I came across this skill as a bonus in a particular Competition Code my rec kids use, and I have to admit that I have no idea what it is.
It is a bonus on bars, and it says "Grip Change (hop turn)".
Can anyone explain to me:
- What exactly this skill is?
- How one would teach it?
- And how you could incorporate it into a routine (in other words what could you connect it to)?
Thanks
Sounds like a cast hop pirouette to me. As you cast HS, you release the bar and "hop" your hands from regular grip to undergrip. When you reach handstand (like a front giant handstand) you do a pirouette.
If it is indeed this (I'm not positive) it's relatively difficult. USAG JO code rates it as a "C" release, which is equivalent to a straddle back to handstand, or a shootover (bail) to handstand (not coming from handstand on the high bar, which makes the skill a "D").
I've been doing it for a few years. You have to have relatively "quick" muscles. After that it takes most people a long time to get the right timing to consistently get a good handstand they can work out of. It took me about a year to finally be going over on it consistently. It's a pretty good, underused skill, IMO. Because if you can do it, it is easier than other C release. The catch is that people seem either able to do it or not, pretty much from the start.
The best drill is to start on a floor bar: in HS, support by pulling up on the legs, as they change grip (to make sure they can do it sufficiently fast and land correctly without their wrists turned or fingers caught under. I automatically hop and wrap my thumbs which is probably a terrible habit). After that they should learn it "on the way up" to HS. We did this by using the floor bar and punching off the floor to HS and then doing the hop. After that we did it with a mini tramp under the bar, jumping to HS, and then doing the hop. Then do kip SMALL cast (legs together) pushaway as they do the hop. As they get comfortable, be more aggressive in working the cast up (the mini tramp makes it easier to do that).
Working a strong, fast straddle cast to handstand in necessary. But if they can get that and hop their hands fast, it's mostly mental like anything else. Some people just don't have the fast enough reaction time on the hop. Straddle cast HS (as opposed to legs together) is almost a necessity to get the "pop" as the legs come together. I have never seen anyone do it on unevens without straddling.