Gym Moms

[Georgiana Daniels]

:grouphug:

 

She can do one handed cartwheels and one handed front walkovers to stay in a bit of tumbling shape.  When I broke my wrist, I practiced a ton of no handed forward rolls on beam and to this day I can do a one handed front walkover better than one with two hands.  She can also do a ton of v-sits and some running to stay in shape.  

 

A broken wrist must've been hard to overcome. Impressive!

 

The coaches have her doing her basic conditioning, but I don't think they've had her try the one-handed walkovers and forward rolls. In her floor and beam, she's doing everything but the tumbling so at least there's that.

[ElizabethB]

. Nervous about the time frame since bars is her worst event,

Bars is my daughter's worst event, too. Ironically it was my best!

 

In Illinois, the parks on base had monkey bars so I could work with her a bit, and I helped her get her back hip circle.

 

Here, none of the local parks or any of the on base parks have monkey bars. Her mill circle is still spotty and she hasn't gotten her front hip circle yet. She learned her shoot through on a super sturdy chair!! She asked me when I learned a mill circle and I told her I actually don't remember not being able to do one, I played on monkey bars from a young age, all the parks had them and so did my elementary school.

 

When I complained about the lack of bars to a friend who has lived here for a while, she said that a local running trail had pull up bars that might work, I will have to check that out next week. I do not want to tire her out the day before her meet.

[plansrme]

We have a meet on the 20th.....

 

but....

 

my daughter sprained her finger :(   She can't do bars, vault, or any of the tumbling, etc. until it heals up. Nervous about the time frame since bars is her worst event, she's still trying to get all her routines down, and everything is already paid for.

 

UGH.

 

Just thankful it wasn't broken!!!

 

I know it seems agonizing now, but she will be fine.  Ice and epsom salts are your friend.  I could bathe an elephant in the epsom salts we've gone through.  For perspective, my gymnast broke her arm (compound!  blood on the mats!  ambulance!  surgery!) and dislocated her elbow Tuesday before Level 6 State on Saturday; she blew our her elbow 3 weeks before her Level 9 season, worked her hiney off to come back for the last 2 meets and won vault at state and regionals (and scheduled surgery on the elbow the day after regionals); and blew out her knee the Tuesday before her first Level 10 meet, missing the entire season.  

 

I am not making light of her injury--I know it stinks; but in 5 years, you will barely even remember this.  And the skills come back faster after every injury.  Once they get into optional levels, an injury is even a good time to work on new skills.  When my daughter had her arm in a cast the third time, she made a lot of progress on her beam leaps and front and back tucks.  But I hope it heals quickly.  Now go put some more ice on it!

 

ETA:  An injury also will make success afterwards that much sweeter.  Still, it would really be best to skip all of the injuries.  This is just not the sport for that, unfortunately!

[Sk8ermaiden]

I feel weird calling myself a gym mom, because DD is 4, but I feel weird calling myself a homeschooler for the same reason, lol. 

 

DD is barely 4 and has just been pulled out of preschool gymnastics and moved into what I assume would be the pre-pre team. To be quite honest I kind of get why but kind of don't. Of course I think she's the bee's knees, but really she shows what I assume is moderate talent. She moved through the preschool levels much faster than they anticipate, but she's not super skilled. Though I browsed around on a gymnastics forum and it seems what they actually base that decision on at this level is an uncommon level of maturity (sit, listen, do what you're told), ability to understand and apply correction, showing up on time and in proper gym attire with hair up (more grading mom than anything!) and if they are strong or flexible, that is a plus. (She is ridiculous flexible.) The one thing the teachers kept mentioning to me before the move was how EAGER she was and that they didn't want to hold her back.

 

But we had our first day of this new class two weeks ago. It is with her two favorite teachers at the gym (two teachers! for what is currently 5 girls!) and man is it INTENSE. I honestly questioned whether this was going to be a good fit for her - all the girls are 4, but she is 7 months younger than the next youngest. No goofing off, stand straight, do it over and over and over and over with the teacher on top of you correcting you constantly. Just intense. But when she came out and I asked her her favorite part, she said, "Everything." And she wants to add a second class. They were talking about maybe putting her in the 5 year old pre-pre team for the second class, but after sitting through the last week, I think no. I'll put her in rec for the second class, because holy cow. 

