Parents Xcel Practice Hours

[raenndrops]

L8 and only 7.5h/week? Wow.. Do they do well at meets?

Some do. It depends on how efficient they choose to be with their practice time.
Our L8s are all in high school, so most of them only compete 2 meets in November, then they compete for their high school, then come back for Championships in March and YMCA Nationals in June. Several times, we have girls make Level 8 finals at Nationals and place in the top 10 All Around. Most recently, we had a 6th place AA winner (with 2nd place on beam, 1st on floor, and 6th on vault). Pre-pandemic, we had a girl finish 8th AA (1st on floor and 5th on vault).
This year, we have our largest L8 team ever. There are 5-7 of them, depending on whether the last 2 girls are ready to make the jump from L7 or not. Last year, we had 4 L8s on the roster, but one was recovering from injury and only competed for the high school.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

Some do. It depends on how efficient they choose to be with their practice time.
Our L8s are all in high school, so most of them only compete 2 meets in November, then they compete for their high school, then come back for Championships in March and YMCA Nationals in June. Several times, we have girls make Level 8 finals at Nationals and place in the top 10 All Around. Most recently, we had a 6th place AA winner (with 2nd place on beam, 1st on floor, and 6th on vault). Pre-pandemic, we had a girl finish 8th AA (1st on floor and 5th on vault).
This year, we have our largest L8 team ever. There are 5-7 of them, depending on whether the last 2 girls are ready to make the jump from L7 or not. Last year, we had 4 L8s on the roster, but one was recovering from injury and only competed for the high school.

That's really cool! It leaves you so much time for other things so that's always nice.

 

[GymGurl102]

when I was in bronze I trained 2 hours twice a week. In silver I did 4.5x2. Now I’m in Gold and because of limited room in the gym and competitive coaches I train 4x2. There is an option for an extra 4 hours a week but my family can’t really afford it.

 

[4theLoveofGymnastics]

My daughter was 4 hours x 3 days in silver and will continue that in gold. I think for our gym the requirement is 2 days for silver and 3 days for gold. She plays rec soccer in spring and fall so we probably won’t be adding a 4th day for gold right away, although it is an option.

Wow, my daughter only does 10.5 hrs in level 4 and our level 5s only go 12hrs a week. Isn’t xcel silver comparable to level 3? I would think they’d practice less.

 

[Kylie]

At my old gym it was Bronze- 2 days/3 hours; Silver 2 days/4 hours; Gold/Platinum 3 days/4 hours; Diamond/Sapphire 3 days/5 hours. They used xcel as a way to bypass compulsory, but kids could also stay xcel up until sapphire so it was a bit more than the average xcel team. My current gym does bronze 2 days/2.5 hours; Silver 2 days/3 hours; Gold/Platinum 3 days/3 hours. They also use xcel to bypass compulsory and move the kids to do after gold or platinum. My new gym seems to have more success; multiple state and regional champions so less hours works for them but it depends on the gyms intent of the xcel program.

 

[gym_mama88911]

That does seem like a lot of hours for Xcel, but clearly some gyms run their Xcel programs that way.
This is only anecdotal, but last year before a couple of her meets, my daughter's coach told her team that some of the teams they would be competing against "train as much as our DP team". Not surprisingly, those teams did really well at the meets. It was a bit frustrating and discouraging for my daughter and her teammates.
In my mind, this "high hours" approach somewhat defeats the purpose of the Xcel program.

Our gym is small - but the DP and XCEL train together. They may separate as they work different apparatus but the hours are the same: 4-8 pm.
Silver/3s are 2-3 days. (2 min)
Gold/4s are 3-4 days. (3 min)
Plat+/5+ are required 4 days and can also add privates.
Any of these levels can go the full 4 days if they wanted to. We have a handful of 3s that have been going the full 4 days but they seem to enjoy it.

Our bronze/preteam are only 2 hour practices usually 2 days per week but they can add more days also if interested.
In our gym - XCEL is not treated as less than, it is an alternative for those that may need or desire more flexibility in the skills. My daughter went silver when many of her teammates went 3 out of preteam. Her floor/vault skills were superior to most of the 3s but she struggled in bars and beam. This year as gold, her beam and floor skills are above gold level, vault is on par, and bars are still a struggle. Having flexibility does not equal needing to practice less. Just a different path.

 

[gym_mama88911]

Wow, my daughter only does 10.5 hrs in level 4 and our level 5s only go 12hrs a week. Isn’t xcel silver comparable to level 3? I would think they’d practice less.

All of our practices are 4-8 PM for all levels (besides bronze preteam). For lower levels they are required 2 days, mid are required 3 days (although I think we have exceptions made for certain circumstances), and plat/5+ are required all 4 days. ANY levels can practice up to 4 days if they want to add the days or privates.

