WAG Curious about "Straddle Tap" - when/how to transition?

[Sasha]

Hi WAG folks,

My daughter (L7) is growing, pushing 5'1", with very long arms, so in an extended hang, she is actually 'longer' than some L7/8/9 teammates who are a few inches taller. Bars have always been her strength.

Her gym permits a wide bar setting (I do not know how wide, but my guess is up to as wide as it will go), as opposed to mandating the narrower FIG setting.

Right now, she is still doing a 'regular' (legs together) tap swing into giants. She is making it, but has mentioned a bit of fear of hitting her feet, though. She says she has to flex her feet a bit when passing over the low bar. So far, there has been no movement from the coaching staff to introduce a straddle tap.

So I'm curious - at what point do/have coaches introduced taller girls to a straddle tap? Is there a particular height that is common (like above 5'3" or something)? Or is it possible/acceptable to continue to straight tap (or whatever it is called) and do something like hollow/pike more to get around?

Related, for girls who have transitioned to a straddle tap, is it pretty easy? Or is it a huge adjustment?

She has a few months before comp season, but she's probably close to a growth spurt. I'm wondering if she hits 5'3 or 5'4 with her giant ape arms if not learning to straddle tap before then is going to be a problem or not...

Love your thoughts - thanks in advance!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

totally depends on the kid, and no rule is set in my gym for anything. check out Kyla, who also swung bars with her feet together on FIG (which is a tiny setting). Here she is at UCLA swinging feet together, on a bigger setting but still has to shape to miss the low bar. also add, that its not uncommon to use both straddle and feet together taps alive during a gymnastics career.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Here is Sarah, doing both types of giants in her routine. (yes I put a giant before the blind because she just did her blind better out of a giant.. whatever it takes anyways, Sarah taps with her feet together to set up her blind, and straddles for her dismount.

 

[Pea'sMom]

That's totally Pea! LONG monkey arms, like a gibbon. I have no answer for you as Pea is out injured (OCD surgery) and "should" be working straddles into her giants now. She piked to dismount out of her CHS last year, but never put her giants on real bars. She was doing some drill involving coach holding pool noodles behind the pit bar? Pea was having a hard time getting the timing right on those, but she didn't work them for very long, generally isn't the first to pick things up, and was having a lot of fear issues from actually hitting her feet on the bars.

 

[Sasha]

Thanks @coachp for these examples. It looks like Kyla and Sarah are both piking quite a bit on the way down to clear the low bar (when Sarah isn't straddling). So it seems like piking is acceptable "shaping" that you refer to?

Also, in your opinion, why is it that Sarah is straddling-tapping into her dismount? Does one get more power that way? Does the extra piking in the straight tap kill some of the swing or timing in some way?

Curious!

 

[gymgal]

dd changed to a straddle tap when she changed bar settings to learn her overshoot. She says her setting is at 2 below 5? I think she has said it is like a 5.5 - between 5 and 6. So, a little wider than fig, I guess? Anyway, It didn't take her long to learn the new swing. She practiced it at pit bar for a little bit I think. And then transitioned it to regular bars. I am not even sure she has to do the straddle (she's 5'1) but she feels more comfortable this way, not having to think of the possibility of hitting her feet.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Thanks @coachp for these examples. It looks like Kyla and Sarah are both piking quite a bit on the way down to clear the low bar (when Sarah isn't straddling). So it seems like piking is acceptable "shaping" that you refer to?

Also, in your opinion, why is it that Sarah is straddling-tapping into her dismount? Does one get more power that way? Does the extra piking in the straight tap kill some of the swing or timing in some way?

Curious!

For her it works best.

 

[LizzieLac]

Mine is 5'6" and pikes down as well. She also flexes her feet some (which her coach tells her is probably causing a deduction. DD says she will take the deduction to avoid breaking her toes when they hit the low bar. Whatever works to avoid injury.

 

[GymCMLA]

@LizzieLac my DD is just shy of 5'7" and straddles but also flexes for fear of hitting her feet.

 

[Sasha]

She also flexes her feet some (which her coach tells her is probably causing a deduction.

Can anyone verify whether flexing feet to avoid the bar is actually a deduction in JO?

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Can anyone verify whether flexing feet to avoid the bar is actually a deduction in JO?

Yea

 

[CoachTodd]

Giants are all a timing issue. I teach kids to try to push their feet under low bar so they get the tap shape at the angle needed for giants. Taller kids will be more hollow (maybe even a bit piked) on the down swing but if they are hitting the correct shape at the right time, the giants and dismounts happen pretty smoothly. My daughter had the opposite problem. She could do giants on low bar since she was so small. It made it a pain to get her to hollow down to tap into the giants. She did eventually figure it out .

 

[Jeannie6]

It's a personal choice.

 

[e'smum]

Here is Sarah, doing both types of giants in her routine. (yes I put a giant before the blind because she just did her blind better out of a giant.. whatever it takes anyways, Sarah taps with her feet together to set up her blind, and straddles for her dismount.

so i watched some of the other videos - curious what you are filming with?

 

[duyetanh]

Can anyone verify whether flexing feet to avoid the bar is actually a deduction in JO?

I can't believe I know something I can share! YES! It's a deduction. I only know because my kid's best buddy has to do it...and got a deduction every time for flexing her feet.
ETA: darn it. Coach P beat me to the punch.....

 

[Deleted member 14190]

so i watched some of the other videos - curious what you are filming with?

That particular video was shot by the company USAG used at Nationals.