Women new Here...Meet Scores Going Down?

[diamondmom]

I am a new member here. My daughter is a first year L4 (7yo). She has had 3 meets so far. At the first one she had a 34.65AA, second meet she had a 34.2AA and at the last meet she had a 34AA. After the first meet everyone including the coaches were talking about how awesome her scores/performance was at the first meet and that it would only get better/higher scores from there. Well, as you can see her scores have not improved. The scoring has been about the same from the judges for the three. We have fall states next weekend and I am concerned about her scores. Is this normal? Insight? Thanks!

 

[UnoMas]

There is not a significant difference among those scores. If she was going down by a full point or more, that would be different but really those scores are very similar and the difference is probably just little things and judging differences. Don't worry!

 

[MaryA]

Well, for one thing, a less than 1 point difference in the AA is well within the "margin of error," even if she had the exact same judges for all three meets. As for her not improving, it could be that she is growing, or that a lot of her energy in practice is going into up-training level 5 stuff and not necessarily perfecting level 4 stuff or she could be getting tired. I know that last year DD's scores got better for the first few meets in the fall when she had several weeks off between meets, but then went down some mid-season when she was having meets more frequently and stuff at school was ramping up and that kind of thing. She had about 6 weeks in between her last meet and States, and during that time her scores went back up again. Also, I've seen that some kids are really motivated by competition and their skills really improve during meet season, whereas some kids may be motiviated more by getting to learn new skills, and most of their improvement happens during the "off season." I guess, quoting the great minds of Chalk Bucket, I'd say to not focus on scores but instead to see if there are some specific things she wants to accomplish (stick the landing on her ROBHS or keep her legs straight on her mill circle or whatever) and focus on them instead. That way, after the meet, you can say, "Wow, you really improved on keeping your legs straight during that mill circle" rather than fretting about scores going up or down.

 

[MaryA]

One more thing... are all of her individual scores staying more or less the same? Because I've definitely seen that, when a kid is making great strides in one event, another event or events might suffer temporarily... the same way, when they are babies, they may start learning to do something new, and may temporarily "lose" the ability to do something that they were already doing. So if her vault score went up a point and her floor score went down a point, chances are pretty good that she will get that floor score back up again before too long.

 

[Gymdad2]

Scores are always arbitrary. Pay very little attention. Most imporant is for both you and your dd to have fun and enjoy a very special exerience together. Fourteen years of gymnastics has made my relationship with dd stronger than I ever imagined it could be. It has been great, and despite all the money and time and driving and sitting on hard bleachers and watching endless compulsory routines (and I still here that darned music!) I would do it all over again in a second. Good luck!

 

[gymgal]

I would say that a lot of girls don't see a significant changes in their scores during a season, mostly because their routines are as good as they are going to get during the short time frame. My dd is like this. Her level of performance at season start is pretty similar to season end. She typically has a wide scoring span of 1-1.5 points on the AA in one season, but it is mostly because of judge variations (in/out of state), level of meets (almost everyone scores higher at states), and falls (mostly beam for dd). It does not have much to do with her polishing her routines during the season. The only girls I have noticed make a significant jump in score/place are the ones who don't have their skills competition-ready at the beginning of the season but have mastered them by the end. Those who have consistent routines at the start of the season won't see major changes in their scores unless there is a big error (fall, missed element).

As for your dd's scores "going down", as the others have said, it is within the margin for judge variability and doesn't mean that she is slipping in performance.

 

[diamondmom]

Thank you so much for the "been there done that" stop worrying so much advise! I was a competitive dancer for many years so I am finding it slightly difficult to sit back and enjoy the ride so to speak.

 

[MaryA]

Thank you so much for the "been there done that" stop worrying so much advise! I was a competitive dancer for many years so I am finding it slightly difficult to sit back and enjoy the ride so to speak.

Yes, I know it's definitely easier to give this kind of advice than it is to actually take it when it's your kid!

 

[diamondmom]

Her scores have gone down on vault (9.4/9.1/8.9) and down on floor, up on beam (7.7/7.75/8.125) and stay the same on bars (8.8/8.85/8.8). One other question, are these good for a first year L4? The vault seems good as do the bar scores but as a new comer, am I looking at these wrong or are they "pretty" good?

 

[MaryA]

I think they're good scores for a 7-year-old. Kids that young often don't have the "body awareness" thing going on yet, and that makes polishing routines difficult. (note that I am not speaking from any professional background on kids' physical development and only what I have seen in my own daughter and others in the gym). I saw a huge change in how my daughter looked in competition (having nothing to do with skills) around age 8 or 9, I think. It had to do with just how she held herself and how she could manage to put things together in a way that they looked like a routine, as opposed to a series of skills and dance moves.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

ignore the scores. the only thing that matters is performance. this should be the automatic mantra by everyone when these questions are asked, and more importantly when it's level 4 in the USA. that's all.

 

[Kiwi]

I have noticed here that scores can vary a lot between judges and competitions. Also, I have noticed that in general, performance seems to increase over the season but often scores don't improve by a lot - I suspect that some judges get pickier as the season progresses, possibly because the overall standard improves. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

I'm gonna echo...scores don't really matter so much. And those are so close...as long as she is fairly consistent...learning and happy, that's great. Esp at L4 and did you say 7 yr old?

Also..welcome to the chalk bucket!!! Glad to have you here!!!