 

Sorry for the lengthy post! She's a hard working and determined kid who loves to master challenges (she usually names conditioning exercises as her favorite part of practice) and I want to really encourage and nurture those traits in her, but I don't want to put her in a situation to burn out if she loves it. I assume in a few years she'll pick a new activity she wants to try, but you never know, you know?

[SKL]

My kids (age 6) do recreational gymnastics 2x per week, but I wouldn't know what level they are at.  :)  It is very laid back most of the kids are good at something and hopeless at something else.  If my kids could ever be serious for 5 minutes, I'd probably have something to report.  ;)  Miss E likes the balance beam, Miss A likes everything but.  However, Miss A's latest favorite is doing a cartwheel-ish dismount off the balance beam.  (Can you tell I never took gymnastics?)  I have no appetite for competition, so this suits me fine.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Bars is my daughter's worst event, too. Ironically it was my best!

 

In Illinois, the parks on base had monkey bars so I could work with her a bit, and I helped her get her back hip circle.

 

Here, none of the local parks or any of the on base parks have monkey bars. Her mill circle is still spotty and she hasn't gotten her fron hip circle yet. She learned her shoot through on a super sturdy chair!! She asked me when I learned a mill circle and I told her I actually don't remember not being able to do one, I played on monkey bars from a young age, all the parks had them and so did my elementary school.

 

When I complained about the lack of bars to a friend who has lived here for a while, she said that a local running trail had pull up bars that might work, I will have to check that out next week. I do not want to tire her out the day before her meet.

 

What is a mill circle? Not familiar with that one.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I know it seems agonizing now, but she will be fine.  Ice and epsom salts are your friend.  I could bathe an elephant in the epsom salts we've gone through.  For perspective, my gymnast broke her arm (compound!  blood on the mats!  ambulance!  surgery!) and dislocated her elbow Tuesday before Level 6 State on Saturday; she blew our her elbow 3 weeks before her Level 9 season, worked her hiney off to come back for the last 2 meets and won vault at state and regionals (and scheduled surgery on the elbow the day after regionals); and blew out her knee the Tuesday before her first Level 10 meet, missing the entire season.  

 

I am not making light of her injury--I know it stinks; but in 5 years, you will barely even remember this.  And the skills come back faster after every injury.  Once they get into optional levels, an injury is even a good time to work on new skills.  When my daughter had her arm in a cast the third time, she made a lot of progress on her beam leaps and front and back tucks.  But I hope it heals quickly.  Now go put some more ice on it!

 

ETA:  An injury also will make success afterwards that much sweeter.  Still, it would really be best to skip all of the injuries.  This is just not the sport for that, unfortunately!

 

Oh, my heavens! That's a lot of injuries! I so don't have the stomach for it, lol. My dd is new level 5 (old 6) so I know there's more in the future. UGH!

 

[ElizabethB]

What is a mill circle? Not familiar with that one.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pZ5MMGWjHc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-pZ5MMGWjHc

[mom2scouts]

I posted that my dd couldn't do her pullover anymore and this week she did a great pullover/back hip circle!  I guess she just needed a little time to adjust to her longer body.

[ElizabethB]

I posted that my dd couldn't do her pullover anymore and this week she did a great pullover/back hip circle! I guess she just needed a little time to adjust to her longer body.

That is great!

 

It does take a while to adjust when you grow. There is also a period of adjustment when you first start wearing a bra, even if "the girls" are small, it changes your center of gravity and throws off your balance.

[busymotherof4]

My son is training level 7. He has been on the team for 3 years. He is working hard to catch up to where he should be for his age ( level 8). He is working on his giant to layout dismount for H bar. He is also working his bhs back layout. Pbars he needs his pirouette. This is our 1 st year that we only have one gymnast although I suspect my 7 year old will join team next spring.

Our gym is hosting a meet at the end of the month so we are all working on getting set for that.

I'm really liking boys gymnastics better than the girl side. It is so much more relaxed. The judges talk to the kids to help them improve. I really don't miss doing the fancy girl hairdos.

Good luck to all those girls who are starting their season.

[ElizabethB]

 I really don't miss doing the fancy girl hairdos.

