WAG Repeating levels

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I know this question has been asked but humor me. How often do gyms require gymnast to repeat a level. Some of our gyms in our state seem to make kids repeat level 3 or 4 no matter how high the kids score. I really just don't understand the point except the podium. My friends DD lowest score was >35 all season yet she is being made to repeat. Per my friend she has all lvl 4 skills and we wont start our next season till Nov. Her coach also lectured them on how disappointed she was with them for placing 2nd in states. Meanwhile, my DD lives in the high 34's. She has most of her lvl 4 and some 5-7 skills. She appears to be on track for lvl 4 and the coaches think she is amazing. I dont get it. I dont know what they see in my child that makes them so happy when her score are nothing to celebrate. Is it worth repeating to see the higher scores or does it just increase the frustration of the gymnast? Is my dd going to miss something by not repeating? I wish I understood this sport better.
 
I wish I understood this sport better.
Don't we all??!!! Lol!! From what I have learned here on CB, gyms all have their own way of doing things, so I don't really have a good answer for you! We have not been at this gym a full year yet, but it seems most of the girls do one year at the compulsory levels then it slows down. I know many gyms have solid "rules" as to moving up, but I kind of like that our gym seems to be very individualized. They even do move ups for some kids halfway through the year. I'm with you that I don't understand holding a kid back at the lower levels when they have all the skills and are scoring well, but there must be a method to their madness.
 
35s in compulsories would likely be a repeat or an invite to Xcel at our gym, too. It wouldn't be motivated by podium placement, they just don't see that as mastery or as an indicator they're ready for the next level.

But, if a gym is always having to repeat girls to get them in a more competitive scoring range than 35s, then it seems like their program needs to be tweeked somehow.

ETA- we are in a competitive state/region where scores are higher than other places so it can all be relative
 
One of the things I learned early on is that there is so much more to it than scores. We see it all the time. Kids scoring lower and moving up or into a certain group or whatever and kids scoring high and not making it to the next level or scoring really well in compulsories and then fizzling out or vice versa. Sometimes it makes no sense from the parent observation deck, but another thing I have learned is that the coaches always have a plan and a reason for everything, it just isn't always clear to us.

My dd was not one of those hot out of the gate kids or one that people even noticed early on. But the head coach did and nurtured her individual needs and talents and now she is one that draws people's eyes in the gym and was a multiple event champion at regionals this year. They know, it's their job.

I always say that this journey has been my life lesson in letting go. You eventually have to trust and drink the coolaid :)
 
A consistent 35er would be on the bubble for moving up at our gym. But not because of the score specifically- rather because the score reflects potential lack of mastery or preparation for the next level.
 
Our head coach has explained that what makes a high scoring compulsory gymnast doesn't necessarily mean success in optionals. Getting every little detail and hand placement right can bring up your compulsory score, but they want kids with the strength and power for the upper level skills. Moving levels is solely based on your ability to compete the skills at the next level, not your past scores. Plus some kids improve rapidly all of a sudden and then stay stagnant for awhile. They base it on what you are currently doing.
 
True- if a gym is only "teaching to the test" then a high compulsory score won't mean much if they haven't been well rounded in their training to prepare them for optionals.
 
Problem with talking about this is scores vary by region. In our area, a consistent 35-36 gymnast is doing well. Our "move up" testing requirement was 35.5 average. While there are gyms in our area who score in the 37-38 range, they are not the norm, and scores in that range are given out very sparingly. For example, the state champion AA score in my daughter's group (L4) last year was 36.7. Out of over 360 gymnasts at L4 state, 25 scored 37 or above.

DD is going to be repeating L4 this year if she doesn't decide to do T&T. I'll be interested to see how much that changes things for her. She has most of her L5 skills and likely could have had them in time for season, but wasn't even allowed to test up because of not having the average score.
 
