WAG Gymnasts versus "normal" children

[gopuckgo]

I was not sure of a proper title for this post, but this was the best I could come up with to describe our weekend. Since my daughter has entered crazy gym world, we have found that her friends from school that she used to play with all of the time are now seen less and less.

We have had all of her "gymmie" friends over for sleepovers without problems. Sometimes up to ten of the team girls at once. The girls are so quiet and well behaved (except mine of course who gets a little wild from time to time). We hardly hear a peep from them.

So this past weekend I felt it was long overdue to see some old school friends that she hasn't seen all summer. Oh boy! These girls made my ADHD gymmie appear like an angel. They were loud, obnoxious, wild, destructive, disobedient and rude. I was in total shock! Are gymmast's just better at controlling themselves? Or do they just have better manners?

I don't know but next time I will take 100 gymnasts overnight versus one minute with these kids!

 

[Seeker]

Gymnasts have a lot more practice at conducting themselves in an appropriate manner....and most gyms would never tolerate the type of behavior you describe (thankfully!), so your experience doesn't surprise me.

 

[x98peterson]

I had a sleep over with her neighborhood friends and it went just ok. I think it is mostly an age thing maybe? The gymnastics girls are pretty wild at our overnights at the gym lock ins

 

[Gymsanity]

I feel that gymnasts tend to be more mature than 'normal' kids. They play in a very structured world, and they literally make dozens of life and death decisions every day with every skill they compete. They tend to be good listeners, focused, respectful, and responsible, and I see the difference quite often when they are with 'normal' kids. Nothing wrong with that in my mind. Better kids makes better adults!
Having said that, come to one of our gym sleep overs and you will see my girls can rock it out with the best of them!!

 

[COz]

Um, what is a lock in?

 

[NH~GymMom]

I agree that being in gymnastics, or any sport that encourages focus and discipline, can really help little ones mature in those areas faster than their peers do. That said, we have the opposite problem. DD's two best gym friends are much more of a handful than any of her school friends!

 

[Flipflopz]

I think it depends on the kid

 

[Tbrov]

I remember a sleepover once that included both gym and non-gym friends. Although they were about the same in wildness, I really noticed the difference whenever I needed to get their attention. I'd walk in the room and yell "Hey! Listen up!" and the gym girls would immediately stop what they were doing and pay attention. Non-gym kids ignored me, talked over me, had to be asked multiple times. Also, when I was getting them ready to go outside for a game or something, the gym kids jumped into line in height order - LOL!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Um, what is a lock in?

gymnastics prison for cheating on their conditioning...

 

[Orangesoda]

Maybe it's a correlation and not necessarily a causation thing. Perhaps kids hat tend toward being respectful, obedient, and duty driven thrive in and continue with gymnastics.

I guess the question is does gymnastics make good kids? Or do good kids stick with gymnastics? I guess it doesn't have to be one or the other.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I would say GENERALLY kids who are in a structured sport/art form tend to be more disciplined than other kids. I notice the same things with my dancing DDs friends. Not all of them by any means, but most of the kids in higher level organized sports are more organized and have better self discipline than the ones who are not involved in anything. Most.

I also think certain kinds of children are more drawn to/more successful in organized , strenuous activities. When gymmies "preteam" group was divided into who would train/compete new L4 vs new L3, I was surprised to see some of the girls who I saw had the same skills as DD be placed with the lower group while DD and a couple of her friends were placed in the higher group. DD and her friends did well in the higher group, really stepping it up in hours and working hard. I happened to attend a L3 practice some time after, and it was really eye opening. The emotional maturity and work ethic was entirely different in the kids who were selected for L3... They were goofing off and constantly having to be told by their coaches to simmer down and perform their assignments etc. none of those kids are still in the sport a little over a year later, not because of their skills or ability to perform them, but they just weren't as serious about it. DD and her friends selected for the higher team? All still in it and progressing well.
So I think it's partly the sport(s), partly the kids themselves (hope that made sense!)


Edited: wrote at the same time as orange soda!

