Best and most effective way to get the coach to move io my dd to the next level

[dancengym]

You've probably heard this story already before. My dd is a l6. Last year all our l6 were moved up to l7 after one meet. At the l6 meet, they all scored barely above the mobility score. Now 2nd year l7' they are still scoring in the high 32 or low 33. I am not putting them down and believe sincerely they are good gymnasts. In a conversation our hc had with my husband, she said the reason she moved everyone up is because she felt it was in the best interest of the girls to start working on their optional skills because those are the skills that they will need to build up on to participate in college gymnastics and she also felt compulsory skills are not very useful, etc (don't know her exact words). At the beginning of the summer she made statements leading us to believe she would be moving my dd up to l7. Now, she is saying she is not sure yet what she would do with my dd. My dd is close to getting all her skills in l7. In fact, she has more of the l7 than our current second year l7. I think the reason she is not being moved up is two fold. One, it may be too much work to move up just one girl. The other l6 girls don't even have their l6 skills down. And two, my dd has been placing in the top 3 quite consistently since she was a l5. She has scored in the high 37 in her last two l6 meets. And I am thinking it does make our gym look good.P

When I asked our hc when she was moving my dd up, she tells me she is not sure what she is going to do because according to her my dd is a TOPS type gymnast and even if she may be ready to move up, it is important to this type gymnast to keep placing in the top 3 at all her meets. She told me, when she decides to move my dd to L7, she will be competition ready the very next day. Is this hogwash or what? In addition, how can my dd be competition ready for a level she practices only a few minutes each practice. She is mostly practicing her l6 routines. In addition, although she qualified for the national tops testing, she did not make the team. Our hc said, it is ok to get other gymnasts to move up quickly but not for TOPs gymnasts

1) can anyone make sense of this.
2) how can I approach and/or what can I say so that my dd is moved up? My dd was expecting to be moved up and she feels down and cannot understand why she worked so hard to get her giants, bh on beam and cannot be moved up.

I am very frustrated because our hc has indicated she MAY move up my dd mid season. So she'll have to learn the l7 routines and be competition ready within a matter of weeks. Isn't this going to be setting her up for failure? Our hc put my dd through the same thing during the tops testing. My dd trained for three weeks for the abilities testing and then when she qualified for nationals, she again had only three weeks of training for the skills.national testing. My dd worked so hard for days on end. And I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed she was when she did not make it. I felt right at the start she was geting set up for disappointment but i put my faith in our coach. I now truly worry. Any insight suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gymdog]

It doesn't sound like what the HC is saying is consistent or really a good enough reason, although I don't think kids need to skip level 6 to get to optionals because of college gymnastics either. Does your daughter have her giants to layout flyaway on the real bar, and BHS on beam? Cast to handstand before her clear hip? Even if they let the other girls compete without these skills it seems like they are realizing this may not have been the best plan. Rather than admit she made a mistake with the other girls, the HC may be talking around the issue. That doesn't necessarily mean her reasoning is wrong though so it depends. I'd still be torn because it seems a bit erratic. To me it doesn't make sense to have a whole group of second year level 7s scoring only 32 and 33, and it doesn't seem like the training at these levels is very consistent. I would be more concerned with that than the level 6 vs level 7 issue.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Have you discussed all this with the coach?

 

[bookworm]

I just keep thinking of your other posts on whether or not you should switch gyms and once again, based on the scenario with your daughter, the time has come to move gyms.

 

[GetaGrip]

Moving up girls that aren't ready to compete level 7 and keeping back girls that are ready doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

 

[dancengym]

Gymdog, my dd can do the skills but not consistently. I am certain if she is trained accordingly, she'll have those skills in no time. And I also agree with you in that maybe the hc feels she might have made a mistake in moving up all the girls last year. I just wished she'd tell us and not keep us wondering. Though I do think my dd is ready.

Geiffrey Taucer I have discussed these issues on a piecemeal basis. Though I feel I am not getting the run around, I feel my concerns are rarely addressed.

Bookworm, I've been wanting to switch. I am just not sure if the gyms in my area will be a better fit for my dd or for my family since i have three other kids who are equally committed to their respective sports. In addition, my husband does not believe or want to switch. I also feel her friends are in her current gym and my dd is having fun. Isn't fun at this stage an important component? Lastly, she is still doing well. Admittedly, she may do better at a better gym. But even that is 100 percent certain. I feel I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

so, should I insist my dd go up a level at this point in the season, or let stay the same level and be unchallenged. Btw, our hc is again planning to take my dd to Tops testing this year. She will now be a L6 10 yo which will be tough. If she qualifies for national, I'll let them train her. But I seriously don't think I'll let her go.

 

[gymdog]

It sounds like your daughter has a lot of potential. Does your current gym have any L10s that were trained by current coaching staff? I think if you thought that she was getting consistent instruction and there was a solid plan in mind for her NOW then you wouldn't have so many doubts even if she was eventually going to outgrow her current gym. 10 is still young enough that isn't a big deal. But it doesn't sound like you gotten very consistent messages or that there has been much planning put into these developmental years...and this early optional foundation is important...I think you should look more strongly at the other gyms. If it does turn out you can't make the switch it's not the end of the world, if she's still enjoying it and you don't feel anything done is dangerous. But it might be worth writing down all the pros and cons and exploring the other options. I would also ask for a formal meeting with the head coach since you were led to believe one thing and you had this issue with the TOPs testing last year if I recall. When you have the meeting I think you should ask calmly but firmly that they lay out at least a basic plan with regards to this TOPs participation and what level she is competing. It seems unfair to have you go to the time and expense of the testing if they aren't even training her in the skills she'll need until a week before. That's not really how it should be done and I think "crash training" like that could even lead to fears, bad techniques, setbacks...not fair to anyone.

