Women What keeps a girl in gymnastics?

[RTT2]

I can see a lot of reasons why girls who were once passionate about the sport eventually leave- injury, burnout, the desire to have time for other things, etc., but I'm curious about what keeps girls in the sport? Are there certain traits or personality types that are more likely to keep going? Do they just love it more, or have more natural ability? Or is it just so individual for each girl that there is no way to generalize about why some kids keep going? (Also, I don't mean to imply that girls who have an injury that forces them out have lost their passion for it!)

 

[MILgymFAM]

Or is it just so individual for each girl that there is no way to generalize about why some kids keep going?

This. It certainly isn’t all about ability- though being really good at it makes things simpler imo. For my DD it’s a combo of love and tenacity. She loves gymnastics and just didn’t want to accept no for an answer when it came to competing.

 

[TakeTwo]

Every girl from my DDs team is gone. Every girl from her second team is now gone. There are 3 left from the 3rd iteration. She made it through all three.

What kept her? Even in what we've established was not a good environment? She's an adrenaline junky. She loves the feeling of fear. She's also very bright, and always looked at gymnastics as the thing that "challenged" her when school couldn't. (Sometimes that was a negative -- I think sometimes it's harder for the girls who are smart enough to recognize consequences than those who just blindly obey.) Finally, I think the thing that kept her was that it was entirely HERS. It wasn't something anyone else in the family could give her pointers on or suggest ways to do things because it was all her. The rest of us just watched in awe. That ownership was precious.

I can't say for everyone, but this is what I saw in mine.

 

[Taxidriver]

I think it’s a lot to do with personality, i think they need to have quite a determined personality. Yes I think natural ability helps a certain amount but even the most talented gymnasts will come to a skill one day which doesn’t come easy and that’s where the determination comes into play.

 

[duyetanh]

I think its individualized.....and its full on mental.

 

[Teammom]

My DD is just getting started with preteam. It doesn’t look any fun to me!! The discipline & hardwork isn’t something I’ve ever seen in my older kids’ sports. I think this question is an interesting one, because I’ve wondered the same thing. Sometimes I watch practices & conditioning and think to myself “why would anybody, especially little girls, want to do this?!” My DD is determined & a perfectionist & naturally good at gymnastics. I wouldn’t say she absolutely loves gymnastics, but I think she finds it more as a challenge. And, I think she knows it’s something she is good at compared to most girls her age. I hope that she’ll stay in it because of her determination and eventually love it!

 

[aerials]

I have a level 8 gymnast and this thinking scares me. I'm not sure why she keeps up with it. She has progressed nicely with one injury but it does take a lot of time away from normal activity. There is no other sport like it in dedication and hours. My belief is that the girls get so accustom to the hours that they can't see life beyond gymnastics. I do worry about that, what do they do without gymnastics....my dd has violin and I've been encouraging her to track but it's scary for them to leave the daily hours of gymnastics

 

[duyetanh]

I have a level 8 gymnast and this thinking scares me. I'm not sure why she keeps up with it. She has progressed nicely with one injury but it does take a lot of time away from normal activity. There is no other sport like it in dedication and hours. My belief is that the girls get so accustom to the hours that they can't see life beyond gymnastics. I do worry about that, what do they do without gymnastics....my dd has violin and I've been encouraging her to track but it's scary for them to leave the daily hours of gymnastics

I actually understand this, because when my kid has an unexpected day off due to a change in schedule, she is more than ready to go back the next day! I have found another thing for her to do that takes several hours--golf. I do not golf, but I drive a mean golf cart, lol. And it's a very mental sport, which really, in turn, helps her gymnastics.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I only know why one is still in in it.

She still has downtime but has not yet found anything she would rather do instead. If she had the option to do nothing, it’s likely that is what she would pick.

She is not yet in middle school so we’ll see

 

[raenndrops]

This. It certainly isn’t all about ability- though being really good at it makes things simpler imo. For my DD it’s a combo of love and tenacity. She loves gymnastics and just didn’t want to accept no for an answer when it came to competing.

The same with my YG... she isnt the best gymnast, but she loves it. She likes to compete. She wants to get better. In her life, she has quit twice... neither time by her choice... and she came back both times!
OG has quit 3 times, but always misses it when she is out. Then, she is nervous to come back... until she is actually in the gym and realizes how much she missed it (like tonight, lol). She wants to come back and move up to L7 for next season. Hopefully she sticks with it this time.

 

[Taxidriver]

Sometimes I watch practices & conditioning and think to myself “why would anybody, especially little girls, want to do this?!”

I have asked the same question myself many times.
My dd is at a high level gym where they strive for perfection the repetition and the conditioning just look so boring but my dd loves gymnastics! She’s tried many other sports but found them boring!

 

[Aussie_coach]

A lot has to do with the gym and how they manage things like injuries, fear, self doubt, plateus’s in progress etc.

Kids keep going if they can tick all the boxes
1. They love it, it’s fun (not boring and repetitive)
2. They have goals they are working towards
3. They feel like they are good at it, doing well.
4. They feel like they are progressing and improving
5. They feel warm and welcomed, and part of the community at the gym, bind with team mates
6. They feel it has value.

