Parents To do L5 or not to do L5

[nycgymmom]

So I would like to know the pros and cons about skipping L5. My daughter wouldn't have an issue she has the skills but many other moms are tossed for their own girls. They would do L6 from L4.

 

[Sasha]

Let's see... first it depends on...

- What does your area/State/Region tend to compete? Our area tends to skip L6 (go from L5 to L7). Other areas I know tend to skip (technically score out of) L5 and go either L4-L6, or L4-L7 for more advanced girls. Depending on what nearby competition is doing, you can set yourself up for either more, or less, competition (which can be good or bad depending on your perspective)

Benefits of skipping L5:
- go right to Optionals - can be a morality boost for the athlete to have 'graduated' compulsories, and more fun to create your own routines, own music, etc
- can avoid some skills in L5 that might be a weak spot (since you can craft own routine in L6). Though avoiding skills is not necessarily a positive if it means you are left with weak spots in your repertoire.
- L5 is very tough score-wise, particularly in bars. L5 bars requires an above-horizontal straight body cast, for example. This is hard for many girls who will never do a straight body cast in optionals, preferring the straddle-cast.

Benefits of doing L5:
- Because of the very precise text and focus on tough scoring on compulsory skills, an athlete who does work to perfect these 'basics' in L5 tends to be very prepared for strong, good form in optionals.

That has been my experience. Curious what others think.

 

[raenndrops]

Pro of just scoring out of L5 and going to L6:
1. not having to practice a million beam backwalkovers. Yes, technically, they can do BHS in L5, but a lot of gyms don't unless there is a medical reason not to do the BWO.
2. Get to do optional routines choreographed to the gymnast's individual strengths.
3. No more "text error" deductions.

Cons:
1. Cast angle deductions can be brutal.

 

[nycgymmom]

Pro of just scoring out of L5 and going to L6:
1. not having to practice a million beam backwalkovers. Yes, technically, they can do BHS in L5, but a lot of gyms don't unless there is a medical reason not to do the BWO.
2. Get to do optional routines choreographed to the gymnast's individual strengths.
3. No more "text error" deductions.

Cons:
1. Cast angle deductions can be brutal.

I like the ideas of no back walkovers considering my girls back...she can do bhs on beam!
Like the idea of no "text errors"
Is bars only real issue transition?

 

[txgymfan]

To ask the obvious question. What does your coach say? Will the gym have both a L5 team and a L6 team.? Who will make the choice when? It's unusual to give the athlete a choice.

 

[GymLife]

We weren't given the option and we are region 8 if that makes a difference. Every girl that beat our girls (xcel gold to level 6 after we tested out over the summer) killed us only on bars. Most did level 5 in our state or had already had a CH to HS. Heck most already had giants. So for us it would have been worth that extra season working on that bar, because non of our girls had strong bars. Heck some of our girls finished xcel gold without a kip.

So it depends on the girl. Can't you train both and wait for the summer to be over and see?

 

[raenndrops]

I like the ideas of no back walkovers considering my girls back...she can do bhs on beam!
Like the idea of no "text errors"
Is bars only real issue transition?

For our girls, bars is the killer. The closer they are to a cast handstand (even though the requirement is only horizontal) the better. There is up to 0.3 deduction for each cast not near handstand.

 

[nycgymmom]

To ask the obvious question. What does your coach say? Will the gym have both a L5 team and a L6 team.? Who will make the choice when? It's unusual to give the athlete a choice.

The coaches are floating the idea around. We currently do have L5 & L6 team. They aren't giving us choice but the some parents rather go traditional route of L4, L5 then L7

 

[nycgymmom]

We weren't given the option and we are region 8 if that makes a difference. Every girl that beat our girls (xcel gold to level 6 after we tested out over the summer) killed us only on bars. Most did level 5 in our state or had already had a CH to HS. Heck most already had giants. So for us it would have been worth that extra season working on that bar, because non of our girls had strong bars. Heck some of our girls finished xcel gold without a kip.

So it depends on the girl. Can't you train both and wait for the summer to be over and see?

We are region 6 and L6 is an add on level. I think that is what are coaches intentions are working strong on bars whole summer and take it from there. Parents concerns are learning 2 sets of routines

 

[Deleted member 18037]

For my girl it was about bars. She needed the extra work so she did L5. In the fall, 6 in spring. She needed 5.

 

[raenndrops]

We are region 6 and L6 is an add on level. I think that is what are coaches intentions are working strong on bars whole summer and take it from there. Parents concerns are learning 2 sets of routines

Learning 2 sets of routines isn't that hard. L5 is similar to L4. And in L6, if they do something out of order, its no big deal.
We have girls that competed for the Jr High team in September to beginning of October, then competed L5 in November to December or January, then used their Jr High routines for L6.
They didn't have any issues.

