Parents Mill circle question

[Amanda]

Hi. My daughter just started team in October. She spent 2 months doing level 2 and then they moved her up to Level 3 when a group of girls made the transition. I'm not 100% sure she was completely ready but I think the fact that she was older (10) contributed to the move up . I'm a little nervous though that she has holes in her training. They have been doing a good amount of uptraining on bars and vault- but I'm not sure she has some of the skills that she will have to compete in Level 3. For example, she has never tried a mill circle-- ever! I'm seeing the fact that it can be challenging come up in several threads and its making me a little worried. I think their first meet is in May- if she's ready. Does it seem strange that they haven't trained that yet? I do like and trust her coaches and they have girls competing all levels successfully. This whole gymnastics world is so new to me.

 

[amiandjim]

The mill circle is required at both level 2 and 3 so she would need that either way. I do think learning to perform it well and successfully may take longer than 3 months but I'm not a coach so what do I know? My daughter started level 2 at 6 and it took her from May to November to get her mill circle and just in the last few months is it really done well with straight legs, pointed toes, and the required lift at the end...this is now about 20 months from first starting it! But, she was quite a bit younger than your DD so she might catch on more quickly.

 

[wandrewsjr]

The mill circle is not required at level 2 or 3. They could be training and using the basket swing instead. The routines allow a choice between these two skills.

 

[amiandjim]

I had forgotten that....I have never seen a level 2 or 3 compete the basket swing.

 

[Amanda]

I had to look up what a basket swing is! I don't think they have been training that either!

 

[notthatmom]

I had to look up what a basket swing is! I don't think they have been training that either!

Have they been practicing bar routines? It would be interesting to hear what her bar routine looks like if they aren't doing it with the mill circle.

 

[NY Dad]

They could be training and using the basket swing instead.

Does anyone know of a gym that primarily teach basket swing at L2-3 instead of a mill circle? (I'm just curious)
Is it generally considered as useless in the higher levels as the mill circle?

 

[Amanda]

I don't think they have done a full bar routine. I just asked her and she said they have done a glide swing to a pull over to cast to BHC and an underswing dismount. They have practiced a shoot through and FHC (which she doesn't yet have). She did say that she had worked on a mill circle a little bit in the rec class she was in last year. She thinks maybe she was close so hopefully it won't take too long to pick up once they start practicing? I do know that a good amount of the things she learned in rec have required some relearning when it comes to form.

 

[Amanda]

She also said they have not done a basket swing!

 

[gymdog]

Does anyone know of a gym that primarily teach basket swing at L2-3 instead of a mill circle? (I'm just curious)
Is it generally considered as useless in the higher levels as the mill circle?

I've seen it a fair amount in level 2 because they can hook their leg. The level 3 one is really hard. I've had some kids who can do it with almost straight legs but not quite, but could do a straight leg mill circle so it wasn't worth the deduction. I have yet to have a kid who can do it with perfectly straight legs. These kids all have straight arm kips.

So yeah, for all the talk about mill circles, when they gave another option that was "more progressive" no one chose to use it I've seen it like three times total in the past four seasons (across the country, not in my own meets).

 

[suebee]

Does anyone know of a gym that primarily teach basket swing at L2-3 instead of a mill circle? (I'm just curious)
Is it generally considered as useless in the higher levels as the mill circle?

I've seen it a fair amount in level 2 because they can hook their leg. The level 3 one is really hard. I've had some kids who can do it with almost straight legs but not quite, but could do a straight leg mill circle so it wasn't worth the deduction. I have yet to have a kid who can do it with perfectly straight legs. These kids all have straight arm kips.

So yeah, for all the talk about mill circles, when they gave another option that was "more progressive" no one chose to use it I've seen it like three times total in the past four seasons (across the country, not in my own meets).

There was one gym that we went to a meet with that did the basket swing in level 2. It's the only time I had ever seen a basket swing. It looked to me like what dd and her teammates did if they either didn't make it back up for the mill circle or went around a second time and didn't get back up, to get back up on the bar.

I noticed that gym did mill circles in level 3.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Agree with gymdog, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the level 2's I see do the mill circle. They are allowed to bend the leg, it's a little easier for tiny level 2's with tiny hands than the mill, and is a little less dangerous than the mill if not done well since the gymnast is already in a hand position to catch themselves if falling. Less common to see at level 3 since very hard to do without deduction. Only see a it from a team maybe every other meet.

 

[MuggleMom]

My daughter was moved up to team in June and didn't have her FHC, shoot through, or mill circle and she has all three now--with mostly straight legs and mostly pointed toes. She got them all pretty consistently in like October/November. She is younger than your DD though so she may have a quicker learning curve. Our gym doesn't stress having all the skills when moving to level 3--I think because they tend to do 2 years at level 3. The first year for experience the second to perfect skills and uptrain for level 4. you can compete without all the skills you just wont be competitive (if that makes sense). There are still girls on our team who are competing without all the skills but they enjoy being on team and being with their friends!

On a side note just because she hasn't worked on the specific skills doesn't mean they haven't been working on the drills for those skills. If they have been doing good drill work they could get the skills relatively quickly.

 

[Amanda]

My daughter was moved up to team in June and didn't have her FHC, shoot through, or mill circle and she has all three now--with mostly straight legs and mostly pointed toes. She got them all pretty consistently in like October/November. She is younger than your DD though so she may have a quicker learning curve. Our gym doesn't stress having all the skills when moving to level 3--I think because they tend to do 2 years at level 3. The first year for experience the second to perfect skills and uptrain for level 4. you can compete without all the skills you just wont be competitive (if that makes sense). There are still girls on our team who are competing without all the skills but they enjoy being on team and being with their friends!

On a side note just because she hasn't worked on the specific skills doesn't mean they haven't been working on the drills for those skills. If they have been doing good drill work they could get the skills relatively quickly.

So they can compete a bar routine with a skill missing and they will just get a lower score?

 

[MuggleMom]

So they can compete a bar routine with a skill missing and they will just get a lower score?

I am not 100% sure on Bars if they can just leave it out or if they have to try and just not complete the skill. I know for floor our team didn't have their back handsprings and they just did a round off rebound. It killed our scores but did not prevent anyone from competing. I would say though it probably comes down to missing say one skill as opposed to many in the routine and with bars there are so few skills that missing one may be a bigger deal than on floor.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

So they can compete a bar routine with a skill missing and they will just get a lower score?

There are options to chose from

https://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Junior Olympics/compulsory/illustratedroutines_feb14.pdf

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Does anyone know of a gym that primarily teach basket swing at L2-3 instead of a mill circle? (I'm just curious)
Is it generally considered as useless in the higher levels as the mill circle?

Our girls did basket swing in Level 2. Mill circle on Level 3. We are NY, that is how pretty much all the gyms we competed against did things as well. But I think we are more downstate then you.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

On a side note just because she hasn't worked on the specific skills doesn't mean they haven't been working on the drills for those skills. If they have been doing good drill work they could get the skills relatively quickly.

This

 

[Amanda]

Thanks for all of the replies. They are all helpful. It is definitely possible they are working drills for it- I would have no idea (both because I rarely watch much practice and I don't tend to know what I'm watching when I do!) Honestly, if she wasn't quite ready for their first competition and had to wait, I wouldn't consider it the end of the world (as long as the coaches are ok with that.)

 

[NY Dad]

Our girls did basket swing in Level 2. Mill circle on Level 3. We are NY, that is how pretty much all the gyms we competed against did things as well. But I think we are more downstate then you.

Thanks for the info. Our gym doesn't compete level 2 and my dd only worked on a mill circle (they are working on level 3 routines).