 

[Deleted member 30962]

For silver/pre-team it's 4 hours a week 2×2, and gold and platinum 6 hours a week 2×3. Personally my daughter wishes she had more practices though.

 

[Pfiga]

In our gym - XCEL is not treated as less than, it is an alternative for those that may need or desire more flexibility in the skills. My daughter went silver when many of her teammates went 3 out of preteam. Her floor/vault skills were superior to most of the 3s but she struggled in bars and beam. This year as gold, her beam and floor skills are above gold level, vault is on par, and bars are still a struggle. Having flexibility does not equal needing to practice less. Just a different path.

That's an interesting approach. I like the idea of giving the gymnasts an option of how many days they train.

For us, the flexibility comes from fewer days and hours in the gym, which allows my daughter (and most of her teammates) to also be involved in another sport (or activity) throughout the year, at about the same level and hourly commitment. In fact, some girls have moved from the DP team to Xcel because the increasing hours in the gym would not have allowed them to continue with their other activities.

For silver/pre-team it's 4 hours a week 2×2, and gold and platinum 6 hours a week 2×3. Personally my daughter wishes she had more practices though.

My daughter would also like to have a third / optional practice, even though it would be tough to squeeze it into her schedule.

 

[Gymnasticsismylife]

Did 9 hours a week spring of silver season. 16 hours gold summer. Now I’m doing 14 gold preseason

 

[Chocolate_Chip]

That does seem like a lot of hours for Xcel, but clearly some gyms run their Xcel programs that way.
This is only anecdotal, but last year before a couple of her meets, my daughter's coach told her team that some of the teams they would be competing against "train as much as our DP team". Not surprisingly, those teams did really well at the meets. It was a bit frustrating and discouraging for my daughter and her teammates.
In my mind, this "high hours" approach somewhat defeats the purpose of the Xcel program.

My daughter is switching from DP level 4 to XCEL gold/plat. I'm curious to see how this plays out since XCEL is used so differently from gym to gym it seems.

It looks like many gyms in our region use XCEL as it's intended - an option for kids who want to compete in gymnastics, while pursing other activities, hence lower hours. Some gyms do seem to use it as a means to bypass compulsories, which means they will train more intensely with higher hours. IMHO, it's very apparent which gyms are training more hours with more intensity in the XCEL system.

My daughter comes from a small gym where DP/XCEL train together under the same coaches, but XCEL trains fewer hours/days per week. My daughter still trains DP hours since she wants the extra time in the gym. Her reasoning change to XCEL was how lopsided her skill set is. She can compete level 7/8 elements on floor and beam, and level 6/7/platinum on vault. XCEL gives her the year to clean up bars without pressure, but still be able to compete skills on floor/beam that she's had for several years but wasn't allowed to in compulsory. If she's still on the struggle bus with bars she can stay XCEL instead of going back to DP.

I wonder if there are other kids who chose to pursue XCEL because of a lopsided skillset like my daughter and where they fit in. Would she be seen as someone who is "working the system" vs someone who needs the flexibility XCEL provides?

 

[gym_mama88911]

My daughter is switching from DP level 4 to XCEL gold/plat. I'm curious to see how this plays out since XCEL is used so differently from gym to gym it seems.

It looks like many gyms in our region use XCEL as it's intended - an option for kids who want to compete in gymnastics, while pursing other activities, hence lower hours. Some gyms do seem to use it as a means to bypass compulsories, which means they will train more intensely with higher hours. IMHO, it's very apparent which gyms are training more hours with more intensity in the XCEL system.

My daughter comes from a small gym where DP/XCEL train together under the same coaches, but XCEL trains fewer hours/days per week. My daughter still trains DP hours since she wants the extra time in the gym. Her reasoning change to XCEL was how lopsided her skill set is. She can compete level 7/8 elements on floor and beam, and level 6/7/platinum on vault. XCEL gives her the year to clean up bars without pressure, but still be able to compete skills on floor/beam that she's had for several years but wasn't allowed to in compulsory. If she's still on the struggle bus with bars she can stay XCEL instead of going back to DP.

I wonder if there are other kids who chose to pursue XCEL because of a lopsided skillset like my daughter and where they fit in. Would she be seen as someone who is "working the system" vs someone who needs the flexibility XCEL provides?

This is very much how it operates at ours. We could choose to practice less in XCEL but don’t. Many of our XCEL girls (mine included) have lopsided skillsets so they are running XCEL until they can balance it out. Mine kills it on floor (traditionally doing 1-2 level upskills in competition) - has traditionally been on par and scores well for vault, and sucked at Beam and bars (although something clicked over the summer for beam so hoping for good things this season). She hopes to move to DP after this season if she can ever get her kip.

