Introduction

[MaryA]

Hi...
I'm the mom of a young gymnast (9 years old, level 5). I myself never did gymnastics so I'm confused much of the time... by the terminology and by what's "normal" and by what's expected of me... This seems like a good place to come to look for that kind of information. So here I am. Thanks, in advance, for letting me pick the brains of those who know more than I do!

 

[bogwoppit]

Welcome to the Chalkbucket, you have definitely come to the right place to learn more about gym.

This is a link that is great for learning all the names of skills used in the USAG compulsory routines. Link Removed

Ask anything you want, you'll get lots of replies.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

Hi and welcome to CB. My dd is 10 and will be competing Prep Silver this year. She is,pretty much at L5, just needs a light spot on vault.

I think you will enjoy CB, lots of wonderful people.

 

[Ingwe]

Hi and welcome! This is a great board

My daughter is 11 yrs old and is training to compete level 8 this year.

 

[NGL780309]

Welcome! I'm a mom to a 5yo L4. I look forward to hearing about your DD's progress and meets. Will this be her first year competing or did she compete L4?

 

[mariposa]

Welcome! This is a great place for information! I have an 8 year old that will be competing level 5 this year sometime, maybe in Fall, but maybe not until Spring season.

 

[MaryA]

My daughter competed at both level 3 and level 4. To be honest, when she was 6 and 7 years old, she wasn't particularly good, but she loved it and wasn't really concerned about winning... thrilled to get her gift bag and her participation medal. Last year something shifted and she started winning, including 1st place AA at her level 4 States meet. Now I've been wondering if she would be better off at a more "serious" gym... thinking, "if she's doing this well with 6 hours of practice a week, what would she be capable of at the gym where she'd be practicing twice that?" but I'm trying to take my lead from her. She's happy and doing well where she is, so I'm trying not to swoop in and change things, even though part of me really wants to.

Thanks for all of your warm welcomes!

 

[NGL780309]

Well it sounds like her coaches are doing something right if she was 1st AA at States. So many times I've seen parents move their child do a "better" gym once they really started having good results without remembering that they must have had really good coaches to get that great result.

It sounds like she's doing great. I'm not saying you won't need to move gyms eventually, but do you have other reasons for wanting to move her?

 

[MaryA]

Oh, I have a whole list of reasons to move her to a different gym (more hours of practice, better/safer equiptment, more opportunities), but an equally long list of reasons to keep her where she is (gym is walking distance from our house, much less expensive, and most importantly, she's happy there and has no desire to change). Last year we were short on coaches and I was getting pretty frustrated, but now we have ample coaching staff and the new ones seem really good, so no real complaints.

What we have ended up doing is keeping her at her current gym and then paying for a shared private lesson with another girl on her team at the "upscale" gym about every other week. It still ends up costing less than moving her to the other gym, and makes up a bit for having so little gym time. She learns the skills at her gym and then "spit-shines" them at the other gym. (There's no hard feelings from her current coaches, as far as I know, because our gym is not permanently set up... the equiptment has to be torn down at the end of each practice... so there isn't really opportunity for them to offer private lessons).

If she could only get her kip, all would be right with the world!

 

[bogwoppit]

1st AA on 6 hours a week, now that is AWESOME!!!! I'd be keeping her right where she is, she is happy, motivated and the coaches clearly know how to do a lot in a small amount of time.

When my girls were younger we put up and took down the gym 4 times a week, I used to have muscles on my muscles from holding uneven bars and carrying full size beams. Now we have our own gym I kind of miss the time we all spent together1

I hear ya on the kip though, that is such a tricky skill!

 

[Sunobo]

Welcome to Chalk Bucket! My gymmie is 11 years old and a second year level 5 (back tumbling issues).

 

[MaryA]

Posting question?

Thanks to everyone for their warm welcomes!
How do I get "permission" to post replies on a particular thread? Some messages I've been "allowed" to reply to, and others not. I guess I'd like to have permission to reply to the "parent" thread, at least (I'm neither a coach, nor a gymnast, so I suppose it makes sense that I wouldn't be able to comment on those message boards).

 

[bogwoppit]

If you go to your USER CP, on the top left corner. You can "Join user groups", join the proud parents group and you will be able to post replies.

 

[MarR99]

Hi. I am very new here too. My DD is 10 and just starting L6. I read the thread and noticed that you were concerned with the fact that your DD only trained 6 hours at L4. My DD only trained 9 hours at that age, part of which was an hour of ballet. Our coach is able to pack in quite an impressive amount of skills in that time, with no injuries. As my DD is progressing, the time keeps increasing. She is up to 17 hours a week now at L6. (With 2 hours of ballet a week) How many hours does your DD train now that she is working on L5? I guess the only concern would be safety. As long as she has enough conditioning to do the skills I think it is great. My daughter trains a couple of more hours than the other gym near my house but less hours than a few of the other gyms nearby. It is really interesting the differences in philosophies and training schedules that the different gyms have. As long as your DD is happy, safe and progressing I think that is a great thing!

 

[Blackie6]

Just wanted to say "welcome" to the CB!

My daughter is a L5 too. She's 9 and this will be her second season doing L5. I can't even imagine having to take down a gym. I used to volunteer for set up and clean up when our old gym hosted meets and it was a back breaker of a job! GREAT JOB getting 1st in AA too! It's not always about more hours, better coaching, more intense gym...sometimes it's just what works! I'm not a huge fan of more hours, but I think it's because I like my daughter to try some other activities too so we often "cut" to sqeeze them in. Don't worry, that kip will come soon... and sometimes come & go a couple times before it is rock solid, but it will come!