Up-training

[clrmom]

I am just curious what everyone thinks about up-training skills and how often this should take place. This question is for anyone (coaches, parents, gymnasts) as I am curious about the different opinions.

Do you think there should always be up-training at every level (even during competition season)? or do you think once the season is over is when new skills should be worked on? (in our gym's case, this would mean working on new skills from May -Sept. in preparation for a fall and a spring competition season-I know some areas have a shorter season of competing).

I guess my opinion is that a little up-training should always be taking place, as some skills do take longer to get, but I also understand a coaches perspective of wanting to make sure the kids are really solid on routines for their current level.

I can't wait to hear everyone's opinions on the matter.

 

[Kiwi]

My DD's class is training their competition routines now, but also including a little uptraining for future skills. I think the coach does this because there is not enough time for them to learn the skills for the next step if they only start them after the competition season is over.

 

[lilgymmie7]

DD just moved to a new gym and thus far, I do see the gym uptrainning the girls quite a bit. DD's first day did consist of level 5 skills and routines and uptraining as well. She has said that she has done her back tuck/LO on floor, bars CHS, baby giants, and BWO and FF on beam. Today, she also told me she did HFT on floor. For DD this is great!
I posted here before that DD 'wants' to do so much. Her new gym is quite successful and has won level 5 state 4 years in a row. I am not a coach just a parent, but gauging on their success I can say that they know exactly what they are doing, and they know how to keep the girls motivated. They said they would 'clean' her up before state; I was glad to hear that myself. DD is very happy with her new gym as a whole!!

 

[Aussie_coach]

In Australia there is pretty much always uptraining due to our competition requirements. For each level you have optional routines from level 4, with a set of required skills but then there are bonus skills which can be added in.

For example in the level 5 floor routine you are required to have the following skills
1. Round off back handspring
2. Front handspring into cartwheel cartwheel
3. Back extension roll to handstand
4. Leap series with a 180 degree split leap and another A value FIG code leap like a side leap
5. jump full turn
6. Full turn on 1 foot.

They are the basic requirements, you can then have bonus skills which replace the core skills and for each bonus skill you get 0.2 added to your routine.

Examples
you can do round off 3 back handsprings or round off back handspring back tuck or layout instead of skill 1
you can do handspring front tuck or front layout instead of skill 2
Back extension roll blind change 1/2 turn can replace skill 3
A b or above leap can replace the A leap like a switch split leap
a B or above turn can replace the A turn like a double turn

Because of this system uptraining is always taking place even throughout the season, as adding bonus skills mid season will up the scores.

Most aussie gyms focus on the philosophy that you only compete skills you are totally competent with. So a standard level 4 would have all level 4 skills down to near perfection, they would generally have all or nearly all level 5 skills and be preparing them for competition and would be learning level 6 skills.

 

[clrmom]

I posted here before that DD 'wants' to do so much. Her new gym is quite successful and has won level 5 state 4 years in a row. I am not a coach just a parent, but gauging on their success I can say that they know exactly what they are doing, and they know how to keep the girls motivated. They said they would 'clean' her up before state; I was glad to hear that myself. DD is very happy with her new gym as a whole!!

This makes sense to me too. Learning new skills seems as if it would motivate the gymnast to keep improving. I like your dd's gyms philosophy.

Aussie_Coach: I enjoy reading about the Australian system on here. It is interesting to see the different way things are done.

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

Where my DGD's go they train up-skills on the Monday after a meet (for sure)...it's called "fun-day Monday"....but they also seem to work on them during the regular season a bit as a break from the stress of competition season. This is not to say that they do not heavily work on what they need during the competition season....they just throw in a bit of fun when/if the girls have had a great work out.

 

[bogwoppit]

DD just moved to a new gym and thus far, I do see the gym uptrainning the girls quite a bit. DD's first day did consist of level 5 skills and routines and uptraining as well. She has said that she has done her back tuck/LO on floor, bars CHS, baby giants, and BWO and FF on beam. Today, she also told me she did HFT on floor. For DD this is great!
I posted here before that DD 'wants' to do so much. Her new gym is quite successful and has won level 5 state 4 years in a row. I am not a coach just a parent, but gauging on their success I can say that they know exactly what they are doing, and they know how to keep the girls motivated. They said they would 'clean' her up before state; I was glad to hear that myself. DD is very happy with her new gym as a whole!!

