Gymnastics - are rec classes a waste of time?

[donniedarko89]

DD (5) has been attending gymnastics classes for a year. She's in the recreational group for younger kids, with 1hr of classes a week. She seems to be enjoying it, however I am not sure how much she's getting out of the classes (eg she learnt to do a proper cartwheel while on holiday by herself).

My impression is that the club seems to be completely focused on the squad girls. Is this always the case? Do children learn proper gymnastics in rec or is it just a glorified soft play? I am not necessarily keen for DD to join the advanced group, but at the same time I don't want to be wasting money (it's quite expensive!)

Everybody has to start somewhere and for almost all children recreation is the norm before progressing onwards and upwards. If they’re not teaching her basic skills such as a cartwheel though then I’d look at moving gym.

I don't think it's a waste of time if she enjoys it. My kids do gymnastics at a club that is pretty much all recreational, which is great because they focus on this. My DD has attended for nearly 2 years and made massive improvements plus has had the fun of friendly competitions and shows. It is reasonably priced. I didn't want her somewhere where she might be pressured to do hours a week. Gyms do vary massively though and some seem to only be interested in their top athletes, which can be a bit frustrating.

My 4 year old goes to gymnastics and I blow hot and cold with it. There is one instructor who is lovely and really invested in the "juniors" and did all sorts of interesting stuff to build on what they learnt each week.
However the other instructors just don't seem bothered and it feels like they just take the money and make them do a few roly-polys.

@BendingSpoons that's exactly what we are missing at our club, the friendly shows and celebration of the rec kids. In the spring the advanced groups were doing one competition a week, but the only rec event for the whole year was cancelled for unknown reasons.

That's a shame. Our club does a spring friendly competition, a summer show and in the winter does a personal challenge where each child gets a card with 10 skills to master based on their current level. They have managed to get the balance of striving to improve without being over competitive or needing huge commitment. (Nothing wrong with these if that's what is right for your child!). Are there any other clubs you could investigate? Although your DD might not mind if she is having fun.

I felt like our recreational classes were just there purely to fund the squad. Both my DC did enjoy it but they have actually mastered their cartwheels and splits after stopping lessons. The efforts and achievements of the squad were regularly promoted but nothing for the recreational students. Since Covid, the whole operation also became behind closed doors with parents only able to see what happened once each term. I’m not one to watch my child’s every movement but the fact that I can’t be present (despite a massive viewing gallery) all does make me wonder why

I never wanted my DC to be squad gymnasts but I didn’t feel it was too much to expect them to teach the cartwheels/handstands/splits to the recreational ones rather than just repeat the same thing.

My DD did rec classes for a few years. I stopped as it was glorified soft play. She moved groups a couple of times. It was hard to move as she wasn’t good enough for the squads but eventually found a club where it’s on for three hours a week and the kids take part in mini competitions (just run by the club itself) but at least they are aiming towards something.

DD loves it and it helps keep her fit but if she was interested in a team sport, lane swimming or athletics, I’d encourage her to do them instead.

So yes one hour of rec gymnastics is useless in terms of learning but the social aspect might be worth it.

My dd did recreational gymnastics for a few months. At the same time she was competing in acrobatics and dance at a higher national level. At gym she enjoyed it but learnt nothing. I had a hard time deciding what to do because I was happy for her to have a hobby just for enjoyment but when paying and spending time taking her there I did expect her to learn something.

I signed her up to a new gymnastics club who had a really good reputation and long waiting list. When she was given a place, I explained the above and that she would be better to start in the older rec classes and luckily they agreed. They probably thought I was one of those mums but I had learnt my lesson. After two lessons she was asked to join the squad and now trains professionally. From what I have seen the rec classes are very basic and just for fun.

The squad do train lots and there is a focus on them. Same with DDs dance and acrobatics. Rec seems to be a money maker and squad is where the teachers want to focus as sad as that is. I think if your dc were going to make the squad you would know by now. That's not being rude, my older dd was never going to make it and that's fine. Dc have different strengths. If you're happy to pay for the fun but not much learning then it's ok but don't expect much from this. That said any exercise is worth it.

It's such a shame it is like that at many clubs. My DD is now 8 and has been doing gymnastics for almost 2 years. She started in a foundation class and moved to a development class after a few months (still only 1 hour per week). She has learnt how to do a cartwheel, handstand, back bend kickover, going from standing to bridge (my terminology isn't great!), push up and roll over the bar, somersault off the vault, amongst others. She is working on other skills that she hasn't yet fully mastered including forward rolls and cartwheels on the beam, backwards chin up on the bar, handstand forward roll off the vault, handspring. She absolutely loves it and will relentlessly practise certain things at home e.g. cartwheel, then back bend walkover etc. The club have display teams but not really a squad but I'm happy with that. Her friend has been in a squad elsewhere since about 5 or 6 and does about 9 hours a week, which would not be right for us even if DD could have got in.

My 5yo started in May. The show was in July. He had the time of his life doing his show performance on stage with a bunch of 3-5yos. The teachers worked really hard to put together a lovely performance considering most of them had only just started and had only really mastered forward rolls.

I definitely think there is a market for more of these recreational focused clubs. It's a great sport for exercise, flexibility and working hard to achieve your goals. It's disappointing when recreational classes almost become an opportunity to spot the few with potential and the rest are left to stagnate. I resisted DD joining for quite a while because of my concerns but found our club and now happy with it. We are also allowed to drop off or stay and watch.

