Parents TOPs state testing

[GymmieC]

I believe TOPS is great for the girl if she enjoys it. But I agree with Bog that TOPS is not an indicator for success. If you look at the best gyms in the country not all do TOPS. Frankly, they don't need it. Their coaches know exactly what they are doing. Plenty of elites have never done TOPS. People need to stop putting so much stock into it. That being said, I'm sure if my child did TOPS I too would be excited for her if she made the camp. National testing would only make me anxious because they are not there yet. Keep plugging away girlies!
Also, please parents don't run out and buy your olympic tickets just yet. Just because your child did do TOPS, that alone does not indicate whether she will make it to the elite level hands down. Elite is downright hard. Or at least I have been told.

 

[DefiniteMaybe]

What I like about TOPs is that it offers accountability, so to speak. Gymnastics is a very fast changing sport, and I've noticed many gyms sort of get complacent and keep on doing the same old, same old. I think if a gymnast has no elite desires, the JO program is perfect. However, I don't think you can accidentally "fall" into the elite realms. I think you have to be training at a more elite pace to accomplish such a huge goal. I don't think TOPs is absolutely necessary for the elite bound gymnast, but it does seem to be a great way to keep coaches in the know about where a gymnast should be in her training at a particular age. It also gives the gymnast more immediate goals which is helpful for the young athlete who needs motivation to attain skills faster than the JO program pushes her.

 

[B&M's mom]

But understand that at gym can do a TOPS program but not be able to coach girls to elite. My DD tried TOPS one year. Trained for a summer and made it to national testing. But her gym was not capable of doing elite training. She moved to another gym that does not do TOPS. However, the coaches are very involved in the elite world and are producing elite gymnasts. Having watched her training at the new gym, there's a lot more to it than she was doing in her TOPS training. TOPS is a great start but unless the gym gets really involved in the elite side of gymnastics, it may not be able to produce elite athlete.

 

[Jenny]

What said /\/\/\/\

 

[gopuckgo]

I can see all sides to this TOPS versus no TOPS debate. I don't believe it is necessary either. My daughter never did a day of TOPS in her life until 3 weeks prior to testing last year. She has gained a lot of strength and confidence through it all. We are kind of like if she enjoys this and wants to do it fine, either way we support her.

We are more excited about her testing HOPES next season since we will actually get to watch a meet. Neither programs guarantee Elite but then again nothing does. But, TOPS can give you a hint of flavor of that path. It is not necessary, but it can be useful.

As far as having to come from an established Elite club like so many advocate for. I think that if your club has produced Elites great, but you can become the first Elite at a club as well. After all who was Chow before Shawn, Salcianu before Mailie, Phenom before Marissa? A lot more clubs were not Elite until their first Elite.

In addition, quite a few past Olympians were TOPS kids as well as some of the current crop of Elites. TOPS is a great program for some kids who choose to do it but going Elite waaayyyyyyy more work and waaaaaaayyyyy harder. But in all reality, it is a combination of great coaches who are willing to invest their time, level of knowledge and $$$$$ and a kid who can cut it.

 

[Fijiwater]

This is all true about TOPs it does not guarantee anything. Most girls who are gymnasts don't make it to elite. TOPs is a exactly what it says it is Talent Opportunity Program. It's a talent search for talented girls and gyms that don't have the experience needed to go elite. I would say that it has worked well for USA gymnastics to find a lot of talent.
4 of the fierce five made a TOPS team at some point. Not including their alternate who also made the TOPs team. Also Alicia Sacromone, Chellsie Memmel, and Carly Patterson all former TOPs teamers. Maybe not a good indicator of future success but definitely a good talent search program. Also it's an awesome experience for girls to remember even though they will never go elite or to the Olympics. Going to the Karolyi Ranch! Getting to train with Olympic caliber coaches and see where all the greats trained. What boy would forget playing in camp for the Cowboys coaches or the Yankees. I would say it's a big deal regardless of the future, big achievement for many hard working young girls.

 

[DefiniteMaybe]

Just because I'm thinking about all this again, I wanted to add something that I forgot in my last post.
I just wanted to point out that everything about gymnastics continues to evolve--including TOPs. It seems a lot of people are anti-TOPs because the original purpose was apparently to find "talent" and teach their unskilled coaches how to coach their "talented" girls all the way up. That purpose makes the whole TOPs thing seem almost insulting to the already accomplished coach. While it can still serve it's original purpose, TOPs has evolved to be so much more than that. I think we've already pointed out many of the current purposes in the last few posts, so I won't go into most of them again. But, since this sport is ever-changing, even accomplished coaches always have a lot to learn, and TOPs is one of the many great opportunities for that.

