Women Identifying and Progressing Talent

[Cmom]

Coaches, how do you identify a child with the physical potential to become elite? I understand the mental qualities, and I am specifically wondering how these kids are physically different. Is there usually a moment where you see a physical movement and think, okay that kid has the potential to go far and can take an accelerated path. I would love to hear any specific examples.

What does the typical progression look like for these kids after preteam? Are there any skills you try to teach them as soon as possible - specifically something you would not yet worry about with other gymnasts? How is your coaching of these kids different from other gymnasts on the JO track? What efforts do you make to protect these kids from burn out? How do you minimize injury? Do you think a child with exceptional talent can make it very far with less time in the gym snd have you seen this happen?

Thanks for any information you can give me. Without too much detail it looks like my daughter is moving toward an accelerated path and I am trying to understand what could be in the future.

 

[gymcoach34]

*The kid that has little to no fear
*Natural energy and work ethic
*naturally very strong/powerful
*doesn't mind conditioning or hard work-craves it actually-with a great attitude
*pulls us along as coaches with drive- not the coaches needing to push kids along
*parents/support system- this should actually be 1 or 2 on the list
*naturally competitive

If we are taking kids with those qualities to elite (or trying) I would make sure they have excellent form, fundamentals and basics! Its hard to do in this day/age with social media as so many kids/parents think faster is better with the super talented athletes.

 

[gym_dad32608]

A couple of things. First, so you understand where my perspective is coming from, my daughter's (our) background. She is a L10 DP gymnast who trains in a large established gym. She did go through the TOPs program. She trains in the "elite" group that has a combination of elite and DP gymnasts. She did successfully do the elite qualification but decided she did not want to do elite.

• Gymnastics in the US (I suspect the world too) is not like the old Soviet Block countries where gymnasts were identified at age 5 and put into elite training programs. From what I have seen, most elite gymnasts have almost fallen into the elite path. But for only a few exceptions its almost luck of being at the right gym, with the right coach, the right parents at the right time. If your daughter is 4-5 and a coach is telling you she is going to be elite, it would be red or yellow flag to me.(even more so if they have never trained an elite)
• Elite gymnastics IS NOT a better version of DP gymnastics! There are plenty of elite gymnasts that do not do as well as you think in DP gymnastics. Elite of course shares characteristics of DP gymnastics, but it is judged differently and values different elements.
• Physically, at a young age, there really isn't much, concurring with gymcoach, its the mental characteristics that stand out, the lack of fear, the constant drive, taking correction quickly. Perhaps the only physical aspect that I can think of is good foundational form, because that is so important for building up to those big skills
• Elite gymnasts train at least the same number of hours a high level L10 program does, so at least around 25 hours a week.
• At a young age, at least in our area, the girls progressed with the other girls in the DP program. As gymcoach referred to, what made their training slightly different is that their drive and ability to take quick correction allows(ed) them to advance quickly in getting skills. It wasn't until they hit level 8-9ish skill sets that they separated them into the "elite" training group.
• Bottom line, its a long marathon road. Injuries will happen and if you are fortunate enough to avoid the major injury, there are still the "minor" ones, back aches, broken bones, severe ankle sprains, concussions, etc. The right coach makes all the difference in the world if you are looking at the elite path. As much as it is possible to talk directly with 6,7,8,9, 10 yo, you have to constantly evaluate what the end goal is (goals and dreams do change). I have seen several girls burn out, because they never really answered that question, and just were kinda directed down that path, till it got too intense, too high stakes and they were like "whats the point? I don't want this".

Good luck!

 

[ORgymmom]

My daughter was training alongside girls who were identified for the elite track at 8/9. They were in the same group for a while and are still at her gym. The two things they all had in common: fearlessness and lack of hesitation, and a seemingly instant ability to make corrections. There was never a question of whether they would work towards elite- it was like we all just knew, even us inexperienced moms.

There are other girls who were identified later but their elite scores are always right on the bubble and they took a few tries to qualify, and they don’t share those same characteristics.

 

[ORgymmom]

Meant to say age 8/9 during level 3ish, in case that was confusing.

 

[Ty’s Dad]

Speaking as a parent, my daughter is now a Sr. Elite (was Tops A team, hopes NT and Jr NT member). This journey/road make sure your child wants this because the sport will be miserable for them if it’s your dream. You also need to know this will turn into a whole family choice, from traveling to moving (if you’re not at an established gym already) your whole life is around this elite world. Don’t get me wrong I like it better then JO/DP only because we don’t deal with the catty jealousy parent stuff. We all at the bar chillin, but if I would have known everything I probably would have tried to just have my daughter keep to the JO/DP route. Once your child is considered an elite they have to understand pretty much your childhood is over and they have to be ok with that. Most homeschool very few go to normal school. My daughter started at 7 1/2 years old and from the start we was told she has to go to another gym because she’s different. Once she hit level 7 and switched gyms that’s when the hours went from 10 to 32 plus privates, and she’s been doing 32-36 hours since level 7 (age 9) till now. This journey is expensive, frustrating, and scary( because of injuries and they will come) but if that’s YOUR DAUGHTERS dream then go after it

 

[Cmom]

A couple of things. First, so you understand where my perspective is coming from, my daughter's (our) background. She is a L10 DP gymnast who trains in a large established gym. She did go through the TOPs program. She trains in the "elite" group that has a combination of elite and DP gymnasts. She did successfully do the elite qualification but decided she did not want to do elite.

