WAG Worse scores, better meet

[cbone]

My little one had another meet today. She scored a 36.1 AA, but I felt much better. Her focus was a lot better and she was poised to beat last week's AA before she had and uncharacteristic error and over-rotated on her front mill circle. She's progressing and I'm happy with how it's going.

Anyone have tips on how to get a young gymnast to stay with the music on floor? That seems to be a real struggle all season.

 

[Deanna]

Sounds like she did great. They all have those odd little "never do that" mistakes.
My DD competed as a 6 yr old Level 4 last year, and she ALWAYS got done 2-4 seconds before her music. I had asked to what would help her with that. And one wise mother on here (can't remember who it was though) said, with age she will learn to "feel" the music vrs just "hear" it.

 

[Quadqueen]

I find that some kids just don't hear the beat in music at those early levels. I don't know why that is. My DD was always on the music. ??

 

[lhmom]

Where thd floor is concerned, it just takes some a little more time to get it than it does others. DD started at age 6 and I think it took her until her state meet to realize that the music and movements went together. Sounds like your little one is heading in the right direction. Congrats on another solid meet for her!

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

As far as staying on the music is concerned...taking dance, music, or rhythm classes can really help. I did all three when I was little and I think it has helped enormously with my rhythm in gymnastics. Obviously practice and age will help too...but if she doesn't grow out of it, that's an option. Really dance and especially dancing to music should be taught as part of a gymnast's training but that just doesn't happen here in the US.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

In L3 it helped my DD immensely to listen to the "voice over" and watch the video of the floor routine with music on the USAG site. Not sure if it's still up or not, but you may be able to find it on YouTube or even borrow it from your gym. Not sure if you are old or new music New Level 4 Music With Words - YouTube but here's one I found quickly on Youtube no video but the music with words.

 

[cbone]

Thanks for the link. I'm going to have her listen to it and try to feel how the music gives clues to the moves. She knows that she has to wait for certain parts of the music to start certain sections. Hopefully, she'll be able to get that the music drives the entire routine.

 

[wallinbl]

Does she "get" music in general? There are a few of us out there that don't (I love music, but just don't "get" it). In order to clap along to a song, I have to stare at someone else's hands just to keep the timing.

 

[gymgal]

Does she "get" music in general? There are a few of us out there that don't (I love music, but just don't "get" it). In order to clap along to a song, I have to stare at someone else's hands just to keep the timing.

dd was like this when she was 5-8. Eventually, she began feeling the music better. She still has trouble with new music but she has learned to keep time to her floor music.

 

[cbone]

Does she "get" music in general? There are a few of us out there that don't (I love music, but just don't "get" it). In order to clap along to a song, I have to stare at someone else's hands just to keep the timing.

It's not a strength for her. She did dance for about a month before the other ADD girls in the class ticked her off so much that she asked to try gymnastics because the girls in dance "don't listen to the teacher". She does Zumba, but is a bit mechanical in that, too. You can tell that she is performing a motion rather than moving to the music.

 

[coachmolly]

Does she "get" music in general? There are a few of us out there that don't (I love music, but just don't "get" it). In order to clap along to a song, I have to stare at someone else's hands just to keep the timing.

I'm the same way and floor routines were a challenge for me because I had such a hard time hearing the music. I just couldn't associate notes in the music with the moves I was supposed to be doing. If something happened to throw me off (fall, stumble, etc.) I was in a world of hurt because I had no idea where I should have been in the music. I just learned to improvise at the end of my optional routines which was helpful, but not an option in compulsories.
With continued practice it is very possible it will get better as she hears the music repeatedly and learns to associate certain cues with where she needs to be or what she needs to be doing.

 

[BRB]

Many young children don't have the body/music awareness at a young age. This is why most real ballet schools won't even start kids in ballet until 7 or 8 years old. This is something that will most likely come with time.

Also, in complulsories, "mechanical" is not necessarily a bad thing. Compulsories are about hitting each element with precision, and that is how you achieve a high score. I wouldn't worry too much about musicality at this stage. As far as not finishing with this music, it is a small deduction, but it is more important to do the whole rest of the routine the right way than to finish with the music.

Congrats to your DD on exceeding a 36. Good job!

 

[Galadriel]

can she count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 in the music and for each 8 count work out what she should be doing?
eg a count of 4 might be 'step together (1 2) tuck jump (3 4)
sorry i am not familiar with this routine but my dd in dance learns moves first to the 8 counts.
hope i am being understandable!
and sorry if this is completely irrelevant!

 

[cbone]

She has never viewed music like a dancer (i.e. through a count). I'm not sure if that's the best way or if she takes cues from the actual music itself. Anyone have insight on which way is better?

 

[gymgal]

She has never viewed music like a dancer (i.e. through a count). I'm not sure if that's the best way or if she takes cues from the actual music itself. Anyone have insight on which way is better?

I don't know which is better and I don't know the compuls music so I can't speak to it but with dd's xcel music, what we did was listen to the music and emphasize what she was supposed to be doing during certain key music points and she would practice timing the skills to those points so she had a sense of timing. When we picked music this last time, we made sure she had music that had a lot of "very distinct beats" to help her time her skills.