Parents Levels and meets

[Ingymmom]

Shawn the routines would not be difficult to learn in a short period of time... and scoring out would be easy enough if that was the route your gym/you would allow.

If you want a true honest opinion, your dd is more than ready to train L4 & if your current gym can't provide that, I think it is worth looking into the other program you had spoke of... I know your dd was a little nervous about getting certain skills, but they really are possible to accomplish & sooooo much fun once they start to learn them. She would be just fine to compete L4 next season I bet. Level 3 is geared more towards either building confidence - which she already has, or making money for the gym - just my opinion.

 

[Billy]

Thanks for your advice/ support, Ingymmom. I'm really struggling with this and after a far-from-constructive discussion with my mother this morning, I'm really in a tizzie. But, I am taking DD to practice at this other gym tomorrow and we're going to check out a gym (of her choice) next week. Then we're going to have to make a decision. Out of curiosity, have you watched her videos on You Tube? I'd love to know your opinion after having seen her as you seem to have a good handle on this stuff.

I really do appreciate everyone's input and patience with answering all my questions. This is just such a tough sport to figure out! Too bad she didn't want to just play little league, eh?

 

[bogwoppit]

I have to say I have stayed out of this one as I am not under the USAG system, but Shawn if I had a little one as talented as your I would really not want to keep her in a gym with such rigid, hard and fast rules. We all know children learn at different speeds, we also know that a good coach can coach girls of different levels at the same time.

I really hope that your gym visits go well for your little one, as Ingymmom says, the level 4/5 skills are a lot of fun to work on.

Good luck, I hope your tizzy passes, remember your Mother will never understand gymnastics the way a gym parent does, that's normal, we are the crazy ones!

 

[Billy]

Thanks, Bog. You've given me my first smile of the whole day. Tizzy is officially over.

 

[bogwoppit]

Now that is what we're here for. We understand.

 

[Ingymmom]

I have seen her vids and think she is doing great... now at 6 I would not up and add a mortgage to my home, sell all of your belongings & move to an elite program, lol , but if the other gym fits your home schedule, within a decent distance, your immediate family approves, you really like the new gyms program & your family can afford it - I say go for it - she is certainly ready for L4 ! I am not saying that you can't make some sacrifices for her sport - for example, many do have to travel to their gyms and this works out for them. Just weigh all of the pros & cons to see if there are too many sacrifices that have to be made.

Grandma & Grandpa will come around. I am sure once they see just how much your/their little one loves her sport and that she is still a happy well-rounded kid they will be very supportive! Good luck and let us know how it goes

BTW bog you are the greatest! You always crack me up & offer up some really great advice!

 

[mariposa]

Do the girls get to work on separate skills based on what they can already do or does the whole team work on the same skills? For example, if one girl already has her shoot-through on the bars, do they teach her the mill circle or does she keep practicing the shoot-through until the whole team is ready for the mill circle?

i am sure it varies by gym, but i would hope they keep each girl challenged somehow. my DD is preteam right now and her class has 10 girls, 2 coaches. about 5 are moving to team in the next month or two and the other 5 are definitely not at their level yet. the coaches do an awesome job of keeping them all challenged and not rushing the ones not ready to do certain skills or holding them back if they are ready. my DD is the only one with her shoot through, but even the girls that don't have that are working on their mill circle. they keep practicing the shoot throughs and also work on the other skills. my DD still practices her shoot throughs as well.

i see the team coaches do the same thing and i think that is very important. all kids are different. that is why we left our old gym. DD was bored.

 

[mariposa]

Thanks for your advice/ support, Ingymmom. I'm really struggling with this and after a far-from-constructive discussion with my mother this morning, I'm really in a tizzie. But, I am taking DD to practice at this other gym tomorrow and we're going to check out a gym (of her choice) next week. Then we're going to have to make a decision. Out of curiosity, have you watched her videos on You Tube? I'd love to know your opinion after having seen her as you seem to have a good handle on this stuff.

I really do appreciate everyone's input and patience with answering all my questions. This is just such a tough sport to figure out! Too bad she didn't want to just play little league, eh?

shawn,

from seeing your DDs videos, i also think she would do perfectly fine in L4. i don't think i would want my DD in a gym with such rigid rules either. all kids are different and some are going to progress faster than a whole year at each level and others might need 2 years at each level or varying years depending on the level. i think boredom can lead to burn out just as much as going too fast for the child.

our competitive season is different. the compulsory girls compete from sept and end in march with states (i guess they could go on to regionals, etc, but states is in march and is the last regular season meet.) not sure about the optional girls because i don't pay attention to that as much as it doesn't apply to my DD.

good luck deciding! it is so hard to know what to do sometimes. also, make sure your DD knows the pros and cons of each gym and let her have the major input. my DD ending up choosing the gym that meant not being at same gym (different class) than her best friend and had to quit dance because she really liked the new gym. i gave her the pros and cons of each and she tried each advanced class and chose the new gym over her old gym.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

Shawn,

I have not watched the videos (sorry) but from all I have read it seems exploring other options would be the way to go.

our gym is small there is 1 L8, 3 L5, 4 L4, 4 L3 and 3 new L3 (just moved up and are practicing w/ L3 twice a week - the competing L3's practice 3 days a week 2 hours a day.

