If you’re parenting a gymnast somewhere between early childhood and the teen years – typically between ages 8 and 14 – there often comes a point where things start to feel… different.
Skills that once looked easy suddenly seem inconsistent. Your child might be more tired, more emotional, more self-conscious, or more frustrated with their body. You might notice new worries about uniforms, being seen, or feeling different to teammates. And quietly, many parents start to wonder whether they’re missing something – or doing something wrong.
You’re not. What you’re seeing is very often a normal part of growth and puberty intersecting with a demanding sport.
This stage can feel confusing because gymnastics doesn’t pause while bodies and brains are changing. Understanding what’s happening – and how to support your child without adding pressure – can make this season feel far steadier for both of you.
What's Actually Happening in the Body
Growth changes coordination before it improves
During childhood and early adolescence, growth rarely happens evenly. Arms and legs can lengthen quickly, centres of mass shift, and proportions change before the brain has fully recalibrated how to control them.
For gymnasts, this can show up as:
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- Skills feeling “off” despite the same effort
- Timing changes on jumps, turns, or landings
- Temporary dips in consistency
This isn’t loss of ability. It’s the body recalibrating.
Strength, flexibility, and fatigue can fluctuate
Growth spurts often come with periods where strength-to-weight ratios feel different. A child who once felt powerful may suddenly feel heavier or less coordinated. Flexibility can also tighten temporarily, and recovery can take longer.
Parents sometimes interpret this as laziness or lack of motivation. In reality, many children are working just as hard – their bodies are simply doing more behind the scenes.
Hormonal changes affect energy and recovery
As puberty approaches, hormonal shifts influence sleep, energy levels, and how the body responds to training load. Some gymnasts feel more tired, need more recovery, or struggle with concentration at times.
This isn’t something to “push through.” It’s something to be understood and managed with care.
What's Changing Psychologically
Increased self-awareness
As children grow, they become more aware of how they look, how they move, and how they compare to others. In a sport with fitted uniforms and visible performance, that awareness can feel magnified.
Emotional sensitivity and confidence swings
Many gymnasts experience:
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- Bigger emotional reactions to mistakes
- Frustration when their body doesn’t respond the way it used to
- Fear appearing around skills that once felt easy
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Confidence during this phase is rarely linear. Good weeks and hard weeks often sit side by side.
Wanting privacy and control
It’s common for gymnasts to want more say over their bodies, clothing, and boundaries as they grow. This isn’t defiance — it’s development.
What Coaches Are Balancing During This Phase
From the outside, it can sometimes look like progress has slowed or decisions don’t make sense. From a coaching perspective, growth phases require careful adjustment.
Coach Insight Moment: “Why We Hold Them Back”
This is a conversation coaches have regularly with each other, but not always with parents.
When coaches hold a gymnast at the same level during a growth spurt, parents sometimes see it as lack of confidence in their child. What parents don’t always realise is that coaches are watching timing windows, spatial awareness, and injury risk patterns – not just skill completion.
Many experienced coaches have watched gymnasts pushed through puberty end up injured, fearful, or burned out by 13 or 14. Meanwhile, the gymnasts who were given time and patience often become the strongest, most confident, and most resilient athletes at 15 and 16.
That’s why coaches sometimes choose to wait – not because they don’t believe in the gymnast, but because they do.
Coaches are often:
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- Prioritising safety while bodies are changing
- Temporarily reducing difficulty to protect technique
- Allowing time for coordination to catch up with growth
- Supporting confidence alongside physical development
Pulling skills back or holding levels steady during growth isn’t a lack of ambition. It’s a long-term protection strategy.
Many experienced coaches will tell you that gymnasts who are supported – rather than rushed – through puberty often emerge stronger, more confident, and more resilient on the other side.
Body Awareness, Clothing, and Feeling Comfortable
This is one of the quieter worries parents often carry, especially with younger gymnasts.
Early body changes and self-consciousness
Some children become aware of body hair, physical differences, or body shape earlier than others. In a fitted leotard, that awareness can feel much bigger – even for very young gymnasts.
It’s not unusual for children under six to express discomfort about being seen, looking different, or wanting more coverage. This doesn’t mean something is wrong. It means they’re noticing their body.
What the rules actually allow
In Australian women’s gymnastics, gymnasts may wear:
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- A leotard
- A unitard (with short or long legs)
- Close-fitting leg coverings – including bike shorts or short-leg pants – worn under or over the leotard, as long as they are the same colour
This applies in competition as well as training. These rules exist so judges can clearly see movement and alignment – not to restrict bodies or enforce a certain look.
Training, filming, and learning environments
In training and learning spaces, clothing choices are often more flexible.
In the Gymnastics Online app, you may see gymnasts wearing leotards, short-leg unitards, or bike shorts. Sometimes this was a filming decision to support camera angles or movement clarity. Other times, it was the gymnast’s choice because that’s what felt most comfortable for her body.
