WAG What do you tell your gymnast...

[JoyAvenueMom]

At 8yo, I think earning all 9's is an awesome goal. She is old enough to understand that some judges will score harder than others, and that an 8.9 today would have been a 9.1 at the last meet. It doesn't change the long-term goal of consistently earning 9+ on every event at every meet. And, it sounds like she is within reach of that goal. You've gotten some great advice. My only contribution is to remind her that her coaches are "experts" at knowing what the judges are looking for. Every little correction they give her in practice is "golden" and she should work hard to make the changes they ask for. As an example, Kipper was surprised to learn that judges can take a 10th deduction every time a foot falls from releve' on beam. Once she figured that out, (and became confident enough in her routine to focus on it), her beam scores went up significantly. Her coaches had been giving her that correction, but it didn't help until she made the change. I am not suggesting that her coaches tell her the value of the deductions, but just for you to emphasize their expertise and supreme knowledge in such things. ;-)

 

[MomIdidit!]

Best advice all new team parents received from HC was.....as hard as it can be sometimes, be your child's biggest fan, give hugs and kudos often. Leave the negative comments and any gymnastics comments to the coaches. Be a positive cheerleader to your DD and stay positive.

 

[lovemygymnast]

We have actually been through this recently. Our dd is newly 8 on L5. She sets goals on her own and did poorly at a meet, very poor scores with no falls. She was very disappointed in it. We just told her that only she can change it. Different judges will give different scores on any given day and she'll have good days & bad days. The only thing she can do is pay attention to making corrections given at practice and do her best.

 

[Musicmama]

I remind my dd that judges are human and bring her focus back to how she thought she did.

Usually I have her tell me the most difficult part of the meet and her favorite part (doesn't have to be gymnastics-related - could be finding a cool scrunchy). Then (if she still seems as though she needs to talk more about it) one thing she wants to work on and her favorite part about each of her events at that meet.