need help on vault handsprings

[gymgirlperfect10]

Hello! I'm a level 5 gymnast and my first meet is in one month today, (november 21st) and my front handspring on vault is having some problems.
whenever i try and keep my legs straight. I don't bloch with my shoulders, making me arch off the table. and wherever I try to bloch.. my legs bend, and my vault looks ugly. urgh. I can't do both at the same time.
I NEEED vault faires to cast a magic "do-well" spell on me!
Luv,
gymgirlperfect10.

__________________

:vault:
Gymnastics is life.. the rest is just details.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Hello! I'm a level 5 gymnast and my first meet is in one month today, (november 21st) and my front handspring on vault is having some problems.
Whenever I try and keep my legs straight, I don't block with my shoulders, making me arch off the table. And wherever I try to block, my legs bend, and my vault looks ugly. urgh. I can't do both at the same time.
I NEEED vault fairies to cast a magic "do-well" spell on me!
Love,
gymgirlperfect10.

I went to the liberty of fixing your spelling. Please do this yourself next time.

ANYWAY, let's see if we can answer your question:

I would have to see a video to say for certain what you're doing wrong, however odds are high it has to do with how you're hitting the springboard (since 95% of problems with handsprings are due to this, in my experience). It sounds to me like the real problem you're having is that you aren't stretching out enough between the springboard and the table, which means you are very likely leaning forward on the board (this has a tendancy to cause a pike, bent arms, closed shoulders, bent knees, etc). When you hurdle, think about pushing the board forward with your feet, like you're trying to slide it under the table; in order to do this, you need your weight to be behind your feet. In short, keep your body more or less straight and hit the board with your feet in front of you; do not allow the chest and shoulders to get in front of the feet.

Fixing this should allow you a bit more room to stretch out your body before contacting the table.

As for block, in my opinion if you are "trying to block" you are doing something wrong. Block isn't something you do; it's something that happens when you do everything else correctly. If you hit the table at the correct angle with a tight body and extended shoulders, a block will occur.

 

[gymgirlperfect10]

My mistake

I went to the liberty of fixing your spelling. Please do this yourself next time.

I'm sorry. i just thought the gymnastics kind of block was spelled bloch.
my mistake.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm sorry. i just thought the gymnastics kind of block was spelled bloch.
my mistake.

So I guess my comment about your spelling came accross harsher than I intended it to. My apologies, it's just that "luv" is a particular pet peeve of mine.

Anyway, no worries.

 

[emacmommy]

GT - I love the way you described the body position on the board and the feeling of pushing the board forward. I've been trying to explain feet in front of knees and leaning back with chest up for years and have never come up with that analogy. LOVE a new way to explain things. Going to go and try that with some of my girls tomorrow!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

GT - I love the way you described the body position on the board and the feeling of pushing the board forward. I've been trying to explain feet in front of knees and leaning back with chest up for years and have never come up with that analogy. LOVE a new way to explain things. Going to go and try that with some of my girls tomorrow!

Thanks!

I got that from one of the boys' coaches at Woodward. I never would have thought of it myself either, but it works great!

 

[Gymnasticcoach2]

To Help your heel drive with straight legs.., stand on a spotting block in front of a spring board, in front of a resi pit or stacked matts.
Jump from spotting block...hit board and pop to immediate handstand with staight legs. do this over and over to help train your leg muscles to stay straight during the heel drive process.
hope this helps!

 

[gymgirlperfect10]

thank you. this helped alot.

 

[gymgirlperfect10]

thank you, this helped

 

[gymnast1guppy]

Also dont forget to hit the board really hard and get heigth off the board