The work feel comes up a lot. How they feel can have more of an impact than reality. It’s not how good they are that keeps them there, it’s how good they feel they are.

 

[Taxidriver]

1. They love it, it’s fun (not boring and repetitive)

Can I ask a question, you say not boring and repetitive but gymnastics to me seems very repetitive (and boring). At my dd gym skill progression can seem slow compared to other gyms as they won’t let a child move on to Y skill until X skill has been mastered. They seem to have a few key skills that they want mastered before progressing round off being one. So when my dd was learning a round off she seem to spend an age just learning a round off and perfecting it but from mastering it to their satisfaction she very quick went to round off flic back tuck to a round off flic straight back.
So how do you mean not repetitive as surely it has to be repetitive to master the skills?

 

[profmom]

My DD just moved over to Xcel Diamond after a long battle with nagging injuries and three years in the trenches of L8. She is really enjoying it because she's once again progressing and working on new skills. She has never really loved competing. She just loves doing gymnastics. She likes physical activity and would take two gym classes at school if she could. It helps a lot that she's at a gym that has let her progress at her own pace. She has just one more year left in high school after this one, so it looks like she will be one of the rare ones who graduates from high school as a club gymnast.

 

[MILgymFAM]

A lot has to do with the gym and how they manage things like injuries, fear, self doubt, plateus’s in progress etc.

Kids keep going if they can tick all the boxes
1. They love it, it’s fun (not boring and repetitive)
2. They have goals they are working towards
3. They feel like they are good at it, doing well.
4. They feel like they are progressing and improving
5. They feel warm and welcomed, and part of the community at the gym, bind with team mates
6. They feel it has value.

The work feel comes up a lot. How they feel can have more of an impact than reality. It’s not how good they are that keeps them there, it’s how good they feel they are.

I respectfully disagree. My DD has been missing 2-5 for most of her time in gym, yet here we are.

 

[TakeTwo]

A lot has to do with the gym and how they manage things like injuries, fear, self doubt, plateus’s in progress etc.

Kids keep going if they can tick all the boxes
1. They love it, it’s fun (not boring and repetitive)
2. They have goals they are working towards
3. They feel like they are good at it, doing well.
4. They feel like they are progressing and improving
5. They feel warm and welcomed, and part of the community at the gym, bind with team mates
6. They feel it has value.

The work feel comes up a lot. How they feel can have more of an impact than reality. It’s not how good they are that keeps them there, it’s how good they feel they are.

I respectfully disagree as well. Mine hits 2 of the 6, but definitely did not feel the other 4 for the majority of her career - yet she never once wanted to quit. I think it's really personal -- each gymnast sticks with it for his or her own reasons.
I do think your list would be a great way for a coach to try to make it something kids want to stick with!

 

[LizzieLac]

Love of the sport is really the main factor. Even with injuries, struggles with skills, bad or ineffective coaching, or personality differences with team mates, it is love of the sport that keeps them there. Period.

Now, we need to define "love of the sport." That might different for different girls. ;-)

 

[profmom]

And I think some are much more invested in feeling like they are moving forward than others. I've seen more than one talented boy quit while going through that terrible phase of early puberty when new skill acquisition becomes difficult and mastered skills come and go.

 

[Splat]

Every girl from my DDs team is gone. Every girl from her second team is now gone. There are 3 left from the 3rd iteration. She made it through all three.

What kept her? Even in what we've established was not a good environment? She's an adrenaline junky. She loves the feeling of fear. She's also very bright, and always looked at gymnastics as the thing that "challenged" her when school couldn't. (Sometimes that was a negative -- I think sometimes it's harder for the girls who are smart enough to recognize consequences than those who just blindly obey.) Finally, I think the thing that kept her was that it was entirely HERS. It wasn't something anyone else in the family could give her pointers on or suggest ways to do things because it was all her. The rest of us just watched in awe. That ownership was precious.

I can't say for everyone, but this is what I saw in mine.

I never really thought about it this way, but I definitely believe that the fact that gymnastics is mine is a huge reason I'm still in the sport. I remember once my mom started coaching at my gym I started not wanting to show my mom all my skills, because she was in the sport too. I've learned to enjoy the fact that we can now in detail discuss different gymnastics things. I believe that the fact that gymnastics is such a different sport and it was something I was doing and no one else around me made it interesting for me.

 

[LGnyc]

Love of the sport is really the main factor. Even with injuries, struggles with skills, bad or ineffective coaching, or personality differences with team mates, it is love of the sport that keeps them there. Period.

Now, we need to define "love of the sport." That might different for different girls. ;-)

Certainly love of the sport is the baseline, but I'd also agree with @aerials that they get accustomed to the hours and the schedule and take it a step further. It becomes such an ingrained part of their identity. Then you layer in the friendships built over those hours and days and it can be hard to step away. Dd has talked about leaving our gym for years and when the time comes to actually pull the trigger, to step away altogether or just step down in hours and to a different gym, she can't do it. She doesn't want to leave her friends, her home, and what she knows. I think part of her is afraid to not feel like a "gymnast" anymore.