WAG Leaps, leaps, leaps!

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cadybearsmommy

Proud Parent
It seems that gymmies either love them or hate them! My dd falls into the latter lol. She is very flexible, has all of her splits all of the way down, etc, but those leaps just won't come up. I'm fairly certain that she is getting decent sized deductions on her leaps at meets, her leaps aren't the worse I've seen, but they don't get up nearly as far as some. She does better leaps with her left leg, at the beginning of the year her coach made her switch to her right leg since she does everything else on the right. Then a month or so ago, they had a dance teacher come in and the dance teacher told her to go back to doing them with the left leg since they were so much better. (They are Xcel, so I've been told there's no deduction for using the "wrong" leg for a leap.) They do look better but still a little low. Is this usually a strength or flexibility issue? Or something entirely different? I'm sure a lot of it is just that is takes time. Can anyone suggest any exercises at home that might help? Not sure if her practicing the actual leaps at home is the safest thing for her or my living room furniture but she already does daily conditioning and flexibility exercises so if anyone has any good additions, I'm all ears! Right now she stretches her legs every day by pulling them one at a time up towards her head while lying down (don't know the technical name of the stretch) and she also sits in her right, left and middle splits and stretches that way. She does push ups and sit ups, but not really any leg "conditioning". Any advice is welcome! =)
 
Leaps usually come from being "fast-twitched". Yes flexibility 100% helps, but they also need to be able to split their legs quick in order to get the amplitude and the split angle. If she's a slow twitch gymnast it's definitely going to be harder for her. How is she getting into her leap? Is it from a step, chasse, run? This may be the issue more than the leap itself. Make sure she's taking off a plied 'lunge' with her last step to get the most amplitude from the leap. The higher she gets up in the air, the more time she'll have to split. And the amplitude comes from the steps leading up into the leap. Taking off a straight or slightly bent leg (which I see a lot of kids do, esp on beam) could be part of her problem. She really needs to plie her opposite leg on the last step before the leap in order to push off of it and get in the air. I have my kids do leaps up to panel mats to make them visualize the height. Also, I think going from a chasse (on floor) really gets them more power.

I should also say that doing a split leap correctly is extremely difficult. It is a very hard leap to get 180 degrees, switch leaps are much easier to get bigger amplitude/split angle.
 
This is the only video I've got so far this season, it may help in diagnosing the problem. Her coaches say she is fast on tumbling, so maybe it's possible she is more "slow twitch" on her leaps? She does do a run into the leap though.

 
I would say if she's going to do a run into her leap then she needs to get a little lower and really plie (bend her knees), that way she can get a lot higher off the floor. If she wants something to work on at home, I would say ballistic kicks would be her best options. Doing splits isn't going to help her get more amplitude. So basically have her hold onto something for support (wall, chair, counter top, anything really that's a little lower than shoulder but higher than her waist. Then just do 10 kicks in a row forwards and then immediately 10 kicks in a row backwards with her bad leg. Or she could do leap kicks (that's what we call them), where she'll kick her good leg, step on it, and then immediately kick her back leg.

Jumps on trampolines also help. Really I would say her biggest issue is to really bend her knees in the steps leading up to her leap and to drive her back leg harder. Uneven splits are a common thing in regular split leaps and that's a deduction if her split isn't level. So driving the back leg will help create a level leap.
 
A gymnast can have a split stretch on the floor that is all the way down and square but unless she has the necessary strength and quickness in her legs and the muscles around her hips, the split stretch won't translate into great leaps and jumps.

Over the summer my girls (level 4 through 10) would do a Theraband complex 2-3 times per week. The younger girls (level 4-6) would use the blue bands and the older girls (7-10) would use the black bands. The core complex included 3x8-10 kicks to the front/side/back holding on to a beam and split handstand kicks with one foot gripping the side of a beam. Then if there was extra time and the tumble track was open, they did 3x8-10 split jumps each leg/straddle jumps/switch split jumps on tumble track.

Here is a before and after picture of one of my level 4s: the picture on the left was at the beginning of summer practice (June 2015) the second picture was at the end of summer practice (late August 2015). It isn't a huge difference, but this was only after a few months with band work.

ImageUploadedByChalkBucket1454559776.093630.jpg


Although I don't have pictures of her split leap, the above exercises would certainly help leaps as well.

So yes, CoachMeg is 100% correct with the kick work.
 
I feel you! My DD is by far the most flexible at her gym. She has her double middle over split and even higher over splits on the left and right split. Her switch leaps and split leaps are lovely and high. Her straddle jump? It's by far the worst in the gym. She terms it "pathetic" and she is the only L6 at her gym without it in her floor routine. Clearly leaps and jumps take more than flexibility or she would be rocking that straddle jump.
 
I'm fairly certain that she is getting decent sized deductions on her leaps at meets, her leaps aren't the worse I've seen, but they don't get up nearly as far as some.
I am only speaking to the part quoted above.
In the video, she made the split requirement for the leap and she had height, so any deductions would only be for form issues.
 
