Wednesday, March 2, 2011

March Questions and Comments

Please post here.

PS Can you believe it's March already?! :)

26 comments:

  1. Heyo!! Just thought I'd tell you I made my first 7 out of 9 straddle kips yesterday(: and my coach said she wants me to get the highest score on bars at championships!! she said I would've gotten a 9.1..but if I would've straightened my leg on my shoot through I would've gotten a 9.6!!! My cast is OVER horizontal!!!!! And she also said my vault would've gotten a 9.8!!! She said she wishes i could compete handspring vaults!!!(: eeppp!!! and I'm SOOOO much better on beam!!!(:

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  2. That's great!!! Congrats on the kips. Getting a lot more consistent with those, it seems... that's awesome! Always happy to hear about your progress. :)

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  3. thank you(: I'm so happy!! I love this sport soo muchhh!!!! I hope I compete 6 next season instead of 5..but I know that's REALLY hard but shoot for the the Bars(: haha

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  4. hey!! Yesterday at open workout I worked on my front layouts and halfs! and then on bars the head coach of the whole gym watched me make my kip a bunch of times! and now all I have to do is perfect my form! The whole straddle part has straight legs but when i go to the pike that's when i bend my knees and now I try to straighten them i can't make it!!!! any advice?!?! and also yesterday I brought out the floor beam (which has the same material as the actual beam)and I was working back walkover and I'd land with my feet everytime except my hands would go off the beam..and when I tried to keep my hands together I wouldn't be able to land my feet on the beam and/or twist awkwardly to the side...any advice on how to keep my hands on the beam and land my feet on it too? and next week I wanna start working it on actual low beam but I'm really afraid!! any advice on not how to be afraid?

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  5. I do have some advice for the back walkover! It's a very different feeling when the area you have to support yourself is so small. This might sound unrelated but it's not - An important thing to focus on is stretching really tall through your whole body, as if there is a string going from the bottom of your foot through the top of your head and pulling you up towards the ceiling. This is going to help you go directly straight on the lean-back, which should help you land your hands in the right place/position. Watch your hands land if you can. Stay tall throughout the kickover and then watch your first foot come down as well. Another thing to remember is really extending through your shoulders and pushing with your hands as they land. Again, these probably seem unrelated but they do tend to help quite a bit with your issues. Try them out and let me know if you notice a difference!

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  6. Hi! (: I feel like its been a long time since I've been on here. :/ haha, but the website looks awesome! I love the new look. :)
    I just had a quick question on backhandsprings. (: So, we were doing them over the barrel, and on a couple of mine, I only touched the barrel on the opposite side I started a little bit, and right after my hands hit the ground I snapped my legs down. However, my legs were REALLY bent. :/ But besides that, I felt like I basically had it with just a little spotting. (: Do you have any tips on straightening my legs when snapping them down?
    Thanks!!
    -gymnastics4ever

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  7. Hi gymnastics4ever :) Nice to talk to you again! I'm glad you like the new look! I decided it was time for a makeover. :D

    As for the back handsprings, I guess the only advice I could give would be to focus on stretching the whole thing out as much as possible. Also, make sure that you're popping off your hands at the same time as you're snapping your legs down. It'll just take a lot of repetition really focusing on keeping your legs straight before that comes naturally. Good luck!!

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  8. Ok, thanks! (:
    -gymnastics4ever

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  9. hi :) so i have my first level five meet next weekend... i dont have all my skills, but my coach said its fine she just wants me to get use to a level five meet and use it as a practice meet. I'm scratching bars.. my bars are..not doing great! haha. i have my kip.. and they are slowly starting to straighten out. long hang kip, not even close! but my roundoff back
    handspring is getting better, and she said i might be able to compete robhs, and do standing bhs or she'll spot the 2nd bhs. I might have to scratch vault too, since most of the girls still need work on their handstand vaults and its alot for the coach to work on handstands on the actual level four vault since they also have a meet coming up next weekend..:/ Why is it that some days i'm doing everythign right..then the next day i'm like not? i hate being so inconsistant!

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  10. Last meet of the season today(: I'm happy it'll be over..ya know? It gets kinda old after so many meets..but I love the meets(: and then it's level 5 skills(: I've got all of em except RO BHS BHS! I just got my long hang(: lovin gymnastics(: I'm so afraid to try back walkovers on low beam!! cause my friend landed on her head!! anyway! I love gymnastics! Shootin for all 9's today!! (knock on wood)
    -gymnasticsluver

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  11. Hey Callie, good luck at your meet! It'll be good to get one under your belt just to see how it works, even if you can't compete every event. Inconsistency is irritating, but repetition will straighten all that out eventually. :)

    And gymnasticsluver, I hope the meet went well! Training level 5 sills will be awesome!! :D

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  12. heyo!! I got vault: 9.5 bars: 9.2 beam: 9.0 and floor: 8.7!! vault bars and beam are the highest scores I've ever gotten!! floor I was sad about): all around my score was 36.4!! I got 3rd on vault 2nd on bars and 4th on floor and beam!! and 2nd all around out of 9 girls!! I was very happy!! (:

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  13. Hi!

