Is 10 yrs old too late to start gymnastics!?

[NameandAddressWitheld56]

My DD is 10 years old.
Watched Gymstars on cbbc.
Now she wants to start training.
I want advice on how to improve her fitness levels and flexibility before she rushes into anything and injures herself.
Where do I start?

Bump?!

Our local gymastics club (Rushmoor) - which we haven’t been to for a few years now - do a recreational class for children aged 8+ and lots of children are teenagers. I’m sure the coaches will be fine if your daughter is new, she will learn basic skills appropriate for her ability to begin with and build up from there. My nine year old has just restarted gym at a school class and she has fitted in with no problem. I would have thought a child of this age could join without having to ‘get fit’ first - does she do a bit of gym on the school field ? I would encourage her, it’s good for her core muscles and help with other sports too.

Yes she should fit fine into an older age group rec class, probably 1 or 2 hours a week. No special training beforehand required - actually I would discourage it. Bluntly, gym coaches will be much better able to know what's a safe exercise for a beginner than you do.

Do manage her expectations so she knows she'll be doing more cartwheels than back somersaults!

Our gym club has casual/rec classes and they would happily take a 10 yr old beginner. Other gym clubs locally are more outwardly competitive and may make her feel uncomfortable so it's worth asking around. Our club balances nicely the children parents who want to compete with children who want to have some fun and maybe work through the badges.

I'm always in favour of children trying whatever sport they fancy, my personal rule is that if they start they need to give it a good go (which is usually a term or so).

I agree that it's worth setting her expectations before hand, it is sort of easier if you begin younger as your fear
/self consciousness can hold you back and you have less of that at 4 than 10. It's not insurmountable though, particularly if she has a good core.

I also wouldn't start with her, you can over extend muscles/ make it quite boring because it's quite dependent on kit. If she gets really into it then a home beam is a nice bit of kit but by no means essential.

Yep, our gym centre also have classes for older beginners. It's easier to get into the older classes too, there's a massive waiting list for 5 yr old beginners.