gymnastics training hours too much at age 7?

[frenchconnection]

my daughter has been going to gym lessons since she was 2, they selected her last yr to be on the squad, she now does 8hrs training a week. This includes 2x 2.5hr lessons straight from school and one Sat half day. She is 7, and although she is very talented (they say) she is always tired and already getting behind with reading and homework.

Do you think this is too much for a girl her age? As i know next year they will want to push her up to 12hrs a wk, then prob more..

It is a lot, but I guess it's the amount needed at that level if she wants to compete. Ds1 does gymanstics too, but not at that level (he's only 5!!!), and I know there are children at the gym who do that amount of training, and in the holidays it's 6-8 hours a day. Hard work!!!!

Having said that, it just occurred to me, that from being 7/8 I was doing 30 mins piano, 30 mins flute practice every day, plus a 30min lesson on each every week, plus orchestra on a Sat morning for 2-3 hours, so if you look at it that way, that would be 8-10 hours on music/music practice. I suppose a difference is that it's not 'physically' tiring ( I know ds1 is shattered after 45 min gym session).

If it's something she wants to do, I would say go with it - she only gets the chance once, and let her lead!

It's a lot but I know of younger doing more . 2 1/2 hours after school does sound too long. If it is having an impact on her physically and workwise then perhaps you need to reassess.

she must have a lot of potential though... i suppose, if she could get somewhere with this, it is worth pursuing..

I think you need to consider whether you as a family are willing to put in the commitment to this. Friends ds did this until he was 12. Had to go 3 times per week and again on Sat. Unfortunately he then damaged his knee and took 8 weeks off. By the time the knee was repaired he had decided he didn't want to continue as he realised what he had been missing! (coach was gutted). It did cause problems for the family as he has younger siblings who had to be carted round with him all the time.

Not sure if this answers the question, other than to decide whether she may have a chance of going much further, in which case she probably has to do this much training. I would also look at how far other people in the gym group progress (ie do they represent county/country or drop out at 12/13). The falling behind at school would worry me tbh, but then I'm academic and not sporty

Well my dd is very academic too, so she loves all her work too and would hate to get behind.
A few of the other older girls at the gym represent the south east on their team and 3 of them are training with the Olympic 2012 team in mind. Dd's club is in the top 5 gymnastics clubs in UK so they do very well!!

Does she have any other interests at all? My DS1 gave up a lot to pursue football which has come to not much. Now at age 13 he could potentially be left with nothing. Have seen children as young as this in the local swimming club who cannot or will not carry on with such a commitment when they get to age 12 especially.

Personally I think that's a huge amount of physical training for a 7 year old. At that age I would be concerned that they were pushing her too hard - and for me, if she's permanently tired, and that is affecting her to the point that any other part of her life is suffering, then she's being pushed too hard.

What about the rest of her life? Does she have time for friendships or other interests? Because it would also concern me if she was being expected to train so hard that she had no time for other activities, or time just to be a 7 year old child.

The other question has to be, I suppose, is she happy? Is this what she wants? Where does she see her gymnastics taking her - is she serious about it as a career, or is it just something she enjoys doing for fun? If she just does it for enjoyment then maybe the coaches have to accept that, and back off. If she's serious about it then it's up to you as her parents to control the amount she does - not with regard to raising a champion, but with regard to raising a happy and balanced child.

I think it depends on whether your dd wants to do this much training. My dd is also 7 and dances 3 times a week, she also attends competitions about 6 times a year, at the moment she loves it and always looks forward to going, it was her choice to increase from 2 to 3 lessons a week.

in answer to does she enjoy it - she loves going on a Sat as she hasnt been at school all day. Its the after school sessions that she doesnt really want to go to...yet when she is actually there she is buzzing and grinning, and really loving it.
She just want a rest after school,she says, before having to do 50 sit ups and 50 press ups!

50 press ups seems excessive for a 7 year old! Don't think I would be keen if I had to do that much after school. Could you find another club that still does well but doesn't require such long after school sessions ? The dcs club has longer Saturday squad sessions but as far as I know there are no weekly session longer than 1:15 because they are after school. Still seem to produce south east champions.

Its such a pain taking her there all the time as i have to drag my ds(3) there too, plus i work 3 days a week and have to try and fit it all in, as well as studying for my degree!! Ah well

I see this is a very old thread!

However, I'm genuinely curious for an update from the OP @frenchconnection as I now have a 7 yr old myself in exactly this position!

How did it all work out ? :) Would love to know.