I'm sorry your DS is having a block right now!
Our gym follows the "you must consistently show safe, complete routines(at practice) in order to compete" philosophy. I can absolutely understand how terribly frustrating it would be, trust me, I breathe a sigh of relief when my DD "clears" her events in the week leading up to a meet. It's never a given for her on her "problem event". I would love to be able to say "hey coach, I don't really care if she gets a 5 because she skips the BHS on beam" or whatever skill it may be but the truth is that it's not up to me. The gym sets the standards and rules for a reason, usually it's years and years of experience. My gym will NOT send kids out to embarrass themselves (=not having the necessary skills for the level) and we will NOT spot in competition. We also don't "sandbag", our gymnasts compete where they are (sometimes barely!) proficient. As long as they can perform the routines with all the intended skills, they can compete.
I get that you're disappointed, and part of me understands how you feel about paying for the training etc, but you simply have to try to see the bigger picture. It sounds as if this may not be handled the best way possible at your gym, but hopefully the coach has your sons best interest and development as a gymnast at heart.
Let it go, take the pressure off your son and let him work through his block with his coach. I hope he is able to make progress soon!!!
Our gym follows the "you must consistently show safe, complete routines(at practice) in order to compete" philosophy. I can absolutely understand how terribly frustrating it would be, trust me, I breathe a sigh of relief when my DD "clears" her events in the week leading up to a meet. It's never a given for her on her "problem event". I would love to be able to say "hey coach, I don't really care if she gets a 5 because she skips the BHS on beam" or whatever skill it may be but the truth is that it's not up to me. The gym sets the standards and rules for a reason, usually it's years and years of experience. My gym will NOT send kids out to embarrass themselves (=not having the necessary skills for the level) and we will NOT spot in competition. We also don't "sandbag", our gymnasts compete where they are (sometimes barely!) proficient. As long as they can perform the routines with all the intended skills, they can compete.
I get that you're disappointed, and part of me understands how you feel about paying for the training etc, but you simply have to try to see the bigger picture. It sounds as if this may not be handled the best way possible at your gym, but hopefully the coach has your sons best interest and development as a gymnast at heart.
Let it go, take the pressure off your son and let him work through his block with his coach. I hope he is able to make progress soon!!!