Gymnastics - so if you're not in the squad, it's basically a waste of time?

Think it's the same with a lot of "activities" in general that some blatantly just screw the casual parents for every penny they can get out of them and view them as the ones that don't matter at all in terms of staff, equipment and attention. We've just dropped a dancing school that were doing that as I got flipping sick of weeks and weeks of classes being dumped on the assistant teachers who would just resort to musical statues to Let it Go for 2/3 of the lesson (other 1/3 being the warm up CD) while the proper teaching staff were at competitions for weeks on end. I know squads and competitions are the real reason for places existing - but this was so blatant a cash grab when they'd screened out the talent they actually wanted that I really wasn't putting up with it anymore.

In contrast the gym club they go to is actually really good with their rec classes. They are very very competition-geared as an organisation - but do regular open to all of the required ages (tends to be older age 5/6 - they email for all born in a given year who are interested) squad open trial sessions... and you don't get fobbed off standing in the corner while the squad are using the equipment - they've got the timetable across their sites set up so that doesn't happen. Hell DD2 is about as much of a no-hoper as you're ever going to get in terms of balance and coordination but they're happy to differentiate for her in terms of the support they give and she participates fully in the class. I still encourage her to do gymnastics for as long as she's enjoying it because even if she's always going to be pretty poor - it's helping her motor skills no end just taking part.

Thanks Chocolatedeficitdisorder I did indeed wonder that, so thanks for the description, I guess it's just my confusion about the name of the sport!

Erm, what, how does that work?

sirfredfredgeorge

My post was 4 years ago and my daughter has now given up synchro and gone off to Uni. I presume that you're asking how you can do synchro as an individual?

Competitive synchro isn't just about routines, there's a grading structure that requires the swimmer to be able to complete increasingly complex moves in the water in front of assessors, as well as being able to demonstrate flexibility on land. As the swimmers move through the grades in their age groups they become eligible to compete at different levels. The best of their age groups will also be able to compete a solo routine to music and their final score in the competition will comprise both their judged skills (called 'figures') and their musical routine.

Solo routines are well established in synchronised swimming. Obviously they don't synchronise to other swimmers, but they synchronise with the music and are judged on their artistry as well as the difficulty in the moves they performs.

This is a solo from one of the best young British swimmers.

she tried out for a synchronised swimming club ... has qualified into National age groups as an individual

Erm, what, how does that work?

I think it depends very much on the club, some are good with their rec gymnasts, others less so. If you feel that she is not getting much out of the gymnastics, have you considered trying an acrobatic arts class instead?

You are in the wrong club. My DD has her first red class at age of 7.5, and two months later she was I. A squad. Now she is 10 and she does skills with girls aged 12 that have been training since they were 3 and 4 years old. So never too late if they have the strength, flexibility and energy to train and succeed. Your club must be doing rec classes for the money, squad is cheaper and takes more effort and risks.

My daughter, now aged 15, was a gymnast until 18 months ago. She started in artistic at 5 and gave up at 7.5 (she was in development, but it was a very 'shouty' bunch of coaches). She started again at age 11 in Acrobatic Gymnastics, but left again at 13 as she is too tall and willowy to be a strong base.

She wasn't a swimmer at all and only had one basic stroke with no style at all, but she tried out for a synchronised swimming club and because of her flexibility and core strength they agreed to take her on, despite her advanced age. Fast forward 18 months and she's racing through the competitive structure and has qualified into National age groups as an individual.

It seems to be easier to make a gymnast into a swimmer than make a swimmer into a gymnast! They usually like synchro swimmers to start at about 7 or 8, and those with a background in gymnastics or dancing are preferred. There are some really big clubs around and it's a fabulous and very difficult sport :-)

I'd say look at another club. That sounds rubbish to me.

