Grades

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Hi everyone, I've not posted before and am looking for some information re training hours of gymnasts in the uk. We are in the south region.

My little gymie who is a 2005 age 9, just has done her grade national 4. She has a great time, placed near the bottom, but had some good moments. She did grade 13 last year. She trains 12 hours a week, and has been doing gym 3 years, first year 5 hours, then second year 9 hours then past year 12 hours.

Do any experienced parent or coaches know how many hours is best to be progressing happily through national grades? Is there a recommended amount of hours or does it depend on the individual ? she is keen to improve and I think a lot of the girls at grades were training around 18 hours a week, but I don't know if they are the norm or my dd is? It is quite a big time commitment, she can do more hours and she wants too.

This maybe inaccurate. Her aim is to do national 3 next year.

Any helpful input would be appreciated! X
 
I know several girls in that region, a few did national 4 and are doing many more hours than your dd. More like 18-24!! I would go with what suits your situation best. My dds always want more hours in the gym but its hard to keep a balance for the family.
 
Depends on your region :). Some are very competitive and have kids training 20 hrs + for club and national grades. Other regions you can get away with 9-12 and still have a chance to podium.

it sounds like your dd is "progressing happily through grades", assuming she passed?. So I'd say it's a choice, stick with what you're going, let her have a life, time to see friends, other hobbies, schoolwork etc. Or do more hours, lose all those advantages, and maybe make the top 3.

My own personal opinion is stick with the lower hours and life balance. If my kid was elite track then I'd consider doing the hours, making the commitment and sacrifices if that's what she wanted. But for non-elite? not worth it, and she's less likely to burn out on lower hours.

National 4 is Giants isn't it? She's doing very well :). Our region nat 4 was a huge category and very, very competitive.

If you're happy, and she's happy, everything's good :).
 
Our national grade girls currently train the same number of hours as the compulsory girls -19 hours per week .
 
The girls at our gym doing national grades or compulsories do 16-20 hours but I don't think any of them manage to do anything else outside gym and school. The groups are generally 7/8 to 1 coach so not a lot of direct coach attention so less hours and smaller groups can probably achieve a similar outcome.
 
Thank you every one for taking time to reply, your advice has helped and explained a lot, the grade looked hard and yes included some Giants, she did pass her grade. It's never been mentioned to her that she should do more hours really until now. I just wondered how many hours were appropiate, sounds like her have been on the very low side! We weren't really aware most other gymnasts trained more. She is in a group of 8 girls, but she works very hard.

Thanks again guys, it has given us something to think about! X
 
My daughter is currently in a group of 8 with one coach, I am not sure how many will be on her new group when it starts in a couple of weeks. Is 8 kids to 1 coach a bad thing?
 
My daughter is currently in a group of 8 with one coach, I am not sure how many will be on her new group when it starts in a couple of weeks. Is 8 kids to 1 coach a bad thing?

Not necessarily. It all depends on how efficently the coach works with the gymnasts throughout a practice (i.e. limiting time spent standing around during rotations, among other things).
 
Our national 4 girls do about 12 hours too. They do more after that but I think the hours are still surprisingly low compared to other some clubs in our region. The standard competing national 4 (and other national grades) this year was very high.
 
I have never heard of compulsories gymnasts doing less hours than nationals girls. Is there a reason for it?
Yes it is to do with age, these kids are only 8 and the national grades kids are 12-15, the girls who do national grades are also our challenge cup girls so need to be doing around this amout, I'm pretty sure 25 is one of the lowest amout for challenge girls (well it is in our region anyway) and the older. Compulsory kids do 28 hours a week
 
28 hours a week is huge hours. I am glad my club doesn't do that many. I think our parents would expect them in the olympics for those hours.
 
28 hours a week is huge hours. I am glad my club doesn't do that many. I think our parents would expect them in the olympics for those hours.
These girls are in GB squad, completely average for the other girls they are in squad with
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back