Friday, July 1, 2011

July Questions and Comments

Post here :)

27 comments:

  1. How do i get my tap swings higher? and how do i start casting out of my kips??

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  2. Tap swings - just keep working the hollow, arch, hollow. Make sure you're tapping at the right time and getting a strong tap so you can get high on the upswing.

    Casting - when you come up from your kip you have to really focus on getting your shoulders in front of the bar. That's the main thing with connecting into a cast. The other thing is keeping your feet in front of the bar to get some momentum. Focus on the shoulders for now and you'll figure it out. :)

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  3. hi! soo i practice today and we are starting to work standing BTS the head coach said mine and another girls were really good :) i need to get my bhs on the floor :/ i have it on the trampoline but ugh! ): its so frustrating. floor use to be my strongest, now its my weakest! I have my drop kip on bars and my top half routine is looking goood + i finally am starting to get my kip with straight arms straight with gripss! i really need my ro bhs and standing ...i just idk. i think ill get my ro bhs soon, but my standing is just ugh..im so scared i'll break my neck ):

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  4. I've got faith in you!! You'll get the standing bhs. Trust that you're strong enough to hold your own weight when your hands hit. You know what you're doing. You'll be just fine. :) I'm back from vacation, by the way, so I should be online more now.

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  5. i pulled my hamstring when i was streching my splits..im so upset ): honestly..it feels like as soon as i get back from a freaking injury i get a new one and its so frustrating :/ im so mad right now. i really was looking forward to gymnastics this week, but i guess i won't be able to do any because i have to heal a new freaking injury. first my back, then my wrist, then my stupid hip flexor and now my hamstring. why does this keep happening to me? the little kids stretch without warming up at all, i warmup and i still get injured? ajgdfkgjkhjdlszdl

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  6. Oh no :( I'm sorry. I always felt like I was dealing with continual injuries, too. I guess it's just the nature of the sport. It is very frustrating. Try to think of ways you can keep progressing while you heal (arm work with weights or something like that). Hope it gets better sooner than you think!

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  7. Hi! I am having a really hard time with straight armed anything on uneven bars and its killing my scores! My coaches just now told me I have a problem with keeping my arms straight on bars I'm kinda sunken in with bent elbows. Do you have any tips? Epically on kips and front hip circles?

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  8. Hey lilprincess. You may have just learned the skills with bent arms and held on to the bad habit. It can be a little difficult to get rid of bad habits, but as soon as you establish new muscle memory, you'll be good to go. What I would suggest would be to do your bar routine in very small parts focusing first and foremost on keeping your arms straight. If you don't make it, who cares. At least your arms were straight. Focus on form first. Eventually it will be come easier and your body will understand what you want it to do. Keep working on arm conditioning, as well, cause that helps a ton.

    With the front hip circle, if you practice with straight arms for a while I think you'll find that it's a lot easier to do it with your arms straight rather than bent anyway. Straight arms are actually kind of essential to a good FHC.

    Good luck!

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  9. i did my standing bhs by myself todaay! :)) we warmed up, and we did basics and that includes standing bhs. I did those with a spot, cause i was scared. But i got reallly maad cause everyone else was doing themselves, so after break we went to bars ( where i started free hips and she said they were good!) and then we went to do massages, the girls who didnt wanna do them went to work on different skills. It was me, this other girl, and this other girl lets call her katie. I started working bhs on the cheese wedge, and couldn't make myself go, then i looked over my shoulder and katie was doing them by her self on floor and that pushed me to go, and then i left the cheesewedge and tried them on a matt and katie went before i did, and that pushed me to go and then i went over to the floor and it took me a few minutes, but finally i did them by myself!! i was so happy :)

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  10. Woooohoo, what did I tell you, Callie?!?! I knew you'd get it! That's awesome. Now just do it every day at practice so you can keep it and get used to it :) Maybe next time you won't even need a "Katie" to push you to it :) Congrats!

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  11. haha yeaah! i think im going to work on them at home on my mat so i can go in on monday and do them :x i know, not the best idea buut i really wanna get them confidently so i can show my other coach when i see her xx

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  12. Be careful! I did that too after I got my bhs and I bumped my head. It didn't feel as natural at home. But if you have a mat, hopefully it'll be okay.

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  13. Hi. do you get a deduction if you rebound from your FHS or...idk, land and then fling forward? i have ALOT of power, and sometimes can't really control it :p do you get a deduction for that? is there one?

