Hi! I have never posted here before, but I'm needing some insight. We know our daughter is a good gymnast. What we don't know is just how good she is and how much we should be putting into this.
Let me give you a little background. She was adopted on her first birthday from another country. She was quite malnourished at that time, but she was already almost running! It is almost unheard of for orphans from this country to be walking at a year--supposedly she started walking at eight months. As a toddler, she constantly amazed everyone with her coordination and she loved to climb anything she could find. She particularly enjoyed jumping off the back of our couch.
We fiinally started her in gymnastics (just to save our furniture!) when she was about three-and-a-half. She started in a class for 3 to 5 year olds--some of whom had been in there for almost two years. On her first day, she was immediately the best one in the class. Within two months she could do everything they were teaching. The gym would not move her up until she turned five, so we moved her to a different gym. She moved up quickly at the new gym and when she turned four, they started her on the pre-team.
She competed this year as a level four because she was only six. With 104 degree fever, she placed first on beam and missed first place all around at State by 0.2 points. (I had no idea she was that sick when I handed her over to her coaches!). As she was only a level 4, she has not really been allowed to work on higher level skills, but she has managed to basically teach herself the level 5 and 6 routines on the floor and beam. She can now do two backwalk overs on the high beam and is very close to "having" her back handspring on the high beam. She has a beautiful round-off-back handspring-back tuck on the floor and a so-so layout. I don't know what all she is capable of on bars, but I know she has her kip and is very close to a nice cast handstand.
I should also say that she is completely obsessed with gymnastics. When she is not in school, she is practicing in our living room... constantly. She sometimes does conditioning for fun. She has the Olympics and the Olympic Trials on DVD and watches them over and over and over.
Her coaches tell us that she has an "unbelievable amount of potential", but we're not sure what that means. Does that mean she might get a college scholarship, or does that mean that she will probably go elite? Obviously, no one can tell me the future, but I'm just wondering if this is how most elite gymnasts were at 7.... or if she just sounds like a kid who has a little bit of talent. Her coaches now want her to start practicing 16 hours a week. The gym is an hour from our house, so this is a big deal. Plus, she just turned seven in February. It seems crazy to have a seven-year-old at the gym that much. On the other hand, she's going to practice at our house anyway; she probably should be at the gym where she stands a smaller chance of breaking her neck!
I'm sorry this is so long. I'm just hoping that someone can give me a little insight.
Let me give you a little background. She was adopted on her first birthday from another country. She was quite malnourished at that time, but she was already almost running! It is almost unheard of for orphans from this country to be walking at a year--supposedly she started walking at eight months. As a toddler, she constantly amazed everyone with her coordination and she loved to climb anything she could find. She particularly enjoyed jumping off the back of our couch.
We fiinally started her in gymnastics (just to save our furniture!) when she was about three-and-a-half. She started in a class for 3 to 5 year olds--some of whom had been in there for almost two years. On her first day, she was immediately the best one in the class. Within two months she could do everything they were teaching. The gym would not move her up until she turned five, so we moved her to a different gym. She moved up quickly at the new gym and when she turned four, they started her on the pre-team.
She competed this year as a level four because she was only six. With 104 degree fever, she placed first on beam and missed first place all around at State by 0.2 points. (I had no idea she was that sick when I handed her over to her coaches!). As she was only a level 4, she has not really been allowed to work on higher level skills, but she has managed to basically teach herself the level 5 and 6 routines on the floor and beam. She can now do two backwalk overs on the high beam and is very close to "having" her back handspring on the high beam. She has a beautiful round-off-back handspring-back tuck on the floor and a so-so layout. I don't know what all she is capable of on bars, but I know she has her kip and is very close to a nice cast handstand.
I should also say that she is completely obsessed with gymnastics. When she is not in school, she is practicing in our living room... constantly. She sometimes does conditioning for fun. She has the Olympics and the Olympic Trials on DVD and watches them over and over and over.
Her coaches tell us that she has an "unbelievable amount of potential", but we're not sure what that means. Does that mean she might get a college scholarship, or does that mean that she will probably go elite? Obviously, no one can tell me the future, but I'm just wondering if this is how most elite gymnasts were at 7.... or if she just sounds like a kid who has a little bit of talent. Her coaches now want her to start practicing 16 hours a week. The gym is an hour from our house, so this is a big deal. Plus, she just turned seven in February. It seems crazy to have a seven-year-old at the gym that much. On the other hand, she's going to practice at our house anyway; she probably should be at the gym where she stands a smaller chance of breaking her neck!
I'm sorry this is so long. I'm just hoping that someone can give me a little insight.