Parents Level 4

[mudowenko]

My DD is 6 (turned 6 in May) She is on the pre-team/invite team and has been for a few months. She is younger then the other girls she work very hard. My question is will the team not invite her until she is 7? Is there an "age limit" or is it "skill limit"? As far as skill she is super strong on the floor - all level 4 and most L5 skills, vault is perfect L4, beam is a shaky L4 and bars are her toughest apperatitius. She works out now 3 days a week with invite/pre-team 2 hours at a time, then begs for an hour tumble class and an hour private so 8 hours total a week and would work out an 8 more if I let her. She works on bars all day long at home and does cartwheels and flips from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed. It's like she doens't know how to walk only flip

Just wondering if the reason she hasn't moved up is her age or the skills? I know very little about the sport except how much it cost me and what I read online

Thanks

 

[MaryA]

Every gym is different in how they select team/advance levels, but I think you have to be 6 to compete level 4? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mudowenko]

Thank you .... it's all so new to me!

 

[wallinbl]

I'm pretty sure it's 6 years old to compete level 4. It's part skills and part maturity for getting on team. The coach should be able to tell you how she's doing relative to joining team or what his/her plans are. Don't be pushy, but just ask how she's doing and let the conversation happen.

 

[bogwoppit]

Be careful allowing her to practice gym at home as it can actually slow her progress in the gym, especially bars and flipping. Way too easy to learn skills badly, which means the coach has to spend time trying to fix mistakes before moving on. I know it makes no sense, but kids get held back because their parents are enabling home practice.

If she has lots of energy to spare, and many little ones do. Try dance, swimming and free play as these things will all improve her abilities in any sport.

 

[2gymmies]

You can definitely compete Level 4 at 6, but not many can do it well. And usually 6 year olds are grouped with the 7 year olds so it can be tough competition. I agree that it cannot hurt for you to ask what the plans for your dd are - often times gyms evaluate kids for move ups at a certain point in the year and if you are missing key skills you just have to wait until the next year, and its not just pre-team to Level 4, its every move-up, every season. Good luck!

 

[lhmom]

I think that every gym is different. DD was an older 6 when she started (turned 7 during the season) and her coaches felt that even though she lacked one skill at the beginning (FHC), she'd catch on quickly and was OK with her competing. At your DD's gym, maybe getting another year of pre-team is needed because they require a gymnast to have all the skills before moving up. But as someone else says, it might be a good time for her to try other things. My daughter played soccer and basketball during the time she was on pre-team. Hope that you can find things to take some of that energy out!

 

[sglemon]

I can speak for my gym only. They move girls up May every year, not sooner. That date is based on our competition season, States are in May, regular season starts in November. June through October is used for working skills and learning routines. A girl can get bumped back down if they don't have the skills needed by the time of sectionals in December, but they will never bump anyone up until June. That is just their policy. It is frustrating but a fair policy. Level 4s this year can compete at age 6, being they turn 6 by the time of states. Age is figured by the State Competition starting date. Next year (2013), however, when the skills move down a level, the girls will have to be 7 before the start date of States, to compete level 4. There are many factors gyms take into consideration when placing girls and moving them up. At our gym, bars are weighed the highest. If you compete Level 5 all year, scoring mid 9s in vault, beam and floor, but only 8s in bars, our gym will not move you up. They like to see mid 9s on bars. We actually have some level 5s repeating this year for that exact reason. Also just because your dd looks like she is doing everything perfect, and she maybe, it doesn't mean, the judges will see that. It took us 2 years to figure out how they score level 4 vault. My dd had a beautiful looking vault, chest up, shoulders straight, very tight, very straight, but couldn't score above a 9.0. When we figured out what they wanted the run to look like, her scores jumped to 9.5. The run on a level 4 vault is one of the most important skills. There are so many little things on the floor/beam that can eat a score up .10 at a time, even though her skills look great, she may only score mid 8s on the floor. The coaches at your gym will be looking at all those little things when they evaluate a child for team placement.

It never hurts to ask the gym, what they are looking for.

 

[iwannacoach]

Be careful allowing her to practice gym at home as it can actually slow her progress in the gym, especially bars and flipping. Way too easy to learn skills badly, which means the coach has to spend time trying to fix mistakes before moving on.

Dito with ^^^^^that.

Gymnastics really isn't as hard a sport as you'd think. Coaching gymnastics?.......not just hard, but at times insanely difficult. The reason the sport goes from easy to hard is that nothing, absolutely nothing works the way kids think. So what happens when they practice too much at home?......they learn it the way that makes sense to them, which is often the exact opposite we'd teach.

Learning it the wrong way means a lot more than simply correcting the mistakes. First you have to tear down, in the most positive way, the child's skill belief system, because if you leave their's in place every single correction you give them will be adjusted and reconciled to fit their mental model and not the coach's. A lot of coaches realize this, but very few kids, and therein lies the difficulty in teaching and learning skills.

