Parents Skipping levels?

[gymratmom]

A little background on my gymnast. She is a 7 y.o. level 4 competing. She competed Level 2 last year and skipped 3. We are at a small gym that caps out at 7 right now. My daughter lives and breathes for the gym. We are being encouraged to move her to level 6 in the fall and possibly 7 in the spring. She does seem to have a natural talent, but doesn't she need more time in compulsories? Also, she has not scored particularly well at level 4. She does work out with the level 6 girls occasionally and reportedly is keeping up. The coaches point is that at this age she is fearless and this will allow her to learn bigger skills easier. She is also very motivated and coachable. They don't place much importance on her level 4 scores either.

I had posted before about switching gyms but am not ready to do it for at least a year. The more serious gyms practice 20 hrs and that is just too much for her right now.

 

[cbifoja]

My daughter had a great L3 year, constantly on the medal stand. She skipped L4 and is doing her first year on L5. She's doing okay but not killing it. Scoring 33s and 34s. But she is going to attempt to score out of L6 and depending on the skills she picks up this summer will be competing the new L6 or L7 next year.

Mine is 8 and her coach says very similar things: fearless, raw talent, incredible strength to weight ratio. Her flexibility might hold her back but you play the cards you're dealt with.

I'm glad that her coaches are allowing her to skip as they see fit. We communicate constantly and they know her dreams and desires, her capabilities, and my limitations. For example, we will bump up to 20 hours next season if she goes L7 versus about 16 at L6. To me, that a big jump from 10 hours this season. I'm worried about school with the number of hours.

But like your daughter, she loves it. She lives for the gym. We NEVER leave when class is out because she is always running back to do a few more bar sets or beam routines or tumbling with some of the college gymnasts who train at our facility. What can you do???? If you trust your coach and they believe in her and her ability, then I say go for it. She can always repeat a level if it gets to be too much.

 

[LizzieLac]

My observation: gyms that push kids with average talent through the levels end up not spending enough time on the foundational elements. For these kids, their form suffers and they often "chuck" skills. It becomes hard to untrain their bent legs, for instance.

Kids with above average talent really need to skip levels because they gain skills easily and good form come naturally to them. We have a gymnast who did 4 and 5 in one year and then 6 and 7 in one year. Then one year of 8 and now is level 9 as a ten year old. She is an exception, IMO. Her form is perfect - scored a 10 on a bar routine last year year as a level 8 and has been invited to the ranch.

That being said, I agree with not placing to much importance on your DDs level 4 scores, but to some extent scores will tell you a little about her form and if she is learning the basics she will need down the road. In addition, many coaches will tell you that it is important to teach as many new skills as possible while they are young, as with age often comes fears and a changing body that can add another challenge. So, in the end you have a balancing act.

I guess to know if the current coaches have assessed her correctly, you really ought to have her evaluated elsewhere. I wonder if these are really the coaches you want to build her progression in the sport if they only coach up to level 7. I just find that gyms that talk of moving kids quickly through the levels this way have at least a solid JO program through level 10 to support this advancement. Good luck with your decision!

 

[txgymfan]

If you search for Bookworm's post you will see how her daughter progressed quickly through the levels, The one thing that concerns me is that your gym only goes to level 7. Since she moving that fast through the levels I would want higher level optional coaches supervising her progression so she is prepared for the skills that take years to build.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I don't see anything wrong w/ a kid who has the skills and natural form moving up through the levels as fast as possible...that whole thing about young, fearless and capable makes perfect sense...

However, I don't understand how a gymnast w/ the capability of doing L6 skills right now, w/ the goal of new L6 or L7 next year, would only get 33s and 34s in L4 w/o there being some pretty significant form issues.

For instance, my DD is a L6 right now (her AA's are 33-34'ish, so certainly not amazing by any means), and her goal is new L6/L7 next year as well. However, I am pretty sure she'd get crazy high scores if she'd do the L4 routines for a judge right now because her form would be near perfect and she'd have no problem at all w/ any of the L4 skills...

I'm not saying the coaches don't have a good reason behind their strategy, but I'd just worry about form. What would you say is causing the 34's - is it falls on beam? pauses on bars? is there a specific event that is her weak spot?...or is it she's in the low 8's across the board because of things like bent legs and flexed feet?

 

[gymratmom]

Thank you for all of the good advice! I am definitely worried about form, she looks lazy to me sometimes, arms not straight, rushing through, etc. I have been told some of this will improve with maturity, she can do everything beautifully when she wants to, but she doesn't always want to! Her low scores have come in beam (falling off on the cartwheel) and missing her squat on on bars. (We compete AAU until Level 5 at our gym). Her floor is consistently in the high 8's and always one small thing it seems that keeps her from the 9s, vault also has been high 8's. It is frustrating for me to watch-at practice tonight she is missing her cartwheel 50% of the time but nailing the back walkover, on bars she is doing kip back hip circle but not getting the squat on, etc. I guess we will see how the rest of the season goes, if she could put everything together in one meet, I am pretty sure her scores will be much higher. I have told her that she cannot jump levels if she is not working on the Level 4 skills that she needs to master so we will see if that motivates her. As far as a gym change, I know deep down we will need to do it sometime in the near future and we are lucky to have many options within 20 miles, but we love our coaches and I love that she has so much one on one with them being on such a small team, usually 1 coach per 4 gymnasts. And, I have not committed in my mind to devoting our life to this sport!

