Parents Just switched gyms and might be regretting it

[tooootsie]

If not ALL kids are ready, you only move up the ones that are ready.

According to USAG:
In the spirit of good sportsmanship, fairness to all athletes and competitive balance, the mobility system within the Jr. Olympic Program should be followed in the manner that it was intended:

1. Before moving up a level, every athlete should show proficiency at her current level.
2. Once a high level of proficiency is achieved at the athlete's current level, she should strive to move up to the next level, as long as it is done safely.

I firmly believe that girls should only repeat if they are lacking the skills for the next level. If they HAVE the skills (I have no problem with setting a reasonable cut-off date), then fine tuning can be done after that date and throughout the season. Once they are highly proficient at the current level, it is not necessary to run the routines constantly and next level skills and drills can be worked more often(At our gym, a 36+ at the current level allows a girl to train higher level skills in lieu of running extra routines).

They did evaluate all the kids

 

[Sneezyone]

39 AA? Goodness, what is the rationale behind polishing a level 3 routine until it shines like a new penny? Do many of these girls stay through level 10?

 

[raenndrops]

They did evaluate all the kids

Did any of them have the L4 skills? Or are they in a position to have them by meet season? They need evaluated as individuals and the decision to move up or repeat should be made on an individual basis. That is what I was trying to get across.

 

[tooootsie]

Did any of them have the L4 skills? Or are they in a position to have them by meet season? They need evaluated as individuals and the decision to move up or repeat should be made on an individual basis. That is what I was trying to get across.

I think they didn't have them consistent enough in the evals? But I'm not a coach so I have no clue. Lol

 

[duyetanh]

Going back to OP's question, yes it is normal. Our gyms cut off is end of July. No kip? No move. My kid's gym has 9 girls trying to get to level 4. 3 have the kip, 1 more will get it very soon (fairly obvious). The other 5 are not really close at this point, but I know that can change quickly...or not. The kip is the witch kitty of all evils...

 

[duyetanh]

And without being accusatory at all, many gyms out there stack the decks, so to speak. Each gym has their own philosophy. If you don't like the philosophy, you change to a different gym it seems...luckily we like our gyms philosophy. And coach.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

Kipper's previous gym requires NEXT level skills to move up. To compete L3 you needed a BWO on beam, L4 - BHS on beam, L6 - Giants, in addition to requiring all skills for that level. Current gym just requires you have all required skills by September, our meet season starts in December. I know other gyms will let girls start a season without skills, but they are playing catch up all season and rarely if ever score well. I just don't see the point. If your season starts in the fall, I think it's probably fairly normal to need a kip by now.

 

[lovegymnastics22]

I also think there is a lot of variation in what gyms interpret as "having" a skill. For example, having a kip could mean being able to muscle up with bent arms on the low bar most of the time or having a kip could mean straight arm kips into cast to horizontal on both low and high bars all of the time.

 

[sce]

Kipper's previous gym requires NEXT level skills to move up. To compete L3 you needed a BWO on beam, L4 - BHS on beam, L6 - Giants, in addition to requiring all skills for that level. Current gym just requires you have all required skills by September, our meet season starts in December. I know other gyms will let girls start a season without skills, but they are playing catch up all season and rarely if ever score well. I just don't see the point. If your season starts in the fall, I think it's probably fairly normal to need a kip by now.

Those aren't even next level, but 2 levels up! I do agree though that having the skills by a few months before the season is reasonable, or even expecting some above level skills. This thread is also a good reminder to anyone thinking of switching gyms to ask questions about how levels are determined, how much uptraining happens etc.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

The kip is the witch kitty of all evils...

So true!!! Literally lol-ing...

 

[Judybird]

I also think there is a lot of variation in what gyms interpret as "having" a skill. For example, having a kip could mean being able to muscle up with bent arms on the low bar most of the time or having a kip could mean straight arm kips into cast to horizontal on both low and high bars all of the time.

Ahhhh THIS!!! ^^^ I created a thread about this not too long ago. If we could figure out the root cause between muscling up with bent arms and straight arm kips we could win a Nobel peace prize! Lol!!! I'm sure we'll both be past this concern soon Mrs. Puma!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Ahhhh THIS!!! ^^^ I created a thread about this not too long ago. If we could figure out the root cause between muscling up with bent arms and straight arm kips we could win a Nobel peace prize! Lol!!! I'm sure we'll both be past this concern soon Mrs. Puma!

Very true!!! I may do a backflip when she truly HAS, not "has" a kip!!! Lol.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

If we could figure out the root cause between muscling up with bent arms and straight arm kips we could win a Nobel peace prize!

My kids kip for the first time with straight arms, because we spend 95% of the kip time on spotted drop kips, shovel ups and kip casts along with doing straight arm kip drills on the side and 5% of the time trying kips on our own. We sometimes tell a kid who is super close to just bend their arms at the top (just to get it) but their muscle memory wont let them bend their arms

 

[Deleted member D3987]

all this talk about levels....IT'S NOT ABOUT LEVELS! it's about gymnastics and basic fundamentals.

if your kid in NOT being coached that is 1 problem.

but if she looks like most at these beginner levels, like watching grass grow, it's perfectly normal and a part of our sport. it's called the process.

for some it's a slow and for some faster. but 1 in 4.5 million will develop at the speed of light. and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it. understand?

if your kid is not that 1 in 4.5? very frustrating process for everyone involved. the sooner everyone understands THAT the better off everyone will be.

 

[ZJsMom]

What dunno said. ^^ At the time, whether your kid competes level 4 or 5 seems like a big deal, but in the long run it probably doesn't matter at all. My DS is level 10 and I barely remember which compulsory levels he repeated now. I think he spent a total of 5 years as a compulsory and I don't think it would have really made a difference how those years were distributed-- well as long as he didn't do 5 years of level 4.

 

[twinmomma]

Our old gym had zero requirements. Then they tried to institute testing that said they had to have skills by May to train the next level that summer. Reality was all of them were training level 4 this summer. The new gym does skill testing December through May. So it sounds like (though we haven't experienced it yet) they have until May to get their next level skills. Though I don't know which ones are dealbreakers.