Anon Training groups

[Anonymous Post]

DD finished a very successful level 5 season, is training 6/7 and mostly “has” her skills but they need work (recently started swinging giants inconsistently, working on beam flight series, tumbling is very strong). She was informed she will compete 6 next season (Jan 2025). We are ok with that.
My problem is, her new training group starting next week includes girls moving to 5 that don’t have all level 5 skills and scored 32-34 AA at level 4 last season. DD would be the most advanced gymnast in the group. I just don’t see how any coach, regardless how good they are, can adequately coach such a wide range of athletes. I’m concerned side stations and drills won’t be set up for where she is at and she won’t be able to progress at the pace she desires.
Am I wrong here? Has anyone seen such a broad range in skills in their training groups and still been able to progress? I fully plan to meet with the coach but still trying to process how I can do this without sounding rude lol.

 

[Anonymous (6386)]

Our gym doesn’t do training groups by level, but by who they think would work best together. They seem to easily keep all girls progressing the way they need. I wouldn’t worry about it yet. As long as she keeps progressing and is working on what she needs it shouldn’t matter. I probably wouldn’t say anything to the coach personally unless it becomes an issue. The new training group hasn’t even started yet.

 

[Anonymous (6b2e)]

My daughter is in a homeschool group, with girls training from level 5 to level 10. While homeschool group can be a slightly different environment, I found that in general it pushes the girls in lower levels more than it hinders the girls in higher levels, and so far the girls in this group have been very successful in their competition seasons. The coach / coaches in charge have to be very organized, but it is very possible for everybody in a group like that to thrive. I would wait and see how it's going before you start to worry.

 

[Anonymous (d578)]

Let the coach be the coach, it won't be a problem.

 

[JBS]

I would just ask about how your daughter was placed. I have parents ask me this all the time. I just explain it to them. It's not always the answer they want to hear... but I have no issues explaining it.

 

[Anonymous (61e5)]

Our gym doesn’t do training groups by level, but by who they think would work best together. They seem to easily keep all girls progressing the way they need. I wouldn’t worry about it yet. As long as she keeps progressing and is working on what she needs it shouldn’t matter. I probably wouldn’t say anything to the coach personally unless it becomes an issue. The new training group hasn’t even started yet.

I would love to give it some time, but contracts are due next Monday with the new groups/schedules.
What are the coach to student ratios of your mixed training groups?

 

[Anonymous (2122)]

I don't see a L5 - L7 training group being a big deal. Scoring 32-34 in L4 is not necessarily an indicator on readiness for moving on either.

 

[Anonymous (da24)]

A lot of smaller gyms have training groups that are L6/7-10 and don't seem to have a problem with skill progression. A training group of L5-7 seems reasonable, Even with brand new level 5s. One aside though - I thought you needed a 34 in L4 to progress to 5?

 

[Anonymous (6f17)]

I train in a group with levels reaching from people who can do a tsuk to people who can't do a cartwheel, so I have a little experience with this. For us, it has it's problems and benefits. I think that the more important thing is how many athletes there are per coach. That part is an issue for us, combined with it only being once a week. However, I do notice that the coach manages to make setups that accommodate everybody. Recently there was setup for practising tsukis, but it was also just for front handspring training for those that were still at that level. It's not always ideal, but if the levels are as close together as you're describing I can imagine it working very well.

Personally, I tend to group up with people that can do a bit less than me and help them out a bit. I think this has helped me work on my basics and improve on them too. I also sometimes ask more experienced gymnasts if they can have a quick look at a skill and give some advise.

Maybe they think some of the inconsistencies in your daughters gymnastics such as giants can be helped by having her in this group where there's enough time for her to work on the basics. Maybe those girls are all having trouble in similar skills as your daugher, so the drills will combine really well. (e.g if your daugher has trouble with kip cast HS and they have trouble with kip cast to horizontal, that could be combined better than if your daugher was coupled with other level 6s who have no issue with kip casts but have trouble tumbling. Just a random example.)

In the end I think it really depends how they handle things here. It could be great, or it could be a bad idea. I think it's a good idea to express your concerns to the coach, but to make sure it's as a question and not as a complaint. Other than that, unfortunately I think the only thing to do is wait and see.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, it can work. I mix levels in my groups, the more experienced gymnasts serve as great role models for the less experienced once’s and it it turn encourages the more experienced gymnasts to train to their best.

Similar equipment set ups can be used to teach different skills.

For example the same bar set up can be teaching some girls squat ins, others cast handstands etc.

I’m not saying your coach will do it that way, just that it can work with great organisation.

 

[Anonymous (c0c4)]

Our gym is smaller, and we have a group 4-8 plus platinums, it’s around 11 girls, and it’s surprisingly easy to manage. A lot of the drills are for the same, just with different skills in mind.

 

[Anonymous (b3b3)]

We had a similar situation in our gym this past year and it did not work well for the more advanced girls. Our group had everything from first year L4s to second year L5s and the more advanced girls made little to no progress. However, there was basically no uptraining all season and 24 gymnasts with 2 coaches (one of which was a 19yo with no coaching experience). With more experienced coaches and a focus on uptraining, it could probably work, that just wasn’t our experience. If you’re otherwise happy, I’d give it a chance, but keep a close eye on things. Many of our girls and parents are lamenting the loss of time now that the girls are being pressured to get their “move up” skills in a span of eight weeks.