Parents Herd of turtles or typical progression?

[okie]

So many of your DD's are 5/6/7 years old doing kips, cartwheel on beam, and skills my DD has never been introduced to at practice. I am not in CGM mode but just curious if her coaches are abnormally slow at increasing skills or moving girls at an average pace.

DD was in rec 50 min per week then moved to preteam 3 hr per week in October. She was just invited to USAG 3.
She has great tightness and strength but skill wise just the basics because that is all coaches have addressed to this point. She is youngest on team but all five who moved up are 6/7. She learned robhs at a mini camp last summer but otherwise no exciting skills - she does like to jump from low to high bar for fun but not as a skill (one time she face planted on the mat but popped up and went back at it... i was in cardiac arrest). The girls are just being introduced to new level 3 bars, continuing to work on holding handstand/dismount/leaps/turns on beam, learning to make powerful approach to vault, and perfecting floor skills/form.

Love her coaches and gym!!!! Just wondering if her gym is typical or if other gyms training more advanced skills at 5/6/7 are the "norm"??????


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[JBS]

We work kips or progressions towards kips with all of our "team" and "pre-team" gymnasts every practice...this includes L2's and L3's.

 

[okie]

We work kips or progressions towards kips all of our "team" and "pre-team" gymnasts every practice...this includes L2's and L3's.

Honestly, I don't know what kip progressions look like. They have always done lots of bar work but mostly casts, leg lifts, hip circles, pull ups, and more recently underswing dismount. She just got shoot through and is now working forward circle?. No kips yet and she is the only one doing robhs (just bc of mini camp, as coaches are just now teaching bhs).

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[JBS]

Honestly, I don't know what kip progressions look like.

Anything in these videos...plus more...

[video=youtube;1vhhkhB4S0E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vhhkhB4S0E[/video]

[video=youtube;oCnuXaGmMJ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCnuXaGmMJ4[/video]

 

[Committed]

I think it depends on what skills they already have. DD competed L3 this year, and has all the other L4 elements (minus fhs). All of the L3 & L4s are working on kips. They just started learning them this winter. No one has them yet, though a few are close. But these girls are a few years older than DD.

What level team did she move to? New level 3?

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

Our gym does not focus on kips for 5/6/7 year olds. They do progressions - lots of strength training and glides - but most of those bigger skills are introduced once the girls get to (current/old) Level 4, which is usually age 7/8/9 for first year level 4s. I'm also surprised by some of the skills I read about 6/7/8 year olds doing on CB - our gym definitely focuses on form/strength/routines at the lower levels rather than the big exciting skills (kips, giant, bwo on beam, etc....).

 

[Clover]

Our gym does not focus on kips for 5/6/7 year olds. They do progressions - lots of strength training and glides - but most of those bigger skills are introduced once the girls get to (current/old) Level 4, which is usually age 7/8/9 for first year level 4s. I'm also surprised by some of the skills I read about 6/7/8 year olds doing on CB - our gym definitely focuses on form/strength/routines at the lower levels rather than the big exciting skills (kips, giant, bwo on beam, etc....).

This is my gym too. From my experience, we seem to focus primarily on current level skills and form, flexibility, and strength for future skills. Although, I do wish we had more up-training for our young ones it seems to work as our girls generally "get" their new skills at a pretty fast rate once they are introduced. I suspect that there is more up-training at the optional levels, but I don't know since DD just finished level 5. Our gym is successful at all levels (recent (no current) elites, lots of state, regional, national champs, and lots of college scholarships).

 

[okie]

What level team did she move to? New level 3?

Yes new level 3.

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[wgagym]

I think what you are explaining with your gym seems normal and very good. My is doing those things because she has grown up her whole life in the gym and works on think on her own. I am assuming your gym is taking there time preparing them for success by drilling the skills and working on strength. When those things are done well they pick there skills up faster when they do start going for them.

 

[JBS]

Yes...we really don't do a lot of "uptraining" early on. We do focus on specific future skills...the kip is one of them.

 

[Faith]

Our gym does not focus on kips for 5/6/7 year olds. They do progressions - lots of strength training and glides - but most of those bigger skills are introduced once the girls get to (current/old) Level 4, which is usually age 7/8/9 for first year level 4s. I'm also surprised by some of the skills I read about 6/7/8 year olds doing on CB - our gym definitely focuses on form/strength/routines at the lower levels rather than the big exciting skills (kips, giant, bwo on beam, etc....).

This.

