Landing BHS on knees???

[UnoMas]

Hi-

My daughter is a new L4, and trying to get her BHS. Last night she came the closest she has to getting it...as in making it over without a spot...but she's landing on her knees.

What do you think she is doing wrong? She really wants to get BHS by the time of her meet in February.

Thanks for any and all suggestions...

 

[matthewmovement]

Ooh, I know all about this. In fact I had bad form last night and banged up my knee pretty bad.

One of the most likely causes for this is that she is bending her arms when she hits the ground. This reduces the amount of power that you can get when pushing off of your hands and can also lead to hitting your head on the floor(can be very painful, not to mention dangerous).

I have found that when you actively focus on straightening the arms it becomes easier(obviously), but hand placement may also have an effect. If her fingers are pointed towards each other during the BHS it makes it more difficult to keep them straight.

So, fingers need to be pointing straight up or even a little bit out and arms need to be straight.

Hope this helps.
Good Luck.

 

[Linsul]

Random question: Is she scared or intimidated by the skill at all? Sometimes even the kids excited to get a bh, and have it with a spot, land on their knees at first. People tend to tuck when they're nervous doing a skill, which results in landing on their knees for a bh.

Another possibility is what I like to jokingly call the 'omg I'm alive!' response. When first getting a bh on their own, some kids leave their hands and feet in contact with the floor rather than blocking and landing only on their feet. It's a safety thing again. With all limbs in contact with the ground the risk of falling is gone. I usually see this the first few atempts by a gymnast to do a bh without a spot, it's something they stop doing once their comfort level with the skill goes up.

BH is the skill that has the widest range of responses once a gymnast is ready to do it on their own I find. Some take right to it, some maintain a perfect one with a finger 'spot' yet fall apart when doing it on their own. It's a pretty pivotal skill, a gateway to more intermediate/advanced tumbling so there is a lot of hype attached to it.

I kept my response limited to the mental possibilities because without seeing her do it, it's too hard to speculate. Have you asked her coach at all what's up? My other question is, is she blocking to her knees, or are her hands still on the ground when she lands on them?

 

[UnoMas]

Yep. She is scared of most back tumbling elements that she has tried.

She fell on her head the first time she tried the BHS, and also a few times on a BWO. So, yeah, I think it is kind of a survival response...

She also does it really nicely with a pretty darn light spot. I am guessing that fear is a big part of it.

Thanks for the thoughts, both of you.

 

[Linsul]

Yep. She is scared of most back tumbling elements that she has tried.

She fell on her head the first time she tried the BHS, and also a few times on a BWO. So, yeah, I think it is kind of a survival response...

She also does it really nicely with a pretty darn light spot. I am guessing that fear is a big part of it.

Thanks for the thoughts, both of you.

Np If it's a bit of a fear thing she will work through it in time. On some level she knows she's got it. Just keep things on a positive note, maybe remind her of how she worked through her bwo? It's a really empowering thing to get a skill that scares you a little. It gives you a little bump in courage to make changes to future skills that give you a hard time.

When I have a gymnast that's afraid but can do a skill perfectly just knowing my hand is there, I move them back to a drill that they were not afraid of. I spot them in the skill once or twice per workout, but not more than that. By about 2 workouts they are over it and actually want to go for the skill. It's no pressure, and pushes them to choose to do it rather than delay. I think the record was 4 workouts with 2 spots each, and it was for a mill circle that a girl TOTALLY had. I realize that with a meet coming up that may not be the best option, but that's my usual solution. No pressure and a huge freak out party if they go for it on their own.