WAG Skipping level 5 and 6

[gymnastca25]

How are so many kids skipping from 4 to 7? 5 seems like such a hard level for my 9 year old. She has done fine but it was not easy. I just keep reading post about kids skipping from 4 to 7. That would never happen in dd's gym.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I am not sure about anything except that you can't actually skip 5, not literally. The girls that are "skipping" 4 to 7 must be doing a score out meet at 5 and then skipping 6, which is allowed. It's fairly common from what I have seen here (obviously that's a small sample) for girls to repeat levels, not skip.

 

[flippinam]

At a lot of the gyms in my area, the gymnasts compete level 4 already having their level 5 & 7 skills competition ready. So really they're not skipping much. They compete below their level, rake in the state titles, then compete their actual level (hehe not that I'm bitter ). This isn't the case at all gyms though. Just an observation of what happens quite often.

 

[cbifoja]

Our gym does....although technically there is no skipping L6 as it isn't a required level. Our L4s will do one meet at L5 early next season and then move immediately to L6 or L7, depending on skills. This is something that we've just started doing with the new level changes a couple of years ago. Before then, we rarely had kids skip a level.

 

[gymnastca25]

Yes, I meant scoring out and not skipping.

 

[raenndrops]

Basically... If you can compete L5, then you have most, if not all of the skills for L6... so scoring out makes sense.
If you are at a gym that requires perfection (or close to it) before you can compete L4... or you are at a gym that is constantly training progressions (some people refer to this as "uptraining"), you may have the skills for Level 7 before you finish your Level 4 season... in which case, scoring out also makes sense.

 

[gymnastca25]

I guess it just seems crazy because my dd is already one of the youngest level 5's in the state and I can't imagine how she could have scored out of 5. Our gym also does not work up skills. They did not learn flyways and free hips until a month before first meet. Everything has to have perfect body shaping before they can do the skill.
I understand how some girls are super talented and can do it but it just seems like so many girls on here are scoring out of 5.

 

[raenndrops]

I guess it just seems crazy because my dd is already one of the youngest level 5's in the state and I can't imagine how she could have scored out of 5. Our gym also does not work up skills. They did not learn flyways and free hips until a month before first meet. Everything has to have perfect body shaping before they can do the skill.
I understand how some girls are super talented and can do it but it just seems like so many girls on here are scoring out of 5.

Even those who aren't super talented can score out if they learn the skills in time for ONE meet... you say they learned free hips and flyaways a month before the first meet, but they had to have perfect body shaping before doing the skill... That is the PERFECT way to be able to score out. If they have the body shaping and are doing the skills correctly, they can score out and move on. Also, a lot of states have compulsories in the Fall and Optionals in the spring. In those states, score out first meet in the fall and take the rest of the fall to get the skills for L6/L7.

May I ask what score range your daughter was in this season?

 

[munchkin3]

Different strokes for different folks.......we were at a gym that would have required a whole season at 5, then another at 6...... We left, NOT for that reason, there were many issues at the gym, and I did not want my kids to suffer in any way. We took the opportunity to make a change.
New gym does a score out at L5, and then on to optionals......I must say, it does seem so hard. But it's the coaches that are doing the teaching etc.......I don't really care if she makes L7 by spring! I just want her HAPPY, and advancing to the best of her ability, and no injuries!

Some gyms like the basics and work them till they are perfect......heck, I have always told both my gymmies that Very few gymnasts can do a proper HANDSTAND! Others like to move them along......I don't know what's better but I think that my DD gymnastics will look very different in six months.

 

[gymnastca25]

Well, we only have one competition season. DD's scores were 35-36. Just average. But, she has placed in top 3 for her age group in most of her meets. 35's seem to be high scores for level 5. Unfortunately, she has not done many meets this year due to an injury.
They had to have perfect shaping before they did the skill. However, that did not mean the skills were perfect when they did them. I just meant the skills leading to the new skills had to be perfect.

 

[gymnastca25]

Also, she is not ready to go to level 7. Just could not figure out how others were getting there so quickly.

 

[raenndrops]

Well, we only have one competition season. DD's scores were 35-36. Just average. But, she has placed in top 3 for her age group in most of her meets. 35's seem to be high scores for level 5. Unfortunately, she has not done many meets this year due to an injury.
They had to have perfect shaping before they did the skill. However, that did not mean the skills were perfect when they did them. I just meant the skills leading to the new skills had to be perfect.