 

[dancengym]

Gym dog, once again you hit the nail right on the head on two counts. 1) it would certainly give me peace of mind if there was a solid and logical plan. There seems to be goals but very confusing, inconsistent and illogical plans. if you can even consider them plans, to get to the goals. And 2) the word you use crash training is so appropriate. My dd never expressed fear. After her TOPS skills "crash training" she expressed some fears and for a couple of weeks did not want to go to L7 particularly because the backhandspring on beam scared her. She is ok with it now. But until you mentioned the potential results of crash training, I thought my dd may not be cut out for higher levels. She currently expresses no fears now but clearly that crash training is not the way to go. How do get concrete answers from her coaches and have them follow through. Thanks gym dog.

 

[gymgurl]

A gym that moves up gymnasts that aren't ready and holds back gymnasts that are......hmmmm....weird.

I would have a private meeting with HC and explain the situation. If you are not satisfied with a logical plan i would look at some other gyms and where your dd would fit in there.

Hope i helped

 

[gymdog]

How do get concrete answers from her coaches and have them follow through.

I think you need to schedule a formal meeting with the head coach. I wouldn't focus so much on the level 6 vs level 7 question - because that's not really the main issue, the main issue is she is only training level 6 routines and then right before the TOPs testing being ask to learn all these higher level skills that she has not been working on the progressions for as long as one would generally work on them to gain confidence. If it's phrased just as "when she will compete level 7" then you probably won't get the plan you want.

I would tell them respectfully that you felt she wasn't prepared skills wise for the testing last year and then consequently expressed fears about the skills she was asked to do. Then ask them how they plan to address this for this cycle of TOPs testing. I would express that you are not pushing her to do TOPs and that you are asking them not to send her to something she is not prepared for, but that you are willing to support her in the preparations (if that means an extra lesson on saturday, whatever, but well in advance). I would also say that whether the answer is yes or no you are asking for a final answer on whether your daughter will compete level 7 this year or not. I don't think that is too much to ask. You need to be able to know financially and logistically as surely the meet schedules aren't identical. It's already Jan. You need to be able to prepare your daughter either way. If she hasn't gotten a level 7 routine yet, then honestly though...I would be prepared for her to continue the season as a level 6 at this point. It's very late at this stage in the season to move to level 7 in my opinion if the routines aren't ready. it requires choreography, etc. That will be another expense you should be able to prepare for. I would write down the pros and cons of your current situation and the pros and cons of the most realistic other alternative as far as you know right now...have this meeting...if the answers aren't satisfactory to address the "cons" then look into the alternative more.

 

[Granny Smith]

Just to add onto what gymdog said, if she is training Tops as a 10 yr old and she were to qualify to go to camp then she would need skills beyond what L7 trains. What is the purpose of testing Tops if she would not be ready for the skills portion. Even if she doesn't compete L7, if she is training the skills required for Tops, she would be ahead of the game. As a parent, I wouldn't be pushing the L7 issue nearly with the coach as much as I would be pressing to know the plan to get her the skills required for Tops camp. I am assuming that you are paying extra money for her Tops training, if you are, you have a right to know the plan. If there is no plan, than I am afraid to say your extra money for Tops, is just contributing to the gym.

 

[dancengym]

Thank you to all that posted a reply and to gymdog for your tremendous and valuable insight. Often times I've been unable to put my finger on what is truly bothering me and you've always managed pinpoint the problem and put things in proper percpective. Thank you.

 

[gymnut1]

Just wanted to add Good luck and hope you manage to sort a clearer path.

 

[Megley]

Just wanted to echo what Grannysmith said. Take a look at the 10yo TOPS skills. They are more like Level 8/9 than Level 7. I believe they need to do front giants and a blind change. Many of the skills are advanced skills that she cannot "crash train" to get. Wishing you luck speaking to the coach about all this. It sounds like your DD is very ready to move to Level 7.

 

[bookworm]

Yeah I totally agree with Grannysmith...there's no way a level 6 or 7 is going to be able to have the skills to make a TOPS camp as a 10 yr old...in general, the skill levels required (when my daughter made it a few years back) were Level 8/9 for 9 yr olds; level 9 for 10 yr olds and very solid Level 9 or 10 for 11 yr olds so if they want to keep her a 6 fine, but just know that making a TOPS team (even B) isn't really feasible coming off that skill set. The problem with TOPS training per se is that a lot of kids will "train" the physical abilities and do well in the Regional testings but when they get down to Texas and it includes skills, they are at a loss compared to the girls who are already upper level optionals. The PA part only counts for a percentage of the score so even if you max the PA at 100 percent, if you only get 50 percent of the skills, then no team for you unfortunately,,,