Gymnastics Coaches...help with 2 skills pls

[frostedpink]

My daughter is having trouble passing her current level because of two skills. I'm looking for any pointers and tips you can provide!!

1. The pullover on bars. She can do the actual pullover part (most of the time), but then she just stops and can't fully finish the skill by pulling up into a support. So basically her tummy rests on the bar and she can't 'sit up' and finish unless i hold her feet down. Any ideas?? We've been struggling with this one for a long time.

2. The bridge kickover. I think her main obstacle is shoulder flexibility, but she also doesn't seem to kick off very hard with her non-dominant leg. So she basically ends up collapsing on the ground. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[deedeetoo]

I'm not a coach but I had a daughter do gymnastics through level 7 so I know a little. The first item you are describing sounds like a kip. Learning a kip is hard. They need to be strong enough and also coordinate the movements right but its one of those things that once you have it, you have it. No advice but to keep practicing. The sit up should come from the momentum that she has as she swings around. As for the bridge kickover, it is abdominal strength that you need. You don't need a big kick off if your stomach muscles are strong enough to pull you over.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

For the pullover she needs to work on back strength. Have he lay in her stomach on the bed and hang her torso over the side. Hold her legs down and have her lift up her torso over and over. It is the same motion used at the end of the pullover.

If the kick over is a problem for only one leg she needs to strengthen the quad in that leg. Not all gyms are good about training both sides equally.

 

[frostedpink]

Thank you both!!

It's not a kip, it's a pullover. So basically a somersault over the bar up to a support. It's a very basic skill but she has major trouble with that last part.

 

[JaneBanks]

I would check out Chalkbucket.com. It is a gym message board and coaches are very active and very helpful!

 

[Mommee]

I haven't coached in years, but fwiw here's my 2 cents. For the pullover, make sure she isn't arching her back. The instinct is to use the back to straighten up, but in reality that can lock her lower back in place and then her legs can't go down. Also, make sure she's rotating her hands around the bar fully so she can push down on the bar from the top as she's straightening up. For practice you could have her lay over the bar on her tummy loosely with the legs already down and straighten up from there. If her legs raise as she's doing this, she's trying to use her back.
For the kickover, have her start from something high under her feet-huge stack of mats, or even a bed. There will be less momentum and strength needed. Once she can easily kick over from that height, lower it slightly. Eventually she'll be able to do it from the floor.

 

[frostedpink]

JaneBanks - I will join and post the question there too, thanks!

Mommee - She is NOT rotating her hands around the bar. She has a death grip on that thing. I keep telling her to loosen her hands a bit so they can flow around the bar but I think it's just instinctive to hold on tight. Maybe that is the root of the issue. If I hold her legs down, toes pointing to the floor. she can straighten right up.

 

[Waddler]

For the pullover, I'd suggest trying to keep her arms bent longer to give her more momentum going over the bar. She doesn't want to arch or throw her head back. The bar should touch closer to her belly button, not her hips.

ITA with Mommee's advice on the kickover. Start with stacked mats and lower the pile gradually. The shoulder and upper back flexibility might take some time to develop. Not something you want to rush. I'd suggest doing daily bridges with her feet on a couch/bed and hands on the floor, gently trying to push her shoulders over hands. Definitely back off if she's having any pain in her back.

Out of curiosity, have you asked her coach for suggestions? (In other words, does her coach seem approachable and interested in helping her advance?) When I was coaching, I would've welcomed the chance to talk to a parent about this sort of thing. It sounds like your daughter is frustrated with her progress, and any good coach would want to be in tune with that.

 

[SEA333]

Cheerleading coach here, so cannot help you on the bars, but on the back kickover, we have our girls start in a bridge and try to walk their hand and feet as close together as they can and rock, then lift one leg up and rock, and then start to "hop" their remaining foot up until they can get it.

We also have them start on a stack of mats and go lower and lower like a PP said.

From what I am told, it is shoulder strength/flexibility that makes the difference in a back walkover/kickover. Planks, pushups and doing shoulder stretches should help.

On a personal note, my DD struggles with a back walkover....she hurt herself when she was about 6-7 doing a backward roll in gymnastics and still to this day hates going backward. She can do front tricks, but stiffens up at the last second going backwards. She had her back walkover for a while and lost it, now she is struggling to regain it. It's one step forward, two steps back, especially when they are around 9-10 years old and start puberty and hit a growth spurt. They just have to hang in there and keep trying!

Good luck

 

[frostedpink]

Thanks Waddler!!! Good tips! I'm going to watch to see if the bar is by her belly button vs the hips. Good idea.

She goes twice a week, and one of her coaches is approachable. The other day of the week, she gets a random coach that seems to change each week. Some are approachable and some are not. It's a little frustrating because they don't seem to actually get much one-on-one with the coaches on the skills they need to actually pass. I've ended up doing lots of work at home with her on backward rolls, cartwheels, roundoffs...actually I think I'm the one that taught her each skill, lol. I worked with her every day until she mastered them.

In all honesty, I bet she gets 30 seconds or less of actual work WITH a coach on her bridge kickover in each class. I bet she gets spotted maybe once or twice, and then they move on. That is it. You can't expect a kid to master a skill with virtually no attention from the coach.

 

[Hrhpd]

My daughter is having trouble passing her current level because of two skills. I'm looking for any pointers and tips you can provide!!

1. The pullover on bars. She can do the actual pullover part (most of the time), but then she just stops and can't fully finish the skill by pulling up into a support. So basically her tummy rests on the bar and she can't 'sit up' and finish unless i hold her feet down. Any ideas?? We've been struggling with this one for a long time.

2. The bridge kickover. I think her main obstacle is shoulder flexibility, but she also doesn't seem to kick off very hard with her non-dominant leg. So she basically ends up collapsing on the ground. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Invest in a couple of private lessons with the coach if he/she offers them. It is amazing what they can learn in 30 minutes of uninterrupted attention.

 

[Waddler]

I'd definitely talk to the approachable coach if I were in your shoes. Maybe take the angle that your daughter is frustrated that a couple of skills are holding her back from advancing, and ask if there's anything she could be doing at home.

The coaches will probably prefer to have some input on extra work at home so it isn't inadvertently causing safety or technique issues. They might also start paying a little more attention to her if they know how driven she is!

 

[castleview]

For the kickover, she needs to rock her shoulders over her hands. She shouldn't focus on going off of one leg. Push off of two then bring the dominant leg over. It's about the rocking. You can put her hand out and tell her to hit your hand with her belly.

The pullover just requires practice. Do it more, do it faster and she'll have the momentum to get all the way up.

Final advice: Let her coaches handle it.