Parents New to gymanstics and have some questions about talented and motivated 5 year old.

[profmom]

The general wisdom around here from coaches and from the parents of gymnasts who have reached upper optionals is that extensive home practice should not be encouraged. If they stick with it, there will come a time when they are getting enough and more than enough at the gym, and hours and hours of practice at home will not diminish the length of the road they must travel. If you want to support a young child's most ambitious dreams in the sport, the most important thing for you to do is keep them in -- don't let them burn themselves out early. If it's a job for them at age 7, it's unlikely to be fun enough to keep them going through the hard parts they'll reach when they are 14 or 15.

I also hope that those of you who are fretting about having made mistakes early on in gym choices can take a little heart and not beat up on yourselves. I've seen over and over again that a promising gymnast, when moved into the right environment, will pick up ground very quickly and get to where s/he ought to be.

 

[Teammom]

So, my daughter is about to be 6. At what age does gymnastics start to get more serious? If she isn't picked for team this year, and has to wait until she's 7 and in 1st grade, is college gymnastics out of the question? My DD goes to gym class 1 hour 45 mins for a rec class 1 x week and a tumbling class 1 hour a week (we might drop this) and a private lesson about 2-3 times a month. She likes gymnastics, but she'd much rather play with the neighborhood kids. Sometimes it's a struggle to make her go. I think it's because she has advanced so quickly that most of the girls bin her group are 9-10 years old. She doesn't have any friends her age in the class.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

wait until she's 7 and in 1st grade, is college gymnastics out of the question?

No college decisions are off or on the table as a 7 yr old first grader.

And if you have her in gymnastics because you are planning on it leasing to college gymnastics. You need a new plan. Can it happen? Sure? Can you plan on it happening at that age? No.

 

[Teammom]

Ha! 100% not planning on it. In fact, I wouldn't even pick that for her. I really meant, will she be able to go as far as she wants to go if she isn't in the gym 9 hours a week at age 6 or 7.

 

[bogwoppit]

She likes gymnastics, but she'd much rather play with the neighborhood kids. Sometimes it's a struggle to make her go.

Do you think this is really her thing? Gymnastics is boring and repetitive, not every kid is cut out for it.

 

[Teammom]

I don't know if it's her thing yet. She's just about to turn 6, do I need to know right now? When she's at gymnastics she is all smile. But she also likes playing soccer.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Ha! 100% not planning on it. In fact, I wouldn't even pick that for her. I really meant, will she be able to go as far as she wants to go if she isn't in the gym 9 hours a week at age 6 or 7.

Yes its possible.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I don't know if it's her thing yet. She's just about to turn 6, do I need to know right now? When she's at gymnastics she is all smile. But she also likes playing soccer.

No you do not need to know right now. Neither does she, she is a kid. At some point she and you will have to decide but no not yet.

 

[IreneKa]

I don't know if it's her thing yet. She's just about to turn 6, do I need to know right now? When she's at gymnastics she is all smile. But she also likes playing soccer.

No, you don't need to know right now, but you need to figure out if she wants to do more gymnastics and spend a lot more hours at the gym.
And if she does and she isn't picked for team at the end of this year, you might want to have her evaluated at another gym. Some gyms are just that picky. They would choose their pre-teamers early at the age of 4 or 5 based on body shape or some natural abilities; they will not tell you upfront that they don't want your kid, because they want your money. So they will keep telling you "maybe next year", until she is 8 and they tell you she is too old for team.

 

[John]

She is young have her try everything. See if something wins out over neighborhood friends. Some kids prefer to just run with friends after school. That was my preferred activity until closer to 4th grade.

 

[Mamabear123]

If they have your 5 year old in a class with a bunch on 9 and 10 year olds, you should talk to the gym to see if there is a better class that she is suited for. My DD had a huge increase in hours after she turned 6, but we still found time for outside play and other structured activities.

 

[duyetanh]

I don't know if it's her thing yet. She's just about to turn 6, do I need to know right now? When she's at gymnastics she is all smile. But she also likes playing soccer.

