7 Year Old Doing Double Backs, Double Fronts and Twisting

One of our basic tenets of the training of young and Compulsory gymnasts is that they train optional level skills and optional progressions. Here are some gyms that are doing it right.

7 Year Old Doing Double Backs into the Pit and Fulls on Tumble Trac

In this video, you see a 7 year old who has obviously been seriously working optional skills and progressions. This base of optional skills will serve as a boost to her entire gymnastics career. And this is the type of training that all young gymnasts should be exposed to. It will be of infinitely greater value to a gymnast’s career than doing nothing but compulsory training ever could. You also see her working TOPs routines, and she obviously been training for TOPs strength and flexibility testing. This is not something just for certain gymnasts, but is the way all gymnasts should be trained because it is the most successful training system.

7 Year Old Learning Double Fronts

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: Make sure any gymnasts first working double fronts, in or out of the pit, always do the skill in an open knee tuck position, so there is no possibility of the gymnast hitting their face/nose on their knees and injuring themselves. Htting your knees on your face and nose cannot only cause sever injuries, but can cause gymnasts to be hesitant in the future in doing those skills.can not only

Level 6’s Working Level 8 Tumbling

These Level 6 gymnasts are successfully working on optional tumbling skills and passes that are what Level 8 gymnasts might be competing. Gymnasts who work two levels above the level they are competing, on average, probably have about a two year head start over gymnasts who work only on their current competition level.

One of the things many coaches and parents of gymnasts do not understand is that gymnasts who train like this will also likely compete much better in Compulsory meets, in spite of practicing Compulsory skills less. When you are training two levels higher, Compulsory competition seems easy and gymnasts are more confident in competitions.