Please help!! Front hip circle

[lilgymnast7]

Help!!
I need some really good advice on front hip circles. I can do one however the whole time I am in a tucked position. I was reading another post about a Drill on how to improve front hip circles, but as much as I try I am still tucked going around the bar! I make sure to sqeeze my legs tight. I am very focused to! Please help me!!

 

[gymkat]

That would be precisely the reason why I hand spot front hip circles instead of letting kids do the tuck and grab knees drill-- it's tough to break bent knees on front hip circles. Unfortunately, for bent knees, there isn't much you can do. You know your knees are bent, so you have to force yourself to keep them straight, even if you fall.

 

[KAQuinlan]

Pike stretch?

I would like to ask one question of you -- can you do a pike stretch all the way down? I have been working with a young lady who had a front hip circle in her routine. She did not tuck her knees around the bar, but could not keep them straight. When she sat down and showed me her pike stretch, she could NOT do one! I was flabbergasted. Anyway, the point is, the end of your front hip circle looks like a pike stretch, so if you can't do that, then you don't have the flexibility to finish the skill.

That said, a drill that we used to do to help girls finish their kips and front hip circles was this: lay flat on your back with your arm over your head in a hollow body. Sit up to a V-sit as fast as you can. As you are sitting up, push down on the floor so that your bottom comes off the floor and try to hold the V-press for a second or two. That drill is really intended to teach straight arms all the way up, but perhaps it could help you learn to keep squeezing those legs through all the positions.

 

[lilgymnast7]

Thanks so much for the advice! Yes, I can do a pike stretch all the way down. I have been doing the drill you gave me and I hope to get this skill soon! Keep the advice comming!