 

The girls are all supposed to wear their hair in a bun.  It is cute, and they have little hair scrunchies that match their leos.

 

But...the routines for the lower levels include a backward roll, have the people who make these hair decisions not tried a backward roll with their hair in a bun?  It hurts!  A bun is fine for the upper levels with no roll elements.  

 

My daughter's coach rolled her eyes and told the girls to make the bun as far up as possible, so apparently she, at least, has tried to do a backward roll with her hair in a bun.

 

We experimented and found the highest place we could make a bun without it looking absolutely ridiculous.  A flatter bun also helps.

[jenn-]

The girls are all supposed to wear their hair in a bun.  It is cute, and they have little hair scrunchies that match their leos.

 

But...the routines for the lower levels include a backward roll, have the people who make these hair decisions not tried a backward roll with their hair in a bun?  It hurts!  A bun is fine for the upper levels with no roll elements.  

 

My daughter's coach rolled her eyes and told the girls to make the bun as far up as possible, so apparently she, at least, has tried to do a backward roll with her hair in a bun.

 

We experimented and found the highest place we could make a bun without it looking absolutely ridiculous.  A flatter bun also helps.

 

This was always a problem with DD and her back extension rolls.  Her bun stayed in for meets because it was essential concreted onto her head.  During practices though her ponytail would always be off to the side by the end.

[Georgiana Daniels]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pZ5MMGWjHc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-pZ5MMGWjHc

 

Oooo, my dd has done this but they called it a stride circle.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Thankfully no one has told us exactly how hair is supposed to be. We learned early on that buns were ridiculous! Also, we don't put nearly as much time into the hair as we did that first year of competition. LOL, I'd rather sleep.

[SKL]

I volunteered for the Junior Olympics one year, and all the little girls had their hair in two braids pinned up on each side of their heads.  This way they didn't get in the way of rolls, etc.

 

I don't really have to worry about this since my kids don't compete.  Miss A wears her hair open and Miss E wears it in a long braid.

[Mommy22alyns]

We have a meet on the 20th.....

 

but....

 

my daughter sprained her finger :(   She can't do bars, vault, or any of the tumbling, etc. until it heals up. Nervous about the time frame since bars is her worst event, she's still trying to get all her routines down, and everything is already paid for.

 

UGH.

 

Just thankful it wasn't broken!!!

 

 

Oh no!  I hope it heals soon.

 

One of the girls on Becca's level broke her occipital bone doing a front tuck into the pit.  It pinched a nerve and she had to have emergency surgery.  They put a plate in!  Becca was a bit shaken up - she's at that age where you realize, yes, this could happen to you!

 

Rebecca wears her hair in a braid, but she whacked herself in the eye with it yesterday and her coach put the braid into a bun.  She said we should start just putting it in a bun, but like you guys said, she has a back extension roll in her routine!  I'll probably get her a hair cut and just keep using the braid.  She's very particular about it and says that it's like her super power - The Braid.  Our team doesn't require one specific hair style.

 

Her first competition is Oct. 12-13.

[SKL]

I do have a video of Miss E holding the end of her braid in her mouth while doing some stunt or other.  ;)  That pesky hair!  She also has no intention of cutting it, as she desires to be Rapunzel.  ;)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I would love some ideas for really long hair.  My daughter's hair is getting pretty long.  When she got here (she "came home" 2½ years ago), it was above her earlobe because of "bugs;" so she has NO intention on losing the length.  ANd yet, now it is *really* hard to keep it up ENOUGH.  We've been folding up or bunning the braids on each side of her head (last season, she was a level 2 so had a roll on the beam so wore pigtails.  But even folding up the braids, basically cutting the length is half, isn't enough now. My hubby hates us bunning it.

[Mommy22alyns]

He's probably going to have to deal with the bunning, because I can't think of another way to take care of really long hair!

 

For those whose kids have competed multiple years, how did their scores compare after changing levels?  Becca had amazing scores last year and to my untrained eye looks really good with her new routines.  I just don't want to expect 9's again and get a rude awakening.

[ElizabethB]

He's probably going to have to deal with the bunning, because I can't think of another way to take care of really long hair!

