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This is my dd's first year on the team (well, rec. team, level 3, but they have "fun" meets). Do you require them to practice routines at home? We require our oldest two to practice guitar, should she at least practice floor routine? Just curious:)

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Nope. They work on on equipment (even the floor is equipment). It really can't be replicated at home. Gymnasts typically spend plenty of hours in the gym! When mine was little she cartwheeled and walked on her hands constantly as she walked around the house, not so much any more.

 

Handstands are one of the best things for young gymnasts to practice and can be done at home. Also, she can stretch if she isn't naturally flexible, but remember stretching should be done with warm muscles.

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This is my dd's first year on the team (well, rec. team, level 3, but they have "fun" meets). Do you require them to practice routines at home? We require our oldest two to practice guitar, should she at least practice floor routine? Just curious:)

 

Not only do I not require her to practice at home, I remind her that if she can't leave her gymnastics at the gym she will be leaving gymnastics for good. My concern is mainly safety---I really don't want her throwing double backs on my yoga mats in our downstairs gym, trying to use our swimming pool as a pseudo foam pit, or something similar. However, coaches often don't like kids to work on things at home with poor form and establish muscle memory doing the skills incorrectly. For example it might take a few days to "learn" how to chuck that back handspring (or maybe back headspring :001_huh:) on the backyard trampoline (which we will never have ;) ) then it might take a few years to go back and actually get them to do the back handspring correctly. Plus there is the issue that she is in the gym fifteen hours a week training L10 and I think she needs to be doing regular kid/daughter/sibling stuff when she is home for that reason.

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Yeah, I totally get the safety thing. We don't have a bar or anything, I was mainly talking about floor. At her level, there is minimal risk of injury because the routine is basically rolls and cartwheels:). Thanks for the input...I do require my other two to practice guitar because there is no way they will learn anything going once per week for a half hour!

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My daughter does her warm ups and stretches every other day, but she wants to do it. I don't make her. Her brother usually warms up with her and he does have some practice rings and a practice mushroom here at the house. He works with those a couple of times a week, but my husband is also one of his coaches, so he isn't unsupervised when he practices.

 

Every so often we push back the furniture in the livingroom and work on handstands and a few of the floor exercise elements...not the whole routine though. :) They love it when we do this. I guess there is something exciting about the livingroom furniture being out of place. LOL

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Not only do I not require her to practice at home, I remind her that if she can't leave her gymnastics at the gym she will be leaving gymnastics for good. My concern is mainly safety---I really don't want her throwing double backs on my yoga mats in our downstairs gym, trying to use our swimming pool as a pseudo foam pit, or something similar. However, coaches often don't like kids to work on things at home with poor form and establish muscle memory doing the skills incorrectly. For example it might take a few days to "learn" how to chuck that back handspring (or maybe back headspring :001_huh:) on the backyard trampoline (which we will never have ;) ) then it might take a few years to go back and actually get them to do the back handspring correctly. Plus there is the issue that she is in the gym fifteen hours a week training L10 and I think she needs to be doing regular kid/daughter/sibling stuff when she is home for that reason.

 

:iagree: Our coaches have specifically said that skills and routines are not to be practiced at home. However, sometimes they get "homework" like pushups or v-ups, splits, pullups, etc for strengthening.

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When dd was younger she "practiced" everywhere. DH built her a beam, she had a bar outside, floor mats, etc. But, as she progressed the only things she does at home would be flexibility work and sometimes we find her doing handstands or splits while reading - I think it's just natural for her. I would never required the practice - gymnastics is very different from guitar, piano, etc. and it's intended that they do the work in the gym.

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