Flyaway Help!

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gymfan4ever95

Coach
Gymnast
On my flyaways on bars, i have 2 problems (that result in my flyaway always being very low and landing on my face). First, i let go of the bar to early. I try to hold on longer, but i am afriad i will hit my feet on the bar. I always land in the pitt kind of close to the bar, even though i am still landing face first! How can i fix this??
And second, my coaches say that i have very good tap swings, but when i am on my last one, the swing going into the flyaway, she says my body positions don't change. You are supposed to do arches and hollows on your swings, but on the last one i just swing through and let go. I tryed to fix this, but then i am scared to let go!! And are you supposed to throw the bar or something? (whatever that means...).
Any advice is needed!
 
if you think about it, a fly away is a giant where you "let go"

What you are trying to accomplish is getting your center of mass to be moving away from the bar. Feel your swings carry you. Are your swings pulling up up (like a giant) or up and away (like a fly away)?

A fly away isn't difficult. It isn't scary. What it is, is abnormal. You need to learn to "feel" the timing of the release with a strong (not powerful or forced) swing. You need to remember, the "tap" happens before you reach the bottom of the swing, and it is subtle - not nearly as exaggerated as a tap for a giant or a 3/4 giant. I tell my gymnasts to think about forcing themselves to stay hollow when they want to arch (like a normal tap). However, I also make sure they have a good swing with decent momentum to feel it out properly.

Generally, this happens after 15* and before 30* (that's degrees) from bottom (being 0*). It seems odd, but there really is an earlier release than your brain thinks is right. However, if you release too early you end up on your face :p

Make sure you have a swing that is moving, and you let go as your hips begin to rise. You'll get it. Promise :)
 
I finally did it right! (i think :)) I did them off the uneven bars with a spot and i landed on my feet :) They still are not high enough, i think, but landing on my feet is progress!
 
Something that helped me tremendously as a gymnast and has helped many of my fearful gymnasts is to have a visual cue for when to let go. I was told and tell my girls to do a good tap swing. When you see your toes, let go! This is not the way to do a perfectly correct flyaway, but it is a wonderful way to get comfortable with them. Once you feel comfortable with it, you can work on tapping a little higher before letting go. Also, many of the girls I have coached that have landed too close to the bar do it because they are pulling their knees in before letting go -- which is where the hitting the bar fear usually comes from. If you pull your knees in before letting go, you are pulling your body towards the bar, instead of away from it. Be sure to let go, then tuck. Good job landing on your feet :)
 
On tap swing flyaways, your toes should be level w/ the high bar on the front swing to make a high flyaway. Don't think too hard. For me it just kind of naturally happens. Just remember to open your armpits and see your toes before you flyaway.


"If gymnastics were easy, it would be called football":D
 
From what I've heard, you have very good tap swings. Can you feel how at the top you "tap" and feel your toes going above the bar? Make sure to feel that before you let go of the bar. Another thing that I did because I used to pull in too much is to leave my arms extended up in the air. It may sound silly, but that way you don't pull into the bar and you go MUCH farther away. Later on, your hands will find your way back to your body again, but you will still go far enough.

-GCG
 
A mental thing my coach told me way back in the day was that it's just like a back tuck on floor, only easier, because you're already halfway over if you let go at the right time (helpful, right? I thought so, but I LIKE floor).

What I tell my gymnasts is a lot of what you've read here...if you look for your toes and throw the bar behind you-like the Level 4 underswing throw, where you throw and let go-and find the ground with your feet, you're going to make it. Toes, throw, hips up, hey there's the ground, stick. If you let go at the right time, it's easier to flip over than to NOT flip, if that makes sense.
 
All the important stuff has already been said, however i would like to add that
1- The tap into the flyaway is really important in order to get that "If you let go at the right time, it's easier to flip over than to NOT flip" as CoachGoofy said.
2- Learn a layout first and only, you don't need a tuck. Learn a tuck first tends to bring about all those close the shoulders, pull the bar etc.. as already discussed
3- When you throw the bar, what need to happen is shift your wrists so they are infront of the bar on the release, this allows your to get pulled by the swing, without having to think about anything else. Of course if you do this you have to commit to the flyaway because you can't do a backswing out of it, or you will peel
4- Learn first with spotting from swings, and than progress to doing it from a cast..this will make a huge difference in the making it easy, but! this is when you tend not tap, so make tapping a KEY.
 

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