Parents Team Standards . . . .

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JessMom

Proud Parent
Not sure how to word this . . . and I don't want to offend anyone . . .

I went to a meet today to just watch, we were not competing. I'm checking out some other gyms and their teams . . . thinking of switching. Anyway . . .

I only know my gym. I haven't been to a meet where I can watch other gymnasts and their coaches before (always paying close attention to DD and her team . . or talking LOL). I wasn't surprised when I noticed some coaches were nasty (I was able to cross those gyms off my list fast!) . . . but I was surprised by how many girls needed spots or clearly did not have skills that my gym requires to be on team.

I was surprised at the difference in standards. Little things like the way they take the floor or holding the end pose on floor . . . needing a spot . . . pointed toes . . . hands facing out on backhandsprings . . . bent knees. . . you get the idea. More then just and oops here or there but an entire team with the same issue - really stands out

I wonder if our gym has really high standards / expectations . . . I have thought on occasion my gym was type A about little things . . .

Don't get me wrong there were a few teams that kicked butt and were clean and amazing . . . but . . . wow the difference!

Anyone else notice something similar at meets? Thoughts?
 
Ooohh yeah! My DD just finished up her 2nd L4 season and after attending 2 states meets I can tell you who the better gyms are in NJ and for what. Some are tough competition at L4-6 but don't have much at the Optional levels. Some have so-so compulsary teams but great optional teams. Some, like my gym, are middle of the road and have L4-L10's. We have no nasty coaches at any level and often get optionals that have been trained hard at other gyms and come to us for a more "gentle" approach. We are not taking all the team awards at all levels, but we are not the last team either...always right in the middle, LOL

Some gyms have more demanding coaches, highers expectations, hours and philosophy and want winners & the prestige of producing L4 champions...I just love my gym because they train smart and sensibly and try to get the girls to optionals for scholarships to college not the Olympics.

keep you eyes and ears open and you'll figure them all out soon! Good luck gym hunting!
 
I've noticed what you are talking about for sure. I also notice that it depends on levels too. There are several gyms in this area that have super clean perfect kids at the lower levels, but at optionals they are a mess. Then I teams whose lower levels are very unpolished, but their optionals look great. Some gyms just don't care about compulsory that much and some gyms don't care or don't have the coaches for the upper levels.

It also depends on what the goals are of the gym. Some newer, smaller gyms are just happy to have a team. There is also sometimes a drastic difference in the amount of hours different gyms train. Some level 7's might train 14 hours and others might be homeschooled and training 30+ hours a week. It's nice to know that there is a place for every gymnast out there that wants to compete.
 
My dd's gym has very high standards and although I am mom, I do think it shows at meets. If a girl is in need of a spot on a skill, I am pretty sure at dd's gym that you will not be competing in a meet. Actually, it is not uncommon for our optionals to be required to do higher than the minimum requirements of the level. The great thing is that this makes the transition to the next level that much easier! ;)
 
skills and spotting aside . . .

marching properly onto the floor, smiling, holding the end pose and then propery marching off is really impocrtant to our coaches.

DD spent weeks working on backhandsprings . . . .she wasn't turning her hands in.

So I guess those things just really stood out.

I guess there is no norm . . . something to look at when thinking about switching. I wonder if you'd notice those kind of things just watching the team train . . .

I hate thinking of switching - so stressful. Although, I will say it has been eye opening and interesting to see how different gyms work.
 
I have noticed this at meets. At our gym if you do not have the skills there is no spot you have to scratch the event. I have also noticed some gyms have very large teams compared to ours, I think some gyms are picky than others as for who gets to be on the team.
 
That stiff walk on and off...

skills and spotting aside . . .

marching properly onto the floor, smiling, holding the end pose and then propery marching off is really impocrtant to our coaches.

Not meaning to get off topic here but what's with that stiff awkward looking walk on & off the floor that many teams do??? Looks a little silly, and I never saw any of the girls at the Olympics do that. Do you get more points for it? Our team does a regular nice walk on and off...and that's it!
 
