WAG how long did it take you/your child get to Level7?

[profmom]

Just be aware that different gyms have different ways of handling advancement. The best way to figure out your child's likely trajectory to L7 is to ask the parents of the current L7s-L8s in your gym.

DD's gym, for instance, is one of those that holds the philosophy that old L6/new L5 is an important developmental level for most gymnasts. In the five years DD's been competing, only two girls skipped that level. So of the girls DD's competed with who are currently L7 and L8 (DD competed L7 this year), one (DD) had two years at 5, a year at 6, and then went to 7, I think four had a year at 5, two years at 6, and then went to 7, about ten did one year at 5, a year at 6, and then 7, and one went right from new 4/old 5 to 7.

"Slow" isn't necessarily bad. One of the girls who "repeated" L6 made it to regionals this year as a L8 and looks very likely to move up to 9 after only one year at 8. DD did a second year at L7 as well as L5, but I think she will have a much better debut year at L8 as a result. I trust the coaches completely on these decisions. They do a great job of retaining optional gymnasts, and have some success in placing girls on college teams.

 

[cassafrass]

6 years!
Level 3 (old) age 6
Level 4 (old) age 7
Level 4 repeat age 8 (DD's choice to compete alone at 5 or with a nice size team at 4)
Level 5 (old) age 9 4 meets
Excel Gold age 9 (split season)
Level 5 (new) age 10 3 meets
Level 6 (new) age 10 (split season)
Level 7 hopefully next season if giants come along!

 

[Seeker]

1 calendar year. Competed old L5 and L6 last season and L7 this season.

Just wanted to add a bit more detail based on other responses.

Started gymnastics mid-2011 and moved into a group training for L4 very quickly (she was 7.5).

Competitive Seasons:
2011-2012: Competed old L4 -- worked up to training about 14 hours a week by end of season
2012-2013: Competed old L5 in Fall of 2012 and old L6 Spring 2013 -- trained 15 hours a week
2013-2014: Competed L7 -- trained 18 hours a week

Post-L7 Season: hours have increased to 22/week for L8 training

 

[profmom]

Trying to remember way back -- I think old L5s trained 12 hours a week, old L6 went up to 16, and this year it's been about 19. More at each level during the summer. Not yet sure what she'll be doing this summer and next fall in terms of hours in conjunction with the move to L8.

 

[vagymmomma]

One year per level to move from 4 - 7. DD trained 12 hours at L6 (old) and 15 hours at 7 and 8. It will go up to 18 hours for L9. All optionals train 20 hours a week during the summer.

 

[Bajanswife]

I would say for DD it will be almost 3 years, but that's because this past year in level 6 has been very low key, with her only training 9 hours per week at the most (some weeks we only managed 6 hours). Therefore she has really only maintained level 6 skills this year but hasn't worked on enough of what she needs for level 7. If she keeps going (and doesn't quit) she'll reach level 7 sometime in the next few months, assuming her training time increases again. She'd keep her level 6 routines with just a few skill substitutions, so level 6 to level 7 could happen any time she's ready.

 

[Quadqueen]

4 months.

DD competed at State in December and just moved to 7 this week. Having said that, she has been training 7 since October. As such, she's got almost all her 7 skills, with the exception of giants on bars.

She trains 20 hours/week.

That would be one year by most standards, if she competed 4 in fall 2013 and is expected to compete 7 in spring 2015.

 

[kandkfunk]

For the most part, my DD has been at gyms that do not allow scoring out of levels or acceleration. I cannot think of a single gymnast that scored out of a level at either of her main gyms. It took her 3 years to get from level 4-level 7 (old levels).

Level 5 (old 5, new 4) - trained 12 to 14 hours for 2 years (ages 10 and 11), but this included a gym closure during her first season (during actual competition season at gym she had been at for 7 years) and moving to a nearby gym that was nice enough to take most of the team. The new gym did score out of levels, but my DD was not part of that program for the 10 months we were there. It wasn't a good gym fit, so we changed to another nearby gym at the end of the season, where she competed her second full year at level 5. We stayed at this gym for 5 years until she retired.

Level 6 (old 6, new 5) - trained 14 to 15 hours for 1 year (age 12).

Level 7 - trained 15 hours for 2 years (ages 13 & 14)

Level 8 - trained 16-20 hours for 1 year (age 15)

Now retired.

 

[Quadqueen]

4 months.

DD competed at State in December and just moved to 7 this week. Having said that, she has been training 7 since October. As such, she's got almost all her 7 skills, with the exception of giants on bars.

She trains 20 hours/week.

I thought you had said in an earlier thread in which you complained about inequality in the gym that your DD did not qualify to her state meet....?

 

[ShesAMonkey]

Hi there! I'm new here, but not a new gym mom.

My daughter competed at:

Old L4 in fall 2010 at age 7.
Old L5 in fall 2011 at age 8.
Old L5 in fall 2012 at age 9 (our gym has most girls repeat this level)
Old L6 in winter 2013 at age 9.
New L7 in winter 2014 at age 10.
She will be a L8 next winter as long as she has all her skills. She's well on her way.

She works out 15 hours a week now, and will soon go to 17 for the summer, then back down to 16 for next school year.

 

[2gymmies]

non sanctioned old 4 at 6 years old (4 hours per week)
sanctioned old 4 at 7 and 8 years old (6 hours per week)
sanctioned old 5 at 9 years old (10 hours per week)
scored out of old 6, competed 7 at 10 years old (19 hours per week)
competed 8 at 11 years old (19 hours)
competed 9 at 12 years old (23 hours)
competed 10 at 13 years old (30 hours)

I think those 3 years Level 4 have officially paid off!

 

[balancedmom]

My daughter was in a rec league and competed 2 years there. Prob new level 3/4. This year did new l5 and had trouble. Will repeat at least part of the year. Hope is to do l6 half the year and move to l7 next year. So 4 years for us.