Practice before a meet?

[crazygymmom]

What is 'normal' for practice before a meet?

My DD is level 8, going to regionals on Sunday and coach says Thursday is the last day of practice. I will admit, I'm hard-core, and not happy about this. But is it normal??

Anything DD should do on her own the days before the meet? Stretch? Condition?

 

[flipandtwist]

Typically for our compulsory girls the practice the day before the weekend (usually Friday) will be cut short by an hour. Optionals typically have the day off. We recommend light stretching for the girls but nothing regarding conditioning.

 

[gymgal]

Does this have anything to do with the coach needing to travel for other gymnasts that weekend? DD's gym typically has practice the Friday before meet weekends unless there is a long commute (which for regionals, there presumably is). In those cases, practice is canceled. I personally believe in the "if you don't have it by now...." mentality. We have some girls who skip that last practice to decompress before a big meet. DD prefers to go, just to run through the routines one last time.

 

[crazygymmom]

It is a 4 hour drive and the first meet is Saturday at noon. Practice is normally at 330 so there is no reason we could not at least have a run through.
I too believe that if they don't have it, one more day is not going to make a difference, but 1. my daughter wants to do a run through and 2. I pay for her to practice a certain number of hours/week and so do the girls who aren't going to regionals.

I was interested in what other gyms do, and of this was normal. This happens before 'regular' meets, too.

 

[Ingwe]

Do the coaches have to coach other girls on Friday or Saturday?

My Dd is also a level 8 and she competes on Saturday night. Her last practice is on Wednesday. We have to drive to FL which is about a 7 hr drive.

Her coaches have Level 7's to coach on Friday as well as 8's on Saturday morning, afternoon, my Dd on Saturday night and several more girls on Sunday.

I really don't think my dd not practicing for a couple of days is going to hurt.

IMO its pretty common to not practice for a day or two if the coaches have multiple sessions on varying days.

 

[crazygymmom]

Nope. The first session is Saturday at noon. We were supposed to practice at the meet location on Friday, but our coach ax'd that and said we would practice (run through) at our gym, then changed her mind.

I understand about different sessions.

 

[gymgal]

I too believe that if they don't have it, one more day is not going to make a difference, but 1. my daughter wants to do a run through and 2. I pay for her to practice a certain number of hours/week and so do the girls who aren't going to regionals.

I hear you here. Usually dds gym will reschedule on another saturday or they will have the lower level girls come on an off day for them but that doesn't help he girls coming 5 days a week anyway. Still, at least the owner makes the effort. I think the owner also puts some of year fridays into the schedule at the beginning of the season and doesn't count these as practice days, therefore they are not included in the tuition, if that make sense. These would be before major travel meets that the whole team is going to and usually has a Thursday and Friday session. Ex. Tiger paw.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Usually our girls have a lighter practice 1-2 days before the session they compete, depending on travel. For example, when we went to FL, girls had a light practice Thurs morning (normal schedule is Wed off), then competed either on Sat or Sun depending on level. As for the tuition & # of hours, I honestly don't stress the few hours that they occasionally miss due to travel meets.

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

It is a 4 hour drive and the first meet is Saturday at noon. Practice is normally at 330 so there is no reason we could not at least have a run through.
I too believe that if they don't have it, one more day is not going to make a difference, but 1. my daughter wants to do a run through and 2. I pay for her to practice a certain number of hours/week and so do the girls who aren't going to regionals.

I was interested in what other gyms do, and of this was normal. This happens before 'regular' meets, too

Totally normal. I've been in the sport my entire life and have had 3 girls compete for 9 years. There are many coaches who don't want the girls in the gym the night before the meet for many reasons. At small gyms, with traveling and multiple sessions and kids, there just isn't the coverage neccessary back at the gym. As for getting one's money's worth regarding "make up" practices, our handbook spells that all out as those days are accounted for in the total calendar days we pay for. Plus or minus a day or two either way just shouldn't make a huge difference with the amount of $ this sport costs, especially when one gets up to the regional level!