 

[Chocolate_Chip]

This is very much how it operates at ours. We could choose to practice less in XCEL but don’t. Many of our XCEL girls (mine included) have lopsided skillsets so they are running XCEL until they can balance it out. Mine kills it on floor (traditionally doing 1-2 level upskills in competition) - has traditionally been on par and scores well for vault, and sucked at Beam and bars (although something clicked over the summer for beam so hoping for good things this season). She hopes to move to DP after this season if she can ever get her kip.

Ugh that darn kip! My daughter didn't learn good technique with her old coaches, and basically hard to start from scratch last year. She finally has it, but the free hip and flyway are inconsistent skills for her.

I'm grateful for XCEL! She was getting so bored with compulsories and having to hold back her other routines because her bars weren't as far along.

 

[raenndrops]

My daughter is switching from DP level 4 to XCEL gold/plat. I'm curious to see how this plays out since XCEL is used so differently from gym to gym it seems.

It looks like many gyms in our region use XCEL as it's intended - an option for kids who want to compete in gymnastics, while pursing other activities, hence lower hours. Some gyms do seem to use it as a means to bypass compulsories, which means they will train more intensely with higher hours. IMHO, it's very apparent which gyms are training more hours with more intensity in the XCEL system.

My daughter comes from a small gym where DP/XCEL train together under the same coaches, but XCEL trains fewer hours/days per week. My daughter still trains DP hours since she wants the extra time in the gym. Her reasoning change to XCEL was how lopsided her skill set is. She can compete level 7/8 elements on floor and beam, and level 6/7/platinum on vault. XCEL gives her the year to clean up bars without pressure, but still be able to compete skills on floor/beam that she's had for several years but wasn't allowed to in compulsory. If she's still on the struggle bus with bars she can stay XCEL instead of going back to DP.

I wonder if there are other kids who chose to pursue XCEL because of a lopsided skillset like my daughter and where they fit in. Would she be seen as someone who is "working the system" vs someone who needs the flexibility XCEL provides?

OG went to Xcel (the year before it Nationalized) because she was working though a mental block that affected floor, bars, and beam (back tuck, back walkover, and flyaway) and had been working through injuries. She competed Gold for 2 years, took time off, and came back as a L6 in high school. She retired the next year because she couldn't juggle everything (College classes, indoor trach, outdoor track, and a pre-nursing program at the local career center = the only classes she had that were NOT college classes, but might as well have been).

YG went to Xcel because she didn't have her kip after 2 years of (old L4) and 1 year at L3. She did have a jump to high bar directly into long-hang pullover and a flyaway. The funny thing is that she had a full Xcel Gold bar routine (self-choreographed) a year before she was "old enough" to compete Xcel in our gym.
She had no solid acro on beam for Gold, but she had a ROBHS, ROBT, FT, and was actually close to a FT-1/2, and her 1/2 On - repulsion off vault was much better than her handspring vault. Her first year of Gold, she competed without beam acro or a full turn ... and still scored her 2 highest beam scores in all 4 years of competing.

LSS made the switch to Xcel Gold from L4 because she was the oldest on her L4 team and didn't feel like she was getting as much coaching as the younger girls ... and she was going to be the only one to repeat the next season or move up without all of the skills (because she basically gave up since she felt she wasn't getting coached and knew she was going to go to Gold). Plus, her best friend was competing Gold and YG was competing Platinum at that point.
This year, LSS is a senior. She is in competitive dance, track, and gymnastics. She is coming back from several (non-gym related) injuries/conditions that derailed most of last season (ankles, knees, lower back, hip, and DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis that led to numbness that started in the thumb and moved up the arm), so she has dropped back to Xcel Gold at least for the beginning of the season. If she gets her skills back (or if she qualifies for YMCA Nationals in the first 2 meets ... so I can have my "senior" moment at Y Nationals that I missed with the other 2 when they retired early - HER IDEA), she will move back up to Platinum. If she doesn't qualify for Nationals as a Platinum, she will still be able to compete as a Gold.

 

[GymnastGirlypop]

Our silvers do 5 hours per week, and our golds do either 6 or 9

 

[Kylie]

My daughter is switching from DP level 4 to XCEL gold/plat. I'm curious to see how this plays out since XCEL is used so differently from gym to gym it seems.

It looks like many gyms in our region use XCEL as it's intended - an option for kids who want to compete in gymnastics, while pursing other activities, hence lower hours. Some gyms do seem to use it as a means to bypass compulsories, which means they will train more intensely with higher hours. IMHO, it's very apparent which gyms are training more hours with more intensity in the XCEL system.