    I had a question about vault lately I've been having a really hard time with it my hands keep landing on the brown part of the vault near the very edge and I don't why!?

    And I have good news I made my kip!! I hoping to get it solid and down packed very soon :)

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  14. Awesome job, gymnasticsluver!! Those are really great scores! You should be proud of yourself. :)

    Lilprincess, it could be a number of things. Keep focusing on really reaching with your hands, as if you're going to land them almost at the far end of the table. Also, work on your heel drive. That should help. Good luck! And great job on your kip!!

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  15. First level meet tommorow, not competing bars..:/ i really am not looking forward to it. i don't like feeling unprepared. i just finished learning the routines like a few weeks ago.. D: but i'm still gunna give it my all and try not to be dissappoint by the results. First time i probably wont place :/ !! also, how do i get over my fear of standing backhandspring? my coach said i could do it all by myself, and even if i did it ugly i would still be okay. and if she standing there, i really DONT have a problem if i do it a few times..but she set it up as a station and i just couldn't make myself go for it. Will do a back walkover on high beam without hesitation but can't do a level three skill onto a cushion matt -.-

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  16. Don't freak out too much, Callie!! It's gonna be a good experience. It's tough feeling unprepared but I think it'll be good for you just to get the feel for how a meet works. Just do your best and ENJOY IT! This is the big time! :) Ugh, and with the back handspring, that's just the way it goes sometimes - I was always that person who had skills 2 levels above me but was afraid of a simple skill, haha. Oh well. You never know if you'll feel like going for it at the meet. You do get a warm up, so maybe you'll surprise yourself! And if not, that's okay too. Again, this is really just for practice, so don't put a lot of pressure on yourself. It'll be fun! :D Have a great time and let me know how it goes!

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  17. it was a tough day! 7.5 on floor... lol i forgot how to listen to my music, so i was super late and didn't hit the beats..and that threw me off for the rest of the floor. fell on dive roll, ( put hands down when i was getting up?) which usually never happens. vault was a disaster too, being as i only vaulted five or six times on the real vault for a couple mins. i missed my feet on the 2nd vault, and had some form issues..got 8.2.. scratched bars! got 9.6 on beam though :) which was nice. highest beam score i've gotten all season. not gunna lie, i was pretty upset after the meet..but it can only improve from here right?

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  18. Callie, that sounds like a pretty solid meet to me! 9.6 on beam?!?! Incredible! And that 8.2 is pretty darn good for only vaulting over the table a few times. Did it feel different than level 4 meets? I think they are held quite differently (at least they used to be) but I'm not entirely sure since I never competed level 4.

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  19. Hi, i dont know if you remember me.. but i'm Christina, i previously posted a comment in youre January " Questions and Comments " section. The situation, if you remember...with my gymnast whom i believe i called jenna is still having problems. Today at practice, jenna was absolutely at her worst today. She cried around four or five times within in hour of starting practice. We were working on backhandspring...( seems to be the trigger?) and she broke down after her 3rd turn..which i ignored, hoping the behavior would past ( as it had on thursday, when she started to get upset during robhs(s) but this time, it did not past. katelyn started doing the backhandsprings by her self, and then after jenna finished her turn, she started crying again! once again, turned my head away and pretended she wasn't crying. This time it worked. After a few turns, jenna then collasped on the floor and hit her hands on the mat. I confronted her and asked her why she was so frustrated...she replied " I don't like being second. Why can't i get this skill? everything else alway comes so easy.." I had a nice little converstation with her, and then told her to go work on jump backs, and continued with the other girls. After 20 minutes, Another girl does her backhandspring by her self. Jenna saw..and she started to cry, uncontrollably. I dont know what to do! It doesn't seem to be for attention, but at the same time what if it is? i dont know what to do, this behavior happens every other practice. How do you comfort a child who's so use to getting things first and being on top, and then when things aren't as easy as they once were for the child? How do you change someone's way of thinking? How do i tell her that just because someone gets a skill before you that doesn't make them any better, that its okay for that to happen...how do i explain to her that this kind of stuff happens? youre not going to be good at EVERYTHING? I'm really at a lost here. I was wondering, if you could make a post on that site you mentioned? chalkbag? or what was it called? LOL, sorry! Not post all this dramatic, but maybe summarize the situation a bit? I would but i'm a bit afraid of the critism..If this is too much, then its fine!

