WAG Making up for lost time!!

[gymmomtoo]

She is cute out there. A nice solid, basic level 8 routine.

 

[kayjaybe]

OMG - she looks so little out there! Looks great to me!

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

Her leaps are wonderful! So high for such a tiny little girl! And she reminds me of a gymnast from a long time ago, I just can't think of who... Thanks for sharing.

 

[NewtoGym]

GyM0M has said numerous times that she did one meet as a level 8, skipped her state meet and is now a level 9.

Why wouldn't she be doing state and trying to go to regionals? I would think that is the best part for all the hard work these gymmies put in. Such a great experience!

 

[gymdog]

My daughter did BHS BLO on beam as an 8. She also did it as a 9. It is very common here in our region to see very high level skills in JO being performed. But it varies from region to region. Oh and the dismount was flight to double full in 9. So technically she did BHS BHS as well, but only as part of her dismount.

Right. I was responding to BHS layout LAYOUT which your daughter probably did not do in level 8 because she would have taken a deduction. I have seen many level 10 meets. There is no benefit to doing this connection so it's rarely done. Not never done, but rarely. With the SV capped in JO (unlike FIG currently) obviously you will see less difficult routines and connections in level 10 than in elite. Do you feel this is not true in your region?

 

[Sidnito]

My DD also does BHS LOSO for level 8. She is typically the only one with it in her routine. Although I think when we go to regional's there may be other gymnasts who also has this skill. She made the state team with a fall from doing that skill!. It was a close one. She also does BHS Layout Layout but isn't allowed to compete it yet.

 

[sce]

Why wouldn't she be doing state and trying to go to regionals? I would think that is the best part for all the hard work these gymmies put in. Such a great experience!

This is a good question. Why the rush and so little competing? Competition experience is important too.

 

[profmom]

It's interesting how the norms differ at meets and across regions. At the smaller, less competitive meets our girls attended, L8s were doing very well on FX with the passes in your DD's routine. At others, the girls placing well had 1.5 fulls, FHS-FLO-FT or FP, and a back whip double salto pass. It's particularly evident on vault -- it was possible for a L8 girl vaulting a tucked Yurchenko to be on the podium at a few meets we attended, but at most of the bigger ones, the only girls even placing at all were doing pikes. Given that, I can see why our gym is reluctant to move girls to L9 without at least a piked Yurchenko or tsuk unless they are outstanding bars workers and quite strong on beam and floor as well.

But the 10.0 cap at L10 does create incentives not to compete anything bigger than what can be done with outstanding execution. And that beam connection is so important -- I can certainly see not adding in extra stuff that's likely to cause a judge to take away connection value. So different from how it works on the boys' side with no cap on SV!

 

[GYM0M]

Why wouldn't she be doing state and trying to go to regionals? I would think that is the best part for all the hard work these gymmies put in. Such a great experience!

It's about the timing of things. She has been busy preparing skills for TOPS camp in May. Skills that require her utmost focus. Perfecting routines for her state meet would have split her time, attention, focus, and her motivation.

 

[gopuckgo]

Right. I was responding to BHS layout LAYOUT which your daughter probably did not do in level 8 because she would have taken a deduction. I have seen many level 10 meets. There is no benefit to doing this connection so it's rarely done. Not never done, but rarely. With the SV capped in JO (unlike FIG currently) obviously you will see less difficult routines and connections in level 10 than in elite. Do you feel this is not true in your region?[/QUOTE

I thought you said BHS BLO was rarely done. I must has misread your post. I was thinking, what? You are correct about BHS BLO BLO which I see in Level 10 but infrequently. I think some girls at Level 10 are just too tall to get in a triple series as well as not wanting to risk the fall.

 

[Quadqueen]

I wonder if the other kids going to the TOPs camp are skipping their states and regionals?

 

[GYM0M]

I wonder if the other kids going to the TOPs camp are skipping their states and regionals?

It's not typical in our gym to be concerned with the achievements, intentions, or goals of other gymnasts so I really don't know.

 

[Fijiwater]

From what I've heard from TOPS/HOPES parents the staff at these camps could care less about J.O. results, just care if you can hack it at their camp. DD and I watched an amazing girl at a meet this past season she's a former TOPs kid and now HOPES. Her Dad told me that level 9 actually was holding his daughter back skills wise and she only does JO for competition practice. I don't know why she wasn't doing level 10......

 

[sevenatenine2]

We do more rec competitive gymnastics, so as far as high level stuff goes, I'm just a fan, but I think a lot of those HOPES kids skip several of the JO levels. I think it would be better to focus on either the super high level skills or the competition routines rather than try to do both and face possible burn out. If any of these kids make it to Elite, they're going to have a long road from there, so it's best not to be tired once you get there.

Plus, I'd guess there was the additional pressure of, "Oh, look, that kid is TOPS A/HOPES, etc., but fell on the beam. I thought they were supposed to be so good and win everything!" when in reality, the training is just different. Not better or worse, just different with different end games in mind.

 

[Jenny]

She looks fab! Can you post her level 8 routines on bars and vault?

 

[vagymmomma]

Our gym never had a TOPs program so I have no idea on what paths are best. Your daughter is quite adorable though - very expressive performer. Do you guys have a YouTube channel? DD follows a lot of the HOPEs/elite girls with their training and it's quite motivational (it's like she's seeing a superstar when she sees them at meets).

 

[Empowered]

Yes please post vault and bars - She's so tiny, I would just love to see such a peanut flipping her vault!

 

[profmom]

Interesting. I just looked at the list of TOPS kids, and there's a gym in our area with about a half dozen of them. I know their coaches would not allow them to skip meets because of TOPS. Levels, yes! But the gym competes their best athletes JO all the way up through L10, which contributes to their overall strength in the area as a gym, and they are very proud of how their athletes do at states, regionals, and nationals if one is to judge by their website. I don't think anyone watching them at meets cares whether they are TOPS or Hopes or whatever.

I guess different gyms just do things differently. This gym's philosophy (and the philosophy of a lot of gyms around here that participate in boys' Future Stars) seems to be that competition experience at high pressure meets like states, regionals, and nationals is important, even if it is "only" JO. But if a gym has a successful strategy in place, it's all good!

It's too bad for your DD's L8 team that she couldn't contribute to the team score at states for your gym. That would be very frustrating for my son if the coaches made that decision for him. (He usually contributes 4-5 scores.)

 

[GYM0M]

Thanks ladies and gentlemen, but that's quite enough of the snarky/snide comments about her and her journey. Quite frankly, and with all due respect, I didn't ask for your opinions on the video, her training regime, or anything else for that matter. The purpose was just to share for the sake of sharing. I won't be posting videos of bars or vault or beam or of anything else to satisfy the innate needs of a few members to bash on a 9 year old or her coaches. She has NOTHING to prove & neither do I or her coaches. This is HER journey! I very much value this COMMUNITY, but a few need a reminder of what it means to be NEIGHBORLY! Now, that being said, I acknowledge that some things are out of the ordinary, but she has very seasoned, qualified, conscientious coaches, who believe in her and I trust completely, to guide her down this long road, WHEREVER it may lead. Special thanks to those who have commented with support. I'm also not saying that the other comments have not been welcomed or interesting, just unwarranted.
Assuredly, many, if not most, of you have years, possibly decades, more experience than me, but the one thing I know MORE about is MY daughter, and I promise you and anyone else that SHE is my greatest concern.

 

[Sari]

Sorry you feel attacked. From what I've seen in these two videos. your daughter is a very talented little girl and I'm sure you and her coaches are doing what's best for her!