~*~ Stick It! A thread for Gymnastics Parents ~*~

[mom2cinderella]

Originally Posted by mom2kazkids
Do any of you have a balance beam and mat at home for your daughters?

Some neighbors gave dd a beam when their daughter was done with gymnastics. It is only a couple inches off the ground and not quite what dd is used to at her gym - so it doesn't get a lot of use.

For her birthday she wanted a mat to work on her press handstands so I ordered these:


Michele

 

[SkylarsMom]

My husband made a beam for our daughter. We used a 4" x 6" x 12' beam and wrapped it with 1/4" foam and then purple vinyl (DD wanted a purple balance beam). He used pieces of a 2 x 4 to make cross braces to stabilize the ends. The whole thing only cost us about $50. She used that on the floor for awhile but we've now elevated it to about 24" off the ground.

 

[TwinkieMama]

Barb- How did you get such good pics of your DD? I haven't mastered action shots yet. Where you up close? did you use a flash? manual focus or automatic? Of course being up in the rafters in the "parents area" of gym doesn't help either.


Thanks everyone for the reviews of home gymnastics equipment. It is something we are considering when our girls get a little older.

 

[mom2kazkids]

One of the parents of the youngest level 3 is a professional photographer. She figured while she was at the meet, taking pics of her DD she would do the whole team.

She is the one that also took our team pictures.

Barb

 

[bcvprincesses]

Here is a cute picture that my dh took of my dd. We ended up buying a SLR camera to try to get good pictures. It is really hard to get a good picture without flash. He has taken some really good pictures in the last few years.

 

[mom2kazkids]

My DD was the same way on the beam for a while. It's amazing, though, one day it was if someone flipped a switch and all of a sudden she was more comfortable. She LOVES the beam now and does so much better on it.

How old was she and how long into gymnastics until she overcame her fear?

Barb

 

[sharlon]

Gosh, let me think. She just turned 9 and started at a Little Gym when she was 3 and moved to a real gym when she was 5. She was shaky, but didn't show fear until she moved to the advanced class. She was truly apprehensive for about a year and a half. DH thinks her first big fall that didn't hurt her is what turned it around for her.

 

[bcvprincesses]

Do any of you have a balance beam and mat at home for your daughters? DD is fearful on the beam, she doesn't T in and out of her attempt at a handstand on the beam, and her jumps are something to be desired. Her b-day is a week from tommorrow and I was thinking of getting her a mat and beam for the basement (finished rec room). I am looking at this one on E*Bay, please give me some feedback.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110178921805&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=001

I truely think that beam will be the thing that holds her back.

Thanks,

Barb

I found this coupon in my girls stuff from the Disney meet. I don't know if this will help.

Use the promo code BEAM12 and save 10% off your purchase at http://www.thebeamstore.com

They have beam and mats in different colors and sizes.

 

[mom2kazkids]

bcvprincesses,

Thanks for the code. I think that is who we will order her beam from. I think right now I will do a beam and mat combo, then eventually add the mats that go around the legs of the beam.

Barb

 

[mom2kazkids]

I uploaded video of my daughter to YouTube from her 2nd gymnastics meet this last January. Currently I have bars, beam and floor. Beam is what she struggles on and floor is her favorite. She does miss her mill circle in the competition, but did make it for the first time in warm ups. (which I did get on tape).

Barb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeBXu8ISOqM floor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euOQL-fJYJU beam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppXKwVH_mGo bars


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt1n8pVd27w vault

Please disregard my comments in the background.

Let me know what you think.

Barb

 

[mom2cinderella]

Ohmigosh Barb, she is so stinkin' cute. She'll be fine at level 4.

Michele

 

[carone0318]

Barb,

She is adorable! She stands like a true gymnast (and salutes like a true gymnast too.) I think she did well on her routines. The only critique that I would have is on floor and beam, she is a little laxed on the toe pointing. I am not sure how she scored, but she could add some tenths if she kept them pointed throughout the routine.

I realize that she is 6 and most of this stuff will come with more maturity, especially the leap on beam. I think this is where we see her age coming through.

She did great!

 

[bcvprincesses]

She is sooooo cute. She did a great job. I really love your comments in the background.

