Parents 6 year old Level 4 struggling

[soccergymmom]

Ah...bummer on the basket swing not being a hooked knee lol. I knew it sounded too good to be true. Yay on your dd's good beam practice. I love those days when they have an awesome practice. You can just see the pride in their faces. How old is your DD, did you say?

 

[krisnkids]

It's a lot easier to preach it then practice it. I work at the gym, she's there all time, so I bite my tongue frequently.

Experienced it, my 13yo former (as of Wednesday's orthopedic dr appt) struggled through her first year of level 4. Had beautiful lines but not the strenghth/body cooperation that she needed to be up there with her teammates. Her teammates moved on to level 5, she stayed as the only returning level 4. Thankfully she loved her coach and he coach would alter her workouts to her ability, she worked level 5 skills on bars and beam because that's where she shined but did what everyone else did for vault and floor. Her biggest cheerleader? Me

 

[soccergymmom]

I agree that focusing on her own improvements, and not about how she's doing compared to anyone else, is important. But scores don't tell the whole story either. A better routine at meet B might get a lower score than her worse routine at meet A... it depends on the judges.

She will never have to do a mill circle again after level 4. A lot of coaches on this site argue that you shouldn't even start competing till level 5 just because then you don't have to spend time learning skills (like the mill circle) that they will never use again.

Some of the tightness/body awareness stuff just comes with age. I want to say DD was about 8 when I watched her and thought, "hey, she's looking like a gymnast out there!" Sure, some kids are born with that, but that's not the norm.

As long as she's loving it, and you are happy with her coaches, try as best you can to trust the process. How she does as a brand-new level 4 has very little to do with how well she'll do as a 5, 6, 7, etc.

We have all BTDT as far as having a hard time watching our kids struggle and looking for that magic solution, but keep in mind that she is learning from the struggle as much as from the accomplishments. When I watch a meet and DD does a beautiful vault and the the HC tells her what she needs to do to make it better, I think, "Wow, she's going to go far in life." because she is comfortable with getting constructive criticism and because she is looking for ways to improve her skills, even when they're already good.

Thanks. Her coaches are very good - time will tell if their approach is what works best for her. Some of it is hard for me to watch. Lots of pressure on even the young ones. But so far it has bothered me more than her. And she always wants to give hugs at the end of practice. That's good, right?

That's awesome that your dd is good at hearing the constructive criticism and making the changes. Hard to do!

 

[MeetDirector]

Just to add -

Current Level 4 is the most useless level ever. The majority of the skills go absolutely nowhere in the higher levels (a tik-tok on floor, really? Maybe my dd should put one in her Lvl 10 routine next year.). My dd did not compete level 4, thank goodness. Her gym did training team and pre-team and started at lvl 5. Unfortunately, pressure from parents forced them to compete level 4. Level 4 is a huge money maker, but it can also lead to a lot of false future potential. The current level 4 is in no way a predictor of future gymnastics ability.

Good Luck.

 

[lhmom]

I just wanted to say as a parent whose child started level 4 at age 6, the form stuff will come with time. DD's coaches would call her "noodle" because she struggled with staying tight although by the end of the 1st season, it started coming together. She did a 2nd year of 4 and the changes were amazing once it "clicked" in her head about her form. You can check my youtube link below and look at her level 4 routines to see what I mean. So hang in there, she will get it! Of course, most times during her 1st yr I was thankful that DD remembered the routines. LOL! You've gotten some really good advice here too-whta you've heard here is what I still repeat to myself on occasion when I start to get tense about it. Good luck to your girl!

 

[soccergymmom]

I will definitely watch your girl's videos when I get home from work. My daughter and I love to watch YouTube gymnastics together. Thank you. And I think my dd has been called noodle too lol. "you look like a wet noodle"!

 

[sjm2b3]

In one level 4 meet, my DD (6 years old at the time) did not 1, not 2, but 3 mill circles and almost 4. She just kept going. We told her afterwards that there are no bonuses for girls (she has a DS that competes) and laughed about it. This week she received her invite to start level 5 and her first words were "No more stride circles!!!". It is an odd skill!

My DD just turned 7 and honestly things started to click a few months ago. It's like she realized the connection between working hard and getting the tricks--especially with recent kip training. She had some very frustrated days where she would whine that she would never make it, but she kept trying and finally did. Once that happened it turned the light on in her brain where she realized her efforts paid off and it's made a big difference. Maybe it's the age, at this age, a few months makes a huge difference maturity wise, maybe it's the end of level 4 season in December--I don't know, but it wasn't anything I did or said. All of us, including children, are motivated for different reasons and I think at young ages they enjoy the competition but aren't motivated by scores. My son (age 8) won all around recently and in the car I said congrats, you won the all around, and he looked at me clueless and hadn't even realized it, they are often cluesless during awards and he just tries to listen for his name as a few times he was zoned and didn't go up and I told him to pay attention!! I would like to keep them this way as long as I can, so try to focus on skills, form, little things she does right. Who cares if she gets last place? She's 6 and competing level 4 which is a HUGE accomplishment!!!!

