MAG Levels

[alongfortheride]

If you had a 7 year old who competed level 5 and scored "middle of the road", but-- over the summer he got the rest of what he needed for level 6 (hypothetically, but very possible). If you had any say as a parent would you:

1) have him repeat level 5 as an 8 year old and possibly win a lot more
2) have him go on to level 6 as an 8 year old (and likely repeat level 6 as a 9 year old)

Just curious-- I may not have any say at all, and I don't feel like strongly one way or another.

 

[sce]

I think it really depends on the boy's form. I would prefer repeating 5 if it meant working on technique. If technique is good then the challenge of 6 might be a good thing. Also, what do you mean by middle of the road scores? Scores vary from place to place.

 

[alongfortheride]

Scores: 55ish. . .all around. Still has a few more competitions to go this season. Still working on a couple of the bonuses also (for level 5), but is close.

 

[sce]

Scores: 55ish. . .all around. Still has a few more competitions to go this season. Still working on a couple of the bonuses also (for level 5), but is close.

In that case I think I'd see how summer training goes. If he acquires the skills for level 6 and is not struggling to do them, then 6 might be a good idea. If there is even an event or two lacking though, than repeating 5 might be best. By lacking I mean unable to cleanly or safely do the base routine.

 

[profmom]

I'd make the judgment based on how good fundamental skills are -- BHSs, mushroom circles, tap swings, rings swings, pbars swings, vault run and blocking. Time spent perfecting fundamentals is never wasted, and if learning new L6 skills takes away from getting solid on those things, then I'd lean against. However, if the boy is solid on all those things, moving up might make sense if the L6 skills are there.

From 5 to 6 is a big jump.

 

[sce]

From 5 to 6 is a big jump.

This is very true

 

[AnotherTexasGymMom]

Also depends on the kid. For my DS, 2 seasons in a row of being "middle of the road" would take a toll on his confidence. I think for him, if he completed a season of being middle of the pack, I would want to repeat and have a strong/fun season with lots of medals. That's assuming there are still a few L5 bonus skills to gain (which based on the AA score you mentioned, seems like there must still be bonuses he is working on). If he has all the L5 bonus skills already, I would move to 6 so he doesn't get bored.

 

[samsmama]

Also depends on the kid. For my DS, 2 seasons in a row of being "middle of the road" would take a toll on his confidence. I think for him, if he completed a season of being middle of the pack, I would want to repeat and have a strong/fun season with lots of medals. That's assuming there are still a few L5 bonus skills to gain (which based on the AA score you mentioned, seems like there must still be bonuses he is working on). If he has all the L5 bonus skills already, I would move to 6 so he doesn't get bored.

This is exactly what I was going to say. What does your son want to do?

 

[alongfortheride]

He has most of the bonuses now. He does not perform all the bonuses he has yet in competition. He needs two more specific bonuses (which he is close to, but doesn't have).

To answer the question about what he wants to do, he doesn't seem to care. He loves doing gymnastics with his friends. He has been practicing all year with the level 5's who will mostly move up to level 6, so I do think he likes being with the "big boys". I don't think he cares what level he competes. Then again, perhaps it would be good for his confidence to have a "winning" season. I guess it's a good thing if he doesn't care, because he will hopefully be fine no matter what he does.

 

[ZJsMom]

I agree that it depends on the kid. Some kids like to really master things and care about the medals. Others really want to be challenged and would rather be doing harder routines. In the long run, I don't think whether he does two years of 5 or two years of 6 will effect his future as a gymnast much.

 

[Coach E]

Every gym should have expectations/requirements to move up so their is little confusion what it takes to be at each level. Not only score based but also skill based. I do this at my gym and everyone know what is expected also helps keep standards up. I have no problem moving any kid that meets the requirements to move up and other parents can't complain that a child is get special treatment over another.

 

[gracyomalley]

wish it were always as cut and dried as Coach E is able to make it at his gym!

We have a small team and at present no Future Stars (which would be an option to keep your kid learning new stuff but competing at a level they were really masters of). Here in order for a kid to work higher level skills they often have to move up...the big boy group is L6 and up, and within that the three 8ish plus kids (DS L7 is one of them because he's skipping levels and working lots of L9 skills) do different stuff...

The move from 5 to 6 is much bigger than from 4 to 5, but at least here, 7 is the big ugly level - tough scoring, and hard to do well at, lots of kids skip it, etc....esp younger kids - my older DS is doing 7 this year after 5, and doing great - but he's in the oldest age group so basically with a bunch of other late starters who are skipping levels, etc...when my younger boy gets there he'll be in the thick of the 62+ scorers....unless he repeats L6 next year, and he's scoring the same as your boy is at L5...he has NO intention of moving up next year, but rather staying a 6 and mastering all the bonuses (which would put him scoring 62ish in our region - don't know about yours). He has actually figured out that this would put him in a less competitive age group (he is a summer birthday so always has to compete with "older" kids....)

