Is anyone else's daughter starting her gymnastics season this weekend? UPDATE p.2

[missypie]

DD10 competes in her first USAG meet as a level 6 this evening. Back walkover on the beam. I think that they should have a tank of sedative that they pass around and let you breathe it in when your daughter is on the balance beam.

 

[bcvprincesses]

Good luck to your dd and to you. I totally agree about the whole beam thing. I don't think I breathe during their routine.

My dd's are both level 5 and start their first meet is Oct 7. I can't wait. They are having a judge come into the gym next Sat to see where they stand. It should be interesting.

 

[missypie]

Good luck to your dd and to you. I totally agree about the whole beam thing. I don't think I breathe during their routine.

My dd's are both level 5 and start their first meet is Oct 7. I can't wait. They are having a judge come into the gym next Sat to see where they stand. It should be interesting.

LOL! I have to tell myself to breathe during beam!

Last year when DD was a level 5, she didn't fall off the beam once...until she got to state...and even then she didn't fall off once...she fell off twice!!!

Nastia Liukin's mom leaves the gym whenever her daughter is on beam.

 

[mom2rb]

I am driving to Dallas this weekend for a meet. I coach and we will be at WOGA. Is this where your DD's is?

And just to let you know the back walkover is easier to make than the cartwheel in level 5. It's the full turn on beam that is the killer.

 

[missypie]

I am driving to Dallas this weekend for a meet. I coach and we will be at WOGA. Is this where your DD's is?

And just to let you know the back walkover is easier to make than the cartwheel in level 5. It's the full turn on beam that is the killer.

I was always TOLD the back walkover is easier than the cartwheel, and it make sense, but last winter she competed TAAF level 6 and was REALLY scared of the back walkover; for some reason, the cartwheel never freaked her out.

No, we aren't going to WOGA; we're at DGC. Make sure you look at the headline in today's Dallas Morning News - a juicy lawsuit was filed against WOGA yesterday. I HOPE there's no truth to the allegations, however.

 

[kpk89]

My daughter is just "Mini Gymmie" this year -- she's 5 -- and won't have any meets for a while. But she's already (2 weeks into it!) starting to do things that look very scary to me.

Good luck to your daughter (and you!!) on the meet. Verrrry exciting!

 

[missypie]

My daughter is just "Mini Gymmie" this year -- she's 5 -- and won't have any meets for a while. But she's already (2 weeks into it!) starting to do things that look very scary to me.

Good luck to your daughter (and you!!) on the meet. Verrrry exciting!

I am NOT a pushy gymnastics mother by any means, but if you think your daughter will continue in gymnastics, get her on a "pre-team" and get her as far a long as you can as fast as you can. When they are little, they are fearless. As they get older, they realize that they are doing all of this stuff ON FOUR INCHES OF WOOD. A couple of our girls are just head cases - they are just flat out afraid to do skills that they could do a year ago. Their fears, of course, are rational! But get her as far as possible while she's still fearless!

 

[AC7179]

I'm a retired gymnast and have a retired level 7 gymnast.

I miss the meets!

Apparently, the guy from WOGA is on tape telling the girl he hopes she didn't get pregnant. Not good............

 

[ktpool]

My dd just started AAU Level 3, but they don't start meets here until January.
She has been practicing the split leg head stand all week in front of the TV

I have been contemplating buying an enclosed trampoline when they go on sale at the end of the summer. I hate the idea of tramps for fun - they can be dangerous, I know! But I fear she is not going to get to be able to get serious if she can't practice at home.

Any thoughts?

 

[AC7179]

I had a trampoline at home and loved it....but from my perspective as a former coach, I wouldn't do it.

I would err on the side of not even letting her practice anything at home other than splits, and not making her do that.

I know Missypie said get them while they are young and fearless, and that is partly true, but at the end of the day the kids that are level 9s and 10s are the ones whose parents kept them wanting more and didn't sign them up for every private lesson and clinic available and had them practice at home.

Burnout is very real in this sport and stops TONS of young talent from progressing.

 

[missypie]

Well, the meet was sheer agony.

First, we got there a bit before 5 pm and left at around 11 pm. Over 6 hours on bleachers. Ouch!

Second, DD got the second lowest all around score from our gym. Our gym itself did great - we placed first among all large teams. But in the last year and a half or so, DD has gone from being one of the best to one of the worst. There is SUCH a difference in the attention and affection from the coaches between the best girls and the worst girls. I guess they'll keep taking our money as long as we'll keep paying it, but I really need to get an honest answer as to whether the coaches think DD has reached a plateau and won't get better.

