WAG Lvl 6 vs lvl 5

[ollieblueeyes]

My DD is training in a lvl5/6 group. Coaches plan to have no lvl 5s this year as last years exp was not great. The lvl5s really had a rough year with tough judging. What skills are needed for lvl6? Is a flyaway mandatory? What about BHS on beam? Dd is making good progress on both but the alternative (I think) is repeating lvl4.

Is repeating lvl4 preferable to doing Lvl5?

 

[BarCoach]

A few of my girls are in the same boat and in my opinion repeating 4 and up training is preferable to struggling at 6. No a flyaway is not required but most 6s will use it. A BHS is not required either. However, your gym may require those skills.

 

[gymmutti]

My DD did L6 vs L5 last year and had a great experience as did all of her teammates. We had 1-2 girls who did not compete flyaways last year. We only had 1 girl who competed a BHS last year. We had a lot of girls who were on the podium last year which made them feel great. I don't think they would have done as well in L5 as some of the girls never did well with matching the exact movements in the compulsory routines but excelled with their own routines.

 

[Smartiegirl]

My DD did L6 last year. A BHS is not required. My DD took it out of her beam routine at the end of the season, did a BWO at states and won beam at states. Sometimes less is more, but every coach has a different opinion.

 

[ollieblueeyes]

My DD did L6 vs L5 last year and had a great experience as did all of her teammates. We had 1-2 girls who did not compete flyaways last year. We only had 1 girl who competed a BHS last year. We had a lot of girls who were on the podium last year which made them feel great. I don't think they would have done as well in L5 as some of the girls never did well with matching the exact movements in the compulsory routines but excelled with their own routines.

This is what our happened last year and the coaches do not want to repeat this year. I suspect my dd will be better off with out the compulsory pickiness. As the BHS on beam and the flyaway are her stubborn skills I think she'll be ok. She is making progress on both. Two weeks ago she swore she would never even try a flyaway again and now she is doing them using the harness. I suspect this will be behind her by the time meets are starting. She actually is getting ready to move her giants to the pit bar from strap and has her free-hip and baby giant.

I think the option would be to repeat Lvl4 and at 13 she really does not want to go that route. Hopefully coaches will go the alternative route with her rather than repeat. I know there was talk of substituting the BHS for a teammate.

 

[2G1B]

Our gym placed very well at level 5 last year; but they have decided not to compete it this year. Instead girls who are ready will do one level 5 meet to score out and them move to level 6. Girls who aren't ready for 6 will do Xcel gold, 1 level 5 score out meet and then hopefully do 6 next year.

 

[LizzieLac]

My DD did level 5 last year and had a great season. She could have competed level 6 based on what the requirements are and she would have done fine. But our HC/owner requires more advanced skills for level 6, so it was really more of a level for girls who were not meeting his standards for level 7, than a level to do instead of 5.

 

[happychaos]

My DD did level 5 last year and had a great season. She could have competed level 6 based on what the requirements are and she would have done fine. But our HC/owner requires more advanced skills for level 6, so it was really more of a level for girls who were not meeting his standards for level 7, than a level to do instead of 5.

I'm curious how your level 6 team did compared to gyms who were competing just the minimum requirements? Our gym will also be requiring and competing skills well above the minimum requirements, and I wonder if we should be prepared to score lower than gyms with "watered down" routines.

 

[flippingtogether]

This thread is of interest to me right now.... We are ready to move to a new state and I am not sure what level to advocate for my daughter. She was a 4 last fall and had a great season. She is fully ready to be a L5 this fall....and in fact did one meet as a 5 in early spring and did pretty well but not great. The L5 meet was more for fun than to score out, though she did score fairly well.

Her current gym (leaving soon though!) would have her be a 5 this fall and then move to 7 a year from now (they don't do 6 or excel) - and DD does well with the pickiness of compulsories and enjoys it.

Her new gym we will arrive at in a couple of weeks has the girls do a year of 5, then a year of 6, then move to 7.

