WAG Keep throwing my head back on EVERYTHING!

[Gymnast_Tor]

Hi! I'm a lvl 2 gymnast who's working on some new skills, but keep throwing my head back. The skills are: Pullover, Back hip circle, long hang pullover, front handspring to flatback vault, roundoff and cartwheel on beam. EVERY SINGLE SKILL listed here I keep throwing my head back on! Any tips? Oh, and on the long hand pullover, when I go from low to high bar, I keep bending my knees when sliding off the low bar. Help???

 

[gymnastbaby88]

A girl I had class with before had the same problem. My coach at the time had her hold a beanbag underneath her chin, it worked wonders!

 

[2G1B]

I was going to say that my son has this problem with some things and his coach has said he is going to have him start doing something with a bean bag.

 

[iwannacoach]

Maybe you used to throw your head back because you thought that motion was a required part of the skill. Skills like handstands where you throw your head back to help hold yourself up and away from the floor. It makes sense in a kinda-but-not really-sorta way because no matter how hard you reach your head away from the floor, your arms are the only thing between your body and the floor. Think of it this way......is it possible to jump into the air by throwing or reaching with your head while doing nothing with your legs.

So while some things seem to make sense, they really don't.

Try thinking through each of the skills on your list, and figure out what two body parts are most responsible for making the skill a success. Concentrate on those two things and leave your head in the same position you hold it in most hours of the day. That's the position it's used to, and it'll interfere with your skills the least (contribute in a way) when you spend zero energy on moving it with the skill....... Trust me, it'll always go along for the ride while the rest of you moves through the skill.

 

[gwenmom]

Our gym has the girls bite the front of their Leo with their teeth.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

your head is going to fall off your neck if you keep throwing it back. stop doing that.

 

[Kiwi]

Back hip circle: watch your feet as they start to come up behind the bar. You can't look towards your feet while throwing your head back. Cartwheel: look under your armpit in the direction you're going. If you are cartwheeling on the beam you will be looking at the beam where your foot is about to land.

 

[bookworm]

Kyla Ross throws her head back a lot in her floor routine and it didn't seem to hurt her

 

[Deleted member D3987]

hahahahahaha ^^^^^^^^^^^^^true!

 

[Gymnast_Tor]

Okay, so when I moved up last week to this level, my new coach is a 23 year old former level 10 who is STRICT. Like, if she sees me do one or two things wrong, I'm afraid because of things I've heard that she'd move me back down to level 1. And I'm 15 for pete's sake! I want to compete! I don't want to do THAT level again. BORRRRING. Anyways, she won't let me bite my leo or grab a bean bag or foam block. I just throw my head back on EVERYTHING! Whenever I do my BHC, I feel like I'm holding my head up right, but my coach keeps saying that nope, I'm doing it again and again. On other skills, I have:
VAULT: front handspring to flat back vault (not directly onto mat, on an actual raised vault to mat)
BEAM: I have a good scale on beam, good releve on beam (forwards, backwards, and sideways), cartwheel on low beam, handstand on low beam, roundoff dismount, cartwheel to stand and down dismount on low beam.
FLOOR: cartwheel, roundoff, forward roll, backwards roll, backbend, back walkover on cheese mat, handstand hold for a good 3-5 seconds, walk on hands for about 5 seconds, good straight bridge, almost all the way down side splits, but not very good middle... yet.
I'm just trying to move up, and all I need now is a few more skills, like the back hip circle, a better pullover, and I think that's about it! The head coach apparently doesn't let the other coaches choose to move the students up anymore, so they put a star by their name on the roll sheet when they feel they're "ready" and they discuss these gymnasts at their daily meetings. I feel like I'll be old and gray before this strict coach will let me move up if I don't have a PERFECT BHC!

 

[LiveLoveTumble]

I don't know if this will help, but if they won't let you put something under your chin, try pretending there is something there. This is what I did when I had trouble with throwing my head back on back hip circles. Just try to press your chin to your neck as hard as you can and keep it there.

 

[iwannacoach]

Muscles in front of neck tight....good, muscles in back up neck tight....bad!!!! Repeat, repeat, repeat as needed. Really Tor, it's your body, and only you can make this happen. Bean bags and slobbery leotards don't look good at gym meets, and they just create another step between now and the day you realize you have to make your muscles do the work, and you have to feel them working, cuz if you don't....they aren't. It's as simple or as hard as you make it.

 

[Kiwi]

I wouldn't try to get my chin all the way to my neck. Practise pulling your chin in rather than down. You can do this anywhere, you don't need to be in the gym. You'll feel which muscles to use and get used to doing it. Then practise it when you are on the bar in front support. When you start your BHC, look to where your feet are coming up behind the bar, you can't throw your head back and watch your feet at the same time.

 

[CoachTodd]

Back hip circle= look at the bar the entire time.
I've also used the leo in the mouth trick