 

[LizzieLac]

At our gym, all of the girsl have been taught to say "thank you" to the coaches as they leave the end of practice. I don't see this with too many other sports (my son's teams included).

 

[wgymmom]

Just from casual observation, it seems to me that competitive kids are more mature than non-competitive. They have to be more disciplined and hardworking in their extracurriculars. Nothing against non-competitive kids; my YDD is one. But it seems that my gymmie is extra mature for her age.

 

[Ginger]

@COz: just an example, our school has a lock-in for advanced readers - meaning, the kids that do well in reading are allowed to stay certain day after school and do fun activities till 9 or 10pm. It is like a reward for these kids.
At our gym, lock-ins are mainly sleepovers and we pay for it.
And I suppose both school and gym are locked during these times, for safety reasons - hence the term .

Hope it makes sense. Since English is not my first language, I am not good in explaining things .

I loved Dunno's explanation though

 

[Aussie_coach]

Interesting because gymnastics actually attracts kids who are a but crazier. You need to be energetic and spontaneous to be a good gymnasts. The calmer kids don't cope so well with so many hours of physical training.

Also you need to have a but of the crazy streak in you to go for the bigger skills.

But gymnasts have an outlet for their excess energy. The non gymnast kids probably spend most of their time in front of screens. So their extra energy is pent up.

 

[curlymop]

Just from casual observation, it seems to me that competitive kids are more mature than non-competitive. They have to be more disciplined and hardworking in their extracurriculars. Nothing against non-competitive kids; my YDD is one. But it seems that my gymmie is extra mature for her age.

This has not been true in my experience, but maybe that's because I don't equate "competitive kids" with kids who thrive in a competitive sport. My younger two boys are what I would call competitive kids. They make everything into a competition, and we've had to work with both of them on learning not to be a sore loser. They have good behavior in school, but in the gym and especially at home, we've had issues with listening and following directions. They are very young, so I have hope that they haven't yet reached the peak of their maturity levels.

My oldest son doesn't have a competitive bone in his body, but he is light years ahead of his gymnast brothers in terms of maturity. I guess I'd say that he is disciplined, just not competitive. He plays baseball, and while his lack of a competitive drive held him back a bit at first, he has been improving a lot lately due to his willingness to listen, take corrections, and practice. It is the same way with his piano playing and school work.

I think that to be successful in gymnastics, a kid needs to be disciplined, and the kids who are more disciplined are going to be better behaved and mature in general.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I disagree about both quiet kids and competitive kids. My one DD is both incredible quiet and not very competitive, and my other DD is extremely loud yet also not competitive. They both love gymnastics and competitive gymnastics and thrive with lots of training.

 

[cassafrass]

My DD had a sleepover with gym and non gym friends mixed. I had them all sleep downstairs in the living room on mattresses. The gym girls got the king size mattress down narrow stairs and through a couple tight doorways in a heartbeat. The non gym girls struggled massively with a twin mattress and eventually gym girls had to come to their rescue!

 

[wgymmom]

This has not been true in my experience, but maybe that's because I don't equate "competitive kids" with kids who thrive in a competitive sport. My younger two boys are what I would call competitive kids. They make everything into a competition, and we've had to work with both of them on learning not to be a sore loser. They have good behavior in school, but in the gym and especially at home, we've had issues with listening and following directions. They are very young, so I have hope that they haven't yet reached the peak of their maturity levels.

My oldest son doesn't have a competitive bone in his body, but he is light years ahead of his gymnast brothers in terms of maturity. I guess I'd say that he is disciplined, just not competitive. He plays baseball, and while his lack of a competitive drive held him back a bit at first, he has been improving a lot lately due to his willingness to listen, take corrections, and practice. It is the same way with his piano playing and school work.

I think that to be successful in gymnastics, a kid needs to be disciplined, and the kids who are more disciplined are going to be better behaved and mature in general.

By "competitive kids," I only meant kids who are in a competitive sport. Just kind of shorthand.

 

[htimcj]

Um, what is a lock in?

A lock in is where the gymnast stay over night "locked in" in the gym. Crazy times them ensue!