WAG How long to get to level 3?

[BarCoach]

We just (today) started a group of girls in an advanced class. Some are farther ahead than others, of course, depending on what teacher they had. The most any kid has is a pullover, bridge kick over, decent handstand, but most do not have all 3. They are all between 5 and 7, just out of Rec, now coming an hour and a half a week. I'd like to increase that to 3 hours mid-April and to 6 in the summer but not sure that will happen. For now we are focusing on strength and flexibility and shaping, along with following directions and taking corrections. It's been a number of years since I coached this level. After our first class today I'm thinking it is probably best to just train for a year and a half and shoot for level 3 in the fall of 2016, but at the same time that seems so far away. What is a realistic time frame to expect level 3 skills to start to come (and be competition ready), assuming we're not even working most of those skills yet. Thanks!

 

[gothgymmom]

My DD started gym in early 2011. She competed L3 2012-2013 season. Hope this helps lol.

 

[BarCoach]

It does! When does your comp season start?

 

[gymdog]

If you start a group 5-7 with 6 hours per week, assuming a range of kids who have been selected correctly for gymnastics attributes, some will be level 3 by the summer and some might take two years (esp if they're 5). If you introduce the progressions and allow them to move to a new progression once they have mastered the previous one (takes a lot of planning and class management) the oldest and most talented kids are going to get it faster than the youngest or ones who are more cautious, etc. Nothing wrong with either, just the way it's going to go. Don't try to push a group through the levels together. It's not worth it. Wait until they master the progressions.

 

[gymdog]

Oh, not 6 hours until the summer. Hour and a half? You probably won't see much progression beyond a rec class. They will probably get pullover, back hip, kickover, but will look recreational. 2 hours two times a week would be an appropriate time to see "team" progression at the skill level you described.

 

[FreckleGirls]

My DD was about the skill level you describe when she was pulled up onto pre-team at her seventh birthday last fall. She is finishing her level 2 season and I think she might be ready to compete 3 this fall. They've just increased hours from 6 to 9 a week. That darn mill circle was tricky for several girls on the team.

 

[kaloss]

Dd started gymnastics feb 2013, and was moved to team (level 3) in September 2013. From feb-May she went 2 hours/week then was moved up to a developmental group (3 hours a week) from May-September. She now trains 16 hours a week plus 3 hours of TOPS.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughter started old level 2, 3 yrs ago. Competed L3 this fall. For her the mill circle probably took the longest.

 

[Seeker]

My dd started at 7.5yrs old in April 2011 and competed (old) L4 in Nov 2011. I realize that isn't normal, but just wanted to throw it out there that some of the older girls may progress really quickly with the increased hours and more focused training. Some will take longer to progress, so I wouldn't expect the group to stay together long term. Especially since there are some really young ones in the group. Good luck!

 

[mom2newgymnast]

My dd's gym is apparently on the slower side. But, as I've mentioned before, they of the philosophy that it is better to spend a lot of time perfecting the basics in the lower levels. My dd just competed level 2 and is training for level 3 right now. She did rec gymnastics for several years and was invited to a preteam like training group in January of last year where she moved to 4 hours a week. She was invited to the level 2 team in May and moved to 6 hours a week. Trained and then competed level 2 from May to December of last year. Starting in January of this year they moved to 9 hours a week and are learning level 3 skills. She will find out in May if she made it on the level 3 team and, if so, she will start competing again in September. So from preteam to competing level 3 (if she makes it) will be a little over a year and a half. I know some of that time was spent learning level 2 routines, so I imagine it would have been a bit quicker if they hadn't had to do that. But I still think it would easily have taken over a year.

 

[suebee]

I think your plan to compete level 3 in the fall of 2016 is reasonable. I doubt that you would be able to have all or most of the girls competition ready before that, although some individual girls may be. But you could plan to uptrain for those girls who are ready.

My dd was 5 and had all those skills (pullover, HS, bridge kick over) and more (BHC) 1 year ago. She got her mill circle this fall right before starting to compete level 2. She's planning to compete level 3 in the fall and has all her level 3 skills except her ROBHS needs some more work to be competition ready, but I think she'll have it competition ready by fall. Her team is already doing kip drills and working on other level 4 skills like cartwheel on beam.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

When I two and half years ago got a new preteam group those kids were all 6 or 7 years old. None of them looked like super talented to me. They were just group of nice and pretty coachable kids that was given to me. The skills they had back then: nice front and back rolls, handstand against a wall, cartwheel, some had pull overs and someone even a back hip circle. They barely could do kick overs but had ok bridges. They could do a straight jump on vault and a front roll on wide low beam. They also could do walks and kicks on beam with nice form. Some of them could do pull ups or leg lifts but not all. That was a group of 11 girls.

