Parents Philosophies of different gyms

[gymmom8772]

I find it interesting how philosophies can differ so much from gym to gym. At my DD's old gym the group she was in just tested out of new level 4 at one meet and now will be competing level 5 for the remainder of the season. The meet however was not what I would consider a typical meet experience that my daughter has been having in new level 4. There were only 3 girls from the gym and 2 other girls from the host gym competing that level. The girls needed a 31 AA to test out and between the 3 girls, one got a 31ish score and the other 2 got 32ish scores. I realize that 31AA is the minimum to test out, it makes me question whether they are truly ready to compete new level 5 with those not real strong scores. At my DD's gym her head coach feels strongly that it is extremely important to master new level 4 skills as that level is the beginning foundation of gymnastics and the skills just build from there. I was just talking with a friend from another state who has a DD that goes to a gym that had her compete new lvl 3 (2nd yr at that lvl) and is scoring in the 34 AA range and that is not acceptable. Their standards are having their girls in the 38AA range and her daughter may be looking at repeating that level for a 3rd year. To me that seems a little extreme, time wasting and only beneficial for the gym. It just amazes me how much gym philosophies can differ!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

38 in level 3 is great, but in MY opinion, level 3 is an introductory level and has skills in it that are not progressive, (in other words they take time away from basics). If we end up with a 38 in level 3 (which happens) then great, but that is not our goal. We spend 90 percent of our time working towards level 4 (so yes we are spending 10 percent of our time working skills that have no value, which is still bad...). So get them into 4 if they can do it and then YES, hold them to a higher standard. Mastering the basics for this level is super important and don't rush it. Our motto is, focus on the fundamentals and optionals, done correctly, incredible compulsories will be the result, not the goal.
Every gym has a philosophy and winning is always a part of that, but if winning becomes the only philosophy then they have lost focus.

 

[Quadqueen]

in our current gym, and even in our old gym, where things were more "relaxed," a 31 or 32 AA would not be enough to move up to the next level. I know of one gym in our area who did this last year, trying to get their girls to optionals before the changes and they moved up kids who barely squeaked by. As you can imagine, they had a disastrous time in the next level.

On the other hand, 37s and 38s aren't necessary to move up at our gym.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Having an AA of 38 be the threshold to the next level seems a little ridiculous to me. While I do think that having strong basics is very important, complete and total domination at a level is not. Some of the things being scored in those compulsary level routines have nothing to do with progression....like poses and such. Who cares about that? If that was the standard at my DD's gym than she would still be a L3 gymnast!! LOL!

 

[thefellowsmom]

Our coaches say straight out that concentrating on the text details of compulsory routines in order to win compulsory meets is just silly. The goal is optional gymnastics and they work toward that goal, often at the expense of a many tenths at the compulsory levels. But even with that our girls compete very well. Good gymnastics is good gymnastics.

There are no set move up scores in our gym. Each girl is treated as an individual and what is best for them in the context of the team is what is used to decide what level they compete. Our gym focuses on foundation, conditioning, positions and form. This produces strong, capable and beautiful gymnasts who are ready for high level gymnastics when they get there.

This can be very frustrating for a certain set of parents though. But maybe the gym down the the street with a different philosophy would be a better fit for them. This is the beauty of this sport. Generally, there is a place to suit everyone.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

