levels...

[EmmasMommy]

My daughter is 5 1/2 and has been in gymnastics for about a year. Her skills currently are are around level 3/4 for bars (back pull over, back hip circle, shoot through, sole circle dismount), floor (back walkovers, back handsprings, handstands, cartwheels, etc) and vault. Beam, however, proves to be a problem. With practice, she will get the skills on the low beam, but her fear of the high beam is going to be a block for her. She's even afraid to climb to high on the rope.

Further, she's never competed before (she's been on preteam for 9 months now). Usually at her gym, they "go through" all the levels, meaning she would move from preteam for level 2. There was brief mention of putting her on level 3 instead because of her skills, but that would depend which summer practice team she attends, and which team she joins will depend on her maturity. (Can she handle a 2 1/2 hour practice?)to be honest, neither the coaches or myself KNOW whether or not she can. We're going to feel it out.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. 1) She's made friends, and admittedly, I've made friends with the mom's, too. I kind of want her to stay with her group. 2) I don't want her to get bored. 3) She's never competed before and she has been slightly behind on the maturity level. Maybe it's better for her to compete level 2 and not level 3 for this reason. I really don't know.

Her class doesn't work on the skills she is doing currently, so we've been paying for private classes so she can practice the skills and be sure she's performing with correct form. I don't want her to have to stop doing them all together and then have to relearn them, but I don't want her to be practicing with incorrect form. Further, I think it's better for her to practice in the gym with her coaches.

As for what my daughter wants? She wants to be with the other girls who are doing back handsprings. I'm not sure she realizes that means leaving her friends, though.

In the end, whatever is going to happen will happen. Her coaches will decide, and I always go with what the coaches say. I don't know what to expect, and I have no idea what is "best" for her or her gymnastics in this case. I guess I'm just wondering if any other parents have been in this situation. How did it play out? What would you have preferred to happen or were you happy with how things turned out in the end? I am new to all this, so IDK if I'm doing the right thing by not giving any input one way or the other as to what should happen, or is it OK to just let the coaches decide 100% with no input from me?

 

[curlygirls]

I can relate to this post with respect to my almost 8 year old level 4 dd. She could probably compete level 5 this season. If I requested it, it would happen. However, her friends are all on level 4 (mine too!) and most importantly, her coaches, while considering moving her up, thought it would be best for her to have a strong level 4 season. I agree, but I do worry about boredom. So from time to time, when she asks, we do a private lesson which focuses on uptraining. I recommend leaving the decision with the coaches.

 

[gymgal]

Given what you had said, I would keep her with her friends and let her work through the fears at the lower level. If she make a big turn around, she can always move up.

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[curlygirls]

On the 2 1/2 hour practices, she may very well surprise you. My youngest dd is 5 1/2 and was pulled from the recreational program to level 3 team in January. She went from a single 1 hour practice per week to two 3 hour practices. I had some concerns but agreed with the coaches to just keep an eye on her and see how it went. She was barely phased. She was very tired after practice at first, but that only lasted for the first couple of weeks.

 

[rsm]

DD was in a very similar situation last year. She was 5 1/2 and the coach wanted to move her up to preteam which competed level 3. I did get to make the choice for her and decided to give it a try mainly because I thought she would be bored in her old group. She is definitely not as mature as the other girls in the group, and that will probably be more of an issue going into level 4. And she was tired for the first couple of weeks, but after that it got easier. She also asked to go back to her old class a few times, because she didn't have any friends in her new group. I asked her to stick it out for the summer, and she was fine after a few weeks. She also had a fear on the beam. I ended up getting a low beam for her at home, and within a few weeks of using it, the fear was pretty much gone.

I am glad that we decided to move her up. We did have a rough few weeks at the beginning, but skills-wise, she was definitely more in line with the preteam at the time and it has kept her more interested. And I definitely think the coaches should ask for input, especially if she has the skills and they are on the fence about it.

