Splits question

[PeanutButterMom]

PB was working last night on her splits at the gym. Her center is nice (about an inch from the ground? It's come a LOOOOONG way in the past month or so). Right split is pretty bad and left split is "OK" but needs work. After practice coach was showing me WHY PB was having such issue with right split - she wants to put both hands in front of her (like when doing a center split) rather than one on each side of her extended leg. Her hips aren't pointed toward the front but rather toward the side, if that makes sense. I'm wondering, is this a trainable thing, or a ortho thing? Should I take her to see someone or ask about the gym trainer (PB is only on pre-team, but the gym has an othopedic therapist and her daughter is also on pre-team). PB had a HUGE growth spurt in December (grew 4-ish inches, only in her legs, torso length stayed the exact same). She's had a lot of trouble with flexibility since then (it wasn't awesome before but wasn't SO difficult for her now).

 

[my4buffaloes]

My dd had this issue. The coach had her get in a split position above the ground, so about how low I could go on a split LOL. Then put her hands on her hips and go very slowly down, making sure that the hips didn't turn as she lowered. It took a few months of working on them like this but finally she got them back the correct way.

 

[GymCoach11]

It's very common- the gymnasts want to go the further way down they can, even if it means twisting their hips like you described. However as you know splits with "square" hips is technically correct. This can easily be corrected through adjusting her shape when she stretches her splits. Her recent growth spurt may have had some effect but not an ortho issue - speak to her coach I'm sure she'll show you how to correct it if/when she's stretching at home

 

[iwannacoach]

Put two books next to her on the floor, one on each side. She can put her hands on the books to "lengthen" her arms and avoid having to turn to the side, while leaning over to get her hands on the floor. That, and more work on flexibility will help alot.

 

[gymnasticky]

Has she ever tried doing her splits on beam (or a straight line on the floor)? Even if they are not close to all the way down, it will help them get in the correct position so that they can feel it.

 

[PeanutButterMom]

<snip> Speak to her coach I'm sure she'll show you how to correct it if/when she's stretching at home

Her coach did just that - she had PB do all 3 splits for me after practice so that I could see what she's talking about (because I don't know anything about anything, really). She showed me to kind of kneel behind PB, so that her back leg stays straight, and kind of "guide" her hips (hold them so that stay facing forward). She does NOT enjoy it, so I guess that means it's working, lol.

Has she ever tried doing her splits on beam (or a straight line on the floor)? Even if they are not close to all the way down, it will help them get in the correct position so that they can feel it.

Put two books next to her on the floor, one on each side. She can put her hands on the books to "lengthen" her arms and avoid having to turn to the side, while leaning over to get her hands on the floor. That, and more work on flexibility will help alot.

Both of these are EXCELLENT ideas. I think I'm going to get some cool duct tape and have her use those. That might help her cartwheels stay in line too.

 

[HOTVTwistersChamp]

This is actually really common. A good idea might be to (Depending on how tall she is) put a footstool that is the same height as your couch, put about a foot, foot and a half, away from the couch, then have your daughter do her splits inbetween them. Then, have her but her arms on the footstool and couch. It might help keep her hips straight. Another thing, and this will majorly help with her flexibility as well, is have her go down in her splits, then stand behind her, so your legs are where her back knee is. Then, have her go into a kneel on her back leg and wrap her arms around your legs. Then pull her front leg up, and keep pulling it until she says when. Then hold it there for about 10-30 seconds. Every time you do it, try to pull it up a little higher. Oh, and afterwords,have her hold her split for at least 30 seconds. Hope this helps!

 

[BlairBob]

Many kids will turn out the rear hip to get lower and diminish the pain of the stretch.

So generally, I just square the kids myself. Sometimes it hurts and I have them go higher to correct themselves. They tend not to like it.

Some, however, bear with it and those kids are probably worth my time to stretch correctly. The ones who are gonna cheat the moment you turn your head just aren't worth it and so I tend to not try to resquare them again.

 

[2020vision]

Many kids will turn out the rear hip to get lower and diminish the pain of the stretch.

So generally, I just square the kids myself. Sometimes it hurts and I have them go higher to correct themselves. They tend not to like it.

Some, however, bear with it and those kids are probably worth my time to stretch correctly. The ones who are gonna cheat the moment you turn your head just aren't worth it and so I tend to not try to resquare them again.

Wow. Yeah, I don't think I would feel comfortable having someone with this approach coach my kid. I don't like people around my kid who have declared that my child "isn't worth it". I'm sorry sir, but I think all kids are worth "it" regardless if they can do the splits or not.