It seems to vary so much. For example, we moved at the end of May to a new state right after my daughter competed Level 4 states at her old gym. She had a 38.something AA. When I talked with her coaches to get an idea of what to expect with her placement at her new gym (new Level 3 or new Level 4), they said they would be on the fence about whether to move her up or not. Her old gym is a "winning gym" and their philosophy seems to keep some girls back so that they can keep winning. They also do not uptrain at all. Just my observation. She got to her new gym and they put her on new Level 4 with confidence that she would get all of the skills. She had them all within a matter of weeks and she is doing A LOT of uptraining. Her new gym would never hold a gymnast back as long as they qualified for states in their last level, at least for compulsory gymnasts. At this point, with her training giants and BHS on beam and BHSBT on floor, etc.. I can't imagine her being on new Level 3 at her old gym. So I am really glad we switched. Also, my daughter has a tendency of lacking confidence when starting to learn a brand new skill (she over thinks things). So when she could finally train a new skill at her old gym, it was made to be so big and scary in her mind because it was built up until she was "allowed" to do it, that it would take a much longer time for her to get it. Her new gym is much more like "hey, why don't you try this?" and she is like "wow?? really?" and then she gets the skill much more quickly because it's exciting and fun and not so built up to be something you can't do until you are "x" level, etc.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Very interesting! I'm completely unaware if there's an actual policy at our gym, but it know if there is, it's gotta be pretty low. All the girls who kept at it from old L4 are competing as new L4 this year, plus a few brand new girls ( dd among them). A couple of the old 4s who quit possibly wouldn't have moved up because from what I saw, they were struggling with some skills... But they quit anyways so nobody knows where they would have been placed. Far from everyone on the old 4 team qualified for state.
All the old L5s are doing new L5, and I'm not sure how many of them qualified for state last year.

Our gym up trains a bit, it seems fairly individual ( for instance, dd and a couple other girls already have their BWO on beam and are working on BHS on beam, whereas some others aren't even close. Some 5s are working on giants and some aren't)

 

[GymMom67]

At our gym, the criteria for moving up is acquisition of skills. There are specific skills the girls have to have to move up to the next level. For instance, if they are in Level 3, they HAVE to have their kip to move to Level 4. They really also want them to have their ROBHSBHS and cartwheel on beam, but the kip is a total deal breaker. There is no minimum score they have to meet to move up, but the ones who have the skills to move up are generally also the ones who score higher at the meets.

But, I agree with you......I also find it so very interesting seeing the differences in the way gyms do things!

 

[Deleted member 15064]

Individuality is the rule at our gym as well. Each gymnast seems to be treated as her own entity in regards to level placement and advancement.

The @thefellowsmom's described it well - "Our gym focuses on foundation, conditioning, positions and form. This produces strong, capable and beautiful gymnasts who are ready for high level gymnastics when they get there."

Overall, our parents seem to appreciate that their gymnasts are encouraged to uptrain as their individual interest, drive and ability dictates. But yah, for those that want a formula for moving up, no doubt it's frustrating, & there are local gyms here that would be a better fit.

 

[mouey77]

Individuality is the rule at our gym as well. Each gymnast seems to be treated as her own entity in regards to level placement and advancement.

The @thefellowsmom's described it well - "Our gym focuses on foundation, conditioning, positions and form. This produces strong, capable and beautiful gymnasts who are ready for high level gymnastics when they get there."

Overall, our parents seem to appreciate that their gymnasts are encouraged to uptrain as their individual interest, drive and ability dictates. But yah, for those that want a formula for moving up, no doubt it's frustrating, & there are local gyms here that would be a better fit.

The different gym philosophies issue has been so frustrating for us. DD scored right around 38 at her first level 1 meet. I keep thinking she should be competing level 2, but we are stuck with 1 this year through the season and no chance to skip to 3 next year even with a pretty (to me anyways) RO back handspring handspring. Our gym likes to win, and I think she would pretty much need perfect 10s to skip. I think our gym does have some girls repeat with scores below 38 even at the low compulsory level.

 

[LIGYMMOM]

It's quite individual at our gym too. They will move the kids up if they feel they will be successful at the next level. Last year, one of DD's teammates actually scored a bit higher than her at L4 states. DD moved up, she didn't. There are other things they look at than score. Commitment factor, skills, the kip...

 

[Seeker]

The different gym philosophies issue has been so frustrating for us. DD scored right around 38 at her first level 1 meet. I keep thinking she should be competing level 2, but we are stuck with 1 this year through the season and no chance to skip to 3 next year even with a pretty (to me anyways) RO back handspring handspring. Our gym likes to win, and I think she would pretty much need perfect 10s to skip. I think our gym does have some girls repeat with scores below 38 even at the low compulsory level.

