Parents New GymMom

[laurameer]

Hi everyone, I'm a new (6mos) gym mom in Southern CA and wondering were to find the requirements for levels 3-4 and on. My daughter is 5 (6 in June) and is in some kind of pre-team program. Our gym starts competing at level 4, there are 2 pre-team classes depending on skills. Is there a set USAGA skill requirements for the competitive levels? Can I get ahold of it online?? Just kind of curious and don't want to seem like the pushy mom at the gym. It's all new to me, I couldn't do a cartwheel if my life depended on it! But my daughter is loving this and doing very well going 2 hrs/wk. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

hello

welcome laurameer,

I am mom to 3 beautiful/wonderful children. My 12 & 14 yr old boys take rec T&T and my 5 yr old (6 in sep) is also on a pre-team. hopefully the link below will take you to what you are looking for ... you can also view many level 3/4 routines (and higher levels) on you tube to get an idea of what is expected. My dd loves watching them lgcm

Link Removed

 

[laurameer]

Thanks! That looks like something she'd love. She's watching competitions that we tivo all the time. We now have a line of tape running across our living room floor so she can practice beam. Last week she asked me to buy her a set of bars for the house! (Ha!!) Looks like I'm headed down an exciting road.

do you know of any printable lists of the skills for the levels? or are they different at this stage depending on the gym?

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

I am originally from southern cal - San Diego - and I miss it!!! now in the IN, quite a difference.

I think they require you to purchase the list from USAG... or perhaps your gym has a copy that they will let you see or copy. but a few of the skills, i hope I have the correct names... for lvl 4 bars would be bck hp pullover, bck & frnt hp circle, shoot through, frnt mill cir, beam - various leaps, turns, arabesque, hnd stnd. Floor - hnstnd fwd roll, hnd stnd bridge kickover, various kicks, leaps, RO bhs

not sure for level 3...

hope this helps

 

[Megley]

I bought the DVD and I think it is a good investment if you think you are going to be in the sport for awhile because it covers everything from Level 1 to Level 6. The DVD is only $30 and it shows you all the routines in regular time and in slow motion and it lists all of the skills and gives you progressions toward the next set of skills. I also have a 5 year old (turns 6 in October) who will be competing Level 4 next year. The skills are not different depending on the gym - all the girls compete the same routines in USAG compulsories. LGCM gave you a good list of the skills. I know the bar routine by heart but there are lot of dance steps involved in the floor and it's hard to recall all of them. This is duplicative of LGCM, but here's what I can recall for Level 4:

Bars: Start with glide swing to stand; pullover; front hip circle; cast to shoot through; switch hands to undergrip and perform mill (or stride) circle; switch hands back to over grip and move leg back over bar; back hip circle, with slight pause then begin back hip circle motion again but dismount via undershoot.

Vault: Handstand to flatback vault on stacked mats.

Beam: The major skills are a handstand and the side handstand quarter twist dismount. There is also a snap half turn, a couple of pivot turns, a leap, an arabesque and scale, straight jump and tuck jump, with various other moves like leg swings, fish pose, etc.

Floor: As LGCM mentioned, the major skills are handstand to forward roll, handstand to bridge then kickover, roundoff back handspring, and backward roll with straight arms. There is also a split, leaps and jumps, a half turn, and various other dance steps.

I hope this helps and I really do recommend buying the DVD. It sounds like your daughter is hooked!

Meg

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Meg, def a more complete listing from you...

I think I may buy the DVD... I had not really thought of it before or even checked it out too much, even though I knew they had it... I saw they selll the delightful music as well

I wonder why they teach the mill (glide) circle and then don't use it for level 5 or 6... my dd has only tried it once in a rec class, but her current coaches have never shown the girls.

 

[laurameer]

Wow! You guys are great! Ok, so I'm not sure what some of that is, but I will know soon enough. Thanks for all the help. I tried to buy the dvd, but I get this wierd msg:

Database.RunSPReturnLastParam(spGetIsMemberOtherSEL, ...) -> ADODB.Command error '800a0d5d'

Application uses a value of the wrong type for the current operation. /index.asp, line 1817

Any ideas what that's about?

LGCM - I grew up in Indpls, then lived in SD from 89 - 2000. Looks like we switched places. The weather is definitely better here, but we pay for it as you know. Where are you in IN?

 

[gym law mom]

To our new Level 4 moms. Just keep in mind all these skils whether they are floor, beam etc. are done in a specificed order in a routine with the goal of it looking like it flows together. That means your young one may have to work up to some of these skills---most don't just jump up on the beam and do a handstand the 1st time. Then its get the skill and perfect it and then put it in the routine. Every kid is different and while one may blow through the bar stuff and struggle with the vault, another girl will be the exact opposite.