 

[Quadqueen]

Thank you for all of the good advice! I am definitely worried about form, she looks lazy to me sometimes, arms not straight, rushing through, etc. I have been told some of this will improve with maturity, she can do everything beautifully when she wants to, but she doesn't always want to! Her low scores have come in beam (falling off on the cartwheel) and missing her squat on on bars. (We compete AAU until Level 5 at our gym). Her floor is consistently in the high 8's and always one small thing it seems that keeps her from the 9s, vault also has been high 8's. It is frustrating for me to watch-at practice tonight she is missing her cartwheel 50% of the time but nailing the back walkover, on bars she is doing kip back hip circle but not getting the squat on, etc. I guess we will see how the rest of the season goes, if she could put everything together in one meet, I am pretty sure her scores will be much higher. I have told her that she cannot jump levels if she is not working on the Level 4 skills that she needs to master so we will see if that motivates her. As far as a gym change, I know deep down we will need to do it sometime in the near future and we are lucky to have many options within 20 miles, but we love our coaches and I love that she has so much one on one with them being on such a small team, usually 1 coach per 4 gymnasts. And, I have not committed in my mind to devoting our life to this sport!

it sounds to me like she could use some experience in L5. Why the rush to L7 a year from now? I too would wonder what they plan to do with your DD if they plan to move her up so quickly, yet aren't really prepared to teach her the bigger skills.

The head coach at DD's former gym, a YMCA, was desperate to have an optional program there. For a few years, the highest level they had was L5. So, a year ago, they told the L5 parents that they wanted the girls to compete L6 this past fall and L7 in the spring. Two of them barely squeaked by with a 31 + a couple of tenths mobility score in 6 (the rest didn't get a 31 AA) and are really struggling in 7 right now. The coach simply isn't experienced enough to teach the higher level skills. She now has her "optional team," but they're doing very poorly at meets.

I'm not saying that's what's going to happen at your gym or to your DD, but I just wonder about these coaches who see potential but don't seem to have the experience as coaches to let those kids reach their potential.

 

[Committed]

it sounds to me like she could use some experience in L5. Why the rush to L7 a year from now? I too would wonder what they plan to do with your DD if they plan to move her up so quickly, yet aren't really prepared to teach her the bigger skills.

The head coach at DD's former gym, a YMCA, was desperate to have an optional program there. For a few years, the highest level they had was L5. So, a year ago, they told the L5 parents that they wanted the girls to compete L6 this past fall and L7 in the spring. Two of them barely squeaked by with a 31 + a couple of tenths mobility score in 6 (the rest didn't get a 31 AA) and are really struggling in 7 right now. The coach simply isn't experienced enough to teach the higher level skills. She now has her "optional team," but they're doing very poorly at meets.

I'm not saying that's what's going to happen at your gym or to your DD, but I just wonder about these coaches who see potential but don't seem to have the experience as coaches to let those kids reach their potential.

i agree with this. DDs team coach mentioned wanting to train DD for new L4, but couldnt because DD wasnt old enough to compete it. We went to a different gym to try it out, but they wont even put DD on the new L3 team- she will be bumped "down" to preteam.
Mine is also fearless and will do any trick if asked, but its not pretty. I am planning on switching gyms next month so that she learns the tricks the right way- instead of doing them her way and needing to be relearned later.

Obviously, i dont know your DD, or her abilities........but that is a lot of level skipping! I would be leary.

Good luck!

 

[bookworm]

As this gym currently maxes out at Level 7, my concern in general would be "do they have any coaches that can teach optional level skills?" You can skip levels without killing it in compulsories but I guess I would really take a good look at what my daughter was planning to do in this sport and plan accordingly...if she's hoping to be an upper level optional in the next few years, then a gym change is in order, and from experience, the sooner the better. I know you said you love her coaches and vice versa but this really is a business decision...and the business you are currently at cannot meet your daughter's needs for the future so you should move on...I think in the next gym they may very well move her up as well (that is what happened to my daughter when I moved her from a rec gym to a real gym) but at that point, you would know that they had proper coaching in place for going forward...

 

[onesimplemom]

we just switched gyms for our ds it sounds like a very similar situation. We were veryconcerned that he wasnt being taught his basics correctly and was forming some bad habits. His gym was planning on moving him up and we felt just as you do. We did have him assesed from anoter gym and our suspicions where confirmed. It was hard to change however we realized if he was serious about this it was better now than later. He is un learning some bad habits and we dont know if he may repeat a level but it is such an immense relief to know he is being coached properly and we can trust their choices. We also really liked his coach and it was hard but the right choice. Getting a second opinion is always good.