Contradictory advice?

[Livinatthegym]

There are pros and cons. And, yeah, they actually seem contradictory. It's your call, and a tough one. As you consider the move, just a couple of things to keep in mind:

Half the kids in level 5 are out by 6. (Here are the USAG Stats on number of participants). In light of this, consider the best decision for right now, not some long term goal.

Level 2003 2004 2007 total average % previous of level

5 17841 17416 17400 52657 26329
6 10779 8772 8832 28383 14192 0.54
7 8335 6725 7357 22417 11209 0.79
8 6517 5432 5333 17282 8641 0.77
9 4308 3543 3284 11135 5568 0.64
10 2319 1900 1691 5910 2955 0.53
Elite 163 143 97 403 134 0.05

How devestated would your daughter be if she tried level 4 over the summer and had to drop back or if she could get the skills but not polish them enough to place during competition? If those things wouldn't bother her, definitely try it.

I had one kid progress through the rec program (even took a 2 year break in there). She's spent a year at each level and done very well. In here career, she's had two meets where she didn't finish in the medals in all-around, and one of those she was competing with a broken metacarpal. She's currently finishing her gymnastics "career" as a level 8.

My other kid skipped most of rec and did what other people are calling hot-shots or some other fast track. She did a year of 4, one meet at 5, then moved right to level 6. She certainly was lacking some of the polish of the girls who hadn't skipped levels. She didn't place well as a level 6 and the optional coach had her work cut out for her when dd2 started training 7. Doing well as a gymnast takes polish, not just skill acquisition. Sadly, taking the time to polish is not nearly as much fun as learning the new skills, but it has to be done. Please don't rush simply because your fear your daughter will get "bored."

[Megley]

I think that this is a hard decision and one that you need to make based on your knowledge of your child and with the input from her coaches. I guess I am the voice of dissent here, but what I find disconcerting about your current gym is that they seem to insist on one year at each level no matter whether the girl is ready to move forward or not. This may be fine at higher levels but at Level 2, I don't see the point if she is ready and has all her Level 4 skills next season. Why make her do Level 3? I do understand the stuff about polish, but if she has the skills solidly then why not do Level 4? She will be 7 if I have her age right and that is about the right time for Level 4. Does the new gym have a Level 3? If they are willing to assess her and let her compete at her skill level (whatever that may be) then I would go there. It does sound like a more high pressure environment, though, so you need to be sure that she would do well in that kind of situation.

Here in Virginia, we do not compete anything below Level 4. My daughter is 6 this year and doing just fine at Level 4. I am glad that she was not held back because of her age. She had all her Level 4 skills before the season started and is now working on polishing them along with learning her Level 5 skills. Because the levels build on each other, a lot of the Level 5 training applies to Level 4 (i.e., learning the double bhs, learning to vault over the table). What I like is that her coaches teach skills based on how each girl is doing with current skills. Her coach says he is not coaching Level 4 so much as he is coaching beginning competitive gymnastics. Those girls that have mastered a skill and are ready to move on are taught the next progression of the skill. I feel like Lily will be well prepared for Level 5 next year.

Anyway, all I am saying is that if Skylar has all of her Level 4 skills when the season is set to begin next year I don't see why she shouldn't do Level 4 at age 7. On the other hand, if is still struggling with the Level 4 skills, she should compete Level 3 while continuing to work on Level 4 skills. If she has a rough Level 4 year, she can always repeat to get the polish she needs. I am willing to bet she will do great at Level 4 and be ready for Level 5 the following year.

To Mariposa's Mom, I just wanted to say that I think your dd will be fine in Level 4 so don't worry too much! My daughter was 5 (turning 6 in October) when she moved to Level 4. She is having a good season this year and enjoying herself immensely.

Meg

Lily (6yo Level 4)

[Shawn]

Megley, you kind of hit the nail on the head. Skylar doesn't already "have" her level 4 skills because she's never had the opportunity to train them. The way our gym works, the girls are competing AAU level 2 right now while they learn the level 3 skills (of which Skylar can already do most of them). There is no opportunity to learn level 4 skills until this time next year, after they have trained the rest of this year on level 3 and begun the level 3 meet season next January (2009).

The new gym that we're considering would start her training the level 4 skills right away and have her compete level 4 this fall (2008) and then begin training level 5. If for some reason she is not ready to compete L4 this fall, the coaches can take them to some L4 meets next spring. Either way she would be training to compete L5 by next fall (2009). I like that flexibility. It sounds like they progress each girl individually rather than having time requirements for the whole team.

