Any Advice re: Gymnastics please?

[EvaLongoria]

Hi

DD1 did her first trial at a Rhythmic Gymnastic School last night. She loved it We are supposed to confirm if we wish to start after half term and then buy the uniform and pay all fees.

My only problem is that I am trying to read up on it all and just wondering if it isn't better to do a different type where she can learn other types of disciplines as well.

There is another bigger school in the area which specialises in General & Artistic Gymnastic but have said she could only start the beginning of December. She even herself said that if I buy all her gym things she would not want a lot pf presents (that is how excited she is about doing it).

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons on just concentrating on Rhythmic Gymnastic or maybe start at the bigger school with General & Artistic.

I also have a 2.5 year old who did a trial on Wednesday and not sure whether I should continue taking her (too young) or wait until March when she is 3.

Thanks

Anyone?

My DDs do gymnastics.

Dd1 (9) does artistic gymnastics competitively at 18 hours a week +

DD2 (6) does 6 hrs of artistic gym and 2 hours of rhythmic a week. She competes in artistic and is in development for rhythmic, so will compete at it one day. At what level, has to be decided.

So I can try to answer any questions as best as I can.

When they talk of general gymnastics - this is usually artistic (beam, bars, floor and vault).

There are strengths and weaknesses to both sports. Feel free to pm me any detailed questions you have. I have found that children progress quicker in artistic. My Dd2 can do forward rolls on the beam, learning to do a backward walkover on a sponge beam etc. In rhythmic, she still struggles to throw and catch the rope! However, one of the coaches told me that when they're younger they focus on the flexibility, and the skills come later. The children don't see the progress as quickly in RG, so some do become disheartened by that and give up.

If your DD is picked to compete, a plus to rhythmic is that there are far fewer clubs, so it's easier to get further, but the downside is that you can have to travel miles for comps (Bradford, Walsall, Cardiff, Canterbury), it's not organised regionally like artistic is.

Umm, that's all I can think of for now!

Thanks Lade,

She's only just started but is a very competitive child so I'm sure because she knows that some kids are entering competitions she will try and work towards it eventually.

My main problem is really the club we trialled yesterday only does Rhythmic meaning there is no way of her getting basics in everything and then decide from there what she enjoys most.

The other club has general and artistic but no rhythmic but they both within our area. I'm just not sure whether I should let her do Rhythmic this year and try the other one next year or try and get into that one first in December. Basically does it make a difference her doing rhythmic first. Will she then become "scared" of trying vaults, beams, etc,

At the younger age, there is no reason why she can't do both (assuming both clubs are happy with that). My daughter does both disciplines. There will come a point where she will have to decide between them.

However, gymnasts tend to mature at a younger age in artistic gymnastics compared to rhythmic. RG tends to have a longer life span than AG. So, I guess if you're thinking about competing then you'd probably want to go into artistic first.

But, if that's not your concern, and it is just a fear thing, then I think that is down to personality as much as anything else. Some children have the fear whilst they're still at preschool, whilst I've seen others not start until 7/8 and get put straight into squad because they've got the talent and personality (and that includes no fear).

The skills from RG is very different to AG, so my DD does very different things in her two classes - very little from AG actually seems to 'help' the RG and vice versa (in terms of skills). This is just from a parents' perspective - a coach may well come along soon and say otherwise! All, I see is that my DDs two classes are very different.

Could she try both and see what she prefers?

Thank you Lade for your answer. I've messaged the coach of RG and will call her tomorrow to talk to her before I sign up with them as we have to order uniform by end of the week. Will explain to her and ask her opinion and wait on the other coach to get back to me as well. Competing would be totally up to her and how she get on with it. Good luck to your two girls. I have a younger DD as well who loved her todder session on Wednesday but might wait until she is 3 at Easter before signing her up.
Thanks again. X

I might be biased because I am an artistic coach, but I would say she needs to be starting at the general/artistic club to get a feel for what her strengths and weaknesses are, and from there see what discipline would suit her best.General gymnastics is supposed to include an element of rhythmic stuff anyway.The other club will teach her flexibility, control and balance which are all relevant to rhythmic too
I would be a bit wary as well that they are demanding you commit to buying uniform after only trying one session.

I would go for artistic/general gymnastics first tbh.

I love acro gymnastics and in my admittedly very biased opinion, this is the best of all the disciplines