WAG Plan for your gymnast?

[mandkmom]

I know this is looking ahead a little bit...but I often look ahead

I've seen on CB many times comments about having discussions with coaches and hearing their plan for your gymnast. What does that actually mean? Specifically do others hear about how quickly (or not) kids move through levels? What kind of up training? Are the plans more short term or long term? Just trying to understand what kind of plan one might expect.

As background- my DD is JO level 3. States are in a few weeks and we expect move ups in January. She has done well this year and luckily her gym does uptraining and she has many of her level 4 skills. She starts competing her kip this weekend! She competed level 2 last year and we did have a meeting with her coach during move ups but I didn't even know what to ask. I was told she has potential but nothing beyond that and she would be moved up.
TIA

 

[z2akids]

Our gym hasn't lain out a plan per se fir my daughter. Our gym is not training elite athletes. We have a very good compulsory program and a decent program through at least L8 and a couple of our coaches also coach the high school teams. Since we aren't geared towards fast taking kids to elite, we may be a bit more laid back about plans.

What I can tell you is that the optional HC has pulled my DD aside to work with her and has told her that he can't wait to have her in his group. He keeps an eye on the compulsory gymnasts and knows several of them by name.

As far as I am concerned, that is all the plan I need. Who knows if DD will still want to compete in a couple of years. Who knows whether she will wind up injured or lose interest, etc. Plans can only go so far.

 

[z2akids]

Oh, another thought. We did have a fairly long discussion between me, her level coaches, the optional HC and the gym's HC about holding my DD at L3 this season rather than moving her up. They moved up s couple of girls who finished behind my DD the whole season. But, they kept her so that she would have the ability not to chase skills the whole season and doo a lot of up training while also giving her the ability to feel some success in competition. HC believes it will help with her progress and longevity.

So , I guess we have discussed plans, at least to a certain extent.

 

[profmom]

If you want to know the ideal long-term plan for your gymnast, look at the top athletes in your gym. Are they making it to L10? Going on to college gym? Maybe going elite?

As for specific gymnasts, I think the only planning that can be done is on a medium term basis, with a lot of caveats, and with the ability to speed up or slow down when, not if, things don't go as expected. It may be a bit more complicated if they have to make decisions like doing or not doing things like TOPS and HOPES and Future Stars. But I think that while everyone can recognize potential, it's hard to project from there to figure out which L3s are going to be great L8 gymnasts.

As for your situation, as the parent of two children who did two years at the equivalent of current girls' L4, the extra time helped them to solidify the fundamentals that they're using now to accomplish higher level skills. It sounds like your coaches have a good plan for helping your daughter do the next miles in the marathon.

 

[lovemygymnast]

Our gym doesn't give a plan or really tell parents anything until end of season when we find out about move ups. They are very hush hush. I do understand this because I know coaches who said they were very excited about young gymnasts only to see them quit later on or have an injury that kept them out. A friend moved and the coach where they are now just kept telling how talented her daughter is & she was floored because we don't hear that from our gym. They are very careful about what they say and I'm guessing it's to keep parents from being too excited or having too many expectations. One coach did tell me recently she did expect her to compete 5 next season and skip 6 but she's not a HC and I'm quite sure it's not been discussed with the other coaches. We'll just sit back & relax and hope she continues to love it.

 

[mommyof1]

After being burned a few times, I don't trust any "plan" laid out by any coach at my daughter's gym. After her first rec class, the rec coach called me and told me she was going to put her into the developmental track right away, which this particular rec coach had the authority to do. But it didn't actually happen for nearly a year.

Fast-forward a couple of years. At the beginning of this season, a new preteam level was created and parents were told that our girls were being trained to attempt to skip L3 and compete L4 next season. Three months later, half the group was moved up to compete L3 this season, the group was combined with the lower preteam groups, and conditioning and uptraining were cut back. At this point the preteam coach told me my daughter would move up to compete L3 midseason. When I asked one of the L3 coaches to confirm this, I was told that there was no room in L3 and there would be no midseason move-ups.

