NDP Grades

[Ex member]

Now that my oldest dd's Floor & Vault competition is over it is now time for dd to continue working towards her NDP grades.

We have never taken part in grades before and we don't know much about it except that she has to do Floor, Vault, Beam, Bar and Range & Conditioing.

Is there an entry fee for grades - like other competitions
How are they judged? Is it 1st, 2nd & 3rd like other competitions?
Whappens after they have done grades? Do they work on the next level?
Is there more pressure on the gymnasts doing grades than other competitions?
In general if your child is working on grades stuff does it mean that they will go to grade "competitions"? or is it down to the coaches to decide if they are ready?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Your eldest does disability gym doesn't she ? I'm not sure if it follows the same plan but my experience is as follows.

Yes to entry fee, but as we did regional (14 etc) it wasn't very steep.

Girls were marked and handed out certificates - Pass, Highly Commended, Distinction. In my county no-one failed, there were a few Distinctions and the rest were HC.

The NDP is designed to advance one grade per year.

Generally most of our girls practicing "grades" stuff compete, but we are not a high flying club with a "reputation". Our coaches will enter any girl who they think has a shot - not only those who will excel.

hth

 

[Little Mo]

I'm sorry, but what is NDP? Is it different to county & regional grades?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

National Development Plan - there are three streams of grades

Regional 14-9
National 8-5
Elite 4-1

 

[Ex member]

I'm sorry, but what is NDP? Is it different to county & regional grades?

That is something I would like to know.

I have heard about Grade 14 - 1 and I have also seen that our club does county grades, are these different? From what I have read you have to be a certain age to do Grade 14 + (like minimum age) but I am pretty sure that our club is sending girls age 6 (turning 7 thus year) plus to do county grades.

I am still unsure what path my youngest dd is on, she still in goes once a week (as do the rest of her group) they are aged 7 (my dd) - 10, they do 2 1/2 hours and spend around 50 mins conditioning then split the rest of the time on Beam and Bars before doing 20 min cool down and stretch at the end, from what I have seen and heard they don't do random things like rec does they build and repeat on what they have been doing the week before.

A basic example of what they do:
Warm up and Conditioning

Beam - Straight Jumps, Tuck Jumps, Cat leaps, Forward Rolls, Cartwheels (starting off on floor beam).

Bars - Pull up to cirlce up, Front support, Cast, Forward Roll to land, they do a side station of conditioning on the bars where they lie on their back on the floor with their arms above their head holding on the a small bar attached to something stretchy - they have to pull this bar over their heads and down to their body towards their legs and back up again, they also do something with 2 playschool bars - one set higher then the other, with the coach they have to lean over the higher bar with their hands on the higher bar, they cast to a hand stand before dopping on a high crash mat - they have to hold their straight shape throughout the drop.

Cool down and stretching

They concentate on form and conditioining. This class has helped dd with strength and flexibility and she has improved a lot on both.

Dd has been in her new group 3 months with some new girls starting just after christmas and the group size is 8, I still have no idea how dd is doing and where the class is heading. Do you think it is ok to ask to have a chat with the coach for a progress report and ask what direction the group is heading with reguards to doing grades and competition etc? It wouldn't make sense to work the girls hard (with conditioining and form etc) with no goal. I am not expecting a regular progress update but as dd is young and she moved up from rec to this new group I would like some more info, I understand the coaches are busy and I don't want to put them on the spot or make them uncomfortable or come across as "one of those parents", I am not that way with older dd (we are given info from her group and know where they are going) and I don't want to be that way with my youngest dd but it is fraustrating, I don't want to know everything just a basic update and basic information about where they are heading.

Would it be better to ask to speak to dd's coach or the head coach at the gym (who doesn't teach dd)?

Sorry for going off topic.

 

[Frase]

In my experience grade decisions are made some time in advance so if shes not been entered already for the spring grades in march or April then I would imagine they are holding off for the time being perhaps even for this year - which considering she only joined this squad 3 months ago is completely understandable.

Equally, a progress report might also be a little too soon as sometimes it can take a good while for them to settle down in new groups, to new conditioning etc and the novelty can take a while to wear off!

That said, I certainly don't think it is unreasonable to ask what sort of squad it is. They may not be able to tell you what she will be entered into but should be able to let you know if their goals for the squad in general were for those who are ready to compete (in either 4 piece or floor and vault) or if it was say a'prep squad.

