any gymnastic parents could give rec gymnast some advice

[boneyjonesy]

My 7 yo DD has been doing gym 1 hour a week for nearly 3 years.parents are not allowed to watch but they bring home asheet at the end of each block of classes with ticks against what they can do. She is quite clever (in my proud maternal eyes ) she can do forward and backward walkovers, flicks, cartwheels on the beam and somesraults off the end. on the vault handspring vaults, and half on half off vaults and on the bars forwards and backwards hip circles, cast to squat on , straddle shoot and is learning up starts.So far so good.
Last week I had to be in to gym quite a bit for my work for a completely unrelated reason to my DD2. I have come to see why they don't want parents to watch.The rec kids get next to no coaching.They set up the apparatus tell them what to do and that's it.There is virtually no correction.When it was my DDS class she didn't point her toes or bother if her legs were straight or not.She moves like a sack of potatoes compared to the squad girls!!i feel they are moving them on too quickly and not caring if they have correct form and technique instead of concentrating on getting the basics right first.
Is this normal .Do you think I should move her somewhere else? After the summer hols she would be moving up to the gold class ie the top rec class which would then be 2 hours but I am thinking of moving her where they actually care if they get it right!!

Well, I would def move her. I wouldn't be so concerned about not having the right form and doing movements correctly, but I would be very concerned about the lack of supervision on equipment and the fact that an accident could happen. When dd did gym they were ALWAYS supervised on all apparatus.

Also, are you paying for coaching when she'd not actuially getting any? I'd def have a chat and se what they say.

I would be moving her to another club too. DD1 (6) is just about to move to squad at her club and is just starting to learn to do the things your dd can do ie somersaults, cartwheels on the beam etc BUT they have spent the last 3 years of development working on her technique and core strength through conditioning exercises and very basic moves.

I did query why a friends dd at another club was more advanced at the same age and was told that if the basics are not strong and correct (eg round off) then when they try to move to more advanced moves eg tumble combinations, then at best it looks terrible (and lose marks in comp) but in worse case senario can lead to serious injury.

Ds1 (9) is at a rec class at the same club as DD and he is never left un-supervised and does get training by the coaches.

maybe I have given you the wrong impression.there is always a coach supervising them on the apparatus if they are doing anything they are not competent at.But what they do for example on the bar is they have 2 on one bar doing say circle ups/casting , 2 on another bar doing leg lifts and coach spots 2 other gymnasts doing something new.and then they move round.
My issue isn't so much with safety as to do with the total lack of demonstration or correction.

I am an ex assistant gym coach, and I would say there is a limit to how much can be achieved in an hour a week. It's not really enough time to develop the strength and flexibility to perform moves well, nor to perfect the techniques. The classes are really for girls who just want to have fun in their gymnastics.

If your daughter - and you, want to put more time in, and improve, then talk to the club about trying out for one of the squads. It sounds like your daughter has some skill if she can do all the above at 7, and would maybe benefit from extra training.

Entry to squads in normally on a try-out basis, and is dependent on there being a space. This is often a good time of year to do it, as girls naturally move on at this time. Also be prepared for 3-4 sessions a week of up to 3 hours a time, and a huge increase in fees.

.For example the kids were doing splits and thought they were doing it right .But their hips weren't square they were leaning forwars their back legs (if they were straight at all) were turned so their foot was sideways). If they can get down into splits then the coaches should be sorting these things out not just 'oh well done tarquin'

I think they learn skills without having enough strength and flexibility to do them properly so the kids 'work round' it and end up douing things incorrectly.
For competitions I practise with her at home until she remembers to do the moves neatly

That puts it on a slightly different note then....

It sounds like you need to have a word with the coach then and ask why there is no correction. At the very least the children should know about straight legs etc.

I would also caution re the fact thats its only one session you saw - was it the regular coach or someone just covering if they were away? At the level you describe your DD being at she should be able to get on with doing casts and leg lifts without someone standing right by her. I know with our club, practice is something they do while they are waiting for the coach to go through something new with them or give them a hand with a move they are finding difficult.

Also comparing your DD to the squad girls may not be fair - are they older or the same age? If older then they will have had more training and so will be more polished. Or if they are the same age then the chances are that they have been doing several hours training a week for some months at least so will perform the moves better.

I think tbh I would be having a chat with the club to express your concerns and see what they say.

Onehandflapping- Thanks. She doesn't have enough focus to do squad We live too far away from the gym and are too poor!!
I just need to find a happy medium I think between living for gymnastics and babysitting!

I am actually quite impressed with what your dd can do for going to rec gym once a week for an hour at 7yrs of age! My dd is in squad development and I think some of the 7yrs old girls are still struggling in many of the things yours can do (and these girls train 4-7.5 hrs/week).

I would speak to the coach if you are concerned with your dd's training. Also, since it was just that one time you saw the girls train, you might want to go one or two more times to see if that type of training is consistent. No matter what level a child is in, a child should be corrected so that they can do gymnastics properly and not hurt themselves while doing it.