So unless your gym is extremely well organized, I would take anything the coach says about the "plan" with a grain of salt. What really matters is not what they say, but what they are actually working on during practice.

 

[wgymmom]

If I was given a plan, I wouldn't trust it either. We were told that gymnasts don't necessarily move up in a linear fashion... we've been nothing but linear. We've been told that she could skip out of 4 last year and finish as a 5... didn't happen. We've been told that she would do a few meets at 5 and finish out as a 6 this year... didn't happen. We've also been told repeatedly that the girls would have to score out of 6... I'm pretty sure that's not required.

 

[Ex member]

I haven't got any plans for either of my dd's when it comes to gymnastics. I am just along for the ride, and what a ride it us at the moment for oldest dd.

My oldest dd has been doing gym for just over a year and competing around the same amount of time and she has had a lot of success in her categories ( disability), she has already got more medals then she ever dreamed of (one would have been enough), she has travelled to places we have never been to before around the country. Today she competed in her first regional competition and got gold on all 4 pieces and silver on trampoline. Recently she was asked to take part in a training session with the national squad with a view to see what needs to be done to join ( they cancelled this just recently - I am secretly relived as it was quite a distance and dd wasn't altogether sure she was ready for the experience even though she would have gone). Dd has also signed up to the young leaders programe at the gym where she gets to help at comps and learn a bit about coaching (possibly helping at rec levels or pre school levels) as soon as she is 11 (next month).

My youngest has her first competition in a few weeks and highly likely be doing grades next year, all I hope for for her is that she gets to do them and at least gets a pass if she does do them.

I also hope they continue to enjoy gymnastics in the years to come.

 

[gwenmom]

No clue what the plan for DD is other than competing L4 this year. I know HC hates L5 and if he can gets the girls to score out and move to optionals ASAP.

I trust HC and try and just with the flow. I'm sure there is a plan he has in mind but I'm not worried

DD, however, in her mind is training for the Olympics.

 

[skschlag]

Plan for my kid has always been, if yo have the skills you compete the level.

Now, the coach had said he would skip a level, or move up when he didn't. And I was upset. But the fact was, ds did NOT have the skills for the move up. So, a coach can say what his/her plan is: My plan is for your ds/dd to compete x level, moving up to y level. But if kiddo does not have the skills, the plan has to be changed.

 

[munchkin3]

You can't really plan. I mean, you can, but it depends on the skills and how fast they are picked up.
At our gym, the coach just looks at us parents bemused about planning for 'next level' and moving up. Of course he wants them to all move up as quickly as possible, but there are so many unknowns.

But, there is some planning you can quietly have. My DD wants to go optional next year. I have tried to get her mentally prepared, and from there, the coach will try to push her hard. She really wants it so she says, but we will see if she can handle it.

On the other hand, there is a very young 'prodigy' type girl that the Mom already has her going to the Olympics, and has her practice 6 days a week (at 7yo). Even the coach has gotten a bit excited, BUT she is riddled with fear, and tells everyone she hates gymnastics.......I don't see how she can make it without the LOVE.

Who knows.....my only advice it to have your daughter think healthily throughout her development. Make sure she is balanced and is happy and stays loving her sport. It amazes me how many parents kill it for the kid......If she has the drive, the coaches will definitely notice and push....thats their job.

 

[mandkmom]

OP here...
Thanks for all of the replies. I honestly didn't expect much in terms of a plan but the posts here (in other threads) had me thinking maybe I should. But now I see maybe that isn't really the case.

I probably bordered on CGM last year but have chilled out and have accepted that this is her ride. What happens- happens. She loves the sport but that could change so quickly. I appreciate all the positives the sport has so no matter what it is a good experience.

She has a lot of fears and nerves so that really may be her ultimate limiting factor. But it is also a great life lesson to work through that where possible.

It would be nice to see onto the future...right?