For those gyms that do allow scoring out, a 35 - 36 is often all they require (so, IF they were a gym that did that... and prepared the gymnasts well, she COULD have scored out). Some gyms even require LOWER scores... USAG only requires a 31.0.

And having the skills leading up to the new skills being perfect is the first step in getting the new skills perfect.

 

[gymnastca25]

For those gyms that do allow scoring out, a 35 - 36 is often all they require (so, IF they were a gym that did that... and prepared the gymnasts well, she COULD have scored out). Some gyms even require LOWER scores... USAG only requires a 31.0.

And having the skills leading up to the new skills being perfect is the first step in getting the new skills perfect.

true... I don't really know if my daughter is capable of giants or not since she has not been taught them. I guess there are just 2 schools of thought. Get the skill, fix it later or make sure it is perfect from the beginning. I am sure there are pro's and con's to both. I was mostly just curious. We are moving gyms in 2 weeks and I have no idea how dd will do if the new gym does things completely differently. We have not even chosen a new gym yet and can't until after states.

 

[Sneezyone]

Our gym competes girls at 5 for the fall compulsory season and moves them to 6 or 7 depending on skills the following spring (optionals season starts in January). They push hard so all the kids learn the back handspring on beam, sole circle, giant or cast to handstand, and front/back tuck before they compete level 5.

 

[gymdog]

I don't really consider scoring out of 5 to do 6 "skipping" per she. Most competitive gyms do one or the other as a general rule. Personally I like the compulsory level 5 program, a lot of coaches don't. I think the ability to avoid certain technical skills is appealing for some coaches (I.e do cast flyaway instead of having to do two tap swings), but I have a problem with this. I'm not saying that is always the case, but I know it is for some coaches. But whether highly technical coaching matters or not at 5 or 6 depends on how far the gym, coach, bad athlete want to go I guess...some are happy to move on and do 6 or 7 minimum requirements then move to platinum. And there's nothing wrong with that. Or some states have a fall season and the coaches take a long time developing the basics like tap swing flyaway, then move to optionals in spring. So there are a lot of variables.

 

[aerials]

I don't know of any gyms around here that score out of both 5 and 6. It's one or the other but not both. It seems that the more successful gyms are competing 5 and then move on to level 7. (successful at level 7) And now after 2 years of the new routines some gyms are going to competing both 5 and 6.

 

[jen0423]

Our gym has done it both ways- this year it seems that the girls who scored out of 5 really struggled with 6. So for my DDs team they told us they want them to compete level 5 in the fall throughout the entire season and then skip to 7. They are already working on skills for 7 and 8. So hopefully the transition from compulsory to optionals will go smoothly the following year.

 

[Clover]

Our gym moves slowly and doesn't skip levels either. We take our time and when our girls get to L7 they have very good skills and form. I can tell you that, based upon what I have seen this year, not all 7s are the same. I have seen some VERY sloppy level 7s (and 8s for that matter). I wouldn't worry about how some gyms rush through the levels. In the end, except for a few super talented girls, skipping/scoring out of levels isn't actually getting them to be a successful level 10 gymnast any faster, and may even be doing them a disservice.

 

[Seeker]

Agree with @Clover -- skipping/scoring out is often not the best path to success. In most cases, I've seen it be a very challenging year for the gymnast. Also keep in mind that many gymnasts repeat L8 and/or L9, so maybe if they took a slower path to get there, they may have the skills they need to get through L8 in one year. The skills get much harder and the 'skills gap' between levels is bigger as you move up in the optional levels, so the better handle you have on the basics of optional skills the better off you will be.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

true... I don't really know if my daughter is capable of giants or not since she has not been taught them. I guess there are just 2 schools of thought. Get the skill, fix it later or make sure it is perfect from the beginning. I am sure there are pro's and con's to both. I was mostly just curious. We are moving gyms in 2 weeks and I have no idea how dd will do if the new gym does things completely differently. We have not even chosen a new gym yet and can't until after states.

You are right-there are two schools of thought. Out gym does the former (skills then fix form), but from what I've learned here that does not seem to be the preferred method. My DD certainly lacks in form the more I learn, and without a strong kip I wouldn't doubt many schools would have her repeating 3 instead of all the uptraining she's doing. But she's happy, and excited she'll probably be doing 6 in the fall. I just have to trust in the coaches. They keep saying she'll be fine.