I have no idea who created or thinks that Level 4 bar routine has alot of value. The shoot through and mill circle(or whatever its called) is never done again and I know it can drive some kids crazy to learn. Once your little ones get started on the Level 4 routine, go watch the Level 5 bars----big difference.

From my rather limited experience, if I can say practice 1 skill it would be handstand. It will pay off big time as they learn these skills!

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Great point GLM... even if a child can physically do the skill, it can take forever to retrain if the child has learned it incorrectly... I also agree 100% w/the handstand... it is probably the basis for eveything in gymnastics.

I don't get the whole mill circle thing either.... we don't compete level 4 so the coaches don't teach it, but I wonder what it is supposed to be leading up to, anything? a squat on seems easier to learn, anyway, I remember as a kid I used to do those (mill cir) on the bars at school and at the playground lol...



laurameer - I live in NW IN now, its okay... the area is really building up, but it is hard not to miss the Ocean... wow, how funny... do you miss Indy? or happy to be situated in Cali?

 

[medic3188]

Laurameer-
We also have a big line across our livingroom floor. This December My DD who is 6 and also on preteam , got a real beam. She now wants bars because she is struggling with pullovers. She can do the other skills on bars but cannot master the pullover. Last week she was told that she wont move up without it.

 

[laurameer]

That's funny about the line on the floor. My husband told her if she did 3 cartwheels in a row on the line he'd get her a beam. Probably the foam type that stays on the floor, I'm thinking for safety.

It's interesting how they each struggle with different skills. My DD is great with bars, does the pullover and hip circle, but vault is her weak one. I think being so little it must be tough to pounce hard enough on the board, but who knows?

LGCM, no I can't say I miss Indy. The sunshine beats the snow for me anyday. We're just counting the days till we can get to the beach, Spring Fever has set in around here. We're about an hr from the coast, so mainly only go when school's out.

 

[gym law mom]

When my daughter made Level 5, we invested in a beam. It is 8' long and sits about 2" off the floor. It is made from the material that the regular beams in the gym are made of, so it doesn't feel odd to switch back and forth. That practice beam has seen ALOT of use. She could practice parts of her routines or just 1 or 2 skills. The day of a meet she normally pulls it out and will go through parts of her routine before we leave. My only rule is no acro elements on it---BWOs are ok since she's done them for over a year.

My advice to Medic is don't put a bar up in the house. I've heard of a few serious injuries either from it not being sturdy enough, child trying to do something they weren't ready for or a parent trying to spot. If she's having trouble with back pullovers ask the coach for some suggestions---it may be the skill scares her or she needs to work on strengthening her upper body and abs a bit. The coach should be able to give you some simple exercises she can do at home.

 

[Megley]

Gymlawmom, thanks for those tips. I don't understand why they have that mill circle in there either because it never reappears and it seems to give the girls fits. They either can't get around all the way or they get around and then fall forward. I can't see what skill it helps with later. I have seen the Level 5 bar routine and it seems to lead better into future skills. You'd think they could come up with some variation on the Level 5 routine for Level 4, perhaps leaving out the kip.

My daughter is a bars/floor girl - she has everything in Level 4 bar routine except the mill circle, which they just started practicing. She seems to really "get" bars - picked up all the skills pretty quickly, including the front hip circle which really seems to be a sticking point for many of the kids. On floor, she has all the skills but they haven't taught them the steps to connect them to flow as you mentioned. She struggles on beam and vault. Her balance is just not that great yet and she is so small that getting over the vault without piking is hard.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

meg, my dd has issues w/the vault as well - lol... she had never vaulted when she did rec gym, so it was very new to her. To her credit, she has improved dramatically from when she started club gym, but is still a thousand miles away from doing her handspring on the vault... she finally figured out how to jump up onto the big mat - I have not a clue what they are called - and has been doing her hnstnd flatback the proper way in only the last few weeks - but still can't do it all of the time.... I can't imagine how she will ever get there, but they sure do manage to figure things out along the way ... mine loves em' all, but I have no clue what will be her faves later on. She has strengths and weaknesses on beam, she can do her crtwhl on the high beam and bwo on the low beam, but can't do a pivot turn in releve very well (she struggles w/all of her turns actually) and bars, she is great, but is having a hard time w/her glide kip and they have not even introduced the jump from the low bar to the high bar, right now they just cast to squat on and then jump down onto a mat.... another skill she is a thousand miles away from

 

[krazykidzmom]