Problem with talking about this is scores vary by region. In our area, a consistent 35-36 gymnast is doing well. Our "move up" testing requirement was 35.5 average. While there are gyms in our area who score in the 37-38 range, they are not the norm, and scores in that range are given out very sparingly. For example, the state champion AA score in my daughter's group (L4) last year was 36.7. Out of over 360 gymnasts at L4 state, 25 scored 37 or above.

DD is going to be repeating L4 this year if she doesn't decide to do T&T. I'll be interested to see how much that changes things for her. She has most of her L5 skills and likely could have had them in time for season, but wasn't even allowed to test up because of not having the average score.
I agree. A 35 gymnast in optionals is decent, a 36 is good, and 37 is great, 38 will certainly win. I think we have a pretty competitive state. Our gym alone has 6 level 10s at Nationals right now. But we have no score move up requirement. It is all about what you can do right now.
 
We repeat when skills aren't ready for the next level, or when the gymnast meets some magical age, skill, ability algorithm that our coaches won't divulge (haha). Scores don't play as much of a factor based on what I've seen - even though the gym tries to say they require them, there are usually more exceptions than kids that meet the requirement in both circumstances (repeat vs. not repeat).
 
Yep, varies widely by gym and even region. At our gym a gymnast scoring almost always in the 35's would likely repeat, however one that started in the 35's and improved over the season to the 36-37 range would more than likely move up (depending on skills of course.) But our girls compete Xcel and not compulsories, and from my understanding a 35 in compulsory is a pretty solid score. Every gym has a different idea of what they consider "mastery" of a certain level. We have gyms in our region that girls back to repeat with 38's. I think that's a bit too much, and there is always a lot of talk about gyms that do this sort of thing but every gym just has different philosophies. However, a coach making a girl feel bad about coming in 2nd is never ok IMO.
 
I know this question has been asked but humor me. How often do gyms require gymnast to repeat a level. Some of our gyms in our state seem to make kids repeat level 3 or 4 no matter how high the kids score. I really just don't understand the point except the podium. My friends DD lowest score was >35 all season yet she is being made to repeat. Per my friend she has all lvl 4 skills and we wont start our next season till Nov. Her coach also lectured them on how disappointed she was with them for placing 2nd in states. Meanwhile, my DD lives in the high 34's. She has most of her lvl 4 and some 5-7 skills. She appears to be on track for lvl 4 and the coaches think she is amazing. I dont get it. I dont know what they see in my child that makes them so happy when her score are nothing to celebrate. Is it worth repeating to see the higher scores or does it just increase the frustration of the gymnast? Is my dd going to miss something by not repeating? I wish I understood this sport better.


Repeating varies gym by gym. If you have the skills for the next level, you move on at our gym. But, there are a couple gyms in our area that sandbag! It's sad but especially for those girls that are older competing in low compulsory levels. It use to bother me when dd and her teammates were going against girls who had competed that level for 2+ years but not so much anymore. Dd is in lv 8 and you just don't see that once you hit optionals. The most important piece of advise I can give you is that every gymnast progresses at a different rate. Make sure that you and the coaches are on the same page about expectations for your dd!
 
35s in compulsories would likely be a repeat or an invite to Xcel at our gym, too. It wouldn't be motivated by podium placement, they just don't see that as mastery or as an indicator they're ready for the next level.

But, if a gym is always having to repeat girls to get them in a more competitive scoring range than 35s, then it seems like their program needs to be tweeked somehow.

ETA- we are in a competitive state/region where scores are higher than other places so it can all be relative
I must admit....glad my child isn't at your gym (not said with malice)....because she has shone beyond 35 at optionals, yet never once hit that at level 4....or 3....or 2.....
(and she probably wouldn't have hit it at level 1 either if our gym did that level, bahaha~)
 
In my opinion scores should not even come into the equation when deciding if a gymnast is ready for the next level or not. It should be skill based (and is in our gym). If you have the skills required to a good solid standard then it's time to move on.

