Parents First Injury - Dive Roll

[AV24]

Well, my 6 year old DD broke her arm in practice this week. I watched it happen. Her coach tried several new skills with the girls that day, and the dive roll was one of them. She stacked a few foam blocks from the pit, and the girls had to jump over them into a roll. (It did NOT appear to me that the coach modeled how to do them correctly and safely) On her second one, my DD stopped and fell over in pain. I knew she was hurt when she didn't want to do bars afterwards. When practice was over the coach apologized for the dive rolls. She said she thought the girls were ready for them. I didn't think too much of it at the time until I got home that night and looked up dive rolls on CB. Now I'm a little ticked. It seems like they shouldn't have been doing them at all. DD is the youngest and smallest in her group, but still...it's rec class. I'm so thankful it wasn't worse!! I'll take a broken arm over a spinal cord injury any day. I like this coach a lot, but I'm starting to question whether DD will be safe with her.

 

[bogwoppit]

Oh my your poor little dd. What a big scare. I hate dive rolls and they certainly are not a rec skill I would work on the floor.

I am sure the coach learned a very valuable lesson, but at what cost.

 

[Kiwi]

Did they land straight on the floor, not a crash mat? I remember doing dive rolls as a rec gymnast (many years ago) but I was a lot older than your DD. I hope she heals up quickly.

 

[AV24]

Yes, straight on the floor. It wasn't a thick padded mat - just the regular mat area.

 

[iwannacoach]

When practice was over the coach apologized for the dive rolls. She said she thought the girls were ready for them. I didn't think too much of it at the time until I got home that night and looked up dive rolls on CB. Now I'm a little ticked. It seems like they shouldn't have been doing them at all.

Print out the dive roll discussions you found on Chalkbucket. Write her a note to start her out in the right frame of mind...... something that tells her you don't hold her responsible for being inexperienced and not realizing dive rolls are a hazardous waste of time (considering the risk vs. cost) and all is not lost if she can at least learn from the experience.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and you NEVER stack anything in front of an inexperienced athlete, not even toilet paper, when learning how to dive roll. recipe for disaster.

 

[2G1B]

I'm curious. I did a quick search and didn't find much discussion on dive rolls being bad. I know that DS has one in his routine this year, so obviously has been working on them. Why are they so bad?

(I do understand what Dunno is saying about not stacking something in front of a kid who is inexperienced, I'm wondering more about the team kids.)

 

[Kcanflip]

So glad the dive roll is not part of compulsory routines now. My daughter would have been a great candidate for an injury in this skill. Stinks that someone else's bad decision is what caused this and now your daughter's training will be on hold.

 

[skschlag]

2G1B...they are just scary. And if they flip too soon or too late, it can lead to injury. Usually, by your son's age, they have a better grasp of them, but man, we saw a lot at meets taht made the whole audience gasp. I think anytime you are flying through the air with the intentions of landing late and close to your head, you are asking for trouble.

 

[profmom]

Yeah, there's all the difference in the world between a well progressed L5 guy doing them and a rec kid chucking them. It took DS's coach a long time to work through the progressions to get them to the point where they were diving over things to get them higher up, and even with those drills, they were landing on a softer surface. Even with all of this care and preparation, DS's teammates have done a few that really scared me now and then (though I've seen more really scary back handsprings than dive rolls at boys' meets). I don't love the skill, and I am really not looking forward to where it's headed with the guys (roll out skills). So they took it out of the girls' compulsory routines for new L4? If so, good riddance.

Mellow, I hope your DD is feeling better and that her arm heals up quickly and well.

 

[IreneKa]

I'm curious. I did a quick search and didn't find much discussion on dive rolls being bad. I know that DS has one in his routine this year, so obviously has been working on them. Why are they so bad?

I was curious too. Found this:
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/dunno-5-year-olds-and-dive-rolls.37119/

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I was curious too. Found this:
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/dunno-5-year-olds-and-dive-rolls.37119/

that's right. my opinions have not changed.

 

[2G1B]

I was curious too. Found this:
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/dunno-5-year-olds-and-dive-rolls.37119/

that was a very interesting read! And I was confused until the end when I realized that my girls were AAU this past spring (2013) because I was like, "They were old level 2 and 3 and did the handstand flat back..."; but they were AAU, I guess they had been doing that instead of the dive roll for a while.

And I never had a clue that this was a skill that I should be worried about for my son. Great. Now I have another thing to worry about.

 

[skschlag]

Yeah. I hated the dive roll! And now he does the B routine FS which involves flying up, turning to bounce off your back, and then doing a front tuck out of it. Scares the pee out of me! And I know it is heading for those 1 3/4 type skills....Ugh.

 

[Committed]

What!?!? DDs coach last year had her trying to dive roll over 4foot blocks on the floor (no mat) the same height as the 9-12 year olds!!
Knowing my DD, it sounds like a miracle she didn't break something!

 

[AV24]

Yes, that is the same thread that had me concerned. It turns out that we really dodged a bullet. The break is in her forearm just in front of the elbow. The doctor who read the X-rays thought that she had broken the major elbow bone - which would have required surgery, a long cast, and lots of PT. Her recovery time would have been much longer than it is. Instead, they didn't even have to cast it. She'll wear a sling for 5 weeks with no physical activity allowed. This is already tough, because like most gymmies, she is full of energy. I'm so thankful that it was a minor break! I don't know if I'm cut out for this gym mom thing.
Just the thought of sending her into surgery had me in tears. If she continues on into competition, I might turn into a total basketcase!

P.S. - I agree about there being a world of difference between older team kids and rec kids. I might not have been so irritated if I had seen them easing into that skill over time with natural progressions. But it was just BAM! Dive over these blocks (when your forward rolls still don't look pretty). They also jumped to the high bar for the first time that day. She did that with no problem and LOVED it, but I gasped out loud in front of all the parents there. LOL. Again. This is only the beginning. What a crazy sport!

 

[dani4]

I remember doing those in a beginning tumbling class when I was 10.. no previous gymnastics experience (aside from the front yard). I didn't like doing them myself, but that's not saying much because I was kind of a wuss. I'm glad it wasn't a terribly serious break, mellow yellow!

 

[AV24]

Thanks!