WAG Flexibility

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twinmomma

Proud Parent
I know, I know. Yet another post about flexibility. I'm just looking for ideas for DD. She's 8, and has competed Xcel Bronze and then went straight into an L3 season with no break. Her XB season was a lot of wasted time skill wise but was great for the confidence she gained. She went into L3 and we were concerned flexibility was going to be a problem, but she had a great season. She obviously got deductions for flexibility but she's so danged strong and tight that those deductions were overshadowed by her strengths in other areas.

But now coaches are moving full steam ahead with the thought that she and a few other girls may test out of 4 and go straight to 5. There was a full week off from gym for the holidays and she came back and her coach told me how she needs to stretch at home - that she'd lost her splits and her hips weren't square, etc... All things we knew would continue to be a battle.

Now, I know part of this is just that the gym schedule has been minimal over the last couple of weeks and DD loves to do cartwheels and handstands at home but not conditioning/stretching. Her flexibility limitations seem mostly in her legs (i.e. her knee always looks slightly bent, only has splits one direction, etc...). Shoulder wise she's tight but not nearly as bad as she is in her legs.

She's only been doing gymnastics for two years. She's never been flexible but she's worked really hard in the gym to get to where she is. What sort of things can I do at home with her to help her get where she wants to be without constantly nagging her? I'll take any ideas. Right now I'm just telling her to stretch when I think of it and telling her she should sit in splits watching tv, etc...
 
My DD has stretching that her coach sends her home......lunges, pancakes, splits, etc. This may sound weird but we make it a family game, If she can beat her time in a stretch by one full second at least than she gets to make mom and/or dad attempt a stretch. We keep record of her stretches on the sheet the coach sends home and she keeps separate sheets for each of us. Don't know if that would work for any other household but ours, however that is what we do................
 
My daughter is 15 and Level 9. She is a good gymnast but is not the most flexible. Not all gymnasts are super flexible. I recall reading an interview with Alicia Sacramone who said she's not at all flexible. Interestingly, my daughter's body type is similar to Alicia's. So, it's possible that your daughter might not ever be super flexible.
 
Santa just brought dd a stop watch for her to time herself....so far she has been motivated to practice her three splits with the stop watch independently. Her coach made the suggestion and said the only way to get more flexibility is to practice a few minutes a day. Best of luck!
 
This might seem kind of extreme but after this length of team gymnastics if she's still struggling with splits I would consult a sports physical therapists, like one who works with dancers. She may have several things and muscle imbalances contributing to the tightness and it can be hard to solve without a professional. As she goes into level 5 there are skills like the walkover on beam which could put stress on her body and spine if her hip flexors are too tight. So I think at this level it might be worth the extra expense if she's struggling with the flexibility enough the coaches are mentioning it.
 
I'm willing to look at physical therapy but we have kaiser and I don't know anything about whether they are good for that sort of thing. I will email her ped. I honestly can't afford to pay a private practice to see her.

That said, she comes by the tightness rightfully. I was a dancer and never had the splits. I hate to think her genetics are going to limit her progress. It took her a year to get from halfway down to full dominant side splits so maybe it takes another year to consistency. Thanks for the ideas. Keep them coming please.
 
From what I've witnessed, once a gymnast hits optionals, really clever coaches can camouflage a lack of flexibility within a routine. And maybe this is coincidental but I've also noticed the gymnasts in my DDs practice group who are less flexible are amazing vaulters.
 
Adding a vote for yoga! Especially things like this video:

I've found I make more progress when I'm stretching with blankets/cushions under me like they do here, because my muscles actually give in and relax for once!
 
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Adding a vote for yoga! Especially things like this video:

I've found I make more progress when I'm stretching with blankets/cushions under me like they do here, because my muscles actually give in and relax for once!



That is an awesome video, though I have had to explain to DD numerous times that the pets are not to be taught gymnastics so when she said at the beginning to grab "blankets, pillows, dog, cat, whatever" I knew we were in trouble lol
 
Yoga mat in front of the tv and stretch every ad break.
A stop watch to time with can help and add to the fun.
I have two gymnasts and they tend to stretch together - helps to have someone to chat with.

I would be asking the coaches for a specific list of stretches that she needs to be doing at home.
 
My daughter is in the same boat. She's all muscle, can do 25 pull ups without blinking, but she's super tight. Her shoulder flexibility is her biggest problem right now. Her coach sat her down and told her that if she wanted to continue to excel at higher levels she had to stretch at home every day and gave her a list of exercises. No ifs ands or buts. I told her that I wasn't going to nag her. If she wanted it, she had to do it on her own. So far so good. She doesn't stretch every day, but most days she does. She wants it bad.
 
for splits i would recommend the one thing that helped me....oversplits, oversplits, and more oversplits! i used to be very unflexible in my legs but the oversplits really did help a lot! they're more effective than just sitting in a regular split because even if you aren't all the way down, you still will go farther than a regular split. challenge your daughter to hold it for 10 more seconds every day and also, when she's done w/ the oversplits have her sit in a regular split, we do this at practice and you really see the difference!
 

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