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.