Parents 3 years on a compulsory level?

[SHELOVESGYM]

Has anyone heard of this or has your DD done this? I'm wondering how common it is.

 

[MeetDirector]

Which compulsory level; it makes a difference. Level 2 or 3, no way; level 5 it is feasible that it could take a couple of years. But 3 years at one level? Boredom sets in real fast.

 

[GYM0M]

I wouldn't say it's typical, but wouldn't say it's uncommon. Sometimes, it takes time for the little gymmies to mature and gain body awareness. Others have this quality and progress faster, but eventually, it'll even out. Just throwing some things out there as I think you've posted something similar before: are you concerned about coaching abilities or EFFORTS? Was your gymmie REALLY ready to compete when she started? I say this because our coaches would not allow a gymnast to compete if she could not score above an 8 in any compulsory level (optional levels too, but my DD seems to have broken this rule as of last year!). Is your gymmie CAPABLE of higher scores? Are her meet routines similar to what you've seen in practice? Or could it be meet nerves? What are the dynamics of the gym during the offseason? Are they up training, conditioning, getting stronger, working on techniques and drills, or is it the same thing throughout the year? I feel pretty confident that you will have some major decisions to make soon. What are your gymmie's career goals? If she's not trying to make the national team or go to college for gymnastics, it really doesn't matter what age, what level, or for how long. And I'm not saying that bc she or any other gymnast you may be inquiring about spends 3 years in any compulsory level doesn't have a shot at either of those things, but it's all about perspective. No matter what her aspirations are, you've gotta let it be on her own pace. Speeding up the process only makes the journey end sooner.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I've not heard of it and don't think it would happen at dd's gym. Repeating once is fairly uncommon, but not unheard of at her gym. But I think after that they would probably steer the gymnast to Xcel or non competitive classes. Dd's gym does have college gymnastics as their goal though. I don't necessarily agree with their philosophy, but it is how they operate. It wouldn't surprise me though if other, slightly less competitive, gyms in our area have had girls that have competed a level 3 times.

 

[Committed]

Yep. It seems that L4 is that level. It doesn't happen often, but I've seen it. I also think there will be 1-2 next year, too.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I have seen it a lot in which ever Level is the level before they need their kips! Here in Australia kips are needed at level 5, so I have seen quite a few do level 4 three times.

 

[my4buffaloes]

It happened to my dd at level 4. We were at a pretty bad gym though, so the coaching was not worth much. I think at a good gym she would have only done 2 years.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I would be more concerned with the why. And it also depends on the level and what her skills are, and the skills for the next level.

If it's not skill based I would have a problem with that.

So if my kid had all her L4 skills and they weren't moving her because she hadn't reached some arbitrarily assigned score in L3 (which doesn't require a score out). That would be a problem for me.

If she was doing great in L3 but didn't have her kip, I get it.

 

[suebee]

It is unheard of at dd's gym. Like a PP said, repeating any level is pretty uncommon, but happens at the optional levels when it does. At the compulsory levels, if a gymmie is not ready to move up at the end of the season, it seems to me that she is steered toward Xcel or she leaves the gym, although it is unclear to me whether this happens because the gym just does not give the option to repeat. But dd's gym also does not keep a girl a level back because she's missing a skill if she seems close to getting it, which seems to be different at other gyms.

There is a gym near us that does not compete level 2, as many of the gyms around here do, and starts competing at level 3. But it seemed to me that all their girls repeat level 3 at least once because they seem to start their girls competing level 3 before they're really ready for it, when they're more at the skill level that seems appropriate for level 2. Those kids typically scored less than 30 AA and omitted most difficult level 3 skills. IMO, they should not have been competing level 3 in the first place. But their second year level 3s were competitive with level 3s from other gyms, so I think it is just the way that gym does things. At that gym, where everyone competes level 3 at least twice, I wouldn't be surprised if there were girls who did level 3 a third time, because in my mind, that would be like doing level 3 twice at another gym.

 

[Seeker]

I think that unless there are some other extenuating circumstances (illness or injury keeping them out of practice, age/maturity, ADHD, etc), that I would question it greatly. My question wouldn't necessarily be 'does she need to repeat'? but rather the why. If it is a gym or coaching issue, will it get better as she moves up? Is there a general lack of readiness on all events/skills or are they missing 1 key skill? Agree it also depends on what level. My dd is a L9 now and I can't remember any gymnast along the way doing 3 years at a compulsory level...maybe it happened and I didn't notice, but I cannot recall it. It does happen more at the upper optional levels, but there are common, legitimate reasons for that.

