Is it possible to get private lessons in gymnastics?

[gym_mum]

Hi guys,

im from australia, i was wondering if it is possible to get private lessons? is it normal or will i get strange looks if I ask?

My DD get private lessons in skiing whenever we go for comps or for fun and she really thrives and improves fast with the 1:1 attention so im thinking she will improve in gym the same way.

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[k-dog]

I don't know about Australia, but around here it depends on your gym. My daughter's gym does offer privates, but they are pricey. I think most gym kids already spend so many hours in the gym that they don't really need them or just don't have time for privates. Some of my dd's team mates have taken a private from time to time if there was a particular skill that they needed extra help with. Just ask at your gym

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I don't know about Australia, but around here it depends on your gym. My daughter's gym does offer privates, but they are pricey. I think most gym kids already spend so many hours in the gym that they don't really need them or just don't have time for privates. Some of my dd's team mates have taken a private from time to time if there was a particular skill that they needed extra help with. Just ask at your gym

Some gyms don't offer them. Their philosophy is, "if you can't get what you need to get during team practices, then the coaches aren't doing their jobs." Other gyms kind of "push" the private lessons... more money in the coaches/gyms pockets. And plenty of gyms are in between.

The bottom line is..... what is your DD lacking? My personal experience is that a private lesson isn't going to magically make a skill appear!! If the child is lacking some confidence (NOT TALKING ABOUT A MENTAL BLOCK OR FEAR), then maybe a private will help her w/her confidence so she can make a particular skill.

Just know what you can expect from a private lesson and keep your expectations "real."

 

[cher062]

if you are willing to pay for it anything is possible. I don't know if you can get private without being on the teams. I've never seen just one person paying for rec classes.

 

[Allieonbeam]

At our gym I see cheerleaders getting privates from our coaches occasionally (and we don't have a cheer program) so that leads me to believe that anyone can get one, maybe depends on a gym.
They are pricey though, so I would recommend getting one to work on something small where one on one attention will bring results, if it a complicated skill, you will need a lot of them, cause it's not like you can learn a kip in one private.

 

[Kiwi]

It depends on the gym. Our gym has a no-privates policy. I'm not sure of their rationale, but I think it is probably to discourage pitting team-mates against each other, when some parents with more money would fork out heaps to get their kid ahead of the others. I can understand that, but I do think it could be useful at times when one kid is really struggling with a particular skill. DD has had a few private ballet lessons at her dance school and they were very helpful for her ballet.

 

[gymgal]

dd did 2 privates a few years ago when she was having confidence problems with her bhs. She had the skill but wouldn't let go of a spot and really needed a lot of repetitions in a row to boost that confidence. In that case the privates are really helpful but 2 privates would not would not have done much good for her if she didn't have the skill at all. This year, she has her skills on bars but needs a lot of repetition to perfect them (free hip height, cast height, form, etc) and she's having confidence issues with her layout on floor as well. So we may end up doing a few privates again just to boost that repetition number. We are going to wait until her first pre-season meet in a month to see how she scores and what the judges say, then decide if we need to go that route. she doesn't need the layout but really wants it. she does need the height requirements.

 

[Pickle's Mom]

At Pickle's gym there are privates, but they aren't cheap or frequent. Usually they are at the request of the coach, who wants to work on a specific skill for a dedicated period of time (for example, 30 minutes spent just on a flyway).

The best private Pickle ever had, they didn't even go into the gym. Pickle was having tremendous trouble with nerves at meets, and her coach spent 45 minutes just doing "mental gymnastics" exercises and working on breathing and other techniques. Her next meet she scored 2 full points higher.

That's not something that every kid needs, and it isn't something she really could have done with the entire team, since it involved a lot of Pickle opening up and talking about her nervousness.

Aside from that, in three years she's had a couple of privates to try and correct her vault run and punch and I think three where she went in with one other girl and they worked on tumbling.

 

[sally]

Yeh some clubs do offer private lessons. Just ask your dd's coach

 

[gymmomtoo]

if you are willing to pay for it anything is possible. I don't know if you can get private without being on the teams. I've never seen just one person paying for rec classes.

They actually do this a lot at our gym. Well, maybe not a LOT, but it happens. I've also seen some cheer kids take private lessons at the gym--my oldest daughter (a coach) just did a private with a cheer kid. It seems to run in streaks too--a few years ago several of our team kids were doing privates (I actually asked about whether Beth or Sami (on team at the time) needed them, but the answer was no). But now--no one on team does them. No idea what the change is due to!

 

[bookworm]

Don't go there....it's a slippery slope

 

[gym_mum]

thanks guys

thanks guys a lot of different view on this I think i might hold off for the moment.

 

[gymnastjess]

If you look at my threads you will see a thread caleld private lesson costs, I live in Aus and it has my gym costs which are about the average for Aus, Some gyms do privates but others don't

 

[gym_mum]

thanks

thanks i checked out that thread, $50per/hr seems pretty reasonable, considering i pay up to $120 for skiing privates. But I think ill wait a bit, it seems unlike skiing gymnastics requires strength and flexibility to "get" a skill and if you don't have whats required there is no way a 1 hr private is going fix that. When DDs strength improves, if she still can't get the skill i'll consider it.

 

[BlairBob]

Some coaches will charge anywhere from 30-$100/hr for privates. I don't think I've ever charged more than 50 but it sort of depends on the gymnast and I have also done PL and split the cost between 2 or 3 kids.

Tumblers can be great cash for coaches if they have the time.

However, if said gymnast or tumbler isn't physically prepared for a skill, a private lesson won't get it there that much faster. It's much better to just do more strength or conditioning at home or the gym.

That being said, I have known some gymnasts who have done private lessons at fitness gyms. That can really vary in usefulness though since you can figure at least $40-65/hr.

As a coach though, I don't like doing privates if my percentage at the gym is small. Paying 5 or 10 bucks per session is fine but I've had to do them at some gyms at my hourly pay rate or time and a half (when they are charging 40 or 50/hr). That's when I get real picky about privates, moreso than usual.