Parents Tumbling to gymnastics

[GymMathDance]

My daughter is a dancer. She can do BWO and FWO and RO. She is currently working on BHS and aerial in dance.

To make my schedule simpler, I want to sign her up for gymnastics in the same place where my son takes Ninja class. It's primarily a gymnastics gym, they just also do ninja.

She's obviously very ahead on floor skills than bar/beam/vault. But I am wondering how hard the following bar skills will be for her if she just goes once a week. She's 6 and very slight upper body build - more of a dancer/ballerina build than gymnast if that makes sense. I am just worried she is going to get stuck in their "level 2" class due to not being able to master the bar skills and be wasting her time on bridge kickover/round off floor stuff that she is already good at.

Pullover
Cast
Back hip circle

 

[ORgymmom]

When our gym takes in this kind of kid, they usually start them from scratch to fix their shapes and build up their strength and conditioning if the kid wants to do team. For recreational classes, they would probably be in intermediate class and the gym might suggest clinics or privates to catch up or learn bars basics. A hip circle might take a year or she might get it in a month.

I’m sure other gyms have different policies based on what I’ve seen at meets. Some gyms really want all the bars skills to be at a certain level but don’t mind if other stuff isn’t great, and others care more about tumbling and how it translates to floor and vault. There are always a few compulsory kids who you can tell came over from cheer or dance with a lot of floor skills.

 

[GymMathDance]

They initially wanted her to start at the Level 1 rec class, but I wasn't willing to do that because that class has mostly kids that can't do a simple handstand or cartwheel. So we settled on Level 2 rec. Our dance studio has a separate required tumbling class for teams (not just learning tumbling as part of a dance) that are run by former gymnastics coaches. And the owner's daughter competes in gymnastics - the owner is also a "form Nazi" So i'm comfortable she has that foundation.

What is compulsory? Sorry!

 

[Lurker]

My daughter is a dancer. She can do BWO and FWO and RO. She is currently working on BHS and aerial in dance.

To make my schedule simpler, I want to sign her up for gymnastics in the same place where my son takes Ninja class. It's primarily a gymnastics gym, they just also do ninja.

She's obviously very ahead on floor skills than bar/beam/vault. But I am wondering how hard the following bar skills will be for her if she just goes once a week. She's 6 and very slight upper body build - more of a dancer/ballerina build than gymnast if that makes sense. I am just worried she is going to get stuck in their "level 2" class due to not being able to master the bar skills and be wasting her time on bridge kickover/round off floor stuff that she is already good at.

Pullover
Cast
Back hip circle

As you noted gymnastics is more than just floor skills. Place your kid where the gym thinks is best. If your "fighting" for a higher level so your 6 year old won't be ahead in 1/4 of the class but will be behind in 3/4 of the class is that setting your daughter up for success?

 

[GymMathDance]

As you noted gymnastics is more than just floor skills. Place your kid where the gym thinks is best. If your "fighting" for a higher level so your 6 year old won't be ahead in 1/4 of the class but will be behind in 3/4 of the class is that setting your daughter up for success?

I am definitely not fighting. I am just asking whether it makes sense for her to do gymnastics at all or if she would get stuck in this level for a while because of bars. I'd rather put her into a sport where she's not bored for 75% of the class. Higher level is not an option.

I'm not sure where you get that she will be behind in 3/4 of the class. Beam requires only releve walks, arabesque and handstand. And she can already do the vault things. So that's 3/4 of the class. She just can't do bars.

Hope you're having an ok day That just seemed unnecessarily negative.

 

[Lurker]

Yes gymnastics is the right sport for a 6 year old that wants to try it. It's a rec class I would hope if they placed a kid in an intro level class and the child was ready to move up they would move them. You can read through multiple different threads that one event or another often holds back even higher level team gymnasts.

 

[GymMathDance]

Yes gymnastics is the right sport for a 6 year old that wants to try it. It's a rec class I would hope if they placed a kid in an intro level class and the child was ready to move up they would move them. You can read through multiple different threads that one event or another often holds back even higher level team gymnasts.

Sure, but she's a dancer. She's not planning to be a competitive gymnast. Competitive gymnasts need to master all the skills. She doesn't have to do gymnastics and bars to dance.

This is just a convenient place to go do something as her brother already does ninja there. She will be only be ready to move up when she learns the bars. But I am trying to get a sense how hard these bars things are so I don't waste her time mainly working on bars and not advancing her tumbling and other skills relevant to dance.

 

[Lurker]

Then find a tumbling and trampoline only class. She's only 6 how does she know she won't want to do gymnastics?

 

[GymMathDance]

Then find a tumbling and trampoline only class. She's only 6 how does she know she won't want to do gymnastics?

Since you only seem interested in dismissive and rude remarks and not addressing the question, let's call it a day and move along This is unnecessary.

 

[Lurker]

I'm not being dismissive. You only want to hear what you want to hear. Even in rec gymnastics there are progressions that involve all 4 events. Bars are hard for some people and easier for others. My daughter is much better at bars and vault than floor and beam. But also I only put her in gymnastics because that's what was open coming out of covid. She's now on team while playing travel soccer. So if pointing out that a 6 year Olds interests might change when exposed to new things I'm sorry that offends you.

