Parents Middle of the Road Gymnast--Proud Mama though!

[cbifoja]

No competition here either. Started this season in mid-33s.

 

[kandkfunk]

Mine wouldn't meet that requirement either. She wouldn't have met that requirement for most of her competitive career. It makes me very thankful for the opportunities that she has had.

 

[gracyomalley]

Yep, mine would have given up and changed to ballet with that expectations....instead of getting higher scores each year WHILE also moving up levels....again, different region and different coaching style, but each kid really is a little different and the "reasons" for the middle of the road scores vary a great deal....especially as you move up (clean basic level 7 routines without giants/with BWO/BWO, only 2 tumbling passes and scores of 34 versus giants, series with flight, fulls on floor/pikes, etc with 34....obviously one kid's much more ready for level 8 than the other....same score.....)

 

[cbifoja]

Yep, mine would have given up and changed to ballet with that expectations....instead of getting higher scores each year WHILE also moving up levels....again, different region and different coaching style, but each kid really is a little different and the "reasons" for the middle of the road scores vary a great deal....especially as you move up (clean basic level 7 routines without giants/with BWO/BWO, only 2 tumbling passes and scores of 34 versus giants, series with flight, fulls on floor/pikes, etc with 34....obviously one kid's much more ready for level 8 than the other....same score.....)

Excellent point! Mine is getting middle of the road scores because she has good skills for her level, she just doesn't perform them cleanly yet. But she and her coach have opted not to water down her L6 routines because they are both looking more long term, not that she become the best L6 in the nation. LOL As the momma, I voted for the watering down but no one there listens to me.

 

[gymjunkie]

Some of you are misunderstanding what I am saying. I did not say I keep kids from competing at our gym or that I think some kids should not compete. What I said was I prepare them so that they are able to score well. When a kid can do the skills, but doesn't have "good form", something is wrong with their training. They are either lacking in flexibility, have weak ankles, poor toe point, tight hip flexors, poor posture, poor turn out, have weak glutes/hamstrings, poor muscle endurance, etc. All of those elements are part of the proper training. When they get good training, the scores go up considerably. I have taken kids from other gyms (some of them who never scored a 30) and send them out the very next season to score 35+ with less than 6 months of training. I am not that special either -- any good coach who stays on top of the sport can do the same. I am aware that there are some states/regions with lower standards than others where you may not consistently see the high scores. If you come from one of those areas it may be harder to get good coaching and it may not be as easy as switching gyms. If however, you are at a gym where mediocre scores are typical and there is a gym down the road where the kids score high, you might consider switching gyms because the right training makes all the difference.

 

[gymjunkie]

...the "reasons" for the middle of the road scores vary a great deal....especially as you move up (clean basic level 7 routines without giants/with BWO/BWO, only 2 tumbling passes and scores of 34 versus giants, series with flight, fulls on floor/pikes, etc with 34....obviously one kid's much more ready for level 8 than the other....same score.....)

Or the coach is not being strategic in their routine composition. When I judge, it drives me crazy to have to give a kid a lower score because their coach added in the piked-down full or a second arched over the top giant to a solid Level 7 routine that already started at a 10 without those skills.

My 7s don't compete fulls or similar unnecessary skills (unless they are flawless and won't bring down their score), but practice them in the gym so that they are ready for the next level. They have 2 routines they practice, the one they compete and the one they will eventually compete when they get credit for the extra skills. When I judge critique meets, I always make a note to the coach which skills are doing nothing but bringing down the score and hope they take them out so I don't have to keep deducting the next time I see them!

 

[gracyomalley]

Or the coach is not being strategic in their routine composition. When I judge, it drives me crazy to have to give a kid a lower score because their coach added in the piked-down full or a second arched over the top giant to a solid Level 7 routine that already started at a 10 without those skills.

My 7s don't compete fulls or similar unnecessary skills (unless they are flawless and won't bring down their score), but practice them in the gym so that they are ready for the next level. They have 2 routines they practice, the one they compete and the one they will eventually compete when they get credit for the extra skills. When I judge critique meets, I always make a note to the coach which skills are doing nothing but bringing down the score and hope they take them out so I don't have to keep deducting the next time I see them!

Honestly, my DD's coach does exactly the same thing - in training pushes the girls to the highest skills they are ready to train but in competition whittles the routines down as she sees where deductions are coming from....DD changed her BHSBHS series to BWOBHS this month (competes L7 in January) and is NOT doing a full for exactly those reasons, as well as taking some B dance elements out of floor (extra, obviously)....but its a balance because she's a fearful one and takes a relatively long time to get skills but they are very good once she gets them (this child has NEVER chuked something in her life - and I think that caution will limit her in gymnastics...but she's less likely to have a life-altering injury, so I'm grateful there!)...competing lower level skills than she is capable means she's concentrating on perfecting them (good) instead of working through issues/fears with the next set (bad) which will take time to get over....I do know that the last 2 Level 10s we went to nationals 2-4 years on a row and are both competing at D1 schools now, so I don't think the lowish (34-35) threshold for move up in our gym is because of poor coaching/lack of statewide competition - but I do think that low numbers of gymnasts statewide do influence how well a kid can do here - especially at compulsory levels...

I really meant to point out that kids who are "stuck" in Levels 6/7 here often can score reasonably but can't get the next set of skills either because of strength or fear....and that can be reflected in routine composition without changing actual score...

 

[wgymmom]

Sometimes they go to another gym where they are taught "how" to score a 36+

Can you elaborate on this? I'm a bit confused. The gyms that have consistently top-notch scorers (talking high 37s, 38+) here are more full of repeaters. My DD's level group has maybe 1-2 that can get 36+ regularly and 3-4 who are nowhere near it or might get one at a great meet. So is this a gym thing or a gymnast thing?

I need a lot of gymnastics education, so this is really curiosity.

 

[balancedmom]

Many of the older girls at our gym are high scorers and the coach has coached many great gymnasts; and we are giving our daughter time to transition--she seems to falter at meets even though she does great at the gym. She has not had a clean meet yet, but this weekend she got her first 9 of the season on beam and was ecstatic. She had a bad vault and fell on her flyaway (hence low overall score), but is getting over her fear of the back tuck. So while. her score overall was still 32 something, she feels like she is improving. We are not looking 5 years down the road, or thinking about college and high levels, we just want her to be happy and feel good about the sport she loves.