Women Moving up

[mOm2gymnast<3]

My dd's bf is lv3 this season. She wants to move to lv4. This girl is good. Scoring 35 AA on recent meets. However, head coach is hesitant to move her up. I'm not sure why, but head coach want a strong lv3 for next season. I believe that this girl is going to be really bored if she stays another year and will lost interest. She also got her kip already, although not pretty yet but she's a fast learner and is determined. What are the benefits of staying another year in compulsory? Is this a best way to go?

 

[raenndrops]

Some gyms use 36.0 at the gatekeeper score to move up. An extra year of L3 would give the girl more time to perfect the basics and work on her kip.

Of course, I think that if she has the skills, can do the routines, and can commit to the time required, she should have the option of moving up.

 

[Bess]

Our gym is one of the "have to have a 36" to move up. I think I've heard there are some levels that you have to score a 36 twice....

 

[rjb123]

If she is super young, I can see the benefit of another year to mature, get stronger and perfect basics. Sometimes taking a year now can set her up for success later on.

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

She is going to be 8 soon. So not super young at all. She has strenght, flexibility, motivation, and she is very mature for her age. I talked to her yesterday after meet, and she expressed to me and to my dd that she really wants to move up and even if she doesn't place at meets all the time.

 

[GYM0M]

Ultimately, the decision should be left to the coaches. A 35 AA would probably translate into about a 33 in level 4. A 33 would not be competitive in our state. There are so many factors to consider. The kip is important, but equally important is the FHS vault.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

I competed old level 4 with a 33/34 aa and rarely placed. I repeated last year and did new level 3, got consistent 37 aa, even a few 38s. I was moved up to new level 4, and I have gotten a 33, 34 x2, and a 35.975. And then I got a 26.10 when I scratched floor and a 17.6 when I scratched floor and vault (suffering from bad shin splints or stress fracture and a sprained ankle). I have been placing around 4th when I do all 4 events. I would say move her up. I became bored last year and didn't have much to work towards (9.5s and up on everything almost every meet besides a few 9.4s on bars; even a few 9.85s)

 

[gwenmom]

Dd is finding out this year just how hard L4 is. Her teammate who Is repeating L3 is winning 3 this year.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Dd is finding out this year just how hard L4 is. Her teammate who Is repeating L3 is winning 3 this year.

Yes, level 4 in my opinion is the biggest jump (from level 3). You go to high bar, more tumbling on floor, and vault over the table. You also get height requirements - on bars, casts and tap/counterswings. I struggled moving up.

 

[lovegymnastics22]

Are all the move-up decisions for the girls being made now? It sounds like you are right in the middle of meets. I have heard on CB about gyms that have hard 36 scoring rules. If yours is one, maybe the coach is saying this to motivate her for her current meets?

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

Our season is ending 1st week in March. Coming up soon. Her mother is a close friend and debating if she should allow move up or not... head coach is going back and fourth on the decision. And from what I gather, our gym doesn't have the 36 aa move up score.

 

[z2akids]

My DD is repeating L3 this season. It has definite pros and cons. Last year she was a solid 34 with a low 35 or 2. She had no podiums and only placed a few times. She had a couple of nines at the end of the season. She had just begun to get her kip when final decisions were made on placements. It was difficult for get to repeat, especially when many of her closest teammates moved up. She is a bit bored this season, but is really taking the opportunity to work those basics. She began the season in the mid-36s and has podiumed in the AA and every event this season (we are only 1/3 off the easy through our season). She gets opportunities to uptrain. Everything looks better and will help her in the future.

Repeating is pretty common here. DD was someone who needed to repeat so that she has a chance at a successful L4 next year. But, at one meet she was competing against a girl who placed 3rd at States last year and was repeating.

Now, she it's bored at times. Her coaches work very hard to make sure she doesn't stall out and get too bored.

 

[wh/gh]

There's also sometimes factors parents/friends/gymnasts don't see that might motivate a coach's decision. E.g. doing an important skill with incorrect technique, behavioral/maturity issues, predicting fear issues, or just wanting not to focus on competition as much as skill development and progressions.

 

[z2akids]

Oh, and DDs friends who scored close to get last year, but had a better kip/FHS were moved up. Many are struggling this season with 32s and 33s.