All the levels warm up together for about an hour then split off by level and rotate on the events. They work on routines together but also new skills as they get ready. For example my dd got her BHS & RBS first of the L3's. So she would stay w/ L4's for a little while while the remaining 3's working on BHS. She does practice kips on bars when she is in there during times other than practice - ds takes class as well. Yesterday she was throwing cartwheels on beam then asked for a spot on BWO on beam. Coach spotted several and when she was confident she did them w/o spot on low / wide beam then on regular width low beam then worked up higher and higher. She did not do any on standard beam w/o spot but did quite a few w/o spot on the one that was about 2 ft off floor.

All that rambling to say that they work the girls as they are ready they can work different skills on same event w/ their group.

Good luck and let us know how the gym shopping goes.

 

[Billy]

Shawn,

All the levels warm up together for about an hour then split off by level and rotate on the events. They work on routines together but also new skills as they get ready. For example my dd got her BHS & RBS first of the L3's. So she would stay w/ L4's for a little while while the remaining 3's working on BHS. She does practice kips on bars when she is in there during times other than practice - ds takes class as well. Yesterday she was throwing cartwheels on beam then asked for a spot on BWO on beam. Coach spotted several and when she was confident she did them w/o spot on low / wide beam then on regular width low beam then worked up higher and higher. She did not do any on standard beam w/o spot but did quite a few w/o spot on the one that was about 2 ft off floor.

This is exactly the thing that does not go on at our gym. Take tonight, for example. DD's team was working on their L3 beam skills and doing the side handstand dismount w/ a spot. Towards the end, the coach let one girl try the side handstand dismount with the 1/4 turn (a L4 skill). My DD has done this skill before and so she asked the coach if she could try it. The coach told her no and to go get in line with everyone else. Talk about frustrating!

 

[bogwoppit]

Okay Shawn, based on your last post, your light bulb moment has arrived. Do you see the answer now?

 

[Billy]

hehehe... I do. But it's not going to be easy. DD doesn't really like the idea of leaving her friends but I'm hoping the pull of moving up and doing more new skills will help.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

Shawn,

I have yet to check out your videos . But it sounds like your dd may need a change. I wish you the best of luck. I cannot recall how old she is (due to how old I am lol) but maybe if you include her in the decision - ask her opinion after trials at the other gyms - she might be more receptive.

I don't think my dd will work to elite, but you never know - right now at 7 she seems to have the love and determination it would take. But, she is only 7. That could all change next week I think she is talented but she is not the best kid out there. She gets nervous in meets so has never done as well as at the gym. But, that is ok.

Best of luck in your gym journey.

where do you live?

 

[Billy]

Thanks, gymmom. DD is only 6 and won't be 7 until October. We will definitely consider her opinion but she won't get to make the final decision. Right now she seems hesitantly excited about trying out the new gyms, one of which we're trying tonight. We'll just have to see how it goes but after last night at practice, I'm becoming more convinced that we're doing the right thing. Btw, we're in Georgia.

 

[mariposa]

The issue with what happened at practice would bother me. Why not let her try? Especially since she asked?? So maybe she can't do it, big deal. Maybe she can? That would bug me big time.

As I said before, our girls class is divided equally right now (which isn't how it is supposed to be, usually the girls go from our class to pre-team, then to team, but the 5 girls that are advanced for some reason all clicked with things and they are all skipping pre-team, since they said they would be bored there). They usually will divide up the girls based on skill level and work on what they need to work on. Even in the individual group, that changes by each girl. I have never seen DDs coach say no to someone wanting to try something. They encourage it! My DD wanted to know how to do a no-handed cartwheel, not a skill they need right now, but the coaches showed them and a few, my DD included, think they are going to get it and keep trying. I am sure someday they will. They don't work on it regularly, but once in awhile for fun, they do.

Same thing with vault. A few of the girls in DDs group have the level 4 vault pretty well done, my DD included. They work on the L4 vault over and over again. The other group of girls is still trying to figure out the run and jump part and they usually just jump up with both feet onto either the mats or the vault table, depending on what they are working on. And again, even within those 2 groups that they sometimes divide into, they work according to each girls skill and work up as they progress. Which really seems common sense to me. But of course, I am not a coach, so who knows. LOL.

Good luck with the decision and helping your DD find the right place for her. It really does make a difference. I don't think my daughter was considered "team material" at her old gym. And I am now seeing that they pretty much require 2 years at each level because they like to score well and I hope that my DD will be seen as an individual. (unless of course you are extremely talented/ have what they are looking for body wise, strength, etc. then they move faster). Her current gym doesn't move them up until they are ready, but has no time requirements at each level, and really does seem to want to let any girl that wants to compete and has some ability, to be able to.