Parents Time to make a decision?

[SignHere]

First a little background... DD is just turned 9 years old and set to move to optionals next season. She likes her gym, is happy there, I like her gym, but DD has expressed a desire to train elite. We ave talked about this, and this is not merely a little girls' dream of " the Olympics" but also a reasonable dream of possibly making the National team.

However, (and this is a BIG one) she's not a high scorer in All Arounds. She did mid to high 35 s all year, though her bar scores improved dramatically (9.6s). Her gym is not set up to train elite.

I'm not sure at what point I need to talk to her coaches about moving her, I didn't want to move her to soon, but if she's an 11 or 12 year old level 10 , is that too old? Should she be scoring higher in the AA in the compulsories?

 

[EmmasMommy]

I'm not sure, since I'm new to this, but she might need higher scores to make national team, right? And might have to be a certain age? Also, the higher levels might harder, so possibly she might not move up as fast at that point? That said, I would say by optional levels if your daughter wants to train elite and that works for your family, maybe it is best to find a gym where that is an option. She obviously can't prepare for elite without that training. Maybe having coaches that know how to train elite will help her reach her goals and even improve her scores? Like I said, I don't know a lot about this, but I'd guess that it's not unreasonable for a gymnast at her level to want to be in a gym that is equipped to train elite, if training elite is what they want.

Also, you know, from day one all you hear is "your kid probably won't go to the Olympics" and "you shouldn't do gymnastics to go to the Olympics because that rarely happens". How I see it is this way: Is it likely to happen? No. does that mean NO ONE should EVER try? Well, if no one ever tried, there'd be no Olympics in the first place. So whether your daughter's goal is Olympics or National Team, the point is that SOMEONE is going to train elite, and if she wants it to be her, no reason she shouldn't try for it to be her. Meanwhile, other people who are stuck on statistics can just never try since they think it's hopeless to even bother. Different strokes for different folks

 

[iwannacoach]

My first impression is a kid with a season's worth of mid to high 35's at level 6 can't be told she's no business working toward elite, but I'd be careful about hopping on the band wagon and beating the drum........

This past season's scores would be more meaningful if posted after moving quickly through levels 4 & 5........ like level 4 during the 2011 fall season, followed by a spring 2012 level 5 season, and then straight to level 6. Her scores would also grab my attention if she had posted them while training at a gym that, well you know, isn't so capable of reinforcing correct mechanics and good form/attention to detail. One other thing is, she'll have to end up paired with coaches who've at the least mentored under a coach who's taken at least a handful of kids through the qualifiers and on to elite nationals....... better still the Championship meet

So if either or all of the above fit's well with your daughter's scores, a move to a more capable gym would be a good idea. As far as how old is too old.........

If she makes it from here and now, to level 10 by the time she turns 13 she'll be doing well. If she gets there and turns 13 at seasons end with a season avg of 37.5+..... with a few 38 plus scores, she could then make a reasonable final step in her effort to run with the big dogs.

National team? Add a point to her level 10 all around score, or post the 37.5 avg a year earlier. That is about where she'd have to be, at the least, to have a valid reason to believe a national team spot is in her future.

One other thing is, she'll have to end up paired with coaches who've at the least mentored under a coach who's taken at least a handful of kids through the qualifiers and on to elite nationals....... better still the Championship meet.

So is your level 6 graduate over the hill? At the ripe old age of "just turned nine?........ Not so much, but a whole lot of "right" has to happen in a hurry for her to get there.

So here's the deal, I know it seems like an incredible stretch of progress and a very distant destination, but those things don't phase a kid who works so hard even the coach is tempted to slow her down, because she's got a dream, some ability, a reasonable body suited to the sport, and a heck of a lotta heart. It simply doesn't happen any other way.

 

[SignHere]

Let me clarify, my DD did one season of 4, got high 35's and 36's ... And this is her level 5 season. The plan is to score her out of level 6 at a meet and move her to the new Level 6 or new Level 7 in the fall.

She is strong on bars, and her scores there have increased dramatically this season. However, I can't seem to get a good answer from her coaches as to why she isn't improving on the other events as well.

 

[krisnkids]

Scores not only reflect a child's ability but also reflect on how the child is coached. One thing I think would be the number of hours and how much time is put into strength and conditioning. A level 5 who works out 12 hours a week vs one who works out 9 is traditionally going to be stronger and have more refined skills. I have seen gymnasts go from a good program getting good scores to a intense program and getting 37s and 38s.
Is there a gym in your area that produces the top gymnasts? If there is if I were you it can't hurt to talk to them.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[gymgal]

Let me clarify, my DD did one season of 4, got high 35's and 36's ... And this is her level 5 season. The plan is to score her out of level 6 at a meet and move her to the new Level 6 or new Level 7 in the fall.

She is strong on bars, and her scores there have increased dramatically this season. However, I can't seem to get a good answer from her coaches as to why she isn't improving on the other events as well.

As Kris said, it might be the coaching - but you also have to evaluate whether your dd just happens to excel in bars and is "average" in the other events. some girls are just made for a particular event but can't carry that talent to other events. Lots of things can affect it -grace, fears, equilibrium. Regardless though, if it is a dream of hers to go elite, and you are willing to support that dream (financially, mentally, and physically), you should get her evaluated by a gym capable of getting her to that level. In my mind, it is better to have allowed her the opportunity, even if she doesn't get to that final goal, than to have not tried it at all. Also, while getting her to elite by a certain age might be important for a chance on the national team, there is still value in training to Elite just for the challenge and reward of knowing she made it to that level, regardless of the age.

 

[iwannacoach]

Let me clarify, my DD did one season of 4, got high 35's and 36's ... And this is her level 5 season. The plan is to score her out of level 6 at a meet and move her to the new Level 6 or new Level 7 in the fall. She is strong on bars, and her scores there have increased dramatically this season.

Well now, that's beginning to sound a bit better with respect to her elite aspirations, so it's likely a good time to join the parade and beat that drum. The difference between bars and the rest of the events, I'm not so sure that's a problem because of a few trends at L5. You can safely assume that all but a few kids are going to post their lowest successful score on vault, so if a kid hits a 36.8AA, with no falls, it's likely the vault score would be in the high 8's.

So let's take the same 36.8 from with a posted 8.9 through the rest of the events where a child would have to average a 9.3 the rest of the way. Figure a 9.7 bars and 9.1 on beam and floor each, on a consistent basis through the season, is a problem because floor and beam scores trend higher than bar scores.

So I'm left with two possible impressions, the first being she's freaky good on bars and doing ok on the other events, or her coaches haven't of can't coach the dance elements all that well. In any case being better on bars is a good thing, so now all you gotta do is figure out if the gym chooses to concentrate on bars and leaves the dance/presentation for a coach a level or two up........ That's not a bad strategy, but you'll find very few gym's dependably cranking out elites where dance elements are put on the back burner beyond L5.

I hope that helps, but I'm afraid I was distracted with a few interruptions while writing the post and have no time to look it over....... I'll take a look at it again later today.

 

[SignHere]

Iwannacoach, Thanks for the reply. Vault is def her lower score, she's done 8.6s and 8.7s. She's low 9s on floor and beam, and I'd say the dance elements are the problem.