MAG Skip the season or compete only 3 events?

[cttay217]

DS (13) just came home from practice and shared that his coach told him he thinks he could either plan to compete only 3 events (floor, vault and pbars) this upcoming season or should just skip the season. He competed L6 last year- he struggled a lot and did not have a great season. Over the past year, he has grown close to 8 inches and gained 30 lbs and also had a knee injury.

Earlier this year, the decision was made that he would compete JD in lieu of another year of L6. DS was happy with this decision- however, since then we have had a lot of changes at the gym. Two other older team members who were also going to complete JD quit and we did get a new head coach. DS loves his new coach, is practicing more hours a week and does still seem to be enjoying the sport more than ever, although he did seem a bit deflated tonight.

DS states he does want to compete even if it is a few events, but I am not sure how he is going to feel being at competition and not doing it all. Does anyone have any experience with this? I feel like he is looking to me for some guidance, but not really sure how to sway him. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sce]

I think it is one of the purposes of JD, boys can do all 6 events or just focus on a few.

 

[buttercup]

As the mom of a boy who grew quickly I feel for you. Ds had 2 years of fast growth (over 20 inches in 2 years) and all of the injuries that go with that in this sport.

DS had a couple seasons that he only competed a few events. Fast growth and some nagging injuries made us question if he should even be competing at all those years. For him competitions are what energized and motivated him. He has been the only guy his age and level at our gym for a long time and the time spent with peers at meets is good for him. He wanted to compete if possible, and his coach was behind that decision, so we supported him. It was the right decision for him. I honestly think he wouldn't have kept going if he could only train for a year at that point.

He is currently just training this year, after taking some time off after surgery last year. He's older now (just turned 18) and is only returned to training a couple events. It is still his passion and he's loving what he's doing again. This is the right choice for him right now.

I don't think either your son's options are wrong - he's still got time in this sport. Pushing too hard and fast if he's not ready just could just lead to more injuries. Talk through the options, and make sure he thinks about how he'd feel about both situations (since boys this age don't always think through how they would feel if...) and then let him decide. Support him 100% in whatever he decides, and encourage the positives of whatever choice he makes.

It's his sport -let him own it. And then have a glass of wine! ;-)

 

[skschlag]

So, my ds, when he was 13, had an injury from growth, that kept him from competing all 6 events. for the first 3 meets, he only did 1 event. For the next 3 he did 3. Then at regionals, he finally did all 6.

The benefit of competing a few while training all is that he still felt a part of the team. He was still connected. That is a tough thing at that age!

We have a good sized JD team, and ds started JD last year before moving to L9. We had several boys that would only compete some events, due to injury, skill issues, mental blocks, or even beign too tall for equipment...lol

I think if he wants to compete just a few, then support that. It will be positive for him, from my experience.

 

[Madden3]

So is the plan for your son to still compete JD? Just checking. From what the parents have told me, all the kids at our gym who did JD last year - and there were a variety of reasons- benefited from that option. I assume your son continues to train with the non-JD boys, but I guess as a JD would have to compete "alone"? Is that concerning him?

Last year was my older DS's (then 13) first season as a Level 8. Due to ongoing injury issues he was only able to compete some events for several meets. He also missed one whole meet due to illness. He was much happier competing with the fewer events than not competing at all! He says he never felt weird not competing some events when his teammates competed all the events, or any other drawbacks. So based on my son's experience, I would say if your son enjoys competing, why not give him the opportunity to compete as much as he can?

Also my younger son went through a huge growth spurt when he was age 9 (!) and wow it changed things so much. Actually even now at 11 he is still growing quite fast...Anyway, his first season as a Level 6 was a total mess. Last year he repeated L6 and had a great season. So it can get better!

 

[profmom]

Yes, curious as well. He would probably be OK competing more in JD. It's quite varied. But I could imagine things being fine if he's going to L8 or L9 and just doing the events where he can be successful. Almost every boy on our team has gone through a rough patch with injuries and/or slowed skill acquisition and/or skill loss between the ages of 12 and around 14.5. It's frustrating, but if the coach can create an environment where they can feel successful and hang in, there is wonderful stuff waiting on the other side of that journey.

 

[Madden3]

Well I have thought about this more, and for that matter, does it have to be optionals or JD? If he wanted, could he stay in compulsories, repeat 6, or compete 7? Because there is no upper age limits there. With the new division options, he might be able to compete more or all events that way?

In other words, with a different option, would he be able to compete more events, if that is important to him? I have never been a big believer that age should be a determining factor in a gymnast's level. I am not saying that any one of these choices is better than the other - I think there are pluses and minuses to any option and of course it all comes down to what is precisely going on in the individual situation. But it is nice that there are multiple options.

Maybe it would help you to have more clarity about why the coach is making this recommendation, what other options there might be, and how firm the recommendation actually was. Sometimes coaches are more or less thinking aloud and the kid hears it as a firm decision or even as criticism from the coach. In my experience, sometimes such statements are even used as an attempt to motivate a gymnast.