I'm glad that my child's coach didn't take this attitude with her flexibility. It took her years to get her splits because she was so powerful. I'm glad that he didn't decide she wasn't "worth it" because she would have never made it out of compulsories if he hadn't decided she was worth his time to help her with her flexibility.

 

[LiveLoveTumble]

Wow. Yeah, I don't think I would feel comfortable having someone with this approach coach my kid. I don't like people around my kid who have declared that my child "isn't worth it". I'm sorry sir, but I think all kids are worth "it" regardless if they can do the splits or not.

I'm glad that my child's coach didn't take this attitude with her flexibility. It took her years to get her splits because she was so powerful. I'm glad that he didn't decide she wasn't "worth it" because she would have never made it out of compulsories if he hadn't decided she was worth his time to help her with her flexibility.

I don't think he is implying what you said. I think he means that those kids who "aren't worth it" are the ones cheating, not the ones who can't do it. If they are going to cheat no matter what, then it's not worth trying to fix them. But if they are trying, even if they can't do the splits all the way down, then it is worth helping them.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Wow. Yeah, I don't think I would feel comfortable having someone with this approach coach my kid. I don't like people around my kid who have declared that my child "isn't worth it". I'm sorry sir, but I think all kids are worth "it" regardless if they can do the splits or not.

I'm glad that my child's coach didn't take this attitude with her flexibility. It took her years to get her splits because she was so powerful. I'm glad that he didn't decide she wasn't "worth it" because she would have never made it out of compulsories if he hadn't decided she was worth his time to help her with her flexibility.

But was your DD trying? As a coach I completely understand BlairBobs point. There are kids who struggle with flexibility but if you correct their position they will hold it, if you stretch them they will deal with it knowing that it helps them improve.

Then you have the child who you fix their position, move along the line and turn around to see that five seconds later the child has shuffled back to where they were. Why should a coach stand over and constantly correct the child who is not willing to do it for themselves. There is also the same child who you can apply gentle pressure to during splits and they pull faces make a huge fuss, push against you, as a coach you can generally feel when a child is at their limit and with these kids they are not because they just do not want to feel any discomfort.

The same child during a splits competition will half the distance between their butt and the floor compared to regular stretching, these kids are capable, just not willing to deal with the discomfort to get the results. Sometimes this is a maturity issue, as I coach I will stretch these kids every now and then, but I focus on the children who ask to be stretched and react after stretching with smiles and excitement over improvement instead of moaning. I currently have a kid who is unwilling, I see it as my fault, I should not have taken on a child who showed no tolerance for any discomfort and no real motivation to improve. It is not worth spending extra time on children like these, they still get attention and coaching but I am not going to give them extra because they are only giving bare minimum.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

I think a lot of this has to do with the age of the gymnast too. A kid that's never experienced that uncomfortable feeling from stretching properly won't immediately have the tolerance or knowledge to know it's helping them, not hurting them. They don't tend to see that in 6 months (or however long it takes) it will feel awesome to have a split. My daughters rec class stretching was not really stretching. They did them, but it wasn't with the focus or length her preteam does.

I totally get not wanting to spend a ton of time on a older gymnast who knows they have to stretch, but doesn't really care about the consequences of not doing it right.

 

[iwannacoach]

I really got from BlairBob's post that this is a daily struggle, and not a one time proposition where a child is given up on, due to a lack of effort. I don't see the merit in going back for a second time each day to the children who simply don't care to be put into the correct position. If and when they show some interest is the opportunity for them to have a "teachable moment".

The hardest part about flexibility is that the teachable moment has to be sustained over weeks for them to see the value of working on it. These kids that won't stay in position know what and how, and need only try, either in the gym or at home, to sustain a coaches interest.

It all comes down to the fact that gymnastics instruction can only happen if the kids are in the gym physically, mentally, and emotionally. Only then are we as coaches able to have a benificial impact on their training. Forcing the issue for these kids does absolutely nothing outside the five seconds that it takes to find out if you have a willing participant, or a rebel with a cause.

 

[Blessed4x]

PBmom, I'm glad you posted this and the responses from a coaching standpoint are helpful. I don't usually stay for all of practice but I do often see a bit of stretches at beginning and end. I had mentioned on another post my DD's difficulty with pike. It's really hard to see the girls get repositioned and the tears that go with it. Someone asked my DD how she liked L4 the other day and she matter of factly answered "It hurts". That bothered me and I talked to her about it hurting and if it was something she really wanted to do. She said "duh mom....it's gotta hurt to get better.". Glad she inherently gets that, because I have that rush in and rescue tendency. She's also usually the one giggling uncontrollably when coach is pushing her instead of crying. She says that's so she won't cry and because "gymnasts have pain sometimes" but after a while she's got the whole team (including the coach) laughing.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Wow. Yeah, I don't think I would feel comfortable having someone with this approach coach my kid. I don't like people around my kid who have declared that my child "isn't worth it". I'm sorry sir, but I think all kids are worth "it" regardless if they can do the splits or not.

