Successful practice doesnt translate to successful? meet

[Jennemmy]

In talking to coach about dd progression, she mentioned that dd doesn't put up the scores that she should be based on her practice sessions. Dd goes into meet with the attitude that she is going to knock it out of the park so I don't think it is confidence. She has mild ADD so I wonder if she gets distracted? Any suggestions?

 

[bogwoppit]

Don't get involved, really you are not the coach. Just let DD do the gym and sit back and just enjoy what she can do.

No kid goes to a meet to perform badly, they do their best. But it sounds like your DD has a great attitude.

Not every kid is a performer, even if they are an amazing gymnast skill wise.

 

[Jennemmy]

Don't get involved, really you are not the coach. Just let DD do the gym and sit back and just enjoy what she can do.

The coach herself is curious what might be the difference. Her last meet had her at 35.995 and the one prior was 33.9. But in practice she really rocks. We were discussing what works in other environments. The ADD is mild and we do a minimal amount of intervention. She does not take her Focalin at practice or meets but normally will take Focalin for school - 8+ hr prior to practice. I guess I am asking other ADD/ADHD parents if they have seen something similar. In school a teacher will place a hand on dd's shoulder to bring her back into setting. However, classroom is very opposite of gym as class is normally quiet when dd zones out. Gym is very crazy and dd will zone out and drawn back in during coaching. Obviously, coach can't shout a pointer out during meet.

 

[ek2]

The coach herself is curious what might be the difference. Her last meet had her at 35.995 and the one prior was 33.9. But in practice she really rocks. We were discussing what works in other environments. The ADD is mild and we do a minimal amount of intervention. She does not take her Focalin at practice or meets but normally will take Focalin for school - 8+ hr prior to practice. I guess I am asking other ADD/ADHD parents if they have seen something similar. In school a teacher will place a hand on dd's shoulder to bring her back into setting. However, classroom is very opposite of gym as class is normally quiet when dd zones out. Gym is very crazy and dd will zone out and drawn back in during coaching. Obviously, coach can't shout a pointer out during meet.

Well it looks like her scores are increasing, which indicates that she is getting better. A 2 point jump is quite significant as far as competing is concerned.

What are you noticing at the meets that makes you concerned about focus? Is she forgetting her routines or leaving out skills? What level and how old is your dd?

There are some girls that are awesome during practice have all the form, technique and skills. However, because the "meet" environment is a much greater pressure situation do not do as well. Sometimes it takes several meets or seasons to perfect the competition component.

 

[Jennemmy]

She is newly 10y L5. The big discussion is whether moving to 6 (while showing these skills done well at practice) will result in a slow climb again. DD says she is very aware of people cheering for her. And if there is a photographer there she is almost posing for him. LOL. If you look at meet photos, she is making eye contact with the lens a lot. Several vault photos from her first meet have her smiling at the photographer with her head turned 90 while doing a great vault. Anyhow, at practice last night she was doing layout off high beam and coach asked her why she isn't being so aggressive at meet with easier skills. DD said she just gets distracted. Hence, the question.

 

[CreateMagic]

It might be useful for the coach to intentionally create distractions at practice once and a while to help her train herself to redirect to her routine. ADHD does make any sort of distraction become magnified and it can be difficult to get back on track if it is not an automatic, trained skill.

 

[gymcoach34]

a new L5 doing a layout off high beam? Im confused?

 

[Linsul]

a new L5 doing a layout off high beam? Im confused?

I'm a little confused too, but also at the same time not. Sounds confusing! Some of the most random and jaw droppingly awesome things I've seen at the gym have been from kids with ADD. My unprofessional opinion as it relates to ADD is that it has to do with fearlessness and lack of impulse control. They get it n their head, and then just do it with no outside influence...or warning. Those moments are usually accompanied by what I would swear at the time is a minor heart attack!

The topic of ADD and gymnasts has come up a lot, I'm going to look up articles or try to talk to some doctors experienced with ADD and gymnastics. I'm really curious now.

 

[Jennemmy]

It's funny how this forum helps illuminate things. She always has had big tumbling skills. Her coaches reward a good workout by letting her have at it on anything afterwards. Perhaps she is using her whole brain when challenged but gets distracted on easier stuff?

 

[lilgymmie7]

This could be similar to my son's experiences in wrestling as well. Linsul perhaps looking up sports in general and how it, ADD/ADHD ,impacts performance in any sport. My son has ADD and takes his meds all day. He trains so hard, but at times has a hard time putting all his moves learned on the mat when it counts at his meets. Thank you in advance. I'd be curious to see what you can find. These kids in any sport want to do so well; it's a shame when it doesn't happen.

 

[gymdog]

Honestly, her last AA (basically a 36) is very good for this early in the season at a first year doing the routines. No matter how good she is, some girls (many, actually) never get all 9.5s at the compulsory level, because they lack the kind of lines and flexibility that the routines tend to favor. It doesn't sound like she's crashing and burning so I don't think I'd worry about it. Most likely her skills are good and she just needs to clean up the details of the routine. I have plenty of very talented kids who weren't scoring near 36 at their first level 5 meet. Here that would be very unusual.

 

[CoachGoofy]

My most jaw droppingly fearless gymnast ALSO has ADH(HHHHH)D, to jump on that tangent.