 

[AgingHippie]

I have seen it happen at our gym but very rarely. Usually L4 or L5.

 

[gracyomalley]

super uncommon in girls gym - fairly common in boys...

Really depends upon the why as others have mentionned...was there a gym change, with different expectations? Was there an injury? My DD gym used to start competition at old L5 (new L4) and many (most) kids would repeat that level. There were always the kids that did 2 years of L6 too, but most repeating occured in optionals. I think if kids start competing at the "rec" levels (1, 2 and in some ways 3) then they should be able to get through with good coaching in 1-2 years max per level, as the jitters and form issues should be working their way out while they are still doing easy skills.

All this being said, if a kid has been learning things with bad form or moved up without good fundamental, they may get stuck before optionals - at which point I would want to know exactly "why" and what the coaches thought would be helpful...just "repeating until the scores get better" isn't likely to work or make for a happy gymmie...

For boys there is a bonus system so repeating a level even in compulsories can mean a whole new set of skills added...plus they hit a "waiting for puberty strength" wall...my younger son is presently stuck in that spot, but his coach is working drills and skills for much higher level stuff while seeing if his strength can catch up to his gangliness

 

[beachgirl]

There's a gym near us that has girls at the minimum complete 2 years at each level and sometimes 3. The girls are repeating after seasons of consecutive 37+ scores. The girls go pretty low hours in comparison to other gyms.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I've seen it happen w/ current L4 (old L5). A lot of very important progressive skills in that level and it's a level that a lot of kids can do their first year of at a very young age (and when barely ready) - especially in gyms that don't compete the non-mandatory lower compulsaries. That 7 year old that is barely musculing up her kip that first year of L4 will often need to repeat one or two years - and still they aren't even that old when they move on to L5/L6 as a 10 year old.

 

[dani4]

I know someone who was L3 for 3 years, her first year she was 6 and the first two years she was scratching lots of events. I don't know the details of what was going on, this is the daughter of a friend, not at our gym.

And then she spent 2 years in L4. I don't know where she is now.

 

[CuriousCate]

I've seen it happen w/ current L4 (old L5). A lot of very important progressive skills in that level and it's a level that a lot of kids can do their first year of at a very young age (and when barely ready) - especially in gyms that don't compete the non-mandatory lower compulsaries. That 7 year old that is barely musculing up her kip that first year of L4 will often need to repeat one or two years - and still they aren't even that old when they move on to L5/L6 as a 10 year old.

This is our gym (and will prob be my DD - she's 6 1/2 and Lvl 3 and oh man, I just can't ever see her getting that kip!!) but on the whole, our gym seems to give most kids no more than 2 years at any compulsory level and then suggests you move to prep-op/Xcel if you are unable to move up. I've never seen them allow any child to do a compulsory level more than twice and suspect they never would barring some sort of injury.

 

[Sasha]

I have only seen 1 girl do a level (Level 3) 3 years in our gym. Darned Kip. In my observation a very bendy, slow-twitch kid, so although she appears strong with defined muscles, the speed and tightness needed for L4 vault didn't seem to come easy. Amazing beam and dance elements, though! "Grace" in spades. One of my favorites to watch on floor. I'm a little surprised she stuck with it after the 2nd year, but if you love something... She did finally get that kip and is moving on up

 

[twinmomma]

Repeating levels is VERY common around here, especially level 4. Before DD moved to T&T she was going to be a repeating L4. Three years seems a little much, most of what we see are two years at L4 and L5.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I've seen 2,3, even 4 years at a compulsory level around here. I think it's kinda crazy, honestly, and my DD chose not to join the gym that's about two miles from home for this very reason. They told her to expect to be a L3 till she graduated (she was a freshman at the time), and she had a school friend who was L4 there for three years at that point so she believe them. Two years seems fairly normal though.

 

[Flyaway]

Dd could likely do a 3rd year at level 3. If I'm being completely honest she probably shouldn't have competed her first year. If she does end up doing 3 for a third time, knowing that will make the pill easier to swallow. [emoji4]. She knows what she needs to do to move up, so we'll see...