Support Your Local Gym

First, make sure you are fully participating and paying for the summer program in your own gym. Summer is often a very slow time in the gym business and they can use the business. Before you decide to spend money outside of your own gym, you should seriously consider spending it in your own gym first.

No Coach is Going to Work Harder Than Your Own

No camp coach is going to be more interested and dedicated to training your gymnast than your own coaches in your own gym. Coaches at gymnastics camps are usually either the coach of some other team or high school or college gymnasts. They have their own gymnasts or gymnastics career to think about that does not directly involve your child.

A Week at Camp Doesn't a Gymnast Make

It is possible that a new coaching perspective can sometimes bump forward a gymnast's progress, but one week or so is not likely to have lasting training value. In essence, your gymnasts progress is going to depend on the training they receive from your own coaches on a year round basis, not a one week at a commercial summer camp.

Camps Let Gymnasts See Where They Really Stand

Gymnastics camps can provide some things that are not available at your gym. Commercial camps draw a large number and a wide variety of gymnasts from all over the country. Gymnasts can get a feeling for where they stand in the sport in comparison to all the gymnasts at the camp. This can be an enlightening experience.

Gymnastics Star Gazing

Commercial gymnastic camps often have nationally known gymnasts and coaches visit which can be inspirational and educational. Commercial gymnastics camps have all the latest training equipment, which may or may not be available in your own gym.

Gymnastics Camp Gives Your Gymnast the Summer Camp Experience

The other thing that commercial gymnastic provide is a camp experience including the social aspects of going to summer camp, meeting new people and making new friends and participating in traditional camp activities.

Camp is Camp

So is it worth it? Send your gymnast to a commercial gymnastics camp if you have already supported your own gym's summer training programs. Send them to a commercial summer camp to have a typical summer camp social experience. If that is your goal, then your gymnast will certainly be able to have a positive gymnastics summer camp experience.