MAG Third year level 7

[jenjean70]

Level 7 is perfectly fine for an 11yo - probably where he should be. There will be VERY few 11 yo JE's. (remember most would be 10 under the old age date)
The skills you have listed are a lot for an 11yo mind to process. Stay at L7 and enjoy the sport. Why no Future Stars?

KRC

If he would have been consistent on his pbar giant and if it hadn't been in Oklahoma they might have taken him but they wanted to focus on JO routines and tech sequences so he could go to nationals as an 11 year old.....They figured it would give him more time to learn all the skills.
You should have seen him as a 9 year old level 7- He had a beautiful high bar routine until the week before the first competition when he pulled into the bar doing his layout dismount out of giants and smashed his shins on the bar ....he didn't do layouts out of giants the rest of that season. Then he was the first kid to get a pirouette on pbars and the only one not to compete it. He was so scared of the back tuck off that he didn't do a level 7 dismount the first half of the season.They finally taught him a front off and he was fine. The next year he still didn't want to go backwards but they made him and he was doing back halves by the end. When they taught him a double back off pbars for this season I thought he wouldn't get through the fear. It was rough this summer...in fact if I remember correctly he was scared of the double back dismount but going for and making the giants....now he will go for the double back dismount without hesitation but not the giants....
I was thinking that maybe gymnastics wasn't really his sport since he gets so scared but maybe there's something that can be done to help him through...He says he loves it and never complains about the 22 hours a week he spends at the gym....

 

[profmom]

Forcing a kid to work through backwards issues if they are vestibular is a very questionable proposition. I hope they did it by taking the pressure off and having him work through drills where he could do the skills. The kinds of fears you're describing are pretty common and most will resolve themselves if the coaches and the kids are patient and the coaches aren't putting a lot of pressure on to do skills before the kid is ready. If a kid gets in the habit of doing skills because the only thing that scares him more than a skill is his coach's anger at/disgust for him for not doing it, that's going to cause him to quit eventually, no matter how much talent or potential he has. I acknowledge that there's a continuum between pushing hard and encouraging on the one hand and bullying/berating/fear-based coaching on the other, but go too far down the line in the wrong direction, and you'll see those teams with one or two very successful and glum upper-level optionals and a whole bunch of happy ex gymnasts.

It doesn't look to me like this is about your child's fear issues. What can be done to help him through is for everyone to relax and let him develop. He is ahead of the curve in terms of his skills for his age. If everyone is patient, he should have a terrific year this year and be ready for a great debut at L8.

 

[flippingtogether]

My DD is a talented kid but has fear/self confidence issues so moves along slower than she otherwise would. I've looked for different ways to help - Alan Goldberg has some great tools and audio that is worth learning more about. You can also call and talk to him to see what he suggests - he's a nice, understanding guy with a lot of knowledge about the mental aspect of sports.

https://www.competitivedge.com

 

[Faith]

Those are some high level skills for an 11 year old.

I'd be tempted to talk to the coaches and your son and ask if a "year off" is an option. Let him train and compete 7, and do drills, drills and more drills for new skills, without any pressure to do the whole skill let alone compete it. Let him get what he has rock sold and totally confident before he even thinks about new skills.

Also lots of conditioning so when he does get back to new skills his body is totally ready.

 

[jenjean70]

My DD is a talented kid but has fear/self confidence issues so moves along slower than she otherwise would. I've looked for different ways to help - Alan Goldberg has some great tools and audio that is worth learning more about. You can also call and talk to him to see what he suggests - he's a nice, understanding guy with a lot of knowledge about the mental aspect of sports.

https://www.competitivedge.com

Thanks!

 

[jenjean70]

Those are some high level skills for an 11 year old.

I'd be tempted to talk to the coaches and your son and ask if a "year off" is an option. Let him train and compete 7, and do drills, drills and more drills for new skills, without any pressure to do the whole skill let alone compete it. Let him get what he has rock sold and totally confident before he even thinks about new skills.

Also lots of conditioning so when he does get back to new skills his body is totally ready.

This is kind of what I am thinking. I talked to him this morning and asked him if he would like to compete 8 and maybe talk to the coaches about reworking the routines. He said he really wants to do 8. He has most of the skills they want him to have so we'll see...either that or compete 7 but practice the 8 routines....I need to see what they are going to do with him if he competes 7...I want them to work on level 8 skills, progressions and routines...