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  20. Christina,

    Here is a link to the question I posted on the Chalkbucket. No replies yet but hopefully someone will have a suggestion for you soon. Keeping my fingers crossed.

    http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/question-answer/32878-coaches-parents-whats-best-way-help-child-who-extreme-perfectionist.html

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  21. Hi :) I had a question about front handsprings. Basially, after your hands are on the ground and your feet are almost over your head, how do you snap them over into a bridge? Whenever I try them on my trampoline, I end up doing something along the lines of a handstand flat-back. How can I get my legs and back used to bending and snapping over?
    Thanks! (:
    -gymnastics4ever

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  22. Hey gymnastics4ever :)

    It's pretty difficult to do front handsprings on a trampoline simply because you can't get a strong shoulder block, which is half of what's gonna get you to your feet. So work on that when you do it on the floor or even on a tumbletrak since it has less give than a regular trampoline. Also, as you start to come over the top of the handspring, your legs should go from a fairly wide split to glued together very quickly - you have to snap them together and think about landing with your feet "under" your body. Get a good hurdle and a lot of power in there and you should be good to go! Hope this helps.

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  23. heyo! I haven't talked to you in a while!! but just though I'd give ya an update on how my life is goinn..I've got my cartwheel on high beam!! My coach gets on me though for not pointing my toes(; and I'm having difficulty on handstands...trying to get up all the way, hold it, and split on top....it scares me..and on bars got my kip consistanly.(: just gotta work on form and connecting my front hip!! On high bar the dismount is good but the long hang kip is difficult..and I don't get when to "tap" on tap swings..it's really confusing...and on vault I'm LOVING handsprings!!! We did em over the table& over mats..and the actual vault I keep bending my arms..but I'm working on it. but on the mats I blocked SO hard I flew...landed...and rolled 2 times..haha! my coach said it looked like I did a tuck!!! hahhaha!! but I got to show all the levels my block(: including the guys(; haha(: and on floor everything is all and well(: DIVE ROLLS ARE MY ENEMY!! I hate dive rolls..punch fronts are so much easier...dive rolls make no sense!! I always flop up like a dying fish!!! front handsprings I sometimes bend my arms :/ i almost have my back extension to handstand...got any advice?? oh and I LOVE FRONT LAYOUTS(: oh! and I have my back tuck on tramp&tumble trak(: yay!! BTW sorry for this EXTREMELY long post..(: thanks!!

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  24. Ok, thanks.(: Maybe I'll go to open gym and try them on the tumble trak.
    And also, do you have any stretched for splits other than just sitting in them? I got to like 6 inches of the ground, and now I'm back up to 12. ): It seems like some days I'm just more flexible than others. It's really irritating, because they're not consistent at all :/
    -gymnastics4ever

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  25. Hi! i appericate what you did very much. All the suggestions were wonderful. I coached jenna tonight, and had a long conversation with them both on the behavior that was being displayed in practice, after practice. I sat down with the mother first and informed her what was going on. Her mother told me her daughter was suffering from alot of emotional problems both at home and with her self, which many of the posters suggested might be the case. Youre suggestion that i read was very helpful, and after the long talk with jenna's mother, jenna was allowed to come and discuss with us what was going on and how to fix it. She stated that she " wanted to be first for once." and that " gymnastics was the only place where she was ever first". Jenna mother also said that her daughter was already involved in counseling, and they are working on these issues as they come. Hopefully, now that we have reconginized the problem(s), dicussed why this behavior, while sometimes understandable and acceptable but constant crying and being disruptive...is simply not, The tantrums will fade away from regularity and become occasional! Thank you so much, Im sorry if i have...bothered you in anyway. Being as i'm very new to coaching, i really have no prior experience with these types of behavioral issues!
    Sincerely, Christina.

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  26. So glad to hear that, Christina... For your sake as well as for Jenna's. Hopefully things will only improve from here! And of course you haven't bothered me, that's what the site is for! I hope you feel welcome to come talk on here as well as on the Chalk Bucket (as you can see, a lot of the CB members are such great people with incredibly helpful insights).

    Gymnasticsluver, you are the best. LOVE your enthusiasm! It seems like you've made a ton of progress! Aren't front layouts fun? :) For the back extension roll, I wrote a short post on that somewhere... Not sure which month it's in but you can use the search bar to try to find it, otherwise I'm sure it's under "Advice and tips."

    Gymnastics4ever - Search for my post on splits. There's this thing called contractions, it's a type of stretching for splits and if you do it every day you'll get your splits pretty quickly and hopefully keep them down. :)

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