Parents Level 4 without kip?

[Max]

Hi fellow chalk bucket parents and coaches I am new here and finally got up the nerve to post. I have a DD In a stars program that has all her level 4 skills but her kip. Is it your experience the gyms move them up to level 4 without it? Our gym does not have any other competing levels before 4. She currently has other level 5 skills she just is lagging behind at the moment on her kip. Also, she is 9 is this too old for level 4 I get the impression from our gym this is too old.

 

[Seeker]

9 is definitely not too old for L4, but she does need her kip. It's curious that they seem to think she's too old though...did they indicate that to you? If so, I'd worry about the quality of the training. Is she close to the kip? Are they even training it with her?

 

[happychaos]

9 is a fine age for level 4, but not without the kip. When would she be competing?

Many level 4 girls that DO have kips get killed on bar scores...without a kip it's even worse. Unless she is an absolute superstar on every other event, just keep working on it, and save the competing until she's solid on all skills.

 

[Max]

She is close to her kip. She has the glide down needs to master the last part to pull herself up at the end. It is hard tell how much of a spot she gets but one coach told me she does 80% of it herself. She is doing v ups and pull up each night to help.

 

[Seeker]

Just keep working at it...my guess is she would be competing L4 next year? When is the compulsory season in your state?

 

[Max]

The season will start in early fall.

 

[iwannacoach]

I'd say a 9 year old L4 is fine, but I'm not the one who needs to be satisfied with respect to level and age. You dd may have an opinion based on where she'd like to be two years from now. This fall as an L4, and the following season at L5 will set her up for a possible move to optional work by age 11 or 12. Learning that kip as soon as possible is a big deal if she has that same schedule in mind.

Another concern is how the gym defines itself by the kids they want to move up a level when they see two kids with similar skill sets. The younger child is generally regarded as the more attractive choice because she'll have more time to work up to more difficult skills, and younger kids tend not to get overly concerned about a skills difficulty or risk.

So yeah, I'd be happy to have her as a L4, but I'm not the person choosing who moves up and who repeats. The only thing you can do is to help her when she asks, and keep her surrounded by positive energy. Half.... errrr, maybe three fourths of this sport is believing in yourself, trusting that your coach is always right, and working as hard as your dreams are big. Those three things do more to keep kids within the curve than anything else.

 

[gymmom8772]

My DD just got done competing her level 4 season as an 8 year old and in my area 9 is the largest age group for that level. If she doesn't start competing until fall, she has plenty of time to get it if that's all she needs. We had a gym switch over the summer and actually my DD didn't start training her kip until Aug (long story) and she started competing the end of Sept. Let's just say it hasn't been the easiest season!!! She did more of a muscle up and started scoring high 6's on bars. It started getting a little better, but still ugly and she was scoring 7's. By states she finally got it but with bent arms and she finally broke into the 8's. We are seriously considering repeating this level however because the season has hurt her confidence enormously! I realize now how important it is for them to be rock solid on their skills when it's time to compete or it is a hairy, scary experience for the gymnast and parents! Being that your DD has another 7-8 months to get her kip (and she sounds pretty close) she should be fine.

 

[gracyomalley]

Kips can come fast, or take forever...but there is a lot of time left! 9 is not TOO old for level 4...and some gyms actually work hard to get the "older" girls to optionals quicker so they do have time there, although probably not the gyms trying to produce Olympians! (our HC takes this approach - and will move older girls up to levels 8/9 with weak events, while keeping the "younger" (9-11) back to be totally solid). In any case, especially if the gym doesn't require a girl to do both Levels 5 and 6 (and most don't it seems), that would mean Optionals by 11 or 12 (with a repeat year)...a little tight for college gym goals, but not impossible...and unless that's what she's driving for - then relax (and more importantly encourage her to do so!)

 

[gracyomalley]

Oh, and for some kids competing while still polishing is actually easier on the psyche than having each meet that doesn't hit the all around 37 feel like a "bad meet"..trust me, DDs been in both spots! Lots of girls in old 5 had poor quality kips in the beginning (although at DD gym you scratched bars until you were making them in practice at least..and its our first level of competition as well, so I'm sure that impacts the decision some). Really depends a lot on coaching strategy and long term expectations...

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Hi fellow chalk bucket parents and coaches I am new here and finally got up the nerve to post. I have a DD In a stars program that has all her level 4 skills but her kip. Is it your experience the gyms move them up to level 4 without it? Our gym does not have any other competing levels before 4. She currently has other level 5 skills she just is lagging behind at the moment on her kip. Also, she is 9 is this too old for level 4 I get the impression from our gym this is too old.

=
The kip is critical to master, however she still has plenty of time to get it.

 

[Max]

Thanks so much for all your help and info. This was really helpful

 

[MaddieLarsongymnastmom]

You definitely need a kip for new level 4

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

Nine years old is not too old for Level 4 (or Level 3) and she definitely has time to get her kip between now and the fall. Ideally she would get it over the next couple of months and have the summer to perfect it with straight arms. I've seen girls get their kip in a matter of days, and others take a year or longer.

 

[gymmiemom]

9 is definitely not too old! At our gym you don't compete L4 without a kip, but some gyms in our area do. Our coach will allow girls to compete without a perfect one, but it has to be there fairly consistently. My DD (7 years old) missed out on L4 this year because her kip wasn't there. She had been "this" close for over 6 months and finally a few weeks ago got it on both low bar and high bar. Now the plan is to finish this season and then have her score out of L4 in a post season meet and compete L5 or even possibly 6 next year depending on how training this summer goes.

Your DD has lots of time to get it still!

 

[munchkin3]

9 is fine for L4! We have all ages on L3, L4 and L5 -L10 etc....(anywhere from 7 to 14)
BUT the KIP is mandatory for L4.
At our gym, you must have an almost perfect kip before you can go to L4.
No Kip, No Compete.
My DD, L3, had the kip in the summer, then lost it for nearly 6 months! She was 99% up and then not finishing. She finally got the final 'throw your shoulders over' at the end, and she got her L4 bar routine in 4 practices. It will be ready to compete by the fall.....that is at least 6 months to perfect it!!
I don't think it is good to compete kids that are NOT ready for the skills. It really ruins their self confidence. It is better to repeat and perfect, and it doesn't hurt to do awesome at meets too! Remember these are kids, and they just want to feel good about their hard work and accomplishments.

 

[beamer]

DD competed all of first (old) L5 year without a straight-arm kip. Her scores ranged from 6s to high 7s all year.

Not worth it. Really. It was brutal.

From a parent's perspective, listen to your coaches who tell you that your DD should repeat the level until she has a consistent, pretty, straight-arm kip.