 

[krisnkids]

In one level 4 meet, my DD (6 years old at the time) did not 1, not 2, but 3 mill circles and almost 4. She just kept going. We told her afterwards that there are no bonuses for girls (she has a DS that competes) and laughed about it. This week she received her invite to start level 5 and her first words were "No more stride circles!!!". It is an odd skill!

I love these kinds of stories, they are what makes the fun memories. I give my 13 yo a hard time about one meet on beam, in the level 4 routine after you do your turn and step back you do your leap pass right? Well, my dd did her turn, step back, leap pass, turn and stepped back again. Being you and so engrained that you do a leap after you step back, she did her leap pass again, did another turn, realized what she did, did her jumps, pivot and dismount. Missing quite a few required skills, oh and falling twice on the dismount and then storming off without saluting. We still laugh about it.

 

[soccergymmom]

LOL I bet she didn't think it was too funny then huh. But what a story to look back on and laugh about now.

sjm2b3 - thank you. Yes, I am super proud of her for being a Level 4. Not too many 6 year olds in this level. Even if she is last, she is still good.

 

[SignHere]

Best advice I ever got was to only say "I love watching you do gymnastics, honey! You're doing great!" And give two thumbs up and smile! My DDs coaches laugh at me because I say all I do is write the checks and drive them where they need to go.

But seriously, it can be extremely frustrating to watch your DD's progress ( or lack thereof) in this sport . And when she's not scoring 37 in the AA, and you need to complain to someone, I highly recommend talking to a non-gym friend about your frustrations. You do not need to burden your DD with that . I know it's really frustrating to watch your kid go from being in first place at every meet to being in last place at every meet and wonder if she's been over faced by being put in Level 4. However, I strongly suggest you leave the coaching and the level decision to her coaches. Yes, many girls who repeat Level 4 have a very successful year - but (and this is a biggie!) there is no guarantee that repeating Level 4 will guarantee a winning year. It all depends on what meets your DD is entered in and the competition, age groups, etc. for example, in my DDs level and age group, there are 4 kids who have been scoring over 9.5 on bars since the second meet of the season. Last meet, they scored 9.85, 9.825, 9.8, and 9.8.

Good luck!

 

[Gymdad2]

soccergymmom,

This is all very good advice, and I was happy to read your post when you said that you have a better understanding of this sport and that you realized that it is her sport, not yours. You sound wise in that post, and I hope you stick with that attitude. One last bit of advice - read my signature and believe. Good luck to you both.

 

[momofthreegirls]

I also have a L4 who turned six in October. Our meet season began in Nov., right after her 6th b-day, and just finished last weekend. She also struggled with certain skills - she was the last to get the beam dismount (had a spot at the first two meets) and was the last on the team to get the ROBHS.

As the season moved on, she gained confidence, form and power, but never quite achieved the consistency needed for a high AA score. She always fell on at least one or two skills during a meet. I never got upset with her or with the coaches, because I had to remind myself that she is only in kindergarten, and it's really amazing that she has the courage and bravery to go out there and compete.

I coach, and have three DDs in the sport. Sometimes good form and tightness comes naturally, but in other kids it takes a lot of learning, reminders, and repetitition to get it right. Some of it also comes with age and maturity.

My DD has walked away empty-handed at a few meets this year, and while it's sad and hard for me as a parent to see, I have to remind myself that my DD is having fun and loving gymnastics, and that's what is most important.

 

[sglemon]

I don't understand why you gym moved her up, when she didn't have the level 4 skills, especially mid season. That boggles my mind, because she was set up to fail. Yes, definitely do another year of 4 or 3 or whatever they call it next year. If your gym wants to move her up, to new 4, don't do it. Right now she needs confidence, that a second year can give her. She is 6, there is no rush!

 

[clark222]

If it makes you feel any better, my 9yo L4 cannot do the mill circle either.

 

[UnoMas]

6 years old is very young...and the L4 routines really do take a lot of mental concentration as well as the physical skills. I have seen a lot of 6 year olds repeat L4 and do sooo much better the 2nd year. My DD competed L4 as a 6 year old and it was not pretty (it was CUTE, but not pretty). It took another year of L4 to really get all the skills consistent in competitions. Now there are some 6 year olds who can blow past L4 in a year but I have to say that many of them I have watched over the years really do benefit from another year. L5 is tough and there is no reason to push her into that if she is not yet hitting all the skills in the L4 routines consistently. Even though some of the skills are somewhat pointless (mill circle-UGH), there is still a certain mental concentration level needed in gymnastics and for many little ones, it just takes a little more time to pull it all together. Just try to take a step back and let her be, trust her coaches, let her keep having fun and keep progressing/developing.

