- Apr 11, 2023
- 7
- 3
Hi MAG folks,
I wanted to ask about training hours for 9 year olds. My son started on the team at 8 yrs, the youngest age for competing in my country at Level 1 and his competition season went very well for him, he loved it. He started at 9 hours and quickly went up to 12 to get ready for this past competition season. Now he is 9 and the gym would like to increase this to 16 hours, so 4 hour practices 4x/week. This will mean practices ending at 8:30pm and getting home close to 9pm. School timings will also mean going straight from school to the gym with no down time because of logistics, but a bit of time to eat a meal at the gym before practice. Is this a recipe for burnout? He loves, loves gymnastics and was excited when I told him he could be doing 4 hours practices soon. Not sure the reality of going straight from school to gym has sunk in though, with no time for homework afterwards. Level 1 for us is *I think* similar to 4 or 5ish in the USA system. There is another gym that would be something like a 45 minute commute one way in traffic (20 mins back home) but which might offer tamer hours overall on school nights (I'm going to be having discussions with them soon and do some math). What might you consider in this situation? Appreciate any insight!
I wanted to ask about training hours for 9 year olds. My son started on the team at 8 yrs, the youngest age for competing in my country at Level 1 and his competition season went very well for him, he loved it. He started at 9 hours and quickly went up to 12 to get ready for this past competition season. Now he is 9 and the gym would like to increase this to 16 hours, so 4 hour practices 4x/week. This will mean practices ending at 8:30pm and getting home close to 9pm. School timings will also mean going straight from school to the gym with no down time because of logistics, but a bit of time to eat a meal at the gym before practice. Is this a recipe for burnout? He loves, loves gymnastics and was excited when I told him he could be doing 4 hours practices soon. Not sure the reality of going straight from school to gym has sunk in though, with no time for homework afterwards. Level 1 for us is *I think* similar to 4 or 5ish in the USA system. There is another gym that would be something like a 45 minute commute one way in traffic (20 mins back home) but which might offer tamer hours overall on school nights (I'm going to be having discussions with them soon and do some math). What might you consider in this situation? Appreciate any insight!