Women Not so much an hours question, but days

[sce]

I
I think I'm in the minority, but at this point I kind of like more days shorter hours? It's clearly very common to do 4 hr sessions in this world, but that sounds like a lot for my 7yr old at this point. Obviously that will be the deal as she gets older, and I'm sure it will be fine.

I think there needs to be a balance. 4 hours is a long practice for a young child but 6 days a week, at any number of hours each day, also sounds like a lot for a 7yr old.

Thoughts? I know the hours discussion has been beaten to death, but how are your hours structured? I'd add that I did a little local research and none of the other gyms that have hours on their website have their L5's in the gym 5 days a week. They may be in the gym 14 hours, but it's over 4 days, often including a weekend day.

I think you need to do what's best for your daughter. Not just as a gymnast but overall. She is more likely to stay in the sport a long time if it does not put strain on her ability to succeed in school and enjoy other aspects of her life. 5 days a week and scoring out of level 4 could be too much too soon, or it could be fine if she is very motivated and driven.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

Our gym does shorter practices too -- 2 hours rather than 3 or 4. L3s are required to do 3 days/wk (so 6 hrs) and L4/5 are required to do 4 (so 8 hrs.) but everyone is encouraged to do at least one extra. The coach makes up for shorter time by being a real hard*** with rules and working all.the.time. The girls aren't allowed to talk, don't get a break, rarely get a water break... They are supposed to get there 15 minutes before practice to get on weights and generally be ready the minute the close strikes starting time. I would much rather have longer but less intense practices for them, but the gym owner will only give the coach 2 hr. blocks. I'm sure there is a back story there, but I don't know it. Anyway, a total of 6 practice sessions are offered each week, so we get to choose which days we go. Every practice starts/ends at different time so that everyone can find something that works. Which is good but does make it crucial to keep track of which day it is!

My 11 year old L4 goes 5 days a week (10 hrs). She's in middle school and this number of hours gives her a waiver on school PE, which really helps. We do MWTFS. Luckily the gym is only 10 minutes away from home/school so the driving isn't bad. If I were some of the families who drive 30 minutes I would have a much bigger problem with that many days! She's gotten pretty good at figuring out when to do homework each day and she works ahead on the standing reading/writing assignment on the weekends. It does take some heavy planning each week to map out what has to be done when, but it is working.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

I think there needs to be a balance. 4 hours is a long practice for a young child but 6 days a week, at any number of hours each day, also sounds like a lot for a 7yr old.


I think you need to do what's best for your daughter. Not just as a gymnast but overall. She is more likely to stay in the sport a long time if it does not put strain on her ability to succeed in school and enjoy other aspects of her life. 5 days a week and scoring out of level 4 could be too much too soon, or it could be fine if she is very motivated and driven.

I agree. It definitely is a balancing act, and each kid is different. My dance DD (9) is not at her sport as much as a lot of her teammates (she only competes 3 routines plus 3 hr ballet-many kids compete 6,8,10...more..) but gymmie wants to be there 24/7. So I've really tried to get each what they need to be happy and successful.

 

[twinmomma]

As much as my daughter LOVES being in the gym, I think 5 days a week is probably overload for her. It's not that she isn't motivated or capable. We get to Friday of a 4 day schedule and she's meltdown city on the way home. So I'm not sure with the added pressure of 4th grade AND 5 straight days in the gym that it wouldn't be a recipe for disaster. We are still feeling it out.

 

[Committed]

5 days a week is a lot.
DD is 'training L5' and goes 3x a week for 3.5 hours a session. Granted these hours are low to other gyms (even to our own gym in prior years), but they definitely make the most out of their hours.
Luckily, DD is still on homework packets. She's already worrying about what's going to happen next year when she gets nightly homework!

 

[lovegymnastics22]

7YO DD competed lvl 3 in the fall. We moved from gym with 5 days total 13 hours to gym with 3 days 12 hours. The longer practices are tough for her but the schedule is much better for our family. In Spring it moves to 4 days 4 hours. No weekend practices.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

It seem like most gyms in US have LONG practices from the early levels. Ours are not that long so the girls have more practice days. Usually the number of days increases before the length of practice. In my club it goes like this:

LEVEL A : no competing, 2-3 practices a week, 1,5-2 hours each (08's and 09's mostly)
LEVEL B: starts to compete, 3 practices a week, 2 hours each (07's and 06's mostly)
LEVEL C: 3-4 practices a week, 2-2,5 hours each (05's and 04's mostly)
LEVEL D: 4-5 practices a week, 2,5 hours (04's, 03's and 02's mostly)
LEVEL E: 4-5 practices a week, 2,5-3 hours each (03's, 02's, 01's and 00's mostly)
LEVEL F: 5-6 practices a week plus morning practices with school, 2-3,5 hours each (high school age girls)

Our elite squad girls have more days and more hours from age 7-8 but I think their longest day is 3,5 hours total. Most of them also have at least one morning practice due to school when they do independent work or work with one of their club coaches for 1,5-2 hours.

