Bars-Release Moves

[FlipTwistFly28]

I'm in hs gymnastics right now and a release move is required for your routine. I don't want to have a common one like shoot-overs or straddle backs. I'm also only level 8 skill level so if anyone has any good ideas that would be great!!

 

[Invisible Duck]

What about a hiccup (toe shoot to catch high bar)???

 

[ryantroop]

Hey!

As a highschool coach I get this question a LOT!

And my answer is always - what do you want to learn?

It is my job as your coach to assess your ability in learning that skill. If you tell me you want to learn a kovacs, and you can hardly do giants, we may have some words. However, if you have a strong swing, and really clean giants, and you say a full turn over the bar - well.. that's possible!

It all depends on your coach, what they are comfortable teaching, and how well you learn - as well as what you have already.

Just bare in mind, "common" is relative. Ive been to meets where entire teams did uphills (or, as the previous poster called them - hiccups), and Ive been to meets where one person outshined everyone else and did jaegers or geingers. There are SO many options - it really depends on you.

If you would like a list of common highschool releases -

Hecht (or Takachev)
Geinger or deltchev
Pak Salto
Straddle Back (to hand as well)
Shoot (to hand)
Cut catch
Back uprise 1/1
Uphill

And that funky little fly away from the low bar to high bar with a 1/2 twist.. cant remember what it's called, but they were really popular around me for a while.

It all depends on what youre comfortable with, and what you are willing to do. Really, you need to talk to your coach about what your options are - and if you arent happy with their suggestion, express that without whining.. please? Coaches are people too - I know it's hard to imagine, but we are. Many of us are very approachable, and easy to get along with when it comes to the sport we love.


Good luck! Keep us updated on which you choose and your progress!

Take care,

Ryan

 

[FlipTwistFly28]

Thanks for all of those! But like I said before I'm only at a level 8 skill level so I won't be able to do a lot of the things you mentioned. I tried straddle backs, but I wanted to do something else. I've also tried hiccups but once I caught the bar, I basically had to do a dead hang kip... but I've always wanted to learn a pak salto... are those hard to learn??

 

[gym4life915]

Maybe a cut catch...we have two or three level 8's at our gym that do those. But most do shootovers.

 

[BlairBob]

The more you work hiccups, the more you'll eventually catch it so you won't have to muscle your kip as much with a dead hang kip.

 

[ryantroop]

Yeah, the trick to an uphill (or a hiccup) is to aim your feet inbetween the bars, and rotate your body at the peak of flight. It takes practice, but theyre pretty to watch.


As for your comment about not being able to do many of those... well.. that's not true.. if you have body awareness, and a coach that can teach them, then none of them are out of your grasp. It all depends on you and your ability to learn and progress - not your current ability (though it does help).


As for Pak Saltos - agian, it depends on your coach. If s/he knows good progressions for them, they are not hard. It's really an overblown layout to a drop kip.

I cant stress it enough - talk to your coach!! S/he knows what they can or cant teach you, and they will give you a better understanding of what your options are.


Best of luck to you!

Ryan

 

[KBT]

Thanks for all of those! But like I said before I'm only at a level 8 skill level so I won't be able to do a lot of the things you mentioned. I tried straddle backs, but I wanted to do something else. I've also tried hiccups but once I caught the bar, I basically had to do a dead hang kip... but I've always wanted to learn a pak salto... are those hard to learn??

Keep working the toe shoot onto mats, practicing shooting up over the mat and then flipping to your stomach to simulate how you have to flip forward to generate swing. With proper drills you should be able to do them.

The easiest high school releases to learn are the toe shoot and straddle cut catch. Next easiest would be the shootover/bail or straddle back. Pak salto is more difficult. You could try doing it tucked.

 

[AnitaV]

There is also a kip cast HS hop (release bar in HS both hands simultaneously) to reverse grip, but would require doing something out of the reverse grip ....

 

[dancing9118000]

There is a level 8 in our gym who does a pak salto very nicely. I would say go for the pak salto. it looks amazing.

 

[FlipTwistFly28]

Keep working the toe shoot onto mats, practicing shooting up over the mat and then flipping to your stomach to simulate how you have to flip forward to generate swing. With proper drills you should be able to do them.

The easiest high school releases to learn are the toe shoot and straddle cut catch. Next easiest would be the shootover/bail or straddle back. Pak salto is more difficult. You could try doing it tucked.

Like I've said I've always been interested in Paks, so I think I'll as her about it... I could try it tucked.. As for the coach she's really, really nice and I went to the private club she used to coach at so I've known her for awhile and trust her a lot for spotting. Today I tried toe shoots/hiccups and I didn't have such a bad dead hang kip. I'll work on both and keep you all informed!

 

[gurlgymnast]

I'm in level 7 and I'm working on a skill that is kind of like a bail except you do it from a sole circle (It's a B skill). Basically, on HB you cast get feet on the bar, let go with feet, let go with one hand then the other, do a half twist and grab the low bar. I think it's way easier than the straddle back and looks more impressive. I also like the cut catch, but it's pretty much a dead end skill and it tends to kill my momentum.

 

[gymnut1]

please can you point to a video with a hiccup I can't think what it is? Thanks

 

[gymch34]

I would like to caution saying that all these releases are "easy skills"- especially a pak. It takes quite a while to learn a good SAFE pak and you have to do a lot of drills have a great tap swing and have a very good spotter! Hands can slip or miss the bar on even the basic release skills, which could lead to injury. Heck, look at nastia's pak-she still struggles, ia true pak salto is a very tricky timing skill!
If you want to learn something in a hs season i say a cut catch or toe up is the only realistic option.

 

[CoachL]

As for Pak Saltos - agian, it depends on your coach. If s/he knows good progressions for them, they are not hard. It's really an overblown layout to a drop kip.

Are you serious? A good pak will take about a year to learn. You can teach an ugly un-safe pak in a month if thats your goal.

 

[gymdog]

Pak salto is not that easy. Easy to just throw maybe (I moved from pak drills to bars with no mats in a day - with spot - which is a lot less time than it took for other releases) but not that easy to consistently catch right and kip out of with no spot (which took me MUCH longer after just starting to do it, and once I stopped doing it, I lost the timing again). Especially on smaller spread bars, which is what we had in HS (although I'm sure other places are different). You could throw it tucked but you're just going to pick up a lot of rotation if you can't stall it out right anyway. There's also a peeling risk. I'd stay away from paks particularly if you don't have a lot of matting which is sometimes the case in high school.

 

[Saturate15]

cut-catches aren't too hard once you learn them. it's getting the concept down that's tricky. i'm in hs gymnastics now too, and we work a lot of release stuff daily, just basic stuff like half twist into kips on the high/low bar, but it helps a lot, gets the scared out of everything.

 

[BlairBob]

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/question-answer/15490-what.html#post51057

I have been seeing these from low to high bar in L7.

 

[gymdog]

I've never seen it competed, but I've heard it called a "downhill" and something else I can't remember now (it's not named after a person or anything). I guess it's an A or B. My guess would be A, but I really don't know.

 

[CoachL]

i'm suprised they would even give you a value part for that.