Gymnastics for boys (apparatus not tumbling)

[WhatapityWapiti]

Wasn’t sure if there was a kid activities section to put this into.

DS is almost 8 and obsessed by gymnastics rings. We have a set in the garden (proper adult ones) but I was wondering if he could go to some sort of class to start learning the proper moves. He’s done summer gymnastics camp before but it’s female-dominated and mostly tumbling on an air track or beam, with little bit of basic vault. He climbs and has really good upper body strength for his age, wants to learn pommel horse and parallel bars as well as rings. Tumbling is not his thing at all.

Are there classes for young boys that concentrate on the apparatus? (To be clear, I don’t mean in terms of availability in my local area, I’m wondering how clubs tend to run things for boys at this age generally, as the websites don’t really say and I would like a bit of background info before I start phoning round). Can anyone tell me how a class would go about training a child my son’s age with no formal experience?

Thanks!

Anyone?

Find your local club that runs “men’s artistic” classes.

phone then and ask about joining. They may put him in recreational classes, they may invite him for an assessment.

it’s pretty much as you’d expect. As he gets better he will progress through the classes, attend competitions etc, they better he gets the chances are the more hours a week he’ll do.

if he is talented, be prepared for 16+ hours a week training.

In my very limited experience of my child’s gymnastics class for that age, all they do is handstands, bridges, balance work and some bar work. It’s not very challenging and I’m not impressed!

however starting in a class hopefully he’ll get noticed if he’s good and get invited to squad classes.

Thanks. I’m not really thinking ahead to squads or competitions, at this stage it’s more about him getting the opportunity to develop his skills on the apparatus for enjoyment purposes.

You could try looking for circus skills classes instead?

That’s interesting that it’s called “artistic”, I thought that was the one where people wave streamers about in spangly outfits but I now realise that is “rhythmic”!

In my childrens club you would start in rec and be able to trial for artistic. Get him started now as the younger they start the better

We do those already! He loves the trapeze and the silks.

Thanks. I presume “rec” is recreational? What things do they do in that?

Also, can I ask the difference between being “in a club” and just going to gymnastics classes once a week (which is what I did as a kid)?

Don't let your child use adult gymnastic rings without proper training and proper spotting.

They are not high off the ground. My father in law was actually a gymnast in his youth so he’s been giving us some tips.

Yes sorry, recreational.
in my kids gymnastics they do get to use the equipment and do work on core skills and fitness. It is if they get into an artistic squad they’ll get full training on progressing skills on the equipment. Those groups will be expected to compete, rec is just to enjoy!

Some clubs do boys only sessions. I would look at finding a decent club for him, he'll probably start in a recreational class and be taught a lot of core skills rather than just whacked straight onto the rings mind. He needs to develop strength and flexibility first. Don't let him use rings in your garden, that is madness and can easily do a lot of damage to him.

@Hairyfairy01 "Don't let him use rings in your garden, that is madness and can easily do a lot of damage to him."

Glad it's not just me.

Maybe have a look on the British gymnastics page? Might have a list of clubs and what they offer?

That’s pretty rude. Why not explain a bit more instead of throwing around insults?

I am a gymnastics coach, look on the British gymnastics website for kids artistic gymnastics classes in your area, you need to find specific artistic classes, as acro/tumbling will be the type he doesn't want.

He will start in a recreational class, but any gym worth their salt will always be on the look out for talent from the rec classes. To begin with, he will start working through the basic levels, but if they think he's talented enough, after a few months, he could be propelled into their elite classes.

You do both need to be prepared that to begin with, he will start at the bottom as they will need to be able to gage his ability, & he more than likely will have to do bits that he finds boring & have to keep going over things he can already do, as he might be exceptional on one thing, but they will need to get him up to scratch on most, if not all apparatus, so it'll be, high bar, floor (which does involve tumbling) pommel horse, rings, vault & parallel bars.

Hope that's helpful.
Good luck, gymnastics is a wonderful sport!

Thank you @DrWu . As a coach, can you please tell me what the dangers are of using rings at home? He’s not playing unsupervised.

They also have them at his climbing centre and don’t give any special instruction on their use.

@WhatapityWapiti "
"That’s pretty rude. Why not explain a bit more instead of throwing around insults?"

You're letting. 7 year old use adult gym equipment in your garden without proper training and supervision. That is extraordinarily dangerous. And, less importantly, could easily get him into bad habits that could damage his progress S a gymnast in the future.

And you are just repeating what you said (minus the personal attack) without explaining anything. I didn’t dismiss your comment out of hand, I gave more information about what we were doing. If you actually cared about my son’s welfare you’d explain what the difference is between gymnastic rings, rings on kids’ garden swingsets, ninja warrior courses and climb and swing play equipment in every park up and down the country. However I feel that your agenda here is more about getting kicks being rude.

The main dangers would be falling, & hyperextension of the shoulder/wrist joints, but tbh, kids are susceptible to those types of injury by just being kids anyway.

My qualifications are all in women's artistic, so men's apparatus are not my strongest point, but I would suggest getting him into gymnastics lessons asap, there he will be able to get all of the support he needs.

My parents put me in gymnastics when I was 4, because I threw myself about so much & was doing somersaults from the top of our climbing frame, they basically just wanted me to learn to not break myself! 🤣 now coaching I see so many children who are so much like I was & it is amazing. ☺️ I have the best job in the world!

Thank you!

He literally climbs the walls of our house, he has so much energy. I think it definitely runs in our family, here is my father in law in the 1960s! Skipped a generation though 😀.