Parents TOPS

[Shinybanana]

Looking for input from parents of kids who have done TOPS.

What info do you wish you knew ahead of time?
How many hours extra did TOPS add to your kids level of training?

Whats the finish rate of TOPS?

My 6 yr old most likely is being invited to it for next year and Im just curious about it.

We homeschool already but I do work.

 

[Dahlialover]

TOPs varies significantly depending on the gym. TOPs can be a fairly chill program that provides motivated gymnasts an opportunity to do extra conditioning or it can be part of an intense fast-track program aiming to get kids to elite as early as possible. I know a girl who made the TOPS national team as an 8-year-old; she competed TOPS and level 7&8 at age 8, level 9 at 9, and HOPES at 10. I think she has been training 20-25 hours, since age 7. She is happy and healthy. I also know kids who have done TOPS and have gotten burned out and quit the sport by age 10. It really depends on fit between the child and the program.

 

[Chamomile]

My daughter did TOPS but didn’t start until she was 9. I would say it added 4-6 hours a week additional training. The amount of strength she gained was super impressive. She qualified to the TOPS National Team I am glad she did it. I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I regret that she didn’t do it earlier. I agree with @Dahlialover observation about burnout. We are fortunate because our dd loved it.

My daughter has always eaten well but we started working with a dietician after TOPS and I wish we had done that sooner.

 

[GymDadWA]

At my daughters gym it added two hours a week. Was kind of a waste of time, was the only time ever my daughter did not want to go to gym, the training was boring and to her it didn't feel helpful, got tired of climbing ropes and doing press handstands, she wanted to tumble not strength train.

 

[SupportingHerDreams]

My daughter did TOPS for one year, we started late and she barely made it as a 10yr old. For us, it was a wonderful experience. She still does that style conditioning and I think it laid a very good foundation. But, as others have said, it can vary so much depending on how the gym does it. I would highly recomend watching for burnout and/or injury. I'd only reccomend pursuing if your child is enjoying it.

 

[Liza]

My daughter was 8 when she did TOPS. She hated it so we had her stop after three months. She is currently a seventh grade level 9.

 

[Shinybanana]

My daughter was 8 when she did TOPS. She hated it so we had her stop after three months. She is currently a seventh grade level 9.

Do you feel like the conditioning for that 3 months helped her at all?

 

[Liza]

Not really.

 

[Shinybanana]

Not really.

What do you think has helped her the most?

 

[Lobster]

My daughter did TOPs and her gym did not train it as a separate program. Everyone did the conditioning. Then if you had the necessary skills and could do the PA, they took you to a test.

I don’t think this is the normal approach and as a parent I found it frustrating. It’s probably a healthier approach, but when you compete against kids who spend time exclusively on preparing for the test it’s a disadvantage for sure.

When she made it to NT I had to point out a few days before she left that the skills portion was different than what she did for state testing. Definitely not my job and I found that frustrating. Either set the kids up for success or don’t do the program.

Then when she made the TOPs team they sent her to camp with a younger compulsory coach my daughter had never worked with.

We opted not to participate in testing after that and ended up leaving that gym. The new gym just had her do HOPES instead and that was more beneficial for her as a 10 year old than TOPs.

 

[Shinybanana]

My daughter did TOPs and her gym did not train it as a separate program. Everyone did the conditioning. Then if you had the necessary skills and could do the PA, they took you to a test.

I don’t think this is the normal approach and as a parent I found it frustrating. It’s probably a healthier approach, but when you compete against kids who spend time exclusively on preparing for the test it’s a disadvantage for sure.

When she made it to NT I had to point out a few days before she left that the skills portion was different than what she did for state testing. Definitely not my job and I found that frustrating. Either set the kids up for success or don’t do the program.

Then when she made the TOPs team they sent her to camp with a younger compulsory coach my daughter had never worked with.

We opted not to participate in testing after that and ended up leaving that gym. The new gym just had her do HOPES instead and that was more beneficial for her as a 10 year old than TOPs.

Can you tell me more about Hopes? I was considering making a post about that as well. Tops seems like alot for a very young kid. It definitely sounds like that first gym was not preparing the girls.

Did you mean its a disadvantage to the kids who aren't training tops?

 

[Lobster]

Can you tell me more about Hopes? I was considering making a post about that as well. Tops seems like alot for a very young kid. It definitely sounds like that first gym was not preparing the girls.

Did you mean its a disadvantage to the kids who aren't training tops?

It’s a disadvantage to go to testing if some time isn’t dedicated to actually working on TOPs testing.

HOPES is more like the elite program. It’s routines - compulsory and optional. You have to get a certain score to qualify and then can qualify to Hoped classics and Hopes Nationals.

Not doing TOPS and/or HOPES is not a disadvantage in my opinion. If your gym knows how to train level 10’s, completely unnecessary.

Sh

 

[Shinybanana]

It’s a disadvantage to go to testing if some time isn’t dedicated to actually working on TOPs testing.

HOPES is more like the elite program. It’s routines - compulsory and optional. You have to get a certain score to qualify and then can qualify to Hoped classics and Hopes Nationals.

Not doing TOPS and/or HOPES is not a disadvantage in my opinion. If your gym knows how to train level 10’s, completely unnecessary.

Sh

I have heard tops has routines now not just the physical ability.part. did your daughter do routines too?