A little survey

[MissBear]

I thought I might do a little survey of your opinions of the way Gymnastics works for you (as a parent, gymnast, coach, judge). Everything is included - training methods, coaches, everything about the gym, and also the competition system you use.

Questions:
What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up?

What don't you like about your set up?

Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see?

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have?

I think it will be really interesting to see what we all think.
Some background info would also be good - Level, System (eg USAG, BG)

Thanks a lot.

 

[MissBear]

My answers.

1) I really like the late starting of formal competition - the year you turn 8 is the first real competitive year. I think, generally, this means gymnasts have really strong basics with good form and they aren't pushing to get onto a level early. It also gives us as coaches longer to identify gymnasts and get them into one of the development program. I like how the Head Coaches are involved at all levels, and coach the youngest gymnasts at least once a week on both the girls and the boys side. I like that the whole team is in the gym one day a week which gives the oppertunity for Big sister Little sister conditioning and games.

2) I don't like the small number of competitions each year (from 1 - 4), but we are looking to change that from this year. I don't like having to fight for equiptment for some of the sessions, especially if someone has a comp coming up and needs the floor space.

3) I like the giving out medals to further placements I have seen in the US systems. Here there are usuallly medals to 3rd and ribbons to 6th - from a group of 10 - 30. It is too easy to go home with nothing.

4) I don't like the way medals are awarded in the US - just handed to the gymnast by what looks like runners or other children. Here they are presented after all places have been announced and the presenter shakes have with each gymnast. The presenter is either a elite gymnast (I've seen Beth Tweddle and Hannah Whelen recently) or a Brevet judge. Also, all the gymnasts march on again for awards and sit in a line at the back of the floor area smartly in their leotards.

I am a coach in England. My club competes at county, regional and national level and will have Elite Espoirs (turning 12 this year) for the first time this year.

Opinions?

 

[gymgurl]

1) i like my gym's set up be it the physical equipment or organisation or even the mentality.

Physical: The way we have the main level with 8 beams (one is floor beam). 3 sets of bars (one is used for pre levels or rec., full size sprung floor and vault with no pit, high bar, 2 strap bar, 2 rings, 2 p-bars and thats it. There is a small half level (can see from main level) with a very small tramp used for learning basic tumbling, a vault with pit, 1 strip of sprung floor, massive pit with metal bar and several bars like women's bars and 1 set of rings. then we go up stairs and we have 2 strips of non sprung floor and several pommel horses.

Organisation: many different options in terms of competing or just in rec. these include
Competing: You begin in pre levels and then go to levels 1 - 3 (everyone does this unless you are too good to start in lower levels). You then choose whether you want to go to national levels which is essentially more competitive, more hours, slightly more difficult. or Open levels generally for late starters or those slightly less talented which is less competitive, less hours, slightly less difficult. This allows for friendly competition.

Non Competitive: has kinder gym (mother and daughter class ages 2 - 5), Junior gym ( ages 4 - 5) Jr. rec. (5 + attending school can be before pre levels) snr rec. (a non competitive experience for ages 10 - 16) Tricks (combination of martial arts and gymnastics)

Mentality: Pushes hard but understanding of bad days, coaches have great attitude, do your best rather than win, cares about improvement, great team community feel has reasonable expectations for hrs training

2) Physical - wish we had longer tramp to train harder tumbling passes and thats about it

Organisation: nothing to complain about

Mentality: nothing to complain about

3) Basically i would like a longer tumbling tramp.

4) nothing i don't particularly like

 

[bogwoppit]

1 I do not like the Quebec programme. If you knew it you would understand why. It is very hard on small clubs with limited training hours. It is especially hard on the young gymnasts who have advanced skills in these small clubs.

2. I do not like Gymnova having a monopoly over what equipment we use at meets, and second to that I do not like the fact that the vault is set in stone regardless of the gymnasts capability. All Gymnova all the time.

3. I love that we have a regional comp circuit where girls who train 9 hours a week, or less, can compete at one of 5 levels on five apparatus and are able to qualify to a Provincial championship on one or all of them. This a is a new programme and it really benefits the older gymnast who wishes to train less or no longer can do AA.

4. It's a shame that our girls only do 3 meets a year. Not sure that will ever change.

5. Wish we had more medals and awards at the meets we have we do medals 1-3 and ribbons 3-8. I also love the themes in the US, our meets are boring!

6. I love that all our girls get their own routines and music.

7. I wish we had room for a pit and a tumble track. But we don't and what we have is 1000% better that putting the equipment up for every training.

In Quebec using a modified CPP, Canadian Provincial Programme. Girls in our club compete at regional and provincial levels.

