JumpyTheFrog Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Tigger (age 7) was invited to start practicing with the boys level 4 team. We hesitated in the spring until the coach/owner of the gym said that he doesn't have to compete. He said there are a few other boys (I don't know at which level) that he allows to practice and not compete. We let Tigger start practicing two weeks ago (5 hours per week) and he's having a great time. He is one of those kids that would do best with 2-3 hours of hard exercise per day, if only we could find a way to get it in. My question: Do most of the benefits of gymnastics come from the practicing? Or is there something about competing that gives a huge benefit above just practicing? He is 7 and DH and I think he might freeze at a competition. On the other hand, he is never nervous before soccer, but of course, team sports are different. ETA: One of the big reasons to not let him compete is the distance of the competitions. Most of the gyms in our area don't have boys teams. I don't know what this year's meet schedule looks like, but last year's had 2-3 meets that were two or three hours away, and 1-2 meets that were out of state (maybe an eight hour drive). In other words, letting him compete would eat up those weekends and probably interfere with our twice yearly trips to see grandparents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I can't comment on gymnastics in particular. My swimmer and tennis player have both done a lot of out of town competing. It can be financially and physically draining. I do think its great for boys to have a chance to compete. It does take courage and an ability to deal with public disappointment, but aren't those qualities we hope to cultivate? I will also say that other than homeschooling, the traveling has been the best part of developing relationships with my boys. Only one parent goes - because of the dog, the house, the other kids. Sometimes it is DH, more often it is me. I can not tell you how much I have cherished those weekends - just me and a boy, checking into a hotel, grabbing dinner somewhere, and then having victory and defeat together. I will miss it sooooo much when they are grown. DH loves it too, and actually, we tend to enjoy the weekends when they others are gone and we have one on one with whichever kid is still home. So wait a while if you need to. He is still so young. But if you eventually decide to go for it, enjoy it. Someday that boy will have his own family, and you will rarely go anywhere just the two of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan in SC Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Don't make too big of a deal out of the competition. If he starts competing soon, it will be second nature and even if he freezes, it won't take long to get used to it. If competition is thought of as a huge deal, it becomes one. Just make it an extension of practice. Our family loves being busy during most weekends, so our kids are very active. We travel in a sport, and have practice during the weekends we don't have a competition. We can still schedule vacation and down time, but we don't need a lot of either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 We have to travel to all the meets too, but it's actually kind of fun! We make it into fun family weekends. Benefits? Learning to keep your composure under pressure is huge! That's a skill that will help carry a kid through life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 When I did gymnastics (back in the day) my coach refused to even think about level 4 competitions. She thought they were a waste of time. She suggested a few meets for level 5, and then start competing seriously in level 6. But that was back then. Gymnastics levels have ramped up a bit since then I think. But, if you don't want him to start competing now, no sweat, I say. But it's fun to dip a toe in the water and see what it's all about. Maybe ask the coach for the meet schedule and pick one that you can combine with a family holiday. And the coach should be able to tell you how intense the atmosphere at the different meets are. Some are super low-key. The one good thing though is that meets are exhausting. If your kid has energy to burn they may actually solve that. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 It does take courage and an ability to deal with public disappointment, but aren't those qualities we hope to cultivate? Oh, I agree. I'm just not sure if Tigger's maturity level is high enough to benefit from this yet, or not. He has an explosive personality and is impulsive in what he says to people in authority over him. We have one month to decide about letting him compete this year. I don't know when the meet schedule and locations come out. I will have to ask if they will be available before we commit to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violamama Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 My boy just did his first "swim meet" at our community center. He is also 7 but has no concept of feeling pressure from the whole deal. He blithely swam (with very nice form) suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper slowly to complete his distances. He reminded me of the elderly masters swimmers who do laps at 4am. He may not have even noticed that there were other kids there and that they were going full speed ahead. All the adults cheered for everyone as they finished their laps, and the other boys on his team were totally fine with his style in the relay (i.e. they weren't annoyed with him for making them lose). No medals were given, so it was pretty low-key. I'm sure "real" meets are a different story. At the end of it all, he was ecstatic. "I did so well! That was a blast!" If it was hours away, there is no way we would be bothering with meets yet. We would wait until he was much older and just look for a teacher who fosters a learn-to-go-all-out-when-needed attitude in the lessons. It sounds like our kids have pretty different personalities, so your mileage will likely vary in what you want from this and how your kid would react. Our coach is amazing- does yours go with them? Can he tell you what the pros/cons would be for your particular child? