What are your thought's? ...

[CoachLin]

I thought maybe some of the coaches who have been coaching for a while longer than I have could give me some insight / opinion about my daughter's training...not sure if this is the right forum to put this in....At my club she in in a competitive program...she's 4 1/2 years old, and train's 4 hour's a week...each session..is 2 hrs long. Her training time consists of conditioning, flexibility work and drills...Split's are all the way down, starting to do prep for handspring vault, shoulder stand's into pit, etc....I'm asking if you guy's work little one's at this pace or is it too much at once? I also coach competitive gymnastics and was an athlete myself and was pushed at a young age....just don't want to see her get burnt out....any thought's/ opinions would be grateful....
Thanks!

[lilgymnast4ever95]

im not a coach but i have been doin gymnastix for 14 years i started when i was 3 and at that age i wanted 2 do it just ask her if she really wants to do it and make sure she knows what shes in for ok make sure she really wants it and just keep asking her every once in a while if u ask her then if she really doesnt want 2 keep going then shell tell you at the age of 10 i was a level 10 and i dont think the pace was 2 hard for me you just have to make sure its ok for her ok tell me how it goes

[CoachLin]

Thanks...I have and do ask her her form time to time if she is enjoying herself...if she like's it, and she replies with " I love it!" so I guess that is my answer...when I ask if things are too difficult she sometime's tells me the conditioning is easy...and being a coach and having coached my daughter at one point also, I do know that some of the conditioning is easy for her as she is a very strong little girl...So as long as I keep getting positive feed back from her, that's a good sign.
Thank you.

[hammy]

It doesn't sound like it's too much for her, but you're the mother. I agree with lilgymnast--ask her how she feels about it. You can always challenge her with conditioning at home if you really think it's necessary, but I think the conditioning will get harder and easier as she gets stronger (hopefully that made sense). In other words, more will be expected of her, and because of that she'll get stronger.

[CoachLin]

Thanks..I agree with both of you...and from watching over the past wekk I don't think it's too much for her....As for challenging her at home with conditioning I try to keep a " no gymnastics" at home rule because I used to coach her and she just get's frustrated with me if I am correcting thing's...Although she is so gung -ho about gymnastics that she is doing chin-up's and leg lift's, sitting in split's etc, when she play's on her monkey bar's so enough said!!

[hammy]

"Although she is so gung -ho about gymnastics that she is doing chin-up's and leg lift's, sitting in split's etc, when she play's on her monkey bar's so enough said!!"

Sounds exciting to me!!!

[Anna]

What's a shoulder stand into the pit?

Sounds like if you're daughter's having fun, then that's enough. Check out what the coaches are like with her - if they've got great rapport and relationship with the kids, then you can be happy to know that they're caring about the kids and wanting them to stay in the sport. If they're pushy/screamy and it's FAR beyond anything reasonable (especially because she's only TURNING FIVE!!!), then maybe time to consider action...

[CoachLin]

Shoulder stands are preps for back tucks/ layout's, done in a hollow body position. the athlete jumps up into the coaches hands into a holllow body position, then the coach rotates them backward's, doing either tuck or layout. ( she is doing them into a foam pit ) - Hope that helps!!

The coaches I know personnaly as I work with as I work with them, And they are top notch! great environment and atmosphere!