 

For those whose kids have competed multiple years, how did their scores compare after changing levels? Becca had amazing scores last year and to my untrained eye looks really good with her new routines. I just don't want to expect 9's again and get a rude awakening.

What level is she competing? Her coaches should have a good idea of what her scores will be. If her routines are clean and the skills solid, they should be similar. However, if it is her first level with a kip, depending on the strength of her kip, there could be deductions. It is hard to do a good straight arm kip without deductions until you have been doing kips for a while.

 

I would think a low bun at the nape of the neck would be fine. Also, French braids on each side and then wrapped up on the opposite side and pinned should work.

[busymotherof4]

That bun always got in the way. We did a spider web and then put the end braids into a bun. I always glued the hair down with tons of hair gel.

There is a picture on this link of the spider web. http://pinterest.com/MyPJDays/gymnastics/

It always took me at least an hour. It never looked as good as that picture. It was a required hairstyle for our team. I noticed that the girls in the Olympics had much simpler hair.

I'm loving boy's gymnastics so much more.

[busymotherof4]

Oh no! I hope it heals soon.

 

One of the girls on Becca's level broke her occipital bone doing a front tuck into the pit. It pinched a nerve and she had to have emergency surgery. They put a plate in! Becca was a bit shaken up - she's at that age where you realize, yes, this could happen

I think team injuries really can shake kids up. I have seen this on our team from last season.

We had a couple of injuries last season. They shook up the boys. The 1st a boy landed on his head/ neck during floor warm up at a meet. He was fine but needed to go to the hospital. The 2nd was horrible. At states a boy on our team slipped while warming up p bars. Dislocated shoulder badly and got a compound fracture of both bones in his arm. It required surgery and the child was out for months. The 2 boys left on our team had to compete p bars while their teammate was crying loudly and the EMTs were taking care of him. Also the 2 boys were competing while ill. They had been throwing up all night. They had to compete or lose their chance at Regionals. My son still has some fears on p bars.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Oh, by bunning it, I meant the pigtails (usually braided pigtails).  

We also stink at buns at all. 

 

 

[Dahliarw]

I'm going to revive this kind of old thread to join in.  My boys are both in rec gymnastics (pretty much in the level 1 class).  They love it, and oldest ds has some talent, but isn't interested in competition or anything like that.  Our gym has an exhibition boys team he may be interested in in a few years.  We actually started out at a different gym, but their boys' program was awful.  No progression.  One summer ds was doing handspring fall flat on the vault, and the new class (same one, new coach in the fall) went back to just doing jump from a springboard and land on your feet.  He was really frustrated.  So we switched gyms and it's the best thing we've done.  The coaching is much better!

 

The gym switch also helped my dd quite a bit.  At our old gym she was too young for pre-team by 2 months (1 tryout/year).  She just turned 4 over the summer and has been asking about being on the team since she saw the Olympics last summer.  Her brother's class last fall was during team practice, and she loved to watch the older girls and asks when she can learn to do those skills.  She just moved from the preschool class at the new gym to the pre-team track in their advanced preschool program.  I believe she is the youngest in her class, a lot of the girls are turning 5 this fall/winter.  Her class is 2x/week for an hour and she would go more often if I would let her!  I can already see how the skills they are learning will progress to bigger skills, so it's really exciting to see that.  She just got her full unassisted handstand (with the ability to hold it) and is working on her pullover on bars with either a block or the coach assisting.  The coach also assists with fhc and bhc (she can do the fhc herself, but doesn't hold it whens he comes back around to keeping her body up with her arms, rather drops off).  It has been amazing to see her huge jump in skills since we switched gyms 7 weeks ago.  The coaching at the new gym is far superior, even if it is a further drive.  At the old gym they never even taught the stick position!  Nor proper body alignment.  Anyways, kind of kicking myself for not switching sooner!

[weddell]

We are in the process of switching gyms. We were in India for the last 2.5 years and dd (just turned 8 this month) did gymnastics there. It was pretty different and they basically never did bars--almost all floor. When we came back to the US this summer she did a gymnastics camp three times a week at a gym her old friends (from before we were in India) attend. The camp was fantastic and she got her round-off back handspring there. She needs a lot of work to catch up on bars though she just started to get her pullover.

