Parents TOPs testing if not competitive?

[EastCoastGymMom]

Is it worth it for my dd to test TOPs once or twice if she's not going to be competitive within her age group? She would be in the 8 year old group. Her gym isn't that committed to TOPs, although they consistently work on the physical abilities as part of their workouts. Her coach said she can test if she wants - a couple of other girls from the gym are going. Just wondering if it's worth it for the experience, especially if she wants to test next year?

She could pass the skills test, although it wouldn't be perfect. Her physical abilities are pretty good - she would have to work to get a couple more press handstands, but she can do the handstand hold, rope climb, flexibility, leg lifts, etc...

 

[Clover]

What makes you think she wouldn't be competitive? She sounds competitive to me, but I am certainly not a TOPS expert. It will be our first year going to testing.

 

[Muddlethru]

If she wants to train and test and if it is affordable and you want to take her, I don't see why not. If she may want to test next year, it is good for her to be familiar with the process. I, however, don't understand why you feel she could pass the skills test and her physical abilities are pretty good, yet you feel she is not competitive. Do you mean she has the talent but not the drive?

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

I just figured there would be all these little superstar gymnasts who train for TOPS and would be doing all the skills perfectly and overachieving on the physical abilities. For example, dd can do 2-3 press handstands, but I figured the girls who train hard for it would all be doing 8-10. DD definitely has the drive and I don't think she would be disappointed if she didn't score well. I guess what I meant - is it worth training and testing when realistically she probably doesn't have a shot at moving on past States? Even though our gym trains up to L10 and Elite, TOPs isn't a priority for them, so some of the skills they'd be testing she is just now learning and they certainly aren't with perfect form.

 

[level9mom]

I think TOPS is helpful to any young gymnast. My daughter participated for two years and it def helped her body.


Every awful story begins with "we were on beam and..."

 

[Gymmom495]

If your coaching staff is talking about taking girls to test for TOPs then I don't understand why they are not making it somewhat of a priority to get those girls ready to test. Maybe it was just me and I didn't understand but from what I got from you was she is pretty much training for this on her own with no real guidance. When she or the other girls go to test they not only represent themselves as an athlete but the club that they train at, so I don't get why they wouldn't make sure these girls are as prepared as they can be.
Sounds to me like she is well on her way to doing just fine. I say let her test.


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[lhmom]

My thought would be to go. No matter what, it would be a good learning experience for her especially if she's wanting to test next year. This year can be a chance to see how it works without the "pressure". I say go for it!

 

[gasrgoose]

Ask her coach if she has a chance to qualify for camp. I didn't let my daughter test last year because she probably wasn't going to make it. Our life is very busy and I personally didn't want to "waste" the weekend to find out how many press handstands she could do; we already knew how she would perform on each test. A girl at her gym qualified for camp last year and is not going to test this year. They did not see much of a benefit from going to the camp for 3 days.

My daughter did not train TOPS this year and won't test either. She probably would have had a chance this year but it just doesn't seem worth it to us. We've got great coaches and she's progressing nicely. Our gym takes some of the girls on "training trips" to other gyms and weekend camps so I feel like we get similar results without all the TOPS training/testing. Of course some of the regular conditioning they do is "TOPS" stuff.

 

[BlairBob]

I think you can view the TOPS scores for your state somewhere. Take a looksy but I don't remember the young ones super killing the physical strength scores.

It's still a good experience for her, all in all.

 

[wallflower]

DD is in a similar boat. Skill wise she is fine. It's the physical abilities that are hard for her. She can do the handstand hold, the presses, the casts, but not the rope climb. She can climb the rope with no legs, but she can't hold her legs in the pike. So she is going to go test regardless and maybe it will motivate her to get her rope climb.

 

[Gymmom495]

I'm sure TOPs is great and does wonders for some kids but I seriously would not put to much emphasis on it as a make it or break it program. I know that a few of the National Team Clubs do not even participate in the TOPs program. They train all of their gymnasts in house then transfer them once they qualify for Elite to the Ranch. So yes TOPs is good but if you can get into a club that does their own training I think that would be even better. I know it's easier said than done since I think there are only 17 if I remember right. They are all listed on the US gymnastics website.


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[level9mom]

There are also gyms who do nothing but TOPS and those gymnasts come out as Lvl 7's. Frankly, I wish our gym had a more consistent TOPS program.


Every awful story begins with "we were on beam and..."

 

[Muddlethru]

I just figured there would be all these little superstar gymnasts who train for TOPS and would be doing all the skills perfectly and overachieving on the physical abilities. For example, dd can do 2-3 press handstands, but I figured the girls who train hard for it would all be doing 8-10. DD definitely has the drive and I don't think she would be disappointed if she didn't score well. I guess what I meant - is it worth training and testing when realistically she probably doesn't have a shot at moving on past States? Even though our gym trains up to L10 and Elite, TOPs isn't a priority for them, so some of the skills they'd be testing she is just now learning and they certainly aren't with perfect form.

If your daughter can do 2 -3 presses, she'll be able to do 5. If she does 5, 10 is not far behind. I would let my daughter do it. State testing does not start for a month. She may surprise you. If she doesn't make it past states this year, she'll have a better chance next year. We had fun doing TOPS. Going to the ranch is a fun experience. Plus it is something exciting to do during the summer, not to mention she will benefit from it as well. If you have financial reservations or your daughter does not want to do it, you probably should not do it. Otherwise, I'd do it.

 

[NewtoGym]

If your daughter can do 2 -3 presses, she'll be able to do 5. If she does 5, 10 is not far behind. QUOTE]

Gosh I hope you are right! My DD is doing 2-3 regularly now and I am hoping she can get to 5 and eventually 10 soon! I was beginning to wonder if she would ever get past 3!

 

[Gymmom495]

If she has a couple of them she will be able to pick up the others rather quickly. Watching girls do them is really fun to watch its amazing that they have such amazing strength and control.


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