Parents Should DD repeat 4 or do 5 this year?

[proud-gym-mom]

I need some parental opinions, help! My DD is not super competitive. She's good (not a superstar) and has progressed a level a year since she began on team (Novice 4 which they competed All Star, Old level 4 and then New level 4). She finished last season well as a L4 - scoring between 9.0 - 9.4 on each event and had a really good state meet but didn't medal in anything. Our gym has a new rule this year that the girls must make their state qualifying score (33.0) in order to stay at the level they've been training. DD has been training Level 5 all summer and has all her skills she needs - they're not perfect but the basics are all there.

We just had our first meet and she got a 32.825. 17 of our girls didn't make a 33.0 and so they're giving them all one more meet. I'm pretty sure she will get over a 33.0 and will likely be able to move up to Level 5, but should she? Here's a video of her first Level 5 meet (btw, there were only 4 girls in her group).


She is a go with the flow kind of kid. Her coach supports her moving up, the HC doesn't but she's not a fan of DD. Out of her 3 closest buddies last year, one is doing Level 6 now and the other two will likely do Level 4 again. She is used to starting the season at about 35 and finishing about 36.5 or so. If she does Level 5 she may need to do it for 2 years, or given some of the posts maybe she does Level 5 as sort of a developmental year and really prepares to do Level 6 next year? At our gym in order to do Level 6 she needs to get her layout, BHS on beam and cast to handstand… I think she can get these skills in a year.

I want her to feel good about gymnastics and not be super stressed but I also think that it will push her more overall if she does Level 5 this year, it almost seems like a cop out to do Level 4 again. I know she's looking to me to help guide her in what to do, what would you do?

 

[bogwoppit]

I think she is fine at 5 and I see no benefit in going back to 4. Sure she has some form issues, but they can be fixed at 4 or 5. I would rather two years at L5 than going back to 4.

She is a cutie.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Love their leos, btw. At our gym, the girls only do level 5 to score out, bc level 6 is the same skill set as level 5, and it gets them to optionals quicker where they can tailor their routines. They stay in Level 6 until they are ready for Level 7. And scores are notoriously tough at Level 5. If that's not an option that your gym practices, and she has to stay in Level 5 for the whole season, I still think that's preferable to competing Level 4 again. I sure hope they don't leave her at Level 5 for two years!

 

[IreneKa]

Do they allow uptraining at your gym? I mean, if she goes back to level 4, would she still be allowed to work on her level 5 skills and higher? At our gym, if you are a level 4, you are only allowed to work on level 4 skills, so in that case it would be a definite no for me, stick with L5, even if low scoring, but keep progressing.
But if she can continue improving her L5 skills and uptraining for 6, while successfully competing L4, and then possibly skipping 5 next year, then I would consider it.
Although, she does look pretty good to my untrained eye.

 

[Gymsanity]

She looks great for a young new L5. Would definitely have her keep doing L5. Never liked the idea of making 'professional' compulsory gymnasts anyway. She is plenty good, and needs to keep moving up and forward! Good luck to the both of you.

 

[Amber]

I need some parental opinions, help! My DD is not super competitive. She's good (not a superstar) and has progressed a level a year since she began on team (Novice 4 which they competed All Star, Old level 4 and then New level 4). She finished last season well as a L4 - scoring between 9.0 - 9.4 on each event and had a really good state meet but didn't medal in anything. Our gym has a new rule this year that the girls must make their state qualifying score (33.0) in order to stay at the level they've been training. DD has been training Level 5 all summer and has all her skills she needs - they're not perfect but the basics are all there.

We just had our first meet and she got a 32.825. 17 of our girls didn't make a 33.0 and so they're giving them all one more meet. I'm pretty sure she will get over a 33.0 and will likely be able to move up to Level 5, but should she? Here's a video of her first Level 5 meet (btw, there were only 4 girls in her group).


She is a go with the flow kind of kid. Her coach supports her moving up, the HC doesn't but she's not a fan of DD. Out of her 3 closest buddies last year, one is doing Level 6 now and the other two will likely do Level 4 again. She is used to starting the season at about 35 and finishing about 36.5 or so. If she does Level 5 she may need to do it for 2 years, or given some of the posts maybe she does Level 5 as sort of a developmental year and really prepares to do Level 6 next year? At our gym in order to do Level 6 she needs to get her layout, BHS on beam and cast to handstand… I think she can get these skills in a year.