 

So this fall she started at the same gym she did camp at and we are really disappointed at how poor the coaching is! The camp was so much better. So we have been trying out a class at another gym and have decided to switch there completely. One of her friends is switching with us for the same reason and I wouldn't be surprised if at least two others we know followed. It's a 25 minute drive instead of 10, but the energy there is so different! She just had a formal evaluation there tonight and went to a higher level class than I thought. The coach said that right now her floor is even higher, but her bars are holding her back. So we're pretty happy right now. These gyms don't compete at these ages but dd can do a back handspring, a round-off back handspring, and a slightly crooked front walkover. I have no idea what level that makes her.

 

DS is 4yo and doing preschool gymnastics. He's the only boy in his class and is almost 5, so he's by far the most coordinated and strongest kid in his class. By no means do I think this makes him a great gymnast, since I know at this age it's more about listening well and just a few months makes a big difference in coordination! It's just funny to watch my large 4 yo boy out-cartwheel the girls. 

[Mommy22alyns]

How's everyone doing?  Becca's first meet is Saturday.  Here's a pic of her from last month:

 

[ElizabethB]

She looks cute!

 

We have done 2 meets so far, districts are this coming Saturday. My daughter did well for her first few competitions and the fact that she has been doing gymnastics for one year last month. Her scores improved from the first meet and she got her first 9! She has only placed once, though, so her prospects at Districts are not good. She has been practicing like crazy and doing handstands and her floor and beam routines every spare minute in our living room, but her level is quite crowded and some of the other gyms hold their girls at lower levels longer than our gym does, so she is competing against girls who have done gymnastics for years longer than she has.

 

Texas has what is called AGA in the Spring, I am looking forward to that. It is basically all optional routines and everyone will select their own music!!

 

Here is the AGA website:

 

http://www.aga-tx.org/about.html

[plansrme]

As most of you know, gymnastics Worlds finished up over the weekend.  There is a scheduled replay on NBC nest weekend, I believe, but in case anyone is interested, awesome, full, hours' long coverage is available on universalsports.com.  It is kind of tricky to find, but so, so worth it.  We watched hours of gymnastics this weekend on my laptop.  There is no stupid commentary about whether they stuck their landings and that "is the last thing the judges see," as if that is the only thing they see; not one single shot of Marta Karolyi in the stands; and no silly human interest stories about how Gymnasts X and Y have been best friends since kindergarten.  What you get, instead, are gymnasts from countries that, to watch NBC's Olympic coverage, you wouldn't think even had any gymnasts:  Italy, Sweden, the Domincan Republic (which has a vaulter who rocks), the Netherlands, Greece; Brazil; NORTH Korea; you get every gymnast's score and her and her coach's reaction to it; you get awesome replays of every tumbling pass while you wait for scores; you get NO commercials.  Not every gymnast was shown during all-around competition, as there was more than one competing at a time, but on event finals, we saw every single gymnast and her (or his--we watched the men also) score.  It was amazing!  I loved seeing gymansts from countries other than the U.S., Russia and China.  I loved seeing all of the gymnasts on event finals, not just the medalists.  And mostly, I loved not watching the cameras break to Marta Karolyi at every stinkin' opportunity.

 

I highly recommend it, in case you didn't figure that out. 

[busymotherof4]

As most of you know, gymnastics Worlds finished up over the weekend. There is a scheduled replay on NBC nest weekend, I believe, but in case anyone is interested, awesome, full, hours' long coverage is available on universalsports.com. It is kind of tricky to find, but so, so worth it. We watched hours of gymnastics this weekend on my laptop. There is no stupid commentary about whether they stuck their landings and that "is the last thing the judges see," as if that is the only thing they see; not one single shot of Marta Karolyi in the stands; and no silly human interest stories about how Gymnasts X and Y have been best friends since kindergarten. What you get, instead, are gymnasts from countries that, to watch NBC's Olympic coverage, you wouldn't think even had any gymnasts: Italy, Sweden, the Domincan Republic (which has a vaulter who rocks), the Netherlands, Greece; Brazil; NORTH Korea; you get every gymnast's score and her and her coach's reaction to it; you get awesome replays of every tumbling pass while you wait for scores; you get NO commercials. Not every gymnast was shown during all-around competition, as there was more than one competing at a time, but on event finals, we saw every single gymnast and her (or his--we watched the men also) score. It was amazing! I loved seeing gymansts from countries other than the U.S., Russia and China. I loved seeing all of the gymnasts on event finals, not just the medalists. And mostly, I loved not watching the cameras break to Marta Karolyi at every stinkin' opportunity.

