WAG Fear of Giants

[ButterflyGymnast]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on my giant. I've been struggling with it all summer, and I really need it to go level 7. I learned giants first on straps (like many kids do) because I'm so tall for a gymnast I started with bent legs. That was fine. I even transitioned to doing straight legs on my own.

One day when I was attempting a straight body giant on straps I closed my shoulders (for no particular reason) and smashed my thighs on the sides of the bar. I was fine, just very rattled. Since then I haven't done a straight body giant by myself on straps. I can do bent legs, or even straight, bent, straight but I still can't go for the regular giant by myself. (I do it with spot.)

The thing that really scares me is that I knew not to close my shoulders, but I did it anyway. I just wonder if I did it involuntarily last time, what prevents it from happening again? Plus I feel the pressure of doing this skill so I can compete level seven (I really don't want to go 6 again.) Does anybody have advice or words of encouragement?

Sincerely,
ButterflyGymnast

 

[lovestoflip44]

Do you mean from CHS or swinging? If from swinging, try to just swing really big but don't think about going over. When I was learning giants on straps I did the same thing as you one time and it is very rattling. I found this helped because once I was at the top I realized that I was so close to going over that it wasn't that big of a deal. If it is from CHS then it might be still beneficial to try swinging big, unless you aren't scared of that.
Also make sure that you don't beat too late or tuck your chin, that's what caused me to close my shoulders. Sorry it's not the most technical advice but that's what helped me!
Best of luck, I feel for you!

 

[ayyyrial]

The scary thing about gymnastics is that, especially once you get to optionals, sometimes you can do something perfectly 99 times out of 100, but on the 100th time something weird and potentially scary happens. It's important to go back to drills and more basic versions of the skill. Lovestoflip44's suggestion of doing really high swings on straps without thinking about going over is a good one - i.e. just try to get a straight body, straight legs, swing as high as you can. Eventually you will get comfortable with the position again.

Another thing I'd recommend is to stop bending your legs to get over. If you can't get over with straight legs, that's fine. But it seems like it's becoming a bad habit for you so it's good to make sure you don't keep practicing it. It will alter your technique so you will become comfortable with the wrong way of doing it.