Competition leotards are expensive but there are loads of training leotards you can buy new for under £20 , and if your club has a second hand shop about £10.If your daughter has told you otherwise, I think you are being 'had'
I am very grateful that the clubs I have coached at haven't had to have club leos for training as when I see hundreds of gymnasts for only and hour a week, I'd never tell them apart if they all wore the same!!!

The other thing that really winds me up is that the rec classes are required to wear uniform (and the leotard is expensive) - whereas the squad girls can wear what they like. Sounds like money making to me?

Just wanted to comment on this as I feel it's quote common to think this - my DD is an artistic gymnast and can west any leotard to train while rec classes wear uniform.

However, DD trains 5 days a week so needs lots of leotards which are expensive (£30-£50 each). Hand guards are £45 and they also need conditioning equipment such as stretch bars.

Competitions (4/5 per year) cost approx £30 entry plus petrol/hotel stay if far away.

Competition leotards (one to compete and one for warm up) are anywhere from (£40 - £135!!). So compared to rec the artistic parents pay out loads (plus monthly fees of approx £100).

*split

They've slight the club grades and nationals this year so we were at a different venue and it was just tumbling competing.

It's a shame really as I love watching the acro too.

I only ask because we were at the Yorkshire Acrobatics in March and the club grade tumbling championships were on at the same time and I wonderd if we had seen your DS.

Thanks. He is competing at national 1. But I think he will bypass a few levels for pre-Lims in Nov as his strength has really come on in the last 6 mths and he trains a few levels above his current competition level.

With tumbling you've got to be careful as it puts a lot of strain on the joints and growth plates at his age.

Uggmum well done to you DS glad he is doing so well.

Uggmum- what grade is he on?

My ds is a tumbler. He won gold in the Yorkshire championships in Feb and is in the National Semi Finals in May. He is 10.

He started pre-baga classes at 4 and moved over to Gym Club when he was 6. He trains for 9 hours a week. He does continuous flics, whips, somersaults etc.

I would recommend that you find a club that has a good structure. Initially following the Baga scheme. At least you will then know exactly what level she is at and the path she is following.

Where we are there is a middle ground, with opportunities to compete at recreational level. I would be looking for a different club, one that has opportunities for kids on all levels and stages. My DD's club is great, friendly and supportive and they have several levels: the beginners recreational, intermediate/advanced recreational who compete at regional recreational level, and the elite gymnasts who train crazy numbers of hours a week.

I think most of the kids who stick with the recreational class for a few years will get the chance at least to take part in two competitions per year, the club championships and a large local open competition. Even my DS, who did gym for a while, loved it but wasn't very good at it, took part in the internal championships and had a great time.

Yours sounds a bit like the first club my DD went to, which had a squad and recreational, but only the squad did competitions. DD joined it the club age 7, and was put in the competitive squad, where the training was excellent and very cheap as it was heavily subsidised by the rest of the club. After about six months we decided we did not want to commit to the hours of training expected by the club (all day saturday and several hours several evenings a week), so we asked for her to be moved to the recreational group. The recreational classes were really awful, overcrowded, relatively expensive, and and there would have never been any chance to compete at all or do any displays except by moving back to the squad and training all those hours.

DD loves gymnastics and her club, and really enjoys competing, but she also loves lots of other things and wants to have time for those too. She is 10 and trains 3 hours / week, last year took part in 3 regional competitions (and the internal championships) and two displays. In a few years time she could well be able to start training as a coach, if she is still interested, which I think could also be a great opportunity.

Thing is though, when they started they did actually spend a lot of time doing the things you describe: hanging off bars and walking up and down beams. I think my DS spent much of two years doing pretty much that.

Oh and at 7 she is not past it as far as squads are concerned !!!!!!!

