Parents Xcel gold instead of compulsories?

[Mrs. Puma]

Since I'm still fairly new to all this, I'd appreciate any opinions! We had a meeting tonight and HC is having the new girls on the team do Xcel gold then eventually score out of 4/5 then go to either 6 or 7. Is this common? DD did two meets at level 3 while on the pre-team this spring and now she is a solid level 4 except for the kip. She has ROBHSBT (BT not perfect, but she lands it) and she has BHS on beam. Would silver make more sense to start? I trust in HC, and she wants to be challenged, but googling Xcel gold routines, they look a little above her level. Thanks!

 

[MILgymFAM]

I don't know how common it is; I would guess it depends on where you live. I wouldn't guess it's very common as most gyms and coaches seem to look down on xcel, whether rightly or not.

As for level, no way would she be a silver- at least not the two places we have lived. In both she would be solidly gold. If she had her kip she would be straddling platinum. The thing with xcel is that the levels are far more broad than JO. Even trying to compare the two, each xcel level would cover 2-3 JO levels in terms of skills.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Thanks! We're in Syracuse if that matters. (Not exactly a breeding ground for gymnasts! Lol)

 

[MILgymFAM]

Just to give you an example- my DD is xcel gold. On floor she will compete a robhs and a front tuck. On beam bwo and cartwheel with a front tuck dismount. Bars, low and high bar kips, and a flyaway dismount. Her current floor is about a level 3 and her current bars is about a 5. There is lots of room to do what each gymmie does best.

 

[gymbeam]

one of the better gyms in our area does exactly that...they take everyone to gold (or some even platium) xcel and then decide who stays xcel and who goes to optionals. they quickly score them out of 4/5 and are ready for 7.

 

[gymdog]

She can do Gold. A fair amount of Golds have kips but a fair amount don't. It isn't required. If she has a back tuck and any acro on beam beyond a handstand that's gold too. The main difference for a small girl will be vault because silver they go to their back and can use the tramp board and still have a 10.0 SV...in Gold you can use the tramp but you have a lower SV. Still I think placement wise she'd be advantaged to do Gold if she's doing more difficulty because there are going to be so many young Silvers whose routines are focused on doing the minimum requirements cleanly, it would be easier for a younger girl with a harder routine to place better in Gold if that makes sense.

 

[GymRays]

I have heard of this being done since currently there is no mobility from Xcel to Jo optionals. So it sounds like they are using xcel as a pre-opt program instead of compulsories, but they are required to test out of Jo compulsories to do Jo optionals. So they have them do Xcel till they can compete 4/5 and get the score needed to test out to lvl 6 optionals. She definitely sounds like she is place in the correct Xcel level.

 

[2G1B]

It seems to be pretty common in our area. My older DD just finished a decent level 4 season. She was "moved up" and placed in Xcel gold. From what I understand, she would have done a season of gold NEXT spring season (so 2016) and scored out of 5 at some point, then eventually moved to 6 or 7.

For various reasons though, we decided to move her to a different gym. There they have her training to score out of 5 in the fall then do 6 or 7 (which ever she is ready for) in the same spring that the old gym would have had her doing gold.

Skills wise, she has all of the level 4 skills along with a flyaway on the bars and according to her a "needs to be cleaned up free hip", a back walk over on the beam and she says she can do a full turn, on the floor she has I believe everything but the tucks, which she just started working on this week.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Thanks! I definitely feel more comfortable about all this since I first posted it. And it's great to know it's more common than I thought. First meet is Sunday!!! I'm excited and nervous. The kip is still nowhere near consistant, so she is doing the pullover. And he took the backhand spring out for this first one since she's only about 50/50 since breaking her toe 6 weeks ago But she is doing the flyaway AND recently got the front tuck, which he is letting her do! She is furious he won't let her do the front tuck dismount off the beam, but I told her that coach knows best, and there must be a method to his madness! Lol so we'll see....

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Thanks! I definitely feel more comfortable about all this since I first posted it. And it's great to know it's more common than I thought. First meet is Sunday!!! I'm excited and nervous. The kip is still nowhere near consistant, so she is doing the pullover. And he took the backhand spring out for this first one since she's only about 50/50 since breaking her toe 6 weeks ago But she is doing the flyaway AND recently got the front tuck, which he is letting her do! She is furious he won't let her do the front tuck dismount off the beam, but I told her that coach knows best, and there must be a method to his madness! Lol so we'll see....

The BEAM BHS is what he took out, by the way.

 

[sevenatenine2]

Would love to hear a report after the meet! I hope she rocks it!