 

[cher062]

Questions:
What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up?

I think our Gym is Great - Lots of room when we have meets and a loft area for weekly viewing. And the gym is very Clean usually. There have been a few gyms we have been to that were just so gross.

What don't you like about your set up?

Nothing I can think of really. Maybe a llittle more room where the cubbies are and maybe AC for the summer

Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see?

I like a locker room for the team members in one of the other gyms we have been to.

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have?

Limited parking. I think we have parking but at meets we still overflow to the street.

 

[marie83]

Questions:
What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up?

Our club is not an elite gym club, but we do aim to make the gymnasts the best they can possibly be - both in terms of their gymnastics ability and as a person.

I like that we have a family feel to our club, and once parents know us, are very comfortable in approaching us and telling us if something is worrying them.

I like that we are able to retain gymnasts in the sport for a long time - one of our aims as a club is to instill a life long love for the sport in all our gymnasts, and it is a great testament to us that many of our coaches have finished university, got full time jobs and still come and coach for us, having been with the club since they were aged 5!

I like the fact that our gymnasts all have smiles on their faces at competitions, and are oblivious to the politics!


What don't you like about your set up?

on a superficial note, I don't like our kit!
On a more serious note, I don't like the fact that we can't ever seem to use our time efficiently in the gym purely because of the size of our facility! In our competition squad we have 30 gymnasts split into 4 groups. If they are vaulting for example, there is no room for the coach to send the gymnasts off to different stations to practice various things - all the gymnasts can do is wait for their turn - they even have to start their run up in an area that used to be a changing room, but we adapted it to become a run up extension!

In terms of competitions - I really don't think we get enough competitions per year (our recreational novice squad have more that the women's artistic!)

I agree that we should have more placings in competitions - in our region there aren't even ribbons - just places for AA 1-3. The only competition where individual apparatus medals are given is our county championships!


Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see?

I'd love it if our club had a viewing gallery or similar so that parents could watch their children, I'd also love to do more fun stuff with our gymnasts like displays, going out for meals/trips etc - I think this is something we lack.
I'd also love it if there were more summer camps in the UK.
I wish we had a bigger gym with room for a dance studio, pit, trampoline and fast track (we are working on it!)

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have?

I'm really glad we don't have a huge rent to pay!
Other than that, not really! There is a lot I'd like to have but can't think of anything I'm glad we don't have

I think it will be really interesting to see what we all think.
Some background info would also be good - Level, System (eg USAG, BG)

Like I said at the beginning, we are not an elite club, we compete at county, regional and national level but we haven't done the elite grades for a while now. We also have a recreational novice squad of boys and girls and are in the process of setting up a men's artistic squad. We have over 400 members in our club, the majority of whom are recreational and train once a week. Our youngest gymnasts are 3 and our oldest currently is 18 (although it was me at 26 until recently!)

 

[Aussie_coach]

Ok - Australian here

1. I am the opposite to many other I like the way our comps don't give out so many medals. We can often have 70-80 girls in a competition in 1 division and they will give out 1st-3rd medals and 4th-6th ribbons and thats it. 70 people will go home with nothing. I like this, I am horrified at the idea of giving out awards to the top 50% in a competition. Its a good way of letting those who don't have anything to take home know that they are in the bottom half of the competition.

I feel when you give out too many awards competition becomes about the medals and the trophies, and the getting something. Our society has gone that way so much. I like the fact our kids have to often go away empty handed. It becomes about the sport and about the competition, not about "getting something to take home".

I also like the way we do semi optional routines from level 4. All girls having their own routines based on a set of required skills. I don't think I could watch the same routine and listen to the same piece of music one hundred times at a competition.

2. What I don't like. I don't like that fact that Australia selects its elite gymnasts at age 5. If you start gymnastics at 7, then you are too late. If your talent isn't obvious until you are 7 then you are too late. I also don't like the fact that our kids have nothing to work towards. There is nothing like college gymnastics, or elite gymnastics that they can aim for.

I don't like the fact we burn our kids out so early. several competitions a year from level 1, training 10 hours a week in level 2 and competing 10 times a year in just level 3.

3. have I noticed anything in other set ups I would like? Yes, I like the US system of having college gymnastics as a motivator for keeping teens in the sport. I like the way a child can reach elite without being selected at 5. I like the way competitions don't get serious until level 4. And even then level 4's are training only around 3 days a week.

4. Is there anything I am glad we don't have? YES. I so often hear that in the US they don't allow adults to do gymnastics because of the expensive insurance. In Australia there is no difference in the cost of insuring adults. Basically ALL gyms have adults gymnastics programs. There is even one or two gymnastics club who will only teach adults.