 

[Sasha]

Competitions are important for the experience of learning how to compete, so whether it's all 6 events, or a subset, the experience of performing when it counts is what is valuable. It's also valuable to feel part of the team. I would definitely choose competing whatever events he can. It's fairly common for boys (who have 6 events! a big ask!) to have a season or more when they are either scratching or performing a partial set (missing some required elements). No reason for your son to feel awkward about that.

Further, if he does compete JD (instead of 8/9), the routines are quite flexible and he may actually be able to construct a scaled-back routine on his weaker events for meets if he prefers. Up to him and coach, of course, but there is no reason in the world that competing a subset of events (whether in JD or JO) should be any issue.

 

[sce]

I agree with Sasha. My ds sprained an ankle part way through a season. He scratched events at the next few meets. It was still better to get the experience with the events he could do. I think it kept him motivated to work on his recovery.

 

[cttay217]

Thanks for all the great responses! DS decided he is going to compete and just focus on the three events for now- we are hopeful that he might be able to add a 4th by the end of the season. Hearing all of your feedback has definitely made me feel better about this decision.

DS is in an interesting spot- he is now the oldest boy on team since his other two older teammates quit this year. He will be the only one to compete JD and all of his other teammates are in compulsory levels . His coach did offer him the option of doing L6 again so that he would be able to compete with the 4 other boys (one of which is his best friend) that he does practice with- DS wanted nothing to do with that! It somewhat surprised me, but I think he is intrigued by building is own routines and competing with older boys (he does have friends/acquaintances at other gyms around the state that are competing JD and trained with some of them at a camp this summer). His coach is supportive of this and DS does seem happy with his decision. He spent about an hour with his coach tonight going over the code of points, planning out his routines and setting goals on what he needs to achieve to compete high bar and rings (DS would like to think that the pommel horse just doesn't exist and would probably be happy if he never had to touch one again!).

He seemed happy tonight when talking about things and seems excited about the season. We will see how it is when he is competing alone, but for now he is happy We have a new and young head coach that he really seems to connect with and I think it is going to be a good change for him. I watched some of his practice tonight which I have not done in a while- he actually seemed more solid than I have seen him in awhile, so hopefully we might be looking to turn the path.

 

[gymboymom]

I think this is a good choice. I'm not sure why he can't compete all events in JD though? The boys in our region competing JD last season were coming out of L5/6 at 14/15 years old. Some had some very high start values on 1-2 events, but one meet I watched and I didn't see any Giants on high bar, etc. I understand the pommel issues, but there I did similar routines to the old L6 pommel part which does not require circles.

 

[Sasha]

We will see how it is when he is competing alone, but for now he is happy

Though it is always nicer to have teammates from your own gym, at least he will rotate with (perhaps even warm up with, depending on the culture in your region) boys from other gyms so he won't be alone in that sense. My son has had to compete as a 'team of 1' in a few meets before. It gave him a chance to meet and chat with new friends from other gyms. He had a lot of fun. So it can work OK

 

[Sasha]

I think this is a good choice. I'm not sure why he can't compete all events in JD though? The boys in our region competing JD last season were coming out of L5/6 at 14/15 years old. Some had some very high start values on 1-2 events, but one meet I watched and I didn't see any Giants on high bar, etc. I understand the pommel issues, but there I did similar routines to the old L6 pommel part which does not require circles.

OP, which other events is he thinking not to compete? Pommel, and what else?

It's true, the JD routines can be very simple - even easier than L6 in some cases depending on your specific skills. Gymboymom is right in that JD pommel routines are often constructed with few/no actual circles (maybe a half or 3/4 one to dismount) as they use the handles so you can do those scissor elements that boys often find much easier to get through than circling. Great practice for the future beyond L8 when your son will use the pommel handles.

And yes, many JD high bar routines without giants, too, especially early in the season.

Of course, you will also see JD boys who are much more advanced in skills as they are filling the gap en route to L9/10, but they seem to be more the exception than the rule in JD. Skills are all over the board at meets (on par with routines from L5-L9+), so your son will fit right in whatever he chooses to do

 

[Madden3]

He seemed happy tonight when talking about things and seems excited about the season.

Good to hear. This does sound like a situation that JD fits nicely. I also agree with what everyone else says about JD re: difficulty of routines varying widely. This is kind of the point of JD as I understand it.
My older DS competed a few meets without teammates in L7. Of course he was not really alone, his coach was with him, and he was rotating with other gyms, and he liked it.

 

[sce]

OP, which other events is he thinking not to compete? Pommel, and what else?

It's true, the JD routines can be very simple - even easier than L6 in some cases depending on your specific skills. Gymboymom is right in that JD pommel routines are often constructed with few/no actual circles (maybe a half or 3/4 one to dismount) as they use the handles so you can do those scissor elements that boys often find much easier to get through than circling. Great practice for the future beyond L8 when your son will use the pommel handles.

And yes, many JD high bar routines without giants, too, especially early in the season.

Of course, you will also see JD boys who are much more advanced in skills as they are filling the gap en route to L9/10, but they seem to be more the exception than the rule in JD. Skills are all over the board at meets (on par with routines from L5-L9+), so your son will fit right in whatever he chooses to do

I agree, he can do JD with very simple routines. For this year they created 2 JD divisions, so those with higher skills win’t compete with those with basic skills.