Parents Lower level training

[Kristen8789]

My daughter, 7, just started gymnastics at the end of April of this year. The gym she goes to starts everybody out in recreational 1. She gained all the skills required to move up to recreational 2 at the end of August. She has had 4 classes in rec. 2 and they don't seem to be working much on any new skills, or on some of the old skills. They haven't done back hip circles at all in 3 weeks. They never do pull overs. It seems like most of the bars work they have done for the last 3 weeks has been conditioning. The last skill she needed to move to rec 2 was a bridge kickover, with that being her newest skill she isn't fully consistent. They have worked on kickovers once in the last 4 weeks. There is only one other kid in her class but it seems like they stand around waiting on their coach a lot to tell them what they are supposed to be doing. I have very little experience in the gymnastics world, but my daughters goal is definitely to compete eventually and I'm worried at this rate she is going to lose skills she already learned. A lot of the coaches in the lower level classes seem to be teenagers. Would you contact the head coach, which is the owner at our gym, at this point to state your concerns? I don't want to come off as complaining, nor do I want to get the coach in trouble, so I'm just not sure what to do.

 

[gymnast17]

Is your gym more focused towards competitive gymnastics? My gym is and usually we end up kicking out the rec kids from bars and beam. That may be why. Are the coaches experienced, or are they some high school students?

Pro tip, if u happen to be interested in competitive gymnastics, let the gym know. After another year or two, she will probably be invited to start competing. This is one of my biggest regrets. We thought we were supposed to wait to get invited. I ended up losing 3 years because I didn’t show any interest into comp gymnastics.
However if you don’t seem to see any progress, I would leave and find a gym that would set your daughter up for success.

 

[Kristen8789]

I would say they are definitely more focused on the team kids. Some of them are just highschool kids, now if they are required to have have a gymnastics background I can't say for sure. We really never came across this problem in rec 1, even with the high school kid coaches. The rec kids actually have their own set of bars and beams so it's not that they don't have time. The gym we are at seems to be the best in our area. She never had any gymnastics experience but has gained so many skills in 4 months so I just worry she will lose them with this new rec 2 coach. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

 

[Scream4IceCream]

I would ask at the front desk what the process is to be considered for the team track. Gyms often have special classes for kids who are interested in competing that lead into pre-team or team. They are usually invite-only, but it doesn’t hurt to let them know you’re interested. You could also strike up a conversation with current team parents and ask how team works at your gym.

 

[Kristen8789]

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I think most of the team parents just drop their kids off, seems like the majority of parents that stay are rec parents. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Dahlialover]

You get a lot of quality variation in the coaching on the Rec side. I’d try to switch to a different day with a different coach. Also consider adding a dance class or a swimming class to improve her strength and body awareness.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

You get a lot of quality variation in the coaching on the Rec side. I’d try to switch to a different day with a different coach. Also consider adding a dance class or a swimming class to improve her strength and body awareness.

Agreed -- at this level and age, doing a variety of sports will probably be have more long-term benefit than trying to be competitive in any one discipline as fast as possible.

I'd just make sure the gym knows that you're interested in team; if you ask them about the process, they'll probably be able to answer your questions.

None of what you're saying sounds *inherently* incorrect, as far as how the skillset being worked has changed after moving up. For me, it's fairly common to take kids who just moved up a level and spend the first month or two focusing on basics, simply because the higher a level you are, the more important it is to have extremely precise basics. There are a lot of errors that I'll let slide at a beginner rec level, but insist on perfecting for a kid with competitive potential.