Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Poll: Name One Skill You're Working on Now

Name ONE skill you're working on right now in the gym, and I will in turn provide you with ONE tip for successfully learning that skill. :)

26 comments:

  1. My girls are currently all very close to Upstart (Kip) they're at that point where they almost have it but shoulders aren't rounded enough over the bar or they aren't flicking their wrists enough. What tip could you give them? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Full Twist -

    Hi :) How exciting that your girls are so close to getting their kips! For them I would recommend the "jump up" drill, as we used to call it. Very sophisticated, lol. I'm sure you have seen it before. Place a stack of panel mats or any sort of taller mat underneath the bar - it should not be directly below the bar, but a bit towards the high bar (maybe two feet or so, depending on the height of the gymnast). The girls will place their feet on the mat and hold on to the bar so that they are in a nice hollow position under the bar. They will jump up and pull as hard as they can on their arms so that they come up in a great front support position with their shoulders nice and rounded. Doing this repeatedly will help form their muscle memory. May not help with the wrist flicking but will certainly help with the shoulders. I found this to be quite beneficial when I was learning my kip, and it has helped the gymnasts I have coached!

    Please keep me posted on their progress! Give them some luck for me :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Rick McCharles -

    If only I could help you there. I attempted a kip on parallel bars once. Just once. But it was pretty much a failure :P I think all I can do for ya is direct you to this video...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNUVKrN4ndc
    TheGymPress left a comment on the video that you might find helpful.

    Other than that, I can only wish you luck!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A better fronthandspring, back handspring, kip and hang pullover reverse kip on high bar, dive roll, handstand and handstand side twist off on beam,a better punch front and front layout(: ohh! back extension to handstand step out!

    ReplyDelete
  5. @gymnasticsluver 12 -

    Woah, you're working on a lot of new stuff! That sounds fun. Is there one skill in particular that you would like a tip for?

    ReplyDelete
  6. hahha yes the back extension to handstand step out!! I cant do it on cheese matt!!! Idk why!! its making me mad!!! oh and a kip, dive roll, and fronthandspring? pretty please(:

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh sorry i forgot the 12 at the end!! I type it in and i forgot it!sorry but thats mee!^^
    but if you can plz answer those itd be great(:

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Gymnasticsluver -

    Okay, okay. I will give you a tip for all four skills, but ONLY because you are such a great and active participant on this blog. :)

    Back extension: Do this in a progression. Always make sure you're pushing hard against the ground with your arms straight, but first roll to a push up position and gradually take it a little higher until you can roll into the handstand position.

    Kip: Again, I'm going to stress straight arms. I know you have big goals with gymnastics, and I also know that those coaches who stress technique over immediate completion of a move are the coaches who produce high-scoring gymnasts. So always keep your arms straight and your body tight. Practice your glide by itself until you're very confident with it. Remember, nice hollow position, really reaching with your toes before bringing bringing them to the bar.

    Dive roll: Never forget your arm circle! So many girls forget about this! If you don't have an arm circle you won't be able to get as much power and height as you might like. Really punch off those toes!! Try dive rolling over a mat, and gradually stack more mats for a height challenge; it's a fun activity.

    Front handspring: Big hurdle, lots of power, and then really snap your legs together hard. Arms always at your ears. Get a nice rebound on the landing.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. i knoooow i'm suppose to only do one but i just couldn't pick!!! :* im having trouble casting out of my front hip circle..how do i fix it? and the kip..its getting me mamdmamdmamdmdddd! :* i really want to impress my coach by getting it soon. i THINK i have a good glide ( how do i tell? lol) i get my feet to the bar and i go up a little but i dont get all the way up!!! D:

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi callie :)

    I wish I could watch you doing these skills so I could tell you exactly what's going wrong and what's going right, but I will do my best to advise you anyhow!

    For the kip, you actually may want to try the drill I posted in response to Full Twist. That might help you get the feel for really pulling hard with your arms to a nice hollow in front support. Remember to flick your wrists. Another thing you can do is put a foam ball in your leotard so that it's at your tummy and then try to kip up to so that the bar is below the ball. If you can't use a ball or are worried about your leo stretching out, you can just draw an imaginary line at your tummy or use tape that will easily come off. This is just a helpful reminder to focus on getting your chest up above the bar.

    The front hip circle is a little more difficult because there are various things that could be going wrong. Remember to reach reach reach, really stretching your body forward as you start out. Don't bend your arms and don't pike until your coach tells you to. Piking early is the cause of a lot of problems with front hip circles, and it makes it difficult to get around the bar to a good front support position. Of course, if you can't land in a front support it will be hard to connect a cast out of it.

    Good luck! Please keep me posted and let me know the good news when you get these skills! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. omg!!! thankss(: oh i have an idea for a new post! you could have like names of skills and we have to say what event its on(: haha!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cast to handstand! Been working on it for so long, and it still won't work. Working on both straddle and straight body because I don't find one easier than the other.

    ReplyDelete
  13. @Hawaii_gymnast-

    I feel your pain. I had a lot of trouble with cast handstands when I was learning them. Keep up with your conditioning, of course, because a lot of it has to do with upper body strength. Make sure you're really leaning with your shoulders. You might want to try it with ankle weights on (straight body) and really practice driving your heels with the weights so that when you take the weights off you realize you can get up higher than you thought. Good luck :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Back Handsprings on beam! I can do it fine of the beam expander on high beam, but when ever I even try to do it on the low beam I need spot or my hands miss. Tips?

    ReplyDelete
  15. @GYMNASTin Canada

    Hello :) How are you placing your hands? Are you using the handstand/walkover hand placement or have you transitioned to the back handspring placement? If you have transitioned to a new hand placement, sometimes that's the cause of missing your hands for a while until you get used to it. Keep practicing on the low beam without the expander. If you get used to doing it on the expander then your hands will get spoiled and think they can do whatever they want. Another thing you can pay attention to is how much height you're getting. If you don't get enough height you won't have the time you need to position your hands correctly and watch them land down on the beam. Good luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Uprises,
    I can swing almost all the way up, but I don't get there. I used to have it. My hips are probably less than a foot away from the bar.

    ReplyDelete
  17. @Anonymous

    There are a couple of drills you can do to work on really getting that arm pull and getting your hips up to the bar. Actually, if you read through the post I wrote to FullTwist, you'll see a drill that's perfect for uprises. The other thing is of course getting a strong tap swing before the uprise. Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sole Circle! I can go almost all the way around the bar, but never all the way up to standing. How can I get this skill? (I'm supposed to be competing it in 2 and a half weeks!)
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  19. Back walkover on high beam... I can do it on the practice beam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome!! Big skill. Let me know how it goes.

      Delete
    2. I did it!!!:) Actually I did a while ago but I forgot to say...

      Delete
    3. Congrats!! :D Will you be competing level 6 next season?

      Delete
  20. Do you have any tips for leaps? Pretty please :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Audrey, I responded to this post weeks ago and just now realized it somehow didn't get posted!! Sorry about that! YES, I do have some tips for leaps. Keep your hips square and your front leg always straight (don't bend then straighten like you see some dancers do). Keep your chest up tall, rather than dropping it forward - you want to focus on upward motion. Use your strong leg muscles to get a big push off and POW right into that 180 degree split. Of course it will help to have a good oversplit on the ground.

      Delete