 

I highly recommend it, in case you didn't figure that out.

We were so sad that we don't get that channel. I'm so tired of them skipping mens events entirely or start after the 1st or 2 nd rotation. I'm also tired of hearing how bad we are at pommel. Of course they never mention that the boys pommel routines have been revamped from the earliest levels. This will take several years to fix.

Also the silly green arrow thing they do on tv makes no sense.

I'm loving listening to my son when we watch. All of a sudden he can name many of the moves the men are doing.

[Georgiana Daniels]

As most of you know, gymnastics Worlds finished up over the weekend.  There is a scheduled replay on NBC nest weekend, I believe, but in case anyone is interested, awesome, full, hours' long coverage is available on universalsports.com.  It is kind of tricky to find, but so, so worth it.  We watched hours of gymnastics this weekend on my laptop.  There is no stupid commentary about whether they stuck their landings and that "is the last thing the judges see," as if that is the only thing they see; not one single shot of Marta Karolyi in the stands; and no silly human interest stories about how Gymnasts X and Y have been best friends since kindergarten.  What you get, instead, are gymnasts from countries that, to watch NBC's Olympic coverage, you wouldn't think even had any gymnasts:  Italy, Sweden, the Domincan Republic (which has a vaulter who rocks), the Netherlands, Greece; Brazil; NORTH Korea; you get every gymnast's score and her and her coach's reaction to it; you get awesome replays of every tumbling pass while you wait for scores; you get NO commercials.  Not every gymnast was shown during all-around competition, as there was more than one competing at a time, but on event finals, we saw every single gymnast and her (or his--we watched the men also) score.  It was amazing!  I loved seeing gymansts from countries other than the U.S., Russia and China.  I loved seeing all of the gymnasts on event finals, not just the medalists.  And mostly, I loved not watching the cameras break to Marta Karolyi at every stinkin' opportunity.

 

I highly recommend it, in case you didn't figure that out. 

 

Going to look for it now. Thanks!

[plansrme]

We were so sad that we don't get that channel. I'm so tired of them skipping mens events entirely or start after the 1st or 2 nd rotation. I'm also tired of hearing how bad we are at pommel. Of course they never mention that the boys pommel routines have been revamped from the earliest levels. This will take several years to fix.

Also the silly green arrow thing they do on tv makes no sense.

I'm loving listening to my son when we watch. All of a sudden he can name many of the moves the men are doing.

 

I am pretty sure that it is all still there online so that you can still watch.  We did not watch any of it live but saw it all (we still have not seen women's floor--saving that for tonight) from the archives, or whatever they call it.  I am on my office PC, which has a very old version of Explorer that won't let me find it, or I would try to link. I don't get universalsports on my cable, either, but we watched it on my laptop.

[Dahliarw]

usagymnastics youtube channel has full videos of the events.  You don't have to go to universal sports.

 

[Mommy22alyns]

Becca's first meet was yesterday and the scoring was brutal!  None of our girls even got a 9!  Rebecca got a 34.95 and has never gotten lower than a 36!  The girls and parents were pretty unhappy.  Hopefully the next meet will be better.

 

I just uploaded her videos to YouTube.

[Jennifer in MI]

Our coaches have prepared us for harsh scoring this year.  Apparently all the new dance moves are going to throw a lot of girls off.  

 

Did all the teams score lower than usual?  Just curious as our competitive season doesn't start until January.

[Mommy22alyns]

Our coaches have prepared us for harsh scoring this year.  Apparently all the new dance moves are going to throw a lot of girls off.  

 

Did all the teams score lower than usual?  Just curious as our competitive season doesn't start until January.

 

 

Well, That Gym was at our meet, but even some of their youngest girls were scoring low.  The older girls were scoring crazy high still.

[Mommy22alyns]

Becca is the Comeback Kid. Way better second meet Saturday!

