About gymnastics training hours for 6 year old

[Helpel]

This is quite specific and not strictly AIBU so sorry posting a bit for traffic...
My DD is in year 2 but is not 7 until the summer. She is part of a gymnastics development squad and currently trains twice a week for a total of 5.5 hours. I've just had an email from the coach to say from June this is increasing to 3 times a week for a total of 9 hours. Twice a week the sessions finish at 8.30pm which would mean a 9.30pm bedtime before we are home and settled.
AIBU to think this is too much for a 6 year old? I am tempted to ask if we can stick with the current pattern until she starts yr 3 in September but don't want it to affect my daughter's chances at competing if that's what she eventually wants to do. They start competing in May next year - I am thinking it wouldn't affect her that much to delay increased training by a few months...
My DD enjoys gymnastics and loves being good at it, but sometimes she grumbles about going to the training sessions as it is. Do we just give it a go and see if her passion increases? I think the logistical and late night issue would be easier to swallow if she became absolutely dedicated to it!
Has anyone been in this position? It would be great to hear from other parents of development squad gymnasts!

Wow, that might be normal for gymnastics, but there is not a cat in hell’s chance I’d allow a six year old to spend 9 hours a week on any hobby, no matter how much she liked it.

^This. I’d steer clear of gymnastics anyway.

3 of my kids did competitive gymnastics. They loved it and were very good at it but the extreme hours put them all off so all have given up. Had it been more reasonable hours they would have continued. But they were too good for the rec sessions and didn't want to do all those hours (they gave up when they were expected to train 4-5 days a week including 6 hours on Saturdays). One of my kids told me that they wanted a life.

Gymnastics has given them very strong, flexible, toned bodies and means they are good at many other sports (always picked for everything at school). So they don't regret doing it and I don't regret them doing it but it is a shame that it is all or nothing with gymmatics

Thank you everyone, really helpful to hear from ex gymnasts and gymnast parents. We will be led by our daughter and will never push her to do anything she doesn't want or isn't bothered about. We have no desire to create a mini Olympian for our own glory! And yes the bedtime/sleep does concern me. Lots of food for thought...

Gymnastics is a very demanding sport, from a young age. So I'd be led by your daughter - if she's not enthusiastically attending and wanting to go, then perhaps it's time to exit the development squad.

DS is in a developmental team for a different sport bud does just 4 hours a week. That feels a lot to us but he loves it and never ever complains about going, even though it means a late night on a friday and early start on a Saturday.

My son plays football 4 times a week at the moment but he is 9. One of my serious concerns about a lot of children's sport is the focus far too young on being competitive and winning ...rather than fun and play which essentially is what childhood should be about.

As others have said...kida need time to be kids...to scoot about play with dolls
..play imaginary games witj friends.

Isn't it better she sees gymnastics as enjoyable rather than learns at this young age that it's just about winning and meeting adult expectations.
However you may feel differently and think she could have a professional career ahead of her.

I think the comments about 'absolutely no way it being suitable for a 6 year old' have obviously not gone through the gymnastics (or competitive sports in any form)

Not every child gets an opportunity to train in a squad and excel at a sport. Children can do rec for 5 years and still won't meet the 'competitive criteria'. When your child is faced with this choice, you allow them to lead and go off what they are like as an individual. Also; those teenagers training high hours as a teen will be seen under gifted and talented, the same way as footballers in a national prep squad are looked at.

Comments about 'what children should be doing' at the age of 6 are so textbook and do not take into account the differences amongst them. For example, my DD only needs approx 8 hours sleep a night. She goes to sleep at 10pm on a school night. This is clearly horrifying to some of the posters but realisation needs to be that every single child is different.

I think OP needs to come to own conclusion- if youDD is resilient, committed and loves gymnastics with all her heart she will cope. If not go with her and try- worst case scenario is she drops her hours, it doesn't have to be a lifelong commitment

Ex child gymnast here.
I was training 4 hours a night Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays as well as 3 hours on a Saturday. We were weighed every session, stretched to the point of tears, told to limit our food intake so we wouldn't gain weight and I was slapped round the leg by the coach because it was not straight enough at the end of a routine. Parents need to be aware. Yes this went on a long time ago but am sure some coaches still practice the same methods. Both my DDs have showed no interest in gymnastics thankfully.

