Parents Looking for some advice / feedback on some questions regarding Level 2 Gymnast

[Jkgg05]

So my daughter has been at Pre-team at her gym and was moved up to team before the summer. She turned 5 in April and has been doing 3 days a week 3 hours a day since moving to level 2 team in July. I feel she has improved but I see the push to learn new skills more than trying to perfect already learned basic skills. There was a lot of build up to the first meet and I felt she did amazing! Super proud of her and showered her with praise and joy, but she came away very discouraged as she didn't understand why a few other girls had won more medals than she did. For a 5yo she is pretty sharp and she didn't understand where she lost points or how her attempt wasn't as good as another girls. Now, I'm no judge and couldn't tell what is good from not good but I tried to keep her focus on just improving her skills and focus on being her best self, the scores will work themselves out! Not to focus on what another girl did or won, just clap for them, high five, praise them and focus on yourself.

This is just leading me to ponder if I have her at the right place and with the right coaches. I want her to focus on just perfecting her basics, tight handstands, no wobbles, no bends etc etc I just cannot tell if these coaches are more worried about the push for the competitions because of the $$$ or if they truly focused on developing the younger girls. I'm just not sure how to process the situation. Where we are supposedly they are one of the better places, and I do generally like the owners and people who run it, I'm just not sure about the coaching. I have seen a LOT of coach turnover in the year+ we been there. This season is costing way more $ than I expected between team fees, monthly membership fees, competition fees and "required" team gear purchases etc so I want to ensure she is getting the most out of this.

What can I do to try and gauge how well she is being coached or how would I evaluate other gyms coaching compared to where we are at? I do not want to make a hasty move at the end of the year and end up in a worse gym. I know my daughter also hasn't really connected with any of the girls since moving up to team either, which also has been very rough for her. Any advice, support etc on how I should proceed in this situation?

 

[rd7]

As she is only 5 there's no need to rush to change anything straight away but you are right to question whether the basics are being taught well and if your $$$ are being well spent. 9 hours per week for a 5 year is old is a lot, they should be working on form, strength, flexibility and basics because 9 hours on skills alone is far too much. Were there any local gyms at the meet that caught your eye? You could quietly check them out and ask for a trial if you find one you like the look of.

 

[Gymgirl84]

I'd take a look at how the upper levels in the team are doing.
If they are doing well and they have done so for a while it is because they have a system that works.
If they don't, then maybe look at some other gyms around who are doing better in the upper levels.
Sometimes there are gyms that put a lot of emphasis in doing super high scoring compulsories, but that's not always the best way (or most efficient should I say) to produce good higher levels.

 

[Dahlialover]

Personally, I think 5-years-old is way young to start competing and that 9 hours of training is way too much at that age. I also think that competing level 2 is unnecessary and potentially harmful to young gymnasts who are not emotionally ready for the pressure. (Level 4 is the first required level). You should also know that The norm is to train a level for 6 months or more prior to competing, and that no one would expect a 5-year-old who joined team 3 months ago to be competitive in a meet against gymnasts with a lot more experience with the routines.

I would have told you to look elsewhere or wait a year if you had asked this question before you started but here you are. If she is happy and likes going to practice, then I would not change anything. I do not think you should read anything into your daughter’s competition results. Having started in July and being 5-years-old, it sounds like she did amazing! If she didn’t forget the routines and start crying, then she killed it!

I think you are on the right track with how you are talking to her. You should explain to her that level 2 competitions are just for practice. The girls are just there to get used to the meet setting, so it’s not scary when they compete at the higher levels. Set individual goals with her around things like behavior and sportsmanship and focus your praise and attention on those things. Make a big fuss over her doing things like cheering on her teammates, smiling and keeping a positive attitude, sitting politely during awards (if by some miracle that happened), following directions, and remembering to have fun! Praise other kids who are good cheerleaders, show a positive attitude, and who recover well from setbacks. Deemphasize the gymnastics part because that is genuinely not important at this point.

Make a little fun post-meet ritual that celebrates getting through the day. Do not make a huge fuss when she does well in the scores or the medals because you don’t want her to feel like that matters to you.

As far as making friends goes, that’s really hard at that age. Is she younger than her teammates? If so, it may be challenging for her socially. I would recommend figuring which kid seems friendly and has a friendly mom and then arrange a get together. If she has a birthday coming up, definitely invite the team.

Good luck!

 

[Sebastian12]

When she said “other girls”, did she mean by other girls on her team or girls from other teams (comparable age)? 5 is extremely young and a lot of times at this age her body is just nit mature enough to perfect her forms and techniques, and learning new skills rather than just working on current skills is a great way to prevent early burn out.

Look at other girls on her level on her team - across age groups, see how they do; stay for other groups comps, see how their level 3 &4s do; look at their meet score page with all their athletes, talk to other team parents, see how many stay and grow with the gym and how they are doing now.

5 is a hard age to make “connections”, but you can see how little kids are treated by the big kids at the gym and if the culture is supportive and nurturing.