WAG Why are some girls better at optionals than compulsory levels?

[roll123]

We are still a level 4, so I am kind of looking ahead, but I see a lot of posts that talk about girls being better at optional levels than they were at compulsories. Is that because they optional routine is tailored to show off their strengths? Or are optional levels less picky?

 

[raenndrops]

It is not that they are "less picky" ... it is that in Compulsory routines, perfection has been established. The judges know where every kick, hand movement, specific pose, skill, etc is supposed to occur in the routine. If you change the order, or have your hands facing down when they should face up, do the "wrong" type of turn (it should have been a pivot turn and the gymnast did a heel-snap turn, for example), then they deduct.

In Optionals, the judges are looking for form on the things the gymnast performs... and does it flow... and artistry... and did they meet all of the requirements for their level.

Lets say that someone did all of the skills and poses in a L4 floor routine PERFECTLY, but did them out of order... and a L7 gymnast did all of the skills and poses in their routine PERFECTLY, but did them "out of order" ... the L4 would incur deductions. The L7 (as long as the new order worked with the music) would not incur any deductions.

So, for those who are not technically perfect, often times, they are better Optional gymnasts than Compulsory gymnasts.

 

[GYM0M]

A little bit of both, I suppose. And it's not that they are less picky, but there is not a defined perfect routine. The compulsory routines depict and define each and every movement. This level of choreography is not preset in optional routines.

 

[Faith]

Some kids have a different style. Mine is very strong, and powerful, but not elegant or graceful.

The early levels she struggled with. A bwo took her months to learn, working on flexibility, straight legs and slowing it down. A double back was comparatively easy as she has plenty of power and spins fast! Vault and bars were her strengths.

She never got much above l5 because of the way uk gym works. But at optionals she could have packed routines with difficulty and choreographed to suit her style and personality.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Some kids have a different style. Mine is very strong, and powerful, but not elegant or graceful.

The early levels she struggled with. A bwo took her months to learn, working on flexibility, straight legs and slowing it down. A double back was comparatively easy as she has plenty of power and spins fast! Vault and bars were her strengths.
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ITA. My DD1 was very good at compulsories, but struggled with optional levels. Little Monkey was always at the bottom of the barrel (no pun intended) at levels 4-6, but started excelling once she could showcase her strengths.

 

[Muddlethru]

It goes both ways. My experience however is that more girls are in fact stronger in compulsories than optionals. Girls start to drop out in larger numbers in optionals than in compulsories. I too find that the "older" girls score better at compulsories and tend to struggle in optionals. The younger girls tend to score less in compulsories but do better in optionals. Just my personal observation. I am certain there are many that have observed the opposite.

 

[Ginger]

@4theloveofsports - it makes sense. I believe that most of young girls don't have the body awareness (tightness, form...) during their compulsory journey, but they gain it with the time. So big deductions during compulsories, but much better when they are older and doing optionals.

 

[iwannacoach]

The optional kids tend to be in it for the long haul so they polish up a bit more.

 

[profmom]

There are some things in the compulsory routines that my DD will never do again in front of a judge, which is a blessing to gymnastics. But generally, she and some other gymnasts I've seen are just on a slow path of overall improvement, and the key co-factor is time in the game, not optional versus compulsory. She is just overall way better on floor, vault, and bars now absolutely (duh), but also in relation to the expectations of the level and in relation to those against whom she is competing.

DD reported to me a few days ago that one of her main coaches who primarily does bars was at open gym and asked her, "hey, when did you get so powerful on floor?" She just giggled.

 

[stxrdusty]

I just thought I'd add my 2 cents to this. I don't know quite why this happens, but a good coach can pinpoint if a kid is going to be better at optionals vs. compulsories. My old JO coach told me that I'd be better at optionals when I was in old level 4, and low and behold 2 years later when I competed level 7 every meet was better. Every meet there on in was better actually until I get to level 9, but lets not talk about that.

 

[LizzieLac]

Maturity plays a big role.

 

[LJL07]

I have been told the same thing about my DD by a few of her coaches--that she may be a mediocre compulsory gymnast but will probably do well as an optional (if she sticks with gymnastics) because she picks up skills quickly and is strong and fast. I have no idea how they can tell this. I hope it's true. I'll report back in a few years. @Gymmonkeymomma your younger DD gives us some hope.

 

[wgymmom]

I have a very good compulsory gymnast... older though. Hopefully she won't crash and burn once she finally gets to optionals.

 

[mariposa]

My kid has been pretty much the same at optionals as she was in compulsories. She's consistently scored (at her peak in each level) 36s AA. I think part of it is that for some gyms, optionals are truly optional, in that they actually play up a kids strengths and downplay weaknesses as well as allow a variety of skills at the levels. Not so much at my daughter's gym. They have pretty set skill sets for each level. They also don't usually do the minimum for routines, so more chances for deductions, etc. Who knows though. She's always been a pretty solid, middle of the pack gymnast, in 4 years of compulsories and 2 years in optionals.