Yes, I do think it’s extremely important to choose your club carefully, because I’m sure there are still ‘bad apple’ coaches. Sadly that is not a phenomenon limited to gymnastics though - I’ve heard also of bullying and forced weigh ins in swimming, football, dance…

I wouldn’t have put DD to gymnastics if she hadn’t asked to go (it just wasn’t on my radar) and when she got asked to join the squad I was a bit nervous because of the sport’s bad rep.

However, her club a) has a completely open policy (I could watch all her training sessions if I wanted); b) definitely doesn’t have a weird weight thing going on (for example… at one session I was watching, the head coach was making pancakes for the most elite gymnasts in the kitchen); c) has always been very open about the level of commitment required, and that it’s not for every child or indeed every family, and that if a child decides they want to drop back to recreational or stay at the level they’re at then they are most welcome to do so. There are also a lot of parents who trained at the club themselves and have now put their kids there.

All in all, so far it’s been very positive for her, and the hours actually haven’t been a big issue at all. But I wouldn’t want her doing that many hours with a coach that I wasn’t absolutely sure had DD’s best interests at heart. (I love her coach. She’s incredibly caring and protective of all the girls.)

I also completely agree with rainbow234 that every child is different and that when your child is really passionate about something, it’s an absolute joy that they can devote so much time to it.

@WhenTheNightFalls DD (who has given up now), just 3 yrs ago, had coaches sit on her shoulders and put their full weight on her when doing splits to get her lower. She showed promise in bars, and would come back with bleeding hands after a 6hr holiday session - then expected to do the same the following day with red raw hands. When I asked her coach what sort of gloves/wrist protector things I should get her to protect her tiny hands, I was told she ‘wasn’t ready’ for gloves as she needed to toughen up her hands. That was pretty much when we called time on it.

We too got caught up in the gradual increasing of hours at gym thing. Its brutal. And its normalised as you chat to other mums at gym and everyone lives in fear of "losing their place."

If I could go back I absolutely would do differently. There are other gyms where they have squads that do teamgym or lower level competitions. Also see trampolining clubs - generally less hours.

I have a child doing tramp and at 10yo we still wouldn't be going to 9.30!

My daughter is in a development squad but for trampolining, she's 8 next month and does 10.5 hours a week over 4 days. She LOVES it, but if she ever said she didn't want to go I wouldn't make her. She has friends there and as they see each other so often she's really happy there.

That being said, she finishes at 6pm so no late nights, and that is what sways me in your post.

I've sat and watched many many sessions and I am comfortable that she is under no pressure, they're not worked to breaking point and there are certainly no weigh ins.

She does competitions but she hasn't a competitive bone in her body she just loves it for fun.

OP, I was in exactly the same position with my DD aged 7. I have just moved her from squad back to recreational because I feel the time demands were too much. I also have concerns about injuries and the impact on physical development, not to mention the mental pressure that could come with the training regime and expectations.

British gymnastics also has a poor track record on safeguarding and some of the coaches involved with this scandal are still coaching. www.bbc.com/sport/gymnastics/56203877.amp
I would keep a close eye

It’s normal for gymnastics unfortunately but is a hell of a lot for a 6/7 year old. I think you have to think about what next and when the hours shoot up from 9 to 15 or 20. Unless she has the perfect physique, temperament etc to progress I personally wouldn’t go down the gymnastics route as so much is required of the girls so young.

i used to watch some of the elite girls train at the club my daughter went to for preschool classes. They tended to be taken out of school to prep for big competitions. It can’t have been that regularly but was enough that I recognised them. Their schedule must have been immense and I looked them up and they were no-where the top 10 in their age group. At that point, the chances of making the Olympics are so small you have to wonder if giving up 30 plus hours is worth it when there are other spots you can get to a good level at a later age on fewer hours.

