Repeating Level 4?

[Shawn]

I am seeing a lot of talk about first and second years at L4 and it seems like a lot of girls do L4 more than once. As my DD is just moving up to L4, I'm curious about this. Are we talking about AAU or USAG L4? How common is it to repeat L4? Why do they repeat? Are there certain skills that give the girls trouble?

[hammy]

From a personal standpoint, I would have my girls repeat level 4 (USAG L4) for a few reasons:

1. Missing a backhandspring/missing key elements that are building blocks for future skills.
2. Improper technique on important skills (back hip circle on bars, bhs on floor, vault, etc)
3. Maturity--if the kids are consistantly scoring low and do are not mature enough to move on to the next level. For me, this point is mainly a safety issue because as the levels progress the skills become more difficult, and if the gymnast is not mature enough they will end up hurting mentally and physcially.

Repeating a level generally occurs for many reaons, such as missing key elements, immaturity, improper technicque, etc. I am a perfectionist, so I like to see that my gymnasts are able to correctly perform a skill consistantly before advancing them. As far as how common it is to repeat level 4, I think it really all depends on the gymnast. There are some skills at level 4 that give the gymnast trouble, but there are skills at every level that present problems. If everything came extremely easy to every kid, there would be no competition and no overcoming obstacles.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

This varies a lot from gym to gym, and from kid to kid.

Every girl has her own pace. Some girls need several years at the same level to solidify their basics, others can run right through a level.

Not much more to say.

[flip4u]

As said before, there are many reasons that a gymnast may repeat L4.

For me, to move from L4 to L5:
*The gymnast must be able to compete all L4 skills consistently with good form (usually scoring 8.5 and above)
*The gymnast must be able to perform all L5 skills consistently

Another thing that I look at is attitude. If the gymnast has not been scoring well as a L4 and not receiving medals at competition (usually medals are given out to the top 1/2), then I will hold them back. I want them to feel good about themselves and their performance. In my experience, if a gymnast that has not been successful at the previous level is pushed to the next level, they will be even less successful at that next level. Many times this leads to the gymnast quitting gymnastics altogether.

[Shawn]

I understand the reasons for repeating a level. What I want to know is, is there something specific about level 4 that causes problems? Because it seems like this is the level that gets repeated most often (at least from what I can tell based on comments on the board). Why would that be? What is it about level 4?

[cftmoonlight]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn I understand the reasons for repeating a level. What I want to know is, is there something specific about level 4 that causes problems? Because it seems like this is the level that gets repeated most often (at least from what I can tell based on comments on the board). Why would that be? What is it about level 4?

My experience is that a lot of 4s are fairly young and things get scary. Level 4 isn't scary, but when you make a small kid go over that vault in level 5 or jump to the high bar, that gets scary. I think that is the biggest difference in the move from 4 to 5.

[Shawn]

I have heard that AAU level 4 is a better preparation for USAG level 5 than is USAG level 4. Is this true? They still don't do the kip but they do jump to the high bar, roundoff back handspring, and the cartwheel on the beam. They also vault to a stack of mats using the vault table.

[TuesdayPillow]

I guess it depends on the gym/coach's goal.
I do not find Level 4 very progressive at all. I have worked at two gyms that start their gymnasts at Level 5. Sometimes the kids stay for two years, many times they are able to move on.

I do not wait until a child is PERFECT before they move up. However, I train my kids according to their level. Some train to compete well in meets and get high scores.

In my opinion, there is no reason to repeat Level 4. Level 5 is the level where you really start training all the important skills on every event that will allow the gymnasts to progress.

Reasons most gyms repeat Level 4?

Maturity
They want to win
Fear

[Aussie_coach]

If level 4 is the one being repeated it is often the level 5 skills we can look to for the problem. The kids have successfully gained their level 4 skills for competition but often repeat because they arent getting their level 5 skills. There are a few big jumps from level 4 to 5. Like vaulting over the table, glide kip and long hang kip on bars and so on.

[Shawn]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie_coach If level 4 is the one being repeated it is often the level 5 skills we can look to for the problem. The kids have successfully gained their level 4 skills for competition but often repeat because they arent getting their level 5 skills. There are a few big jumps from level 4 to 5. Like vaulting over the table, glide kip and long hang kip on bars and so on.

Okay, that makes sense. So when we're talking about "repeating" level 4, we're talking about repeating the competitions while continuing training level 5, not repeating the level 4 training. Usually. Right?