backhandspring.....legs ....

[mado4]

Hi there,

I have to ask for advice. My gym girls can all do round off, backhandspring, back tuck. They look really nice and they get really high scores on floor...Well, EXCEPT that one girl ...I really don't know what to do anymore..

She was injured last year and couldn't do gymnastics from June till October...after her round off she can do a really good back tuck...now we started to work on the backhandspring..we changed her round off to the bhs round off . She can do a really nice backhandspring off the trampoline but as soon as we put the bhs to the ro
her bus is basically terrible...her legs are bend in a 90 degree angle.BUT she does NOT undercut it, her shoulder angle is perfect ...the weird thing..when she does a split leap her beg leg also bends.When I ask her she does not feel the bend, neither in the bus nor the split jump..

Now my question: could that be a strength problem in her legs ? I started with strength training especially for her legs now ..what suggestions do you all have ?? Any ideas ?? I know it's hard to say without a video.I will see maybe I find one ...thanks

 

[Aussie_coach]

It's often just a bad habit, and it's not that uncommon and can be fixed with a bit of hard work and persistence. Have her do lots of round off to back drils on thick mats, making sure she takes off to straight legs and a tight landing. Use the tumble trak or double mini trampoline to work lots of connected round off back handsprings, the extra air time will help her to correct the issue.

Do lots of split leaps in front of the mirror too, if she can't feel the problem she needs to see the problem. Often once they see it they can make the mental association and can start to feel it. If not she needs to always go back and correct it in front of the mirror before returning it to floor and beam.

 

[gymgurl]

DOn't know how to help but lots and lots of repetition but as for not feeling them bend i have a team mate who swears that she cannot feel her legs bend when she does a long kip so it seems common

Answering your question, I think it could be a strength thing because one of the things we did for our tummy set was lying flat on our back legs to the ceiling and squeezing our legs so that they were straight and it used to be surprisingly difficult. So that is one of the things that you could do, another thing is sitting in pike sit and doing squeeze relax squeeze relax repetitions so that they learn the difference between straight and bent etc

 

[iwannacoach]

Most kids don't feel bent legs, and it's a waste of time to tell them about it. Your time is better spent teaching them what a straight leg feels like whenever you see them bending their legs. I think it's fair to tell them their legs will bend every time they don't feel the muscles working to make and keep them straight. So have the kid kick up to a handstand, try to bend her knees while she works to keep them straight. She needs to feel that same "work" as she leaves her feet during her back handspring, and that feeling has to continue until her feet come to the floor at the end of the skill.

 

[flippysmom]

My dd would have bent legs in certain skills, usually the "easier" skills where she wasn't thinking about it. It was never a "real" bend, but not a tight, straight leg..enough to be a deduction. Her coach spent months working on drills to help her "feel" the difference, but struggled with how to help her straighten her leg on a turn when they are stick straight on a ro bhs bhs. One day on a whim she loosely wrapped her knees in pre wrap to make her think about it. It was like magic, no more bent legs! She will still occasionally see her not focusing on tight straight legs and ask her if she wants her legs wrapped. Just thinking about it is usually enough to correct it now.

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[Deleted member D3987]

Hi there,

I have to ask for advice. My gym girls can all do round off, backhandspring, back tuck. They look really nice and they get really high scores on floor...Well, EXCEPT that one girl ...I really don't know what to do anymore..

She was injured last year and couldn't do gymnastics from June till October...after her round off she can do a really good back tuck...now we started to work on the backhandspring..we changed her round off to the bhs round off . She can do a really nice backhandspring off the trampoline but as soon as we put the bhs to the ro
her bus is basically terrible...her legs are bend in a 90 degree angle.BUT she does NOT undercut it, her shoulder angle is perfect ...the weird thing..when she does a split leap her beg leg also bends.When I ask her she does not feel the bend, neither in the bus nor the split jump..

Now my question: could that be a strength problem in her legs ? I started with strength training especially for her legs now ..what suggestions do you all have ?? Any ideas ?? I know it's hard to say without a video.I will see maybe I find one ...thanks

you should not work round off>back tucks if they are going to do gymnastics. the problem you describe comes from that fact. it is also seen in the video that you posted of the other girl. hip flexors extend when doing back handsprings. hip flexors stay closed (puck/tuck) when you learn a tuck back before a back handspring. understand? it is not effective sequential learning.

 

[mado4]

dunno: she could already do a ro bt when I joined the gym...I changed the round off first and now we put the bus after the round off ....are there any drills I could do with the hip opening ? This is also a lack I think in her back walk over ...

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes. back bend snap overs. back bend from a stand>rock 3 times>snap over to a stand on the 3rd rock. this slows down the movement in to small parts for her and maybe she will 'feel' what you are attempting to convey to her.