Coaches Long hang pullovers & Bars in General

[aileenmaryf]

I coach high school gymnastics where it is very common for girls to join who have little/no gymnastics experience. I think one of the biggest challenges is bars. During practices I am mainly in charge of the JV group in which I have one girl who has a "solid" routine (pullover, back hip x2, squat on, long hang pullover x2, back hip circle, fly away) and another girl who can do a very sloppy long hang pullover, but not one from a cast (some people call them baby giants). However, the remaining girls who even want to try to compete bars can't even do a long hang pullover (jumping from LB to HB or jumping and taking extra swings). The girls who are working them have the right idea, but they can never get their hips to the bars and it is so hard to spot! I usually stand up on a panel mat and help but they are all as heavy or heavier than I am and I can only do so many before my back starts to hurt. Plus, I feel like they don't understand how they need to get their hips to the bar and/or they don't have the strength. Usually when I am teaching someone a skill, I try to go from my own experience of either from when I was in gymnastics or from when I started coaching. The problem is where I learned to coach, the girls were about 5-7 years old and were much more naturally talented (and also not as heavy!). The other problem is that I did not spend a whole lot of time working on long hang pullovers because I got my kip very quickly. So I don't remember ever having to actually LEARN this skill.

Any drills/tips/ideas is much appreciated!
Thank you in advance!

 

[coachmolly]

Welcome to the world of high school gym! I asked this same question when I first started coaching high school 3 years ago and while I was given a little help, since it's not a skill that is done very frequently in club, there's not a whole lot out there in the way of drills.
When spotting them, I grab their shoulder with my right hand (I'm a righty) and bump their hip with my left. Grabbing the shoulder is a HUGE help in getting them up over the bar without taxing yourself too much. I know it's saved me a ton of shoulder pain.
Some of the common problems I see are a bad or totally missing tap going under the bar- lots of girls keep their hips closed in a pikey shape all the way through which just kills their swing. Make sure they are tapping at the bottom. I also remember hearing from someone here that a late tap is best for this particular skill. And emphasis a solid jump to the HB, not just a fall in the right general direction.
Make sure they aren't killing the swing by stopping their shoulders. I have a few girls who swing their legs up but their shoulders stay under the HB, it's like they catch it and put on the brakes.
Work on getting them to rotate their hands, that's another huge problem and a difficult concept to teach to teens with little to no gym experience, and a road block in getting them up and over.
Those are some of the main errors that come to mind at the moment, but I'll let you know if I think of any other tips.

 

[CoachTodd]

a billion pull ups and toe touches. Then a billion tap swings. Then combine the two.
One of the biggest issues is core strength.

 

[Nicole19]

I would be sure they can do a pull over on low bar with their head in and without stepping, hopping, or kicking into it. Great if they already can! But if they can't it might point out some strength and form they're missing.