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 OP, how old is Tigger? Rebecca has always loved gymnastics, but stepping it up and competing has just put things over the top. Winning doesn't hurt either. But even when she placed 15th out of 16 at states (LONG story), she was right back in the gym 2 days later, ready for uptraining like nothing had happened. Tigger might surprise you. As far as traveling, most of our meets have been about 2 hours away. Our HC is good about that for compulsories. I wasn't sure what to expect out of meets, but they're actually pretty enjoyable. We arm Sylvia with the DS and settle back to cheer our girls on. I asked Rebecca directly and she said that at first competing made her a little nervous, but as the season went on, she became more confident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songsparrow Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I can't comment on gymnastics, but my daughters competed in figure skating. When my oldest was 6 or 7, I mentioned that there was going to be a competition at our rink and maybe we could pop in and watch some skaters. She totally surprised me when she asked if she could compete, and she completely blossomed at competitions. It gave her a reason to really perfect moves that she would otherwise be sloppy on in practice. It gave her practice a focus and a purpose. I, too, wondered if she would freeze, but she never showed any signs of nervousness. Winning motivated her to work harder, and losing motivated her to work harder. So, I think it depends on the child. I would not push a child to compete, but I would offer the opportunity and certainly try to make competition a possibility if the child expressed an interest on their own. My second daughter was never as gung-ho about competing, although she too started to compete when she was 7 (she was at the competition anyway waiting on her sister). She enjoyed it though, and never had any real nervous issues, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 It sounds like our kids have pretty different personalities, so your mileage will likely vary in what you want from this and how your kid would react. Our coach is amazing- does yours go with them? Can he tell you what the pros/cons would be for your particular child? Tigger is pretty competitive. I am his soccer coach and I have been very impressed with his improvement this season. Being part of an official team and playing against other kids that aren't all beginners (like the pick-up soccer he's done) has been a good experience. I am pretty sure the coach goes with them. Are there really coaches who don't go to the meets? I have been impressed with his coach. He told me that many gyms don't have boys classes or teams because in his opinion, they don't like dealing with boys. He is very patient with the way the boys goof around in line, playfully pushing each other. He firmly tells them to stop when he needs to, but it doesn't seem to stress him out at all. I read a newspaper article saying he was voted coach of the year at one of the meets a few years ago. It gave her a reason to really perfect moves that she would otherwise be sloppy on in practice. It gave her practice a focus and a purpose. I, too, wondered if she would freeze, but she never showed any signs of nervousness. Winning motivated her to work harder, and losing motivated her to work harder. So, I think it depends on the child. I would not push a child to compete, I think you make a good point about competing leading to better practice. Tigger tends to be a bit sloppy if he doesn't have someone pushing him. I think competing might be a good motivator for him. We haven't asked him if he wants to compete because we didn't want to get his hopes up if we decided to wait another year. I think if we asked he would say yes. He is one of those kids who wants to do any sport we ask him about. Well, all of them except dance. He has no interest in dance lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Sorry, I forgot to mention Tigger is 7. His coach said none of the boys seem very mature until they are at least 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 My question: Do most of the benefits of gymnastics come from the practicing? Or is there something about competing that gives a huge benefit above just practicing? He is 7 and DH and I think he might freeze at a competition. A lot of the benefits come from practicing but there's definitely a push when it comes to the meets. The kids get more motivated to try and find that extra .1 or .2 of a point at each meet, which makes them better gymnasts. The meets are kind of boring, exciting and surprising (given that your child only actually does anything about 15 minutes out of the 4 hours or so you are there). But, the camaraderie with the other parents, after meet meals, spending time with your son in the car as you are traveling from place to place -- I absolutely love that. On the other hand, he is never nervous before soccer, but of course, team sports are different. Hopefully after the hours of practice the muscle memory will kick in and there won't be any freezing. That's one of the reasons gymnasts practice so much. ETA: One of the big reasons to not let him compete is the distance of the competitions. Most of the gyms in our area don't have boys teams. I don't know what this year's meet schedule looks like, but last year's had 2-3 meets that were two or three hours away, and 1-2 meets that were out of state (maybe an eight hour drive). In other words, letting him compete would eat up those weekends and probably interfere with our twice yearly trips to see grandparents. In girls gymnastics meets are in one session -- although depending on the time and location may require an overnight. We do about 8-10 meets per year (1.5 - 3 hours away), including 1-2 travel meets, and usually I lose about 1/2 a day most of the time. So, I just plan around them and I hardly ever have to miss anything unless I want to :). My dh mostly does not go to meets. He stays home with the other kids. Anyway, it works for us. Good luck with your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 The benefit to starting competition early is, IMO, they are too young to get nervous. Ds started as soon