WAG Privates in Level 3

[Gymbee06]

I'm in the uk and our gym doesn't do them and I don't know of any near us that do them either.
One a side note I did have an inquiry from a parent whose kid wasn't even in gymnastics if we could give her kid private lessons "because her dd was definitely a gymnast" the kid was 2!!!

 

[wgymmom]

After old 4, the HC at the time strongly recommended privates for all the old 4 girls. Some were to nail down kips & such to be competitive at new 4, and others were to work things like giants and flyaways so girls could, theoretically, advance more quickly.

So we paid for several semi-private lessons so DD could work on strap bar giants. They ended when summer practice started up. In summer, the girls ONLY trained new 4 skills. DD? Still hasn't moved giants out of the strap bar, two full competitive seasons later. For that matter, neither have the other girls who also did the privates.



Basically, all of those privates were a complete racket. I will NEVER, ever, ever do a private again without a DARN good reason. We wanted to get DD one for her vault, but after the video was reviewed here, I felt like she has SO much wrong with her vault that one private before states was just going to be wasted time and money.

 

[hearts_and_stars]

I don't know that I am adding anything to the discussion, but here's my $.02 on the whole privates thing. If they are targeted to fix a specific skill, repair a mental block, or focus on the 'little things' that can sometimes get lost in the bigger group then I say go for it. If they are on a regular basis for extra instruction or working on upgrades then I think you're crazy, especially at L3. If the coach asks for them, I would have a discussion as to the reason(s) why. I think privates can be positive, but most parent use them as a way to push their kid ahead and get extra hours in the gym. Unfortunately, privates can be expensive (I don't know what the OP rates are, but at DD's gym it is $40 for half hour and $70 for full hour. They do give discounts for more than one kid--sometimes having a training buddy in a one-on-two scenario can achieve more than one-on-one time) and don't usually accomplish everything the parent sets out to accomplish. If you're doing privates because your gymmie wants more hours I think it is better to talk the the coach about the possibility of adding days as that is a much cheaper route than constantly doing privates.

 

[NoDramaMama]

We did a few privates prior to competition season at level 3 because we came to this gym in May and my dd wanted to compete in September and needed to learn all of her level 3 skills. The biggest benefit was that the coach (who coaches optionals) was able to understand how she works and develop a one on one relationship with her that has been useful in regular practices. My dd needed to have that personal relationship with the coach because the coach is very strict and she wasn't used to it. She learned that the coach is actually a very nice person with high expectations. That made a HUGE difference in how she has been working and progressing in the off season.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

The private lesson philosophy varies a lot from gym to gym.
At our gym, privates are ONLY to work specifically in something with either severe issues (which are usually addressed in practice) or severe blocks.
I know of parents who wanted privates in L3 and how it was received by the coaches.... The general air was one of amusement. It is the gym policy that most gymmies get what they need in regular practice and privates are unnecessary, Especially (sorry to sound dismissive but it's true) in lower compulsory levels.