Although it was agony for ME to watch, DD was not upset. She won floor, got 5th in bars and 4th all around, in her age group. So compared to the other girls at the other gyms of her age, she's decent. But compared to the girls in our gym, she's not so great anymore.

 

[janette]

Although it was agony for ME to watch, DD was not upset. She won floor, got 5th in bars and 4th all around, in her age group. So compared to the other girls at the other gyms of her age, she's decent. But compared to the girls in our gym, she's not so great anymore.

A couple of my nieces did gymnastics and also got to a point where the divide comes between those with natural talent and the ones that are good but have to work at it. They stopped going to the gym when they went into HS and joined the school team. They are much better than the most of the school's team and are hoping it will turn into something they can use for college scholarships.

 

[KimR]

Well, the meet was sheer agony.

First, we got there a bit before 5 pm and left at around 11 pm. Over 6 hours on bleachers. Ouch!

Second, DD got the second lowest all around score from our gym. Our gym itself did great - we placed first among all large teams. But in the last year and a half or so, DD has gone from being one of the best to one of the worst. There is SUCH a difference in the attention and affection from the coaches between the best girls and the worst girls. I guess they'll keep taking our money as long as we'll keep paying it, but I really need to get an honest answer as to whether the coaches think DD has reached a plateau and won't get better.

Although it was agony for ME to watch, DD was not upset. She won floor, got 5th in bars and 4th all around, in her age group. So compared to the other girls at the other gyms of her age, she's decent. But compared to the girls in our gym, she's not so great anymore.

It happens. When DD first started competing at level 4, our gym was undefeated and won state 2 years in a row. We had some incredible gymnasts who did extraordinary at levels 4 and 5 (all-around scores over 38) and then had a lousy year at level 6. However, they bounced back and did great in optionals. Level 6 is tough. I don't think you should get discouraged after 1 bad meet or even a bad season.

My DD plateaued at level 6 mainly due to health issues which then led to injuries, including a serious fall and injury at state. She started off very strong and placed first in state at levels 4 and 5 but then she started having health problems and after the fiasco at state it was pretty much over. She quit this past summer so this is her first non-gymnastic year since she was 5! Let me tell you, it is sooo much less stressful and she is actually able to participate in extra-curricular activities at school. She misses gym, though, and I know that if it weren't for her health issues, she would probably still be competing.

Having said that, my middle DD just started as a level 4 and will begin competing in January so - here we go again. It is fun on on the one hand, but sooooos stressful.

 

[Becky2005]

I agree about the seditives! My DD is in Level 5, however some of her meets have the higher level competitors there. I swear, I have gasped more than once for some child I don't even know during some of their moves for a fall or hold my breath during a move that I barely can watch because it scares me to death they are going to miss. ESPECIALLY the balance beam! The last competition of the season last year about did me in. There was one girl who missed the vault, one girl who fell off the beam on different teams. Thankfully no major injuries but definitely some nerves shaken up. I think you heard a collective gasp though for them.

I'm sorry her meet wasn't very good.

We don't start our competitions again until January. I'm actually hoping DD nails floor big time this year. That's her best event & she didn't get moved up from Level 5 to Level 6 (much to her dismay!), so it's her 2nd year doing these routines. She was fairly good last year on floor, so I'm hoping she gets her 9.0 on floor (her goal to get a 9.0 in *something* and my money is if she gets it will be floor, followed by bars, so she can get her name on the 9.0 wall at her gym.) This is actually her 3rd year on Level 5 but they switched the entire routines between the first & second year she was on Level 5, so I really only count it as a 2nd year.

She's at the first practice of the season right now. I'm sure we will be having our parent meeting soon and finding out all the details of the season. I know we have been told though going from Level 5 to Level 6 is the big transition time and scores do tend to go down. That's what they say here anyway.

 

[AC7179]

It sounds to me like she had a great meet!

Winning an event at a USA meet is not a small task! When I was last involved many kids went away empty handed----no medals or ribbons on ANY event.

Honestly, I think that you are at a super competiive gym. If your daughter is not going to be the star, and you think that the coaches are not paying enough attention to her because she doesn't have elite/L10 potential, then it's time to move.

If not, try to bide your time until your daughter becomes unhappy. Stay as long as you can at the gym where you are, because it has a great program and will give her fantastic basics.

Once your daughter gets to be about 12 or so, that is when the coaches really decide who they want on that fast track, and who is never going to get there. If, at that point, you don't want your daughter in a sub-par (less attention, a group of the older kids who aren't the top gymnasts), then I would move her to a program that has a strong optional program, but not super strong. That way, she will be valued as a great member of the team (remember those fantastic basics she is getting now) and will be appreciated at a smaller gym.

