Keeping feet in line with the beam in the cartwheel

[momof5]

DD has been struggling with her consistency with her cartwheel on beam. Sometimes she sticks a lot and other times just can't seem to get it. When she does her cartwheel she lands with her feet or heels diagonal on the beam and they hang off a little. Her coach spent a lot of time working them with her last night. Are the feet problems causing the inconsistency and how can she learn to land with her feet in line with the beam?

 

[nevertooold]

I'm not sure exactly what you are describing. Is she landing with the toes of both feet pointed in the same direction, and her belly facing the side instead of back toward the end of the beam she came from?

A lot of my girls have told me they pick a plank of flooring on their wood floors at home to use as a practice beam for cartwheels.

I recommend you find something for her to use as a line at home, duck tape on the carpet, whatever you can find and that she practice literally hundreds on the line at home. It will help if she can create the muscle memory of kicking the cartwheel the same every time and landing the same every time, shoulders and hips square, belly button toward the end of the beam, arms high and tight to the ears, eyes on the end of the beam. If she practices this with a lot of discipline, very tight body, holding the end position in a tight squeeze for 3 sec. each time it should help.

 

[marie83]

A couple of my gymnasts do something similar - finish with their feet sideways rather than turned out or straight (I personally prefer turned out feet, but they find it really hard so I settle for straight)

We have some little rubber foot prints at gym which I put on a floor line in the position I want them to land in - this seems to have helped some of them (one of them just still doesn't get it but I'm persevering!) Other than that I've just been really picky! They haven't moved on until they can land how I want it! I try and make it a game to see who can be the first to do it - my group are very competitive!

 

[fishchimes]

Tell her to think of it not so much as a sideways skill but a turning one. She may even want to adjust her hand placement. Forward, shoulder turn, step down.

Also you can tell her to think of landing on the far side of the beam, if she has trouble making it all the way.