WAG Talent?

[TGymnastics]

I was wondering do you every see girls at the gym who you know are going to go far if they don't quit?

For me I have seen one or two at my gym but their is this one little girl. ( Trying not to brag here )

She is 7-8 and is all muscle witch my coach ( who coached her when she was 3 ) has said she was always just all muscle

Her tumbling passes 1. ROBHBP 2. Front Tuck 3. ROBHBT

She can do giant on strap bar and can kip

Beam she works on backhand spring step outs while she competes tick-tocks

She almost has her standing back tuck to

I'm sorry If I seem like I'm bragging, but I want to know if you have girls like this or who you see who have talent.

 

[BlairBob]

I've seen some really physically talented young girls end up going nowhere because they have familial problems such as one parent loves the sport and the other doesn't want to take them. No matter their innate talent, they don't end up really going anywhere.

It really depends if they can stick it out with this sport and of course if they don't have any growth spurts that foul everything up.

 

[iwannacoach]

Sure, there's a new little hotshot every year or two. I doesn't mean much, really, until they work with their talent for a number of years. Kinda like the tortoise and the hare, that pesky tortoise just keep sneaking along, and sneaking, and sneaking, and.....

 

[profmom]

It was so interesting this year to see the mix of tortoises and hares at DD's gym who made it to Eastern Nationals. One of the girls, who placed at Nationals on beam, was described by her own mother as an "awful" L4 and a "mediocre" L5.

 

[GymBeeMom]

Little superstars are exciting to watch grow. And it is easy to assume they will be the ONE. But as time goes on...I'll put it this way...

If you have an early reader, they seem to pick it up easily. But by the time they are in high school, the slower reader has usually caught up. The early reader may be in an AP class, sitting next to the kid who didn't learn to read until 2nd grade. They both got there, and you can't tell who got there first. The early reader may continue to thrive and go to Princeton, or they may opt for a small state school for numerous reasons. The later reader may do the same. Who reads first doesn't change their future opportunities to thrive...it only made the early reader and an early reader.

 

[OzZee]

I think talent is just one part of the whole in gymnastics.
Talent helps, but hard work, luck with injury, being in the right place at the right time (ie in a club that has the right philosophy and ability to push kids forward at an early enough age) I think are more important.
Doesn't matter how much 'talent' a child has if the child or the child's family aren't prepared to put in the hours, doesn't matter if the child has injury after injury, is in a year group full of also talented kids who pip them to the post.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

one problem with talented people is that from very early on they learn they can shine with no effort, then when they actually have to work it and come as a big shock. Thats why you need a programme (gym, school etc) that pushes them from the beginning. Those children that have to work from day one tend to do better overall, whatever natural talent they have.

 

[aerialriver]

Yes quite a few but it seems something always happens. We had a boy who was amazing at T&T, fell on his neck at a big comp and quit. We have a 12 year old girl who has a great body for it, she does gym and t&t both at level 8 but she has stopped trying and her attitude stinks and that is sad because I think if she really applied herself she really could go far. And last but not least right now we have a terrific 13 year old level 9 who I really thought might have a shot at a college schlorship but now she has decided to do cheer and volleyball and weight lifting and won't have time to be a gymnast at her level this decision was mostly because her Dad is now a high school gym coach and wants his daughter on the teams and because he doesn't think she has a shot at a gymnastics schlorship and wants her to shotgun attempt all the other sports so she can get one with one of them. But hey to each their own.

As far as little girls it is so hard to tell, yes we have had amazing little girls get awesome skills so fast and move up that had great bodies and then they stall out at some point and the others catch up then some pull ahead again and some tortoise. There are just way too many factors to ever predict the outcome.

 

[Gymdad2]

I agree with the others on this one. I had a teacher in high school a few years ago, (will quite a few lol) who walked in the first day and wrote on the board 'Attitude determines Altitude' and I never forgot that. It really applies in the gymnastics marathon. I wish her well.

 

[Gymmom495]

I agree, my daughter is young and is moving through skills and levels rather fast. While at gym parents will make comments to me about her and tell me how good she is. I always thank them but say we are enjoying it now and have high hopes like everyone however, gymnastics is such an unpredictable sport and anything can happen.


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[spgymnastics]

Definitely yes. DD is not one of them and I keep telling her that being the hard worker that she is will get her to get goals (in life in general and in gymnastics).

Another observation is that some of those girls are truly amazing but sometimes not great competitors (gets nervous etc) which is also a major obstacle...

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

A few years back, psychologists did a study of talent in kids learning to play musical instruments (and I can't seem to find a link to it right now, but Daniel Levitin discusses this study extensively in his book, "This is Your Brain on Music.")

Specifically, the study looked at kids identified as "talented" by their instructors, and tracked their progress over the years. These students were compared to students who were not identified as "talented." For both groups, the progress was tracked, as were the number of hours they practiced.

The study then looked at the correlation between rate of progress and identification as "talented;" it also looked at the correlation between rate of progress and number of hours spent practicing.

The study found almost zero correlation between talent identification and rate of progress, but a very strong correlation between number of hours practiced and rate of progress.

In other words, hard work reliably trumps talent.