The reason I bring this up is that moving through quickly requires a kid who DOESN'T mind being average/never medaling, IMHO, or that kid will end up moving to another sport before they get to the cool stuff at L8 and up. We have one 7 year old kid doing L6 this year - because he wanted to train with the 6s to do higher level skills and this was the only way to make that "fair" on our small team. He is scoring in the 40s, although he has essentially all the skills and many bonuses (even giants). His form is a big issue, and his scores are pretty even across events because of it. Some skills are simply harder due to his size. HOWEVER, he's happy and having fun, and his parents expected this exact scenario, so its working for him. He'll sit at L6 for a while. One thing to keep in mind is that the routines at L6 are significantly longer than those at L5 - which means that if swings aren't with good form a kid is going to get deducted twice as much for his legs apart - even if can do all the skills, etc. same idea with pommel/mushroom work - form breaks will add up to lower scores than they did as a L5. This may or may not be an issue for your DS....

I will say that my younger boy was a totally average L5 his second year, middle of the road at regionals, etc. He wanted to try to go L6 this year, worked hard and is doing fine! Has all the base skills now (finally got the back uprise on rings this week!) and many bonuses on his strong events. He has gotten a couple of medals even in the high scoring age 10 group. I never imagined he'd be doing as well and the biggest difference for him has been form improvement! His coach was pretty sure he'd do fine from the beginning - so I'm glad he was in charge and not me!!!

 

[momto2js]

We will have this EXACT same situation. I think DS will remain with his training group for the summer and uptrain with the new 6's. Then in the fall we will make a decision. The biggest, and probably not the best reason to make a decision, will be the make up of the group. The training group he is in now is amazing. They all get along and focus well. The group below it full of kids that are REALLY young and wild. He hate that they are in trouble all the time. I will do my best to keep him with older kids.

This year most of the 5s were repeats next year most will be new 5's with my son as one of the only holdovers. That makes progress hard. I guess we will see how it goes.

 

[Deleted member 10727]

My level 6 is not exactly middle of the road, but he's high middle range for a very competitive state/region. His events are asynchronous, too. He has 3-4 great events, and 2 really not so great ones. He has all of the bonuses on 3 events, and *could* have all of the bonuses on 1, if he wasn't having some mental blocking going on (vestibular or not, it's still blocking). His major weakness is hibar, which gets even more tough in level 7, or so I am told.

So the plan is for him to train level 7 during the summer, and then see how it goes from there. I, personally, would love to see him uptrain 7, compete 6 and do very well, and be super prepared for level 7 the following season. The routines will also change then, since it will be the olympic year, so he'd come in fresh, but with uptrained skills.

My hopeful plan for him doesn't match how he feels about it though. He would see competing level 6 as a failure on his part, no matter what I tell him. Maybe once he started winning a lot that would change for him, but I doubt it. If he does compete level 7, he would have to do it for 2 years because of his age, and he would just have to be prepared to not do great the first season of level 7.

 

[samuel310]

If he is scoring lower then 55-56 then I would repeat...56-58 would be a maybe and anything higher I would have him move up

 

[gracyomalley]

Scores vary by region - it makes more sense to look at skills and where overall your kid's scores put him in your region....although in general I would agree that higher than 58 makes NO sense to stay back - that being said, my DD was a high scoring L7 but still struggled to get the L8 skills and lost her confidence, etc so stayed back (training only and not competing at all) - and she's not the only one of the kids in her age group who were top dogs at L7 but aren't L8s yet....I'm not sure how that translates with boys as puberty is a different fish for them....gymnastically speaking....

High bar is WAY harder at L7 than L6 - my younger DS is scoring 9s on L6 high bar with very basic routine...and as would be expected that puts him low middle for 10 year olds....(but we are proud of him as he scored 7s at L5 on high bar - he was afraid to swing then...). He's got a lot to learn to get near a decent L7 routine... At L7 in our region there are very few kids doing the full routine with bonuses with any degree of mastery - some young kids can "do the skills" but look so sloppy they are still scoring 5-6s, and lots of kids simply can't do the whole thing. My older DS who skipped L6 last year - just finally put his whole high bar routine together for competition so we'll see what happens at state (he did miss 6 weeks with a concussion) - but because he has great form and was doing some bonuses (Free hip to Handstand) he was frequently one of the top scorers meet wide at L7 - with scores in the 7s!!! For him, it would only have been a matter of a couple more months to train to get to 10-11s, and he's already got his L8 HB routine in the works with release moves, etc....for my younger it will take a lot longer to get there I think....

I forgot the routines will change again soon....just when I'm starting to understand these ones!

 

[2G1B]

Do they change every 4 years or 8 years for boys?

 

[sce]

Do they change every 4 years or 8 years for boys?

I thought it was 8 years. But I'm sure they will make some adjustments at 4 years.

 

[skschlag]

Boys change every olympic year, so every 4 years. Who knows what they will do this time.

 

[profmom]

Hey, maybe they can totally change the scoring again! That was fun!