 

[GymDad23]

You should just talk to the coaches and let them know how you both feel. Was in the same situation, 11yr old wanting L8, but was put for a 2nd year at 7 back at the end of August. The level 7 team would have been 3 boys, all that did 7 together last year and all 11yrs old. Coaches wanted a very strong, state championship team. I thought it would be more beneficial to have a tough year at 8 than a great year at 7.

I brought up the new quad policies, etc. and they said they'd look it over and get back to us. Next thing you know, my son comes home from practice that same night and the coaches decided to scrap the 7 team and let the boys do 8 and teach the tech sequences. We only had one optional guy do the TS last year, so I thought we'd be SOL. But, turned out for the best. Especially if you've been a loyal gym member for awhile, gotta get your voice heard.

 

[jenjean70]

They wanted him to go 8 and do tech sequences and possibly make nationals but I think the approach is wrong so I need to set up a meeting to discuss how we can work together to help him succeed.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Just want to echo the sentiment that harder skills typically do NOT score better unless the have great execution. Speaking from experience here. I understand that coaches may want the kids to do harder skills for development down the road, but your ds's hc seems like he's taking this to the extreme, and it doesn't seem to be working for your ds anyway.
I think I'd have a big sit down with hc and figure out what he is doing to help your ds through his fears. Maybe a different style of coaching is in order. Not all kids respond positively to this type of coaching. Mine didn't. His old coach was all about hard skills and win, win at all costs. He's been at a different gym for over a year now and is thriving.
And your ds is so young, it's not a bad thing to repeat 7 again...unless your hc is making him FEEL like it's bad and trying to guilt him into stepping up. That's a no no.

 

[jenjean70]

Just want to echo the sentiment that harder skills typically do NOT score better unless the have great execution. Speaking from experience here. I understand that coaches may want the kids to do harder skills for development down the road, but your ds's hc seems like he's taking this to the extreme, and it doesn't seem to be working for your ds anyway.
I think I'd have a big sit down with hc and figure out what he is doing to help your ds through his fears. Maybe a different style of coaching is in order. Not all kids respond positively to this type of coaching. Mine didn't. His old coach was all about hard skills and win, win at all costs. He's been at a different gym for over a year now and is thriving.
And your ds is so young, it's not a bad thing to repeat 7 again...unless your hc is making him FEEL like it's bad and trying to guilt him into stepping up. That's a no no.

He's not being guilted into another year at 7 but he doesn't want to do a third year at the same level....He likes learning the new skills and while he likes to win he doesn't do gymnastics for the medals....so I'm leaning towards him working through level 8 even if it's not successful. His first year at level 7 was not great- he made it to regionals but he didn't place well....I just don't know if a third year will be good for him...

 

[jenjean70]

My DD is a talented kid but has fear/self confidence issues so moves along slower than she otherwise would. I've looked for different ways to help - Alan Goldberg has some great tools and audio that is worth learning more about. You can also call and talk to him to see what he suggests - he's a nice, understanding guy with a lot of knowledge about the mental aspect of sports.

https://www.competitivedge.com

Oh my goodness- I just read through the info on balking and it is totally my son! Then how the coaches and I react makes it worse! I feel HORRIBLE for not standing up for him and for yelling at him and punishing him. Things are going to change. I was a really bad gym mom to him- luckily he is forgiving and resilient. I am going to talk to the coaches this weekend. Thank you SO MUCH! I thought he wanted to quit and couldn't say it. I was about to make him quit....the coaches thought he was being defiant....Oh, the damage we have done. I hope it can be rectified and repaired.

 

[flippingtogether]

Oh my goodness- I just read through the info on balking and it is totally my son! Then how the coaches and I react makes it worse! I feel HORRIBLE for not standing up for him and for yelling at him and punishing him. Things are going to change. I was a really bad gym mom to him- luckily he is forgiving and resilient. I am going to talk to the coaches this weekend. Thank you SO MUCH! I thought he wanted to quit and couldn't say it. I was about to make him quit....the coaches thought he was being defiant....Oh, the damage we have done. I hope it can be rectified and repaired.