I did ask Skylar if she had to choose, would she rather score really good at the meets perfecting tricks she already know or would she rather learn new tricks even if it means she might not score as well. She said she'd rather learn new tricks. I don't know what that's worth from a 6-year-old but I know it's true. She's one of those kids who needs to keep progressing and learning new things. She's like that at school, too (in kindergarten but already reading a year above her level).

We do plan to check out a couple more gyms and talk to her current coach. But, her coach is pretty firmly entrenched in the gym policy and I don't think they'd even consider skipping her up, which is too bad because other than this, we really like it there.

[mariposamama]

megley-thanks! i am not worried about her. i am worried about me. LOL. i am so not ready for her to be doing all this.

shawn- i can definitely see the pros of how your gym does it. your daughter's routines looked very polished and her form is great. if all the girls are like that, they must be doing something right.

like i said, we have no lower levels. at DDs old gym, in the advanced classes they really work on just strength and form, etc. at her current gym in her developmental/preteam class, they mostly are getting skills. i am assuming they will work more on the strength, etc on team.

so, my DD has the skills, but they aren't polished. if that makes any sense. some of the older girls in her class look more polished, but i think it is their personality, etc. my DD hasn't quite realized you have to look pretty while doing the skills, LOL. she is just happy to be able to do them.

i would talk to your DDs coaches and also check out other gyms. good luck!

[Megley]

Quote:
The new gym that we're considering would start her training the level 4 skills right away and have her compete level 4 this fall (2008) and then begin training level 5. If for some reason she is not ready to compete L4 this fall, the coaches can take them to some L4 meets next spring. Either way she would be training to compete L5 by next fall (2009). I like that flexibility. It sounds like they progress each girl individually rather than having time requirements for the whole team.

I think this is all good as long as the coaches are willing to be flexible and not push her to compete before she is ready. I think that is what was causing the problems for the other poster. In other words, the timetable should be just a guideline. Nobody can really say for sure right now whether she will or won't be ready for Level 5 in the Fall of 2009. That said, if she is willing to take on faster paced training, I would move. My only caution would be to monitor the situation. Watch practices, pay attention to her attitude about going to gym, just try to make sure it is still fun. It's hard to hit the right balance of fun and challenge, but if you can do it she will thrive. Best of luck to you!

Meg

Lily (6 yo Level 4)

[Megley]

Mariposa's Mom, it will be fun! Level 4 is really fun because the skills are not that difficult and the girls have such a great time at the meets. I'm sure that your dd will do great!

Meg

[Shawn]

It's so great to be able to talk these things through with moms who understand and have been there.

I think what we're going to do is have her evaluated at the two other gyms that we're considering. We'll then have three "outside" opinions on what level she should be. If they agree that she ought to be at level 4, we'll approach her current coach and see what she says and then go from there.

Skylar just has so much potential and she really loves doing it. I just don't want to mess up anything for her.

[medic3188]

My two cents......shawn I am sure skylar will be fine at level 4. She can always go back. My dd switched gyms as a level 3 and the new gym only had level 4. They put her into the level 4 team but it was already september and she did not have the skills. Especially in bars. She stayed until dec when we moved to florida...this is a very competitive state. level 2 compete level 2 and learn level 4. In our gym every level works two levels ahead. We ended up moving her back to 2 and she loves it. She is very polished on her skills and had scored well in her first meet. My daughter was more comcerned about competing then what level she was at. She is 7 1/2 and wants to score well. This worked for us. I am glad she tried 4 but she really wasnt ready.

[gym mom]

our gym starts competing l2 they stay l2 6m then l3 6mon a year at l3 I believe is to long l4 6m to 1year depending unless the coach sees that a girl is getting all of her skills very easly and follows instructions well the opt.coach which is also the owner evauluates them and moves them according.We had a girl that was on my dd's team and once they moved to l4 last month they had her practice a month with them then seen she was ready for L5 and moved her and she is doing great.there was another girl that competed this past fall has l2 they moved her past l3 and moved her to our l4 she was getting all the skills with ease so now she is in l5 and also doing great.Most of my dd's team generally pick up the skills at the same rate if the girls that were picking them up much faster and easier they move up I believe thats how it should work.The girls need to be looked at indivually