Observation Week- Tumbling

I have very mixed feelings about this years tumbling II-III class. Tiffy likes the class and has a lot of fun with it. However, they've had some problems with teachers this year and so they have changed teachers several times. In addition to that, there are girls on many levels. There are girls in this class who can't even do sommersaults and then there are girls almost doing aerials and backtucks. So, the diversity in skill levels is great.

While I can appreciate the need to practice cartwheels and whatnot, I do NOT like that 1/2 the class is wasted on those when Tiffy realy needs to be working on her backhandsprings and her valdez's. I have tried talking to the teachers, but the response I got was very weak. This especially ticks me off. Sigh. The biggest problem, is that she hsa both valdez's and backhandsprings in her solo's and they are very critical of gymnastic's moves in the dances. If they aren't done properly, they get docked points for doing the move wrong. This of course, is completely stressing Tiff out, which in turn stresses me out a bit too. Like I need more stress in my life. LOL.

Anyway, this week,I got to come into class and really see what they are doing in class, which is fun, but it also really got me to see how much work they need to do on the individual levels and how much they really need a tumble III and IV. Here is Tiffy in the middle of some of her back handsprings. For those, who know the technique of them, you know that your legs should be together and not frogged apart as they are. So, that is one thing she is working on. Another thing is not leaning so far down so that she has more power to spring up.