My daughter comes from a small gym where DP/XCEL train together under the same coaches, but XCEL trains fewer hours/days per week. My daughter still trains DP hours since she wants the extra time in the gym. Her reasoning change to XCEL was how lopsided her skill set is. She can compete level 7/8 elements on floor and beam, and level 6/7/platinum on vault. XCEL gives her the year to clean up bars without pressure, but still be able to compete skills on floor/beam that she's had for several years but wasn't allowed to in compulsory. If she's still on the struggle bus with bars she can stay XCEL instead of going back to DP.

I wonder if there are other kids who chose to pursue XCEL because of a lopsided skillset like my daughter and where they fit in. Would she be seen as someone who is "working the system" vs someone who needs the flexibility XCEL provides?

This was me! I did level 4 and my bars were not nearly ready to move up but I had level 6/7 vault, beam, and floor! Now I’m back in DP at level 7. Bars still isn’t my best event but I’m getting there!

 

[CoachKDow]

How many hours do girls practice each week for Xcel Silver and Gold? And what are the benefits of practicing more or less?

The Xcel program was initially designed for those athletes who love gymnastics, want to compete but also want to do others activities as well. The program was designed to foster this idea with less hours in the gym. However as the Xcel level increases the hours do as well but not nearly as much at the Dev Program hours. I have coached in the Xcel program for many years at two gym and know the creators of the program very well. Now different gyms across the country use this program in many different ways. My Xcel silvers for example practice two days a week 4 hours each so 8 hours a week. My Xcel golds have two options for practices 1 is 8 hours and 1 is 10 hours. Xcel Xcel Platinum and Diamond practice 12 hours, or 3 days a week for 4 hours. Comparing this to the Dev program levels that parallel this program level 4 practices 10-13 hours a week, level 8 practices 16 hours a week or 4 days.

 

[CoachKDow]

This was me! I did level 4 and my bars were not nearly ready to move up but I had level 6/7 vault, beam, and floor! Now I’m back in DP at level 7. Bars still isn’t my best event but I’m getting there!

This is why the Xcel program is so great!!! I have a current athlete who is an Xcel Diamond, she has level 8/9 skills as well but not on all the events. Xcel is a great place for her because of the fact there are skills that she can do in XD but not Level 8, so this is a great option. Now just because an athlete switches from Dev to Xcel doesn’t mean they cannot switch back if they get the skills in line for the level. Which is also nice!

 

[coachsades]

How many hours do girls practice each week for Xcel Silver and Gold? And what are the benefits of practicing more or less?

Our xcel bronze and silvers practice 3 days per week 3 hours each. So 9 total. Our Golds practice 4 days per week, 3.5 hours each. So 14 hours each week.

Our program in the last season has become much more disciplined and strenuous. The kid really really enjoy coming to practice because of the variety of things they get to do along with spending time with their teammates. I find we have a team that has a lot more time for uptraining after their basics and routine work. The biggest incentive and excitement is to be able to work their higher skills and progress faster.


I do not know the longevity of our athletes as the more strenuous training is relatively new. As for now, it works for our team!

 

[Pointyourtoes]

XCEL Coach here. My old gym had bronze 2x week for 2 hours, total of 4hrs/wk. Silver was 2x week for 3 hours, total of 6hrs/wk. Gold, platinum and Diamond were 3x week for 3 hours, total of 9hrs/wk. We also had an optional 3 hour sunday practice for any of the silvers-diamonds to do and we had maybe 8-20 kids at any given time depending on where we were in the season. Those that came to the sunday practice were the ones that really wanted it, IMO. We didn’t offer JO or compulsory at the time so XCEL was our only option.

The gym I’m currently at has bronze 2x a week for 2hours, at 4hrs/wk. My silver, gold and platinum are all 2x a week for 3hrs giving us just 6hrs/wk which I think is okay for the silvers but I think my Golds and Platinums need more. I would like to see them at 9-12 hours a week. If I had Diamonds, I would want them at 12-16 hours a week unless they were satisfied and feeling successful with 9-12 hours a week.

My current gym’s DP program is very intense, very selective and very big. I’m really proud to be a part of this gym. However, due to the intensity, some girls choose the XCEL route because training 16-24 hours a week is just too much (understandable!) and that’s where I come in with XCEL.

I personally want the 9-12 hours for Gold and up because I’m just seeing slower progress with the 6 hours a week and we don’t get a lot of chances to do event-specific training very much. I feel they need more time to work in the more advanced skills as well as get some more strength and flexibility training in.

However, I should note that I am VERY new to XCEL program and style, I’m a former JO level 8 so that’s what I’m familiar with and I’m trying to switch gears with my XCEL kids.