Several threads lately have me wondering about how young is too young for serious training..? There was one today, but that isn't the only one and I am in no way suggesting that something is negative about letting your kids try more serious training at a very young age if they are ready. It just has me very curious about how it works in gyms across the country (world?)...
For instance, at my gym the philosophy is that when they are little, they should have fun and gym classes reflect that. I teach 18mo-6yrs, so I feel qualified to speak about how their "training" goes. Our preschool classes are coed up until age 4. The classes are focused on introducing basic gymnastics skills and positions but at the same time playing and having fun with games etc. my classes are very structured and I would say most parents sign their kids up as a way to work on gross motor skills, get energy out and learn to listen and take turns. In no way, shape or form am I creating world class athletes in my toddler classes! I have had a couple (read 2 or 3) girls in the years I have been coaching that at close to age 4, I would give more difficult assignments to because they had the raw potential, strength and focus to want a tiny bit more than what I do with all the other kids. Even then I am talking such things as starting to work on pullovers with a girl that could do a perfect pike hang and cast, working on better form during forward rolls and cartwheels etc.
At 4, they go to the "big floor" instead of the smaller apparatus and start more actual gymnastics with more stretches and bridges/tabletops. If they do really well in the regular class, they may be asked to do an advanced class. At 5, the rec classes start getting divided into skill levels and they progress through those only based on skills and focus. At 5 they can also be asked or ask about doing a tryout for our TOPs program, it is usually only girls from the highest rec level that try out and not everyone makes it.
Our Team girls get drafted to L3 either from the older highest level rec classes (7-10yos) or from the TOPs groups. The girls doing at least some time in TOPs all fare better than the ones coming straight from the rec classes. I think the youngest one in our L3 team is 7yo. We also have a couple of girls on the L4/5 team that are 7 and 8, those came from higher level TOPs groups and have had infinitely more training than the average 7yo in rec, obviously.
We do have some younger girls that are incredibly talented and are competing optionals at very young (to me) ages, but they have all gone the way of TOPs and in fact are all in the national TOPs group as well, so it is definitely possible for kids in our program to progress fast for thos few that have that wonderful talent.
On average, I would say the journey to go to team looks like this:
18mo-4yrs really doesn't matter. Most team members didn't do gym at this point.
Starting rec somewhere between 4-7. Moving on through the rec levels is individual, my dd took a year to make it to the highest level and then she did that level for a year before I would let her do TOPs. Some kids go through the rec levels a lot faster, the one with more raw talent or strength can zoom through them or be put in the highest level almost immediately.
5-8yo: if focused and talented, asked to do TOPs. We have had a few girls try at 4 who were just really naturally gifted, but none of them had the mental focus or maturity to do it quite yet. Lots of crying and just really not being able to handle the difference in coaching style from rec to more serious training.
Once the girls are in tops, they either move quickly up the ranks there and get selected for national tops OR they move through tops slower but steady, then generally (much depending on focus, age and skills vs strength ratio) they get asked to try out for team (L3) somewhere between 7-9yo. The girls on the national tops team get put into higher competition levels right away.
We do not have a "pre-team" or L1/2.
When parents of my students ask about more training, I am always honest with them and recommend letting their kids have fun. At the ages I'm teaching, it truly doesn't matter. Once the girls hit 4-6 if there are truly ready for more, then I talk about tops but I still recommend the parents take a long, hard look at the commitment it will be for the entire family and I let them know honestly whether I think their child is ready for it yet or not. Most are not ready mentally.
So, I'm not casting judgement in any way because I know there are lots of different ways of thinking and different training philosophies out there. Some think the younger the better, and those gyms may have tons more kids getting more advanced faster than our gym. Gymnastics is after all a sport where you peak very young, with not much hope of any career after college age. I'm just really curious as to how different views get different results, and it would be very interesting to see if one method brings more longevity in the sport than the other or not.... Thoughts?
For instance, at my gym the philosophy is that when they are little, they should have fun and gym classes reflect that. I teach 18mo-6yrs, so I feel qualified to speak about how their "training" goes. Our preschool classes are coed up until age 4. The classes are focused on introducing basic gymnastics skills and positions but at the same time playing and having fun with games etc. my classes are very structured and I would say most parents sign their kids up as a way to work on gross motor skills, get energy out and learn to listen and take turns. In no way, shape or form am I creating world class athletes in my toddler classes! I have had a couple (read 2 or 3) girls in the years I have been coaching that at close to age 4, I would give more difficult assignments to because they had the raw potential, strength and focus to want a tiny bit more than what I do with all the other kids. Even then I am talking such things as starting to work on pullovers with a girl that could do a perfect pike hang and cast, working on better form during forward rolls and cartwheels etc.
At 4, they go to the "big floor" instead of the smaller apparatus and start more actual gymnastics with more stretches and bridges/tabletops. If they do really well in the regular class, they may be asked to do an advanced class. At 5, the rec classes start getting divided into skill levels and they progress through those only based on skills and focus. At 5 they can also be asked or ask about doing a tryout for our TOPs program, it is usually only girls from the highest rec level that try out and not everyone makes it.
Our Team girls get drafted to L3 either from the older highest level rec classes (7-10yos) or from the TOPs groups. The girls doing at least some time in TOPs all fare better than the ones coming straight from the rec classes. I think the youngest one in our L3 team is 7yo. We also have a couple of girls on the L4/5 team that are 7 and 8, those came from higher level TOPs groups and have had infinitely more training than the average 7yo in rec, obviously.
We do have some younger girls that are incredibly talented and are competing optionals at very young (to me) ages, but they have all gone the way of TOPs and in fact are all in the national TOPs group as well, so it is definitely possible for kids in our program to progress fast for thos few that have that wonderful talent.
On average, I would say the journey to go to team looks like this:
18mo-4yrs really doesn't matter. Most team members didn't do gym at this point.
Starting rec somewhere between 4-7. Moving on through the rec levels is individual, my dd took a year to make it to the highest level and then she did that level for a year before I would let her do TOPs. Some kids go through the rec levels a lot faster, the one with more raw talent or strength can zoom through them or be put in the highest level almost immediately.
5-8yo: if focused and talented, asked to do TOPs. We have had a few girls try at 4 who were just really naturally gifted, but none of them had the mental focus or maturity to do it quite yet. Lots of crying and just really not being able to handle the difference in coaching style from rec to more serious training.
Once the girls are in tops, they either move quickly up the ranks there and get selected for national tops OR they move through tops slower but steady, then generally (much depending on focus, age and skills vs strength ratio) they get asked to try out for team (L3) somewhere between 7-9yo. The girls on the national tops team get put into higher competition levels right away.
We do not have a "pre-team" or L1/2.
When parents of my students ask about more training, I am always honest with them and recommend letting their kids have fun. At the ages I'm teaching, it truly doesn't matter. Once the girls hit 4-6 if there are truly ready for more, then I talk about tops but I still recommend the parents take a long, hard look at the commitment it will be for the entire family and I let them know honestly whether I think their child is ready for it yet or not. Most are not ready mentally.
So, I'm not casting judgement in any way because I know there are lots of different ways of thinking and different training philosophies out there. Some think the younger the better, and those gyms may have tons more kids getting more advanced faster than our gym. Gymnastics is after all a sport where you peak very young, with not much hope of any career after college age. I'm just really curious as to how different views get different results, and it would be very interesting to see if one method brings more longevity in the sport than the other or not.... Thoughts?