Levels? :S

[LasswadeCoach]

Hello everyone, my name is Rachael, im a 18 year old coach, and i currently live in the UK.

I coach a small group of high level six year olds, and another group of high level 7 year olds.

I dont understand the American system of levels, such as level 5 6 or 7 , could you explain these to me please it would be much appreciated?

Could you also tell me which level my gymnasts would be able to sit and what skills are required

Thanks, Rachael

[gracefulone]

level4 Floor:handstnad forward roll, bacward roll to push-up postition, round-off backhandspring, front limber to kickover, good leg splits. Bars: pullover with glide, front hipcircle, stride circle, back hipcircle. Beam: 3/4 handstand, half coupe turn, leap, wendee. vault: handstand plop onto pit.

Level 5 Floor: back extension roll, dive forward roll, front handspring, good leg splits, back walkover, roundoff two back handsprings. Bars: all casts to horizontal kip, front hipcircle, squat on, kip to high bar, back hip, underswing, tapswings, tap bar and let go. Beam: 2 second vertical handstand, half coupe turn, cartwheel, wendee, leap.
Vault: handspring on table.

Level six Floor: backhandspring step out, punch front, same dance elemnts as level four/five, fornt handspring stepout fronthandspring, roundoff back hand back tuck. Bars: Kip, clear hip, squat on (all casts to 45 degrees above horizontal), kip, baby giant, tap tap flyaway. Beam: leap to 120 degrees, full turn, back walkover, handstand hold, turn to wendee dismount. Same vault as level five.

Levels seven and up follow the USAG code of points with their skill values. If you have more questions, I'll elaborate.

[JBS]

Also...the levels go from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest)....then elite. Competition starts at level 4 or 5. Some gyms use 4 as a pre-team level. Levels 1, 2, and 3 are basically recreational levels. Our rec gymnasts compete (perform...no judges) these lower levels at our "in house" meets.

[LasswadeCoach]

Thank you very much, could i also ask, is there an age limit to which level gymnasts could enter, for example, could i enter my 6 year olds at level 6 or 7?

Thanks

[gym law mom]

Well, I'm not a coach, but I can answer your question on ages. A girl must be 6 years old to compete as a Level 4 and 7 to compete as a Level 5. They cannot skip levels since they need an AA score at levels 5-7 of 31 and 8/9 of 32 to move up to the next level per USAG(called the mobility score). Now, just because a girl gets a 31 AA doesn't mean her gym will automatically move her up---that is where the gyms have discretion if they think the girl is ready for the next level.

[LasswadeCoach]

Really? the skills are considerably easy in levels 5 and 6, can you tell me, why is it you can't skip levels? Its not like that here in the UK

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LasswadeCoach Really? the skills are considerably easy in levels 5 and 6, can you tell me, why is it you can't skip levels? Its not like that here in the UK

You just have to hit the mobility score at a qualifying meet. The mobility scores are not that high...so if you are ready to skip a level you should easily hit it. A gymnast could compete level 5 last year...start level 6 in the new year...hit the score and be level 7 for most of the year.

I'm not extremely versed in this, so correct me if I'm wrong. Does anyone have a link to the rules on this subject.

[LasswadeCoach]

We have the same score to pass in the UK, but we also have whats called a distinction, which is a pass with over 90% this is what our gymnasts are aiming for, however the age at which competitions start is much higher - 8 unless its 2 piece (floor & vault) I create harder inter house competitions with much more complicated skills to challenge my younger gymnasts and give them the experience of a competition

[davjam]

If i recall correctly, many years ago there were 3 main levels for clubs with level 3,2,1 in order of difficulty. I remember all the confusion when the 1-10 system came into use. I believe that it became clear that there were too many gymnast for 3 levels to handle. Compare it to the trend of scoring starting at 10th's of a point and going into 1000's of a point. I don't think it matters if the numbers went 1-10 or 10-1 but the seperation was. Also our system is different from yours for many reasons and it allowed many younger students to enter into a great sport and have a chance at mobility without a gret deal of difficulty. Just something to know, thanks.