WAG Level 7 beam question

[Ali'sMom]

Her coaches are allowing this, but I think if they forced her to do the backward skills she would overcome this dislike. Her bwo in L5 was beautiful, but once she had choices on the beam in L6 she took out all backward skills. Even her dismount is a cartwheel ft. One last note... On the floor she likes back tumbling better.

I think if it were just a preference for my daughter, they would make her do the BWO. But she has proven to them (more times than I'd prefer) that it's a truly paralyzing fear, so they took it out.
She really did have a beautiful BWO for L5, and most of the summer

 

[flippingtogether]

It is great when gyms can look at an individual situation and make the best call for the kid.

Yes, there are ideal skills to have at a certain level but they don't always come when you want them to, and it is up to the coaches to come up with a good plan that will keep the kid happy, building confidence, progressing, and competing at the appropriate level. We have a L7 girl who competes a unique beam series - a CW / Roundoff, and then she adds in a BT dismount off the beam after her roundoff - so she does this series as her final element and it is really quite cool.

And yes, a kid can compete L7 without a giant and be successful in doing so - and importantly there can be good reasons for doing so. I know all too well what it is like to have a kid who can get a 9.5+ on floor, beam and vault but is struggling with a giant.....so for now a substitute routine is in place for bars, with the goal of getting that giant. My DD is happy and knows it will take time to get there on bars - but she can compete quite successfully on her other 3 events (and score decently on bars) and still be an AA contender which is nice. Thank goodness for a flexible gym in this case.

Where there is a will - really a will to be creative with a long term outlook and plan, there is a way!!

 

[Ali'sMom]

I had a moment to casually talk with HC over the weekend at our travel meet. A mom of a L3 repeater who consistently comes in top 3 in everything but bars (cannot for the life of her get the kip) asked "so what next?" and coach mentioned xcel, that she won't have her do L3 again. So I had an opportunity to chime in "What about a L6 who just cannot do a BWO or BHS?" and I smiled. She said "well, there are options. She could do a round off, we can see as the time comes".
I know they really want the BWO, but I was also able to tell her that just last week, DD said "This might be my last year" based on the BWO. So I've definitely put it out there, and added in "But let's get through this year first", so she knows that I'm not trying to nail her down right now.
And who knows? She just might get it back!