Transistion to Level 6

[MaryA]

Our gym (YMCA) has never done a season of level 6 before. Generally they do Level 3, 4, 5, novice prep op, intermediate prep op, do a meet to score out of level 6, then go to Level 7. But this year the group they have coming out of level 5 (my DD included) are all much younger than the current prep ops, so the decision has been made (at this point... subject to change) to do level 6 next year with this year's level 5's. Other than what I've seen at meets or on youtube, I know very little about the level.

So... talk to me about level 6. I've seen at meets that the scoring is really hard. I've heard that it's a "make-it-or-break-it" year for a lot of girls doing gymnastics, which is a little scary. I know a lot of teams don't do an entire season of it. I don't see a whole lot of talk about level 6 here on CB. I don't see any "When will my Susie get her Free-Hip?" discussions.

I know that every kid is different and will aquire skills at different speeds, but I wish I knew more what to expect as DD moves into this new level. Any personal knowledge/experience with level 6 that you don't mind sharing would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mariainlv]

Very timely thread, thank you for starting it! We are in a similar boat. No advice, just chiming in to say "Yeah, what she said"

 

[Empowered]

All I know about L6, which my daughter is also training, is that everyone says to brace for gnarly bars scores. I have seen L5 State Champions who are in the 9's on every other event scoring 8 to 8.5 on bars to start the season. At one of the first meets last year an 8.3 actually won bars for one L6 session and there were some strong gyms in that group. There have been L6 state champions in our region who only scored in the high 8's on bars and those high 8's were good for second place! A far cry from L5 where 2nd place on bars would have scored 9.5 or above.

This is terrible news for my daughter who scored well on exactly one event last year, bars... lol

 

[shelovestoflip]

My daughter just had Level 6 States. For her, bars are a challenge no matter what the level, so that was no surprise at 6. It took her a few months to get the fly away...the first few meets she just barely had it! By the end of the season, she was connecting skills as best she could and improved at every meet.

Our gym competes 5 and 6...some girls do 2 years at 5 and one at 6. I think it depends on the year and the girls. A few years ago they had girls do one 6 meet and go right to 7 but then those girls did 2 years at 7 so the thinking the past few years was let the girls get comfortable with skills...polishing what they have and working on bars before moving to 7.

The routines from 5 to 6 on floor and beam were very similar...just adding the back tuck on floor and back walkover on beam....but other than that, they really worked on pointed toes and expression on floor.

My daughter had a great Level 6 season and I'm glad she didn't just move to 7.

Our gym competes both PrepOp and USAG so girls do indeed have the choice as to what to do. I do know of her team of 12 this past year, 4 are not moving to 7. Definitely an age thing (middle school) where they want to try new things and not commit the hours. My daughter, however, is ready to get her music and move on!!

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

I've not really thought of L6 as a "make it or break it" level although the transition to 7 is a killer...things start come hard and fast in L7 so maybe 6 is the "make it or break it" in the sense that they can see 7 coming and find they can't or are afraid to do what is required next...Our gym uses L6 as a "pass through" to either Prep Opt or L7 depending on how fast the girls can grasp the new things that are required for L7...L7 is where I see a lot of girls quit, then L8...then L9...as more and more is required and becomes harder to acquire for whatever reason (my L8 DGD's problem is BHS's on beam-she does not have the flexibility to get her shoulders in position to meet the 4" beam and hurts herself regularly and the "free hip and handstands/giants on bars)...those areas seem to be the hardest skills to get especially if the gymnasts started at a later age. Point in fact my DGD L5 training L6 and L7 skills currently is not having any of those problems but she transitioned to gymnasts at an earlier age, thus better flexibility. Not sure I have addressed this well, but it's my 2 cents. If you check out L6 on youtube, I believe you will see that those skills are not as hard to acquire as the transition to L7...and forward.

 

[gym law mom]

L6 is a tough level and I don't think there is any way to sugar coat that. The judges expect better form on all those L5 skills such as kips, better presentation and an overall more mature look. You certainly will not see nearly the number of 9s you saw at L5.
Vault is the same, but needs to be better--more power, clean handstand and control of the landing. Bars--lots of girls struggle here. 2 biggest skills to get are the clear/free hip and the flyaway. Then its putting them in the routine with nice connections. Beam has its own challenges with the full turn and bwo. I thought I'd be thrilled no more wonky cartwheel til I had to hold my breath on dd's bwo. Floor has the ro-bhs-bt and fhs-ft.

 

[gymdog]

No FHS FT But the two FHSs (FHS step out FHS two feet) is still fairly a hard connection to learn smoothly without losing power. The BT is "scarier" but the FHS pass still takes some work for most.

I think the hardest part of L6 bars is the angles (cast and clear hip angle) and the connections. Some girls are scared of the flyaway but once they get over that, it's not the hardest part of the routine. The connections can be killer because if they do kip, stop (.3) cast clear hip, kip, stop (.3), squat on, long hang kip stop (.3) cast baby giant, underswing, swing swing flyaway, that's almost a point in connection deductions (and most girls might be able to connect the baby giant and underswing, but I've definitely seen some that do a full stop there. And some that might just get get a body position or rhythm deduction for finishing it with their chest under the bar and having a labored transition to the underswing, even if they keep moving).