My DD is very solid on her 5 skills and has been training 5 routines and L7 skills this summer - but is a year off from being competitive at that higher level.

The only thing I am confident of is that in a year she is on track to be a 7. I don't know much about L6 so don't know if she current path - L5 to L7 - is best - or if she she should look to join the new team as a 6 and then move to 7. My DD loves compulsories and seems to want to continue down the path she has already started..... She would be very happy being a 5. She is far along with her skill development, so she won't need 2 years to get to 7.

I know the new coaches will have thoughts, but I would like to understand pros and cons of each option. (I did speak to one of our current coaches....and perhaps not surprisingly she thought it was better to do a full season of 5 and move to 7 when ready. She said she's not a fan of 6, as she thought 5 was actually harder than 6.)

So now I am confused as to what to think.....

 

[wsg13]

I think repeating would be the best option. From experience I repeated level 5. And did level 6,7,8 all in the one year. If you are not ready there is no rush.

 

[raenndrops]

This thread is of interest to me right now.... We are ready to move to a new state and I am not sure what level to advocate for my daughter. She was a 4 last fall and had a great season. She is fully ready to be a L5 this fall....and in fact did one meet as a 5 in early spring and did pretty well but not great. The L5 meet was more for fun than to score out, though she did score fairly well.

Her current gym (leaving soon though!) would have her be a 5 this fall and then move to 7 a year from now (they don't do 6 or excel) - and DD does well with the pickiness of compulsories and enjoys it.

Her new gym we will arrive at in a couple of weeks has the girls do a year of 5, then a year of 6, then move to 7.

My DD is very solid on her 5 skills and has been training 5 routines and L7 skills this summer - but is a year off from being competitive at that higher level.

The only thing I am confident of is that in a year she is on track to be a 7. I don't know much about L6 so don't know if she current path - L5 to L7 - is best - or if she she should look to join the new team as a 6 and then move to 7. My DD loves compulsories and seems to want to continue down the path she has already started..... She would be very happy being a 5. She is far along with her skill development, so she won't need 2 years to get to 7.

I know the new coaches will have thoughts, but I would like to understand pros and cons of each option. (I did speak to one of our current coaches....and perhaps not surprisingly she thought it was better to do a full season of 5 and move to 7 when ready. She said she's not a fan of 6, as she thought 5 was actually harder than 6.)

So now I am confused as to what to think.....

L5 CAN be harder than L6... minimum L6 routines can do, for example, cartwheel on beam instead of BWO or BHS.
However, some gyms basically have their L6 compete modified L7 routines (beam series, giants on bars, layouts or fulls on floor).
If the new gym has them do full years at each Level 5-7, then I would advocate for L6... you said she scored fairly well at the one L5 meet she already competed. Therefore, she is eligible to compete L6 this season. Good luck with your decision.

 

[raenndrops]

I'm curious how your level 6 team did compared to gyms who were competing just the minimum requirements? Our gym will also be requiring and competing skills well above the minimum requirements, and I wonder if we should be prepared to score lower than gyms with "watered down" routines.

I would be prepared to score lower if the gymnasts aren't PERFECT in their execution. Adding the extra stuff in only leaves them open to more deductions.

Our L6 team dominated the beam this season and one of them came in 4th at YMCA Nationals. This girl follows the get on, do what you need, and get off mentality... and she AVERAGED a 9.1 on beam all season.

 

[wheezy]

Level 7s SHOULD have giants to do well at states (depending on the state). L6s should have BHS on beam, but can connect two BHS as well. I think 5 and 6 are pretty similar except for the BHS and a few things on floor.

 

[flippingtogether]

A follow up question - would it work or just be weird to compete the L5 bar routine in L6? (And if not, can it score well if executed well in L6?)

If the L5 beam elements are bought to L6, can that score well also? Or is a BHS needed to score well? Or would a BWO BWO work ok at 6?

 

[raenndrops]

A follow up question - would it work or just be weird to compete the L5 bar routine in L6? (And if not, can it score well if executed well in L6?)