I have really no idea how I got my leap on floor to be almost 180! :rolleyes: I did dance for many years so I guess I maybe learned the proper technique and eventually have gotten it this high. Good luck to your daughter on improving her leap!
 
I am only speaking to the part quoted above.
In the video, she made the split requirement for the leap and she had height, so any deductions would only be for form issues.

Ahhhh I see...so maybe that back leg being bent is what is getting her. =) Hopefully the kicks can help with that too. =)
 
It's a case of dynamic active flexibility vs. static passive flexibility.
  • Dynamic means in motion
  • Static means no motion
  • Active means engaging the muscle
  • Passive means relaxing the muscle
A split leap uses dynamic active flexibility. Sitting in a split on the floor uses static passive flexibility. These types of flexibility are very different. Essentially, static passive flexibility is the limit of the muscle's ability to stretch. Active flexibility is the limit of the muscle's strength to move within the limits demonstrated by the static passive flexibility. When dynamics are added to active stretches, it can be possible to exceed the limits shown during static passive stretches. This can be dangerous since it means the muscles are being pushed beyond their limits. That's one reason why ankle weights are bad for this kind of training and skill work. So, like @CoachMeg suggested, dynamic active kicks will greatly benefit her active flexibility, but do not do them with ankle weights!

A good way to think of all of this is by relating it to a glass of water. The height of the glass is how passively flexible the kid is. The amount of water in the glass is how much active flexibility the kid has. If a kid has a 180° split while stretching on the floor, but can only hit 90° during a split leap, then we can say the glass is only half full with water. Continuing to stretch passively will increase the size of the glass, but it will not change the amount of water in it. Stretching actively and dynamically is what will add more water to the glass. Training dynamically with ankle weights is like pouring too much water into the glass, causing it to overflow. Then you have the amount of space in the glass not filled with water, which is reserve flexibility. Reserve flexibility is basically a range the muscle can move through, but is not strong enough to move through on it's own (like slowly raising the leg up as high as possible, or holding a really high front scale). Basically, you want a really big glass that is full all the way to the top. :) That would be equivalent to a kid with 180° split on the floor being able to hit 180° in a split leap, too.

I hope that analogy was helpful!
 
A good way to think of all of this is by relating it to a glass of water. The height of the glass is how passively flexible the kid is. The amount of water in the glass is how much active flexibility the kid has. If a kid has a 180° split while stretching on the floor, but can only hit 90° during a split leap, then we can say the glass is only half full with water. Continuing to stretch passively will increase the size of the glass, but it will not change the amount of water in it. Stretching actively and dynamically is what will add more water to the glass. Training dynamically with ankle weights is like pouring too much water into the glass, causing it to overflow. Then you have the amount of space in the glass not filled with water, which is reserve flexibility. Reserve flexibility is basically a range the muscle can move through, but is not strong enough to move through on it's own (like slowly raising the leg up as high as possible, or holding a really high front scale). Basically, you want a really big glass that is full all the way to the top. :) That would be equivalent to a kid with 180° split on the floor being able to hit 180° in a split leap, too.

I hope that analogy was helpful!

It's a GREAT analogy. Thank you for that :)
 
It's a case of dynamic active flexibility vs. static passive flexibility.
  • Dynamic means in motion
  • Static means no motion
  • Active means engaging the muscle
  • Passive means relaxing the muscle
A split leap uses dynamic active flexibility. Sitting in a split on the floor uses static passive flexibility. These types of flexibility are very different. Essentially, static passive flexibility is the limit of the muscle's ability to stretch. Active flexibility is the limit of the muscle's strength to move within the limits demonstrated by the static passive flexibility. When dynamics are added to active stretches, it can be possible to exceed the limits shown during static passive stretches. This can be dangerous since it means the muscles are being pushed beyond their limits. That's one reason why ankle weights are bad for this kind of training and skill work. So, like @CoachMeg suggested, dynamic active kicks will greatly benefit her active flexibility, but do not do them with ankle weights!

A good way to think of all of this is by relating it to a glass of water. The height of the glass is how passively flexible the kid is. The amount of water in the glass is how much active flexibility the kid has. If a kid has a 180° split while stretching on the floor, but can only hit 90° during a split leap, then we can say the glass is only half full with water. Continuing to stretch passively will increase the size of the glass, but it will not change the amount of water in it. Stretching actively and dynamically is what will add more water to the glass. Training dynamically with ankle weights is like pouring too much water into the glass, causing it to overflow. Then you have the amount of space in the glass not filled with water, which is reserve flexibility. Reserve flexibility is basically a range the muscle can move through, but is not strong enough to move through on it's own (like slowly raising the leg up as high as possible, or holding a really high front scale). Basically, you want a really big glass that is full all the way to the top. :) That would be equivalent to a kid with 180° split on the floor being able to hit 180° in a split leap, too.

I hope that analogy was helpful!


Yes that was very helpful, thank you so much! =) She stared working the kicks yesterday, s hopefully it helps.
 

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