 

[missypie]

Well, how was everyone's weekend? While the big time gymnasts were at WOGA, we were at a TAAF meet in Euless, Texas. DD was allowed to do a backwalk over in lieu of the back handspring and got an 8.8 (placing third on beam.) Last year she was so shaky on beam but yesterday she looked fantastic. I'm sure the folks watching who didn't know she was supposed to do a BHS wondered why her score wasn't higher. No wonder her coach gets so frustrated with her.

I had the impression from talking to DD that she was pretty bad at everything. Not true! As I said, she looked great on beam. Fair on vault. Pretty bad on bars. Terrific on floor. She placed first on floor with a 9.55. The routine and her music suit her very well. It was so fun to see all of our girls competing their floor for the very first time. All of the routines were very different but each one suited the girl very well.

I know a guy whose wife is s sports psychologist. I'm going to see if I can get DD in to talk to her.

 

[mom2cinderella]

DD was allowed to do a backwalk over in lieu of the back handspring and got an 8.8 (placing third on beam.)

Yay!

She placed first on floor with a 9.55.

Fabulous! Wish we could see a video!

I know a guy whose wife is s sports psychologist. I'm going to see if I can get DD in to talk to her.

DD had a couple privates to work on her bhs for floor, and the coach also asked her to work on visualizing her routines. She improved immensely after that. It's amazing - the human brain can be so helpful sometimes; other times it can be such an obstacle.

Michele

 

[mom2kazkids]

Barb,

The only critique that I would have is on floor and beam, she is a little laxed on the toe pointing. I am not sure how she scored, but she could add some tenths if she kept them pointed throughout the routine.

Thank you for your comments.

We have talked about needing to point toes more, and even kicking higher before the coupe turn on the floor. For level 3 they do not receive scores, just ribbons, blue, red, white and yellow. At her first meet she received a yellow on the floor, and improved to a blue this time, even though she did not finish with the music. The other thing that she needs to do is keep her leg straight on the bar, and get her mill circle. She did it in the warm up, but not in the copm routine. Her coaches are not that concerned that she is not getting it, they think it is a pretty useless skill, even in level 4.


Our typical compulsory season starts in Sept, so she has quite a bit of time to work on the level 4 skills and routines. She can do most of the level 4 floor routine already, except for the RO, BHS. She can do BHS on the tramp, just not in combination yet.

Barb

 

[dis4me]

HI Everyone. We are back from WOGA and my dd did great.HEr scores were
6th on vault with a 9.15
2nd on bars with a 9.15( she messed up her 1st cast)
1st on beam with a 9.675
7th on floor with a 8.95( looked great scored low)
AA was 36.925 2nd place
The meet was very well run and we had a great time.
Missypie Great floor score. And beam too. Glad her meet went well and her coach let her compete even without the BHS.

 

[mom2cinderella]

1st on beam with a 9.675

AA was 36.925 2nd place

Awesome!

Michele

 

[carone0318]

HI Everyone. We are back from WOGA and my dd did great.HEr scores were
6th on vault with a 9.15
2nd on bars with a 9.15( she messed up her 1st cast)
1st on beam with a 9.675
7th on floor with a 8.95( looked great scored low)
AA was 36.925 2nd place
The meet was very well run and we had a great time.
Missypie Great floor score. And beam too. Glad her meet went well and her coach let her compete even without the BHS.

Awesome meet for your dd. She must be so happy with herself! I guess the pixie dust worked - better save some for when dd starts to compete again.

WOOT - WOOT

 

[bcvprincesses]

HI Everyone. We are back from WOGA and my dd did great.HEr scores were
6th on vault with a 9.15
2nd on bars with a 9.15( she messed up her 1st cast)
1st on beam with a 9.675
7th on floor with a 8.95( looked great scored low)
AA was 36.925 2nd place
The meet was very well run and we had a great time.
Missypie Great floor score. And beam too. Glad her meet went well and her coach let her compete even without the BHS.

Wow that was a great meet. Sounds like it was fun. Hope everyone has a great day.

Is anyone else going to Chicago this weekend. We will be there for a 8 am session on Friday. I still don't have a hotel room because we can't decide where to stay.