To smile or not to smile?

[skfleming255]

Do your gymnasts smile during floor routines, etc? My dd is very serious when she is competing. She has her game face on. I wish she would smile to show she's having fun, but I don't want to mess her up by trying to get her to smile.

[bogwoppit]

Wouldn't that depend on her music and her routine. My littlest has "Winnie the Pooh", it is very cute and bouncy, like Tigger, and it makes everyone smile, so she smiles.

My oldest DD has a much different piece, "disneys Parade" and it doesn't lend itself to a smile. So, she tends to go for a benign happy face. Of course during tumbling that can look like the grinch, but hey, she's having fun.

I suppose in the US, with the level 4,5,6 compulsory music it is hard to make one perfect routine stand out from the other without the gymnast going that extra mile with a smile. (OOOH poetry) But that level 5 stripper music always makes me laugh.

I think some girls are more naturally smilers, a forced smile will look worse than no smile. Just like that!!! She is probably best left alone and allowed to do it her way, when she gets to have her own music she may tend to choose the more dramatic pieces.

[JBS]

I'll answer for the etc. My daughter is 2 and she always smiles during gymnastics. Her game face is a smile.

I have also started the below thread in the "Coaches" forum to get their opinion.

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/sh...=8680#post8680

Please remember, we need to stay in the right forum. If you are a parent, please reply in the parent forum. If you are a coach, please reply in the coaches forum. Parents are allowed to ask the coaches a question in the "Coaches" forum and coaches are allowed to ask the parents a question in the "Parents" forum. Make sure you are starting a new thread if you are asking a new question (don't go off topic).

[gym law mom]

My daughter rarely smiled in her floor routines. Of course they were the "canned" L5 and L6 music, so maybe to her there wasn't much to smile about. She also didn't want to look like a "Barbie doll"---go figure. I think with her own music for floor ex this season, we'll see some personality(didn't say alot of smiling).

[Mac]

I once got to ask two judges. They agreed that it didn't matter as far as scores, but also, in general, a confident gymnast is a happy gymnast and will smile naturally just because they're doing what they like to do and they're doing it well. A fake, forced smile doesn't by them anything.