Parents Level 7 or diamonds?

[dbean]

Do you think moving to diamond and then level 8 vs level 7 to level 8 would impact a gymnast's chance for college Gymnastics?

If your DD had a choice between 7 & Diamond what would she choose?

Pros for diamond: compete as many level 8 skills as possible (assuming not having all required skills for level 8)
Cons: might not move to level 8 the following year

Pros for level 7: on JO track
Cons: stop working 8 skills once season starts (risk losing skills)

Other pros & cons?

 

[gymcat]

Are you in a region where diamond is competitive? In my region, there were never more than a couple of kids competing diamond at any meet, so for that reason alone I would pick level 7.


I know nothing about collegiate gym, so can’t answer that question.

 

[raenndrops]

There are several "L8 skills" they can compete in L7. They can upgrade their L7 routines to basically be minimum L8 routines (ones that would definitely have the "up to level" deductions).

Are you at a gym that doesnt not work up-skills during the meet season?

It would depend on how your gym treats Xcel. Would Diamond have the same number of hours? Same coaches? A good level of competition in the area?

Lots of things to consider.

 

[profmom]

Aside from vault, there's not much that would go in a solid starting L8 routine that couldn't be done in L7. I agree that Diamond should be pursued only if you're in an area where it's competitive. (Where we are, I'd say the median Diamond is around L7 and a good number are doing skills that one would ordinarily see in L8 routines, so there'd be no concern about competitive level.) That being said, I don't think I'd encourage a switch to Diamond unless there is a clear path back to JO if college gym is the goal. The other thing about Diamond is that uptraining may take a gymnast in different directions -- working on skills that in JO would be "going nowhere" rather than on foundational skills for L9/L10 that take time to build. You wouldn't want a training path, for instance, that eliminated work on turning skills on bars and BHS progressions on beam if L10 is the desired endpoint.

Colleges won't be very interested in the trajectory to L10 but more that the kid gets there and has good L10 skills.

 

[3rd_time_around]

She still has to compete 7 and score a 32.00 Is it possible to compete 1 meet level 7 and then be a level 8 instead of doing Diamond for a whole season?

 

[dbean]

Are you in a region where diamond is competitive? In my region, there were never more than a couple of kids competing diamond at any meet, so for that reason alone I would pick level 7.


I know nothing about collegiate gym, so can’t answer that question.

I believe Xcel is pretty competitive here.

 

[kiwi2406]

Correct me if I'm wrong as not from US and we don't have it here but collegiate gym almost always streams out of JO, so doing diamond might be a problem if you aren't able to move back to L8 afterwards. Although it might be useful getting some of the 8 skills with competition experience if you plan to go back to it.
If it were me and college gymnastics was the goal, I would see if you are able to do a year of diamond and go to level 8 as the preferred option, otherwise if not I would stay on 7.

 

[M2Abi]

Would your gym really stop uptraining completely when the season starts? And how long is your season? My dd is training Level 7, but they are always working at least a little on the higher level skills.

 

[All4thekids]

such a good question!! I don't know about the college path thing either but I will tell you that from experience your gymnast may find the excel training to be a bit lax. Definitely check into hours and see if they are at least close to the optionals hours in regards to the amount of time she will train. My dd has only ever been XCel. She wants to go JO but we seem to have a problem finding a gym that will take the steps necessary to get her there. She's only competed 3 times since starting gymnastic 3 years ago. She also has college goals but we can't seem to get a path to JO.. its all up in the air which is making it hard for her. I agree to make sure your gym gives your a clear path back. If I would have known more a couple years ago I would have gotten my dd out of xcel with her college dreams.

 

[dbean]

Would your gym really stop uptraining completely when the season starts? And how long is your season? My dd is training Level 7, but they are always working at least a little on the higher level skills.

They say they will continue but once season starts there isn't much. This year was a little better, so maybe next year they will do even more.

 

[dbean]

such a good question!! I don't know about the college path thing either but I will tell you that from experience your gymnast may find the excel training to be a bit lax. Definitely check into hours and see if they are at least close to the optionals hours in regards to the amount of time she will train. My dd has only ever been XCel. She wants to go JO but we seem to have a problem finding a gym that will take the steps necessary to get her there. She's only competed 3 times since starting gymnastic 3 years ago. She also has college goals but we can't seem to get a path to JO.. its all up in the air which is making it hard for her. I agree to make sure your gym gives your a clear path back. If I would have known more a couple years ago I would have gotten my dd out of xcel with her college dreams.

They do the same hours, similar skills and will practice together through sunner, though coaches will likely make level decisudec mid July.