Parents What should I know about Optionals? first year level 7

[Committed]

Nope! And neither are the girls!!

 

[Gymmommy71]

Meets are a lot more interesting to watch - you'll see some routines that far exceed the requirements, and then you'll also see routines where the kid is out there doing they best that they can w/ a reduced SV. I think the parents are less competitive because everyone is just nervous about whether or not their own kid is going to fall on beam or bars to really care about placements.

 

[CanAmGymMum]

My daughter was a young level 7 last year. She made the jump from level 5 to 7 as well. For her, her all around score has improved every year and level 7 was no exception. The biggest change for her was, as the skills get tougher, the chance of making a mistake increases. She's always been an incredibly good competitor, but for the first time, she was questioning what would happen if she fell. She only fell once all season, but developing the mental toughness and confidence to know she could hit her back walkover back handspring on beam or her free hip giant on bars took some getting used to.

 

[gracyomalley]

level 7 is fun - parents are starting to be, in general, less competitive with each other and realizing how little compulsory scores translate to long term gym success, as well as the kids starting to be able to shine in the areas they are best at. In general, scores go up in our region, but our region does not have lots of compulsory 38+ scores (as in almost none) - we are small, but also our judges just don't hand them out and kids are rarely held at lower levels more than 1-2 years. In the younger age groups (where my DD competed) kids would place on beam with low 9s, and on bars with high 8s sometimes in compulsory (esp old L6...) but in L7 beam scores needed to be 9.5 and up to place and bars at least 9.0...however, many kids don't make it to L7 if they can't score mid to high 8s...I would expect this would translate to 9+ in competitive regions ( both due to more kids so more atrition of the
average gymnast, and also to better coaching and equipment available to help said "average gymnast" get there).

That being said, many more fears set in, esp as the kids move out of 7 toward 8...between much harder skills, and older more aware girls. So L7 is definitely a good time to get the parental ego out of it as much as possible, and just be happy if your kid is getting good exercise, enjoys the sport and being properly trained...which also becomes much more obvious as the kids move toward harder skills...

Same really goes for the boys too -

 

[GymCMLA]

Great! I'm hoping to change as a parent .. I say that in that I was a nervous ninny watching my child compete! NO MORE! I'm going to take a shot or two ov tequila and be calm ( really joking )!

At level 7 states there were moms all from one gym with matching televised spiking their drinks in the bathroom... Not sure if it was tequila though

 

[GymCMLA]

At level 7 states there were moms all from one gym with matching televised spiking their drinks in the bathroom... Not sure if it was tequila though

Tervis cups. Not televised. Sigh.

 

[duyetanh]

The parents are NOT quieter.

I completely agree. And the ones I have dealt with are vicious. Blahhhh

 

[duyetanh]

Tervis cups. Not televised. Sigh.

OMG that was hilarious. And I get it. There was a girl last year who basically did all level 7 routines for level 6 (had a bwobhs series on beam)....we saw her at a few meets during the season...I did not understand why the mom was a wreck.
Let's just say I know why now.

 

[raenndrops]

OMG that was hilarious. And I get it. There was a girl last year who basically did all level 7 routines for level 6 (had a bwobhs series on beam)....we saw her at a few meets during the season...I did not understand why the mom was a wreck.
Let's just say I know why now.

We compete against a team that has only been in existence for two years. They have some girls that came from another team. Two of their girls that competed Gold last year with basically L6/L7 routines. This year, They have competed L6 so far with L7 routines (and I know from talking to their coach- close knit "community" of teams, that they have L8 skills on a couple events competition ready).
I love watching them compete... Even though I hope they move up to L7 before the next meet so OG doesn't have to compete against them, lol.

 

[Flicfliclay]

Tervis cups. Not televised. Sigh.

ha ha ha! i was trying to figure out what matching televised was!

 

[flippingtogether]

ha ha ha! i was trying to figure out what matching televised was!

Though now an optional parent, I can say that ideally I'd be drinking spiked drinks in the bathroom, with a tv monitor to let me know how things are going......

 

[Flicfliclay]

Why do you think girls that have all level 7 skills compete level 6? I do know it happens I just don't know why they would just compete the level they are ready for?

 

[Flicfliclay]

Though now an optional parent, I can say that ideally I'd be drinking spiked drinks in the bathroom, with a tv monitor to let me know how things are going......

Bah ha ha! I want to do that!! Great idea!

 

[raenndrops]

Why do you think girls that have all level 7 skills compete level 6? I do know it happens I just don't know why they would just compete the level they are ready for?

Coming from their gym, which to this point has trained girls only with high school gymnastics in mind (their first year with a team, one of their Xcel Gold was a high school beam specialist... with a back tuck ON beam, but no kip and a slight vault fear... And no, she didn't compete the BT at Gold). When girls didn't fit the compulsory mold last year, they put them in Xcel Gold. This summer, they scored them out of L5. Most of those girls weren't ready for L7, so the whole group went to L6. The two girls that are ready for L7 may move up mid-season, but that will be up to their coach. They may be waiting for their state meet before moving up.

 

[duyetanh]

Why do you think girls that have all level 7 skills compete level 6? I do know it happens I just don't know why they would just compete the level they are ready for?

They might be weak in one event, so the coach has them do 6 in hopes the event grows stronger throughout the season?

 

[gymdoc]

Why do you think girls that have all level 7 skills compete level 6? I do know it happens I just don't know why they would just compete the level they are ready for?

This is ODD this year. Did great at L6 last year with 36s, but doesn't have her giants so HC won't let her compete 7. She will be competing her "upgraded" routines this year (BWO-BHS series, layout on floor) so her scores will probably be about the same. L7 is super competitive here so the girls really need to be ready for it

 

[profmom]

Some are also starting to get to the age where growth can affect skills. The kid who had the flawless kip cast handstand last season may go through a few months where casting to HS just isn't happening, and that may affect the coaches' level decisions. If your child has never been through getting a skill and then losing it, this may be the first time it happens.

Also -- you will occasionally have one of those meets where it's like your team has a contagious falling virus. You'll sit there watching as kid after kid after kid melts down on an event (beam, bars, and pommel horse are especially popular for us, though I once saw our L10s do it on floor) and maybe 1/3 of the team or fewer actually manage to stay on the equipment. I remember very vividly the year we had some stupid meet after states, and our reigning state bars champion took three falls. We had more falls that rotation than we had kids competing, a magical feat that our boys replicated last year on two PH rotations during the season. All you can do is nod sympathetically with the other parents and say, "that's gymnastics!" And hope the coaches don't kill 'em all when they get 'em back home.

 

[Flicfliclay]

All makes sense...I have heard that some gyms don't skip levels at all..even if skippable. That too I guess is why some do full level 7 skills in 6. I think it is silly to hold girls back that have all the levels skills, but i am sure there is some reasoning behind it.

 

[profmom]

As you get further in optionals too, you'll see more and more of these situations where it's really one event or one skill that's holding a kid back. I've known more than one girl who had skills for not just a basic but a really good L10 floor routine but was having trouble managing a basic L9 beam routine because of backwards beam woes. Likewise I've seen fantastic L9 bars routines easily upgradable to L10 standards coupled with just not enough power for more than a tucked Yurchenko vault. I can also think of a boy with a very basic and weak L9 floor routine that probably wouldn't place at L8 who's planning on competing a pbars routine with 2 Cs and is working on two additional pbar Cs in the gym.