I'm glad that my child's coach didn't take this attitude with her flexibility. It took her years to get her splits because she was so powerful. I'm glad that he didn't decide she wasn't "worth it" because she would have never made it out of compulsories if he hadn't decided she was worth his time to help her with her flexibility.

hey there, 2020. you're new here. welcome to CB. Blairbob means that tongue in cheek. us coaches tend to have a sense of humor that has been formed by the kids we work with. he meant nothing by it. it was humor. hang around for awhile and you'll see what i mean. this is a great place and humor here is one to look forward too.

 

[2020vision]

Coach Dunno,

Thank you for the welcoming. Humor is subjective and while I don't "get" that particular brand of humor, I'm willing to extend the benefit of the doubt. I'm a bit sensitive about dismissing children as not worth it. Part of my way of feeling like I am giving back to society is to provide eye exams, lenses, and frames to children who have been "thrown away". Some of those days are gut wrenching and I admit to being perhaps hypersensitive to callous remarks about kids being "worthy".

 

[2020vision]

But was your DD trying? As a coach I completely understand BlairBobs point. There are kids who struggle with flexibility but if you correct their position they will hold it, if you stretch them they will deal with it knowing that it helps them improve.

Then you have the child who you fix their position, move along the line and turn around to see that five seconds later the child has shuffled back to where they were. Why should a coach stand over and constantly correct the child who is not willing to do it for themselves. There is also the same child who you can apply gentle pressure to during splits and they pull faces make a huge fuss, push against you, as a coach you can generally feel when a child is at their limit and with these kids they are not because they just do not want to feel any discomfort.

The same child during a splits competition will half the distance between their butt and the floor compared to regular stretching, these kids are capable, just not willing to deal with the discomfort to get the results. Sometimes this is a maturity issue, as I coach I will stretch these kids every now and then, but I focus on the children who ask to be stretched and react after stretching with smiles and excitement over improvement instead of moaning. I currently have a kid who is unwilling, I see it as my fault, I should not have taken on a child who showed no tolerance for any discomfort and no real motivation to improve. It is not worth spending extra time on children like these, they still get attention and coaching but I am not going to give them extra because they are only giving bare minimum.

Please don't think poorly of me for this, but honestly, I don't know if she tried every day or not. I drop her and then hurry back to the office and work until it's time to pick her up. She has her lazy days in life so I assume those sometimes transfer over to training times as well. I would just hate to think that a coach would give up on her.

I don't think it so bizarre that a child, especially a young one, would want to torque their hips to avoid pain. I believe that's pretty normal as humans are programmed to avoid pain as much as possible. Perhaps Coach Blair meant his comments about older kids who should be accustomed to working through pain where as I interpreted them as being toward all children, even the young ones who just are trying to avoid that searing pain that comes from being stretched.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Coach Dunno,

Thank you for the welcoming. Humor is subjective and while I don't "get" that particular brand of humor, I'm willing to extend the benefit of the doubt. I'm a bit sensitive about dismissing children as not worth it. Part of my way of feeling like I am giving back to society is to provide eye exams, lenses, and frames to children who have been "thrown away". Some of those days are gut wrenching and I admit to being perhaps hypersensitive to callous remarks about kids being "worthy".

gotcha! wait till you see some of my posts as they relate to what my "hypersensitive" system picks up.

 

[Kiwi]

have her go down in her splits, then stand behind her, so your legs are where her back knee is. Then, have her go into a kneel on her back leg and wrap her arms around your legs. Then pull her front leg up, and keep pulling it until she says when. Then hold it there for about 10-30 seconds. Every time you do it, try to pull it up a little higher.

This sounds like the same way a coach pulled my DD's hamstring last year. Be very careful about pushing and pulling kids in stretches.

My DD cheats in her splits all the time. I don't think she really understands how to get square. It is physically difficult to get totally square hips. Also they are only kids and it is natural to want to avoid pain. I think there are some less painful ways to improve flexibility, but I think one key thing is persevering with it and keep chipping away at it over time.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and as i have posted before, some kids will never achieve in this department. and not for lack of trying.