• Gymnastics in the US (I suspect the world too) is not like the old Soviet Block countries where gymnasts were identified at age 5 and put into elite training programs. From what I have seen, most elite gymnasts have almost fallen into the elite path. But for only a few exceptions its almost luck of being at the right gym, with the right coach, the right parents at the right time. If your daughter is 4-5 and a coach is telling you she is going to be elite, it would be red or yellow flag to me.(even more so if they have never trained an elite)
• Elite gymnastics IS NOT a better version of DP gymnastics! There are plenty of elite gymnasts that do not do as well as you think in DP gymnastics. Elite of course shares characteristics of DP gymnastics, but it is judged differently and values different elements.
• Physically, at a young age, there really isn't much, concurring with gymcoach, its the mental characteristics that stand out, the lack of fear, the constant drive, taking correction quickly. Perhaps the only physical aspect that I can think of is good foundational form, because that is so important for building up to those big skills
• Elite gymnasts train at least the same number of hours a high level L10 program does, so at least around 25 hours a week.
• At a young age, at least in our area, the girls progressed with the other girls in the DP program. As gymcoach referred to, what made their training slightly different is that their drive and ability to take quick correction allows(ed) them to advance quickly in getting skills. It wasn't until they hit level 8-9ish skill sets that they separated them into the "elite" training group.
• Bottom line, its a long marathon road. Injuries will happen and if you are fortunate enough to avoid the major injury, there are still the "minor" ones, back aches, broken bones, severe ankle sprains, concussions, etc. The right coach makes all the difference in the world if you are looking at the elite path. As much as it is possible to talk directly with 6,7,8,9, 10 yo, you have to constantly evaluate what the end goal is (goals and dreams do change). I have seen several girls burn out, because they never really answered that question, and just were kinda directed down that path, till it got too intense, too high stakes and they were like "whats the point? I don't want this".

Good luck!

Thanks, this is helpful. The coaches do have elite experience and I definitely have not been told my daughter is on an elite path. However she is naturally very athletic and is moving ahead of her peers for now.

My daughter is physically very well suited to gymnastics - small, strong, agile, exceptional coordination, very smart - but I have no idea how long she will choose this sport. Based on her physical qualities I am pretty sure athletics will be a significant part of her childhood.

The long hours and potential for injury make me nervous about going down the elite gymnastics path. No idea if elite gymnastics or even higher level gymnastics is in this future but I am curious about what it takes.

 

[Cmom]

Speaking as a parent, my daughter is now a Sr. Elite (was Tops A team, hopes NT and Jr NT member). This journey/road make sure your child wants this because the sport will be miserable for them if it’s your dream. You also need to know this will turn into a whole family choice, from traveling to moving (if you’re not at an established gym already) your whole life is around this elite world. Don’t get me wrong I like it better then JO/DP only because we don’t deal with the catty jealousy parent stuff. We all at the bar chillin, but if I would have known everything I probably would have tried to just have my daughter keep to the JO/DP route. Once your child is considered an elite they have to understand pretty much your childhood is over and they have to be ok with that. Most homeschool very few go to normal school. My daughter started at 7 1/2 years old and from the start we was told she has to go to another gym because she’s different. Once she hit level 7 and switched gyms that’s when the hours went from 10 to 32 plus privates, and she’s been doing 32-36 hours since level 7 (age 9) till now. This journey is expensive, frustrating, and scary( because of injuries and they will come) but if that’s YOUR DAUGHTERS dream then go after it

Thanks for this. If my daughter wants that life I would support her but it seems a lot more stressful than we would prefer as a family. Definitely would prefer reasonable hours in the gym and few to no injuries!

 

[Cmom]

My daughter was training alongside girls who were identified for the elite track at 8/9. They were in the same group for a while and are still at her gym. The two things they all had in common: fearlessness and lack of hesitation, and a seemingly instant ability to make corrections. There was never a question of whether they would work towards elite- it was like we all just knew, even us inexperienced moms.

There are other girls who were identified later but their elite scores are always right on the bubble and they took a few tries to qualify, and they don’t share those same characteristics.

Thanks for the reply. My daughter definitely just seems to "get it" without the repetitions her peers require. She is very brave and I have had to stop her many times from trying aerials and backhandsprings at the playground when she was 5.

 

[Dahlialover]

@Cmom

How old is your daughter, what level did she compete last season and what level is she training to compete this coming season?