MAG Boys Gymnastics More Laid Back Overall

[alongfortheride]

I "browse" the other forums occasionally, and i get the impression that overall, boys' gymnastics is more laid-back than girls' gymnastics. I don't see a lot of "boy gymnast" parents worrying so much about whether their son will do elite, etc. I don't really hear of very many boys dropping out of school to homeschool to do gymnastics (not that I'm saying homeschooling is a bad thing). You don't hear about young boys skipping levels so much to rush to the top (but I realize also that boys can compete longer). Maybe it's that there are fewer boys than girls in gymnastics, so that's why the difference seems noticeable? Or maybe this difference is my perception?

 

[skschlag]

Very much more laid back. I do think it is because boys have longer to do gymnastics and really can't do a lot of the skills until they get through puberty! Also, the boys have more restrictions on them. You can't do level 8 until 11 (there is a way fro 10 yo to do it). You can't do 9 until you are 13,, and you cannot do 10 until you are 15. So that slows them down a bit

 

[profmom]

Boys' gymnastics is also way smaller. There is no XCel to serve boys who want to compete in gymnastics but don't want to be really strong optionals, so boys' JO teams (the sensible ones) deal with, retain, and compete those guys as well. The top boys' programs do have boys doing crazy hours and homeschooling, but there just aren't as many of them around. If you want to see the crazy, look at Future Stars -- not the gyms that have a program where some guys learn some skills, but the gyms that are sending teams to regionals and nationals. Those guys are breathtakingly good, and laid back isn't an adjective that would get within 40 feet of them, I'd guess. Because of the way the age thing works for boys, my beloved child, who is taking a more leisurely tour of the levels, will likely run into them for the first time in his meets next year, but they can't zoom away from him into L10.

It's interesting to me how the rules are different -- the "stretch" on the girls' side is the low age limits for moving up the levels, so they can zip up to L10 if they are developing skills ahead of the curve. The "stretch" for the boys is in the lack of limit on difficulty for most skills in their optional routines. If an 11 year old L8 can do C and D skills, he can compete them.

The crazy (for good and ill) is there, but it is surrounded by a lot more laid back stuff IMHO. And as Skschlag notes, no matter how fast your crazy train goes, with a boy the station really can't be reached until after puberty.

 

[sce]

There are far less boys than girls in the sport, so that alone makes it more relaxed. and as skschlag said boys have more time. They peak at a much later age and need the time to develop the strength for the skills. Boys can and do skip levels though. While there are minimum ages for certain levels there are not score requirements. If a coach thinks a boy is ready he moves up or even skips a level. If he's not ready he may repeat a level.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

It is more relaxed in terms of progression, but just to clarify after a recent thread in which it was suggested that it is more acceptable for boys to chuck skills, that it is not more laid back in terms of the perfection of form that is expected!

 

[sce]

It is more relaxed in terms of progression, but just to clarify after a recent thread in which it was suggested that it is more acceptable for boys to chuck skills, that it is not more laid back in terms of the perfection of form that is expected!

Yes, I agree with this. Proper technique is still required and necessary. At least at most gyms, and definitely, when beings cored at meets.

 

[samsmama]

I don't have a lot of experience with the girls' side, but my sense is that it depends on the program and the area you live in. Our boys team is new and small and as a result, pretty low-key in a lot of ways. But our coach has very high expectations for the boys and their behavior in the gym reflects that. Our boys are much more focused at practice than the girls are and have done much better at meets so far.

There are other, big gyms nearby that I know have pretty intense boys' programs with much bigger teams that have their L4 boys in the gym twice as many hours as ours are training. Meets in our area are not laid-back at all, even at Level 4. They have been very serious and focused all around -- kids, coaches, judges, and parents.

It will be interesting to see how it all changes as we build out the program, compete at higher levels, etc.

 

[alongfortheride]

Yes, I agree with this. Proper technique is still required and necessary. At least at most gyms, and definitely, when beings cored at meets.

I didn't mean "more laid back" that way (in terms of form and technique)! I guess maybe this forum seems more laid back than the WAG forum or something. . .and I have heard the atmosphere at the competitions is different between men's and women's as well? And some of the parents seem more pushy at younger ages for WAG (even in our gym, some of the girls' parents seem more OCD about how their daughters are competing).