 

[EmmasMommy]

Thanks for the feedback! This was all very encouraging. Daughter went to practice today and they put her with the level 2's training for level 3. They will decide at the end of summer where to place her. The great news? Her closest team mate is with her! They moved her and this other girl up together, so she still has friends. However, she missed her old coach (though she wasn't going to have him either way this summer or in the fall, so this was something she was going to have to face either way). She does get attached and doesn't like change. The new class is more of a challenge for her. She's doing good there. She has some trouble focusing sometimes, but the owners think this will be good for her to be in a more challenging group instead of things being too easy for her.

 

[Quadqueen]

That sounds great....if she can handle the practices with the group training for Level 3, that's probably where I would put her. You mentioned that you do privates with her. I don't know how often you're doing them, but I'm just curious about why you're doing them...? If she is working on skills in her privates that are well ahead of the level she may be competing, it might be a waste if the coaches don't feel like she's ready to compete that level. You would have to maintain regularly-scheduled privates so she can keep up with these skills, since she's not working on them in practice. She's not even 6 yet...there's no rush Just my 2 cents.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

I think it depends on her temperment...I have two gymmies, a boy and a girl...and they have the most opposite personalities!!! My dd doesn't really care about scores...she just loves to compete and be challenged by new skills. If your dd is like this, then maybe advancing her isn't a bad thing. My ds is a perfectionist...coach(and we agreed!) had him repeat L4 because he really wasn't ready to compete it the first time...and he's now the reigning L4 state AA champ...perfect boost for his ego, and he is working hard at L5 now. If your dd is motivated by success in medals, then let her rock out her current level. Only you and her coaches know which type of kid she is. Good luck, and I wish her a successful season no matter which level she is at!!

 

[NastiaFan]

I think it's good that your daughter will be in a challenging group, but more importantly that she will have the opportunity to compete at the highest level she is capable of right now. It is definitely okay to have a gymnast competing on a level where not all of her skills are easy for her. Eventually, of course, but when first starting out on a level sometimes the feeling that she HAS to do it will serve as a huge motivating factor.

 

[EmmasMommy]

Thanks everyone! She has really surprised me in this new group. Her first practice there was SOME lacking in the focus department, but today was great. Her coaches said for her it's entirely a maturity thing--she has the strength, flexibility, and skills she needs--but that she is making progress with her maturity already. We'll see what decision is made at the end of summer, but overall, she's doing great. All the girls, even the older ones, have made friends with her, and she enjoys having an old friend in her group as well. She has definite strengths and weaknesses in terms of focus/comprehension. (In other words, she seems to really "get" what the coaches say when they correct her form on bars, and these things she improves immediately. Beam is a little tougher, but I'm seeing leaps of progress in one session. On floor, her skills are fantastic but she struggles with form, though to be fair she's not far off the other girls in her group right now, so maybe she will catch up.) She does appear to be the youngest in the group, but if she and her coaches are all okay with this, it's fine with me. Time will tell (especially this summer) if she can mature enough to compete level 3 next year or if she will compete level 2. Her old coach seems confident she'll be level 3 next year and level 4 (back with him) the year after, but again I really think her maturity and growth in that area will be the deciding factor. I wouldn't say the skills themselves are challenging for her right now, but she IS being challenged in terms of performing the skills with focus and paying close attention to her coaches, and I think that is the PERFECT kind of challenge for her right now. Most importantly, she's having fun

 

[momofthreegirls]

We have a similar situation with my 5.5 year old DD. She has been doing gym for a little over a year, and just finished a year on preteam (training L4 skills... we don't compete L2 or L3). I wasn't sure whether to let her move to L4 with the rest of her group, or hold her back for another year of preteam. She has most of the L4 skills, but does have some maturity issues. I went with the coach's recommendation to let her try L4 for the summer, and a final decision will be made at the end of summer.

She just began training as a new level 4 this week, and her practice time has tripled. She is a little crabby after practice and is tired earlier at night, but she is loving being with the "big girls". She is the youngest on the team.

She also deals with fears on beam, but is learning to overcome them. Like your DD, she has a strong desire to stay with her friends and teammates from last year.

Good luck to your DD, and I hope she has fun competing next season!