Women Repeating a level or moving on

[reluctant]

My daughter is currently a level 9 and is having a kind of meh year. Most of her teammates from last year are repeating level 8 and doing well. My DD has never repeated and has never gone to regionals. My question is, does any of this matter? She felt ready to move to 9. Won't they all end up in the same place eventually? Or is it better to repeat and get higher scores in terms of feeling successful in the sport?

 

[John]

I think that answer is only available from your daughter. It's possible some kids prefer to judge themselves based on levels while others may judge themselves based on meet placement. It is also feasible each child has a different goal in mind for their gymnastics. I would love to hear what your daughter has to say if you ask her.

 

[reluctant]

I think that answer is only available from your daughter. It's possible some kids prefer to judge themselves based on levels while others may judge themselves based on meet placement. It is also feasible each child has a different goal in mind for their gymnastics. I would love to hear what your daughter has to say if you ask her.

I don't think she has any regrets. She also doesn't plan on pursuing college gymnastics, and hasn't started high school yet.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It depends on the gymmie and it even depends on where the gymmie is in their journey.

My kid has always been a cusp kid, earlier she stayed back, was super successful. And it worked. And she was younger mentally and emotionally

My kid stayed back a bit last year. Did time at L5. A few of her group went to 7. That was a bit of a disappointment for her but she got it and did well.

They are still at 7 this year. Mine back with them. They were scoring better at the beginning of the season. She has caught up with most of them. A couple have a long shot at regionals. Not mine.

She could of stayed at 6 and had a way more successful (in terms of meet scores) season by staying at L6. Her gymnastics is much stronger being L7, as is her confidence. She is so proud of her growth and really could careless about scores. And she has less bling. Totally cool with it. In fact I think she has way more appreciation for the bling she gets then she did when she was podium sweeping.

Come next fall she will likely be at a L8 or L7 place??? If she stays 7 there is likely to be a lot of podium bling. L8 less so but again better for her skill growth. Will see.

They are actually old enough where the coach gives them a say. I was shocked she chose L7. Her younger self would of picked the place she was more comfortable at. She has a “I don’t like to do badly personality” But now at 11/12, she is ready to challenge herself and understand she won’t score as well. I’m incredibly proud that she took the challenge not the scores path.

And maybe next year she’ll decide she would rather see if she could get to Regionals in 7. Or she’ll head to 8. Either would a challenge for her. So I could see it go either way. Staying back at 6 this year really offered no challenge in her eyes

 

[MeetDirector]

reluctant -

Truely, this is a decision between your daughter and her coach. When they get to these levels, it really doesn't matter much the number on the level; what matters is the skills they are able to do safely. If she wants to go to regionals, she can have that chance at level 8, 9, or 10. I would never suggest holding her back artificially just because her team mates didn't "move up."

Good Luck

 

[raenndrops]

For some girls, they want to repeat to get the higher scores / placements to feel successful.
For other girls, they want to move up / compete harder skills to feel successful.

In our case, YG repeated old L4 (and then also competed new L3)... then she moved to Xcel Gold and repeated that. She could have repeated again, but she chose to move up even though it meant not scoring / placing as well because she felt more successful by moving up. In each decision, I supported her. She will repeat Platinum next season (she wants to get better at Platinum - her words).

With OG, she repeated old L4. Then she did 1 year of old L5. Then 1 year of old L6. Developed blocks. Moved to Xcel Gold. Repeated Xcel Gold. Competed New L6. If she comes back, she will either compete Xcel Platinum or L7. She craves success... but at the same time, she wants to push herself.

 

[reluctant]

reluctant -

Truely, this is a decision between your daughter and her coach. When they get to these levels, it really doesn't matter much the number on the level; what matters is the skills they are able to do safely. If she wants to go to regionals, she can have that chance at level 8, 9, or 10. I would never suggest holding her back artificially just because her team mates didn't "move up."

Good Luck

That's what I think. It is truly about the skill progression rather than the level. She is progressing nicely, just not nicely enough to have awesome scores. But she loves the sport and loves the challenge. She will surely repeat level 9 next year and will maybe have a shot at regionals then.

 

[RTT2]

I'm sure it depends a lot on the kid. Mine is desperate to move up for more hours and harder skills and doesn't care as much about placing. She's only l4 right now, though, so things could change a lot in the upper levels.

 

[NutterButter]

My DD is a first year L9 too and it was a rough start and for the first time didn't qualify for state at the first meet (heck, she didn't even compete AA for the first couple meets). For the most recent meet however her placements were where she usually is, just with MUCH lower scores. We knew in advance that it would not be a stellar season as she didn't have 10.0 start values on every event. Her season is over due to injury but she was already looking forward to upgrades next season. I don't believe she would have qualified for Regionals this year.

