Parents Poll: how many parents ask their kids to practice/stretch/condition at home?

[Dka]

My dd stretches sometimes or does things for fun but generally no conditioning at home

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I don't ask her to do anything, nor do her coaches. I do have to remind her to do doc recommended exercises for her shoulder.

But she does stretch, jump around, do leaps, etc. at home. I couldn't stop that if I tried.

 

[juststartingout]

The only thing I've ever asked her to do at home is run through the dance portion of her floor routine the week before competitions. I don't force her but I do highly encourage it. If her flexibility was an issue I would have her do that at home because that is something that only gets better with practice but she doesn't need it.

 

[GymBee97]

at those lower levels its not necessary at all. As they go forward in the levels they do tend to want to do the practice. (at least both my kids did). We have a panel mat, a chin up bar, and a folding beam for DD to practice the dance moves only for beam (her fear factor event) She will usually do some chin ups and leg lifts on the few days she doesn't have practice, she will sit in straddles and splits watching tv, and she will do the Wii "Personal Trainer" for core strength. But none of it I force or even suggest to her. She does it on her own. Usually they get enough practice at the gym to keep their body in shape. The only time I've ever said "ok you need to stretch and condition" was during the school vacation weeks when the gym gives them a paper with stuff they want them to do each day - they also give them this if they go on vacation. takes about an hour to go through so it doesn't take that much out of a day.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Coach and Father of two gymnasts here, (one competes in college). DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT mandate that your child do Anything that has to do with gymnastics at home. Over time this will lead to you posting the following here on CB.
"help, my DD wants to quit".

 

[Kiwi]

My DD has stretches and exercises to do at home, from her physiotherapist and neuromuscular therapist, mostly because of past injuries and her poor flexibility, and mostly they are not the same as what they do at gym. She really needs to do this stuff to prevent injuries and she is pretty good about it and will usually do them without me having to remind her. Sometimes she practices some gymnastics at home, e.g turns, handstands and routine choreography such as beam poses, but this is more up to her if she wants to.

Over the summer break when they are all away from gym and also when she was away from the gym last year because of an injury the coach gave her a list of conditioning to do at home and she was good about doing it and didn't get very sore when she went back.

 

[munchkin3]

Actually, we did go through the routine part of the new beam routine at home a couple of times. She just couldn't get it straight at the gym with all the kids there.....we copied the routine from tv for 15 min, and she had it Monday morning...
Floor was too much for me, so I stayed out of it.

my older gymmie is 13 and doctor explicitly told him that as he gets older, and less flexible and bigger, there are daily exercises he MUST do in order to participate in gymnastics and avoid injury. Like brushing teeth.....

But I don't think this is what you are asking, I think you want to know which parents make their 7 yo doing stuff at home so that we can make them better gymnasts.....I have done it, and then I quickly stopped because somewhere deep down inside I knew it was wrong.

 

[marie83]

Not read entire thread but from a coaches perspective -
Our upper level girls are only required to stretch as they are mostly teenagers and need the extra help! They are in the gym enough not to need extra conditioning at home. If they want to that is up to them, but nothing is set or required.
Our younger girls are given a home conditioning sheet. They get a star on their chart each time they do it - must be signed and dated by a parent. It is not required but advised and is something parents can allow their daughter to do at home as we 'strongly discourage' our gymnasts from doing skills at home. The sheet is tailored to each gymnast so it focuses on their weaker areas. The gymnast with the most stars at the end of the month receives a certificate, but they get stars for all sorts, not just conditioning. Seems to motivate them well enough!

 

[wgagym]

From a coach/parent perspecitve...She is a level 1, 7 year old. So No!! If you want her to enjoy gym then leave it in the gym. She will do extra stretching and conditioning at home if she wants to. If need be her coaches will give her homework, but that is her coaches job not the parent's. Your gut feeling is right. Leave it alone. If you want her to enjoy it then it needs to be HER self motivation to work outside the gym.

 

[Ariekannairb]

I require my level 3 to stretch, but it is because it is a step toward preventing an injury. I even sometimes sit and do it with her and make my non-gymnastics kiddos join in

 

[mobeans]

My DD has a beam that she received last Christmas and she loves to practice on it. She tends to do her new routine all on her own. Occasionally, if we're already downstairs, I have her do pull ups or hanging from the chin up bar and bringing her toes to the bar with straight legs (not sure what it's officially called!). Really that's about it. She's in the gym 6 hours a week as a 6 year old already and I feel that's more than enough. She usually asks to do "conditioning" and that's when we'll do it. She also does handstands, handstand walks, and walkovers on her own pretty much all day long

 

[myliljunebugs]

I don't have to enforce it, but my DD's coach did ask her to practice handstands at home since she is lacking in that skill. Other than that I generally have a hard time keeping her on her feet!

 

[Keno11]

I dont require it but I do suggest she stretch on occasion. Her coach will sometimes give us things to work on at home and she does for the most part. However she LOVES being flexible and wants to get more flexible so she doesnt have to be "stretched" in class or if she is she doesnt want to cry (she has NEVER liked crying in front of others).
Her coach told her today she needs to work on her ..step out?? or something so she told her she would practice at home.. LOL.

I could easily become a CGM so I am very cautious about what I "require" and kind of let her lead me and if she doesnt want to stretch well.. I am not the one who has to deal with the soreness

 

[J&A's mom]

No. I guess I am lucky that for both my gymnasts strength and flexibility are the strengths. I guess if it were different, and I noticed something, or the coach mentioned it, I may do otherwise. But, I think gym stays there.

 

[Ex member]

My eldest dd has just started a development group and dd told me she was asked to practice her jumps with nice toes but I don't ask her to practice as she goes to the gym every other day for 2 hours ( she will do 6 hours a week), maybe I'm wrong not to bug her to practice but I feel that she goes to gym enough to make improvements over time especially for a beginner, if dd's coach tells me that she needs to practice then maybe I might encourage her a little.

 

[flgymmom]

My daughter has been working on some leaps at home... but she isn't required to by her coaches or by us. She does it because she knows she need needs to and wants to get them where they need to be before comps start.

 

[Skadoodle]

I've always left that up to her coaches. If they are off for a week and coach wants them to stretch and condition I might remind her. I've found that as she progressed and got older gymnastics became her life and its on her mind most of the time. So even on her off days (2x a week) she's still in gym mode on the trampoline or stretching etc...