Men Meet Scores

[DTAG]

My son is an 8yr old lvl 5. At this level, how much do meet scores really account for in the long run? He does ok, for the most part. Every AA score goes up after each meet, slightly. Approximately a point or half a point. This includes his jump from 4.2 to level 5. But here’s the thing, his performance at his meets are honestly never his best. I guess he just doesn’t “test” well. He kills it in practice. His coach said he is one of the most talented kids he has ever worked with. His scores never reflect that, though. Today’s AA was 52. It’s fine, good even. I’m super proud of him. It’s just not indicative of what he can really do. For example, he learned how to do a kip cast handstand, standing back tuck on the mat, and double front salto tuck into the pit (sorry if my terms are wrong), in one day. Basically just by watching it and trying it. He can do some flairs off of the ground. He has big aspirations. He wants to compete alongside Simone and/or do college gymnastics. I’m worried that his scores could hinder his dreams. At what level do scores start to matter if he wants to go far? Thanks for any input.

 

[skschlag]

Not at all, as long as he is motivated by other things. My kiddo was not a super high scorer in L4 and 5. By L7, he was 2nd in the state. Then, L8, LAST in the state. None of that matters even a bit. Now, at L10, he is doing decently. Optionals is kind of where you want to see scores start to improve, and really, L10, if college is his goal.

 

[DTAG]

Not at all, as long as he is motivated by other things. My kiddo was not a super high scorer in L4 and 5. By L7, he was 2nd in the state. Then, L8, LAST in the state. None of that matters even a bit. Now, at L10, he is doing decently. Optionals is kind of where you want to see scores start to improve, and really, L10, if college is his goal.

Whew, deep sigh of relief. I was worried that they looked at all scores from all of the years. My thinking is that he will do better eventually in optionals where the routines can be geared towards his strengths. But if he wasn’t hitting 59’s like others are now, maybe optionals and even college one day was perhaps just a pipe dream for him. Thank you for alleviating my worries!

 

[skschlag]

Whew, deep sigh of relief. I was worried that they looked at all scores from all of the years. My thinking is that he will do better eventually in optionals where the routines can be geared towards his strengths. But if he wasn’t hitting 59’s like others are now, maybe optionals and even college one day was perhaps just a pipe dream for him. Thank you for alleviating my worries!

I understand that concern, especially when you see amazing compulsary gymnasts. As long as he is progressing and enjoying what he is doing, progress will come. And yes, optionals is great for that!

 

[DTAG]

I understand that concern, especially when you see amazing compulsary gymnasts. As long as he is progressing and enjoying what he is doing, progress will come. And yes, optionals is great for that!

He actually improved on 3 events today! He absolutely loves it and he is very pleased with how he did, as he should be of course. His dream job is to be a coach, it's cool to know his coaches now are paving that path for him.

 

[skschlag]

He actually improved on 3 events today! He absolutely loves it and he is very pleased with how he did, as he should be of course. His dream job is to be a coach, it's cool to know his coaches now are paving that path for him.

That is fantastic!!! Way to go!

 

[Gym dad]

Nothing really matters until level 10, and remember they can't do level 10 until they are 15. You can start qualifying for nationals at level 8.

 

[Cheryl]

I looked at my son’s scores for Level 5, and he was scoring about 63 by the end of the year. However this was in 2015, before breakout between 5(1) and 5(2). I imagine he had all his bonuses. I think as long as he’s improving, he’s fine. We have had really good seasons and not so good seasons. Boys don’t have mobility scores, so coaches choose the levels the boys compete at. We never really thought about scores, except how it related to skills. In optional there is more routine flexibility and you can do easier or harder routines depending on events.