Parents Need advice for Newbie mom re: classes

[ElizaBrooke]

Hi all,

I'm a Newbie mom here, and my daughter's been begging to take gymnastics classes for years. She's 8 1/2 now, and has taken dance classes since 2yrs, and figure skating since 5 years. Graceful and athletic (soccer since 5yrs, too). We had her in 6 months of gymnastics classes at 6 1/2, then we stopped because I wasn't crazy about the gym we were with and I was too tired from all the other activities to look for a new gym. But now, we're taking a break from the other activities, and we've heard of a "good" gym in the area that friends of ours belong to (they're on the competitive team there). So, my daughter tried a beginner class there, since we were told she needed to try that class out first and they would place her higher if she was skilled enough to be promoted.

30 minutes into the hour class, my daughter is crying and waving for me to approach the area where she's in line to cross a low beam (just a few inches from the floor) and she runs out to me as I approach and sobs, "I'm so bored I can't take it anymore. We can't even go on the high beams and this is baby stuff mom- jumping on the trampoline just for fun?! I don't want to do this!!" An assistant approached me with concern and I asked her if there was any chance my daughter could just try the class that's a little higher instead since she was miserable in this one. The assistant asked the coach and he said she wasn't qualified for the higher class and she needs to get her skills better first. He didn't say which skills, exactly, and I certainly didn't want to challenge him, so I told daughter this was it or we could go. She sadly continued with the class.

After class, they told me that maybe she'd be more comfortable in a beginner class with older kids (9 and up), instead of the 6-8 class. I said we'd think about it, but I'm so unsure because my daughter felt so unchallenged and miserable. She didn't learn anything that day (no bars, even by the end of class), and I don't know what skills she could learn better in a class like that. The gym has a fantastic competitive team (they win a lot), and a great junior competitive team, so I feel like I want to trust their judgment and teaching there. They're all nice people, and the gym is beautiful. But the registration fee is very high and the class prices are high, too (compared to others), so I just don't want to commit ourselves if this is the wrong thing. So my first question is: do you think I should sign her up anyway (she says she'll put up with it boring because she trusts she'll be promoted soon) and just see what happens?

And my 2nd question is, what do you think the opportunities in gymnastics are for an older gymnast like my daughter (8 1/2 still in level 1)? We're not aiming for the Olympics, of course, but what other routes are there? She is very competitive and loves performing, but unless you're at level 3 or 5 by the time you're 8 years old, are you considered "too old" for the sport, and will she be kept down in recreational classes forever? I was a competitive figure skater as a kid, and anyone could move up anywhere and compete in anything (after passing tests) in that sport with your own private coach and skating club. But in gymnastics, I understand there's just competitive teams that are invitation only, and say if my daughter was to reach level 3 at 10 or 11 years old, would she be frowned upon by a competitive team as too old to compete? Or, does it all depend on the team and coaches? Would some teams frown while other teams would welcome a kid of any age to compete at level 3 or 4?

Thank you so much for any feedback!

Grateful,
ElizaBrooke

 

[Aussie_coach]

Something important to understand is that the world has changed very significantly in a very short time. A few years ago you could bring a kid into the gym, have a look, if you felt they were pretty coordinated you could put them into a higher level class.

But not anymore. In this day and age of litigation we have to prove everything we do. If a child is injured and we are sued. We have to show that we started he, in the beginner class, that the child was taught the basics, that they were tested to see if they could do the basics before they moved onto harder skills. We need to have documented evidence of all of this. She will have to work through the basic curriculum to reach the higher levels.

8 1/2 is not too old to start competing, or even to reach level 10.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

There's a girl in the competitive team at our gym who didn't start until she was 10, and now she does amazing things. If your dd is felt to have the right abilities for gymnastics then I would have thought she would be moved quickly into a more appropriate group. The question is, do you pay out loads of money and then find out that she doesn't fulfill what they're looking for in a future gymnast? I know from experience that a child can seem to a parent like they have all the necessary attributes, but from a coach's perspective it can be very different, and also each coach can vary to some extent in what they are looking for. I say this because my daughter is strong, flexible and determined, and I thought she would be what they were looking for, but have been told that she isn't, whilst my ds was picked out immediately and put onto a high level competitive program and I couldn't really see why him and not her - it can be hard to fathom! If the gym cost very little, of course you could put her in to the rec class and see how it went, but since it is expensive, and if you know she will hate it if she doesn't get moved up quickly, would it be possible to talk to the coaches and get a formal abilities test for her to at least see if she is theoretically someone with the right potential? That way even if she does have to stay in the rec class for a bit, at least you know there is a chance of rapid progression (they test all sorts of things like range of movement at different joints, ability to do repeated movements etc). Good luck, and fingers crossed that it all works out and your dd is able to achieve what she wants to achieve.

