Anon Training up and competing down

[Anonymous (b0d3)]

I’m wondering is it common for most gyms to train up and compete down. For example, a team that has gymnasts who have level 5-6 skills but compete level 4 and score well. Is this how most gyms operate or do most have the girls compete at their level?

 

[Anonymous (3285)]

I think this is common but i don't see it as train up/compete down. I see it as compete what you can confidently, fully, and safely. But train up whenever possible to ensure that there is no rush to get skills in between seasons.

 

[Anonymous (6c83)]

It varies. It is common among the highest scoring gyms. Other gyms are on the opposite side and allow their gymnasts to compete a level without having all the skills needed, if they are confident that they will get them by state meet and are safe.

 

[Anonymous (971a)]

We compete against a gym that does this and it can be a bit defeating for our girls. We uptrain more than most gyms (it seems like, it's year round but heavier in the summer) but this particular gym KILLS us every time. They score 9.8 or up, on every event, every kid. They are fun to watch though! Thankfully, it's only one gym that I've seen and they are about 5 hours away, so only 1/2 meets annually do they clobber us.

 

[Anonymous (c6d7)]

Our gym might appear like we do but I really see it as competing very comfortably at a level. Girls uptrain skills 1-2 levels ahead but rarely skip a level... and we do every single level. This ends up meaning that most gymnasts at each level are very successful and it also means that they rarely repeat. They are so ready for the next level by the time they get there, competing becomes 2nd nature. Yes, there are still occasional mental blocks and small injuries but we have had virtually no injuries or pain from overtraining. It is a system that I first thought was painfully slow but now I appreciate because of what I see happening in the higher levels... it's just smooth and enjoyable with way less burnout and dropout.

 

[Anonymous (bc7c)]

Having a skill and having a skill competition ready are not the same thing.

IME, most (but not all gyms) are training their girls at a higher level than they compete. It just makes sense to be working towards where you are heading. At our gym, I know less uptraining occurs during the busy part of meet season. That being said, for example, have I noticed that the level 4s at our gym have solid level 4 skills? Yes. Does that mean they are ready to compete level 5? Not necessarily.

We do occasionally compete against gyms whose gymnasts are not solid in the skills they are competing, and quite frankly it's often scary to watch! Vault and bars are the events I notice this most on. When multiple gymnasts are bending elbows and coming within a couple of inches of hitting their heads on the table, it's super scary!

Another consideration is that at some point gyms have to have a cutoff for what level a gymnast will compete. And it's not unusual for girls to master higher skills during that time and the beginning of competition season (a few months later). But training groups and registration for meets has already begun, so levels are set with the rare exception.

 

[Rookie Gym Coach]

Having skills and being able to compete them is very different

 

[Anonymous (d8ef)]

I think this is pretty normal, especially at the lower levels, my daughter started training giants, double backs, yurchenkos, aerials and back tucks on beam, all as a level 4. Were any of these skills ready to compete, not at all, but if you saw her training videos you would have wondered why she was a level 4. She also didn't score particularly well as a 4, only hitting 36 once, she jumped to 7 and has been hitting 37+ consistently at 7/8 (9 next year I'm sure will be a different story score-wise lol)

Teams who have most girls scoring 9.8+ makes it seem like to me they are spending more time training routines and less time on upgrades, but who knows.

 

[gymgal]

There is a difference between gyms that uptrain skills to prepare them for the next levels (they cannot safely compete routines at the next level as they are still learning the skills) and gyms that really do compete down - their gymnasts are ready to compete the next level and perform well (9.0+ on the events) but choose to compete down a level to ensure higher scores. Not sure which the OP is referring to. Reality is that many of the gyms that compete down often have younger gymnasts and it makes no sense to rush them along to the next level but then the question becomes whether they are pacing their training correctly

 

[Anonymous (c922)]

We competed against a number of teams whose girls did back-to-back compulsory and optional seasons, so two weeks after the 4/5 State meet, most of their girls were competing (and winning) at level 7. In contrast, our gym has a training year between compulsory and optionals, and the girls move either into 6 or 7 the following year.

I found that the parents got more frustrated by the dominance of those other gyms than the girls do. My daughter felt pretty proud of herself that she was holding her own against girls who were level 7s.

I will say that in optionals, the heavy advantage those gyms had as compulsories was significantly diminished.

 

[Aussie_coach]

There really is a blurry line between smart training and sand bagging.

It makes sense to compete at a level where you are confident and competent at all the required skills, can do them well enough to hit them to an excellent standard consistently, even when under pressure, and don’t need to overthink things (which can cause fear issues).

It makes sense to be working to master the skills from the level above, while competing the lower level. It takes time to master any gymnastics skills and it can take longer than expected. If you want to be competition ready for your skills the following season, you need to be working them early enough.

It makes sense to be drilling skills 2 levels above. That doesn’t mean learning the skills. But doing drills to train the body shapes early, so that when it comes time to learn those skills you are ready to learn them. Plus it’s fun to do these drills and it keeps training interesting and exciting.

For example if you have to do a full on floor in level 8, it makes sense to work jumping twists and twisting drills on trampoline in level 5 or 6. There is a long way to go to get a full on floor and it won’t happen overnight.

If you have to do hiatus in wooden bars, between bars in level 7. Starting to swing them on the strap bar in level 4-5 makes sense because it’s not safe to try to learn and compete giants without all the developmental stages mastered and this can take years.

It makes sense to be conditioning for future skills several years in advance. A coach knows that a level 4 needs a certain amount of strength to learn a kip. That strength is worked from level 1.

Successful gymnastics coaching has to involve long term planing. We need to know ultimately where we are going and what we need to do to get there.

Sandbagging would be something like winning everything one year as a certain level and already having all the skills for the next level to a good standard and then doing the level another year.

 

[Anonymous (cd28)]

There are gyms that do this and make no bones about it. The parents even brag about how their gymnasts, already scoring 38+ AA, will repeat next year and sweep everything.

I thought the post that said most high-scoring gyms do this was interesting. My daughter’s gym is very well-known and does often win, with gymnasts scoring high. But, a quick look at mymeetscores.com will show that they usually move up every year. For example, I know that their level 1 team comes right from classes, and are usually aged 5-8 with the occasional older girl. These girls train 4 hours a week, and they often score 9.8+ , even 10.0, and they train their level and compete it. They do work on level 2 skills after all assignments are done, but none of them have mastered them. When the season is over, they will move to level 2, or bronze, or silver, and train for that level. This is repeated at every level, with very few repeating, and few training higher than their level unless they finish their assignments (with the exception of elite hopefuls).

I said all that to show that high-scoring gyms don’t always sandbag or train 2 levels higher than they compete, they just have a good system and good coaches and it shows.