Parents Should she compete?

[sportsmommy]

My dd is competing L5 this year. She is doing well except she has a block on cartwheel on beam. She has done it some but not often. Her coaches are talking about not letting her compete her next meet. I am not sure how i feel about this. My dd wants to compete. I am just not sure how i feel about this. Has anyone had this situation?

 

[Quadqueen]

At our gym, coaches sometimes do not let L5s compete if they don't have their kips on bars. They don't make them not compete for a missed cartwheel. That skill is so iffy for even the girls that have it consistently in practice....anyone could miss it in a meet!!

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Sure

I don't understand how one iffy skill (sounds like she's done it some before) should keep a kid from competing. So what if she falls? It can happen to anyone on much simpler skills.

 

[bogwoppit]

If anything she would scratch beam. It would bother me to miss a whole meet for one skill, though the kip is a must. Many girls never do a beam cartwheel ever again after L5!

 

[sportsmommy]

After more discussion, i have learned they are trying to motivate her to go for the cartwheel. She is competing but scratching the beam. I am not sure how it will go. We will see. She competes saturday!!

 

[gymmutti]

My dd only landed a cartwheel once at a meet this season but always competed beam. She likes bwo on beam much, much better. I hate seeing anyone scratching over a missed cartwheel. Best of luck to your dd this weekend!!!!

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Too bad she has to scratch for that- I would have her compete anyway. Put a masking tape line on your floor and have her practice each night. That's how my dd got hers.

 

[Quadqueen]

bummer they will make her scratch beam. My DD has her cartwheel consistently in practice, but has missed it in 2 out of 3 meets this season

 

[gym law mom]

Is she doing the cartwheel in practice? If not and the coach feels its a safety issue then I understand having her scratch beam. Telling a kid they can't compete due to 1 skill that isn't being done rarely motivates them---it usually puts them in a panic mode and everything starts to fall apart.
Does dd have fear issues with the cartwheel? If she does then the coaches need to take a different approach with her and encouraging practice at home won't really help much either.
GL with the meet this weekend.

 

[profmom]

I don't think it's such a terrible thing to scratch an event if she isn't in a place where she can attempt a core skill. If they're talking about scratching her because she isn't doing it consistently, that would raise a lot more questions for me.

I've seen girls scratch beam for a few meets because of BWO fears and then do beautifully on beam just a few months later. If a girl has really gotten herself worked up over a particular move, it might be worse to have her go out in competition and freeze completely rather than throw it than it would be just to give her a little time and space to build back up to it.

Good luck to your DD -- if she is scratching for sure, hopefully she can stop fretting about beam and focus on being as awesome as she can be on vault, floor, and bars!

 

[lhmom]

Maybe knowing she doesn't have to compete on beam this weekend will help her relax during the practices and get the skill down. Good luck to her this weekend! Hope all goes well.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

safety first. scratch the event. cartwheel can be dangerous when they miss their feet. they will invariably reach for the floor and either break or dislocate the opposing direction arm.

gymmomtotwo

No Group Memberships Join DateJun 2011Posts11Liked5 times
[h=2]Sure[/h]

I don't understand how one iffy skill (sounds like she's done it some before) should keep a kid from competing. So what if she falls? It can happen to anyone on much simpler skills.

i respectfully submit that this is why we are coaches and you are parents.
​

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

safety first. scratch the event. cartwheel can be dangerous when they miss their feet. they will invariably reach for the floor and either break or dislocate the opposing direction arm.

i respectfully submit that this is why we are coaches and you are parents.

So as a parent and not a coach, can you tell me (us!) how it is different to miss the cartwheel in competition than missing the cartwheel in practice? My dd used to fall off the beam on cartwheel a million times!

Thanks!