DD wasn't invited to pre-team until 6- for nearly a year they worked strength, flexibility and drills. Many parents moaned at the lack of progression, and a few took their kids out (I do think the coaches should have explained their methods though!) or refused the invite to team. All they could see was their kids working hard and learning nothing. I found ex-gymnasts the worst for complaining, comparing their skill level at the same age "I could do walkovers and handsprings, my kid is still learning backward rolls and handstands".

It has totally paid off though. The ones that stuck with it went from level 0 to (old!) level 6/7 pretty much within a year. The skills just came with all the groundwork done.

There seems to be two ways of coaching- the above, where you do the groundwork and perfect before you move on, or teach skills, then work on perfecting them alongside you teach new ones.

I'm not convinced that learning this stuff, or even being able to do this stuff at a very young age is an indicator of success down the line. There are many elite gymnasts who didn't even start gym until 6/7 (beth tweddle, simone biles...). In fact I think doing hours and hours from an early age is more likely to lead to injury or burnout.

 

[Natasha]

There are a lot of really great gyms out there that focus on strength, flexibility, correct positions, etc. so that when they are ready to start skills it will come much more quickly. Do not get caught up in the whole "my 5 year old can do a _____."

 

[Amusibus]

Our gym is defintely the slow and steady approach as well. Love your phrase "flock of turtles". My daughter is 7, and cannot do backhandsprings or kips... I think they work drills for this stuff but not really sure as I hardly ever watch. It can get frustrating to see "hardly any progress" at 9 hours a week and 250$ a month, but they keep saying just what others have said here- that when the time comes, the skills will come more quickly because of having laid the ground work. Hope they're right! In the meantime, my muscly little girl will look great for bikini season.

 

[BlairBob]

Quite often with L2 and L3 or even L 4's, the only kipping drills they work on are glides though I will generally spot drop kips and straddled uprises.

If I have a L2-4 that is ready to work on glide toes to bar or the actual kip, then I will find time to do so. If they don't have the basic pattern mastered or are not strong enough, I don't and that is that. It's not exactly fair, but I train it when they are ready for it.

 

[soccergymmom]

My DD is in the TOPS program so they do A LOT of conditioning. That being said, they also push the bigger skills. DD was old Level 4 last year (6 yr old) and more than likely will repeat it this year. Right now she is up-training and working on the next level skills. They are pushing the kip big-time, and some of the girls have already gotten it. But a lot haven't. I see the definite upside to getting the basics down and pretty but it is also fun to watch them (try) to learn new skills. But on the other hand, it's hard to see the girls who could use more time on the basics trying to learn stuff that they just aren't ready to learn. *shrugs*

 

[Flossyduck]

I'm always amazed and impressed with the skills kids seem to work on at young ages. It definitely isn't that way in our gym. Much of the time at age 5,6,7 is spent of conditioning, basics (handstand holds, press handstands, round off drills) and breaking down skills. Yes they start working handsprings on the fast track and trampoline maybe and plenty of upstart drills and so on, but I wouldn't say many of them have those actual skills by themselves at age 7. But when the skills start they tend to drop in to place and look good, and our club scores very well in competitions. So don't worry, it's all good foundation.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Sounds to me like good, patient, conservative coaching. And I'm a huge fan of very conservative coaching.

 

[iwannacoach]

I always had "not so hot" compulsory teams, and was cast a few "stink eyes" every time I brought a group up. My strategy..... work the compulsory requirements as little as possible, pay attention to what really needs to be done to make gymnastics "easy," and end up a year later with kids who compete comfortably in the optional program. Basically, there comes a time we all have to "pay the piper" if we want to dance.

So keep your little turtles on a short leash until they more resemble a hybrid of greyhound, gorrilla, gazelle, and chimpanzee, because that's when you (cue the ethereal echo) "release the turtles."

 

[Gymmom495]

I always laugh at parents who are so worried about what "big" skill their daughter cannot get, the parent who desperately wants them to be doing back handsprings yet they cannot do a proper back walkover. When we were infants we crawled before we walked (or at least most of us did) in gymnastics it's pretty much the same thing. Learning a strong solid foundation of the basics then building upon that and realizing that every child is different and will learn and develop at different rates. Parents need to stop comparing and focus on being the best support person for their son/daughter.

 

[okie]

Parents need to stop comparing and focus on being the best support person for their son/daughter.

"True dat!" (As my students would say). In the very short time I've been around gymnastics, I've learned that unhealthy comparisons will only lead to CGM behaviors. And YouTubing "6yo gymnast" in order to make comparisons will only lead to CGM thoughts. As I fully trust our coaches, I will let them do their thing and feel comforted knowing my turtle will morph into her own unique gymcreature in due time.

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