She's 5. It's an hour a week that she's getting exercise and having fun, does it matter if she's making progress?

My 6yo goes to a rec class an hour a week. She can just about do a cartwheel and is getting a little more flexible I think, but mainly she loves it and comes out bright red, sweaty and grinning. It's been a really positive experience for her.

She has a friend who's in the advanced class and was asked to join the squad - I wouldn't mind the advanced class if DD had the talent (she doesn't ) but the squad seems far too serious for this age, and indeed her friend's parents decided she was too young for it.

My DD has been doing rec classes for a couple of year. I pay for it because she loves it, and I think it’s good for fitness, she’s always hot and sweaty at the end. She also does a gymnastics after school club.

However she has learned nothing. Two years ago, before she started she could do a cartwheel and a bridge, that’s pretty much all she can do now. She can’t get herself up from bridge, can’t do a walkover, she can just about do a round off but yeah, she’s not much better than when she started. If I was her, I’d be getting frustrated but she’s happy and has no interest in the competitions, we took to one once but there was a lot of waiting around and unsurprisingly she didn’t score very high.

Like I said though, she loves it, so I keep paying.

Thank you everyone, it seems to be a common experience then.

Is there any reason why gymnastics classes couldn't be structured like swimming classes for example? Different stages for everyone and a special pathway for the competitive swimmers later on. Each kid learns at the appropriate level and they actually get something out of the classes.

To be honest I found that was the case for my dd at recreational classes linked to a competitive club. I moved her after two years of learning same stuff (nothing more than forwards / backwards roll) to my local
leisure centre and it was much better. There are a group of kids who can learn more skills even if they aren’t going to be on a squad, but I felt got neglected.

Also if it’s tricks she’s keen on then I’ve found acro dance and cheerleading to be very good and much more inclusive!

My DD went to a club which wasn't for serious gymnasts. They made this clear and it was evident from the facilities as they did it in various village halls rather than a gym. It was great. Two competitions a year which was just for people who attended the different venues (so against more than just those you trained with each week) and she learned to do various tumbles and springs and things. They were also good at identifying those who had potential and suggesting that they might want to try something more serious.

My kid goes and has done for 4 years. Biggest waste of time and money if measured by how much she's progressing which is ZERO. But she enjoys it and wants to go so what can I do? I feel like it's a money maker for the team they actually care about.

Your daughter has learned how to cartwheel in her 1 hour class and built up her strength to be able to achieve it through practising at home

Can’t speak for the OP but certainly wasn’t the case for my children. They spent most of their class repeating the same forwards/backwards rolls and then waiting their turn when it got to using any bigger equipment. I was also unimpressed that the club would intentionally run right through most holidays to generate income and then put on half the number of instructors in those classes so the groups were even larger than term time.

I came away feeling it was all one big con. DC1 loves dance and started acro classes a year after stopping gymnastics - they are taught so much more despite having practically no equipment.

Mixed views on this. On the one hand I think doing something that is fun and provides a bit of exercise isn’t bad as an end in and of itself. But…. Some rec classes pack them in with limited actual tuition. My daughter was getting fed up with the format of hers- at least half the time was general games, standing around and a bit of stretching where she’d just be told to do a headstand with very little teaching re how to do it. She liked the bit of the class that were more equipment focused but the lessons were too busy and lots of waiting around. She’s since moved to another rec class that is significantly better. She’s kept busy the entire time and is actually being taught. You can really see the improvement so I don’t think all rec classes are the same. she is never going to be a natural gymnast so don’t need squad style training but I want her to feel like she’s actually improving. My other child is naturally much better at it and could possibly benefit from a more competitive club but I’m not committed enough to do the hours needed.

A good gym club will be using recreational gym classes to spot those who will move onto squad.

But the ref should also have comps and friendlies and shows too.

If your rec squad is missing that I'd look to move to a different gym club.

Sport should be fluid. Children should move up and across dependent on their ability and availability to commit to training at all times. A club that picks their potentials and ignores the rest and never gives them a a chance isn't a decent environment for children to be around.

I've been a gymnastics mum for 10 years and never heard the term "rec classes" so not sure what I am missing there!
Is it British Gymnastics club and do they follow the badges system? If so then yes she will be on course to learn in an established manner. A lot of the first two years is teaching landings so even if they aren't doing that much whatever they do will always be about balance at the end to give them foundations for later.

Rec classes (recreational classes) are run by clubs with different pathways normally. So various levels of competition squads. Development / intermediate levels and then often lots of rec classes to help finance the squads they care more about (in a bad club!)

My DD joined way back when she was about 7 as she was desperate to learn a cartwheel. We tried a few different places and it really felt like the only girls that got anything out of them were the ones that already knew the basics like cartwheel etc. It really wasn't enough teachers and lots of the girls were just showing off.

Back in my day the recreational classes worked towards the BAGA gymnastics badges. Do they not have anything like this any more?

In our case it was a British Gymnastics Club and did follow the badges up until BG changed the system. DC1 had worked their way upto badge 5 and was working on 4. They then decided to do their own badge system when BG changed and DC1 was awarded their entry level badge alongside the new gymnasts who were 4/5 years old and had just joined. That was the final straw where it was crystal clear they had no interest in progress. Until then, I had also maintained the view that if they enjoy it and are keeping fit, it’s worth it.