Parents Is this enough hours for level 6?

[JennyJones]

We are looking at doing 3.5 hours 3x/week for a new level 6 USAG program. Is this enough hours to do well? My DD did very well in level 5, won a few meets, but was going 4 days at 3.5 or 4 hours each day. Too much time, so we are scaling back. How many hours do some of the other level 6 kids go out there? We could ramp it up to 4 days in the summer (that's another option too). Thanks!

 

[MaryA]

My DD is level 6 and goes 13 hours a week... 3 days for 3 hours and 1 day for 4 hours. But a lot also depends on how the time is used... do they spend a lot of time waiting for their turn or are they constantly working? And, of course, the coaching makes a difference too. I would imagine that you made the decision to scale back for good reasons... either it was too much time for your daughter or it was too much time for your family, or both. There's likely to be some sacrifice in terms of scores/skills, but then she'd be making a different kind of sacrifice if she increased her hours (time spent with family, friends, doing homework, etc.). It's all a balancing act and we're all just trying to figure it out as we go along. I say don't second guess your decision, and when summer draws nearer (it's 9 degrees here, so I'm looking forward to summer drawing nearer) you can re-assess the situation. Good luck to you and your DD!

 

[Empowered]

My daughter's level 6 team practices 3.25 to 3.5 hours a day 4 days a week for a total of 13.5 hours. This is the lowest amount of hours for L6 girls in this area. Most of the other gyms do 4 days at 4 to 4.5 hours a day so 16-18 hours a week with just a few exceptions. I don't know of another gym that does less than 15 hours for level 6.

As Mary said, less hours can be just as effective if the time is utilized well. A lot of the gyms that do 4 days with 4 hours plus take more breaks and some even have the girls eat dinner during practice. This doesn't happen at my daughter's gym. You grab a sip of water between rotations and other than that go from start to finish at practice. No snacks, no breaks.

That being said, even with optimal use of time, 10.5 hours is on the low side for L6. That amount of hours is what level 4's do around here and level 5's typically average around 12 hours. That doesn't mean your daughter can't do well or won't succeed by any means... Sometimes less is more!

 

[gymmomtoo]

That's about what our level 6s go and they do great (overall) at meets. Using the time effectively, as others said, is the key.

 

[profmom]

I'm with MaryA and Sharks -- how the time is used is more important than the number of hours. The L6s on my daughter's team go more hours during the summer, but are only required to put in 9 a week during the school year (optionals do more, and some girls are regulars at open gym once a week). One of the girls on the team who's now a L7 was an event champion at last spring's L6 state meet. The team has occasional injuries, but almost all seem to be from accidents rather than overtraining, and we have a reasonably large team up through L10. I think it's possible to produce very strong gymnasts both by having a lot of hours in the gym and through not having as many hours but making sure that every minute is productive.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes. it's enough hours.

 

[gym law mom]

Its not about the quantity--its about the quality. A well organized program with good coaching can be successful with the number of hours you mentioned.

 

[Mom2Gymgirls]

This is the same amount of hours as what my dd's gym's L6, L7 and PO girls practice, and her gym does very well. There seem to be some gyms in our area that practice more, but there are several that are about the same as us.

 

[Aussie_coach]

The average for level 6 in Australia is 16-20 hours a week. You need to see what it is in your area. If most of the gyms are on 9-12 then you are right up there, if most of the gyms are on 20+ you are going to struggle to compete with them.

But a lot depends what is going on in your gym. Someone can do more on 9 hours than another gym can do on 20 depending on the size of the class, the age of the girls, the motivation level of the girls, the abilities of the coach, the amount of equipment and drills set up, the relevance of drills, the way the coaches motivate gymnasts to condition, how much time is spent standing around and how much time is spent doing.