Parents What are the "weeding out" skills?

[Sasha]

Hi Parents (or coaches or gymnasts..),

I keep hearing references to "weeding out" skills - meaning (I assume) skills that are particularly hard to acquire as a gymmie progresses in levels, such that it contributes to kids eventually either dropping out or not moving on the track they were planning.... (I realize other factors also contribute to drop out/change in plan, such as puberty, number of hours/other activities, injuries, etc.)

I keep hearing that "the dreaded kip" is one such skill. I just recently even learned what that was ;-) .

Any others skills that parents or coaches have encountered (for boys or girls - I have both!) that fall in this category? Or is the "weeding out skills" a myth, and different gymnasts just struggle with different things across the board, and there's no predictive quality to a gymmie getting one skill faster or slower than others?

Just curious how others have heard or used this term. And I don't mean it in a derogatory way, as in to intentionally try to weed out / separate less talented kids who don't get something right away. But I suppose it's possible that coaches might think "Susie is struggling more than a little with X, even though she has shown great potential up to this point, so although I'll keep working with her, it's likely she's going to continue to struggle past this point since that's what often happens to girls who struggle with X." I don't know if coaches think this, so that's why I'm fishing for any thoughts or experience

Thoughts?

 

[wallinbl]

I think they're collectively referred to as "bars".

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Or Beam !

 

[ladybird]

I have heard kips and giants, but also heard these referred to as gateway skills.

 

[thefellowsmom]

I would put going backwards on the beam in that category. But, I think that any skill can hold a kid up and potentially even take them out of the sport, but I also don't think that getting hung up on a skill is a black and while indicator of success or failure either.

Fear and blocks are a normal and expected part of this sport. Every kid is going to have their skill that stops them in their tracks, even Olympians.

The inability to gain enough strength to do a skill would be a different story I would imagine.

 

[Jenny]

Kips aren't scary. Very few kids leave in the UK because they can't get one. Back walkover on beam is the first big weed out. If they falter on this they are likely to falter later on backwards skills somewhere. There are exceptions of course but in my experience faltering on the back walkover on beam means fear issues later that become widespread across pieces.

Giants are another.

 

[Sasha]

I have heard kips and giants, but also heard these referred to as gateway skills.

"Gateway skills" - I like that much better! Focusing on the positive side.

 

[Gymdad2]

In no particular order I would list
1. Puberty
2. Other Activities and school
3. Injury
4. Difficult Skills
5. Fears
6 Everything else (parents, money, boys, etc)

And in the end, I think quitting is usually not caused by just one of these but a combination of some or all of them. I agree that Bars (difficulty) and Beam (fears) are probably the events most likely to be part of the 'difficult skills' category. USAG has a very interesting website regarding participation in different levels (these numbers are 2 years old) and different genres of gymnastics. The URL is:
http://usagym.org/docs/About USA Gymnastics/Statistics/2010-11_AthleteNumbers.pdf

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Very funny to me since dd got her BWO on beam with ease but had a super hard time with her kip. She has it now but it didn't come easy to her. Looking at her physique and judging from experience so far, bars will be difficult for her. Floor and beam come easier. She isn't super strong for her build which doesn't help her on bars....

 

[cbifoja]

I don't know about actual skills. My DD learns skills very quickly. Learned to kip in a few weeks, first of her group to get a giant, first to BHS on beam. So far, no skill has confounded her.

But then she has to spend SO....MUCH.....TIME..... cleaning them up to competition level. So for her, form might be her weed out.

 

[vagymmomma]

My thoughts by level on key skills that can make or break a gymnast:

L3 - BHS on floor
L4 - Kip on bars
L5 - BWO or BHS on beam or flyaway on bars
L7 - Giants* or flight skill on beam (you can get away with no giants at 7)
L8 - Flipping vault, beam series w/ flight, giants on bars
L9 - Release move on bars, connections on bars, connected flight series on beam
L10 - no idea - not there yet.

 

[Quadqueen]

Kips aren't scary. Very few kids leave in the UK because they can't get one.

of course, it's different in the U.S. because you can't get past L4 without a kip....so if a kid just isn't getting it, they quit or move to XCel.

 

[gymmiemom]

Very funny to me since dd got her BWO on beam with ease but had a super hard time with her kip. She has it now but it didn't come easy to her. Looking at her physique and judging from experience so far, bars will be difficult for her. Floor and beam come easier. She isn't super strong for her build which doesn't help her on bars....

This is my daughter at the moment. The only thing holding her back from L4 is the kip. She already has a BWO on beam consistently and is learning BHS on beam. I'm hoping that now that levels have been decided for the beginning of the season she will quit stressing about it, enjoy having an "easy" first few meets at L3 and one day it will just click!

 

[Gymmom82773]

Those statistics above regarding how many kids are in each level are interesting .. With the numbers declining with higher the level .. I'd live to have those stats narrowed down to age as well . My daughter is an 11 year old level 9 , I'm always curious how many of them there are in the US

 

[Uglybetty]

Those stats are interesting....wish BG published something similar. Level 6 mums should take heart from the fact their daughters have roughly a 1:81 chance of making it to elite. That's not bad odds compared to other sports I'd guess.

 

[iwannacoach]

Lots of good answers. I have one that will simplify the "weedout" skill into a single most important skill. The ability of the child to wrap their mind around the sport is one that ranks right up there with optimistic outlook, determination, trust in the coach, desire and love for the sport and what it brings to the individual.

I think of all those qualities, the ability to optimistically see yourself learning and doing the skills is one that you must have in the equation that has the word gymnast on the other side of the "equals" sign. You can get pretty far if all but one of these qualities are present, but you can't make it without accepting and embracing the concept of allowing their difficult skills to fit like a comfortable shoe.

 

[Uglybetty]

Found this reasons why kids quit on the BG website....interestingly skill difficulty doesn't really figure.

http://www.british-gymnastics.org/c...oc_download/2346-gymnastics-drop-out-research

 

[gasrgoose]

If you are talking about gateway skills, I would include twisting. Half, full one and a half, double, triple; front or back. Similar to a kip some kids seem to learn to twist easily and others take a while, but once they get it they've got it. It is difficult to add much variety to floor passes or dismounts or vaults without twisting.

 

[ladybird]

Lots of good answers. I have one that will simplify the "weedout" skill into a single most important skill. The ability of the child to wrap their mind around the sport is one that ranks right up there with optimistic outlook, determination, trust in the coach, desire and love for the sport and what it brings to the individual.

I think of all those qualities, the ability to optimistically see yourself learning and doing the skills is one that you must have in the equation that has the word gymnast on the other side of the "equals" sign. You can get pretty far if all but one of these qualities are present, but you can't make it without accepting and embracing the concept of allowing their difficult skills to fit like a comfortable shoe.

IWC, after one year of competing we are just now discovering the mental aspect as one of the most important qualities of a good gymnast!

 

[Gymdad2]

Uglybetty, Wouldn't you have to count all of the levels above you to determine the chance of getting to elite? If you add in all the optionals above level six it comes out to about 1:300.