Recent content by themonkeysmom

What criteria or score does your gym require for boys to move to the next level? Our gym is moving from evaluating each boy's skills and situation independently to a hardline score, so I'm wondering how other gyms handle this.

My son has been using grips made by a local craftsman who is very popular around here for his gymnastics grips. The dowels on his ring grips are the same size as the dowels on his high bar grips. His coach wants him to switch to grips with larger dowels, but he has small hands and is having a...

The only hang up with age is that a boy cannot compete level 8 until they are 11. I believe there is some sort of exception where you can qualify through the future stars program. A boy that competes level 4 at age 6 or 7 is in no rush.

Update: I took him to the doctor, and it turns out that he has a sinus infection. According to the doc, that accounts for the exhaustion and dizziness, and generally feeling like crud after tumbling. The poor kid has infected sinuses and a little resulting lung inflammation and I had no idea...

That's another good thought. He was definitely exposed to the flu pretty extensively via a good friend we thought just had a bad cold at the time, and although he didn't come down with it, he's been sniffly on and off ever since. I did buy him a good multivitamin last night. We'll see if it helps.

Thanks for the advice so far. He just turned 10. I was a bit surprised when the coach told me because he seems like his normal self otherwise.

I just found out that my gymnast has been getting exhausted shortly after starting floor each practice, and sometimes on pommel or vault for a few weeks now. He's able to complete the practice, but his endurance is just not the same. Outside of the gym, he has a normal energy level, and he's...

Same here. We're approaching 20 boys in each of the compulsory level teams.

Level 6, 5 or 6 meets plus states and regionals

I think there is a fine line between boys quitting because they're bored with skills that are too easy and boys quitting because they're overwhelmed by skills that are too hard. My son is happiest when he is challenged with attainable goals. I think that's what I like about the new routines. For...

I didn't know that boys had to be 11 to compete level 8. My son is an 8 year old level 6 and our gym doesn't do future stars...so that may come into play. He just did his first giants without the straps this week, and he's having a blast this season so far.

...and after all the time I spend trying to convince people that there is nothing feminine about men's gymnastics...(enter the pink pommel horse)

I would go with IGC or FlipFest. I have heard that Woodward has a lot less structured gym time. We are doing IGC this summer, but have teammates that have had a blast at FlipFest.

This is in the new level 6 floor routine. I agree that it looks really cool.

The final draft of the new routines is already out. Our coaches have them and the boys have been working new skills and sequences based on them.