Coaches who hold kids back for no reason are not helping their gymnasts at all. And if all level 3's or level 4's have to repeat the. The gym is either sandbagging to get higher scores or there is something wrong with their program.

As much as we would like to think that it isn't, in many ways gymnastics is a race.

To get to elite before your too old, to get to level 10 early enough to be considered for a college scholarship, to learn as many skills as you can before puberty, to get as far as you can before you graduate high school, to get through rec and get chosen for team before you are too old.
 
My kids gym often repeats 3 or 4, but typically not both. My kiddos both repeated level 3 last season and I thought it was good for building confidence and uptraining next level skills. They are more than ready for level 4 now and have most if not all 5 skills too. But many gyms in this area repeat those levels. I am unsure about level 5.... but I agree that I'm sure some gyms sand bag, also the race thing. I totally agree, my oldest will be a 10 year old l4, if she repeats 4 it almost completely ruins her chances for college. ... but what do I know, I'm just a mom lol
 
As long as there is uptraining, it doesn't necessarily matter what level you compete until the ages when college recruiters are looking (and please no one depress me by telling me crazy young ages that the do this cause I don't want to know unless it's high school aged level 10's, I really don't :(). A gymnast can always test out of multiple levels in one season and start competing their top skills at any point provided they are at a gym that will let them/support them in this desire.

I think excessive repeating is an issue when you know the gym is not uptraining and thus that gymnast is falling behind in the "race" for the sake of learning how to point her feet on a backwalkover or a mill circle when those skills really don't have much progressive value. Now if a kid is struggling on casting high, or vault blocking, or just generally doing a good robhs, I can see repeating to perfect those important skills cause they are the foundation for higher level skills (even though they may be able to pull off some decent scores if everything else is excellent). Its just a very complicated formula, and is not likely that all coaches or gyms are going to see things the same way for any one gymnast - and sometimes parents need to make some hard decisions on whether to stay w/ a gym that keeps repeating their kid. If you look at the recruiting web pages of gymnasts who are looking to get scholarships, they never seem to list awards/accomplishments for anything lower than level 8 (if that) - so awards and winning at lower levels don't seem to have much long term worth from what I can tell.
 
If you look at the recruiting web pages of gymnasts who are looking to get scholarships, they never seem to list awards/accomplishments for anything lower than level 8 (if that) - so awards and winning at lower levels don't seem to have much long term worth from what I can tell.

Very true. Most college recruiters don't care about anything but Level 10. Won't even look at you until you are Level 10, with Level 10 skills.
 
Every gym does things differently.

That said. Our gym moves you up on skills not scores (beyond the USAG score out number).

Unless my child was very young I would not be OK with a gym that holds kids back or tracks them to Xcel based on scores. I have no problem with repeating if the skills aren't there but a number higher then USAG, no wouldn't work for me. But that is why we are at the gym we are at :D.

My daughter averaged about a 35-36ish this year. She is more then ready to move on from L4. Last thing she needs is another season of the exact same routines. Is her kip stronger now then last Sept? Of course. Are her leaps getting bigger? Yes. Is her cartwheel better ? Who knows but she is now doing BWO and BHS on beam. She doesn't need 38's and 39's to prove that.

I do think as her and her group head to optionals this season, I can see them repeating levels (and I can see it being a different level or multiple levels, depending on the kid). But there is a flexibility in optionals to work on what needs work and add new skills, yet still be in the same level. In compulsories there is no flexibility in what they compete. To hold a kid back for not scoring a higher than 35/36 makes no sense to me at all.
 
My DD did not score well in compulsories, but since she had the skills for the next level her gym moved her on anyway. She was young and didn't have enough attention to detail (like her foot might have been too high or low on her leg on her full turn). Her scores went up an average of four points or so once she got to optionals. If she had been at a different gym, I could see her still being in compulsories, but she is having a lot more fun in optionals, and once she hit about nine years old had a lot more capacity to pay attention to the details.
 

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