What is Recreational Gymnastics and Who is it For?
January 23rd, 2011 | 
Author: Recreational gymnastics is designed for kids that want to learn basic gymnastics skills, stay fit, build strength and flexibility but don’t want to commit to long hours in the gym or partake in competitions.
Children of any age and skill level can participate in a recreational gymnastics program. Most rec gymnastics programs are built around USAG recommendations and standards. USAG require each gymnastics coach and business owner to become members and go through a safety training course and test. This is very important and helps decrease the chance of injury to your child.
Recreational gymnastics programs are usually categorizes by both, age and skill level. Mommy and me class, preschool and kindergarten are all designed for specific ages. Mommy and me class is for children usually 18 months to 3 years old, preschool class is for 3 to 5 year olds and kindergarten class is designed for 5 and 6 year olds. All the rest of the recgymnastics classes are based on gymnastics skills. The classes are arranged as followed: beginner, advance beginner, intermediate, level 1, level 2… so on and so forth. A gymnast must master all the skills in their gymnastics level before they get to move up to the next level.
Recreational gymnasts get to use the floor exercise, balance beam, uneven bars, vault, pit, and trampoline. They also get to use many types of mats that aide in the learning of specific gymnastics skills. There is some equipment in a gymnastics academy that recgymnast do not get to us. They usually don’t get use high bar, strap bar, harnesses, etc.
Most rec gymnasts take gymnastics classes 1 to 2 times a week and each class is usually about an hour long. Every rec class starts with a warm up and usually ends with conditioning.
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Rec gymnastics and USAG gymnastics do have very distict differneces, but I think a combination of both could make a pretty good gymnast. It’s good to have the strict coaching as a younger child to help them learn correct form from the beginning, but as you get older its important to think about form and remeber techniques you were taught as a child in USAG gymnastics.
This helped me alot, I started cheer-nastics at about 5 or 6, and quit. I started gymnastics again at 10, but they were recreational, too. Now I’m twelve and I’m doing gymnastics 2 hours a week, plus the occasional tumbling class which is 2 hours long. I want to get really good, it’s just that my parents don’t want to pay alot, so I guess I won’t be competing.
i dont understand… can rec gymnastics be for teens?? or is it only for little kids?
It can be for all ages!