 

[Judybird]

Our gym has the policy of having folks score a minimum of two 36 AA's per level before moving up. But even with that, they might hold someone back if they haven't perfected all of the new skills. It would be better to have a kid comfortable, scoring nicely, and not being set up for fear issues than to be in a rush to jump up in levels. That is our gym's philosophy and i am beginning to see why. As a parent, I have had times when I wish my DD were at a higher level. But then to witness a girl balking on an event at a meet, having to scratch, or scoring really low.... Any of these is so painful for the child and parent. It just helps to consider both sides of the equation.

 

[gracyomalley]

DD skipped old 4, did a year of old 5 going from scoring 19 (scratching bars) to her high of a 34.8. Did 4 meets at old 6 and high score was a 33 something...but scored 36+ in 2 years as a L7, with good placements at state (our scoring is lower than some regions). Seems like moving her to optionals quickly worked well - BUT....now she's struggled to get L8 skills to the level she wishes them to be (no longer happy with average scores, she wants those 36s now!!!). She was youngest age group throughout those levels, but will stall now and be average for 8/9 if she continues....

In many ways I wish she had gone slightly slower - done new L6, maybe old 4 - whatever, and not always been "playing catchup" so that she had time to get higher level skills "before" trying to compete them.

Also, she has a very talented friend who moved up every year to L9 - and is now getting last place in every single event at larger meets - but has it in her head that repeating is "not for her". She is still only 12 - lots of time to be a very successful L10 - but has a mind set that she should be there next year - which she won't.
All this to say that repeating early when young can be good - as long as the kid is kept interested and working on both form and perfecting things as well as up training for a smooth transition to next level!

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

The thing is, our gym does not uptraining. They have probably 6 mos to get the required skill. They also have TOPS that sometimes, they use to maybe, maybe do higher skills. But not very consistent on coaching.

 

[Gymnasticsismypassion]

Ya I think it's 36.00 AA

 

[stxrdusty]

Personally, I think compulsories is rather annoying. I think the kids should have to go through it to get the basics on their skills, but as soon as they have them well enough to complete safely with decent form it's time to move them to the next level, given that they will be able to compete that levels skills safely and decently the following season.

Granted I was an 11-year-old old-level 4, but I competed 4, scored out of 5, competed 6, and nearly scored out of 7 within 3 years. My former coaches goal was always move as many kids to optionals and improve their basics along the way. She also told me that I would be a better optional gymnast than compulsory gymnast back when I was an old-level 4 and she was so right.

Moreover, my coach gave me the option of scoring out of 5 & then competing 6 or competing 5 & then scoring out of 6. I chose the first option because I'd rather be challenged than win. Most other girls I trained with (8/9 year-old level 7s) chose the same thing the previous year. I'm trying to show that most kids would want to be challenged rather than win, up until it comes to levels 8-10 (because at that point the skills are challenging enough themselves).

Basically, given the gymnasts ability to perform the skills is there, I think it should be up to them to choose what to compete.

The only benefit I can see is possible better basics. But better basics at level 3 is not helpful in the long run. It would instead be better to move to 4 or 5 and then repeat to get better basics.

Side note: I believe the hardest level jumps are 8 to 9 and 9 to 10.

 

[duyetanh]

The thing is, our gym does not uptraining. They have probably 6 mos to get the required skill. They also have TOPS that sometimes, they use to maybe, maybe do higher skills. But not very consistent on coaching.

The no uptraining would drive my kid crazy. My kid's coach does what the PP's gym does...as long as the basics are solid, they move. It seems there are two philosophies out there, the repeat and move on, and both sides obviously have pros and cons. It really depends on the individual child. and the coach WILL have kids repeat a level if she feels they aren't sufficiently ready, or that (obviously) the skills aren't mastered by a certain time frame. Case in point, there are still some kids this year who might repeat level 3 if their kip is not made in the next month.
The child in question on this post sounds like my child, and my child not only was thrilled to move up, she embraced the challenges, and while the learning curve was huge, she did quite well by the end. If this child already has her kip now, there is plenty of time to perfect it. Does she have all the other skills needed in the other events?