Parents Just switched gyms and might be regretting it

[Mommy25qtpies]

Have a question you might be able to answer. At Our old gym they leveled girls up after states and My dd began working level 4 skills. She doesn't have her kip yet but they give everyone till the end of the summer to make it. At the new gym if you don't have your kip then you stay with level 3s which starting next week includes the girls just moving up from preteam. Out of a team of 14 only 2 have their kip. So most of the level 3 team is staying back. Does this sound right to you? It sounds crazy to mix the new preteam girls with the old level 3s and still expect the level 3s to progress. They said if she has her kip by the end of the summer she can compete level 4 but she will have missed all the summer training. Very confused.

 

[Sneezyone]

This is how our team works too. If you do not have all your skills for the next level (not necessarily clean but they must be present) then you do not move up. All of the girls moving up with your daughter will be working on (and in need of) the same kip drills as your child. Vault is easy. Floor is too at that level. Bars generally hold kids back. It sounds like your DD is in the right spot.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

All gyms are different, but almost all gyms will prefer to put girls of the roughly same skill level together..! So at the new gym, with their rules of having the skills before moving up, I would then guess that the girls moving into L3 would be in the same place, or close, as your DD.
At our gym, the skill doesn't have to be there yet but the coaches' trained eyes have to see something that makes them believe you WILL have them before long. My Dd moved up to the L4 group without having her kip and I thought the coaches were nuts, but sure enough within a couple of months she did have it.
Because all gyms do things their won way, 47 anecdotes about how it is at OUR gym isn't really going to help you though. . If the new gym says she will be moved to 4 if she gets her kip this summer, then go with that, otherwise enjoy 3 and know that she will be working on all the appropriate skills for next year along with a bunch of girls of a like skill set. You simply got caught in the "less fun" gap of two different philosophies but in the end, it could turn out that this new gym will allow your DD (and all their gymmies) better success through the levels this way.

 

[ascarter1]

Our gym up-trains during the summer and makes a decision in August.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

^^^^^Yes. You know what the gym does, doesn't really matter what all ours do..

Our gym works the same way, you don't have the skills you don't move.

We changed to this gym. Daughter was L3 old gym, got bumped back to L2 because she didn't have her mill circle. Now training L4, most of the girls I the group have all their skills. But a couple don't have their kip. If they don't get it by mid August (there abouts), they will be back to L3.

I will say my daughter is a much much better gymnast, then the gym who moved them without the skills.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Groupings are groupings, Why did you switch to this gym?

 

[Sasha]

It's a reasonable strategy to have a cut off date for skills earlier than August, so that seems fine. Our cutoff is May, for example. We will also have repeating L3s and new L3s mixed in from preteam moveups together. Our repeating L3s did reasonably well, all making states, some taking top 3 placements here and there, but each of them who are repeating were struggling somewhat on at least one L4 skill/event - either kip, getting over the vault table, cartwheel/handstand on beam, or tumbling concerns.

I do see that these repeating L3s have been doing tons of kip drills, for example, and are working the L4 vault drills and beam cartwheels in summer practice while their new L3 counterparts are doing some kip drills, but working much more on the mill circle complex and other basics. As our September season approached, there will certainly be more time devoted purely to running routines, but our repeating L3s should be way ahead and ready for the following season with all the summer L4 skills training.

So I would be looking to see if the repeating L3s are indeed mixing in a good sampling of drills for L4 over the summer along with their required L3 routine practice. If not, then I would be more concerned that they could struggle after season and still not have kip, etc.

But what you describe sounds very typical. I hope your DD has a great season!

 

[Committed]

DDs gym will start training skills for the next level right after state. Whatever skills they have by May determines the level they will be for the competition season. So, if a girl gets her kip May 15th ...... it's past the cutoff and she will be a L3. It doesn't matter if they were on pre team or L3 the previous year. Also, L3 can be skipped, so L4 groupings can have pre team girls, 1st year 4s, or even repeating 4s.

It actually sounds like your new gym is pretty lenient.

 

[tooootsie]

Have a question you might be able to answer. At Our old gym they leveled girls up after states and My dd began working level 4 skills. She doesn't have her kip yet but they give everyone till the end of the summer to make it. At the new gym if you don't have your kip then you stay with level 3s which starting next week includes the girls just moving up from preteam. Out of a team of 14 only 2 have their kip. So most of the level 3 team is staying back. Does this sound right to you? It sounds crazy to mix the new preteam girls with the old level 3s and still expect the level 3s to progress. They said if she has her kip by the end of the summer she can compete level 4 but she will have missed all the summer training. Very confused.