 

[munchkin3]

I must say, I am reading all of those who practice 5 and 6 days a week.....I just don't know how you do it! I really feel like a lazy gym parent because I don't think I could handle it......i am sure my kids can't. My DS is training L8 and he can't make it to practice 5 days!!!! We get into arguments about it, and he says there is no way he can handle high school, keeping his grades up, gymnastics everyday, and time for himself.......I understand him! My DD too, she is going 16 hrs in 4 days, and barely hanging on.......could it be the warm weather?

Really my hats off to you whose kids have been conditioned to get to 5/6 days a week......

Signed- lazy family

 

[Gym proud]

It's always more difficult to think about what it could be like. When we went to 6 hrs/ week I thought- No Way! Then it was 16 and thought No Way! Now we are at 2practices 3 days a week and 27 hours a week (3rd grade) and again I thought No Way! But here we are - healthy and happy!

 

[Amusibus]

My daughter is an 8 year old level 2. She goes 11 hours, over three days, as follows: Monday-3 hours, Friday-4hours, Saturday-4 hours. I love this as she still has most weeknights free.

 

[Gymbee06]

We do 3 x 5 days

 

[profmom]

I must say, I am reading all of those who practice 5 and 6 days a week.....I just don't know how you do it! I really feel like a lazy gym parent because I don't think I could handle it......i am sure my kids can't. My DS is training L8 and he can't make it to practice 5 days!!!! We get into arguments about it, and he says there is no way he can handle high school, keeping his grades up, gymnastics everyday, and time for himself.......I understand him! My DD too, she is going 16 hrs in 4 days, and barely hanging on.......could it be the warm weather?

Really my hats off to you whose kids have been conditioned to get to 5/6 days a week......

Signed- lazy family

But don't you understand? For the boys, it is important to have enough time for the part of the practice where they all throw their socks at each other. The girls actually have five events. Or haven't you noticed the chalk bucket rotation? You know, it lasts for about 25 minutes and usually happens during bars.

 

[BarCoach]

Our gym does shorter practices too -- 2 hours rather than 3 or 4. L3s are required to do 3 days/wk (so 6 hrs) and L4/5 are required to do 4 (so 8 hrs.) but everyone is encouraged to do at least one extra. Anyway, a total of 6 practice sessions are offered each week, so we get to choose which days we go. Every practice starts/ends at different time so that everyone can find something that works. Which is good but does make it crucial to keep track of which day it is!

How do they work it with different levels coming at different times? Just split them into groups depending on who is there? How do they ensure each kid will get enough time on each event?

 

[GikiGirl]

I'm in a level 8/9 group and it's 5 days:
M/Thu/F 4.75 hr
Tue 3 hr
Wed optional 1-2 hr
Sat 4.25 hr.

So without the Wednesday which most don't do, 21.5 hours. Some leave early due to homework or injury issues and the age range is 12-18.

Our level 5s go 4.75 hours 3 days per week.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

How do they work it with different levels coming at different times? Just split them into groups depending on who is there? How do they ensure each kid will get enough time on each event?

Each day is a different time but all the girls start and end at the same time for that day. Higher level girls just come more days. And we register for exactly which days we'll be there so the coaches can plan and staff correctly. So, for example, 16 girls do Mondays from 3:45-5:45, 12 girls to Tuesday from 5-7, 20 girls do Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30...

Since there are only about 35 girls total and they are all levels 3, 4 or 5 it works. Things may change next year when we have our first girls in optionals -- this is only the gyms 3rd year with a team.

 

[BarCoach]

Got it. Thanks.

 

[twinmomma]

It's always more difficult to think about what it could be like. When we went to 6 hrs/ week I thought- No Way! Then it was 16 and thought No Way! Now we are at 2practices 3 days a week and 27 hours a week (3rd grade) and again I thought No Way! But here we are - healthy and happy!

Your 3rd grader is in the gym 27 hours a week??? Holy cow!

 

[Gym proud]

Your 3rd grader is in the gym 27 hours a week??? Holy cow!

Yes. I know. Somehow it works. Trying to balance isn't easy. And if one day it doesn't work for us- so be it. She loves what she does, we will see where it take us! One day at a time.

 

[twinmomma]

Yes. I know. Somehow it works. Trying to balance isn't easy. And if one day it doesn't work for us- so be it. She loves what she does, we will see where it take us! One day at a time.

My 3rd grader would fall apart. She's already a mess come Friday after 4 days in the gym and a full week of school. More power to you and your kiddo, that's amazing.

 

[Seeker]

Old gym practices 6 days a week but it was an overall less number of hours than new gym practices in 5. We def like the new schedule better. The downtime is important (both emotionally and physically) and the longer practices allow them to get more done.