Success in Gymnastics is Best Measured by Individual Progress
Parent’s need to evaluate their gymnast’s success in the sport by whether they are learning and progressing and are happy in the gym and the sport.  Meet results can be  tainted by inexperienced judging, the presence or absence of other talented competitors at the meet or just the wrong timing for their current individual progress.

Happy is Good
If gymnasts are learning new skills and getting better and they are happy with their coaches and teammates, specific meet success or lack of it is much less relevant.  We are not suggesting that constant losing is a good sign.  Indeed, we believe good positive programs will triumph more often than not, but progress is more important than meet results especially at the lower levels of competition.  Our experience is that our type of positive training programs is difficult to beat.

Don’t Forget the Natural Benefits of Gymnastics
Parents should also learn to be more satisfied by the other benefits that gymnastics brings to their child and look on competitive success just as more icing on the cake.  Gymnasts are invariably among the most strong and fit athletes in their classes at school and among their peers.  There is little doubt that fit athletes are also attractive.

Gymnastics Confidence Translates to Confidence in Daily Life
Gymnastics, as an individual sport, often develops a higher level of confidence than is possible in team sports.  Every single skill gymnasts learn is a personal accomplishment of which they can and are proud and which contributes to their level of confidence.  Most often that confidence built in the gym translates to every are of their lives even to seemingly unrelated areas like public speaking.

Team Sports Don’t Build Confidence as Well
In team sports, athletes can have a great game, but feel bad if their team loses or their team can win but they don’t feel like celebrating because they performed poorly individually.  Only if they hve a great game and their team wins do team sport athletes get to feel good about themselves.

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