Dd9's development is looking a bit different than that of the other girls on her team, so I'm hoping some of you can offer me some perspective!
Dd has grown up in the gym. She was adopted internationally and initially had some developmental delays. At her OT's suggestion, we enrolled her in gymnastics classes when she was a toddler. She craved sensory input and the time in the gym had huge positive effects on her behavior, focus, etc. So we kept her in classes and she thrived. She joined pre-pre-team at age 4 and competed level 3 at age 7, then level 4 at age 8. She repeated level 4 this season at age 9. Her best skill is bars, and she saw big improvements in this event by repeating... but her other events did not show as much (or in some cases any) improvement. Tumbling skills especially have been tough for her to do with good form.
Part of this is because she has been going through a tremendous growth spurt. From age 8 to age 9.5, she grew 7 inches, from 4 ft to 4 ft 7 inches. Three of these inches were during her four-month-long second level 4 season. Her tumbling and confidence on beam were really affected. She will likely go through puberty (already showing several signs) and finish growing early, which I have learned is typical of adopted children who spend their childhood doing a lot of catch-up growth after early malnourishment.
Anyway, I have read a lot on this board about delayed puberty in gymnasts, but what happens when the opposite is true? It's likely that this girl will be done with most of her growth before she even reaches optionals. On the plus side, she is small framed but very strong, and will probably stay that way once she reaches her adult height.
Anyone have a similar experience or words of wisdom to share?
Dd has grown up in the gym. She was adopted internationally and initially had some developmental delays. At her OT's suggestion, we enrolled her in gymnastics classes when she was a toddler. She craved sensory input and the time in the gym had huge positive effects on her behavior, focus, etc. So we kept her in classes and she thrived. She joined pre-pre-team at age 4 and competed level 3 at age 7, then level 4 at age 8. She repeated level 4 this season at age 9. Her best skill is bars, and she saw big improvements in this event by repeating... but her other events did not show as much (or in some cases any) improvement. Tumbling skills especially have been tough for her to do with good form.
Part of this is because she has been going through a tremendous growth spurt. From age 8 to age 9.5, she grew 7 inches, from 4 ft to 4 ft 7 inches. Three of these inches were during her four-month-long second level 4 season. Her tumbling and confidence on beam were really affected. She will likely go through puberty (already showing several signs) and finish growing early, which I have learned is typical of adopted children who spend their childhood doing a lot of catch-up growth after early malnourishment.
Anyway, I have read a lot on this board about delayed puberty in gymnasts, but what happens when the opposite is true? It's likely that this girl will be done with most of her growth before she even reaches optionals. On the plus side, she is small framed but very strong, and will probably stay that way once she reaches her adult height.
Anyone have a similar experience or words of wisdom to share?