Parents Newbie with questions.....

[NatsMom]

My daughter has just been moved up to Hot Shots, she goes to practice twice a week for an hour and a half. My question is, how much practice should she really be doing at home in between? She is always trying to practice her pull-overs, front handsprings and anything else she thinks she can. I dont want her to over do it, but I dont want her to not practice at all either. I also question how much at home equipment we need at home. She has a couple mats, a roll up beam and the trampoline, she does her pull overs on the swingset monkey bar which is a smaller diameter bar. Thanks for any input.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I don't think you need to limit it at this point. There is no set in stone amount of time that a child should practice at home. As she progresses in the gym and is there more, the amount of time she does it at home will decrease. When my dd's were younger, and still my youngest to some extent, they did gymnastics at home all the time. Cart wheels, round offs, back bends, splits, pull overs, etc. They just couldn't get enough of it in the gym so it carried over to home. We have a strict rule of no tumbling at home though for safety reasons. Sounds like she is just playing around and that seems fine to me. Coaches?

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Our coaches would tell you no gymnastics at home for safety reasons and the risk of picking up bad habits that are hard to get rid of. That, of course, is somewhat unrealistic with young kids and something they love. I would definitely limit what she does
especially as it pertains to the trampoline. Many kid want to chuck that first backhandspring or whatever, and they teach it to themselves totally wrong. I'd encourage activities that increase strength and flexibility like handstands against the wall or working on her splits, stuff like that. Cartwheels are always fun and okay if done correctly. I caught my six year old doing backhandsprings in the yard the other day. I put a stop to it immediately. Some things are only safe in the gym. I'd keep the little beam for working on handstands and cartwheels if she is ready, and not invest in anything else, especially a bar. Our coaches are adamant about no bar work at home.

 

[happychaos]

I think all the things you mentioned are fine, plus walkovers and handstands. Anything more advanced than that should be left at the gym. Even at the gym, many kids learn these first skills in a fairly "loose" setting anyway. My DD used to practice anything and everything at home. I remember my DD trying and trying to get that first kickover at home. I would hear these thuds and thunks as she would try and allllllllmost make it over, and then crash back down.

 

[iwannacoach]

Flexibility and strength, and if that gets boring let her work on strength and flexibility. The less she does outside of the gym, the better, because everything she does at home will reinforce her (mostly incorrect) ideas of how skills are done.

 

[HoldThePhone]

We tend to venture on the side of caution. I really don't even encourage cartwheels at home. We've recently had several younger girls at our gym who've injured themselves at home. One is almost 5 and recovering from her 2nd broken arm, from doing stuff at home. Another was doing a cartwheel in a store and kicked an aisle and sprained her ankle. Another broke her arm in two places just doing a backbend at home. Not worth it to me! Our coaches don't encourage working on skills at home, but are fine with splits, push-ups, etc.

 

[mommyof1]

This year, language was added to my daughter's preteam contract specifying that gymnastics skills are to be performed only in the gym. I had already banned her from doing even forward rolls and cartwheels at home because I was concerned that she was reinforcing some bad habits, which she has since broken (in the gym). She does splits, pull-ups, push-ups, L-hangs, hollow body holds, and superman holds at home whenever she thinks of it, which is usually not often. I would also let her do handstands against the wall, but we don't have an empty wall.

 

[mommyof1]

This year, language was added to my daughter's preteam contract specifying that gymnastics skills are to be performed only in the gym. I had already banned her from doing even forward rolls and cartwheels at home because I was concerned that she was reinforcing some bad habits, which she has since broken (in the gym). She does splits, pull-ups, push-ups, L-hangs, hollow body holds, and superman holds at home whenever she thinks of it, which is not often. I would also let her do handstands against the wall, but we don't have an empty wall.

 

[mommyof1]

Sorry for the double-post--don't know how that happened.

P.S.: Home trampoline = trouble. One of the other girls on my daughter's preteam started having problems with her back handspring after a friend "taught" her to do a back tuck on a backyard trampoline.

 

[Clover]

We've also always had the "no tumbling" rule at home, but it is very hard to enforce. My DD can't even seem to walk like a normal child. She used to cartwheel around from one place to another when she was younger. Now, she front walkovers around from one place to another. But, I keep reminding her......