If the L5 beam elements are bought to L6, can that score well also? Or is a BHS needed to score well? Or would a BWO BWO work ok at 6?

If the casts are close to HS, then the L5 bar routine CAN score well in L6, but I would cut out one of the tap swings to avoid an extra swing deduction.
Considering we had girls scoring well with cartwheels in L6, a single BWO like in the L5 routine would even work. As long as there is 180º in the split and a B skill somewhere in the routine, it would do great. Just remember, in L6, less is more. Extra skills = extra opportunities for deductions.

 

[flippingtogether]

If the casts are close to HS, then the L5 bar routine CAN score well in L6, but I would cut out one of the tap swings to avoid an extra swing deduction.
Considering we had girls scoring well with cartwheels in L6, a single BWO like in the L5 routine would even work. As long as there is 180º in the split and a B skill somewhere in the routine, it would do great. Just remember, in L6, less is more. Extra skills = extra opportunities for deductions.

Thank you, now I get it. I feel much better informed .... And this sure explains why when I search YouTube for example L6 routines this last season, I see some super short bar routines and floor exercises with only 2 tumbling passes! (Like you say, less is more!)

Though it seems strange a cartwheel on beam plus a handstand (or close) on bars actually go together in the same level....

 

[raenndrops]

Thank you, now I get it. I feel much better informed .... And this sure explains why when I search YouTube for example L6 routines this last season, I see some super short bar routines and floor exercises with only 2 tumbling passes! (Like you say, less is more!)

Though it seems strange a cartwheel on beam plus a handstand (or close) on bars actually go together in the same level....

They use Optional Cast Requirements... the SR is a cast to Horizontal... to get the credit for their start value. The problem is that they still get deducted for execution if it is below Handstand. This goes for every cast not connected to a squat on... so if they don't have a cast handstand, they should limit their casts to the one required cast. Our girls were scoring well on beam... bars - not so much... no cast handstands.
One girl had a 9.1 average on Beam, but a 7.85 average on bars with high scores of 9.4 (twice) on beam and 8.7 (once) on bars.

 

[LizzieLac]

I'm curious how your level 6 team did compared to gyms who were competing just the minimum requirements? Our gym will also be requiring and competing skills well above the minimum requirements, and I wonder if we should be prepared to score lower than gyms with "watered down" routines.

They did very well. Over 36 most of the time for most of them. Interestingly, the one girl that could not giant, also did not have a great cast HS but she scored mid to high 8s. Girls with giants scored 9.0.

For us, the deciding factor (from what I see) is if bwo-BHS on beam and two giants goes to level 7. If not they go level 6. All our level 6s and 7s have generally the same tumbling passes and they do 3 in both levels.

I also can't really comment on the notion if such tough judging in level 5. I thought it was fair and accurate. If you didn't have a good clear hip and baby giant you would be lucky to score 8 on bars. Good clear hip, decent cast and baby giant where hips clear the bar not slam down would score 9 and up. Same on beam: tight routine, jump to 180 nice full turn good bwo or BHS and that was a 9.

 

[happychaos]

They did very well. Over 36 most of the time for most of them. Interestingly, the one girl that could not giant, also did not have a great cast HS but she scored mid to high 8s. Girls with giants scored 9.0.

For us, the deciding factor (from what I see) is if bwo-BHS on beam and two giants goes to level 7. If not they go level 6. All our level 6s and 7s have generally the same tumbling passes and they do 3 in both levels.

I also can't really comment on the notion if such tough judging in level 5. I thought it was fair and accurate. If you didn't have a good clear hip and baby giant you would be lucky to score 8 on bars. Good clear hip, decent cast and baby giant where hips clear the bar not slam down would score 9 and up. Same on beam: tight routine, jump to 180 nice full turn good bwo or BHS and that was a 9.

Thanks! This is good to know. Your requirements to go to seven sound about like ours, except most of our 6's have giants, just to connected to the flyaway. Glad to know they are still able to score well.