Wow you moved gyms before state, I had no idea things were so bad at your old gym. That is really too bad for your DD, but I am glad she is thriving in the new situation. Seems like a lot on her plate to clean up L5 routines and uptrain at the same time, just keep an eye on the pressure they are putting her under, it may be fun but she is only seven and is very eager.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I agree with Bog in that while uptraining is fun and keeps the kids motivated, uptraining too much or in combination with perfecting current routines for States can be a lot of pressure and sometimes the uptraining can interfere with the skills that they currently have. Sometimes when you uptrain, current skills the you have become worse (form-wise) or are lost altogether. Considering your dd is only 7 and still quite young, be very careful and closely monitor the situation. But considering that you have older dd's who are/were in the sport, you know all this and have been through it.

 

[clrmom]

I agree with Bog in that while uptraining is fun and keeps the kids motivated, uptraining too much or in combination with perfecting current routines for States can be a lot of pressure and sometimes the uptraining can interfere with the skills that they currently have. Sometimes when you uptrain, current skills the you have become worse (form-wise) or are lost altogether. Considering your dd is only 7 and still quite young, be very careful and closely monitor the situation. But considering that you have older dd's who are/were in the sport, you know all this and have been through it.

This makes sense with what my dds gym seems to be thinking. They mentioned wanting to work mostly on form at the current level and that learning the skills later will be that much easier if the girls have worked on good form at the current level. (something like that).

 

[gym law mom]

I think up training can be done in conjunction with regular season training, but not to the exclusion of. During meet season is a nice time to introduce drills for skills at the next level. It does break up the practices and gives the kids something new to look forward to. Of course, that doesn't mean if 1/2 of the L5 team has sloppy kips, you are going to start them on clear hips---1st goal is to work on the kip. Up training is only successful if the basic skills for the current level are strong.

 

[Dezi]

My dd's gym in competition time they work on routines once a week and uptraining once a week. The week of a competition if a specific girl needs more work they may work both days on routines(there was only 3 doing level 4 last year) so it is easy to do specialize things for the girls. During off season they uptrain 1 to 2 levels so she is working level 5 and 6 skills now. It is good for my daughter because she is 7 and she gets bored if they do routines all day every practice during meet season.

 

[Billy]

I'm not sure our gym really has a set system for uptraining, though they do it a lot. It seems to be that new routines are worked and perfected in the fall. Then in January when our season starts, they work routines and new skills. Usually its something like "hit 10 of each of your skills on beam and you can work on something new." They also do things like making the girls hit 3 or 5 routines and then they can go uptrain. Once the season ends, they uptrain a lot over the summer.

 

[vagymmomma]

DD's gym does some uptraining all year in conjunction with practice (the amount is partly dependent on the progress a particular girl is making towards current skills). There's a heavy emphasis on uptraining between states and the start of the fall season.

Uptraining is very important to keep my DD motivated, but I think it's critical for the gymnast to master skills for their current level first (mill circle aside - most skills really do seem to build on each other). Another thread debated the merits of privates and I think that uptraining can be an important aspect of them. My DD is a level 5 this year, and she's working on giants among other level 6/7 skills during her privates (completely the coach's idea - it's a reward for scoring high enough on current routines during practice). I sometimes worry that DD focuses too much on the next set of skills though instead of perfecting the small flaws in her current routines.

 

[Bajanswife]

We don't have a defined season, so we uptrain anytime. What I've noticed is that routines get a heavy emphasis in the weeks leading up to a meet (we only have 3 or maximum 4 per year), but immediately after a meet we give the routines a break and do some fun stuff like uptraining. At the end of the gym year, which is the end of June, we have a fundraising gym show (rec and team combined), and last year I noticed that the HC took the opportunity to incorporate some slightly more advanced skills and dance moves into the team girls' show routines - I guess it was something more interesting for the girls to learn, and it helped prepare them for a new level in September.

I find that gym training isn't consistent over the summer - lots of people travel, and therefore there is no set schedule for uptraining then to get girls ready to compete new levels in the Fall. That's why if we go to a November meet, girls are usually competing their old level, as they aren't quite competition ready in their new one yet.

 

[Bajanswife]

DD's gym does some uptraining all year in conjunction with practice (the amount is partly dependent on the progress a particular girl is making towards current skills). There's a heavy emphasis on uptraining between states and the start of the fall season.

Uptraining is very important to keep my DD motivated, but I think it's critical for the gymnast to master skills for their current level first (mill circle aside - most skills really do seem to build on each other). Another thread debated the merits of privates and I think that uptraining can be an important aspect of them. My DD is a level 5 this year, and she's working on giants among other level 6/7 skills during her privates (completely the coach's idea - it's a reward for scoring high enough on current routines during practice). I sometimes worry that DD focuses too much on the next set of skills though instead of perfecting the small flaws in her current routines.