Our gym is having all the l3 kids repeat and adding

 

[tooootsie]

Grr hit reply too early.
Our gym is having all 3s repeat and mixing in 6 new 3s. The first year 3s are only practicing 6 hours a week, while the 2nd year 3s are doing almost 12. Working many l4, l5 and so on skills. They said our team will likely not repeat 4 because of all the skills they have. Almost our whole repeat 3 team has kip, jump to high bar, cartwheels on beam, vault over vault table etc. So When They Move To 4 Next season they will do amazing!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Grr hit reply too early.
Our gym is having all 3s repeat and mixing in 6 new 3s. The first year 3s are only practicing 6 hours a week, while the 2nd year 3s are doing almost 12. Working many l4, l5 and so on skills. They said our team will likely not repeat 4 because of all the skills they have. Almost our whole repeat 3 team has kip, jump to high bar, cartwheels on beam, vault over vault table etc. So When They Move To 4 Next season they will do amazing!

That sounds like stacking the deck. Especially since Level 3 is not required.

 

[tooootsie]

That sounds like stacking the deck. Especially since Level 3 is not required.

How is that stacking of not all kids are ready? All gyms have different philosophies .. some run through levels, others fine tune skills. I think it is up to the HC to make that decision. That being said, 99% of gyms in our state have kids repeat every level. It's just a standard practice here. Maybe if it wasn't something most gyms do I could see you thinking that. But it is common Practice Here.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Grr hit reply too early.
Almost our whole repeat 3 team has kip, jump to high bar, cartwheels on beam, vault over vault table etc.

If they all have their level 4 skills I am unsure why so many would be repeating the L3.

Again, a little surprised that it is standard practice to do 2 yrs per level.

 

[KSLaura]

How is that stacking of not all kids are ready? All gyms have different philosophies .. some run through levels, others fine tune skills. I think it is up to the HC to make that decision. That being said, 99% of gyms in our state have kids repeat every level. It's just a standard practice here. Maybe if it wasn't something most gyms do I could see you thinking that. But it is common Practice Here.

Not all gyms repeat every level. A lot do....those are the ones that have kids routinely getting 39's at meets.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Again, just thinking here regarding progress. So L3-L10, assuming they do only L5 is 7 yrs . So at 2 yrs per level, it's typical to take 14 yrs to get to level 10. So Starting as a 5 yr old, they would be 19 when they get to 10.

That just doesn't seem typical to me.

 

[tooootsie]

Again, just thinking here regarding progress. So L3-L10, assuming they do only L5 is 7 yrs . So at 2 yrs per level, it's typical to take 14 yrs to get to level 10. So Starting as a 5 yr old, they would be 19 when they get to 10.

That just doesn't seem typical to me.

They skip 6 typically. .. and our team will only do one year of 4. They will get to 10 early enough

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Not all gyms repeat every level. A lot do....those are the ones that have kids routinely getting 39's at meets.

Yes I would consider that stacking the deck if they have the next level skills.

So my girl had a very successful year at L3, if they kept her back and she had her kip that is probably how she would score.

Now if she didn't have her kip and FHS and scored that, well I could kind of see it. But she has all L4 skills, if they tell me they are holding her back I would have a problem with that.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

They skip 6 typically. .. and our team will only do one year of 4. They will get to 10 early enough

I'm sorry, I thought you said they do 2 yrs at all levels.

 

[KSLaura]

A lot of gyms skip 6 and also test out of 5. So typically they repeat one or more compulsory levels and then go from level 4 to 7 in about a year. Some gyms skip compulsories altogether and use xcel till level 7 (score out of 4/5). I'm not sure how I feel about the level repeating/skipping stuff. Makes life very confusing for parents!

 

[raenndrops]

How is that stacking of not all kids are ready? All gyms have different philosophies .. some run through levels, others fine tune skills. I think it is up to the HC to make that decision. That being said, 99% of gyms in our state have kids repeat every level. It's just a standard practice here. Maybe if it wasn't something most gyms do I could see you thinking that. But it is common Practice Here.

If not ALL kids are ready, you only move up the ones that are ready.

According to USAG:
In the spirit of good sportsmanship, fairness to all athletes and competitive balance, the mobility system within the Jr. Olympic Program should be followed in the manner that it was intended:

1. Before moving up a level, every athlete should show proficiency at her current level.
2. Once a high level of proficiency is achieved at the athlete's current level, she should strive to move up to the next level, as long as it is done safely.

I firmly believe that girls should only repeat if they are lacking the skills for the next level. If they HAVE the skills (I have no problem with setting a reasonable cut-off date), then fine tuning can be done after that date and throughout the season. Once they are highly proficient at the current level, it is not necessary to run the routines constantly and next level skills and drills can be worked more often(At our gym, a 36+ at the current level allows a girl to train higher level skills in lieu of running extra routines).