The fact that sometimes it is a struggle to make her go is very telling. In your situation i would keep it light and fun. If she wants more, she will tell you, and then you can think about trying to figure out a way to increase hours.

 

[CAKE]

If she wants to play, let her play!

 

[Peachy88]

My daughter also had this situation but she thrived in it. The older kids doted on her and we're constantly amazed that she did better than most of them. She can also make friends very easily and was quickly off in the secret connor with them having snack break. She was much more bored with kids her own age who struggled with basic skills.

So, my daughter is about to be 6. At what age does gymnastics start to get more serious? If she isn't picked for team this year, and has to wait until she's 7 and in 1st grade, is college gymnastics out of the question? My DD goes to gym class 1 hour 45 mins for a rec class 1 x week and a tumbling class 1 hour a week (we might drop this) and a private lesson about 2-3 times a month. She likes gymnastics, but she'd much rather play with the neighborhood kids. Sometimes it's a struggle to make her go. I think it's because she has advanced so quickly that most of the girls bin her group are 9-10 years old. She doesn't have any friends her age in the class.

 

[profmom]

Lol, my guy was pretty young when he was moved into the top workout group. One of his older teenage workout partners used to threaten to break him when he got too bumptious. Once or twice they tossed him in the pit for talking too much. He loved it.

One of the best things about gymnastics is that they work with kids at their skill level and get a lot of experience interacting with kids of different ages. My daughter moved much more slowly, so she eventually got to being a kind of big sister figure for the younger girls. When they had down time waiting for things like vault, she gave them science lectures.

I think it is different once kids are on team.

 

[Peachy88]

So it turns out our daughter is most happy at our backyard gym. She will start training with the team in January and can't be happier.

 

[Peachy88]

New kink in the plan. When I informed the other gym that she will not be continuing they told me that they just had a spot in preteam and were going to offer it to her. So now we're going to try that out and see if there is any more down time in this to make friends and have fun, something missing from their rec class. I know we want our monies worth but I think relationships are important too and want to see that for our daughter. Daughter is excited to try this out so we will see how it goes.

 

[Peachy88]

Kink is ironed out. That preteam class was horrible. The coach was so sarcastic and yelling out horrible things. Threatening to duct tape girl's heads to their chests or knees straight. I even watched her lightly shove a girl's head with her foot. Maybe the sarcasm works for some, but not my child. She does not like to be teased at all. It was her first night in a class with intense conditioning and stretching and they did not help ease her into it at all. She is normally the most flexible at splits, bridge, etc, but for some reason she is not good at leaning forward in pike. They sat in this position for over 10 minutes and the coach kept pushing on her. Thankfully it was the end of class because she ran up to me and hid her face as a few tears came out. She understands hard work, but she was in pain and didn't feel like she could speak up. (I think she was also upset that she was the worst at this.) She is five...staying at neighborhood gym! She may never win a meet, but she will be happy and healthy! Plus she will end up tall so she might transition to another sport someday. For now, all is well.

 

[Flyaway]

Kink is ironed out. That preteam class was horrible. The coach was so sarcastic and yelling out horrible things. Threatening to duct tape girl's heads to their chests or knees straight. I even watched her lightly shove a girl's head with her foot. Maybe the sarcasm works for some, but not my child. She does not like to be teased at all. It was her first night in a class with intense conditioning and stretching and they did not help ease her into it at all. She is normally the most flexible at splits, bridge, etc, but for some reason she is not good at leaning forward in pike. They sat in this position for over 10 minutes and the coach kept pushing on her. Thankfully it was the end of class because she ran up to me and hid her face as a few tears came out. She understands hard work, but she was in pain and didn't feel like she could speak up. (I think she was also upset that she was the worst at this.) She is five...staying at neighborhood gym! She may never win a meet, but she will be happy and healthy! Plus she will end up tall so she might transition to another sport someday. For now, all is well.

I'm sorry it was a bad experience, but at least now you know! It sounds like you've made peace with where she's at and honestly, she will thrive as long as she's happy and well cared for.

 

[triplethreat+1]

What a relief to have a plan for moving forward that you are both happy with! Looking forward to hear progress reports of your DD!