 

[gymboymom]

I think part of it is the lack of the "rush" there is with the girls before puberty. There are homeschool boys programs in my state though. I agree with looking at the future stars program to see the more serious gyms. In that program, there is a rush to get skills early. Meets are a little more laid back in our area than girls, but not much. And the teams that have reasonably successful optional programs have boys doing a pretty good number of hours by L5.

 

[profmom]

We the parents need to do a better job of freaking out. How old is your son, and WHAT LEVEL 9 SKILLS DOES HE HAVE? I think you should schedule a meeting with his coach immediately.

Seriously, the atmosphere at the big meet we were just at over the weekend was about the same as any big upper compulsory girls' meet I've attended. Lots of parents very invested. One gym showed up with the parents clad in warmup jackets with the gym and their son's name on it. But they did not (as one girls' team does) have the cell phone covers.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

One gym showed up with the parents clad in warmup jackets with the gym and their son's name on it. But they did not (as one girls' team does) have the cell phone covers.

Tell me you jest? I would really love to see the looks on our gym parents faces if I brought that up as a suggestion at the next meeting. It's all we can do to get the boys to the meets on time and wearing the dratted white socks. We don't do warm ups. We do drink vast quantities of coffee and then sit meerkat like trying not to close our eyes as our offspring are offered up to unreasonably elevated apparatus.

 

[profmom]

I am so not kidding. They were pretty intense. Still, it could be worse: the girls' team I referenced also has window clings for their vehicles with the gym name and their girls' names.

But we were louder than that boys' team at our meet.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

I may suggest croissants with the boys names in chocolate emblazoned across them for our next meet. I do hate to be outdone.

 

[samsmama]

Wow... warm-up jackets and phone cases! I mean, I applaud that level of organization (I had a hard enough time collecting money for a Christmas gift for our coach), but that would not fly with our team! I hope I run into this team someday, just for the fun of people watching.

On a more serious note, I do worry that I am getting too invested. I have been really surprised at how easy it is to get caught up in it. That hasn't happened with school or other sports my kids have done. To make sure I stay on the right side of the line, I don't watch practice anymore and force DS (who is shy) to talk to his coach directly when he has questions so I don't get in the middle of it. I am friendly with the coach, though, so we do still spend a fair amount of time talking about DS and his future, the team, how to grow the program, etc.

I like this forum because there's lots of good advice but also lots of "chill out, it will all be OK" wisdom when needed!

 

[gymboymom]

This last meet I did see a family wearing "team" and kids last name. So yes, it does happen with boys gym too.

 

[alongfortheride]

Oh wow. . I guess I haven't paid attention enough to notice the personalized warm-up jackets and cell phone covers. That seems kind of crazy. I mean, I'm supportive of my son, but there's a fine line between supportive and obsessive. Plus, who has time for that?

At this point, I personally can't imagine pulling my son out of school for gymnastics. He has lots of friends at school, and I wonder how he would have as balanced of a life as he has now if I did that. If he decided to quit gymnastics at some point, I think that it would be quite difficult if that's the only life and friends he had. (Note: This is not a criticism of homeschooling in general.)

 

[profmom]

Well, one of our team moms made a teeshirt for her toddler last year at states that said "Go [gymnast's name]!" But that was sort of an inside joke, because the little guy had spent several meets occasionally watching his brother and his teammates and shouting "Gooooooo [brother's name]! Stick it!" at random intervals.

 

[skschlag]

Honestly, we are lucky if we are looking up when our boys start competing. Usually we smack the parent in the back of the current competing boy and ask...did you know Johnny was up? Then, they usually have to return the favor. But we do have the after meet dinner planned and any other major world issues solved by the end of the meet.

 

[munchkin3]

the other thing that seems very different, and laid back is during the meets. I notice the guys wiping out, crashing, and messing up routines and they generally laugh it off. I am not saying they don't take it seriously, they just handle it differently. The girls tend to start freaking out and getting all serious and even crying. The age difference is a huge factor, 18/20 YO Level 10 men, vs. 14/16 YO L10 girls......they handle this stuff waaaay differently. But I much prefer the way the guys do it.

And I agree with profmom. I know several kids on these future stars programs, where ALL the kids are awesome, and NOT ONE is laughing about wiping out. They are homeschooled and working 6 days a week. I will keep my personal feeling about this to myself but then again, I do not have one of these types of kids so what do I know.
As my DS current gym put it at the beginning of the season, there are about 50,000 boys in the USAG JO Program.......8 make it to the top.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

getting good in gymnastics for us boys is like making a fine wine. we roll around in that barrel until we're about 23.