Anon Xcel: Variations in skill requirements by gym

[Anonymous Post]

I am aware that for Xcel levels, a wide range of skills can be competed to meet scoring requirements. I have seen evidence of this at meets. I have seen gyms that consistently compete more advanced skills than are being trained at my child's gym. For example: Current gym does not require or really train a kip at Xcel Silver, while other nearby gyms compete a kip at that level. Routines at the child's gym are well composed, high start value, and they score well, but some feel that they are "less advanced" than routines performed by competing gyms. The current gym has a philosophy of slow, careful progression, preferring to compete skills that can be performed cleanly. I understand this, but parents are expressing concern that their gymnasts aren't even training skills at practice that nearby gyms are competing.

Is it necessary to be concerned about "slow" skill progression in Xcel, when such a wide range of skills can be competed?

 

[&bs]

Another way to look at it would be that your gym’s Silvers would be in Bronze at the other gym and not allowed in Silver even though they could meet the requirements and score well. These same parents who probably be concerned about be held back. The girls probably aren’t training kips because they aren’t ready, the other gym is either using Silver as a Level 3/4 replacement or holding kids back and competing well below their capabilities. I’m Fromm Australia but if I recall correctly Kip isn’t need until Platinum but common in Gold?

 

[Anonymous Post]

Another way to look at it would be that your gym’s Silvers would be in Bronze at the other gym and not allowed in Silver even though they could meet the requirements and score well. These same parents who probably be concerned about be held back. The girls probably aren’t training kips because they aren’t ready, the other gym is either using Silver as a Level 3/4 replacement or holding kids back and competing well below their capabilities. I’m Fromm Australia but if I recall correctly Kip isn’t need until Platinum but common in Gold?

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, a kip isn't required until Xcel Platinum I believe, but it is a commonly competed skill in Xcel Gold and even Silver.

 

[TheXcelMom]

Is it necessary to be concerned about "slow" skill progression in Xcel, when such a wide range of skills can be competed?

My daughter, almost as a personality trait, will not risk losing points on a skill that is not required even if she feels she has mastered it. She scored over 38 at regionals. So I don’t think those advanced skills get you much in silver

One exception, one of my daughter’s XS teammates mounted with a Kip and always had extraordinarily high bar scores. But of all the teams in all the region she was the only XS gymnast I saw with a Kip. I’m sure there were others… but not in our session.
For XG though….I noticed most of XG competing with kips on both low and high bar.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Yes, this is one of the things about Xcel that is surprising to me. Our gym uses it to bypass lower level compulsories, so we have stricter skill requirements in Xcel in comparison to some gyms. Can't move to Gold without a kip, for instance. But I've seen the skill variation swing soooo much at meets that I know not all gyms have the same requirements. I recall a meet last year, when my kiddo was Silver, where one gym had girls throwing back tucks and another had girls only doing a single roundoff. The roundoff girls actually had better scores because they were perfect.

I like Xcel and the varying skills that are allowed. I think with proper coaching, it's a great way for a gymnast to quickly identify their strengths and be trained as such, while simultaneously working on things that are needed for the next level.