Women Repeating 6?

[hearts_and_stars]

Is there really any reason for a gymnast to repeat 6? We were at a meet recently and noticed that several of the podium finishers were repeating 6...this makes no sense to me, unless perhaps it is bars and they have no giants...are there other reasons a coach will have a girl repeat 6? (this was obviously more common in the SR groups, but a few of the junior groups had repeaters)....

Just curious...

 

[raenndrops]

It would depend... are the girls competing what would be considered L7 routines? With 2 B skills per event? How were their casts on bars? Did they have flight acro on beam?

Two of our L6 from last year are repeating this year. One quit because of the time commitment (7.5 hours of gym a week, plus cheer practice, plus show choir practice, plus cheering at games and doing concerts was too much for the freshman)... and the other one quit because she didn't win.

The two that are repeating are doing so because they are still working on flight acro on beam and only have one B on bars (Clear hip) and their casts aren't quite high enough for L7 SR.

 

[hearts_and_stars]

I didn't watch all the routines (DD is a JR), but one girl I saw did swing giants on bars, though I'm not sure what her name was or what age group she fell into. I do recall that her bars score was about what the other girls scores were (in other words, she didn't score very high or very low, despite the L7 skill). Most of our 6s have the acro flight (BWO-BHS) on beam, so I don't think that would have stood out as being different to me. Bars scores across the board were lower than the other 3 events, but they were consistent so no placements were messed up because of it.

What are the cast requirements for L7? All the way to handstand? Some of our 6s can consistently cast to handstand on both bars and some can't do it on either of the bars. This was typical for what I saw during the meet (some were all the way to handstand, some were not). Are giants the 2nd B skill on bars? DD has consistent giants but HC won't allow her to compete them because she believes in competing only the bare minimum to get the 10.0 SV. Other than the one gymnast who did swing giants at the meet, I didn't see anyone else competing them. That doesn't mean they don't have giants, they just didn't compete them.

When I looked at the L7 scores, some of them were very, very low (or maybe they were just low for what I was accustomed to seeing)...few 36s, most hovering in the 34-35 range. Is the jump from 6 to 7 or 5 to 7 really that big or is it a level gyms tend to repeat and some gyms are playing with the repeat 6 or repeat 7 idea?

 

[raenndrops]

Clear hips are sometimes used as Bs in place of giants... even at L7. The cast requirement is 45º from HS... but deducted if not close to HS.
Some gyms still don't compete L6 and others would rather have a girl repeat if she isn't 100% ready for L7.

 

[lhmom]

Out of DD's group, only one was told she would be repeating. It was mainly because of her bars, but she also started showing fear on beam skills. HC felt it would be best to repeat 6. However, she decided to quit this summer.

 

[LizzieLac]

None of our 6s repeated. Based on what HC requires them to do, level 6 is used only if something is missing and preventing them from level 7. Whatever they were missing they achieved the following season and moved up, some will probably even try 8 before the season is over.

 

[cbifoja]

We had a couple of L6s repeat. One can't get her bars going for anything. The other is on her last season of gymnastics and just isn't willing to work towards getting to L7

 

[thefellowsmom]

We have a couple repeating 6. All of them were working toward seven but didn't get the giant. We also have one who is having beam issues and that is holding her back. The repeaters are definitely doing well at six but without the required level seven skills to do well, they simply aren't ready for seven.

Optionals is a totally different beast, the skills are hard and it doesn't always just take one year for a kid to get through a level. My dd is competing seven and has a couple of repeaters in her age group at meets that are amazing. She may or may not ever catch them this season, but those level 8 skills are really hard. I am sure those girl's coaches have very good reasons for them repeating seven. We had a girl at our gym who took three years to get through seven and now is having a really good level 8 season. We also have kids who skip levels. Sometimes its clicking and more times than not it is like trudging through deep sand. Transitioning to optionals is a shift in perspective for both parent and gymnast.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

One thing to consider, at level 8 a flipping vault is needed to be competitive. Some of our lith talented young little gymnasts just don't have the weight/muscle mass to pull them off. Why rush them through only to struggle because physically they can't perform what is required to be successful.