I watched your daughter's L5 video and to me it seems like L6 will be doable for her. Good amplitude on her skills. But it is never easy because a lot of more difficult skills are introduced at this level that are challenging and new. So her scores will probably be lower to start but if she wants to do it, I don't see it as being impossible or anything like that.

 

[MaryA]

I watched your daughter's L5 video and to me it seems like L6 will be doable for her. Good amplitude on her skills. But it is never easy because a lot of more difficult skills are introduced at this level that are challenging and new. So her scores will probably be lower to start but if she wants to do it, I don't see it as being impossible or anything like that.

Thanks for that!

 

[vagymmomma]

DD is transitioning to L6 as well. She's got all her skills/routines, so is very excited and ready. One observation I've noted on floor is that overall conditioning seems to be more important at that level. Some of the transitioning girls (and even some from last year) are running out of gas at the end of the floor routine. Even those who can do the back tuck series on its own are having problems as it comes at the end of the routine. Scores are definitely scary at L6.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and, unless the coach says other wise...you can't stay at 5 forever. no fun.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I have said before their is no predicting every kid is different. My daughter has definitely struggled with this level but surprisingly not with most girls have trouble with. The bars she has done really well with and had no issues learning the flyaway she also did not struggle with the backwalkover on the beam. She had more issues with the floor tumbling running out of breath and learning basically all the tumbling passes. She has gone through a major growth spurt and has suffered with heel pain and wrist pain. Now her teammate who was around the same skill wise as her and placed lower than her art 5 is doing really well although bars are a little struggle for her. This girl was an average gymnast in the other levels and has just come into her own and blossomed at 6. I did notice that scores are lower daughter placed 1st on bars with a low 8 this year she has also gotten high 6's on her floor in the begining of the season without any falls. Her friend got a high 7 at one meet on her floor where normally she gets 8 I could not tell you why . A lot of the gyms test out of 6 and compete intermed prep op in Pa which actually gave daughter an advantage since many were from good gyms so daughter was able to place in some meets. As long as your daughter is having fun she did well at 5 with limited hours I am sure she will be fine.

 

[sportzmomov3]

Simply put, every level transition has some component that is difficult. It wouldn't be called "moving up" if it didn't. My DD wasn't very good as a level 6 but did an entire season and despite low scores, made it to States. I feel that it helped her in an easier transition to level 7; she had teammates who scored out of 6 and went to 7 and they did not have a good 7 season. In the end, they all make it through if it's what they really want. Don't worry, just let it happen. And definitely don't look at scores - this is the one piece of advice I now give frequently because I have learned over the years that scoring is: unpredictable, subjective, variable (from meet-to-meet; state-to-state), and NOT a good measurement of an individual's actual success. Rather, focus on the things that will naturally get good scores - consistent execution of proper form and attention to details. And for your sake, don't stress over all this - you too are suppposed to be enjoying this journey!

 

[MaryA]

Not stressing... though ask me again in the fall! But in past years I've been able to watch the next level up doing their thing so I had some idea of what was coming. This year I'm feeling pretty clueless, so this discussion is really helping me. Kathy is pretty good at focussing on her improvement from meet to meet and not getting too wrapped up in scores or placement. She was looking pretty down after practice today though... her first practice after States... I think she has post-season let-down, like the day after Christmas. Win or lose, she LOVES competing! She said once that it makes her feel like she's famous!

I don't really have any worries that she will get beaten down by level 6 and decide to quit. She loves gymnastics too much for that. Even if she got through the season without even getting the move-up score, she would probably be ready for intermediate prep-op the next year, so she'd still get to "move up" (though she'd still have to come back and get the 31 before she could move to 7).

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I am sure she will be fine but I saw my daughter change from completely loving gymnastics to thinking about quitting once she got to level 6. The skills and scoring were harder and where last year she really enjoyed the meets this years she still does but I can tell she is more stressed and not having as much fun. But ask my daughter if she wants to skip a meet for a party and she is still no way. So I quess for some kids this level could be the start of a make it or breakit level which I think just continues. I have seen a lot of this from girls at higher levels as they moveup it is not as fun so I quess this is natural. Our headcoach did tell me level 6 is tough and it is hard for them to be sucessful at level6 which I quess is part of what my daughter is feeling rightnow. Funny her teammate who is doing well is the opposite last year she was not enjoying the meets as much as this year. I hope Kathy continues to enjoy the meets.

 

[Optionals United]

Level 6 and 7 are killer. Level 6 wasnt that hard for me at the time because I already had a lot of the skills before i actually started training for it. I agree the bars are killer! It is all about the angles and rhythem. I did quite grasp that idea until this year and last year (2 year after level 6) It will be a long ride for everyone if you have never done it before. IF you have strong basics then it is all about the mental game. I havent seen any videos of your DD but it sounds like it will be doable for her