 

[GymLife]

Ah, well if it makes any difference, DD learned the level 4 routines in 2 weeks and scored a 36.995 to test out of her one and only level 4 and 1 week to rework to level 5 and get her fly away. There isn't much difference in the 4-5 routine. As long as you have the clearhip, long hang pull over and the high cast, the girls should be good. DD did only score a 35.25 but in her defense that long hang pull over was not easy for her!

If the girls are not strong I say 5. They can always skip 6. Or go 6 and see what happens. Nothing wrong with repeating a level.

If I had my way DD would have done 5 and then worked up her skills all season. Then maybe her 6 would have not been so stressful. But we came from xcel so she never had to deal with that music over and over all season.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We are region 6. Parents concerns are learning 2 sets of routines

Routines as in learning them are the easy part.

It's the skills.

 

[nycgymmom]

Routines as in learning them are the easy part.

It's the skills.

Those are my thoughts excatctly

 

[gymmom11]

We are in region 7. While some girls skip L6, those that do have skills that are SOLID. Very rare. Maybe one or two at known gyms. Most girls compete L6. I know at our gym, some that have come from smaller gyms as already competed L7 repeat L7 because the mobility score is so low but the coaches want the perfection in skills and body form/shape. Just because a gym will skip level 6 or any other level it does NOT mean it's best for your child. Not being harsh, but unless they are scoring at least a 36 in compulsories they should not move up a level. Those skills build upon each other and set the foundation for optional skills. Most larger well known gyms in MD which is region 7 follow this rule... as do the gyms in Northern Va. so while level 6 is technically optional, most girls aren't ready to transition fully from L5 to optionals (L7+) and thus L6 is there to bridge that transition.

 

[duyetanh]

Glad mine skipped it. It was what she needed. This said, she did 6 and 7. But we love that it happened this way. And yes, her bars sucked until this past season.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

We are in region 7. While some girls skip L6, those that do have skills that are SOLID. Very rare. Maybe one or two at known gyms. Most girls compete L6. I know at our gym, some that have come from smaller gyms as already competed L7 repeat L7 because the mobility score is so low but the coaches want the perfection in skills and body form/shape. Just because a gym will skip level 6 or any other level it does NOT mean it's best for your child. Not being harsh, but unless they are scoring at least a 36 in compulsories they should not move up a level. Those skills build upon each other and set the foundation for optional skills. Most larger well known gyms in MD which is region 7 follow this rule... as do the gyms in Northern Va. so while level 6 is technically optional, most girls aren't ready to transition fully from L5 to optionals (L7+) and thus L6 is there to bridge that transition.

By those standards many gymnasts would never make it out of compulsories....keep in mind that there are gymnasts who never score well in compulsories that go on to do very well in optionals. And on the other side of the coin, many superstar compulsories don't do as well as expected in optionals or burn out before they even get there. Don't get me wrong, basics are important but sometimes correct form comes a little later with age and maturity, not always in the beginning levels. Not to mention girls that have all of the skills with good form, but get nervous at meets and make mistakes, that's very common in the early years.

I don't personally see going from 4-6 or 5-7 as "skipping" a level. L6 is not even required, you can go from 5-7 with no mobility score needed. Level 5 and 6 requirements are so similar that they are arguably the same level, with a few notable difference, like the cast requirements. As a matter of fact L6 can "technically" be easier than L5. In L6 you can compete a CW on beam instead of a BWO, an under swing on bars instead of a flyaway, and even a ROBHSBHS instead of a ROBHSBT. Of course a lot of gyms have higher requirements for L6, but as far as what USAG requires, L6 can actually be easier.

In our area, there are very few L5's. Nearly everyone scores out of 5 and does 6. The few gyms who do L5 don't have a lot of competition and often end up competing against themselves. Sometimes if a girl does 5 and is still not ready for L7, they will do 6 and end up doing both. But you mostly see L4-L6 or even Xcel Gold to L6 instead of L5 to L7 around here. We do see some that do Platinum to L7 as well. L5 has a reputation of being judged very harshly, so when the optional Level 6 was added, L5 became very unpopular in this area.

 

[beachgirl]

The future needs to be considered. Going to 6 is no big deal because it can be easier than 5. Going to 7 is a bigger deal. Unless the gymnast already has upgrades, competing the bare minimum in 7 is not going to lend itself to a very successful 8 in a year or 9 in 2 years.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Yes and when you get to L8 there is that "up to level" deduction as well. Which is why my dd will be doing a 2nd year of L6 with upgrades instead of trying to get the bare minimum for L7 (she competed a very minimal bar routine last year with her old gym.) But not all kids will need to do both 5 and 6, or two years of 5 or two years of 6. It's all very individual and depends on what the gym requires and what skills the gymnast has Many kids can breeze through optionals at one level a year, but many will look at repeating more than one level before they get to L9 or 10 anyway. For my dd, two years of 6 was a better fit than doing 5 and 6.

 

[Nikki4]

I like competing level 5 in the fall and ten having a full year to up train for 7. Instead of scoring out of 5, and then paying the higher prices of optionals(travel, meet fees, music, choreography) for a level not required.