She'll throw the most ridiculously "when did you decide you can do THAT?" skill or combination (answer: "I dunno, i think when I was doing it") if it's just her and me, or everyone else is at other stations.

But as soon as she has an audience or people are talking where she can hear distinct words, her performance fails to live up to the hype. It's like the "I should do that amazing thing again" crowds out the thoughts on how to actually DO it--at least that's the paraphrased version of what she said happened the last time we talked about it.

 

[coachmolly]

I don't think those scores are anything to worry about this early on, but I guess if the coach has raised some questions it is something to think about. If she's a level 5, I'm guessing she doesn't have much meet experience, so it could end up improving once she gets a hang of the whole meet situation. If not, you could try what someone else already suggested and stage some distractions while she is doing routines at practice.
With those scores, it's pretty clear she has the skills and they must look pretty good, so I would think it's more about the little details. That might become a non-issue once she's out of the compulsory levels. If she's showing improvement and is happy, then I would suggest to just wait it out and see how things progress. However, if she's distressed in any way by her performance at meets or disappointed in herself consistently, then I would pursue it much more actively.
As a gymnast, I practiced MUCH better than I competed. Like, totally fell apart at meets- legs visibly shaking on beam, falling all over the place, it was a disaster and even after years of competing it didn't improve. It was a severe issue that probably should have been dealt with much earlier on as it totally destroyed my confidence. It crushed me when I went to a meet and just bombed. But if your dd is content, I would say don't worry too much and just let things play out a little longer.

 

[Linsul]

I'm editing my response here as I think it was borderline highjacking of the thread. Starting a new one I'll link to.

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/chalk-bucket/30799-add-athletics-thread.html#post133717

 

[Jennemmy]

Honestly, her last AA (basically a 36) is very good for this early in the season at a first year doing the routines.

Those were her scores at the end of last season (states/judge's cup). She would have been thrilled to start of a season like that. Her very first 5 meet was a 27 something. She was taught the routine that week and basically couldn't transition from 4 to 5 that quickly. Her next meet was a 31 but that is pretty avg at our gym. I think the question is the potential seen but the inconsistency. I love the idea of having something to occupy her during events. I will talk to the coaches about that. It is hard to explain to her that she is better than some of the girls in practice but doesn't give the scores to outshine them in the meet. One of her coaches talked to her about it more this week. It is hard to explain the ADD (she doesn't have the H )to a coach when I think it hasn't been a part of their conversations with athletes and parents up to this point. As a parent, I was really worried I would get flamed for even mentioning medication on this forum. I also don't want dd to use it as an excuse. Which she will if given the opportunity to get out of conditioning. So excited to follow the new thread.

 

[bogwoppit]

It is always good to have these issues aired here. We all have a lot to learn and this is how it happens. Both threads have been very interesting to me.

When my oldest DD was two I was told she had ADHD, admittedly she was totally off the wall energy wise and the things we had to do to keep her safe were ridiculous in hindsight. My oldest child and youngest child were nothing like her! Now she is 14, and in fact since she was about 5, she has been totally chilled and there is no sign of the ADHD behaviousr that plagued her when she was tiny.

There is no one right solution, but whatever you can do to help is way better than nothing at all.

THanks for bringing this to the table.

 

[coachinkal]

My youngest DS gymnast (9yo) has ADHD. Very active and unfocused without medication.

He has only been medicated for about 9 months.

This has made a huge difference to every aspect of his life and to the lives of all those around him.

Last year he only got into one apparatus final at the states. This year he got into all of them and came third overall (first time ever now L5). He also got his first ever gold medals x 2.

I was amazed when on one training session he forgot to take his medication (got sidetracked multiple times!). Not only was his behaviour terrible but physically he could not use his body in the same way as usual. Skills he could normally do with ease he was struggling with, then getting frustrated. I had no success at all teaching a new skill at that training session. The following training session he got the skill first time. Gymnastics requires quite a lot of focus on using the body in specific ways. Form can suffer without focus.

All children with ADHD/ADD are not the same. My DS is on a slow release medication called Concerta which lasts for about 12 hours. This usually means he is still having benefits of medication during his evening training sessions.

For my DS it would be impossible for him to stay focussed at competition without medication. Very hard to keep him still while waiting too.

He does have a healthy degree of fear now (inside and outside of gymnastics), so that is a relief. I do not think I could handle anymore of the jumping off the roof onto trampoline, climbing and jumping off anything high, and bmx bike jumps his teenage brothers were jumping. Certain to turn any mother grey!

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

As a teacher, I am always frustrated by parents who won't even consider a 30 day trial dose of ADD (H or not) meds. for their kids. When it works (it doesn't always) it is a miracle for these kids... they can now socialize w/their peers without other kids thinking they're "weird"... their attention increases so much that they can attend to the lessons and perform well academically, it goes on and on and on. Would you withhold insulin from a diabetic patient??? This is brain chemistry, it is NOT a failure as a parent to help your child in any way you can. I know I'll get some negative responses, but my experiences over the years bear out what I'm saying.

Also, many ADD kids do very well in active sports such as gymnastics. The corrections/instructions are usually very quick and then they perform. Either it's right or wrong and they get another quick correction.