WAG No Level 5?

[Jenna Marie]

My cousin is a level 4. She competed level four for 2 seasons now. For some reason her gym doesnt have level 5 as they skip it and move straight to level 6. She isn't very prepared for level six as she does ot have all requirements, however, she does not want to compete level 4 AGAIN!

Also as an xcel gymnast, how are level 5 and six different?
thanks!

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Not by much... You can actually get away with less difficult skills in L6 than in L5.
For instance, L5 requires a BWO or BHS on beam whereas you can use a cartwheel to fulfill the acro element on beam in L6. There are lots of skills you can substitute in L6, in L5 you need to follow the compulsory routines to a T. Our gym believes L5 has a more solid foundation for Optionals, so we do L5 and then move to L7 if the skills are there, repeat L5 if they're not. If she did L4 successfully, and can do the skills to score out of L5, she would be able to do L6. If not, then perhaps Xcel would be an option to take a look at rather than repeating L4 a third year....

 

[ascarter1]

Our gym doesn't compete lv 5 either. My dd went from lv 3 to lv6, other go from lv 4 to lv 6 or lv 7 depending on which skills they get.

Vault is the same

Beam-you can do bwo, bhs, or cartwheel (when dd competed lv 6, they required bhs)

Floor-one front pass(can be a punch front or fhsft) and one back pass (I think it has to be robhsbt but I could be wrong)

Bars-this is the tricky one! Free hip to base or 45 (I can't remember-but this is one that girls get dinged for a lot) and every cast needs to to 45, I think. I just know that it needs to practically be at handstand to count), flyaway dismount can be tuck it layout.

She will love optionals! You can tailor your routine to showcase the gymnasts strengths and hide her weaknesses!

Tell her to go for it!!

 

[Ali'sMom]

I agree with both posters above! skipping 5, to us, was the best thing ever!

 

[lindsaygymnast7]

Our gym also skips lv 5. The girls go from lv 4 to either lv 6 or lv 7, depending on which level the coaches think they're ready for. Our gym uptrains during the season, so a lot of the girls who competed lv 4 last year will probably compete lv 7.

Anyway, lv 5 and lv 6 are very similar. From what I've seen, it's usually bars that girls struggle with because of the cast requirements and the clear hip requirements. Usually, if a gymnast is able to score out of lv 5, they could compete lv 6.

 

[Texasmomof3]

The thing to understand is that to "skip" level 5, you still must learn the level 5 compulsory routines and successfully complete them before a judge at a USAG sanctioned meet. USAG requires a minimum score of 31 to move past level 5, but many gyms require much higher.

 

[Kcanflip]

The thing to understand is that to "skip" level 5, you still must learn the level 5 compulsory routines and successfully complete them before a judge at a USAG sanctioned meet. USAG requires a minimum score of 31 to move past level 5, but many gyms require much higher.

So true. Gyms aren't necessarily "skipping" 5 they are just choosing to not compete a full season and have the girls compete one score out meet instead. And that's not as easy as it sounds. There are some tough skills to master in 5 that that definitely help in readiness for 6.

 

[Gymmommy71]

We've had girls do a score out meet for level 5 and barely make that 31, then turn around and compete level 6 a week or two later and get high 33's/34's. One could argue that it's them not taking the time to perfect the compulsory floor and beam routines, optionals playing to their strengths, harder L5 scoring (which I know is true), but I kind of find that a little concerning in a way.

I think if my DD were young and without any longstanding weaknesses when it comes to certain event(s), I'd rather her do L5, and repeat it if necessary, than skip it and go to L6.

I'm just starting to suspect that sometimes L5 is skipped cause coaches are trying to avoid low scores on one or two events for the athlete - that's all well and good if you're 12+ years old and just generally not good at something required in a L5 routine (w/ little hope of improvement), but when it's a 9 year old who just needs more time to improve her fundamentals, what's the big deal if she gets a few low scores as L5? Just my random thoughts after watching a lot of this skipping levels stuff transpire over this past season.

 

[vbdb]

Our gym doesn't skip 5 but two years into the JO program in our province and the pool for 5s to compete against is rather small. Our 9 year old L5s last year often only competed against each other and maybe 2 or 3 other girls at a meet. Because we have no score out requirement I assume many clubs just give 5 a miss and put their level 4s directly into 6. I'm sure optionals are more fun than being tortured listening to the same floor music over and over and over again but there's something to be said for having a strong grounding in Level 5. Skipping it just delays the inevitable, she'll need the skills one way or another eventually.

 

[AgingHippie]

My DD just competed a season of L5 and although I complained about it (on here only) I am so glad she did it. It gave her a ton of important fundamentals and she is slated to compete 7 next year. She is actually much further along than a few of the girls that skipped 5 and went to 6 in our gym.

 

[Flyaway]

Our gym does the opposite: compete a season of 5 and skip 6.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

4 to 6 is pretty much the same as 4 to 5. Only difference is you don't have spend 100 hours learning those compulsory routines.

 

[Gymmommy71]

My DD just competed a season of L5 and although I complained about it (on here only) I am so glad she did it. It gave her a ton of important fundamentals and she is slated to compete 7 next year. She is actually much further along than a few of the girls that skipped 5 and went to 6 in our gym.

