WAG Changing Gyms at upper levels

[still hanging]

How hard is it on a child to change gyms at Level 9/10? We are considering a change, however options are VERY limited and not desirable (ie. gym is to far or too big of groups). I know the grass is not always greener, however we including DD would like a different style of coaching for my child. Thanks for any input.

 

[gymmomof1]

Going by my experience at my Dds gym we have had L9/10 switch to her gym for that reason and sometimes the gym they are coming from had coachingg changes or for what ever reason could no longer provide the level of coaching needed at this level. Sometimes the girls have to relearn skills/technique but have found it worth the switch. Wish you both the best as it is not easy to move but you need to do what's best for her gymnastics

 

[bookworm]

It won't be a picnic but if you're moving for the purpose of better coaching, AND your child also sees this as a need, then you'll be fine. We did it twice when my girls were level 10 for coaching issues as well and they both thrived after the changes.

 

[my4buffaloes]

We get upper levels switch to our gym periodically and it seems to go OK. I would imagine there might be a short period of time where the gymnast is trying to get to know the new gym and the coaches are trying to get to know the gymnast that might be difficult but if you all think it is best to move then it will likely be fine.

 

[Muddlethru]

We switched a month after my daughter's first L9 season. She competed one meet at her old gym. The new gym had her forfeit the rest of the season because the coach felt they were dug deep into the season and could not "back pedal". I think he did not trust her previous coaches. He seems to also be overly cautious and tries to avoid stress. He also needed to change her bar settings closer and felt it would take time for my daughter to adjust. Lastly, he wanted to get to know my daughter better and know her fears and abilities before letting her compete the skills. He let her compete states but I felt she was put in the back burner that first year at her new gym. It seemed like a waste of a year really. Had we switched the beginning of the summer, I am certain she would have competed the entire year and would have been L10 the following season (last season). But because she barely competed in 2012-2013, she repeated L9. Not that repeating L9 was bad but wasting a whole year was not in my daughter's best interest. So, I would time the switch with this in mind.

We switched because of deficiencies in the coaching, poor management,. They were pretty bad at bars and vault. But they were pretty decent in beam and floor. Our new gym has a lot better management and pretty good at bars and vault. But deficient in beam and floor because they hired a beam coach without any experience. Ugh. You can't win them all.

The hardest part was my daughter. She was devastated. It took almost 6 months for me to see her bounce out of gym with a smile again in her face. We too had very little choices. I have my concerns with our current gym. But we will be staying there unless something really bad happens. Just make investigate/research the gym completely.

When you say "how hard" is it t switch gyms, do you mean how hard is it on the gymnast's emotionally, or how does it affect the progress of her training or how hard it is to find a good fit, etc?

 

[still hanging]

4thloveofsports Both. Thank you for your input. My daughter loves the girls she trains with, so I worry how it will effect emotionally to train with a new group, new coaches and new environment. I am also concerned about how it will affect her progress. Will a new gym keep her on the back burner for time period, kind of like your situation or do they jump in and consider her one of their own. I am also concerned about losing time adjusting to new coaches, them learning about her and so on.

 

[Muddlethru]

4thloveofsports Both. Thank you for your input. My daughter loves the girls she trains with, so I worry how it will effect emotionally to train with a new group, new coaches and new environment. I am also concerned about how it will affect her progress. Will a new gym keep her on the back burner for time period, kind of like your situation or do they jump in and consider her one of their own. I am also concerned about losing time adjusting to new coaches, them learning about her and so on.

Many gyms will let you work out with their teams even more than one day. So, I would definitely do that. Take your time and speak with the new coaches, ask their expectations, how they train, how they plan to transition your daughter to the new team. Since we have very little choices of gyms, we had to give up some of our expectations and I feel we kind of settled. But we really did not have a choice and our current gym is still a lot better than our old gym. So, it was a good switch.

I will say, my daughter has been to camps with other gymnasts, regional meets and she has yet to come home saying she did not get along with the girls or that the girls were mean. In fact, she has always said, they were all very nice. If your daughter can weather through the first few months of adjustment, allow herself to get to know and like the girls, she will certainly develop good friendships wherever she goes. These girls have similar interest, desires, commitment and goals. They will bond. My daughter was 11 years old when we switched if that matters and she was at her old gym for over 4 years,

As far as being put in the back burner, I think that was because this new coach had two of our L10 at the former gym join him a couple years before. So, he thought my daughter would have the same fears and deficiencies as the other girls and it being mid season, he did not have the time to get to know her. If I were you, I'd switch before summer training starts. Most gyms do most of their training during the summer and they do a lot of drills which gives the coaches time to see your daughter's abilities. If you time the switch well, I don't think your daughter will be put on the back burner. I think once your daughter becomes a member of the team, most coaches will consider her their own. But I think it is also normal for the coaches to favor the gymnasts they've had for a while. But having said that, my daughter's new coach loves her and seems to favor her in terms of training above many of his long standing gymnasts for no other reason than she works really hard, listens to him and always does more than he asks her to do. Coaches are all different.