I want her to feel good about gymnastics and not be super stressed but I also think that it will push her more overall if she does Level 5 this year, it almost seems like a cop out to do Level 4 again. I know she's looking to me to help guide her in what to do, what would you do?

First meets are always the lowest score. The idea being, that the gymnasts improve as time goes on. She's fine at Level 5. She can clean up the routines...I've seen girls compete levels missing big things, like kips, low casts, no BWO, etc who eventually become competitive.

This video is was intriguing to me. If your DD competed those bars here, she would've gotten an 8.5+. Floor score would've been a little higher, like 8.85. Vault actually would've been lower. Beam the same. Weird how it's different in different areas!

Good luck to your DD! For someone who's not very competitive, she looks pretty good to me

 

[LizzieLac]

The video was marked private for me and requested a password.

 

[sce]

I think she is fine at 5 and I see no benefit in going back to 4. Sure she has some form issues, but they can be fixed at 4 or 5. I would rather two years at L5 than going back to 4.

She is a cutie.

I agree with all of this. She has the skills. It's the little things that need to improve. Going back to 4 would not benefit her. She needs to work on cleaning things up at this level.

 

[MeetDirector]

Do 5 and get on with real skills that she will need in optional gymnastics. The point is to get through (survive) compulsories as fast as possible while building a solid foundation for optional gymnastics. Wasting time at the lower levels is not useful.

 

[kaloss]

The video was marked private for me and requested a password.

Me too

 

[proud-gym-mom]

Thank you everyone, this really helps me a ton. I'm not sure why some folks couldn't see the video, it's not got any privacy settings on it… she could up train but I think based on the feedback from everyone I'm really going to push for her to do Level 5, I'm new to this board but I really appreciate all the helpful comments and support from other parents, it's so hard to know what to do sometimes

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

I think she looks really good!!! A few small mistakes that can be easily corrected, but all her skills are there. Good luck to her!!!

 

[Committed]

I'd have to agree with others. She can do the skills, but there are some form issues - something that can be fixed at either 4 or 5. It's not uncommon to see a first meet in the 32s and then hopping up to the 34+s by the next meet.

 

[profmom]

Oh my goodness, she should certainly do L5! She's ready.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Me too

Me three. Weird.

 

[beachgirl]

L5 for sure. She has the skills, she just needs to polish them.

 

[bookworm]

There is no need for this child to repeat level 4....I'm shocked her bar score wasn't a bit higher and that would've gotten her the 34 that she needed in that gym to move up..

 

[gymdog]

Leave her at 5. That vault is going to score the same in either level really and it's the thing that's holding her back. Her other routines have potential. Maybe she can get privates on vault.

She is probably going to place better in 5, if she goes back to 4 she's going to be against a lot of repeats from the big gyms and some gyms don't have 5s. I think she will probably get a 33 soon. If she works on stretching and exercises at home she can also improve her scores a lot because her knees are bent on most elements. It is probably a combination of strength and flexibility but it is causing her a deduction on most elements even though she is generally using the right techniques and has sufficient power/speed.

Her bar score is low because her casts are very below horizontal. They need to be above horizontal at this level. If she can at least achieve that on high bar that would be a good goal and is easy out of the long hang kip.

 

[gymdog]

Oh, and she also took an extra swing before her squat on which is .3. More than a point of the bar score is her casts and that. The casts are measured from the lowest body part which was her stomach, so she also received a deduction for arching. Even though her feet were close to horizontal (still not above) it won't count as that angle unless she can get the rest of her body in a straight line.

 

[proud-gym-mom]

Wow, thanks gymdog, I didn't know a lot of that… it really helps me know what to tell her to work on. You can't see in the video but she is touching the floor on the low bar. I guess that's just a strength thing?

Thanks to everyone who posted. I feel much much better encouraging her to do Level 5… you all gave me some really good advice and things I might not have considered.