Parents Try out for 6 year old

[Newbiee]

Do they know they are ‘trying out’ at this age? I am unsure of what to tell DD to expect before the day as don’t want her to feel under pressure. I know she would love to learn more gymnastics it’s all she does at home but just unsure how to prepare her for what to expect without making a big deal about it?

 

[gym10.0]

Do they know they are ‘trying out’ at this age? I am unsure of what to tell DD to expect before the day as don’t want her to feel under pressure. I know she would love to learn more gymnastics it’s all she does at home but just unsure how to prepare her for what to expect without making a big deal about it?

She's six, at this age gymnastics is a fun sport. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. I would tell her that she's going to the gymnastics gym tomorrow and the coaches there are going to look at her skills. You shouldn't prepare her, if the coaches are trying her out for team at age 6, it means that they think she's talented or has good traits (such as taking corrections and listening well).

 

[GymDadWA]

My DD tried out with her friends, they all knew it was tryouts but just went to have fun, they had no idea on who would/could make the team.

 

[josie55]

I initially didn’t tell my dd she would be trying out, but when she said she didn’t want to do it I told her she didn’t have to of course, but if she did she might get to be one of the girls who wore the red leotards. She immediately changed her tune, did her best and made pre team. I kind of think it’s only fair to tell them, keeping it light, of course.

 

[Dahlialover]

I told my 7-year-old that the coach was going to check out his skills and also how well he follows directions to decide which class would be best for him.

 

[AnotherGymDad]

I told my six-year-old that someone wanted to see how strong she was and how fast she was and how brave she could be and how good she was at listening and that if she worked hard and tried her best she might be able to do MORE gymnastics. No pressure, no prep, no follow-up. And when she got rejected I just didn't tell her as she seemed to have forgotten she even did the try-out.

 

[Amumcalledove]

I told my kiddo they had a extra class that week to try some new things. They were disappointed, not about not being selected, they had no idea about that, but enjoyed the tryout and wanted to know why it wasn’t each week.

 

[Newbiee]

Thanks for replying really helpful answers. Does anyone know what they do at the try outs? They said it’s more strength and flexibility testing rather than skill based, what could this include?

 

[Coach Kate]

Thanks for replying really helpful answers. Does anyone know what they do at the try outs? They said it’s more strength and flexibility testing rather than skill based, what could this include?

It varies widely gym to gym. If it's more strength and flex, they'll probably want to see straddle (pancake) and pike stretches, maybe a cat (shoulder stretch), and then all three splits and a bridge.

For strength I would guess pull ups, leg lifts, rope climb, maybe push ups, hollow and arch holds, handstand - free stranding and wall, maybe a press if she has one. Hopefully a sprint, maybe a long jump and/or box jump.

I personally also always like to ask about chases and skipping just for coordination reasons.

 

[4theLoveofGymnastics]

My daughter just turned 7 and is on level 4. Her first try out was at 4 years old for pre-team. I told her exactly what to expect and to do her best. If she had thought it was an extra or just a fun practice, she wouldn’t have performed as well and would have been lazy with the skills. I think it’s doing them a disservice not keeping them in the loop. If this is something that your child wants, I don’t see any reason to not be truthful. If you don’t want to put any stress or pressure on her then maybe going competitive isn’t the right move because a competition vs a tryout is so much harder.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

If she had thought it was an extra or just a fun practice, she wouldn’t have performed as well and would have been lazy with the skills. I think it’s doing them a disservice not keeping them in the loop. If this is something that your child wants, I don’t see any reason to not be truthful.

Equally as a coach - it's not enjoyable working with capable kids who only put effort in when they think it matters. We defiantly get these kids that look good at try -outs/comps but do not train well and don't really enjoy day to day training that will be most of their gymnastics time.
Ideally we want the kids who do their best regardless, not just because their parent said today was the day to actually try.
That is not to say these kids don't deserve a spot they are usually very talented, but they can be frustrating to work with. Coaches need a different tact sometimes when working with them to get long term success when their ability to pull the tricks out of the bag when they need them no longer works

 

[Coach Kate]

Equally as a coach - it's not enjoyable working with capable kids who only put effort in when they think it matters. We defiantly get these kids that look good at try -outs/comps but do not train well and don't really enjoy day to day training that will be most of their gymnastics time.
Ideally we want the kids who do their best regardless, not just because their parent said today was the day to actually try.
That is not to say these kids don't deserve a spot they are usually very talented, but they can be frustrating to work with. Coaches need a different tact sometimes when working with them to get long term success when their ability to pull the tricks out of the bag when they need them no longer works

This! In our rec classes, we purposely didn't have a single skill check off day, we just monitored things throughout the session. There are really only a couple big skills on each event and it's not hard to keep track of who can do them. Then you can check everything else, but if they can't do one of the big ones, the rest don't matter in terms of moving up.