Parents The differences in gyms

[alongfortheride]

When DS#1 was younger (around 5) we sent him to gymnastics for 2.5 years at a local gym. This is now a huge local gym and was growing then (actually it offers gymnastics, dance, karate, and other sports now). Anyway, I didn't know much about gymnastics then, but I did know they had a smallish boys team that was very competitive. DS was small and did well, and I always wondered if he would compete. He advanced from the beginner class to advanced class, but never went further. In fact, looking back, the class was more of a glorified playtime/obstacle course (Remember, I knew nothing about boys' gymnastics). He never did mushroom, vault, bars, pommel, or rings the entire time he was there. He may have messed around on bars, but not learning anything/any skills.

I have friends who went to that gym and their son has the perfect build and talent for gymnastics, and he still has no clue what a mushroom or pommel horse is or what you do on it after 3 years. Now, my question is, how are they selecting the team boys and why is the gym so big and popular, when most of the kids aren't learning much of anything?

When DS#2 started, I switched gyms, just out of a gut feeling (DS#1 had moved on to other sports). With DS#2, the new gym started teaching focused skills right away, even in the weekly beginner class. Within 6 months, DS#2 was on team, competing at level 4. He learned more in that time than DS#1 learned in 2.5 years at the bigger gym. Why is that? Help me understand what the bigger gym is doing. It really mystifies me, thinking back on it. DS#2 is rather talented, and I believe DS#1 was too, but he never got a chance.

 

[curlymop]

Wait, they have a boys team, so surely they have men's equipment, right? Why in the world wouldn't they use them in their boys rec classes?

I knew nothing about competitive gymnastics and just chose the closest gym to my house. I just wanted a fun rec class for my boys because they had so much energy. I never even would have noticed if they hadn't used the pommel, mushroom, or rings. Turns out I accidentally picked the one gym within a 30 mile radius that has a competitive boys program. I was floored when they asked DS to join the team, but he loves it now.

 

[alongfortheride]

That's why I don't understand why they don't use their men's equipment--I know they HAVE it. I get that not every boy will compete, but it makes no sense to me to have a child in an advanced class year after year and never introduce him to the actual men's equipment. Glad we switched gyms!

 

[skschlag]

That is interesting. I know sometimes the coed beginner's classes might not get to all the boys' equipment, but really, other than that, it should be the focus! I know our boys go to all the events as much as possible. But it could have been a time/use thing. Like the beginners were on pommel and ps on Monday, high bar and flooor on Tuesday, etc, so he could have just missed those days? Not really sure otherwise!!

 

[alongfortheride]

I don't know. My friend's son had no idea what a mushroom was after going to that gym (advanced boys class) for 3 years. He saw my son's practice mushroom at our house and was clueless.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Kids don't start out doing specific apparatus. The early years of gymnastics training are about general physical development. Fun, fitness, friendships and fundamentals is the key for most gyms. They also usually start out in mixed classes of boys and girls and will specialise to MAG and WAG later on.

If your son is building good strength and body shaping in his classes once he is introduced to these apparatus he will pick the Up quickly.

Many gyms will take it slower with boys than girls as boys mature later and have a shorter attention span, they may not be ready for the team environment until they are a little older. Boys are in less of a hurry that girls in that reect. For girls its a face to teach as many skills as possible before puberty and have them ready to compete internationally by 15.

For boys there are many skills they can't even do until until after puberty and they can't compete at the senior international level until age 18.

 

[pullover]

I don't know if this answers your question exactly but we switched gyms a few months ago and I look back on both my DDs experience at the old gym as a sort of glorified playtime compared to what they are doing at their new gym. The old gym does have a team program but they don't prioritize it (they basically want to keep it small to keep more coveted gym space for their popular rec classes for which they make more $$ per hour) so only a small number of rec kids get moved to the preteam and they have to be pretty advanced before they get to preteam. This mean that for most kids years are spent in rec classes which are extremely basic at this gym -really created for kids/parents that just want a little exercise and to play on gymnastics equipment/do obstacle courses -that sort of thing. Our new gym has a much bigger team program with many levels of developmental/preteam and different team options (JO and xcel) and a large percentage of the kids at the gym are in team track or team and rec is definitely the smaller program. Could that be the difference between your two gyms also?

 

[COz]

I think you've already summed it up. The first gym was 'big and popular', this doesn't necessarily mean that they are better or teach at a higher level.

Most parents choose sporting activities for their children that they believe will give them a fun workout and social interaction. Most parents are not *really* interested in their children getting really good at any one activity. A lot of parents balk when they realise the time commitment necessary from a young age once kids are out of rec. Most parents start making comments about wanting their young kids to try other sports and sometimes even pull them out if the child seems too serious about it. Most parents think of children's activities as glorified play time and child minding.
Many many parents would book their child into gymnastics or ballet for a couple of years before school and have no intention of them continuing for more than that. Many parents don't believe that really young children are capable of making decisions about training many hours per week or trying other activities. many parents have themselves not excelled in a sport, music or academic pursuit and do not have an understanding of the commitment required to do so.
Many children are not interested in more serious training.

Most ChalkBucket parents are probably not like the parents I have described above, but 'most' parents I have come across in kiddie activities think this way.
For them, gym number 1 is fantastic. Once little Johnny gets some gymnastics under his belt they can swap him to another activity under the same roof. It's a perfect setup for this sort of thing. Sounds like there is really clever business person running the show.