If you have concerns about your daughter's current gym and you feel they are detrimental to her progress as a gymnast or even as a person, I would switch even if it means it may halt her progress a bit. Don't be afraid to switch. In the long run, if you do your homework, you and your daughter will be glad you did.

 

[profmom]

4thloveofsports Both. Thank you for your input. My daughter loves the girls she trains with, so I worry how it will effect emotionally to train with a new group, new coaches and new environment. I am also concerned about how it will affect her progress. Will a new gym keep her on the back burner for time period, kind of like your situation or do they jump in and consider her one of their own. I am also concerned about losing time adjusting to new coaches, them learning about her and so on.

At least at DD's gym, when a new gymnast comes in as an optional, the girls are great at welcoming her and making her feel like part of the team. The coaches also seem to get right down to business. If you're going to switch, this is probably pretty close to ideal timing -- our girls are working on upgrades and the veteran optionals are all getting their new floor routines before the coaches move on to the new optionals.

 

[BachFlyer]

We did a similar switch in the fall, prior to my dd starting her L9 season, a year and a half ago. I second everything that 4theloveofsports said above. It was a big adjustment to the new style of coaching and expectations and she did have to relearn some things, so it wasn't all sunshine and butterflies, but she is doing better gymnastics now and she's as close to her new teammates as the old ones now. It turns out that she knew many of the girls on her new team from various meets, since by L9 you compete against the same girls over and over anyway.
I would add that now is the time to ask a ton of questions and share a lot of info about your dd and family. Be sure to specifically and clearly discuss your dds personality, strengths and weaknesses, and her goals with the prospective new coach. You want to be sure that they align with the new coach/team. But also, communication with coaches can become a little (or a lot) less regular once you're on the team. I wish I would have shared more about my dd, and asked way more questions, when I had the chance - so I had a clearer sense of the coach's plans and so everyone would have gotten a better feel for each other before we started.

 

[bookworm]

I wouldn't worry too much about a switch at the upper levels in your own region....at this point, the coaches at every gym generally know who's who and what their strengths are and are not. When we made our last gym switch , I had known the HC there for a while and when I walked through the door to check the gym out, I didn't really have to explain anything as she knew what was going on coaching-wise in our former gym....there are no secrets in the gym world...

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Our team is very welcoming and we've had 2 level 9-10 girls join within the past year, both fell right in socially as well as gymnastically.

 

[still hanging]

Can anyone tell me how many girls are in your 9/10 training groups? Choices are limited. Concerned about group size and going to a gym without pits. The only ideal gym is 90 minutes away. Ugh....

 

[Muddlethru]

Can anyone tell me how many girls are in your 9/10 training groups? Choices are limited. Concerned about group size and going to a gym without pits. The only ideal gym is 90 minutes away. Ugh....

90 mins away! That's tough. I hope it is a great gym. We currently have 4 L10s (one is graduating this year) and 6 L9s (we had 8 but one had a major injury after first meet and has not been back and one quit right before states). Next season, I think at least 3 L9s will move up and 3 of our L8s will most likely move up plus a former teammate is coming back. So we'll have 6 L10s and 7 L9s..

 

[htimcj]

We will have 1 L10 for sure with two l9 on the fence. If the l9 move up then we won't have any nines this year and 4 L8 with a huge ( sort of) L7 group at 9-10.

 

[gasrgoose]

.there are no secrets in the gym world...

This is very true and good advice. I'd tell your current coaches you are leaving before taking your daughter to try out. The current coaches almost always find out, especially at the upper levels.

 

[MeetDirector]

between our 9's and 10's we will probably have almost a dozen.

And to the OP - No pit = not for my dd. Pits, and thier proper use, are absolutely critical to the upper optional training rigors. Same goes for rod floor, tumble trak, and proper harness system for training the big bar releases (harness over beam would be icing on the cake). Thankfully we have all of the above and we are so very grateful.

Good Luck.

 

[BachFlyer]

^^^agreed^^^ I couldnt imagine the girls getting to 9/10 without a pit!! As it is, I am a little concerned long term (between me myself an I) about our lack of harness, so thanks for the validation MeetDirector.

We had 7 L10s, 9 L9s and 11 L8s this past season.

 

[still hanging]

I love hearing advice for parents with that have been around. Thank you! The gym with no pits has a fabulous coach but I am concerned about that. Seems that skills take longer to get without pits. So as far as group size are most of you okay with 10-12 and only one coach at the 9/10 level? That makes me nervous. Currently we have 10-11 and 1 coach and I don't feel like the girls do as well as they good.

 

[iluvgym]

10-12 kids at the upper levels is too many. It's very difficulty to polish and clean when there's that many to watch. That would drive me nuts. We go 6-8 at the most for level 9/10

 

[MeetDirector]

Missed the part about number of coaches. Our 9s and 10s are split into 4 groups with a coach for each event. We have a dedicated coach for each event. It would be challenging any other way.