WAG New skills versus perfecting skills

[tomtnt]

At what point in your level 10 gymnast career did she stop acquiring new and more difficult skills and start perfecting existing skills? (Assuming start value of 10 on all events)

Seems it is very difficult to hit those really high scores if every year you are competing new skills.

 

[profmom]

Depends on the goal, no? Our gymnasts tend to try the riskier skills earlier in the season and dial back if necessary for meets where placements matter (i.e., states and regionals).

 

[Sarah_the_gymnast]

Well we uptrain everything during the summer and perfect it the rest of the year. A few new skills along the way during the year, but mostly just perfecting skills

 

[tomtnt]

I'm actually referring to year over year.. if the goal is college gymnastics, why train 1.5 and DTY when most will only do fulls in JO and college. A clean full will score higher than imperfect 1.5/double twisting vault.

Why full-ins and double layouts with more potential injuries and deductions when most will just do double pike and tucks.

 

[QueenBee]

@tomtnt I think it all depends on the goals of the gymnast and the skill/ability of the coaches. Many gymnasts who go on to compete in college spend a lot of their time and energy trying to go elite during their club gym career. Upgrading skills isn't a 'nice to have' in that case, its necessary. And since so many colleges look at those gymnasts who have flirted with elite (through junior & senior programs) - it then becomes necessary for 'pure' JO girls to also bring a stronger game both of skills and execution in order to be more recruitable.

It also depends on what kind of college a gymnast is looking to compete for during college. Looking for a berth on a Super Six type team is going to look very different than looking to be a walk-on at a Div III school. Wanting a scholarship adds a wrinkle into whether you upgrade versus clean up.

At the gym my daughter belongs to Level 10s continue to upgrade skills when and where appropriate, including girls who will be off to college next year and girls who won't be continuing gymnastics after this season ends. During meet season, most gymnasts are refining the skills within their routines, but even at this point - many are upgrading and learning new skills.

Ultimately, in my observational experience, it depends on each gymnast's strengths and weaknesses. I don't see excellent bar workers trying to upgrade a strong full to a 1.5 on vault during their senior year of club gymnastics. But I do see them working on different single bar releases. And our strong vaulters may continue to work on getting another 1/2 twist on vault while being content to stick with the single bar release they are fully confident competing.

 

[sce]

I have very little experience in this area as my kids are not there. But, I can think of a couple reasons why a coach would do this. One is to keep the gymnast challenged. Doing the same thing over and over and not learning new harder skills can be so boring. Two, skills can eventually be devalued. Having the ability to do the harder skills keeps you competitive in the future.

 

[thefellowsmom]

All of this is great info! I would just like to add, since I feel like dd and I have watched more college gym meets in the last couple weeks than I ever had.

The rules have changed a bit and will continue to do so, I think. Almost everyone I saw, with some exceptions of course, had either a double layout or full twisting double dismount. In my dds gym they start working these dismounts in level 9.

Also, a yurchenko full no longer starts from a 10.0 in college. You need a 1.5 or other type of vault for a full 10 sv. I will say we have seen a huge increase in the different types of vaults being done. There is an Arabian vault and half on half offs and others I don't even know what they are.

Point is, there is value in upgrading those skills for lots of reasons and it definitely seems that the skills in college are getting harder if what I see this year continues to be the trend.

We saw a few full twisting doubles on floor and even a double Arabian. A few triple series on beam and some really cool beam skills I haven't seen much of before.

I really hope that college continues to move away from cookie cutter over scored boring routines and starts being more creative while still keeping these women safe.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Well we uptrain everything during the summer and perfect it the rest of the year. A few new skills along the way during the year, but mostly just perfecting skills

This is a very slow way to coach gymnasts. While it may not be the emphasis year round, at least so,e sort of up training should be occurring 12 months of the year.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I'm actually referring to year over year.. if the goal is college gymnastics, why train 1.5 and DTY when most will only do fulls in JO and college. A clean full will score higher than imperfect 1.5/double twisting vault.

Why full-ins and double layouts with more potential injuries and deductions when most will just do double pike and tucks.

Because training in gymnastics is not just about competiting, the true value,of gymnastics is in learning new and challenging things, facing your fears and stepping out of your comfort zone. This skills will be invaluable when yiu go to college, whether or not you continue gymnastics.

 

[Sarah_the_gymnast]

This is a very slow way to coach gymnasts. While it may not be the emphasis year round, at least so,e sort of up training should be occurring 12 months of the year.

Well, I suppose we do new skills during the year, but at least during comp season it's all focused on perfection. I meant that during the summer, the focus is GET THE NEW SKILLS - i.e. every rotation we focus on getting new skills, you come in hoping to get your new skill, etc., whereas during the year (meaning comp season), you might be training 1 or 2 new skills in between meets, but you focus on getting everything else ready for meets

 

[gymgal]

Because training in gymnastics is not just about competiting, the true value,of gymnastics is in learning new and challenging things, facing your fears and stepping out of your comfort zone. This skills will be invaluable when yiu go to college, whether or not you continue gymnastics.

I agree with Aussie_coach. dd will continue to learn new skills until she retires. That is just her nature as a gymnast - to get the next higher skill. It is not about just making it to L10, but continuing to train and learn new skills.