Having said all of that, I think all of us realize TOPs is certainly not the only way to accomplish most of the purposes that we've addressed, but it is ONE way, and it's been a great experience for my dd so far. As a matter of fact, in her 10 years of life, she would tell you that TOPs has been the highlight.

 

[Fijiwater]

USA gymnastics 2014-15 Rules & Policies screen capture pic. If you are not already well connected to the US national staff and coaches it's probably the best way and safest way to try to advance to elite. If you are not Liang Chow or something similar.

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https://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Rules/Rules and Policies/2014_2015_w_rulespolicies.pdf

 

[profmom]

IMHO, the biggest benefit of these programs -- TOPS, HOPES, Future Stars -- is not in making the teams but rather in learning to focus on perfecting form. The training, not the outcomes, is what's important. The prospect of trips to national competition creates strong incentives for doing this difficult and boring work, so it's all good even if a girl or boy only makes it occasionally or never makes it at all.

 

[lovemygymnast]

This is TOPS related but may be off topic, I'm sorry but wasn't sure where to ask. My DD is 6 right now, was not tested this year but will hopefully test next testing which is next summer, I guess. The way I read the age requirement, is it testing based on how old they are testing year but not necessarily how old they are at testing? Does that make sense? So, if she's tested next summer at age 7 but will be 8 in December, is she tested as a 7 or 8 year old? I'm sure this is a silly question but I thought I read some where it was based on how old they would be that year.

 

[Quadqueen]

They test at the age they are turning that year. So, if she will be 8 in December, she would test all next year as an 8 year old, as I understand it.

 

[windydays]

They test at the age they are turning that year. So, if she will be 8 in December, she would test all next year as an 8 year old, as I understand it.

This is correct!

 

[daroli]

I heard 82.47

Do you know how they come up with those numbers using the 60/40? If you have a 56 for PA and a 66 for skills, what would be the score?

 

[GYM0M]

Do you know how they come up with those numbers using the 60/40? If you have a 56 for PA and a 66 for skills, what would be the score?

60/40 is only at national testing. At state testing, all ages are 55/45. Her adjust score would be around a 91.

 

[daroli]

60/40 is only at national testing. At state testing, all ages are 55/45. Her adjust score would be around a 91.

I still can't figure out how you came up with the 91, even if you use the 55/45!

 

[GYM0M]

I still can't figure out how you came up with the 91, even if you use the 55/45!

Ok I'll try to explain. Drudge up your algebra! Lol!
Max points for PA = 62, but you gotta convert that into 45% of the adjusted total. So from algebra, we know that if 62 points is the max for 45%, then to find the conversion factor, we set the max points times the factor equal to the percentage. (Like this, 62x=45)
Solving for x, we get 45/62 = .726 so .726 is the conversion factor for PA. Similarly, for skills, max 72 for 55 percent, 72x=55, 55/72=.764. This is your conversion factor for skills. Now we can plug in individual scores into this formula:
[(PA)x.726]+[(Skills)x.764]=adj total
In your case,
(56)x.726+(66)x.764= 40.66+50.42=91.08
Hope that makes better sense!

 

[daroli]

Thank you so much!

 

[Kidllovesgym]

Ok I'll try to explain. Drudge up your algebra! Lol!
Max points for PA = 62, but you gotta convert that into 45% of the adjusted total. So from algebra, we know that if 62 points is the max for 45%, then to find the conversion factor, we set the max points times the factor equal to the percentage. (Like this, 62x=45)
Solving for x, we get 45/62 = .726 so .726 is the conversion factor for PA. Similarly, for skills, max 72 for 55 percent, 72x=55, 55/72=.764. This is your conversion factor for skills. Now we can plug in individual scores into this formula:
[(PA)x.726]+[(Skills)x.764]=adj total
In your case,
(56)x.726+(66)x.764= 40.66+50.42=91.08
Hope that makes better sense!

 

[Kidllovesgym]

I'm so lost trying to figure this all out I thought there were 86 total possible points for pa or is it different for each age group. If anyone can help I'd appreciate it? Thanks the posts are helping me get it

 

[GYM0M]

I'm so lost trying to figure this all out I thought there were 86 total possible points for pa or is it different for each age group. If anyone can help I'd appreciate it? Thanks the posts are helping me get it

Kicks and holds are worth a total of 12 points. Add up all scores for each kick & hold, then divide by 3 for flex score