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  14. There is a deduction if you fling forward and take a big step, because that's not considered a stuck landing. I'm not sure how big of a deduction it is. I would guess around .2, depending on the size of the step? There is no deduction for a controlled rebound. That's just a part of the skill. I suppose if you're going to make an error, too much power isn't the worst one to make, right? I was always the same way. Work on control at practice, but of course the power will serve you well in the future. FHS FT will be easy for you. :)

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  15. Hey Hakuna! Long time no talk! But anyway, i just posted this on CB and you seem to know me best so do you think you could give me your opinion? oh and I got all my skills consistant now (: Including LHK (: and my vault is a lot better since we raised it (: but yeah! thanks <3

    Hey! So I'm a level 5 gymnast, but I have all of the 5 skills plus RO BHS BT on tumble track, BWO on low beam, front tuck, FHS step out FHS, Flyaway, and an okay clear hip, but I told my coach that my wish is to compete level 6 this season, which i told her i was pretty sure i won't be able too...but she told me I might be able to if I continue working my butt off at camp and in practice...my coach says she wants me to talk to the 2 main HC's about competing level 6 this season...but I'm afraid they'll just laugh in my face. But I have some skills the actual level 6's don't have...but my friend who's an optional told me to talk to the coaches sooner rather then later since we're in summer training and that's when we work skills. The thing is I don't know if I should or not... My level 5 skills are good form, good technique and everything. but I really like to be challenged which is what level 6 would be for me. My 2 level 5 coaches say how great i'm doing and that they really want me to talk to the main coaches, but no one has not competed level 5 in the past 5 years. so i don't know what to do..so i guess what i'm asking is..
    1. What would you guys do?
    2. Should I talk to the HC's? If so, when? Now or after I go to more camps and get more 6 skills?
    3. Any advice? haha(:


    Thanks everyone <3

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  16. There is absolutely no harm in letting the HCs know where you stand and what your goals are. Being on the same page as your coaches can only help you. They need to know what you want to do in order to help you get there. If they say they'd prefer you to compete level 5 or at least half a level 5 season, I think you should respect that since they do know best, but I don't see why they wouldn't consider allowing you to compete 6. The only thing I might be concerned about if I were your coach would be the fact that you've just recently perfected a lot of the level 5 skills. But you've made so much progress and it seems like you've already got a good jump on the level 6 skills. I'd talk to your coaches now. The sooner the better.

    It is going to be a TON of work, but I really do think you can do it. The main challenges will probably be the BWO and the BHS BT. You've gotta be fearless and work extra hard, but hey, that's your style anyway. :) Talk to your coaches!! The reason no one "skipped" in the past 5 years is probably because no one asked. Be the person who does. :)

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  17. Hi Hakuna, a few questions!: )

    1. in level five does the kip front hip circle on bars need to be connected?
    2. in level five, on high bar do you have to cast out of the kip, directly into the back hip circle under swing?
    3. Are free hips hard to learn? how long did it take you?

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  18. 1. Yes. I believe the deduction is up to .5 for a pause, but don't quote me on that.

    2. Yes, the kip cast back hip underswing is all connected. Cast has to be 45 degrees, or horizontal to the ground.

    3. Free hips take a lot of upper body strength, and it takes a while to figure out the timing on when to open your shoulder angle. If you have a strap bar, that's a really helpful tool, but I learned on a set. Can't remember how long it took me exactly. I think I technically got it pretty quickly within the first day, but I improved it a lot from there. It probably wasn't competition ready for a few weeks. It's not a terribly difficult skill to learn because you can learn it in steps (starting with a back hip circle to push off and then just trying to push off earlier and earlier until you can drop under the bar without touching your hips at all). It can be a little frustrating at first but it became one of my favorite skills in level 6 and 7. Pretty sure I did a post on it somewhere. Search "clear hip circle" in the blog search bar under the Nadia quote if you're interested. :)

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  19. OMG. im so annoyed. This girl who just joined team from prep op is calling herself a level six and she can't even do a kip with straight arms, front hip circle, a clean standing bhs, can't do a squat on or long hang kip or any of the basics and she expects to compete level six this fall. The coaches even treat her like a level six! im like..wow. She gets to do free hips, while im stuck doing stupid front hips circles cast to horizontal that i've been able to do since freakiiiing october when she can't even get her stupid cast past horizontal in general and im almost going to handstand.. its so frustrating. Like really now? lol. my bars are 100 percent cleaner then hers, and im starting bwos on high beam and she still doing them on low. All that she has going for her is her stupid ro bhs bt with a spot. ugh..sorry :p im so frustrated right now. on top of that i had to miss tumblin today because of my stupid weak wrists and my failled attempts to start standing bhs on low beam..ugh ): I really want to go to level six in dec/febuary and its soo frustrating and annoying. -.- :p

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  20. Hey Hakuna! I had a question and some good news :)

    SO I've been reading around a bit and I been wondering does recreational gymnastics get you behind? I mean the gym I go is really good and we have great coaches one use to coach the Chinese team (not sure if it was the Olympic team or national or whatever)but he quit coaching last year. Our head coach was a national champ or something. But anyway! I mean our gym isn't exactly like USAG (our routines are way easier and its more relaxed.) But everyone seems like their pretty much on the right track. Although are routines are easier even the optional routines (out of choice from our optional girl). If you ask the coaches will let you do up training. so you can have the same difficulty as a USAG routine (If they think your ready for it). I'm a level 5 but if I do work hard enough my coaches will let me skip to optional 4 (level 9). If I can get all the skills of 6,7,and 8 and show I'm capable of doing them constantly. But I was just wondering if even after reading what my gym sounds like can recreational gymnastics get you behind?

