Lead foot question

[skschlag]

So, apparently my 9 yo ds is confused. He leads with is right foot for his front handspring, left for his cartwheel and round off. When lunging, he lunges with one foot, scales best with the other.

I know he is goign to have to change one of them soon, and the coach was discussing switching the front handspring.

My question is, are there deductions for having different lead foot on each thing

 

[pattymello]

I can't imagine there would be deductions but one foot is sure to be better than the other. Finding which side works best for him will probably improve the quality of the skill and thus reduce deductions.

 

[emorymom]

My son also has some mild mixed dominance. I am not sure THAT much is understood about it in highly able children. I asked a coach at an open play a few years ago -- I can't remember my question exactly but it had to do with mixed dominance. She said that (and this is WAG but might be the same) that when she competed optionals, she was not wedded to any lead foot on some skills. This allowed her to connect some beam skills in a way that a single-dominant gymnast could not. Of course that was in optionals ... I hope I am remembering this conversation correctly. I would love to hear any more info on mixed dominance in gymnastics.

 

[skschlag]

Interesting thought that it could lead to different connections. It is just one of those things right now that we have to deal with. It also causes issues with his twisting. He is learning front and back fulls right now, but messes up because he keeps forgetting which way he twists. So he gets confused in mid-air. He has done both in both directions, but I hope he picks one soon!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

So, apparently my 9 yo ds is confused. He leads with is right foot for his front handspring, left for his cartwheel and round off. When lunging, he lunges with one foot, scales best with the other.

I know he is goign to have to change one of them soon, and the coach was discussing switching the front handspring.

My question is, are there deductions for having different lead foot on each thing

no. but you must change the front handspring. the coach is correct.

 

[skschlag]

That is what we thought He has been practicing the other way but they won't change it until after regionals. Man, I wish his level 4 coaches had figured this out when he was learning these things! LOL!

 

[wallinbl]

That is what we thought He has been practicing the other way but they won't change it until after regionals. Man, I wish his level 4 coaches had figured this out when he was learning these things! LOL!

I feel you there. DD was told to change lead legs on round offs and cartwheels after states this year. She's been working on it since December, and still complains that it doesn't feel natural. I know the coaches are correct about the change (has to do with twisting direction in the future), but I sure wish the preschool/preteam coaches had noticed!

 

[skschlag]

I am wondering which way he is going to twist.....that should be interesting!

 

[wallinbl]

I am wondering which way he is going to twist.....that should be interesting!

The coaches were able to determine that pretty quickly - they had DD stand, jump and do a 360 a few times in each direction. It was readily apparent even to me that one direction was more powerful and more controlled than the other direction. They felt it was important that the round off coordinate with the expected twist direction, which necessitated a switch in legs.

 

[skschlag]

Update: Looks like he will be changing the front handspring when regionals is over. That should be fun. Especially now that it is in a series! LOL! I bet he gets it though.

Plus..he was finally able to get his back full again. He didn't land on his feet (over-rotated) but was able to twist correctly. I think they figured out the way he should twist based on his roundoff, and just told him to do it that way! LOL! Hopefully he has it now.

 

[themonkeysmom]

We had this trouble with my son for a bit. When he started level 4 he would do his 1/2 turn either way on the high bar and could cartwheel/roundoff equally on either side. On vault he lead with the right and on mushroom he circled to the right, so the coach had him zero in on the right side and it has turned out well.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

is there a question here or is this a follow up from another post that i seem to remember about lefty/righty and that eventually the coach would have to make a decision and stick to that? i can't remember exactly.

 

[skschlag]

LOL dunno....it is in the first post So, it was a follow up to the original question in the first post of this thread!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Update: Looks like he will be changing the front handspring when regionals is over. That should be fun. Especially now that it is in a series! LOL! I bet he gets it though.

Plus..he was finally able to get his back full again. He didn't land on his feet (over-rotated) but was able to twist correctly. I think they figured out the way he should twist based on his roundoff, and just told him to do it that way! LOL! Hopefully he has it now.

wow. not sure what happened then. when i clicked on the thread, your post above was the only one there. MMmm.

 

[skschlag]

LOL! WE are on page 2 now! There is a whole page before this one....