This raises a difference in philosophy that gyms have. Some gyms focus on perfecting compulsories (and scoring well enough to earn medals at high level meets), others concentrate more on getting the skills, but try not to get stuck down in the compulsories too long - the goal is to reach optionals. Our gym is more of the second kind - we don't do the compulsory routines to death. We are clearly not as polished in our routines as some gyms, and as a result we don't bring home as many medals. I'm not sure that one approach is better than the other - they are just different.

 

[gymgurl]

We do uptrain but it's different for every gymnast, i am allowed to uptrain on everything but a lot of the little kids aren't because i clearly know my limits. It also depends on your current skills, i.e. i am not allowed to compete round off back handspring this year because of code changes so i still training round off flic saults on floor and layouts into the pit and sometimes full twists into the pit. We just have to do our current skills first, though i never train just a round off unless we are doing something specific to fix our round off.

 

[UnoMas]

Our gym does not do a lot of uptraining. There is a little bit of it in the summer for those that have current level skills pretty much flawless, and every now and then when the girls hit like a million skills in a row...and they work some uplevel tumbling skills in warmups, but mostly it is skills for the current level, perfecting them, and then routines, routines, routines. Oh, and lots of conditioning in the summer!!! Our gym does move ups based on an AA score, and not on what skills you have for the next level, so naturally the focus is more on routines and scoring well at the current level. I'd love to see them get to do a little more uptraining. My girls are pretty content though, neither one of them is a risk taker so they don't tend to want to work things that are not required! LOL.

 

[lilgymmie7]

Thanks Bog and MDgymmomm1. I wouldn't say that things were so bad at DD's old gym, but like you said she is very young. I wasn't intending moving her that early, but things worked out as they did. Her old gym is a fantastic gym, it just wasn't for her.
DD's new gym is really a well run, knowledgeable gym. They have won level 5 states four years running. They have also won State at nearly every other level 6-10
( certain age divisions). They have countless number of state champions from levels 5-10. They, I believe, know what they are doing as a whole. But like you said MDgymmom1 because my older DD was in gym, I know all too well the stresses of a gymnast. That was one factor which caused me to begin looking for a better 'fit' for DD.
I still strongly stand on the belief that what ever sport a child is involved in it MUST serve them as a stepping stone for 'Life' successes. Gym alone isn't the answer. What it does as a whole for the gymnast is key. DD is extremely happy at gym. I doubt they would do so well if they weren't mindful of their gym practices. What I really love is that each child is coached on an individual level. They love DD's eagerness.

 

[lilgymmie7]

I think up training can be done in conjunction with regular season training, but not to the exclusion of. During meet season is a nice time to introduce drills for skills at the next level. It does break up the practices and gives the kids something new to look forward to. Of course, that doesn't mean if 1/2 of the L5 team has sloppy kips, you are going to start them on clear hips---1st goal is to work on the kip. Up training is only successful if the basic skills for the current level are strong.

See this is DD's gym philosophy to the 'naked' eye. I was in awe at how well the new gym's girls really are. When I went to view a meet prior to moving DD, I was in awe at how well each and every girl performed. Granted I may not have seen all, but the ones I did see were amazing. The scores they received told me that these coaches really know what they are doing with the girls. I do believe they only teach new skills when the gymnast has mastered the previous skill. Their girls received 9- 9.8's on nearly every apparatus.
DD's mistakes are in the technique or text of the routines. Her skill level has always been on mark or above. The owner HC made that clear to me as well on her tryout day. This is where my note of individuality was rooted. They seem to have a knack of polishing routines while uptraining. This has to be it or DD has walked right into the "Twilight Zone" full of little robots because her new teammates are just THAT GOOD!! It will do DD a lot of good to be amongst all of this.

 

[littlegirlsdream]

I know pressure is hard on little ones. However, this year has been hard on my DD. The fact that she is young was why we took her out of the more competitive gym, she loved it but we were not sure. Bad move on our part. She has been miserable. Kids are no where near her age on her team at new gym so she isn't taking seriously by her team mates. This upsets her a great deal. Also, the lack of discipline at new gym means my dd gets to hear all about things pre teens talk about and that isn't good either. She also is now coached by lovely people who don't seem to know how to motivate, develope, encourage lill ones. Further more she has now really adapted to the environment around her. She sees sloppy, unmotivated, distracted gymnasts day in and day out so she now looks the same. She loved the stricter gymnastics. We just thought we knew better. So I understand your dilemma. Every child is different. We are moving dd too but not until after the season. She has begged all year to go back. What some view as too harsh, others love and thrive in. Its great there is a place for all types of gymnasts. She does up train a little. She is like your dd, skills are great but routines not clean.