I've seen some crazy walks. I think we're in the middle - our girls have to walk toe heel , head up, no idea why. I think it has to do with first impressions. If you walk on with your head down and slunched (is that a word?) over it looks like you don't care
 
A lot of gyms have different idea's of what team is all about. For some gyms team is more open and any interested kid can have a go. While other gyms are very selective and only put the top kids on. Each gym has different goals for team to, for some its low key and just about getting out there and having a go, others aim for golds and others still for college scholarships or elite gymnasts. Each gym owner will have their own philosophies and these will be reflected in their team.

The standards required for comps vary. Training hours a so on.
 
Not meaning to get off topic here but what's with that stiff awkward looking walk on & off the floor that many teams do??? Looks a little silly, and I never saw any of the girls at the Olympics do that. Do you get more points for it? Our team does a regular nice walk on and off...and that's it!


I have to agree with that one.
 
It definitely is interesting to see how different all the teams are. We are about in the middle. Our girls aren't super polished, but not sloppy either. No spotting allowed usually, especially at level 4/5. And for the most part, no competing until you can do all 4 events. I know many gyms in our area do let their girls compete 2 or 3 events if they aren't ready on all 4, our girls don't, except for optionals I think.

As for the walk, who knows. LOL. I know mine has made her own little walk up that she does on and off. They usually just have them walk on regular, but with head up, nice posture, etc, nothing fancy. :)
 
It is interesting to note the differences between competition teams - and sometimes it is scary and embarrassing. I actually switched my dd after her L4 state meet after watching other teams look so polished and happy, while my dd and her team looked sloppy, unprepared and upset.
We moved out of state a couple of years ago and have ended up at a high level gym which wins most of the meets they enter. One of the reasons is that no one competes until they are ready and confident with all their skills. It really shows at competitions, and makes for a much calmer mom:) I do , however, get really scared for other gymnast throwing skills that look like they just learned them yesterday and might hurt themselves doing them. I always wonder what those coaches are thinking.
 
I love that walk on little ones do by accident where they swing the wrong arm forwards (you know the one!) . That is just too cute for words and can't be taught (bet someone has tried though he he). My heart melts every time I see that. I'd be a rubbish judge - they would get extra cute marks!
 
My dd's gym has very high standards and although I am mom, I do think it shows at meets. If a girl is in need of a spot on a skill, I am pretty sure at dd's gym that you will not be competing in a meet. /QUOTE]

My dds gym is that way also. We have one girl on L7 who hasn't competed bars since the 1st couple of meets. She has scratched bars at almost every meet this season because she balks on her dismount. They've tried everything to work with her to gain that confidence back, but to no avail. So for her safety (and I think for the mental state of the other girls) she scratches until she will do the dismount without a spot. Even with a spot half the time she balks, she used to do them though, go figure. I think that when you're at a meet and the girl in front of you balks it plays with the next girls' emotions, so for her safety and the girls going behind her, it's a good thing.
 
Oh yeah! I see it all the time. Our gym is not big on "presentation". Coach has never really stressed sharpness on walking out or saluting and I have never liked that about our gym. We are moving to a new gym in May (for other reasons) and I'm anxious to see how it goes there. I really hope they do it better.
I have seen some girls when they go out on the floor, do a little "turn thingy"
before they get into their starting pose. And on march-in some girls look like robots. It looks great somewhere in between, not too stiff and phony, but not too relaxed either.
 
Our gym has a rule that you have to have a certain "in-gym" score before you can go out of the gym to compete. So, we don't have any spotting going on, and you pretty much have to have all the skills down pat before you walk out the door to compete. It gives the girls incentive to work hard during practice, but it can also be a bummer if all your friends are competing and you are stuck on 1 or 2 skills! Our girls do the crazy march, but we don't do as much posing and stuff during the routines that I have noticed other gyms doing. Our upper level girls usually score in the top 5, and our L4's usually finish upper third. We also train more hours than most gyms (especially at L4, we train 14 hrs/week). I do notice that as a group we do score lower on vault and higher on bars than other gyms. Interesting thread...:)
 
Not meaning to get off topic here but what's with that stiff awkward looking walk on & off the floor that many teams do??? Looks a little silly, and I never saw any of the girls at the Olympics do that. Do you get more points for it? Our team does a regular nice walk on and off...and that's it!

Yeah, there are some gyms here that do weird walk-ons and offs and it just looks goofy!
 

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