If that were me, I'd be looking for a new gym asap. I see no reason to hold kids in compulsories, repeating levels even, with scores like that. My DD would be bored to tears if she was still competing L4 or L5 (which is what she would be if we hadn't moved gyms).

She is currently a very well prepared, beautiful L7 gymnast, fully capable of competing solidly that level. I am not sure she would continue with gymnastics if she were being held back a few levels.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

We don't focus on scores like that here. You move up when you are ready based on skills. Perhaps it is because there is no team scores. Perhaps it is just a different philosophy. And, I believe you can skip levels - even provincially, but you do compete in the same level all year (so say November to April).

DD did L5, then L7 last year. It really is based on what you can do.

Now, we have as of this year aligned our levels to your new JO program, with the main difference being we didn't take on your compulsory routines. Perhaps things will change but previously not so much. I don't think kids could tell you their scores more than a week later, except for the odd one.

 

[mouey77]

If that were me, I'd be looking for a new gym asap. I see no reason to hold kids in compulsories, repeating levels even, with scores like that. My DD would be bored to tears if she was still competing L4 or L5 (which is what she would be if we hadn't moved gyms).

She is currently a very well prepared, beautiful L7 gymnast, fully capable of competing solidly that level. I am not sure she would continue with gymnastics if she were being held back a few levels.

I know. I've already posted this question a bunch of times, but then I thought maybe there was a form issue that my untrained eye couldn't see. I've gotta say that the thread about not calling other gyms in the middle of the season has me scared. Speaking of gym philosophies, I don't want to be at a gym that would be mad at us for exploring other options, esp when we are talking about lower compulsory levels and not having pits. One gym could be great for one child but not another. With my oldest child, we switched dance studios a few times, and it never occurred to me that this would be an issue!

 

[LizzieLac]

We don't focus on scores, per se, either. Mostly, move up is based on acquiring new skills. However, low scores at one level generally means that something about the execution of the current skills is not right. So, improving form is not just about getting good scores in the current level. It is about building the foundation needed to add on and train new skills. There really is a direct correlation.

 

[GymBee97]

Our gym doesn't focus on scores either. You have to have the skills to move up to the next level (if you are just missing one or two total skills you may be moving up if the coach thinks you are close to getting them). But you do need the USAG required scores too and I think they want you to make it to states as well.

 

[Seeker]

Yes...definitely need to achieve those things. OP was describing a situation where gymmie had scored 38 and was still not allowed to move out of L1 for an entire year. Seems silly IMO.

 

[2G1B]

so, when do you guys figure out moving up? I'm very curious about this right now. Last year was my kids' first competition year and they competed in the spring. We then changed gyms and the new gym moved them up. This year they competed in the fall. They both have their state meets in a few weeks.

So... for my son, he always competes spring, so we find out at the start of summer if he moves up. But what about for the girls now? Do they just continue to work at their level until the start of summer/end of spring competition season? Or will they likely find out if they are moving up after their state meet. I mean, my older DD needs to get her kip and my younger DD needs to get her ROBHS and her FHC; but I think that other than that they have the skills for the next levels. For my older DD, half of her team has competed in the fall, the other half will be competing in the spring. I have really wondered if they will leave the fall competition girls at their current level through the spring season or if they will go ahead and have them start working on the next level to see if they will get to move up...

I want to ask the coaches what is going to happen; but I don't want to be "that mom".

 

[Seeker]

For my older DD, half of her team has competed in the fall, the other half will be competing in the spring.

That is somewhat strange/unique...why would they compete different seasons? Are the Fall girls a bit ahead skill-wise? Our State only has 1 season and 1 State meet (in the Spring). Can't imagine having 2!

 

[Deleted member 15064]

The different gym philosophies issue has been so frustrating for us. DD scored right around 38 at her first level 1 meet. I keep thinking she should be competing level 2, but we are stuck with 1 this year through the season and no chance to skip to 3 next year even with a pretty (to me anyways) RO back handspring handspring. Our gym likes to win, and I think she would pretty much need perfect 10s to skip. I think our gym does have some girls repeat with scores below 38 even at the low compulsory level.

:-( I hope you have other gym options to choose from next season.