3rd Time is the Charm

We were happy.... and now we’re not. So we’re going for lucky number three. Boo will start her new gym on Monday and we’re very excited. She will be joining a team that is training levels 6 and 7 and, though Boo will still be the youngest, there is one girl who is only a month older than Boo in this group, too. The owner is a former UGA Gym Dog and all of the coaches are really great with the kids. They seem to truly love what they do and while they certainly make the girls work, there is a lot of praise to go around, too. I think this is going to be a great fit for Boo.

New Video

Just wanted everyone to know that there is some new video of Boo on You Tube. The video is some practice footage of some of the new skills she is working on now. There is a link to all the You Tube videos at the top right of this blog page. Enjoy!

Front Tucks

Boo has been working on her front handspring-front tuck combination on floor and today she was able to connect it consistently. She’s still doing them on the resi mats but feels confident that she’ll be doing them on the floor soon. She also worked on back walkovers on beam and did several on both the low and medium beams. As a reward, her coach let her jump off the end of the beam into the pit. By the end of practice, Boo was doing front tucks off the beam into the pit and the coach had her preparing to do them onto the resi. And on bars, she worked her clear hips on the high strap bar and was able to push off cleanly and connect the clear hip into a nice tap swing. Go, Boo! She is just rocking these new skills and having so much fun doing it.

Clear Hip!

Boo got her clear hip on bars today! Woo hoo!! And, she connected it to the drop kip for part of the level 6 bars routine! She has decided that she is going for level 6 this fall and her goal is to have all of the level 6 skills plus a giant on bars by July. Her coach must think she can make it, too, because today she gave all the girls the skills requirements for their new levels and Boo’s list is for level 7. Exciting times ahead!

Next Season

I spoke with Boo’s Head Coach today about next season. She basically said it’s up to Boo which level she competes. If she gets all of her skills for level 6, she can compete level 6 for mobility and then do prep-op or level 7 in the spring. If she does level 5 again, “she’ll win.... a lot.” Or she could do level 5 most of the season and do one mobility meet for level 6 toward the end. She could even do prep-op or level 7 next spring as a double season. But, I’m afraid competing three levels back to back like that might be too much for Boo. She is still just 7 years old, after all. Either way, if she gets her skills, she should be able to compete optionals (or prep-op) by next spring. The goal is really to get Boo through the compulsories and on to optionals as quickly as possible.

The coach also said she is “waiting for her to get her press handstand and her cast handstand” so she can do TOPs testing. Boo will start dedicated TOPs training as part of the summer schedule at the end of this month so that should help her. And Boo is really motivated by all of this. She is so excited about TOPs and level 6 that she was planning all kinds of conditioning that she can work on at home to help her. I love seeing her so happy and motivated and excited.