Where are they now? 2 of them moved back to rec class after a year. They were very unflexible and that was the main reason: they couldn't get nice straight handstand or cartwheels in a year. 3 of them have quit because of other interests. One was picked to an another group that trains for national testing (pretty much like TOPS) and plans to compete on "elite stream". One stayed in preteam for another year and is now training with girls her age (she was just six back then). And the last 4 of them still do gymnastics, they are turning 10 this year and I coach them. They competed in level B last year and now they are doing level C. I'd say that level 3 is between our levels B and C but has one more advanced skill (back handspring that our girls wont't compete until level D which is the last compulsory level)

The skills they all had one year ago:

handstand forward roll
round off
back walkover
front handspring from tramp
back roll to push up position
hanging pull over
back hip circle
decent tap swings on straps
handstand on beam
cartwheel on low beam
handstand flat back vault to 80 cm mat stack
front tuck from tramp

So those are the skills they got in a year training just 3 hours a week. Now they have much more, like kips, round off back handsprings or standing back handsprings, front handsprings, cartwheel on beam. Free hips on straps, front tucks on floor and back walkovers on beam are coming....

When I look back to those early months with them... If someone would have told me that these kids are going to get the skills they now have in 2 and half years I would have laughed.... They were just itty bitty kids back then and were still figuring out which leg is right leg and which one is left, trying to climb to the beam that was as high as their heads... Learning to read from conditioning sheets... You never know what happens. Most probably some of them quit, some go back to rec and some go through the levels like rockets, some stay in the sport and do a level in a year. That's what I can tell.

 

[gothgymmom]

It does! When does your comp season start?

Nov-April usually

 

[Vivianflips]

I started gymnastics in the summer of 2013 and could compete level 3 this fall if I wanted to. Keeping in mind I'm obviously not 5-7 years old I may have learned skills slower/faster than kids in that age group. Believe it or not, my hardest skills to learn were my pullover, kickover, and forward roll dismout (on bar)! Unlike when I tried a mill circle for the first time and I just barely didn't stay on top!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i dunno...you can't predict.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

My dd's gym is apparently on the slower side. But, as I've mentioned before, they of the philosophy that it is better to spend a lot of time perfecting the basics in the lower levels. My dd just competed level 2 and is training for level 3 right now. She did rec gymnastics for several years and was invited to a preteam like training group in January of last year where she moved to 4 hours a week. She was invited to the level 2 team in May and moved to 6 hours a week. Trained and then competed level 2 from May to December of last year. Starting in January of this year they moved to 9 hours a week and are learning level 3 skills. She will find out in May if she made it on the level 3 team and, if so, she will start competing again in September. So from preteam to competing level 3 (if she makes it) will be a little over a year and a half. I know some of that time was spent learning level 2 routines, so I imagine it would have been a bit quicker if they hadn't had to do that. But I still think it would easily have taken over a year.

I should add that my dd turned 6 about a month after joining the training group. She just recently turned 7 and will be 7 1/2 when competing level 3 (if she does). She's the youngest on her team, but there are a couple of others within a month or two of her. There are also quite a few 8 and 9 year olds on her team.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

Your plan sounds about right. Our brand new preteamers will be competing Level 1 or 2 in the fall. In the fall of 2016 most will compete Level 3. They go 4-6 hrs a week, no change over summer.

 

[z2akids]

DD started a rec class (brand new to the sport unable to do a forward roll or cartwheel) shortly before she turned 8 and was pulled onto the old L3 rec/club team before the end of that first session. At the end of that season, she was moved to the new L3 USAG team. So, she competed L3 14 months after first setting foot in a gym. She started that season at the bottom of the pack and by the end was somewhere the middle. She is repeating L3 this year for several reasons and is now very successful score and placement-wise. She also has a lot more confidence and should go to L4 much better prepared than if she had gone this season. She is now 9.

 

[l.c.o]

DD did two years of rec with an occasional invitational strength class tossed in, then did 27 total months in the preteam-old level 4 team stream before her first old level 4 meet.

Coming into that first preteam group, most of the kids had at least their pullovers, handstands, chin-ups, and their splits.

 

[coachmolly]

I started a group of 5-7 year old pre-team kids last June. They came 1hr/week through the summer and started coming 1.5hrs/week in the fall. There has definitely been progress and strides towards being competition ready, but it has been very slow with such a limited amount of time in the gym. They are getting skills similar to what Gymdog mentioned, pullovers, back hip circles, kickovers, significantly improved cartwheels and handstands, better confidence on beam, the general idea of running and hurdling for vault- but are far from being ready for even Xcel Bronze (the goal for this particular group). Though I have placed a greater emphasis on strength and basics than skill acquisition. And perhaps I am biased, but they are much stronger and have better form than rec. kids of the same age.
Even my slightly older group of pre-team kids (3hrs/week) who have been working to Xcel Silver (so similar to level 3) are not as far as I would like them to be a year in just because 3hrs/week with a group of 12 and whatever equipment the larger team group isn't using is just not enough.