To ask what your kids gymnastics classes are like at the mo

[mrsbeeton999]

My daughter is in a development squad. Fairly decent at a local level! Pre COVID she was doing 4 x 2.5 a week plus 2 sundays a month for 6 hours. She’s still doing 3 x 2.5 hours a week which I’m happy with but the format has really changed. I understand they haven’t got comps and gradings to work on at the mo but she’s getting really fed up. Coaches are mostly sitting on benches occasionally saying odd corrective comments. No spotting/ supporting , no using high bar. No progression as coaches won’t touch them so can’t really learn new moves. I’d love to hear if other gymnastics is currently the same? It would be such a shame if she leaves but she’s really not enjoying it

Hi my daughter is training 11hours a week, was doing 10 pre covid - her gym seems really organised - they are not supporting but they are getting to try new moves and use all the equipment pretty much as before, there is more cleaning etc obviously - perhaps look at another local gym and see how they are doing things?

Thanks for that info. Yes I think I’ll have to phone another club but it’s quite a bit further away.

Can't go at all. My daughter's club is in a different county to our locked-down one (despite being only a short drive from our house), so she's not allowed to train. She is losing skills, strength, definition - in short, all the things she has worked to gain over the last 5 years. :-(

My daughter is only just starting her first proficiency award as she's in reception, but has attended gymnastics each week since she was 2. Her main club have cut her lessons to every other week. She's definitely lost some of her ability and flexibility, although they are doing awards and are offering extra sessions during half term to help them catch up before doing the badge. I have also signed her into another club who does a lot of holiday sessions. She also does ballet weekly which seems to help some of the core strengths, but I can totally understand your concerns. Her older brother is very talented at football, luckily he was able to start 1-1 training again in May and then over summer his teams have done a lot of extra training and camps, so he's been able to pick up where he left off, but I really feel for those in sports who are in crucial years :(

It’s maybe different depending on location and age group but the guidance in my region is that coaches need to be socially distant from participants unless touching them is necessary for first aid etc. We’ve also been told to focus on conditioning and flexibility exercises during the initial return to training to support a safe return to higher impact activities which might be why there’s a bit less time on the equipment at the moment? It sucks but it is what it is.

We’re just in a rec class so no where near the level of your daughter. The same applies (no supporting or contact) but the coaches seem to be going round with them in small groups and are engaged and managing the change really well. I can see it might be very different if you’re used to putting in more hours and pushing for new skills.