It CAN be repaired and rectified - we've been there and changed our course! Instead of yelling and getting mad at the kid, the first thing everyone has done is recognized how crazy difficult this sport is and recognize that fear and blocks are NORMAL. The blocks happen - what is important is the approach on getting each kid through the blocks. Parents can't get upset, coaches CANNOT yell and get upset, kids need to be forgiving on themselves. I bought the audio from Dr. G and my DD loves it - there is some audio for parents, and some for coaches too. Once EVERYONE backed off my DD, gave her space, let her get to where she was comfortable and loving the sport again, she started making nice, slow but steady progress forward. It takes time, and it is working (slowly, but working).
Seriously, give Dr G a call if you like - he is NO PRESSURE sales, but is a very (very) reassuring voice. Great, great guy.

 

[jenjean70]

It CAN be repaired and rectified - we've been there and changed our course! Instead of yelling and getting mad at the kid, the first thing everyone has done is recognized how crazy difficult this sport is and recognize that fear and blocks are NORMAL. The blocks happen - what is important is the approach on getting each kid through the blocks. Parents can't get upset, coaches CANNOT yell and get upset, kids need to be forgiving on themselves. I bought the audio from Dr. G and my DD loves it - there is some audio for parents, and some for coaches too. Once EVERYONE backed off my DD, gave her space, let her get to where she was comfortable and loving the sport again, she started making nice, slow but steady progress forward. It takes time, and it is working (slowly, but working).
Seriously, give Dr G a call if you like - he is NO PRESSURE sales, but is a very (very) reassuring voice. Great, great guy.

Thanks so much! Actually, after reading everything I bought the package and I told the coaches about it. I had a long talk with a couple of the coaches and then we asked my son what he wanted to do. It is decided- he is going to compete 7 again and train 8....He is so much happier...he is starting to return to his old self! The pressure was making him freeze more than anything- it was too much.

 

[profmom]

Wow, this is a really, really positive update! I am very happy for your son. I think he's going to have a great year at L7 and then totally rock L8 next year.

One more thing you might do if he's been having some backwards trouble is google around Chalk Bucket to learn about vestibular issues. Understanding this helped me to be a much better parent for my daughter when she had a two-year block on her acro series on beam.

 

[skschlag]

I am glad he is happy with the plan. That will make a huge difference. And it sounds like you have lots of great resources to help.. Can't wait to hear how he does!!

 

[jenjean70]

Just want to echo the sentiment that harder skills typically do NOT score better unless the have great execution. Speaking from experience here. I understand that coaches may want the kids to do harder skills for development down the road, but your ds's hc seems like he's taking this to the extreme, and it doesn't seem to be working for your ds anyway.
I think I'd have a big sit down with hc and figure out what he is doing to help your ds through his fears. Maybe a different style of coaching is in order. Not all kids respond positively to this type of coaching. Mine didn't. His old coach was all about hard skills and win, win at all costs. He's been at a different gym for over a year now and is thriving.
And your ds is so young, it's not a bad thing to repeat 7 again...unless your hc is making him FEEL like it's bad and trying to guilt him into stepping up. That's a no no.

I subscribed to your you tube channel!

 

[Azgymmiemom]

I subscribed to your you tube channel!

Thank you! (Now your ds can see what NOT to do, lol!!!) I only post during season. I never get to watch my ds practice. Glad your ds has a plan in place. Good luck to him this season!

 

[jenjean70]

Thank you! (Now your ds can see what NOT to do, lol!!!) I only post during season. I never get to watch my ds practice. Glad your ds has a plan in place. Good luck to him this season!

Your son looks good! He is very clean and being very successful. Most of my videos of my son come from me filming privates or the coaches filming him and sending it to me.

 

[LLmom]

Professionally (not just as MAG mom) I've had lots of athletes including a number of national-level figure skaters and gymnasts use a sports psychology work book. I'm not sure...maybe this is considered "advertising" and isn't allowed but I will try anyway . The book is Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence. Maybe worth investigating...along with lots of great advice about gym philosophy here too, of course.

 

[jenjean70]

Professionally (not just as MAG mom) I've had lots of athletes including a number of national-level figure skaters and gymnasts use a sports psychology work book. I'm not sure...maybe this is considered "advertising" and isn't allowed but I will try anyway . The book is Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence. Maybe worth investigating...along with lots of great advice about gym philosophy here too, of course.

Thanks. I'll look it up! I bought a book and audio series from here: https://www.competitivedge.com and it has helped the coaches and I when dealing with him.