Holding back gymnasts who are scoring very high

[bigtiny]

What do you think about holding back gymnasts (on a level) who are scoring very high? I am talking about the compulsory levels, and kids who are scoring in the 37's and 38's in the AA. I am at a gym that allows parents to hold their kids back if they are nervous or for various other reasons (?). To be honest, I don't always know the reasons, but I do wonder why we have several girls who have scored in the top 3 at states and are currently state champions on at least one event, and these girls will be repeating the same level.

I do suspect I know why it's done, as the gym continues to win the state championships every year at the compulsory levels. They do pretty well at optionals, but not as well as at compulsories.

My own girls have not been held back, but they have had to compete against girls who are repeating a level after scoring 38.5 at states the year before. It is discouraging, to say the least. I don't agree with the philosophy of the gym, but my girls are happy there.

I'd be interested to hear coaches' thoughts...

[~JEM~]

We try and make our girls move up however with moving up levels comes moving up to larger hours. A lot of parents at our gym don't want their daughters going up purely becuase of increased hours, and we accept their wants and needs because often it comes down to accepting their request or loosing the gymnast all together to another club.
I find Often if the child is left behind and all their team mates move up and are doing much harder skills the child will decide they want to do that also.
I do think however that it is extremely unfair on the new girls in the level to have to be against the girls scoring as high as your saying and doing their second year in that level. I understand holding them back if they havent been scoring higher, but holding them back with those scores are unfair.
Sometimes in order for gymnasts to move up there needs to be two options... at our gym we say well they move up and train the full hours or they move out of the competitive program and to programs where less hours are needed (such as rec). Almost Always the parents move up after being told the options lol.

[gracefulone]

It is very unfair. At our gym, most of the girls are in such a hurry to move up so it isn't really an issue. Other gyms, however, have done that. Cough cough-Sheboygan. Sneeze- Appleton. LOL It is very annoying but also how they win states!

[hammy]

The only reasons I see for "holding a gymnast back" are: lack of skills for the next level, lack of ability to do said skills safely, and an inablility to perform the current level's skills accurately and productivly. If a girl scores a 35 at a meet, can do the skills well, and can perform the next level's skills then I say why not move them up; of course I'd talk to the gymnast and the parents.

[bigtiny]

Yes, at our gym last year, we had 3 girls who scored higher than a 39.00 AA at states...

[jasmine196]

At the gym I coach at our philosphy is you have your skills to successfully compete at the next level and you have a good attitude and work ethic we will move you up. However, I do want to share one story with you and get your feedback.

The gym I work at is brand new to compeitive gymnastics. We started last year. So our girls have either come from the rec program or from another gym. We have this one Level 4, who is going into her 4th year at Level 4. Now, I know she is going to score 37-38AA this year, but what would you do? This child has the worst work ethic of any girl I've coached in the last 12 years. She only goofs off in practice and is in time outs more than she is in the gym. We have warned her mom that she is on strike 2, one more and she is out. So the girl has a terrible attitude and work ethic. She also does not have ANY of her Level 5 skills. Seriously, because of her work ethic she hasn't gotten any new skills.

So although I agree that you should move up your kids when they are scoring 37-38 sometimes there is a rare child in there who can not do the skills needed to move up. And coming from Illinois, man I would say almost 95% of the gyms hold their girls back to the point where it is ridiculous.

[hammy]

Jasmine196:
That is a tough call, but I think you're doing the right thing. If the gymnast has no work ethic, then perhaps (and i'm not saying I'm right on this) they simply do not care to be doing the sport. I would continue to hold her back until she is able to at least do the skills, and have a chat with her parents and her. Ask her what her goals are and where she wants to go in gymnastics.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Here are the criteria I use in determining whether to move a kid up:

1) Do they have the skills for the next level? They don't necessarily need to do them perfectly, they just need to be able to do them safely.

2) Do they want to move up?

I would never hold a kid back if the answer to both questions is "yes."

[gym law mom]

Jasmine, I think your 4th year L4 just doesn't want to do gymnastics. The poor work ethic, bad behavior to me all spell, let me out of here. I guess most of us are guessing she's 9 or 10 and at that age she certainly knows how to behave in a group and after 3 years, probably is quite sure of what is required to move to L5. Have to wonder if mom/dad are forcing her to do gymnastics(for whatever reason) even though she's made no real progress in 2-3 years.

Might be time for a sit down talk with the parents before meet season starts to get a feel for this situation. Its not fair to you as a coach or the other girls to have a kid always being disruptive.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

For a more in-depth answer: I can think of several possible situations where a kid who is scoring high would not move up.

1) The kid doesn't have the determination to learn the skills for the next level. This is usually the first symptom of burnout, and if this is the case with your kid, I would sit down and talk to her and see if she really does want to continue in the sport. Of course in such a situation the coach should do everything he or she can to push the kid forward, but ultimately, this rests on the kid. I have one girl who "doesn't want to move up until she wins states." She doesn't want to learn any new skills because she doesn't want to move up. There's really not much a coach can do with a kid like this. We can push them, encourage them, whatever, but ultimately the gymnast will not improve unless they want to improve. If they genuinly are not interested in putting forth the effort required to improve, it may be time to either quit or switch gyms. I say switch gyms because sometimes (though not very often) a change of scenery really can do wonders for a kid's motivation.

2) The kid, for some other reason (be it a fear issue or a simple lack of talent), cannot get the skills necessary. Nobody's really at fault here; the kid gets the skills when she gets the skills, and she can't move up until then. I have one girl who competed level 4 last year (should have done L5 in my opinion, but that's another can of worms I'm not going to get into here), who looks she could easily do L7 on floor, bars, and vault. Put her on beam and she falls apart. She cannot consistently do a cartwheel. In this particular case, we're moving her up to L5 anyway, but you see my point; a coach can be justified in holding a kid back if there are particular, crucial skills that they don't have.

3) The kid could be capable of moving up, but the coaches lack the coaching ability to get them ready for the next level in time for competition season. It's a real shame, but it happens. What more can I say?

4) The kid is capable of moving up, the coach is capable of getting them there, but the coach would rather hold the kid back for the glory of comming in 1st at every meet. This scenario is revoltingly common. Such coaches are, in my opinion, a disgrace to themselves, their gyms, and the sport as a whole. This sport is about challenging yourself, and I firmly believe that kids gain more from working their butts off for 6th than they do from getting 1st without breaking a sweat.