 

[Amusibus]

I sympathize with your little girl. The rec classes now are so basic, I don't know what is even "recreational" about them. Doing it for fun, they want to learn the fun stuff, i.e., skills. Obviously without the strength and flexibilty there is a limit to how far those skills can progress, but so what. It almost seems like rec is one giant, long, neverending developmental class that doesn't develop much except a dislike of gymnastics. This was not the case a bazillion years ago when I did rec. We learned a lot, fairly quickly. Who cares if our toes were pointed in that backhandspring? We got to do them, and much more, and it was really, really fun.

 

[IreneKa]

I would try out that 9+ class. When my DD was 7 she was very bored in her 6-7 yo class. I moved her to 8+ class, and it turned out to be much more challenging.
As for her age, she is on the older side, but not too old. If she progresses quickly and makes it to pre-team when she is 9, then she could be level 3 at 10. At least where we are, there are plenty of 10-11 y o L3s.
Also, you might want to check out XCel program. It's a good program for those who starts older and don't want to devote all their time to gymnastics, like if she wants to continue her figure skating or something at the same time as pursuing gymnastics. In Xcel she would still get to compete, and learn fun gymnastics skills, but not train crazy JO hours.

 

[mariposa]

Sometimes it is a terminology issue as well. The beginner classes are for familiarity of all the apparatus used and the basic body shapes and terms used in gymnastics. And many times, in an hour class, they only rotate on 3 events (15 minutes per event and 15 minute warm up) and will do the 4th the next class. It may just take a few classes for her to learn those and move up. They also may have a checklist of skills, etc, they have to have.

If you've researched gyms and feel you are at one that might be a good fit competitively later on, I would chat with your daughter about her expectations and the fact that she may need to lower them a bit, go in with a positive attitude and try to give it another chance. Gymnastics will be boring many times in a gymnast's life, so remind her that gymnastics isn't all big tricks. There are many little things that are very important.

 

[GymMom67]

As far as whether she is too old.....the answer is no. There is a girl on my daughter's team (Level 4) who is in 7th grade, but just got started late. She is amazingly talented (as are both of her younger sisters as well), and she got 1st all around at pretty much every meet, and 2nd at south state. There is another girl who didn't start gymnastics at all until 5th grade. They moved her straight out of rec onto Level 3 (which our gym never does, but I suspect they did because they saw her talent and took her age into consideration) and she did very, very well at the meets as well. She is now on Level 4 and in 6th grade.

 

[billise]

I would have her try the older age group. And if you do decide to go that route make sure you encourage your DD to keep her "attitude" (for lack of a better word) in check. In other words, no tears, don't look board/miserable. She needs to smile and be enthusiastic and follow directions. At the beginning levels the child's attitude/behavior plays a big role when it comes to selection for pre-team/team. I've seen "talented" kids get passed over for team because their attitude/behavior makes them difficult to work with. The coaches need to know that the girls they pick are going to be willing to do what they are asked even when they don't want to do. A big example is conditioning. For most girls it's boring and they don't want to do it, but it's a big part of the practice the pre-team/team level. The coaches don't want to and shouldn't have to deal with a meltdown every time it's time to condition.

Good luck to you and your DD!!!

 

[gymdog]

Just a warning, but I would find that behavior very disconcerting from a child that age and it is unlikely they will promote her to a team with those kinds of outbursts and communicating with the parent in the class. That is extremely disruptive and outside of the norm in a school age program. There is no way that would have went down in our gym. Sorry to be harsh and maybe your description was dramatized but I honestly find that very concerning.

If you do try again I would recommend you make yourself not visible or available to her during class and have no communication during the class at all. She needs to follow the instructor and learn all the basic positions and terminology. Some people here may think rec is "too easy" these days but decades of sport science has brought USA Gymnastics to an advanced, professional, safe place where proper progressions are mastered before moving on. If you or your child do not like this, perhaps try a cheer tumbling class at a cheerleading gym that does not offer USA Gymnastics based instruction. Be forewarned that USA Gymnastics based programs are offering the most highly researched and highest quality gymnastics programs in the US.

 

[Becauseisaid]

To start, I would echo everyone else by saying to let your daughter try the older age class. The way the coaches have to speak and explain things can change dramatically based on the age of the children in the class. It may be that your daughter felt the class was a "baby" class because of how the coach had to word things as well as how quickly the other kids caught on and progressed with the skills being introduced.

