WAG Differences between publicly vs. privately funded gyms?

[Eleven sol]

There are two gyms at a relatively equal distance from where we live. One is private and more expensive and another is through a city recreation center and about half the price. My children started at the private gym (I didn't even know of the other option). However many of my children's friends go to the other gym. I have had consistent negative comments from these parents and they often try to convince me to go to the other gym saying the kids learn skills faster, there is less pressure, more fun etc. We visited and I just had the gut feeling I liked the our current gym better. It feels less crowded, more organized and has a better facility to my untrained eye. It is true though that the girl who changed learned a ton of new skills in a short time with fewer hours. We are NOT changing but just curious what could cause these differences in the rate of skill acquisition or if maybe it is just coincidence? Our gym shared that they are concerned about keeping kids in gymnastics longer and work on foundations longer? My daughter is in Xcel at our current gym ( they also have a good JO program). She is having a lot of fun and it seems very low pressure to me. The public gym only competes JO but with fewer hours. I guess my question is whether they could be sacrificing something to get that faster skill acquisition with less commitment?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

can't answer any of those questions unless you know who you're talking about. feel free to PM me.

 

[Aussie_coach]

The difference won't nessesarily be due to the fact that the gyms are public or private. It will be more due to the individual circumstances of the gym. Some private gyms and wonderful and others are terrible, some public gyms are wonderful and others are terrible.

It may not nessesarily be the case that they are sacrificing something to learn skills faster and in shorter hours. It's quite possible they have better coaches, or that they just choose to intruduce skills earlier.

There are coaches who teach more in 3 hours a week than other coaches do in 12, it just depends on the individual circumstances.

If you want a bigger picture of the two gyms you need to look at other factors. What is the quality of the skills like? How do they go in competitions? Do they have many optional gymnasts? Do they have many teenagers?

 

[Eleven sol]

It did occur to me Aussie Coach, that they could be teaching skills faster. After reading several threads I went and checked their overall team performance all the way to level 10. Current gym is within the top five all the way up to level 10. Rec gym only has overall team scores through level 4. They are doing very well at those levels but no team score past those levels. I think I can defend my gut feeling now Even though my kid is not in it to get a college scholarship or anything like that, I want her to safely go up as far as she wants. I am just tired of the negative comments from other parents about my choice. And I have no gymnastics background so no way to judge or defend really. I will pm you the gyms dunno.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

I can only answer for the gyms that we have been part of. We just changed from a private gym to the YMCA program. At the private gym, winning was important. So girls advanced to new levels and learned new skills only when a certain level of performance had been achieved. And the girls are on the podium frequently and the team is a consistent winner. The downside to that was that girls who weren't at the top felt stressed, and if you wanted to learn new skills quickly you were prevented from doing so and my DD was bored. The Y program has a much greater emphasis on fun and a much lower expectation for execution. Girls move to new levels more quickly and are encouraged to add skills they enjoy. The down side to that is they don't place very often and I doubt the team ever wins. But DD is enjoying the freedom to learn new skills and the lower "strictness".

Which of those approaches is better depends, of course, on what your priorities are. For my DD, advancing more quickly and adding new skills are more important that her scores or placement at meets. She started competing older and won't be competitive for college gymnastics and maybe not even for high school. So fun is more important than performance.

 

[Eleven sol]

I really appreciate your response. That makes sense. I do see that they do work on perfecting skills at our current gym. Fortunately there is an optional practice where it is all up training. My daughter started rec at 7 and I am really just interested in her staying fit and having fun.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Sounds like the difference between perfecting skills and chucking skills. Do the girls at the other gym score well at meets?

 

[Eleven sol]

They score well at low levels. I think it is probably just a training philosophy difference of some kind or may have to do with having older kids who grow out of the sport faster? It is also entirely possible that the girls who are progressing faster may just be more talented and it doesn't have anything to do with the gym. I guess the bottom line is my kiddo is very happy where she is and I will continue to repeat that to parents who question me about it.