Parents Bad days and good days in level 5

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Blackie6

Proud Parent
OK, I know I gave you all the new gym update, so here is an update to the update, LOL

So, my DD was moved up from a 4/5 finally after being at new gym since July about 2 weeks ago. I have noticed some skills sliding backwards since change, but realize this is probably the norm. Most noticable are the fact they they haven't seemed to be vaulting as much as old gym. DD needs this as she missed lots of vaulting this past year w/foot fracture and the Seaver's. He running is slow, no pop, lots of hesitation and fear. Also, bars which is her favorite, she is not getting thru full routines. Kips is sometimes there, sometimes not, all those who have experienced L5 know the frustrations that come w/this skill. But then, DD fell after a squat on and developed a little fear of that too! In trying to talk her out of wanting grips in May I explained what coach had said about possibly peeling off bars and all of a sudden she is worried about it now? Floor routine was not taught in old group, but now within past two weeks she was taught the last part but not sure about directions and music yet and putting it all together. last week the did quick eval to see what events girls would compete at for an in-house meet. On monday my DD came out crying she had a bad day. Tore my heart to see her in tears about thing not happening that she just couldn't control. I even gave her the speech about everyone has bad days and good days...but she was most upset about not "qualifying" to do bars or floor, her two favs. Instead they had her for vault and beam, her two WORST events!

On Weds they had a 2 hr practice before Thursday's in-house and after having gym friend sleep over (they stayed awake til 2am!) she had this incredible practice! Hit FOUR full bar routines! So, she was added for bars on Thursday! Wow, sleep deprivation is not always bad??? So, on Thurday I did NOT want stay to watch. We were not allowed in the gym (good for me!) just watch thru window in parent viewing area. You all know I was not expecting much. I would be happy with all 6's and know she wasn't really ready to compete this L5 stuff yet anyway. First up was bars. Only several girls qualified to do bars I guess, only about 4 new L5's and 2 repeaters. DD did her whole bar routine with squat on and straight arm kips! Only a 7.4 but hey, better than the 5.8 she got 2 yrs ago as a new L4 (we still LOL about that meet). Onto vault. She had told coach she was afraid to do this since they had very limited practice. Coach explianed all were in same situation and they would be working on it, but do the best she could do. DD went over, no help, not beautiful...but landed on her feet, LOL for another 7.4! Not the usual 9's from L4 but again, vault table is different than mats. OK, now beam is right in front of parent window so I move as far away as I can from window, next to the front door. Still, a thousand eye-balls looking right at her and she is not good next to spectators. She does the most beautiful beam routine I have ever seen in my life! Held her handstand for so long people were oh-ing and ah-ing, did a nice one leg down (not sure what this is called) and her cartwheel she bobbled some, still talks to herself on beam, beautiful handstand dismount, again holding it for what seemed eternity! An 8.4! One of the highest scores in the group! So, not really 8's and 9's, but INHO a great way to start when you think your DD won't be able to compete L5 at all. I almost wish they threw her onto the floor to try to get AA for a sectional. She probably would have done at least a 7something. It might have taken the pressure off trying to qualify for a sectional. Think our first meet is in October so she still has plenty of time to work on things. So funny, one of the judges knew them from old gym (she worked w/them before states last year) and asked DD how she liked her new gym and she said "great"!!

So, this first year L5 stuff is all ups and downs huh? One day bars are great and then they are not, worst events could be best events, best events could turn into worst events...UGH...should be an interesting season.
 
It is amazing what some kids can do under enromous pressure. She has so much to be proud of. The floor will come in time and at least now you know she is ready for the L5 challenge.
 
hi Blackie,
Sounds like a good day for not thinking she would be ready !!! Can't wait to hear how things go between now and her first meet. Sounds like she is fitting in well at the née gym.
 
What a rollercoaster of emotions!! It sounds like she has a lot of determination to succeed in this level, so I'm sure she will.

I have to wonder if not being selected to do bars, initially, may have been what lit a fire under her to prove she could own the event?

Congratulations to your little one on a great start to her season! I can't wait to hear progress reports along the way!
 
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wow. Great story!!! Lots of ups and downs but I have a feeling the ups are very soon going to outnumber the downs!!!!!:) Beam is a tricky event under all that pressure...and she did so well!