Also I'm glad we don't do the open gyms they have in the US, they sound a little scary.

 

[cathiann]

Questions:
What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up? Set up meaning physical location of equipment or the way they coach, etc.? I like our gym--it's a good size--not too crowded, but has enough equipment. Bigger would be nice, but then I imagine we'd be paying more. I like the hours--beth as a level 8/9 is going 16 hrs a week (next year as a level 9, it will be 20 hrs--that's the most it is). I like that here in Minnesota level 4 is the first competition level--and they don't flash scores. You don't get placements until level 6. I like that!

What don't you like about your set up? Right now I'm pretty happy. Beth is doing well, so I have no complaints.

Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see? Not really

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have? Really mean coaches

I think it will be really interesting to see what we all think.
Some background info would also be good - Level, System (eg USAG, BG)


USAG--level 8 or 9 currently--started on team as level 4 (our lowest level for team here)

 

[GetaGrip]

Hello! I'm Lauren, and I'm 13 years old and in level 7 in Nor. California. I go to a public gym center. Our gym isn't too big, but we are going to move it to a bigger place with in the next year. Our gym is packed full of equipment, and there is no extra room.

I like that our gym has new equipment that is well taken care of. I also like that we have two tumble tracks, 7 beams, and two bars sets.

I wish that we had two vaults and two floors though because we have a ton of gymnasts on our team! Also, it would be nice to not have to worry about having kindergardeners sit under your beam or run in front of you on your tumbling pass (happened to me before)


I've noticed that when I compete at technique, they have two floors out which seems really nice to me. Also, they have stands where people can watch, because our gym doesn't have that.

Believe it or not, I'm glad that we don't have a bouncy floor. We actually have the most stiff floor I've ever seen in my life. But the plus side, is that if you can do your routine on our floor, you will fly at other gyms! And not to seem creepy or messed up, but it's kind of funny to see people that come from "bouncy floor gyms" pretty much fail on our floor.

 

[MissBear]

Thank you everyone! Keep the amswers coming.
Cathiann - both, either - absolutely anything!

 

[MdGymMom01]

My Answers for Mason-Dixon League Level A (= USAG Lv 5) at my dd's gym:

Questions:
What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up?

I LOVE the fact that is is a less stressful/intense league than USAG.

I LOVE the ability to go "Optional" starting at Level A (= USAG 5).

I LOVE the reduced training hours (7-8 hrs including private if needed) per week. It gives plenty of time for homework, school activities, and even other sports (dance or school sports) to give the gymnast freedom and opportunities to do other things.

I LOVE the idea of having a spot on an event for trouble skills. It takes the pressure off the gymnast but still allows for them to be challenged with learning new skills and continuing to go after the "trouble skills".

I LOVE that the age groups/Divisions are small for competitions and that they go out 50% for awards. There are quite a few kids on the team that have fear issues or struggle a lot on certain events, so it is nice that they will be recognized and awarded for something at the awards ceremony. This really helps boost self-esteem for the kids.

What don't you like about your set up?

To be honest, there is nothing that I dislike about this program. It is the perfect fit for my dd and her ability and needs and my needs as a parent.

Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see?

Haven't seen anything so far...

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have?

I am glad that we don't have the increased training hours. I would hate to have my dd spending 15-20 hrs in the gym every week.

I am glad that we don't have to travel too much for our meets. They average out to about 6 meets per season (one a month) and are within 2 hrs driving time and that is perfect for us.

 

[frazzled_gymanst]

I go to a small town gym with only one coach, who is 17, and does everything herself.

What do you really like about the way Gymnastics is in your set up?

I love that the gymnasts, parents and coach are like a family, we are all very close and help each other along. There is very little *****iness, jealousy or competitiveness. We also have all the equipiment we need to work on our routines.

What don't you like about your set up?

I don't like that there isn't alot of room for improvement. The building isn't huge and wasn't originally a gym. It is made out of bricks so it wouldn't be simple to extend it. Also, our coach is only level 5-6 so she can't teach us beyond those levels, and she doesn't seem to intend on competing any more. since we only go up to level 5/6, we have no pit or anything like that.

Have you noticed anything in other set ups you would really like to see?

A pit would be great, and more than one set of bars. Other gyms also have trampolining as well as gymnastics, which would also be pretty good. I actually think my coach has a contact that could teach trampolining.

Is there anything you are really glad you don't have?

I've seen other, more competitive, gyms. I have no problem with them being competitive, but sometimes it seems like the coaches expect too much from their gymnasts. I'm glad my gym is more relaxed.