Example......most kids reach around with their chins to help them rotate a bhs because it makes sense, when the reality is the leg push and jump motion that give you the rotation are completely devastated by the chin reach......Just try jumping as high as possible with the back of your head pinned to your neck, and you'll know what I mean. In the real world that chin reach would translate into every person who wanted to move in a certain direction would first stick their chins out to "pull" them to their destination.

This doesn't mean she's not team material, and it is great her enthusiasm's "off the hook", so bravo for that. What I'd suggest is that you set up a private for her with the coach who can assign appropriate "homework", and arrange it so you can be part of the process so you'll know the limits the coach is trying to put into place. IMO it's that or no home gymnastics beyond cartwheels, splits, and........Even better, tell her to go climb a tree, kick a ball, ride a scooter, or throw rocks into a pond, or.......... She'll probably learn more about what makes motion work by doing those things, and still have fun.

Good luck, and enjoy the journey!

 

[Natasha]

I would simply ask the coaches about their plans for her. At our gym, the young girls who are seen as having the most strength and potential actually stay on "pre team" longer. This is so they have an extra year to work on skills and conditioning without worrying about working on details of routines. These girls sometimes then just start competing at L5 rather than L4. I'm not saying this is what your gym is doing, just pointing out that every gym does things differently.

 

[gymmomtoo]

I would ask the coaches what their plans are for her--if you approach them non-confrontationally they shouldn't have a problem discussing it with you. Every team, as others have said, do things differently, so all we can do is gaze in our crystal balls and guess as to why . Go straight to the source and get the real answer! (but my guess, based on what you said, is her bars are holding her back. Again, my crystal ball could be cloudy though!)

 

[wallflower]

Not that this matters since the OP's DD is already 6, but it's not correct that you have to be 6 by the date of the State meet. You MUST be 6 the day of the meet to compete. It's the same with level 5. You must be 7 the day of the meet to compete.

I can speak for my gym only. They move girls up May every year, not sooner. That date is based on our competition season, States are in May, regular season starts in November. June through October is used for working skills and learning routines. A girl can get bumped back down if they don't have the skills needed by the time of sectionals in December, but they will never bump anyone up until June. That is just their policy. It is frustrating but a fair policy. Level 4s this year can compete at age 6, being they turn 6 by the time of states. Age is figured by the State Competition starting date. Next year (2013), however, when the skills move down a level, the girls will have to be 7 before the start date of States, to compete level 4. There are many factors gyms take into consideration when placing girls and moving them up. At our gym, bars are weighed the highest. If you compete Level 5 all year, scoring mid 9s in vault, beam and floor, but only 8s in bars, our gym will not move you up. They like to see mid 9s on bars. We actually have some level 5s repeating this year for that exact reason. Also just because your dd looks like she is doing everything perfect, and she maybe, it doesn't mean, the judges will see that. It took us 2 years to figure out how they score level 4 vault. My dd had a beautiful looking vault, chest up, shoulders straight, very tight, very straight, but couldn't score above a 9.0. When we figured out what they wanted the run to look like, her scores jumped to 9.5. The run on a level 4 vault is one of the most important skills. There are so many little things on the floor/beam that can eat a score up .10 at a time, even though her skills look great, she may only score mid 8s on the floor. The coaches at your gym will be looking at all those little things when they evaluate a child for team placement.

It never hurts to ask the gym, what they are looking for.

 

[sglemon]

................

 

[sglemon]

Not that this matters since the OP's DD is already 6, but it's not correct that you have to be 6 by the date of the State meet. You MUST be 6 the day of the meet to compete. It's the same with level 5. You must be 7 the day of the meet to compete.

I just read the new guidelines and I was incorrect. You actually need to be 6 in time for a sectional, in order to qualify. If you turn 6 between the sectional and state meet, you can not compete in the state meet.

"All gymnasts must reach the minimum age for the level before competing in any USA Gymnastics sanctioned competition (see chart on the next page).
Example: Level 4 State meet date is Dec. 1; the last Level 4 State Qualifier is November 17, the gymnast will turn the minimum age for level 4 (6 yrs. old) on November 28[/SIZE]th. She is ineligible to compete in the qualifying meet, and therefore does not have the opportunity to qualify to the Level 4 State Championships that season"

 

[wallflower]

The age rule isn't anything new. You have always had to be 6 the day of the meet to compete level 4.

It doesn't matter if it's a sectional, state, invitational, etc. The gymnast must meet the age requirement the day of the meet to compete.

To the OP, when does "team" start at your gym? Maybe if it doesn't start until level 5 that is why she isn't being moved up? I would just ask politely. Simply state that your child is interested in being on team, what are the required skills, etc. I don't see any harm in asking.