About a month ago, Avery took a flip flop clinic at gymnastics. It was sooo crowded. They broke the girls up in groups based on their ability. Avery had only played around with a back handspring with her coach JohnO. this summer so she hadn't really worked on the proper technique, etc. I felt so sorry for her b/c she was definitely the smallest girl there and was so shy! She stood back for a good 15-20 minutes while all the other kids did the drills. She was too shy to ask her coach for help and so tiny the other kids pushed her aside. Mark and I started getting irritated so Mark went out on the floor and told the coach to help her. The coach only had to show her one time what to do, then she took off! She's a fast learner. She did all the rotations and at the end of the clinic they had the kids do standing flip flops with the coaches spot. Since Avery had done so well, they moved her up to the highest level of flip flops that needed a spot. She did them really well and although she did need a little spot, I could tell it wouldn't take much to get her to do them on her own.
I really didn't want to spend the money on another flip flop clinic b/c she didn't get enough one on one time with the coach. So I set up a private lesson with Coach JohnO. They aren't cheap but I really wanted him to assess her and see what his opinion was and what he thinks she could do. What amazed me the most of the private was that he had her doing roundoff flip flops, which I thought wouldn't come until much later. After a 30 minute sesson, he came and told me that he could not believe how well she did. He was really impressed! She's so tiny and young, but yet she has incredible form, tight body and great technique. The best part, he said, was that she listens to what he says and executes his critiques. She actually processes what he says and does it. He said she is really close to doing them by herself and that a couple of times she actually did it by herself with only his hand there to catch her if she fell (which she did land on her head, haha). He said if she really enjoys gymnastics he suggested to keep her in that and just set up a couple private lessons with him to work on tumbling. So that's what we will probably do. Avery LOVES gymnastics - mostly the bars. He did say she was good enough to move up to level 1 but that were just working on round offs... and that the girls in there are 12-13 years old. He wasn't sure how Avery would feel about that. I told him we would hold off until she's ready b/c she's already the smallest and youngest in her class now.
I think doing this for Avery will really help her confidence. She's so shy and doesn't realize how good she really is. She was so nervous to go to the private b/c she didn't know if she could do everything the coach asked her. After she went she realized that she could do it all and it came natural to her. I'm not sure why she's so "insecure" about it. I tell her all the time how good she is - you'd think she would have a big head by now. She just likes to be perfect and if she can't do something perfect the first time she doesn't want to do it at all. My goal for her is to get her flip flops to a point where she feels comfortable and confident enough to do them almost by herself. Then once the baby comes I can spot her. After all, I did take gymnastics and coach cheerleading for many years - I DO know how to spot her! I just can't do it while I am pregnant. I think she would enjoy it even more if she was more confident in her ability. I sure am proud of her!
Poor Addy asked me when she could do a private lesson. She is actually way ahead of where Avery was at 4 years old... WAY ahead. The good thing about Addy is that she has incredible strength and isn't shy to try anything. She could care less about being perfect or whether she's going to mess up. However, Addy also doesn't do the techniques perfect or use good form. You could tell her 100 times to land with her feet facing forward and she'll still land backwards then turn forward after she lands. So while I think Addy has tremendous potential, she will have to work more on form than anything else. I don't think she'll ever be scared to try a flip flop though! She already does them at home with Daddy spotting (which he does most of the work, haha!). She'll probably be doing flip flops at a younger age than Avery, but her form won't be as good. So in the end, they will probably end up at the same place ability wise. I told her when she gets her round offs really good and gets close enough to do flip flops with a spot, she'll take private lessons too.
I just saw our bank account deminishing by the minute. With another girl on the way I have a feeling we will be paying a lot of money for all these sports! I'd rather that than have three coach potatoes!
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