At GO, comfort is always a priority. Feeling safe and comfortable in their body matters far more than how it looks.
Importantly, choosing coverage is not about hiding. It’s about dignity, autonomy, and allowing a child to focus on movement rather than self-consciousness.
There is no expectation – explicit or implied – that gymnasts should remove body hair or change their bodies to belong in the sport.
Voices From the Other Side
Parents and coaches talk about this stage far more often than they realise – usually in private conversations, online forums, or quiet chats on the sidelines. When you look across those shared experiences, some strong patterns emerge.
Many parents describe feeling blindsided. One common reflection is that they weren’t prepared for how suddenly things changed – a child who loved training becoming frustrated or withdrawn almost overnight. Several parents talk about blaming themselves at first, wondering if they’d pushed too hard or missed early signs, before realising that growth itself was the turning point.
Coaches often describe the same phase from the other side. They talk about gymnasts who temporarily lose coordination or consistency, but who also begin to develop something new: strength potential. Coaches frequently observe that after puberty, many girls develop greater muscle mass and improved strength-to-weight ratios, particularly once growth stabilises. This can translate into noticeable gains in power-based events such as vault and floor – not immediately, but over time, with appropriate training and recovery.
Importantly, coaches also emphasise that this isn’t automatic or universal. The gains tend to come when gymnasts are supported through puberty rather than rushed or criticised during it. Those who feel safe, listened to, and physically protected are more likely to stay engaged long enough to access that next phase of development.
Former gymnasts often echo this in hindsight. Many recall feeling frustrated with their bodies during early puberty, only to later recognise that the strength and power they gained afterward became a turning point in their gymnastics – especially if they weren’t burned out or injured along the way.
The Historical Shadow: Why Puberty Still Feels Scary in Gymnastics
If you feel anxious when you notice your gymnast’s body changing, you’re not imagining the weight of that feeling. There’s a reason puberty can feel frightening in gymnastics – and it’s important to name it.
For decades, puberty in gymnastics was treated as something to avoid, delay, or overcome. Young female gymnasts were kept thin, underfed, and deliberately pre-pubescent because coaches and systems believed smaller, lighter bodies could flip and twist more easily.
This wasn’t just misguided. It was harmful. It led to eating disorders, delayed development, lifelong health consequences, and the systemic abuse of young athletes.
And it created a deep cultural association between gymnastics success and staying small – an association that still lingers, even though we know better now.
What we know now
The science is clear. Bodies that are fuelled adequately and allowed to go through natural puberty develop greater strength, power, and resilience. They are less prone to injury. They recover better. And they perform at a higher level for longer.
The sport has evolved to reflect this. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has progressively increased difficulty requirements and introduced more power-based elements into the Code of Points. Modern gymnastics increasingly rewards strength, explosive power, and mature technical execution – qualities that develop after puberty, not before it.
Normalising This Stage
It’s common for gymnasts to experience:
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- Plateaus or temporary regressions
- Emotional ups and downs
- New concerns about their bodies
- A desire for more control or reassurance
None of these predict future success or failure. Puberty is a season, not a verdict.
The most protective factor during this time isn’t training intensity or technical correction – it’s emotional safety. That safety is built through steady, calm relationships, especially at home, where your child feels understood, supported, and not rushed to be anything other than where they are.
Common parent myths – gently reframed
Many parents understandably think:
She had it once, so she should always have it.
If she just tried harder, it would come back.
Fear means she’s not mentally tough.
From a scientific standpoint, none of these are accurate.
Skills are not permanent possessions. Effort cannot override neuromuscular readiness. Fear is often a signal that the system needs time to reorganise, not pressure to push through.
FAQs About Supporting Your Gymnast through Puberty
Should training change during growth and puberty?
Sometimes. Coaches may adjust load, skills, or expectations temporarily. This is normal and protective.
Is it normal for skills to go backwards?
Yes. What looks like regression is often recalibration as the body and brain adjust to growth.
If this is worrying you, we’ve unpacked this in more detail in our article “Skill Regression in Gymnastics“, which explains why it happens and how coaches work through it safely.
Should I talk to my child’s coach about this?
If you’re unsure or worried, a calm, curious conversation can be helpful. Approaching it as a partnership – not a challenge – matters.
What if my child wants to quit during this phase?
Many gymnasts express doubt during growth periods. Listening without panic and removing pressure often helps clarify whether it’s a passing feeling or a deeper need.
How parents can gently help
Supporting a gymnast through growth and puberty isn’t about fixing, managing, or accelerating anything. It’s about staying steady while their body and brain do important work.
Your role isn’t to solve this phase – it’s to be a calm presence within it. When gymnasts feel supported rather than scrutinised, they’re far more likely to come through this season with confidence intact.
You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone
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