    And I have fantastic news I made 2 straight arms kips with a light spot on my back and then one without a spot!!!!! I'm really happy because I thought I never be able to get them!!!! :) and I made a couple squat on's the lower set of bars :D

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  21. @Callie - Ugh, that IS annoying. Super annoying. Just try to let it go and focus on your own progress. Your routines will always be cleaner. :)

    @Lilprincess - I've never really heard of a gym like yours before. Really it depends on a few things, two of which you've already addressed (the abilities of the coaches and your own determination). The other thing is just how much time you spend in the gym. Typical USAG team schedule would be anywhere from 9 to 25 hours per week. Also the amount of conditioning you do is super important. There really is no getting "behind," though. You can work at whatever pace you work best at. :) It takes years for even a USAG student to get to level 9, so don't get discouraged.

    Congrats on your straight armed kips!!! They are a bit of a roadblock for so many people. Glad you could get it! And the squat on as well, that's exciting! Good work. :)

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  22. Yeah were defiantly different from alot of gym its a organization called C.A.R.A gymnastics. I think but not sure if its like high school gymnastics. But we practice 2 days a week for 2 hours. In the summer we do 3 days for 2 hours. I guess the number of days are numbered because they don't want gymnastics to take over our life (epically for all the public schoolers). Our conditioning is at the end of practice for about 20 minutes maybe depends on how much time is left. But we usually end up conditioning through out the entire practice because the team isn't listening or is being lazy. (There really strict on laziness). So usually I just condition on my own at home and practice the safe stuff. I'm glad to know I'm not behind lol hopefully hard work, determination, and staying fearless well take me where I want to go lol. What are the minim requirements for level 9?

    Ps. Thank you!!! I was really excited I got them lol.

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  23. The level 9 requirements are insane. It gets to the point where I can't really give you a list anymore because it's so just like "this number of C skills, this number of B skills," or "flight series, jump series," etc. rather than specifics. This will help you figure it out:

    http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/docs/Women/Rules/J.O.%20Code%20of%20Points/optreqchartappndx7-2009.pdf

    Watch some youtube videos of level 9 routines if you have some spare time. Always fun to watch and will give you a better idea of some of the common skills.

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  24. yay :) i finally did my ROBHS by myself w/o a spot. She just stood next to me :p A few hurt my wrist a little bit, but the others were fine. I couldn't do it if she wasn't standing next to me..but i'll get there :p and i finally did my BWO on high beam all by myself. I started doing them on low, and then i stacked up two 8 inchers, and did them by myself on high, and took away the mats and did it :)) hopefully, as i get more confident on my ROBHS it won't be so hesitant to go all in, and do ro bhs bhs soonish :) Now my level six beam is all set, i just need to get two bar skills and two skills on floor for level six <3

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  25. Good job Callie! So you can do it by yourself, you just need someone to stand there for a little mental support. You should have it all by yourself pretty soon! :) That's exciting!! And awesome job on the BWO!! Huge skill, that's a big deal. You're so close to level 6. It's so funny - I did that same thing with my BHS on beam. I worked on it for MONTHS on the floor beam with panel mats and was so terrified, and then one day out of the blue I just felt ready, stacked up a bunch of 8 inchers under the high beam and took them all down in 20 minutes. We work the same way. :) Congrats on all your accomplishments!

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  26. hahaa i knoww :)) thanks so much! <3 yeah i think i pulled my quad..of course. i woke up this morning and it was so tight and i came home from gym and it hurt likee aaa you know what. :* ughh, so annoying. get over one injury, pops up a new one..can i just be injury free, for you know..maybe a week? lol. it wouuld be a change forr sure! yeah that robhs..lol oh godd, i was soo sure i had ittt. but todaaay gdhhf but i did do one at the end of tumbling by myself. :) i still have my BWO though on high, actually i did bwo bwo on high at the end of beam. ( course everything has to be at the end lol.) ugh, i really wanna go to thursday practice, but i think i might have to sit out .. :/

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  27. Ugh, Callie! Isn't that just the way it goes? It's impossible to be injury free. Take it easy and hopefully it'll feel better soon.

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