Parents Should we switch gyms?

[Ncgymnastmom]

Hi, my daughter is 9(almost 10) and just completed her second year of level 4. At her gym they have to score 2 34s to move up to level 5. My daughter scored 34.5-35.5 consistently this season(they had 9 meets). Her highest scores on events were 8.9-vault, 8.7 bar, 9.6 beam and 9.3 floor. We just had a parent meeting and we are being told that she can’t do level 5 due to bars(apparently she only gets a straight arm kip 70% of the time at practice is what they are saying) and they want her to go to xcel gold(which is 6 hours a week vs 12 hours she does now and the xcel team is awful at our gym they are always last place at every meet). Other girls on the team scored lower than her on bars and aren’t being told this and it feels like they are trying to push us out and I don’t understand why because she works hard and never complains or misses practice. Our whole level 4 team of 18 girls besides my daughter and 2 others(who scored around the same as my daughter this season) scored 7’s on bars all season! So I think it’s a coaching issue since they all are doing poor on bars. My daughter is completely devastated because she was promised if she completed a second year of 4 and got those 34’s she would get level 5(last season she was getting 33.5 and bars were week she was getting on average a 7.5 so I get the repeat that year). Also I was never told her bars were an issue until this week at move up time. Anyways should we find a new gym who will allow her to move up? We have 3 with in 20 mins of us but one does xcel until level 6 instead of levels 1-5.

 

[ORgymmom]

It’s pretty typical to repeat 4 where we live. But as soon as I read the bar score you listed, it was clear why they are having them repeat. Everything in higher levels builds off a good kip. Repeating is the best possible option.
It’s possible that the second season of 4 is so solid that she goes straight to 6 the next season anyway.

The gym that will “allow” her to do xcel until level 6 is not mentioning to you that a score out in level 5 will still have to happen, or two 36s in level 4.

The 7s on bars is pretty crazy, and gives me pause about what kind of coaching is happening (if any) on bars. The 7s I’ve seen either had a lot of freak falls or looked like playground gymnastics. That would be the reason to switch gyms, not needing to repeat a level.

 

[Coach Kate]

I think there are some concerns on both sides. If the whole team is struggling on bars, yes that's problematic for further progression.

Two 34s is a pretty low standard in my opinion. It sounds like they have other criteria which I think is more wise, but they should definitely be more forthcoming about that. I don't think 2 34s is likely to demonstrate the mastery needed to be successful in level 5. The programs I've been part of require a 36 if not 37 in some of the lower levels to be considered to move up, but it's not a guarantee.

A strong kip is absolutely essential at this point. I wouldn't put a kid in level 5 unless they did a straight arm kip pretty much every time. My sister did this level (before the level shakeups, when it was more like the old level 5/current level 4), 3 times, never really figured out the kip, and switched to softball.

You can feel out other gyms if you'd like, but I used to help with trials and assessments and if I had a two year level four scoring in that range of AA without a strong kip, I'm going to recommend Xcel every time. Based on scores, she has stronger events and weaker events and the Xcel program would allow her to max out difficulty on her stronger events while working through challenges on the others.

It sounds like your gym has some communication and possibly coaching problems, so that in itself might be a reason to leave. I'm just also trying to help set realistic expectations from the feedback you may get.

 

[GymDadWA]

Having a flawless kip is a huge requirement as the majority of the bar skills start with a kip cast handstand. If she has a weak kip then getting to handstand is just about impossible. But it might not be just the kip, there are several foundation skills that your gymnast may just struggle on.

We have never seen your daughter so obviously can only speak in generalities, but the coaches might be trying to tell you that they don't think your gymnast can do upper level skills and are trying to give her an option to keep doing gymnastics and maybe develop the strength/mentality/flexibility for those skills without repeating again.

As has been mentioned here many times scores at lower levels are not a good indicator of being able to do higher level skills. You need the mobility score of course to move up, but a gym would be unwise to promote girls based solely on mobility score requirements.

Regarding moving gyms what is your daughter's goal? You'll want to be at a gym that can provide the environment to match those goals.

 

[Ncgymnastmom]

Thanks for the input. Honestly I would be ok with xcel but not at our current gym because the gym doesn’t really put any effort towards xcel and the coaches are really bad(she had one when she was 5 and she yells all the time and is super abusive) and feel like she actually lose skills if we went that route and want to quit. If we could find a gym with a strong xcel program I’d be ok with it so we may consider the one that does xcel until they move to level 6 so she can do a year and get excellent at bars. As far as her kips go she hits them almost always but sometimes at practice I think she gets tired and that’s when she’s not getting strong ones(like the days they work bars event the last 30 mins of practice) so that’s why I’m not sure why it’s such a huge concern all of a sudden when she is scoring higher then the majority of the level 4 team.

 

[Ncgymnastmom]

Also her goal would be to make it to optionals. She has her heart set on it and has since she started her gymnastics journey so that’s why she is so upset. She knows if she moves to xcel at our current gym they will never let her move back and get to the optional level. So that’s why we May consider moving gyms.

 

[Ncgymnastmom]

It’s pretty typical to repeat 4 where we live. But as soon as I read the bar score you listed, it was clear why they are having them repeat. Everything in higher levels builds off a good kip. Repeating is the best possible option.
It’s possible that the second season of 4 is so solid that she goes straight to 6 the next season anyway.

The gym that will “allow” her to do xcel until level 6 is not mentioning to you that a score out in level 5 will still have to happen, or two 36s in level 4.

The 7s on bars is pretty crazy, and gives me pause about what kind of coaching is happening (if any) on bars. The 7s I’ve seen either had a lot of freak falls or looked like playground gymnastics. That would be the reason to switch gyms, not needing to repeat a level.

Most of the girls can’t get their kips or if they are they aren’t connecting them they just stop and do the next skill. All of them seem very sloppy. They also don’t do any uptraining during the season and they are expecting these girls to go straight to kip handstand and do clear hips right away when it’s never been even practiced before. They also don’t do many drills they just straight up have them do kips over and over again which I think is why all of them have bad form.

 

[Gymgirl84]

Maybe going for Xcel at a gym with a good Xcel program would be your best option. I'd check that if some of your close gyms offer that (maybe if she wants to have the go for optionals later, the one that does Xcel instead of compulsory and then optionals could be a good option)