as he turned 6, and when we moved to a place overseas they didn't normally start competitions until 8-9 he was far above the others. Skills wise, they smoked him (gotta love Asian training methods!) in the gym, but they choked at meets. This transferred over to other things- he can act on a stage, shoot a commercial, etc and no nerves, because he started high pressure competitive things so early. So that is one reason to start earlier than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 The benefit to starting competition early is, IMO, they are too young to get nervous. <snip> This transferred over to other things- he can act on a stage, shoot a commercial, etc and no nerves, because he started high pressure competitive things so early. So that is one reason to start earlier than later. Hmmm...I asked Tigger about competing tonight and he said he didn't want to. He gave me the same look he gave me when I announced he'd have to do a standardized test annually for school. He's competitive but may have some sort of performance anxiety. Would competing help him get over this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I will also say that other than homeschooling, the traveling has been the best part of developing relationships with my boys. Only one parent goes - because of the dog, the house, the other kids. Sometimes it is DH, more often it is me. I can not tell you how much I have cherished those weekends - just me and a boy, checking into a hotel, grabbing dinner somewhere, and then having victory and defeat together. I will miss it sooooo much when they are grown. DH loves it too, and actually, we tend to enjoy the weekends when they others are gone and we have one on one with whichever kid is still home. So wait a while if you need to. He is still so young. But if you eventually decide to go for it, enjoy it. Someday that boy will have his own family, and you will rarely go anywhere just the two of you! I’m so glad you posted this. This is a perspective I hadn’t thought about when considering the pros and cons of allowing kids to ramp up the commitment level in sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Swimmer mom here. DS12 only started swim 1-1/2 years ago, and only under the condition that he go to practices only, not meets. Weird, but we said okay, and we all found that his disposition was hugely improved by hard practice. Late last fall, his coach coerced him into a meet. He literally cried on the way there. Afterwards? "Mom, that was fun!" Huh? Anyway, he now loves meets as a way of monitoring his progress, and it inspires him to practice longer and harder, so he has moved up rapidly. Eventually, that may also be good for you DS, although at 7 maybe not important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan in SC Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Has he been to a gymnastics competition? It is a little confusing and kind of hard to imagine if you haven't seen it. I would take him and let him see how much fun they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmiel Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I have two competitive gymnasts, was a diver, and in another century (so it seems) dabbled in acting. "Do most of the benefits of gymnastics come from the practicing? Or is there something about competing that gives a huge benefit above just practicing?" -- Practice/time in the gym = better gymnast (usually). But, any amount of significant practice will impart a lot of the benefits of gymnastics. What practice can't do is make you a performer. I've known a number of athletes who can rock practices, but fall apart in meets. Perhaps they're not that competitive or they can't handle the stress of a meet situation. There are oodles of benefits from just practicing, but there are benefits to competing that can't be had by practice. With gymnastics, you need to learn to manage your nerves. Confidence in your skills can go a long way, but it's different when you add an audience. Before diving, I was a swimmer. My nerves were there, but there was never performance anxiety and never any fear of outright failure. Does that make sense? It wasn't like I was going to drown. At any rate, I think you're fine holding back at 7. If you continue, your weekends will get sucked up by the sport soon enough. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Has he been to a gymnastics competition? It is a little confusing and kind of hard to imagine if you haven't seen it. I would take him and let him see how much fun they are. No, he hasn't been to any. The first one isn't until December and we have to decide by July 1 about competing this year. There isn't any option to do just one meet or go watch one first. Although if we waited another year, we could go watch one first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymotherof4 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Boys level 4 tends to be very low key at the competitions. They are a lot of fun. Level 4 was made for 6 and 7 year olds. Everyone can go to states and it end there so you don't have the time and expense of regionals. The judges tend to be friendly. We have to travel for most competitions. We make it a fun weekend for the family. I think there is a big benefit to competition. It builds self confidence and even when they bomb an event they learn to shake it off and move onto the next event. We have found boys meets are more fun than girls. Is it possible to only go to the closest meets? Not all our kids go to every meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Is it possible to only go to the closest meets? Not all our kids go to every meet. I haven't asked but I'm assuming the answer is no. Last year the meets were 1.75, 2.3, 2.5, 4, and 5.5 hours away. I think we will skip competing this year. I'd rather not risk ruining his favorite activity and the most affordable way to get lots of exercise in. There aren't too many sports that meet more than 1-2 hours per week at age 7. Gymnastics and swimming (and tennis, if you take private lessons) are about it for our area. Things like town track teams don't start until age 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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