 

[Optionals United]

"she has a block on cartwheel on beam. She has done it some but not often."OP

I don't understand how one iffy skill (sounds like she's done it some before) should keep a kid from competing. So what if she falls? It can happen to anyone on much simpler skills." gymmomtotwo

safety first. scratch the event. cartwheel can be dangerous when they miss their feet. they will invariably reach for the floor and either break or dislocate the opposing direction arm."


the OPs dd is not doing the cartwheel consitently in practice, because she has the block. her coach doesnt want her to compete in case she hurts herself or some other reason because she is inconsitently going for it. and you never know what will happen at a meet. gymmomtotwo said why not, doesnt matter if it is iffy, she has done it etc, well it is iffy you never know what is going to happen which causes the safety concern. which is why they might not be letting her compete until she can preform it more consitently. and dunno gave a reasonable answer as to why it is unsafe to preform the cartwheel if it is iffy. so in all.......... inconsitent skill+meet=safety concern= no compete.

that was a much stronger arguement(no argueing just for a lack of a better word ) in my head but here is a little reasoning.

 

[sportsmommy]

When i originally posted this i was questioning should she compete. For motivation my dds coach was going to have her sit the entire meet not just beam. No where in my conversation with her dd was safety an issue. After more discussion she isnt doing beam. I just didnt think it was fair that she had to sit the meet for one skill. I am not a coach and never pretend to be if my dds coach said she didnt want my dd to something for safety reasons i would never question it.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

So as a parent and not a coach, can you tell me (us!) how it is different to miss the cartwheel in competition than missing the cartwheel in practice? My dd used to fall off the beam on cartwheel a million times!

Thanks!

yes. 1st, there is the consideration of matting. typically, the matting is more abundant in practice. the kids learn what they do, have confidence, and go in the meet with less matting without issue.

2ndly, the kids bodies react completely different in competition. sometimes they will try 'harder', sometimes 'less' and then there is the adrenaline kick along with their heart rate going up. this 'kick' can cause the kids to do things that have never been 'seen' before.

there are many physical changes and manifestations that their biology goes thru in a competition that are completely different as when they go thru practice daily.

maybe some of the kids will jump on here. what gets discussed on this site pretty regularly in some form is how much 'energy' everyone's kids have and the parents can't understand how they maintain the schedules that they do and work out daily with all those hours and keep going week after week...

but then they have a meet. they train 20 hours a week for approx 10 minutes [with warm up time] of physical output at a competition no matter how long a session may take to completion. now have the kids tell you how/what their bodies feel like the next day. most of them won't know the word 'malaise' but that is what they will describe. and that they feel exhausted for approx 3 days post competition. that their bodies/joints ache.

and what does the parent think? they think that they must've 'caught' something at the meet. or at school the next day. so then they keep them home from practice. the parent learns over time (from good/educated coaches) that this is a normal and ordinary physical result/response caused by competition. so then, the biochemistry and physiology of what their bodies go thru on a daily basis pales in comparison to what their bodies will go thru in a competition.

further questions? ask away.

 

[MaryA]

Now that I have heard it spelled out that way... 20 hours a week (well, more like 15 in my DD's case) for 10 minutes of competition (more like 4, if you only count the competition time) it makes me wonder... what the heck is my daughter doing in this crazy sport?

But, I suppose, if she wasn't in this crazy sport, I would have no reason to read Dunno's posts (from the instructive to the irreverent), and then just think of what I'd be missing!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

When i originally posted this i was questioning should she compete. For motivation my dds coach was going to have her sit the entire meet not just beam. No where in my conversation with her dd was safety an issue. After more discussion she isnt doing beam. I just didnt think it was fair that she had to sit the meet for one skill. I am not a coach and never pretend to be if my dds coach said she didnt want my dd to something for safety reasons i would never question it.

i don't see in this instance how sitting her out would improve the technique or deficiencies of your daughter's cartwheel. but sitting out an event for 1 skill is common when safety is a concern. more so for compulsories. with optionals, other skills can be used in the place of another skill that may be causing the athlete problems.

 

[sportsmommy]

My dd has the skill. She can do it all day long on the low beam or with matts piled under her but when she goes to do it the routine she lands on the floor beside the beam. From what i am told it is in het head. Her dd thinks if she doesnt get to do beam in the meet it will make her want to do it.

 

[Optionals United]

Is she going for it consistently or only some of the time?