A Year To Tumble?!?!

[Julie Heromin]

My daughter is considering taking a year off to focus on tumbling....Any suggestions?

 

[FamousxMindset]

How old is she, and what skill is she working?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[Julie Heromin]

She is 10. She is solid with all level 3 tumbling and combo passes. She has ROHS layout. Working standing tucks, can do hand hand tuck but not perfected. Her gym has placed her on a Y3 team that is very young both in age and experience. She is concerned that she will be held back and won't progress. Just wondering if taking a year to get solid level 4 skills will help or hurt?!?

 

[mollymags]

What level is she stunting at? If she's not already at or beyond level 3 stunting, taking a year off might make her regress in that area while she's progressing in tumbling and that might hold her back again in the future.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[Julie Heromin]

She's a very strong back &/or base (doing self taught prep one mans). She would be ready for level 4 stunting this year. Thinking they held her back because they needed strength and experience (all star cheer x 5 yrs) on this team. Frustrated and just want to do the right thing!!

 

[dawgshow]

I personally wouldn't let my child take a year off because they didn't like the placement. She can still tumble in level appropriate classes, can't she? It sounds like this might be a great year to shine as a leader.

 

[notimeforthat]

I don't think taking a year off to tumble will really accomplish anything? She has level 4 tumbling.
My daughter had level 5 tumbling and was on a youth 2. She still enjoyed her season an was a leader on the team. How does your daughter feel about her team placement? Was there a team she was hoping to make that she didn't?
Having the strength and stamina to successfully hit a 2.30 routine is a lot of what our sport entails and having a year off to tumble will not help with that.
Remember tumbling is only a small part of the score sheet.
good luck!!!

 

[Julie Heromin]

Good points. Here's the "bigger picture". She actually was on this team last year and was looking forward to having another year on this team. She is actually very happy with level 3 for another year. Her issue is.... They moved her whole team up aside from her and one other girl. Then they moved the whole Y2 team up (who all really struggled last season at level 2). The new girls are much younger (most mini age!) and there's a huge gap in maturity. The new girls will be great with time and experience but they aren't quite where my daughter is. She's feeling like there just isn't a good "fit" for her this year. I agree that being a leader is important and that tumbling is only a small part of it but she is just feeling like she's being held back. I absolutely hate to see her talk about taking a break from something that she LOVES!!!

 

[notimeforthat]

I can see how she is frustrated! Does your gym do crossovers? Perhaps some of them that we're moved up could cross down to strengthen the team or your daughter could cross up?
Have you looked into other gyms in the area that may have a better fit team/age wise?

 

[CheerMom69]

If her tumbling is strong, it doesn't make a lot of sense to take time off to tumble?? Most likely she will regress on every other aspect of the scorecard. My daughter has been cheering for over 10 years and we have learned that some years will be better fits (for her specifically) than others. However, after 2 disappointing seasons in a row of feeling like there wasn't a good fit, we just changed gyms. It wasn't an easy decision by any means, but we have never regretted it. Bigger gyms are much more likely to have teams that fit more ages & skill levels and will be less inclined to hold some CP's back for strength. Having said that - smaller gyms have pluses too. We are glad we moved. I would probably first try and talk to the owners/directors of your current gym if you really like it there and want to stay. If your daughter is a solid 4 and can be a 4 elsewhere and her current gym isn't willing to put her there, it just may be best to move on. Sometimes a fresh perspective is the best thing whether you are going small to large or large to small.

 

[Julie Heromin]

I'm not sure I would say she has solid level 4 tumbling....definitely solid level 3 , working on level 4. I really didn't push for a level 4 team because I felt that she just wasn't quite there (shame on me!! LOL!!) I had no way of anticipating what the make up of the team would be after placements. We have looked into other gyms but my CP is fiercely loyal to her gym. We meet with the gym owners tonight. Wish me luck!!!

 

[dawgshow]

How does she feel she's being held back? I'd ask for specific examples (not just a general complaint) and aporia h the coach from that angle.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android || Upgrade Your Account!

 

[cheermommaRN]

I haven't really seen a situation where this has worked out as a positive. Tumbling may get to level 4 over the year but jumps and stunting will remain the same which will make it even harder to find a fit in the future.
It sounds like her coaches are counting on her to help get the younger ones in shape for the next season. Learning leadership is just as important as moving up sometimes. Hope everything works out and you find a good fit for her!

 

[Cheer Dad]

Little late to the party here but I would have CP stick the season out right where she is. At the very least will be a great learning experience for her mentally and give her the opportunity to learn leadership as a senior member on the team.

I also agree with others and do not recommend taking time off to tumble. In my experience doing this rarely results in improvements, often results in other skills regressing and in some cases I have seen tumbling skills regress as the drive to attend tumbling only classes can diminish.

 

[Onfire381]

My daughter is considering taking a year off to focus on tumbling....Any suggestions?

My daughter has taken the year off of All Star this year. She is a level 4/5 stunter and has a standing tuck and a ro/bhs/tuck, but doesn't have a layout. She is 15 and has done All Star for 5 years. She is doing high school cheer this year both sideline and competition and has several girls on her team that are previous All Star cheerleaders with level 4/5 skills. She was burned out mainly because we made the switch last year to a big gym that is an hour commute both ways and with her heavy first year high school work load and the commute time, it was very rough. Between the commute and the 3 hour practices, taking tumbling in addition to that was just too much. They were not allowed to tumble anywhere else and the gym didn't offer tumbling on weekends. So she has focused on tumbling 3 times a week since the season ended and is making real progress, doing layouts on the floor with a spot. I don't know what next year will bring and what decision she will make, but she has said that she didn't want to go back to All Star unless she could be on a level 5 team. For us, taking the year off seems to be the right decision.