They may breeze through with Bars and Beam at 6/7 and look well ahead, but as a coach you have to decide if letting them excel or struggle is in their long term best interest. I think a bit of struggling because you didn't pull your finger out or had fear is one thing, but if you physically couldn't safely complete a skill is completely different, these vaults are not taught in a day.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

No giants? Or flyaway out of giants? Thats my guess. 6 is supposed to be a place for kids who cannot go 7, so if any are repeating and have the 7 skills that goes against the intended function of 6. Thats my 2 cents...

 

[GymCMLA]

there's a gym in town that had all of their 4's score out of 5 and do 6 last year, all of them are still 6's this year. Our gym had 2 6's last year and they are repeating (still no giants), plus we added 8 more 6's who moved from 5. If move ups were today, I think all would do 6 again as no one is consistently swining giants, I hope there are some ready to be 7's by summer (dd's BFF is a 7 and is alone, I feel bad that she doesn't have buddies with her at meets )

 

[pt coach]

We have a couple kids repeating 6..basically because of bars. They are having a great 2nd year at 6 though.

 

[GYM0M]

One thing to consider, at level 8 a flipping vault is needed to be competitive. Some of our lith talented young little gymnasts just don't have the weight/muscle mass to pull them off. Why rush them through only to struggle because physically they can't perform what is required to be successful.

They may breeze through with Bars and Beam at 6/7 and look well ahead, but as a coach you have to decide if letting them excel or struggle is in their long term best interest. I think a bit of struggling because you didn't pull your finger out or had fear is one thing, but if you physically couldn't safely complete a skill is completely different, these vaults are not taught in a day.

That's my kiddo....she still vaults FHS on the '1' setting for competitions. 45-46 inches tall and weighs about 55 lbs. She has flipped her yurchenko twice into the pit without a spot, but still no where close to being able to compete it so L7 it is; that being sd, she competes L8 routines on the other events & gets whammy'd in deductions on the higher levels skills which, IMO, creates a more level playing field on the quest for the podium. Lol!

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Most of the 6s at our old gym are repeating 6 again this year, I would guess it's nar skills holding them back. My DD is competing 6 for the first time this year and I predict beam could hold her back and have her repeat, but that's a long ways away.

 

[CanAmGymMum]

We'll most likely have a gymnast repeating 6 next year. She's no where close to her level 7 skills on bars and beam and she seems content to be at the level she's at. She's older, strength is an issue for her, but she still loves the sport. Xcel is not an option at our club so level 6 it is

 

[MyGymmieK]

My DD (barely)scored out of old L6 about 6 months after her old L5 state meet. She would compete Excel until she got her L7 skills, which we had hoped would be ready by the next fall. She competed Excel gold that year and by the next year was still not ready for 7, so she did Excel Platinum. She had everything she needed to move up except for bars. This year still no cast handstands or giants, so she is competing L6. I feel like she has hit a plateau and may never get her giant, so she may be a professional L6 until she decides she's done. Sometimes I wish she would have repeated Platinum this year. They have taken out some of her 7 skills that she competed last year to better fit the L6 requirements, so it makes me feel as if she is going backwards.

 

[gg_bug]

How common is repeating a level? Dd jumped to lv 6 fast now trying to help daughter with the idea she might repeat. Why would a gymnastic do level 7 routines and stay at lv 6? Seems like that would be silly.

 

[cbifoja]

I think it is most definitely more common in optionals then in compulsories. If a girl doesn't have a major skill at L7, that is why she might stay at L6.

 

[mariposa]

I don't see what the issue is with "repeating" level 6 is, or any other level for that matter. If they don't have the skills for the next level, they stay where they are. I don't think it should even be called repeating. Levels aren't like school, everyone doesn't move up to the next one each year! My daughter did 2 years of old L4, 2 of old L5 and then 6/7 in one year, level 7 the next and now is a 12 yr old L8. I imagine she'll be a L8 again at least once (if she sticks with gymnastics). She isn't repeating, she's just competing where she's most competent at for however long that takes her.