Santa gave my daughter a beam when she started gym, level 4. It even had her name on it! I think it did help her remember her routines back then. It also is a little "shaky", so when she went to the gym, the skills seemed easy. It is good for leaps, cartwheels and backwalkovers. She doesn't use it anymore, only when she and her sisters have a "playlike" meet. I don't think a bar is a good idea.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

we opted not to buy any equipment for the house for now, because I like that she does the majority of her practicing at the gym... she is always excited to get there so she can work on things and I wondered if buying equip would not make it as fun if you could practice anytime - she has asked for a beam and bars, but the beam is all we would consider in the future. A pull-up bar sounds fine, but there are 3 families that have bars at home on our pre-team and honestly not one of them does any better than the girls that don't have them.

 

[gym law mom]

Your home doesn't have to look like a 2nd gym for your daughter to do well. They can practice handstands, BWOs, all their splits etc. at home without any equipment(the walls and furniture may take a beating). The only thing we have is the practice beam which she had out the other day to practice press handstands on.

We had a few get chin up bars when they were in pre-team and I didn't see that much difference either. I think part of it is doing just chin ups/pull ups gets boring after a week or so and the bar gets less and less use.

Right now she is pushing to move from Level 6 to 8 and there isn't really much she can do at home except some stretching and occasionally leaps/jumps on the practice beam.

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

booster club

GymLawMom -

I thought I had read in another post that your dd recently moved to a different gym and that you helped to set up... I was wondering if they had worked on starting a booster club at the new gym for the team girls, or if they already had one in place... not sure how that works. Our gym does not have a booster club and I just wondered how difficult it is to start one/manage one etc... If you can provide and help (or anyone else actually) it would be much appreciated. lgcm

 

[Megley]

meg, my dd has issues w/the vault as well - lol... she had never vaulted when she did rec gym, so it was very new to her. To her credit, she has improved dramatically from when she started club gym, but is still a thousand miles away from doing her handspring on the vault... she finally figured out how to jump up onto the big mat - I have not a clue what they are called - and has been doing her hnstnd flatback the proper way in only the last few weeks - but still can't do it all of the time.... I can't imagine how she will ever get there, but they sure do manage to figure things out along the way ... mine loves em' all, but I have no clue what will be her faves later on. She has strengths and weaknesses on beam, she can do her crtwhl on the high beam and bwo on the low beam, but can't do a pivot turn in releve very well (she struggles w/all of her turns actually) and bars, she is great, but is having a hard time w/her glide kip and they have not even introduced the jump from the low bar to the high bar, right now they just cast to squat on and then jump down onto a mat.... another skill she is a thousand miles away from

LGCM, it sounds like your daughter is doing great. I can't even imagine L being able to get over that vault for a front handspring vault. L has similar problems with her turns on the beam. The handstand is easier for her than the turns, but I'm told that their balance improves as they get older. Because she's going to compete Level 4, they haven't really tried cartwheels on high beam but she can do one on the low beam. The bars for Level 5 seem very hard if you are small. There is no way that L could make the jump from low to high bar, at least not the way the bars are set at our gym. I don't know if they are adjustable to closer together. I guess the idea is that by the time they are 7, they will have grown enough to be able to make that jump.

At home, we have a 4 x 8 mat and a pull up bar. We do use the pull up bar a lot because my son is in gymnastics and his coaches have instructed us to get him working on pullups and leg lifts at home. The mat comes in handy too so that the kids can work on floor skills without worrying about bonking their heads on the hardwood floor. I think a floor beam would probably also be a good investment.

Meg

 

[littlegymchampsmom]

Hey Meg

LOL, for now when they do the vault, my dd runs, jumps and then the coach lifts her (at least 2 ft) to the end of the vault table and then does the fhs simulation... then she is supposed to land on her feet - she has really not made the connection from the jump to the big mat vs jump to the vault, so we'll see , she is a tinny one too. Even though they can keep up in their class & complete the skills, their motor skills are still that of 5 yr old's... from my view (mommy) off course everything she does is a perfect 10 - lol, but I do see where she has issues staying tight sometimes and is not totally aware of her body positions, hands, arms etc. , practice, age and maturity will perfect

There is a little girl that moved to team when she was 6 and they did did teach the jump to the high bar - crazy... now she looks great, but she can't compete until next season anyway.

I think the pull up bar is great and while they are young and love to exercise... it seems like a really great time to introduce it, I have been thinking of picking one up, but it has yet to make it on my list for the day lol... Your daughter is doing great too!! by the time my dd is competing they will be at the same level except yours will have had a whole season of experience already