 

[alongfortheride]

Everything said above makes sense. I do realize that gymnastics is more of a "marathon" for boys, but it bothered me later that they DID have younger boys (a few) competing. Apparently though, the boys team is not a huge priority there other than a few phenomenal boys. At least that's how it appears. . .It seems to me, only take a couple really GOOD boys to compete, which makes the gym look super good, and the rest is what the above poster (COz) described.

Maybe part of it is the parent's philosophy as well. We would prefer our kids to excel at ONE sport. I'd rather they do one thing well than a million things half-way. Plus, it makes the children feel good about themselves, and to me, it seems to teach a work ethic, at working hard for something. (No worries, we also have chores at home to teach that.

DS#1 now has moved to soccer, and that is his sport of focus. Like I said, ONE focused sport. DS#2 is loving gymnastics and talented. He is a bit of a perfectionist, and tiny, so gymnastics is good for him.

I think what bothered me though, is I felt like at the "old" gym with DS#1 I wasted money on "playtime" when DS#1 probably would have stayed with gymnastics if he had been introduced to the apparatus/equipment for boys at that age. By the time we switched over to our current gym, he was a bit old (he is 11 now) to be beginning at pre-team or even Level 4, considering my 7 year old is probably going to be competing at Level 5 this year.

 

[gymmomx2]

For my son's gym, there wasn't really a path from rec to team. His time in rec was frustrating for us to watch because expectations of the boys were very low. They were not taught good form and we figured that the only way for him to learn proper gymnastics was to be on team. He tried out and didn't make it the first year (because the rec classes in no way prepare the kids for team tryouts). Once we saw the tryouts, we knew what they looked for and worked with him at home to get the skills. He got on team the next year.

Some gyms just don't seem to have a good feeder program from rec to team. There isn't really a pre-team for us either so the only way to get on team is if you somehow managed to pick up skills through the rec classes - it works for kids with a lot of natural talent, not so much for others like my son.

 

[gracyomalley]

In out area there are essentially 2 reputable programs within 100 miles. Both have girls teams that have middle of the road optionals on average and one has sent a couple girls to D1 school/gym. both have rec programs for boys but only one has a team (too small a region to support 2 separate boys teams - team without boys programs chooses to be so and refers boys to the other gym once they hit a certain level/commitment - or at least used to, there is unfortunately some stupid politics going on now).

DD competes for the smaller but overall a bit more successful girls team - all three kids started there for rec/toddler classes. She was pegged and funneled into hot shots then pre-team, etc at an early age and is an 11 year old L8 now. DS the eldest lolligagged about for years being the only boy at the gym doing BHS, etc but not wanting more - until his little brother joined him and his little sister started competing. Her gym doesn't have mushroom or pommel - boys hadn't trained much on pbars - but they had boys L5 floor and L6 vault...moved to gym with team, on L4 team in 2 weeks, competed L4 in 2 months (at age 10 and 6).

Fast forward 4 years - DS oldest just hit 14 and although he obviously had a late start is now training L7 and L8 skills - not sure which he'll compete - puberty hit and he exploded. He hadn't had the chance to vault on a real vault since leaving the "non-competing" gym - but did a FHS to FT vault and landed it this week - obviously can't compete that YET... DS younger will be a 10 year old L6 next year. He's been slow to focus but just in the last couple of weeks decided to point his toes and really try to get over his fear of high bar...did the young boys traditional 2 years of 4 and 2 years of 5....

Because a boy can skip levels without score outs, etc and because they really gain at puberty (as opposed to the poor girls who struggle and often quit), there really is time for gyms to "let boys be boys" early on. It drove me crazy initially (kicked myself for not moving the boys sooner) but I think DS the elder might have quit if he had had to be pushed before he was ready and now he is all about doing the most conditioning possible, trying the most skills, extremely coachable (per his coaches), etc....now, my boys tried lots of other sports and didn't like them, so they have become gymnasts by attrition...and seen several talented boys quit for other sports...

Long story to say that the first gym may actually have a plan that works to get talented boys to stick with gym....OR NOT, I don't know...but although there is a "fast track" for boys, its not nearly as relevant as it is for girls...honestly, DS the elder may pass up DD even though she's always been 1-3 levels ahead of him....if your older kid had any interest in gym still, he is definitely NOT too old!

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Huh. Our gym separates the kids into gender specific rec classes at age 4. The boys start using the appropriate apparatus right away once they get to those classes. I only teach toddler and girl classes, so I don't ever use the men's apparatus but I see them used every single day. We do have a MAG team and I believe we are the only local gym that has one, so that probably makes a difference.

 

[profmom]

Same by us, SGM. The boys' classes from kindergarten up all train on the men's apparatuses and while the rec classes are kept fun, there is a focus on progressing the boys. The gym hosts an exhibition every year for boys who've been in rec all year, and some of the older boys are pretty darn good -- could be competing L4 or in a few cases L5. There is also now a new preteam where boys as young as 4/5 years old start learning very basic skills and drills that will eventually lead into competition. A couple of the men's coaches teach the young rec kids on purpose so they can spot potential team members. I think a lot depends on the gym's priorities.