 

[NutterButter]

I’m not seeing where you have received rude or dismissive replies. You should put your child in the level they recommend. You really don’t know how quickly she will pick up bars skills since this is her first class. I’ve seen kids learn the basic skills the first week and others that take the duration of the class.l or longer. You can also, as suggested, just put her in a tumbling or ninja class if you are just looking for fun and a way to build confidence and coordination.

 

[Katie]

You can tell a lot about how bars will be by how she is on the playground. A kid that can do the monkey bars and climb and lift her legs up will learn bars much faster. A cast is learned instantly, but form and hight will take time. Pull overs and back hip circles really vary. 2-6 months is likely for an active kid that age

 

[GymMathDance]

I’m not seeing where you have received rude or dismissive replies. You should put your child in the level they recommend. You really don’t know how quickly she will pick up bars skills since this is her first class. I’ve seen kids learn the basic skills the first week and others that take the duration of the class.l or longer. You can also, as suggested, just put her in a tumbling or ninja class if you are just looking for fun and a way to build confidence and coordination.

Yes You phrased the same thing much better without the unnecessary jabs! She's already doing tumbling

I find the "You're fighting for a higher level so your 6 year old won't be ahead in 1/4 of the class but will be behind in 3/4 of the class" to be rude.

No one is fighting with anyone. I'm just wondering if a gymnastics class is the right fit for her.

I was just looking for something like "A pullover is easier than a back walkover" or "A pullover is very hard - even for kids who are good tumblers. It takes most kids at least 6 months to learn". Often skills cross over. Like she's done cartwheels on beam in her tumbling classes, but not arabesque - but obviously those skills cross over. If they don't, that's fine.

 

[GymMathDance]

You can tell a lot about how bars will be by how she is on the playground. A kid that can do the monkey bars and climb and lift her legs up will learn bars much faster. A cast is learned instantly, but form and hight will take time. Pull overs and back hip circles really vary. 2-6 months is likely for an active kid that age

This is very useful! 2-6 months is totally fine. I was worried it would be like a year. Monkey bars is something she can work on easily at home Thank you for your info on that.

 

[NutterButter]

I was just looking for something like "A pullover is easier than a back walkover" or "A pullover is very hard - even for kids who are good tumblers. It takes most kids at least 6 months to learn". Often skills cross over. Like she's done cartwheels on beam in her tumbling classes, but not arabesque - but obviously those skills cross over. If they don't, that's fine.

This is the hard part to predict. Also, many gyms take a conservative approach with skills that strain the back and progress these at a slower rate. I’m pretty sure my DD figured out a pullover on the school playground but didn’t do BHS for a couple more years until she progressed into it in the gym. I’m sure you’ve seen ‘cute’ videos of 4 yr olds doing BHS. I’m don’t dismiss the talent of a 4 yr old doing a BHS but from a safety standpoint there’s so much wrong and it’s apparent the kid is not physiologically ready for a BHS.

This is why I say keep your DD in the suggested level. They will move her up accordingly based on how she does in the class.

 

[GymMathDance]

This is the hard part to predict. Also, many gyms take a conservative approach with skills that strain the back and progress these at a slower rate. I’m pretty sure my DD figured out a pullover on the school playground but didn’t do BHS for a couple more years until she progressed into it in the gym. I’m sure you’ve seen ‘cute’ videos of 4 yr olds doing BHS. I’m don’t dismiss the talent of a 4 yr old doing a BHS but from a safety standpoint there’s so much wrong and it’s apparent the kid is not physiologically ready for a BHS.

This is why I say keep your DD in the suggested level. They will move her up accordingly based on how she does in the class.

I agree with that. I didn't have my daughter do bridges until she was 5.

That's useful. Based on that, I'd say a pullover is probably easier than a front walkover. No one is going to figure that out on the playground! They require a pullover and a "spotted" front hip circle but I don't know what that means.

Again, thank you for sharing your experience!

 

[Gymgirlsmomma]

It really depends on the kid. My oldest daughter is naturally strong. She learned a pullover by herself on her home bar 3 days after we got it ( at 5yo). She took at least another year to learn a back walkover due to poorer shoulder flexibility. My younger daughter has been working on her pullover for almost 2 years and just got it consistantly, although she still can't do it on a higher bar( she is 6). Conversely, she learned her back walkover in a few weeks at a cheer gym. Back hip circles are a lttle harder and youngest daughter is not even close yet.

 

[Dahlialover]

It’s a month to month commitment, right? So give it a month and see how it goes.

 

[Gymgirl84]

It's really dependent on the kid. My daughter definitely was doing back and front walkovers before she could do a consistent pull over. She's not very upper-body strong, though she she is quite coordinated and has good swing (ie, she learn the back hip circle in only a couple of tries) so going forward her bars are doing quite ok (our program is different than the US one).

 

[&bs]

If she can do a chin up and a leg lift (lift her toes up to the bar with straight legs) and is co-ordinated enough to do walkovers, then an experienced coach could likely teach her a pullover in 5 minutes. If she doesn’t have good upper body and core/hip flexor strength then it could be a long journey. Back hip circle is more an issue of the ability to maintain body tension in a dish shape and lack of fear.