 

[Becky2005]

Honestly, I think that you are at a super competiive gym. If your daughter is not going to be the star, and you think that the coaches are not paying enough attention to her because she doesn't have elite/L10 potential, then it's time to move.

If not, try to bide your time until your daughter becomes unhappy. Stay as long as you can at the gym where you are, because it has a great program and will give her fantastic basics.

I know every gym is different. My DD is on the park district team and I'm sure it's not as intense as several of the other gyms around here (we have at least 3 gyms within a 15-30 minute drive of us, if not more). Some of them are really intense and since my DD is not going to be an Olympic gymnast, I didn't want the stress of it. I know she is learning the skills she will need to be part of the HS team (since the HS coaches also do the park district team). I know they are using the Junior Olympic rules rather than USGA if I recall (I get very confused on how it all works, so I don't even try. DD is enjoying the team & is working hard to make sure she DOES make the HS team in a couple years.)

I feel really bad for one of her friends who wanted to get back into gymnastics but her dad wouldn't let her because of the experience they had at one of the gyms. DD had been trying to convince her the park district program ran differently but last I know she hadn't joined.

 

[missypie]

Thanks for your support, everyone. Yesterday I emailed the nicest of the coaches and got a pretty good response back (that she sees improvement, etc.) I'd like her to do at least a season of optionals, because I think that would make her feel very accomplished, but I don't see her being in gymnastics for the long haul anymore.

The biggest problem is the distance of the gym from our house and school. The gym used to be a 10-15 minute drive. They moved the team to another gym which is 45 minutes away (in traffic). It used to be that if she had a school event or something, we could take her to gym for an hour or hour and a half, then leave early. Now, that is pretty impractical, so she has to make more "choices" about what to do. She's never been able to be in the school choir, because it meets after school. A neighbor in the music business wanted to hire her to do a radio spot with some other kids, but she couldn't because of gym. The dance studio tried to talk her into trying out for the dance team, but she couldn't because of gym. I think by middle school, she'll get tired to saying no to everything else.

 

[missypie]

Oooh - our coaches would talk so bad about your DD's coach! They just HATE the gyms that keep girls at the same level for multiple years so they can get really high scores. It's kind of a hard issue, actually. Is it better for a girl to be one of the older Level 5s, but get fantastic scores, or to advance to the next level and have a year of lower scores? Is it better for a girl's self esteem to win meets, or to advance to the higher level? Obviously, coaches have strong differences of opinion on this issue! (And at least at our gym, no one asks the parents.)

 

[Becky2005]

Oooh - our coaches would talk so bad about your DD's coach! They just HATE the gyms that keep girls at the same level for multiple years so they can get really high scores. It's kind of a hard issue, actually. Is it better for a girl to be one of the older Level 5s, but get fantastic scores, or to advance to the next level and have a year of lower scores? Is it better for a girl's self esteem to win meets, or to advance to the higher level? Obviously, coaches have strong differences of opinion on this issue! (And at least at our gym, no one asks the parents.)

It depends! I didn't say she was good all-around....her beam routine was not good at the beginning of last year because she missed most of the time when they were learning it (they learn it in the summer, she missed when they taught that because we missed a lot that summer between her Girl Scout camps & our Disney trip) and her vault isn't that great either (that girl needs to learn how to run! Every year at the end of the team party, they *roast* the girls a little in good fun & she has gotten nailed on her running 2 years in the roast!). HOWEVER, her floor is awesome!

The year before that she missed a month due to a sprained ankle & took her a while to get the moves back. So, I'm thinking this year should be good with knowing all the routines this time around & having a year under her belt with them.

I think in our case it might be a bit different because they are only allowed X girls at each level for competition so sometimes girls are held back just because not enough girls on the level above them moved up. I don't know all the nuiances but the coach attempted to explain it when we first got on team.

I'm fairly sure she will move up next year though providing everything goes according to schedule. They don't ask us either! I just deal with the aftermath of when they let them know at the end of the season what level they are on. The *biggest* thing that bugged her last year was 2 girls got moved up that couldn't do some of the moves she could do (at least that is what she tells me). She didn't understand that, I have no idea why. I know one year they moved a bunch of girls up that couldn't do a lot of the elements so ??? We never quite know from one year to the next what is going on.

 

[AC7179]

Missypie......could you move to a gym that is closer to you to prevent the burnout and allow her to do other things? I have plenty to suggest that are still strong programs, but maybe not quite so intense and that might be closer to you.