 

[Natasha]

In terms of L8 and up, the most important thing is that she is only doing skills that she can safely compete.
Beyond that it is a choice of what she wants out of it and what the gym policy is. Because of the flexibility in optionals, an L8 routine with maximum difficulty could be competed as an L9 routine with minimum or even moderate difficulty. The levels aren't as important as the skills.
Beyond safety, the biggest thing I think to consider in moving up when not competitive is to make sure the gymnast doesn't become discouraged and then quit. I have seen girls move up to a level they really weren't ready for and then start to feel like they just aren't that good anymore. Upper level optionals is really tough.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Level 9 was the first level that my daughter repeated. She even scored out of level 7. But Level 9 is hard! The second year was better, with her qualifying to Easterns.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

In upper levels there is enough skill progression possibilities where the number after the L matters less.

 

[ascarter1]

Level 9 is a whole new ballgame! My dd is a 1st year lv 9 as well and boy, it’s tough. She missed nearly every meet last year in lv 8 due to an early injury. My dd has never had scores these low, but it’s not her, it’s across the board, generally speaking. Our goal is to have a healthy, safe season. We will see what happens over the summer. If she repeats 9, great! If she moves to 10, great. I trust our coaches fully with what they think is right for my girl!

 

[vagymmomma]

We have a similar story to the above. My daughter never repeated until L9 -- it's just a completely different ballgame. Part of the challenge is that injuries became a factor where they never were before. I chalk it up to the level of skills -- just a lot riskier and tougher on the body.

OP - I could have written a nearly identical post four years ago. We have no regrets about the decision to move up even though it has not been easy. DD had the skills before the season, was working upgrades, and SHE wanted to move up (and the coaches were letting her). What we couldn't predict was the impact of a 3 inch growth spurt that year (and she is still only 5'1 so a huge jump) and a series of random injuries. Try to enjoy the journey ... I am glad that DD still finds joy in new skills and accomplishments.

 

[gymgal]

You said she hasn't started high school yet. So she is still young. Given that she wants to pursue college gymnastics, it may be better for her to repeat L9, qualify for regionals and maybe even Eastern/westerns. While college coaches are all about L10, they do look at accomplishments in L9 from a younger gymnast. Giving her that extra year to solidify her skills will really help her going into L10. Because if you think L9 is hard! oh boy! L10 is a whole different ballgame. So much easier to go from potentially scoring in the 9 to scoring in the 7s due to missed connections/bonuses, skills not counted. In hindsight, I wish dd repeated L9. She made regionals her first L10 so she held her own during the season but she would have qualified to Easterns if she repeated L9 and that would have helped with the recruiting process, especially since she has been riddled with injuries each meet season since.

 

[reluctant]

You said she hasn't started high school yet. So she is still young. Given that she wants to pursue college gymnastics, it may be better for her to repeat L9, qualify for regionals and maybe even Eastern/westerns. While college coaches are all about L10, they do look at accomplishments in L9 from a younger gymnast. Giving her that extra year to solidify her skills will really help her going into L10. Because if you think L9 is hard! oh boy! L10 is a whole different ballgame. So much easier to go from potentially scoring in the 9 to scoring in the 7s due to missed connections/bonuses, skills not counted. In hindsight, I wish dd repeated L9. She made regionals her first L10 so she held her own during the season but she would have qualified to Easterns if she repeated L9 and that would have helped with the recruiting process, especially since she has been riddled with injuries each meet season since.

She does NOT want to pursue college gymnastics, but this is all sound advice. Thank you.

 

[gymgal]

She does NOT want to pursue college gymnastics, but this is all sound advice. Thank you.

sorry, I misread your post. The advice still stands for feeling accomplished but if yours is like mine, just gaining the skills was accomplishment for her. She has never really been motivated by the scores and awards. Still, something special about going to those post season meets.

 

[Natasha]

You said she hasn't started high school yet. So she is still young. Given that she wants to pursue college gymnastics, it may be better for her to repeat L9, qualify for regionals and maybe even Eastern/westerns. While college coaches are all about L10, they do look at accomplishments in L9 from a younger gymnast. Giving her that extra year to solidify her skills will really help her going into L10. Because if you think L9 is hard! oh boy! L10 is a whole different ballgame. So much easier to go from potentially scoring in the 9 to scoring in the 7s due to missed connections/bonuses, skills not counted. In hindsight, I wish dd repeated L9. She made regionals her first L10 so she held her own during the season but she would have qualified to Easterns if she repeated L9 and that would have helped with the recruiting process, especially since she has been riddled with injuries each meet season since.

This is so true. The jump to 10 is even harder AND then you are competing with multi-year L10 girls and girls who stayed in 9 to REALLY be ready, so unlike 9 where scores may go down but placements stay the same, placements can also be lower. My dd did not repeat L9, but only because she wanted the extra competition experience with her bar release (and had 2 D skills) and fully knew going into it that it may not be a great season. She did qualify to regionals and held her own and in the long run it worked out, but had it not been for not being allowed to do the bar skills at 9 she would have stayed 9 for another season and tried for Easterns. So I think if a gymnast is having a just okay L9 season, unless she has more than the allowed 1 D skill on events there is no reason to really go 10.

 

[GymFan96]

I hope I’m not too late commenting on this, feel free to delete, but anyway:

My current gym errs on the side of leniency when it comes to moving up. If they can’t safely compete a requirement, they leave it out or even scratch that event. We figure if girls are making the OLYMPICS these days with only one useable event, then why hold back our JOs for not being all-arounders.