 

[gymgurl]

Normally we have training whenever we have it usually but we do a mock comp on each apparatus then do 2 floor routines, 5 beam routines stuck. 5 vaults and 5 bar routines and then work on anything that wasn't as good as it should be it is fairly relaxed and we do our comp warm up and comp tummy set that day as well but no other strength

 

[jsfofec]

You shouldn't worry too much. At this point in the season, their body's are pretty beat up. Rest sometimes does them more good than training. She is probably in top condition right now, most likely peaking. Cutting back is a good thing, she can rest her mind and body. She's most likely not going to imrpove on anything at this point, she knows her routines, she's in shape, conditioning right now won't do anything for her...just rest and maybe some light stretching.

Our 9's just competed at regionals yesterday (Sunday). The last day they practiced at the gym was on Wednesday and that was a short practice. They were able to practice a little on Thursday at regionals, but then they were off Friday and Saturday. They just did site seeing and relaxing at the hotel. Then on Sunday they went out and had their best day of their entire careers.

Let us know how your DD does, I'm sure she'll be great!

 

[crazygymmom]

Thank you so much!!
I need to relax! Yes, its hard for me
DD needs to relax, it is much harder for her
Congrats to your girls!!

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

The last practice before a meet is a shorter "mock meet" style practice.

 

[iwannacoach]

You shouldn't worry too much. At this point in the season, their body's are pretty beat up. Rest sometimes does them more good than training. She is probably in top condition right now, most likely peaking. Cutting back is a good thing, she can rest her mind and body. She's most likely not going to imrpove on anything at this point, she knows her routines, she's in shape, conditioning right now won't do anything for her...just rest and maybe some light stretching.

Our 9's just competed at regionals yesterday (Sunday). The last day they practiced at the gym was on Wednesday and that was a short practice. They were able to practice a little on Thursday at regionals, but then they were off Friday and Saturday. They just did site seeing and relaxing at the hotel. Then on Sunday they went out and had their best day of their entire careers.

Let us know how your DD does, I'm sure she'll be great!

They should be just as well off if they rest, relax, and do some positive mental imagery, aka. happy gymnastics day dreams, and do them well. Hey jsfofec, where'ja get all them smarts from. I doubt you just got lucky on this one. For you "doubters" and I know you're out there, it takes both mind and body to make gymnastics happen. Since I've never seen one work with-out the other, I'd have to say the mind can "pitch in" and send subliminal messages to the muscles while they (muscles) rest.

I wouldn't say the same thing in the early season, but for many this is a chance to extend their season, and a little rest will allow them to "pull out all the stops". Once qualified for the next meet all the DD's can go back to work.

 

[jsfofec]

Hey jsfofec, where'ja get all them smarts from. I doubt you just got lucky on this one.

Waaaaaay back when I was in highschool, I ran track and was fortunate to have one of the best highschool track coaches around. This was the exact philosophy he taught us. It's all about peaking at the right time. When it came down to championship time, we cut way back on the workouts. Psychological training was as important as physical training. Our high school won numerous state championships in both the boys and girls, and many kids had full rides to college.

DD's coach has many of the same beliefs, so that's why I can sit back and relax and let her coach DD without any worries.

 

[SamIam]

What is 'normal' for practice before a meet?

My DD is level 8, going to regionals on Sunday and coach says Thursday is the last day of practice. I will admit, I'm hard-core, and not happy about this. But is it normal??

Anything DD should do on her own the days before the meet? Stretch? Condition?

Lighten up Francis!

Yeah let her stretch a little and enjoy the last meet of the season. Thats only 2 days no practice. At this point the routines should be automatic.

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Normally, at my gym, we have practice a day before, we perform all routines three times each. My coach tells us often to be careful and be safe so we don't get hurt.