind of muddling through that process is strange. I think it could always be better, more dynamic, better control.