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Coach Molly: Having read your posts over the years, I get the sense you would never be sarcastic or belittling when you are coaching your gymnasts. This is where the line gets drawn. It is one thing to get outright mad, stern or emphatic when you are trying to get a kid to understand and apply...

Having "been there, done that": get out now.

Is this young woman really as hard-working, classy and gracious as she has been in EVERY single competition I have ever seen her in? Does she ever break form (so to speak)?

Will your DD scratch bars at these early meets until she gets both kips? I will tell you, my kid had the kips for three months before her first (old) L5 meet, but they were performed with bent arms. She was killed, score-wise, for the whole season. Bars scores did not improve until the bent...

Formally, twice a year. Personal email addresses are given and we are welcome to send messages at any time. I don't take advantage of this and don't know of anyone else who does. (Though I am sure there are parents -- particularly of the younger, compulsory girls -- who do.) Does it sound...

And level 6 is soooo much more fun than level 5...for gymnast and parents alike!

Ditto what Gymsanity said. You already get gym mother-of-the year kudos for what you are currently doing! That is seriously above and beyond. The overarching answer to your original question is that most gyms have two to three different "streams" for their gymnasts. This typically takes the...

Our gym has a 32-year-old L8/9 who does really well (AAU) and is an inspiration to everyone in the gym (kids and parents alike).

We started at a Gym A-type place. We moved to a Gym B-type place. I wish my DD had been at Gym B all along.

I don't think it is just about the "content" of the yelling. Yelling at kids is generally counterproductive to learning -- whether it is a parent, teacher or coach who is doing the yelling. We left a gym with a head coach who yelled a lot and belittled quietly in between. Often the two go...

This subject comes up on a fairly regular basis and has been at the heart of some heated debates over the years. Even just seeing a thread with any sort of "watching at the gym" theme makes me think of that funny little graphic of the cartoon man eating popcorn while raptly watching the...

From what I have seen over the years, nice and encouraging -- with a little soupcon of "ignoring" -- work much better, particularly with fear issues, than pushing.

And I meant the philosophy in my first post...not profmom's that came in while I was posting! Acckk.

wgymmom: as a practical aside to all that lame philosophy, above... If your coaches are amenable, I would recommend that your daughter work with them to get her to L6 as soon as possible. She will be able to get by (although will probably not be hugely successful, if that really matters to her)...

What really helped me get past my frustrations with what DD, 12, was or was not doing in the gym was for me to let go of any expectation that the gymnastics has to lead somewhere. We are all familiar with the progression in the parental mind when the little DD is first pulled from the gym's...

I know what you mean BarCoach. I am sure there has been grumbling from other parents that my DD has been moved up when younger, more talented girls have stayed behind, repeated, or not skipped levels. It is the nature of the beast and I just let the gym handle the grousing if there is any...

My daughter is the older gymnast you describe. As a 12-year-old she competed 6 this year, without monster casts or a backward skill on beam. Did she kick butt at L6? No. It was the usual array of mid-8s, scoring wise, but she had an absolute blast with her own routines that showed off her...

Our age 12 L6/7 gymnast is taking a month off this summer to do some epic traveling with her family. We will be paying full gym tuition while we are gone. Her coaches are not ecstatic about her being away for so long. Head coach grimaced a little at the news and then said, "There's more to life...

my4buffaloes has the answer!

I think going to Stanford on a full scholarship to Stanford is the pinnacle of this sport, not the Olympics!