Beam: 9.35 - best ever! 3rd place
Floor: 9.05 - big improvement from last meet, 3rd place. There were not many 9's awarded on floor this session.
Vault: 8.5 - still a challenge, 7th
Bars: 9.25, 4th

36.15 AA, third place!! (She got a trophy for that one!)

 

 

 

 

I put up 2 new videos as well.

 

Is anyone else competing right now?

[ElizabethB]

State meet is 9 Nov! We are in a small region and she is not competitive to place, but she is excited to go. Also, it is Texas, if you google Texas state meet on youtube you will see they wear matching leos for the meet, and they were reasonable for a GK Leo, $20. They have a different color leo each year, it is kind of fun.

 

Her AA scores have improved 3 points over the season and she is doing well for only doing gymnastics for a bit over a year.

[Ravin]

DD(age 10) tried out gymnastics through a city class hosted by a local gym. She is loving it, so I just signed her up for a regular beginners session that starts when the city class ends.

 

Not sure it's something I want her to get competitive in, but it's definitely holding her interest!

[ElizabethB]

Last year's Leo was blue:

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gnSy49h7320&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgnSy49h7320

 

2009 was pink, the girl who won the handstand competition has a video of her routines, handstand competition at the end, it is cute, a floor full of girls in matching leos doing handstands!!

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbJjSdBO1Bk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEbJjSdBO1Bk

[JumpyTheFrog]

Well, Tigger decided last week that he wants to compete after all, so we are scrambling to get him all registered because the first meet is in two or three weeks. Part of the reason he didn't want to compete before was because he thought it would be like the Olympics, with thousands of people watching! It never occurred to me that he might think that. The other reason he didn't want to compete before was because he thought everyone on his team was so much better. Now that he's one of the best on high bar and p-bars, he has enough confidence to try.

[Brown4girls]

My gymnast is gearing up for the new season.  She has a home meet in two weeks, but her competitive season doesn't really begin until January.  She is going to be a repeat level 7 this year.  Last year she battled a broken foot so only competed in three meets with her foot taped!  She did place first on beam at each of the meets even with a broken foot!  She just got out of a cast for a broken hand so we decided with her injuries and new rules she needed to repeat level 7.  She is ready and working on perfecting those skills!

[Guest submarines]

DS has been doing gymnastics for 3 whole weeks! :) He has since gone from being Mr. Inflexible to being able to do a bridge :). I know it's totally not much, but it's fun to see him make progress. His class has 3-4 other kids in it (all boys) and I am very happy with the coach and the environment.

Here is a video of last week

 

And a video from the week before

Awesome! DS9 has been doing gymnastics for 7 weeks now, and it is amazing to see his improvement. I'm also very happy with our gym. Your DS's moves are so neat and measured. DS still doesn't care for his form, but he's gotten so much stronger and braver. 

[LMV]

Bars is my daughter's worst event, too. Ironically it was my best!

 

In Illinois, the parks on base had monkey bars so I could work with her a bit, and I helped her get her back hip circle.

 

Here, none of the local parks or any of the on base parks have monkey bars. Her mill circle is still spotty and she hasn't gotten her front hip circle yet. She learned her shoot through on a super sturdy chair!! She asked me when I learned a mill circle and I told her I actually don't remember not being able to do one, I played on monkey bars from a young age, all the parks had them and so did my elementary school.

 

When I complained about the lack of bars to a friend who has lived here for a while, she said that a local running trail had pull up bars that might work, I will have to check that out next week. I do not want to tire her out the day before her meet.

 

I hesitate to post this because I am afraid you will not take it well, but I cringe at the thought of you trying to teach your daughter a front hip circle on a pullup bar at a local fitness trail. I am extremely wary about parents helping their kids at home/park etc on makeshift equipment.   I've seen several instances over the years as a physician where that did not end well.  I hope you will re-evaluate this approach but above all I hope your daughter is safe.

[DragonFaerie]

Aw.... this thread is making me nostalgic.  My daughter did gym for years and years and ended up quitting two years ago.  She was 9 and training for level 8.  Bars was her "thing."  She LOVED bars, and it really showed.  Thanks for letting me reminisce!

[Aurelia]

A little late to the party, but I just found this thread.

