If you, like most parents, are hoping for your child to thrive at their extracurriculars, it is vital to understand precisely what makes for the best competitive athlete. While some parents might be looking for a sign to start their daughter in gymnastics, others might be looking for confirmation that their daughter, who is already in the sport, is competitive.
It can be tricky as parents to try and judge these things for ourselves as we often favor and give bias to our children. This guide is meant to help parents of your children decide if their daughter might be a good athlete and also help parents of current gymnasts determine if their daughter is good at gymnastics.
Height
The first myth that we need to get out of the way is that all gymnasts are short. While many Olympic-level athletes are considered shorter than the average female, plenty of professional gymnasts are tall.
Alicke Antonia is a German Gymnast who competed in the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 and is 5’8”. The current average height of an elite female gymnast is only about 4’9” as of 2016. Elite gymnasts are short because it is easier for them to rotate in the air. After all, they have a lower moment of inertia.
Although the average height is getting shorter for the female athlete, there is no reason to keep your daughter out of gymnastics if she is tall. It is difficult to know exactly how tall a young child will be, and even if they become tall, there are dozens of exceptional gymnasts that are over 5’5,” and your daughter could be one of them!
The best thing that you can do if they are young is to encourage them and help them get as much training as possible so that they are equipped to be strong athletes no matter their height.
Abilities Outside of the Gym
Moving on to how to tell if your young daughter might be good at gymnastics, it is essential to note what types of activities they are good at in their everyday lives.
Signs that your daughter will be good at gymnastics are things such as enjoying climbing trees, having increased coordination for their age or in comparison to their peers, and having high energy levels.
Young children who display these traits will likely be good at gymnastics. If your daughter is uncoordinated or seems to lack balance, it may take extra time and practice to become exceptional at gymnastics.
Personality
Another sign that your daughter might be good at gymnastics is a competitive, determined personality. If your daughter is exceptionally competitive and seems to enjoy competing against her peers, that drive will aid her in a gymnastics career.
Determination is another key attribute of a good gymnast. Low energy children who do not enjoy fierce competition may not enjoy the atmosphere of the gymnastics world.
When my daughter competed in gymnastics, we learned that she wasn’t the most competitive going against others. However, she has a very strong internal competitiveness. When it was time to learn a new routine, she would practice on her own, over and over and over to perfect it. She wanted to be fully prepared and perfect the routine.
Our on the other hand, our son loves sports (primarily baseball and basketball). However, he doesn’t have the motivation and desire to put the work in to improve. He loves playing in the live games, but he hates practice and doing any sort of drills. We never had to push our daughter to practice, yet we are constantly reminding our son that if he wants to play a sport and be one of the better players, he has to put the work in.
My daughter’s personality made it much easier on my husband and I when it was time for her to practice. We didn’t realize it at the time how easy she made it on us.
If your child has a similar personality as my son’s, it’s important to not harp on them constantly about their lack of motivation to practice. That’s just going to make the problem worse on everyone. Instead, we have learned a few different approaches to help the situation. When we are watching one of his favorite players on TV, we talk about all the hard work they put in “off camera” to get to where they are. We also try to make practicing fun by participating with him. He loves pitching to us and striking us out. He came make us look silly but it makes the whole experience fun and relaxed.
Abilities Inside the Gym
If your daughter is already in gymnastics, there are a variety of attributes and skills that can help you determine if your daughter is good at gymnastics. In young gymnasts, typically around age 5 or 6, there are a number of skills that your daughter should be able to master. Cartwheels, forward and backward rolls, pull over, glide wings, and straight jumps.
These skills are typically taught along with gross motor skills, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance in beginner-level gymnastics classes for 5-6-year-olds. If your child quickly masters these skills, you should consider moving them to an intermediate class that offers handstands, walks on beam, and run to hurdle or advanced class that will teach round off, back handspring, back hip circle handstand on beam, and handstand flat back. If your child is able to master the advanced level skills quickly, they are skilled for their age level.
If your child continues to succeed at the advanced level for their age level and seems to master skills quickly, they likely have a talent for gymnastics. If you believe that your child is exceptional compared to their peers, you should consider moving them to competitive gymnastics.
Competitive gymnastics differs significantly from recreational gymnastics. Recreational gymnastics is to cement the fundamentals of the sport through classes. Athletes in recreational gymnastics practice techniques and learn skills.
Competitive Gymnastics
Competitive gymnastics requires an exceptionally high level of commitment, time, money, and skill. Your gymnast will likely need to try out for a spot on a competitive team and will need to dedicate more time and energy than in the recreational version of the sport. Recreational practices might only happen for a few hours, a few times a week.
Competitive gymnasts often practice for 20 hours or more a week, with the time commitment increasing overtime. With an intense training schedule, your gymnast’s competitive coaches will help your daughter hone new skills and practice for the competition.
Once at competition, your daughter will have to learn a new level of judgment for her gymnastics skills. Judging is based on several factors but will help you determine how well your daughter can compete within the sport. Competitive gymnastics is not for every athlete. While many young gymnasts hope for a chance to compete at the competitive level, your daughter will need to be a top-tier athlete to keep up with her competition.
If your daughter is in recreational gymnastics and one day hopes to be a competitive gymnast, you need to make sure that they are getting the proper training to improve all aspects of their athleticism. It is essential to do research into good coaching and make sure to seek out level advice from a variety of sources.
If the current level of skills is not challenging your daughter, it is critical that you ask your daughter’s coaches to continue to offer her new challenges.
If your daughter is good at gymnastics, she will likely need to advance beyond the traditional scope of what other girls her age are doing. If you are able to, make sure your daughter moves into appropriate age or level categories so that she is being challenged.
If you have a young athlete, it is crucial to focus on their motor skills. If your daughter has trouble balancing or playing on climbing gyms or monkey bars, those are skills that should be worked on immediately. If your gymnast continues to struggle or lack coordination, it might be a sign that competitive gymnastics will not be suitable for your daughter.
At a young age, gymnasts are still learning how to balance and tune their motor skills, and they must be given the proper support in those areas to determine if they are good at gymnastics. If you believe that your daughter might be gifted in gymnastics, the right coaching and practice will help to determine if she is truly good at the sport.
At any age, natural talent must be able to shine through and not be overcast by things such as the typical height of an elite gymnast. If your daughter is good at gymnastics, she will be able to compete for no matter her height. Competitive gymnastics is a good ‘next step’ for any parent looking to hone their daughter’s gymnastics skills and take her to the next level of competition.