I am a gymnastics coach and posts like yours make my blood boil.They clearly see their rec gymnasts merely as a way of bringing money in and that's it.Every club should be offering competitons and displays to children of all levels and ages.I would very strongly advise you to look at different clubs
However the things you mention her doing have their place.Bars requires strength and I do start my bars session with children of your daughetrs level with 'hanging on competitions' in various shapes/ monkey walks from side to side across the bars (as well as pull up and leg lifts when they are ready) , before we move on in the session to working on our bars skillss.Ditto with the beam.They do need to build up a high level of confidence on the beam and this comes from spending time up there
Trampolining again strengthens legs and core.Things that seem futile to you , are most likely 'disguised' conditioning
That said my 4 yr old group who started in September can all forwards roll and kick up to handstand now we dio this every single week, as well as teh basics of vaulting and I am a real stickler for getting these basics right from the very beginning.
We spend 30 mins of a rec session on warm up stretching shapes(dish, arch, bridge, front and back support, japana pike fold) and 'fun' conditioning activities each week and this makes a big difference to the childrens progress.LOts of clubs won't do this and then the children's bodies aren't strong and flexible enough to progress

My sister started gymnastics when she was 3, and could do bridge-to-walkovers by the time she was 4 I'm sure of it. She was doing one- and no- handed cartwheels and flips by 6 or 7. Granted, she was exceptionally talented (there was talk by the time she was 8 of seeking International level coaching) but the rest of the class, doing the same things, wasn't much older than she was.
I would imagine that the guidelines to what small children are allowed to do has changed in 30 years, the way it has with ballet, but I doubt it's changed so much that a 7 year old can't do a cartwheel. (As for strength, she recently beat a 19 year old male Marine in a pull-up competition so that early training certainly didn't do her any harm. )

My dd2 and ds are at a BG gym club.
Dd2 is 10yo and has been doing it since she was 4yo. (but is missing her hand so can't do everything)
Ds is 6yo and has done 2 terms.

There is a squad, but not a terribly competitive one, I think the maximum hours done (by older ones, we're talking age 11+) is 3 hours. They do a few displays and a few competitions. There's a club championship that's open to everyone once a year.

They start off with a warm up all together then split into ability groups which take it in turns on aparatus. They do 3 different areas each week, and continue the next week with what they didn't do. So there's trampette, vault, bars, floor, trampoline and those dangly ring things. Most do 1hr a week.

Having just had the club championships (age 4+), all dc could do a forward roll. Almost all could do a bridge (although some of the younger ones needed reminding about their arms). By about 6yo over half could do a convincing cartwheel.
They're very good at integrating dd2. She doesnt get any special dispensation for her missing hand mostly, and what extra help they give is done as to what she wants and very quietly. They did give her extra time to get her doing a cartwheel, which she now can just about do.

Dd's club is lovely - they are a club with a very strong elite program, but they also do lots of rec classes, and toddler classes too! The recreational classes are very well structured - 20 mins warm up, and then a rotation of apparatus. Dd at 10 is never going to be a competitive gymnast, but she can do a decent forward/backward roll, 3 types of cartwheel (normal, one where you change direction - ie turn 180 degrees during it and one-handed), round off, splits etc. She is working on backwards walk over - she can do the first bit, but can't kick back over yet. She can do handstand into bridge and stand up again, and yesterday they were doing flips off the trampoline.

I love their club - it's always encouraging, takes children from where THEY are, and pushes them as much as they want pushing. As soon as you start looking at competitions the time commitment shoots up, but I'm v happy with 45 mins a week, as she does school gym, swimming, netball etc. as well.

Dd2 is a nice little gymnast. She does just 1 1.5 hour rec class per week. Club would love her to do more, they say she has great potential, but are encouraging rather than pushing her to do more.

There are clubs out there where rec gymnasts can accomplish a lot.

I think the middle ground the OP talks about exists - well it does in my experience. Perhaps we are fortunate in our area? But I don't think it's a case of elite or nothing.
My eldest had the opportunity to do 1 floor & vault and 2x4piece comps last year. The comps were no pressure, lots of fun. She doesn't do regional or national grades. She's at a nice level where it's fun, challenging but lets her have other hobbies and a life outside of the gym.