Parents Talk to me about boys' gymnastics!

[Mom2GymMonkey]

As a little background, I have a 9 y/o DS who, due to his health history, was only recently able to start copmpetitive sports. He has tried soccer, baseball, football and basketball and, while he enjoys playing, he is not really "good" at any of the sports, mainly due to his lack of aggressiveness. He will give 110% though so I do think he can certainly improve and there is still time. But, I have always told him to find the one sport he LOVES and has the potential at doing well and focus there. That is what DD has done with gymnastics.

So, now that DD is on pre-team, she practices with team, which means DS now sees the boys gymnasts who he finds fascinating! He told me after last practice that he would like to try gymnastics and see if it is something he would like and be good at. (See how kids use our words against us! LOL)

Over the weekend, DS asked DD to show him some of the basic elements. She tried teaching him a handstand and a cartwheel with NO luck! The poor boy is just not very coordinated. She finally got him doing a forward roll but with great effort.

So, I guess what I am wondering is, can a slow, not well-toned, uncoordinated kid possibly learn the elements needed for boys' gymnastics? I know DD's coach will let him try a class, but there are no boys in the beginners class right now, so he would be the only one. Would I be setting him up for disappointment if I let him try this?

 

[Tim_Dad]

So, I guess what I am wondering is, can a slow, not well-toned, uncoordinated kid possibly learn the elements needed for boys' gymnastics?

In a word... ABSOLUTELY!

Our gym isnt setup for boys gymnastics (unfortunately) but we do have tumble classes that have about of half dozen boys in it. One boy that comes to my mind was a then 10 yr old beginner that sounds very much like your DS. His sister was in gym for a while, and when he came and saw some boys doing BHS...he wanted to try too. He was awful at first. But he tried very hard. With practice and perserverance he got some basic skills down, and them joined a gym that did offer boys classes. I think hes 12 now, and last I heard from his mother (who's dd still in our gym), he's still into it, and loving every minute. AND apparently he's well liked by the girls too. (known as "the cute one".

 

[Chalky]

No!
You never know if you don't try. Besides ANY skills he learns in gymnastics will help in almost any other sport, or life in general. I say go for it!

 

[krisbran]

As a little background, I have a 9 y/o DS who, due to his health history, was only recently able to start copmpetitive sports. He has tried soccer, baseball, football and basketball and, while he enjoys playing, he is not really "good" at any of the sports, mainly due to his lack of aggressiveness. He will give 110% though so I do think he can certainly improve and there is still time. But, I have always told him to find the one sport he LOVES and has the potential at doing well and focus there. That is what DD has done with gymnastics.

So, now that DD is on pre-team, she practices with team, which means DS now sees the boys gymnasts who he finds fascinating! He told me after last practice that he would like to try gymnastics and see if it is something he would like and be good at. (See how kids use our words against us! LOL)

Over the weekend, DS asked DD to show him some of the basic elements. She tried teaching him a handstand and a cartwheel with NO luck! The poor boy is just not very coordinated. She finally got him doing a forward roll but with great effort.

So, I guess what I am wondering is, can a slow, not well-toned, uncoordinated kid possibly learn the elements needed for boys' gymnastics? I know DD's coach will let him try a class, but there are no boys in the beginners class right now, so he would be the only one. Would I be setting him up for disappointment if I let him try this?

Yes, when my DD started her twin brother also started in the Rec class with her. Although he is no longer doing gymnastics (he also was very very uncordinated) he totally LOVED the classes. He is now a soccer king(His word) but he still likes to get in the gym and do gymnastics.
I think you should always let your child anything they are interested in as long as it won't hurt them. You never know where it will lead. He may be the next Pual Hamm!!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Chen Yibing (Beijing Gold medalist on Rings) was originally put in gymnastics because he was so weak.

 

[bogwoppit]

Our club is a girls only club, but in our rec and advanced rec classes we have a few boys, they love it and they have a blast. As they get older there is always freerunning or parcours in the gym if they realy just want to learn tricks. I think NYgymfam does tumbling only.

I would think that 9 is a great age to start.

 

[Mom2GymMonkey]

Thank you all for your thoughts and replies! I spoke to DS after school today and shared with him your ideas and thoughts. He does want to try a class at DD's gym and he will decide after that if it is something he wants to pursue. I told him nobody expects him to be the third Hamm brother right out of the box and to just enjoy himself and have fun! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[BlairBob]

Ya never know how uncoordinated he could be. Besides, I've seen some good boys be awesome on apparatus and train wrecks on floor or vault while being proficient on a trampoline.

One of my L5's last year had only been in gym for about a year prior to never doing much. He wasn't blessed with natural coordination but I heard he was a real mess before I came on. Not the most graceful runner but had become ok on floor. This coming from a boy from a family of dancers. Go figure. Good on HB and trampoline, decent on the other apparatus and had a good vault once he got on the board with 9's but I never knew if he was going to wipe out on his approach.