However, I have to say that I'm concerned about your expectations out of a first class at the beginner level. Regardless of your daughter's athleticism, she is not experienced at gymnastics which means she does need to begin at the beginning. Skipping the "baby" stuff is dangerous. Her attitude and willingness to work will determine how quickly she changes classes. A beginner rec class will not necessarily do all 4 events every class since there is limited time. If your daughter REALLY wants to try gymnastics, then she needs to give it a fair chance and work at the skills the coach is introducing.

It sounds as if your daughter is used to being the top dog and doesn't quite know how to start at the bottom again and work her way up. If she's determined, she'll move through the ranks quickly enough.

 

[purpleleomom]

A beginner rec class will not necessarily do all 4 events every class since there is limited time.

Tangent, but how important is it that they do or don't do all 4 events in a rec class? We just switched gyms, and the old gym would do all 4 events plus warm up and extra time on tumbling. Maybe a couple (and I mean a couple) minutes on conditioning at the end. Then when the kids rotate through several stations at each event, it seemed like they only got maybe 1-2 minutes for each activity. I didn't care for this format, so I was wondering if it was typical. New gym has a 1.5 hour class with mixed L2/3, and they don't always do every event. But the events they do spend time on, they get ample opportunity for repetition.

 

[purpleleomom]

To the OP, do you have other gym options in town? If you have the opportunity to compare beginner rec classes at a few, I would highly recommend it. I found that the beginner class instruction varies widely in terms of how much they expect from the kids, so it may be that this class wasn't a good fit for her. Some are more strict, some treat the kids more like small adults, some have coaches that act like big kids to get on the level with the gymnasts. They all taught more or less the same things, but their approaches were very different.

 

[Sasha]

As a fairly new parent (1 year in with an almost 8y/o DD and a 6y/o DS), my feedback, for what it's worth...

1. Too old? No. Though gyms will differ in how common the older ages starting out will be. In fact, it's often the older girls who pick up the 'form' elements faster (e.g., pointed feet, correct body carriage in all the different positions, nice fluid turns, etc.) than the younger ones and will score better at competitions. And sounds like your DD very well could already have a leg up on form and strength from her previous athletic and dance background. All good signs.

2. Attitude: The previous comments about attitude are spot on. An 8 year old who is crying, pouting, or whining about something she is asked to do will not fly in a competitive gym program (or even in many rec programs). If you continue on, she must show enthusiasm to do even the most 'basic' asks. All levels spend a lot of time on the low beam, for example, so some expectation adjustment would hopefully help there. I'm guessing it was a one-off and she wouldn't have ongoing attitude problems since she has been successful in skating and dance.

3. Skill Acquisition Expectations: An adjustment I had to make as a parent new to the sport was that skill acquisition in the competitive track is usually SLOW. Training, at the early levels especially, is all about form, form, form, form, repetition of the smallest things again and again, conditioning for up to 1/3 of the class, and "skill progression" repetitions that to many people doesn't seem like learning new skills. For example, bouncing on the hands on the tumbletrack for months is just one of a dozen different repetitive tasks that will eventually get my DD ready for a front handspring. Could I take her to cheer gym and have her 'learn' a front handspring in less than an hour? Yes, I could. Instead, it will be months to years that the gymnastics track will take to learn this skill with all the correct form, strength, and safety required for a 'perfect' front handspring. Understandably, many kids won't really enjoy this kind of repetition of 'basics'. My DD goes 9 hours a week, and many months can pass before she 'learns anything new'.

4. Her progression expectations: So many variables with both the individual child and the gym policies for an outsider to predict. I would politely request a 1 on 1 meeting with the head coach (person who decides placements), explaining you are new and clueless about the sport and just want to understand the likely possibilities at the gym for your daughter before you commit. Ask if they have a specific skills list to achieve and/or what other requirements they have to move up, including if they only do move ups at certain times of the year or ever make exceptions. I think most places will do a quick 'assessment' (usually takes 5 minutes) for new students, so this is not out of line to request. Also ask about Xcel, as this could be a great option for a girl who is going to want to keep some other activities going but still learn skills and compete.