Those 7's will be up to 8's and then 9's in no time.

We have many new L5s who are slooooooowly getting things in line for the new season. Many of them were very high scoring L4s so the whole L5 thing for them has been quite the wake-up call (as it will for my dd next season!:eek:).

Continued good luck to her!!!
 
You know well that every level has its ups and downs. With time and more practice, she'll have more "up"days than down ones. While our gym doesn't do L4, I've certainly seen the routines and L5 is a big step up. The routines are longer, tougher skills and tougher judging.

You know, she learned something although may not see it yet. She was upset about not being able to compete bars initially and then sounds like she got mad/focused or something and turned that disappointment into a positive hitting 4 routines. Yes, she got a 7.4 and that honestly is not bad for a new L5 at this time of year. Now, she has an idea what it takes to score well in L5 and what needs work. Sounds like you have a least 4 more weeks to get ready for the 1st meet---more than enough time to get that floor routine down. Our kids start their compulsory season in 2 weeks, so lots of stressed out parents walking around our gym!

Hang in there! Everytime they move up, its like starting this sport all over again:)
 
Looks like she needs to have sleepovers before all meets this year. :):) But seriously, L5 can be like that. Consistency is all we can ask for sometimes. I am sure she will have a great season. Keep us posted...
 
It sounds like she ended up doing well. I know how you feel I am nervous about my daughter competing as a 5 she tells me that she has everything but I have not seen it yet. I quess they will have a mock meet in a couple of weeks and I will find out if she is able to compete everything.
 
I am so proud of her for showing them the next day that she could do those bars! I am sure she will show gradual improvements and have a great level 5 season. It is still so early on, she has lots of time to get things solid and ready for meets!! Hang in there, mama!
 
WOW!! Great news! and what a beam score! I remember Beetle's first L5 meet and we were SOOO Happy just because she got her kip. I think she got a 29 in the AA and we were Thrilled. L5 will be fun for her!
 
Sounds like she is doing awesome. Gymnastics is full of ups and downs. I sometimes just leave when Emily gets to floor because while it isn't always there... She still stops after her round off. Level 6 is even more full of ups and downs... Sometimes Emily is fine with the back walkover on beam and sometimes she won't even go back at all and this is all on low beam. We still haven't made it to high beam yet:( The flyaway still needs to happen too. Our first meet is Oct 11th and I am not sure we will even be a 6 by then because we moved and our new gym has fall season so we havne't had the extra 3 months that the rest of the level 6's have had. Madi(my level 4) had many set backs since changing gyms. However, she finally got her front hip circle back this week... yes... Vault is still horrible ugh....
Thanks for the update and you are not alone in the frustration of gymnastics and its ups and downs. Our girls will all just do the best that they can:)
 
Blackie, those are great scores for her first meet! Congrats to her on getting added to compete bars. She did great on vault. Lily's first L5 vault was a 6.6! Is it the connections she's missing on bars? Lily got a 7.4 at her first meet because she was missing the connections (which are .3 each). By the time she got to States, she was scoring in the 9s on bars. And though she never got a 9 on vault, she did score an 8.6. Honestly, your dd is going to do great this season! And as she stays at the same gym, things will just get better for her. The gym change has to be difficult. I see my dd getting ready for L6 and think how much more ready she is for L6 than she was for L5. I can even kind of see what USAG was thinking with the progressions! Best of luck to your dd this season!

Meg
 
Great start to dd's L5 and that fact that her first "real" meet is still about 6 weeks away - she can only get better.

I was a little worried when I started reading about the sleepover, but maybe she needs to have more of them. Probably was too concerned about what her and her friend would be doing to worry about her meet the next day - she took the pressure off of herself! ;)
 
I'm glad to hear that things turned around and at least was able to do 3 of the 4 events. You would think that at an in-house eval meet, they would let them do all of the events to catch the weak spots? Just my opinion. :D

What meet(s) are you doing in Oct? We have 2- Rocktober (first wkend) and Meetrunners Oct 24/25. Maybe we'll see you at one of those? I'm not sure where Little Monkey will be after being off since Aug 21st!! Her 1st day back is Tues.
 
Sounds like a great start to her level 5 season. Congrats on the bars qualification and the awesome beam work! Sometimes I think this sport is harder on the parents than it is on the kids LOL
 

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