 

[Ex member]

Thanks, that is stuff we want to know, I am not really bothered about a full on progress report and am happy just to know what type of group it really is and what they are aiming for in general. I guess I was a little bit interested in some sort of progress report as dd is the "baby" of the group but as she is still in the group 3 months on, had handguards fitted and got upgraded to British Gymnastics Silver - Club Competitive level I can say that she is doing just fine lol

 

[Iwannabemargo]

It all depends when her birthday is.

Gymnastics works on the calander year, so my daughter, whose birthday is at the end of November is always "Competing" a year above her age for most of the year. So if your daughter is 8 before the 31st December she will be "Competing 8". Their actual age has no influence its their year cohort. In fact some competitions organise themselves as 2002, 2003, 2004 etc (that is assuming "in age").

BG States that the minimum age for competition is 8, so Grade 14 is 8+ - remember that is competing 8, mine did Grade 8 at 7 as she wasn't 8 till months later. And many girls will never progress beyond grade 14/13 and may well take them as teenagers.

The moves she is doing seem in line with Grade 14, the bar and mat thing sounds to me like upstart drills (and upstarts have take years from first drills to perfect). So from that perspective I would say its a pre-comp group, however I would expect a competitive group to train at least twice a week - a week is a long time to go between sessions.

hth

 

[Faith]

National Development Plan - there are three streams of grades

Regional 14-9
National 8-5
Elite 4-1

Does comp 4 follow on from national 5 in terms of progression? When they used to have ndp 4-1 I think compulsory 2 was roughly equivalent to ndp 2? But the skills in compulsory 4 are far lower than ndp 4?

 

[Frase]

No comp 4 you do in the year you are 9 if you are in age and is the hardest you can do at that age. National 8 you can't start until the year you are 10 therefore national 5 the earliest you cld do would be (quickly counts fingers) the year you are 13

 

[Frase]

The easiest way it was explained to me is that there are 3 ladders: club, national and compulsory (elite). You can join the club and elite ladders the year you turn 8. The national ladder doesn't start until the year you turn turn 10. You can jump from ladder to ladder (we are on the 3rd ladder this year!) and elite and nationals ladders can get to the same destination (British championships) but at different times.

Hope this helps!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

almost - you can't go back to Regional/Club if you do National so for example you can't do 14, 13, 8, 10

 

[Jenny]

The easiest way it was explained to me is that there are 3 ladders: club, national and compulsory (elite). You can join the club and elite ladders the year you turn 8. The national ladder doesn't start until the year you turn turn 10. You can jump from ladder to ladder (we are on the 3rd ladder this year!) and elite and nationals ladders can get to the same destination (British championships) but at different times.

Hope this helps!

National grades do not lead to the British . You get to the British by passing compulsory 1 or obtaining a qualifying score at the challenge cup. You do not have to have taken any grade at all to enter challenge, it is open entry.

 

[Frase]

Stand corrected. 4 years in and still learning ;-)

 

[Ex member]

It all depends when her birthday is.

Gymnastics works on the calander year, so my daughter, whose birthday is at the end of November is always "Competing" a year above her age for most of the year. So if your daughter is 8 before the 31st December she will be "Competing 8". Their actual age has no influence its their year cohort. In fact some competitions organise themselves as 2002, 2003, 2004 etc (that is assuming "in age").

BG States that the minimum age for competition is 8, so Grade 14 is 8+ - remember that is competing 8, mine did Grade 8 at 7 as she wasn't 8 till months later. And many girls will never progress beyond grade 14/13 and may well take them as teenagers.

The moves she is doing seem in line with Grade 14, the bar and mat thing sounds to me like upstart drills (and upstarts have take years from first drills to perfect). So from that perspective I would say its a pre-comp group, however I would expect a competitive group to train at least twice a week - a week is a long time to go between sessions.

hth

Dd will be 8 at the end of the year. I asked what dd's group was and was told "Intermediate C". I have no idea what that means. If it is rec then I am more then confused as to why dd has been upgraded to Silver - Club Competitive (it wasn't a mistake, the gym upgraded dd). I must admit that I am frustrated that she only goes once a week, the coach told me that she wanted to have more but nothing has happened, the gym has just started a new advanced group which dd's coach teaches - I feel a bit anoyed as that space could have been used by dd's group for an extra day. My dd also wants an extra session. I am happy with her group apart from that and dd is making progress, her form, strength and flexibility has improved and she says that beam is now her favourite, it used to be bars.