5. Assessment: Not sure what is the 'next highest level' in your gym, but in our gym, moving out of rec (or, more often, from the lower level developmental class) to the Junior Olympic track pre-team (achieved level 2, working on L3 skills, non-competing) requires the following:

• Great attitude, focus, and works hard on everything, including conditioning (doesn't 'cheat' on conditioning)
• 5 long hang pullups
• "L sit hang" on bar with legs up (not sure of how long)
• 10 leg lifts on the 'rack' thing (sorry I'm not a coach, don't know all lingo)
• Pullover with mostly straight legs
• Back hip circle on bar
• Nice form Glide swings on bar
• Bridge kickover
• Cartwheel, cartwheel step-in with straight legs
• Run, hurdle, Round-off
• Nice run and tight body 'punch' on vault springboard up to a high mat
• Releve walks, jumps, across high beam with no fear
• Forward and backward rolls with good form
• kick up and hold 2 second handstand
• Handstand to forward roll, Handstand to bridge
• flexibility: our gym has no specific requirement, but I have heard some others that require the splits flat in one direction, etc.
• There are a few more things like ab strength ('V ups') and pushups, but I forget the specific requirements there.

I may have missed something above, but that is going from memory of when my DD had to try out for the J/O pre-team. Hoping it might give a flavor as to some skills that your gym might be looking for. Yours might be completely different, though, so I encourage you to be friendly and ask all the questions you can

 

[Becauseisaid]

Tangent, but how important is it that they do or don't do all 4 events in a rec class?

I can't speak for every gym, of course, but I can tell you that in our gym the rec classes will touch on bars, beam, and tumbling/floor. Vault hardly ever with the exception of letting the kids use the springboard to sometimes jump off of. They rarely to never do all events in one class. The normal rec class is 45 minutes and that's just not enough time to do anything meaningful on a piece of equipment while rotating through 10-12 (or however many) kids. So the coach picks and chooses. Floor skills (cartwheel, handstand, round offs, etc.) every class with basic beam and bar skills during alternating classes. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Sasha]

Tangent, but how important is it that they do or don't do all 4 events in a rec class?

So many differences between gyms. My DD started in rec, and I've since watched a lot of girls move through the rec levels. Our rec is, perhaps, more 'serious' than some other gyms from reading a lot of these posts and listening to parents from neighboring gyms. Girls in our our top level of rec are doing back and front tucks on floor, walkovers on beam, etc. Rec for our gym is also a feeder into the XCEL program or into developmental (pre J/O). So for our gym, they do all 4 events most days. Some days there will be a particular focus on bars, for example, and skip beam and vault, but most days they touch on all four. Girls that truly want to just jump on the trampoline for fun and not have to do vault, for example, would probably choose a different gym in our area. And I see some girls stay in the level 1 or 2 rec class for a very long time and are enjoying it, building at their own pace - everyone has a different path, which is great.

 

[ElizaBrooke]

Thank you so much for all your replies. You have great insight and advice.

I appreciate hearing how a child's attitude is very important in the sport, and that coaches will take that into consideration while teaching and promoting kids to the next level. DD wasn't audibly crying in the class, more just her eyes were filled with tears and she whispered to me all the things that she was feeling about the class. I think she was just devastated because she had big ideas in her mind that she'd be tumbling across the big floor, swinging on the bars, going across the high beams, like she did in the gym she took classes in last year. (Unfortunately, the coaches at the old gym would walk away and talk to other coaches during classes, ignoring the kids while the kids did their own thing on the equipment a lot, and I was bit concerned for dd's safety. ) But, this gym only has the competitive kids practicing on the floor and on all the big equipment - and dd could see dozens of kids practicing there during her class. They have the rec kids classes over in the corner on a low beam, trampoline, and a tiny area to the side to do just a few cartwheels, etc. in. I think the coach was trying his best to try and talk to the kids in a young kid-like way, trying to meet them on their level (which I appreciate!), but maybe dd felt she was being babied while being talked to that way.

There is a 2nd gym in town where we did a trial class and the rec classes used all the gym equipment, bars, high beams, big floor area, etc. and dd did enjoy the class. My only hesitation was another mom who told me she pulled her daughter off the competitive team there because she and other parents thought the coaches were too harsh on the kids, verbally, to the point where parents would wait in their cars because they couldn't bear to listen to all the yelling during practices.

But, dd's trial class coach at that 2nd gym was super nice and I didn't see anyone being yelled at. Maybe sometimes the coaches can be harder on the competitive teams, than they would on a rec class? Also, maybe there are different coaches working with the competitive teams than the ones who teach the younger rec classes?

I really appreciate all of your feedback, and I think we will be going with the 2nd school that gives the kids in the rec classes more opportunities to use all the gym equipment and dd feels more challenged there.

And I'll have a talk with dd to help remind her how important it is to get all the lower-level skills perfected before moving up because we'd never want her to get hurt, and the most important thing is to keep the positive attitude going the whole way as well.

Thank you,
ElizaBrooke