Catching up with gymnastics

[applerose01]

Have also posted elsewhere.

DD turned 10 at the end of last year. She’s been training four piece gym for just under a year: prior to that she did a bit of recreational but not much (45mins a week). She was selected for her current gym club’s four piece team after a coach saw her in the rec class. At this point she couldn’t do much beyond very basic moves and had never done bar or beam but we were told she had lots of potential.

She now trains 12hrs a week and loves it.

She had a (serious: apparently all the big name gyms were there) four piece regional comp last week and came mid top 10 county and between 10th and 20th regional in her age group (don’t want to be too outing).

She’s desperate to medal and work her way up through the system. Has she left it too late (the other girls there all seemed to have been doing gym for multiple hrs a week since they were tiny)? Or do her results suggest what she’s doing is working and helping her catch up? I don’t want to raise her hopes!

What does her coach say?

id be nurturing the dream. Focusing on personal best and setting individual goals. The top gymnasts at my DD club were incredible. My DD was mid comp level standard and she won gold and bronze at her first regional comp (the gymnast were all same level). She’s stopped now for a different sport but had some great experiences!

Thanks. Haven’t spoken with them yet. Don’t want to be the pushy Mum…!

Thanks for your experiences: glad she had such a positive time.

Don’t worry about being pushy. If she’s enjoying it, allow her to reach her potential. Let her reach her ceiling - it might be county or club, but it might be the Olympics…

That’s a lovely way of putting it. I guess that asks the question of how to know she’s getting the right training and achieving that potential. Maybe we need more time to see what her trajectory looks like.

Yes, that’s not so obvious if it’s a sport/activity that you don’t have much personal experience of. My dc is on a county pathway in a sport my dh knows much more about.
This is why I think you should let go of worrying about being pushy. If you’re worried about it, you’re not. And if her coaches think she’s good, which she is, they’ll be delighted to talk to you about her and advise you.