 

[littlegirlsdream]

My DD was a 6 yo level 4 also, she had turned 6 in Sept and had her first meet in Oct. She would chalk the back of her knee to prepare for the mill circle She fell off the beam about 5 times that first meet. As a level 5 she started scoring consistant mid 9s on beam. Floor she could always do, however vault was great at level 4 and scary at level 5, went from 9s to 6/7s and bars have also been a struggle. As a level 6 beam is not the greatest but vault is back to being awesome, floor still her best event and bars...sometimes 8s sometimes 7s:-/ The only thing consistant about her gymnastics is its consistently changing. The best event one year can be the worst the next. But she loves the sport and continues to progress. Your daughter will too. It's hard to watch them struggle and not place at any age but the lessons she has learned thus far have been valuable. There is a lot more to gymnastics than just the meets and medals. The lesson should never be if you can't win quit. She has to first love the sport and it sounds like she does, that is enough especially when your 6

 

[emorymom]

I don't understand why you gym moved her up, when she didn't have the level 4 skills, especially mid season. That boggles my mind, because she was set up to fail. Yes, definitely do another year of 4 or 3 or whatever they call it next year. If your gym wants to move her up, to new 4, don't do it. Right now she needs confidence, that a second year can give her. She is 6, there is no rush!

Maybe she can clarify but it sounds like she went from a gym with an L3 team to a gym with no L3 team but an L4 team.

 

[flgymmom]

This is exactly what I was thinking..... How does she feel ? She is 6... so I think she is doing very well

As long as she was happy to continue to work hard and moving forward, I'd say everything is OK for now.

How does your DD feel about herself? Is she happy? Is she ok with not medaling? Does she feel sad or is she just enjoying training and competing?

My DD is/was small, she turned 6 in July and had her first L4 meet 6 weeks later. Back then we didn't have L3. She had good days and more bad days. She placed sometimes, more often not. Never got that darn mill circle!!! But she stuck with it because she had do much fun and loved gymnastics! We then watched her work and struggle thru L5, twice. Then level 6. Through this she was learning new skills but not placing very often. She had decent scores but not what someone would call "great". It was after that year that things started to come together and now she's having one of her best seasons as a young L9.

So as long as your DD is having fun, and progressing even in tiny amounts, stick with it as long as SHE wants to. We parents are just here to foot the bills and give support

 

[soccergymmom]

Maybe she can clarify but it sounds like she went from a gym with an L3 team to a gym with no L3 team but an L4 team.

HI all, sorry I've been MIA. Crazy busy here. What happened is that she trained pre-team for a year. The goal was always to have her at L4 but she wasn't ready when the season started, and since there is another little girl on the team who didn't turn 6 until end of January, that little girl HAD to compete L3 until she could do L4. So the coach asked me if she could compete as a L3 the first couple meets to get her confidence up. Of course I said yes. So then she and the other little girl learned all the L3 routines. Had their final L3 meet in mid-Dec and then it was back to training L4. It's hard for the little ones to switch back and forth. But they did it. The reason that they both just didn't stay on L3 was because our gym doesn't have a Level 3 team. And they would have missed a lot of the meets because those meets were hosting Level 3's for USAG, just AAU or TAG. Better this way - she is getting stronger on her L4 skills and will be much better next year.
My dd does love it and loves being a part of the team. Everyone is so good to her. The older team girls are really nice to her. And yesterday......she did her ROBHS on the FLOOR, with no spot and no mat. Everybody was cheering her on. She was so excited to finally get that skill. It's not very pretty yet, and she did bonk her head on the floor, but the fact that she overcame her fear and went for it makes me so proud.

 

[soccergymmom]

6 years old is very young...and the L4 routines really do take a lot of mental concentration as well as the physical skills. I have seen a lot of 6 year olds repeat L4 and do sooo much better the 2nd year. My DD competed L4 as a 6 year old and it was not pretty (it was CUTE, but not pretty). It took another year of L4 to really get all the skills consistent in competitions. Now there are some 6 year olds who can blow past L4 in a year but I have to say that many of them I have watched over the years really do benefit from another year. L5 is tough and there is no reason to push her into that if she is not yet hitting all the skills in the L4 routines consistently. Even though some of the skills are somewhat pointless (mill circle-UGH), there is still a certain mental concentration level needed in gymnastics and for many little ones, it just takes a little more time to pull it all together. Just try to take a step back and let her be, trust her coaches, let her keep having fun and keep progressing/developing.

Thank you. I feel so much better reading about other people in similar situations. And I know exactly what you mean lol......"cute but not pretty". Definitely our case, ha! Although she said that her coach did tell her the other day when they ran through their routines, that if she had her mill circle, she would have had had the best bar routine that day. She just cannot figure out how to get that darn thing without hooking her leg.