I'm noticing several girls like your DD at our gym as well - more prepared for 7 than our last year 6's. This factors in to my post above as well - the main question in my head now is did doing L5 actually make them better, or did the gym just put them L5 vs L6 because they thought they were better all along? None of our 5's scored particularly well (I don't even know of any of them ever got a 36), but honestly, they are good. We shall see what happens this coming season as they move into optionals w/ the rest of the girls.

 

[Texasmomof3]

Not all kids do better at 6. My dd had two meets to score out of 5. She broke 37 on both of them. (These were real meets where she was top of a pack; not just inflated scores from a generous in-house judge.)

She competed 6 just a couple of months later and only score 36 twice. Bars killed her as she never hit a handstand on either of her casts. And the judges were much tougher on the "same" vault.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

My DD just competed a season of L5 and although I complained about it (on here only) I am so glad she did it. It gave her a ton of important fundamentals and she is slated to compete 7 next year. She is actually much further along than a few of the girls that skipped 5 and went to 6 in our gym.

Depends on what you are looking at, remember the flyaway from the giant is the big killer in 7. The kids that are doing flyaway from a cast are already at an advantage over the level 5's doing it from a swing. This is the reason we try to jump from 4 to 7 (we don't do 6). In my opinion, its much easier to teach the giant to flyaway (or cast to flyaway) than progress from the swing and then to cast. Often the kids who do flyaway from a swing, pretty much have to start at the beginning (in the fear factor) when they start casting. In other words, if our state had our level 6 season in the fall and then 7 in the spring we would 100 percent opt for 6 prior to 7. But in our state the 6 season goes hand in hand with the 7 season, so we just go 7.

 

[AgingHippie]

Depends on what you are looking at, remember the flyaway from the giant is the big killer in 7. The kids that are doing flyaway from a cast are already at an advantage over the level 5's doing it from a swing. This is the reason we try to jump from 4 to 7 (we don't do 6). In my opinion, its much easier to teach the giant to flyaway (or cast to flyaway) than progress from the swing and then to cast. Often the kids who do flyaway from a swing, pretty much have to start at the beginning (in the fear factor) when they start casting. In other words, if our state had our level 6 season in the fall and then 7 in the spring we would 100 percent opt for 6 prior to 7. But in our state the 6 season goes hand in hand with the 7 season, so we just go 7.

Now you are freaking me out, lol.

 

[ascarter1]

The thing to understand is that to "skip" level 5, you still must learn the level 5 compulsory routines and successfully complete them before a judge at a USAG sanctioned meet. USAG requires a minimum score of 31 to move past level 5, but many gyms require much higher.

Yes! Dd tested out of lv 4 and 5 on the same day.

 

[GymMom4]

Not all kids do better at 6. My dd had two meets to score out of 5. She broke 37 on both of them. (These were real meets where she was top of a pack; not just inflated scores from a generous in-house judge.)

She competed 6 just a couple of months later and only score 36 twice. Bars killed her as she never hit a handstand on either of her casts. And the judges were much tougher on the "same" vault.

My dd was in the same boat. She scored some 37s as a L5 but those casts on bars as a L6 got her. She was happy to get 36s and never got higher all L6 season...and now we wait to see if she gets her other skills well enough to compete 7 instead of repeating 6.

 

[duyetanh]

Depends on what you are looking at, remember the flyaway from the giant is the big killer in 7. The kids that are doing flyaway from a cast are already at an advantage over the level 5's doing it from a swing. This is the reason we try to jump from 4 to 7 (we don't do 6). In my opinion, its much easier to teach the giant to flyaway (or cast to flyaway) than progress from the swing and then to cast. Often the kids who do flyaway from a swing, pretty much have to start at the beginning (in the fear factor) when they start casting. In other words, if our state had our level 6 season in the fall and then 7 in the spring we would 100 percent opt for 6 prior to 7. But in our state the 6 season goes hand in hand with the 7 season, so we just go 7.

That was really interesting, thanks!

 

[raenndrops]

Also as an xcel gymnast, how are level 5 and six different?
thanks!

Level 5 is compulsory. All girls do BASICALLY the same routines…
On floor, they can do a split leap or a switch split … On beam, they can do BWO or BHS or Back extension roll.
Bar skills: kip, clear hip, kip, squat on, kip, long hang pullover, swings, flyaway
Beam skills: handstand, back acro listed above, full turn, leap, jumps, L4 dismount held longer
Floor skills: full turn, jumps, leap, splits, Front Tuck, Front Handspring step out front handspring to 2 feet, ROBHSBT
Vault: front handspring

In L5, bar casts do not have to be to handstand and splits do not have to be a full 180º yet.

Level 6 is Optional. Routines can be individualized to a gymnast's strengths using 5 A skills and 1 B skill per event.
Bar skills:
Cast to at least horizontal (but harshly deducted if not close to handstand)
a bar change
a 360º clear circling skill from group 3, 6, or 7
a dismount that is an A or a B.

Beam skills:
Acro element from group 5,6, or 7 starting and finishing on the beam (cartwheel, roundoff, BWO, BHS, Back extension roll, HANDSTAND, etc)
A leap or jump with 180º cross or side split
A full turn
An A or B dismount

Floor Skills:
Acro series with 3 directly connected elements (do not necessarily have to have flight)
A salto or aerial acro element, isolated or in a 2nd series
Dance passage with a minimum of 2 DIFFERENT Group 1 elements, including a LEAP with 180º cross or side split
Minimum of a full turn

Vault:
There are actually options… the same ones for L6, L7, Xcel Gold and Platinum