@edwinbear i can’t believe that’s still happening! I remember we had two Russian coaches who were Olympic medal winners and the male coach sat on my back as a 10 year old to get my body flat on the floor. I didn’t realise things like that are still happening, I wouldn’t put my child through what happened to me as a child, and I loved gymnastics… looking back at the conditioning and effort not so much

There is a movement starting in many sports to stop the over training of young kids. Becky Downie has said some bits about it and after lockdown was very vocal about how gymnasts of all ages have been lied to about how they can't ever have time off training as they'll lose their skills as after lockdown when they could all only do home training they've all still been able to maintain their skills.

Just because 6 year olds have always done many hours of sports training doesn't make it right and a 6 year old cannot understand the impact all the training will have on their bodies over the years. I don't know many elite gymnasts who are still competing in their 20s who haven't had multiple operations.

My 7 year old is in a development squad for a different sport but it's only a couple of hours a week. We tell the coaches when they've had a growth spurt and they do easier work for a couple of weeks due to their growing bones and they are advised not to do extra training when still young to protect their bodies. She also does gymnastics but one 45 minute class a week.

If your child is doing sport where you are not present when they train you need to be really vigilant. Sexual abuse still happens, coaches are being found out in many different sports. Also poor nutritional advice, weighing, bullying. Just because a coach seems 'lovely' does not mean anything. I grew up doing athletics in the 90s and it was bloody grim from the inside and parents need to be aware of the risks.

Yup it wasnt that long ago my the 6 year old was in a squad and we signed a contract meaning she couldnt go to friends parties if they clashed with training.. I regret that. We were anxious to even say we were going on holiday!

the 6 year old was in a squad and we signed a contract meaning she couldnt go to friends parties if they clashed with training

Blimey! Again nothing like that at DD’s club.

Bloody hell, that sounds like torture to me.
Dd started her sport when she turned 5. She started with 45 mins before school at the school club and 1hr on a Saturday morning. This gradually increased to 2 hours on the Saturday and 1 hr midweek plus the school club.

When she started secondary school these slowly increased to 3 hrs midweek and 5 hrs on the sat plus gym work (strength, conditioning, fitness) twice a week for an hour.

This left plenty of time for other things- friendships, schoolwork, hobbies, martial arts free time. She would have trained more but we didn't feel it would be healthy.

If that's what gymnastics coaches are promoting, maybe they need to take a long hard look at themselves.

I work within sport and have experience with gymnastics. Most clubs are set up as a business with owner coaches profiting from increased participation - it’s in their interests to encourage parents to up the hours and therefore money. Is a very different model from other sports with volunteer coaches. There are exceptions, but generally this is the set up. I have a pretty negative view of it for this reason, also so many coaches, IME, seem to focus on getting their throughput of gymnasts instead of what’s best for the individual child.
Kids should be experiencing a wide range of activities, I would fear this much would leave no time for other activities, friendships, downtime to play and relax.
My two kids wouldn’t have coped at that age with such late finishes, it will be a long day mid week.
My advice would be to stick with what you think is best for your daughter and a healthy balance for her and not be pressured into over committing her time at such a young age.

Every training session I was literally sat on by a coach and stretched. For example, one sat on my back and lifted both legs up high. Couldn't even walk in a straight line afterwards. No use crying or shouting out. They would just have done it harder.

Why?
so she might end up winning a medal maybe?
it’s ridiculous.
how about those poor Russian ice skaters at the olymipics, all for the glory of Russia.
what a load of shite.
why would you think this is even close to acceptable.

She’s doing it because she thinks it makes you happy.

Just google British gymnastics abuse and you’ll see what you need to be aware of. The difficulty is that a lot of the abuse ramps up from the age of 10. By that stage these kids have already invested so many hours and the gym is their friends and family - which outs pressure on them and parents to overlook poor behaviour from coaches for fear of losing their place in the squad. From there the situation can deteriorate into a very very toxic one. At that stage you feel damned if you do damned if you don’t and it’s impossible to work out what’s for the best.

I think you’ll have to be guided by your DD really on this but please also inform yourself of the issues to be aware of as she gets older. I did gymnastics to a very high level and I wouldn’t do it again given what happened to me and what I witnessed in the sport.

I was a gymnast and I wouldn't recommend it. She's too young for that much commitment and there is too much potential for physical and emotional harm in the sport.