 

Ariel has been doing tumbling and trampoline for 2 years, which I understand is different from "real" gymnastics, but it has some of the same floor skills. She's been on the Junior Team since last year (she can't move up to the Advanced one until she fully masters her back handspring), but is on the National Team for her gym as well. She's considered Advanced Beginner on Floor and Beginner on Trampoline and Double Mini. I'm not sure what levels that corresponds to, but examples of the different levels are here, if anyone is interested. She's still working on mastering her back handspring, she just got her front flip last weekend. First competition of the season is in late November.  She's excited. I just bought her the new year's team competition leo at the end of August and she's already outgrown it! I have to buy a new one next week (luckily, I don't have to shell out more than $25, I can't imagine spending $200 on a leotard at DD's level of competition). 

 

She just discovered vaulting, which is gymnastics on horseback and she's DYING to try it. DH says no. We'll see. 

[RainySunday]

Fun thread! My kiddos just started at a local gym 8 weeks ago. I am amazed at how much progress they've made already! Neither one could do more than a somersault when they started, and now they both just about have their handstand and cartwheel. DD6 is/was not naturally inclined towards gym (somewhat less-than-strong, and not very coordinated), but she's gotten so much stronger, and more focused already! She's been practicing her cartwheel and handstand at home a lot! She's in rec. 1 currently, and will be there awhile I think, still lots to learn.

 

DS3 is in the 3-4 year old pre-k class, and does seem more naturally inclined to the sport (in build, strength, coordination, etc). We are considering having him try out the 4-6 boys class before the sign-ups for next session, as he is much stronger, more focused, etc than the rest of his class. I don't want to push him too hard, but I think being with a little bit older/stronger/more focused boys would be more his pace. He won't be 4 until April, and I think he'll be bored and not nearly challenged enough staying in the same pre-k class for another 5ish months.

 

I really enjoying watching them learn, grow, and gain in confidence, focus, and skill.

[Mommy22alyns]

Rebecca had her best meet of the season yesterday!  This year has been a challenge, so this success is even sweeter.

 

Vault: 8.4, didn't place. This is the first time she hasn't placed on an event.  Vault is giving her a big challenge this year.  At least her score didn't go down again though!
Bars: 9.35, 1st
Beam: 9.175, 4th - this child almost fell off after her cartwheel and still pulled this score! She must have done everything else flawlessly.
Floor: 9.6!!!! 1st place, second highest floor score ever for her, highest for this season by a full .5!

AA: 36.525, 1st!!

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any videos because our camera is broken.   :(  Hopefully we'll get one on BF and have videos for states.

[RainySunday]

Good job to Rebecca!

 

We did decide to have ds3 try the boys 4-6 class, and he did pretty well. He freaked at first (new coach, BIG guy, definitely intimidating), but we "watched together" for a few minutes, then he was ready to jump in. It's nice that it is the only class running at that time, so the gym is overall quieter/calmer. He was able to keep up fine skills-wise, and was even doing a good job with listening. His biggest challenge in there is going to be that he doesn't know his numbers yet (ie, do 3 push ups in front of the cone that has a 3 on it), but the coach knows he is working with 4-6 year olds, and not all of them are super number-savvy yet; and he will be challenged on the circuit stuff some (ie, numbered (orally) stations, everyone starts at a different one, then progresses to the next station when the coach announces it's time to switch). The coach said he was fine with him joining the class, and he will be starting that next week.

 

This switch will also mean dd6 switches to a new coach, so we aren't at the gym twice in one day. We will be there a bit longer (their classes are back to back now, instead of at the same time), but I think it will be good for them. I think it's good for both of them to work with different coaches at this point (ie, early on), but we'll see how dd6 does with the new coach (same coach as ds3 will have).

[Aurelia]

Saturday was the first meet this year, and Ariel did really well. I'm not sure what her scores were, her coaches have those, but she got 5th in floor, 6th in double mini (her most challenging event), and 1st in trampoline.  :hurray:  There was originally a placement error and they had her competing against 10-13 year olds, instead of with her age group, but she still managed to score well enough to place second there. I'm really kind of shocked (and proud) about her trampoline routine, because the last time I saw it (several months ago, before the newest coach started), it was nowhere near as clean. She's come a long way since last year.