WAG The next big skills (beyond compulsaries)

[Tlynn]

I can clearly see the skills needed for compulsary levels, but after the level 4 skills, what are the next "big skills" to look forward to? I realize that each kid will find certain skills harder/easier, but are there some typical level 6 skills that most kids will work towards? Thanks!

 

[Tlynn]

FYI- we don't do level 5

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Back walkover on beam, layout and forward saltos on floor, giants on bars and yurchenko/tsuk drills are pretty common skills to work to when you are training level 6

 

[Ali'sMom]

Level 6:
cast to handstand on bars, flyaway out of handstand rather than tap swings (some find it scary because there's more power)
FT and ROBHSBT on floor
BWO, FT dismount on beam
vault is same

The handstands on bars can take some time to get with good form. Then to get them up to vertical without going over is the real trick... (the requirement is a cast above horizontal, but from horizontal to vertical angle, there are deductions for how far from vertical they are)

Those are the typical level 6 skills.
But as poster above me stated - a lot of gyms will start up training giants on bars, layouts on floor, drills for flipping vaults, connections and BHS on beam.

 

[LTB~Mom]

vault - FHS on higher setting, yurchenko/tsuk drills and timers

bars - kip cast handstand, flyaways, free hip to handstand, giants

beam - bwo, fwo, bhs, leaps/jumps/dance, dismounts like ft or cartwheel bt

floor - front tumbling - fhs/ft/fp, back tumbling - bt/layouts, front and back twisting, leaps/jumps/dance

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

vault - FHS on higher setting, yurchenko/tsuk drills and timers

bars - kip cast handstand, flyaways, free hip to handstand, giants

beam - bwo, fwo, bhs, leaps/jumps/dance, dismounts like ft or cartwheel bt

floor - front tumbling - fhs/ft/fp, back tumbling - bt/layouts, front and back twisting, leaps/jumps/dance

Totally off topic, but what would you call a higher setting for vault?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Vault: still a front handspring all the way through level 7 (should be drilling towards flipping vaults, though)

Bars: casts to handstand, free hips (preferably to handstand), flyaways (preferably from a cast handstand), giants

Beam: back handspring, and eventually connections (ie BWO-BWO)

Floor: FHS-front, RO-BHS-back tuck/layout/full. I would include front 1/2 here, but most coaches don't.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

My DD finished level 4 in December and is training 5/6/7 (i.e. they have no idea what they are going to compete next season yet) So far they've been working on the following:

Floor - mostly level 5 skills still. Back tucks, front tucks (both standing and not), the front handspring/front handspring pass, level 5 leap pass, etc. I'm pretty sure layouts will be coming soon.

Beam - they all have their back walk overs and back handsprings. Full turns. Split leap/sissone leap. Dd is working on connecting the bwo/bhs right now. They are also starting to work on the cartwheel back tuck dismount.

Vault - mostly still fhs on a higher setting. Some beginner drills for yurchenkos, but not too often yet.

Bars - Bars are interesting right now with her group. They spent at least 2 months after the level 4 state meet doing some drills for higher level skills (clear hip, baby giants, flyaways, giants), but mostly lots of strength/conditioning/shape work. There first goal was triple cast handstands +stoop on and then, once they got past that, then as many as they can do with good form. Dd can do 5 or 6 now. Then they really started pushing straight body cast handstands. Dd and another girl have that pretty solid. The other 3 are still working on them. Finally, they are getting past the drills and actually working on the skills. Most of them have the baby giant (although they still need some work). Clear hips are coming along. Flyaways are something they don't focus too much on until a little later from what I have heard. They still do drills and heavily spotted flyaways, but I think it will be a little while before they are doing them on their own. In the other events, they went right to level 5 skills so I was surprised with the relative slowness of the bars, but I think by taking the extra time to work on their kips and cast handstands they are going to be in a good position to get the skills quicker now and, hopefully, with good form. Time will tell I guess. I think they are expecting them to have their giants and clear hip to handstand (or close at least) by September or so.

 

[duyetanh]

OGRES
...er....i mean Giants....

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Just want to clarify regarding vault settings: there are no USAG requirements regarding vault settings in JO or Xcel. You can vault on any height at any level.

 

[gracyomalley]

Just want to clarify regarding vault settings: there are no USAG requirements regarding vault settings in JO or Xcel. You can vault on any height at any level.

quick question then - my kiddo was flipping yurchenkos into the pit on settings of 2 at her first gym (she's very short) - transferred gyms when they closed, and had to work only FHS until she could do them on 3 and 4....quit for 2 years. Now fully grown and strong, but still 4'9". training again and so far happy. Question is - is there a consensus on whether its ok to flip on a lowish setting? I have no idea what the new gym will do - and really its more in her head than any physical issue - but she got lots of mixed messages and now really wants to do her flipping vault again. I'm totally out of gym this time round - I do pick up and pay the bills and listen to her tell me all the new skills she is already doing - but communication with the coaches, etc is up to her (she's a freshman now) - so I'm mostly just curious. Her brother flipped his vaults on 5 I think - but he's a boy...

 

[ayyyrial]

The reason coaches sometimes try to work up to higher settings is just that the higher off the ground you are when you block, the more height you have to flip your vault. The caveat being that you need to hit the vault table at the right angle coming on in order to get that good block, and some gymnasts (especially those on the shorter/smaller side) struggle to get enough power/height coming on for that to work. You can work up to a higher setting no matter your size (e.g. look at some of those tiny junior elites flipping on FIG settings) by working on your run and entry onto the board, so coaches will sometimes work on this to try to get kids up to a higher setting to give them more height for the flip.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

"Consensus" is a stronger word than I would use, but generally a higher vault table (assuming it doesn't compromise technique) means more air time in postflight. A gymnast who isn't powerful enough to have a strong vault on at least 4 probably doesn't have enough power for a postflight salto.

 

[gracyomalley]

Thanks - I think that makes sense to me - and she did make it to a 3 before quitting but only doing FHS - they pretty much didn't let her work even drills for flipping until then, and she became a coaches nightmare with all her fears, etc so....

 

[gracyomalley]

"Consensus" is a stronger word than I would use, but generally a higher vault table (assuming it doesn't compromise technique) means more air time in postflight. A gymnast who isn't powerful enough to have a strong vault on at least 4 probably doesn't have enough power for a postflight salto.

makes sense - I don't think she had a very powerful block at L7 - vault was her lowest scoring event with low 9s. Shes crazy strong now, but we'll see what happens - she did flip at the lower setting and land them on a mat in the pit...but there's a big difference from that and a safe vault without the pit...just curious and gathering info for when she asks me...

 

[Texasmomof3]

Your gym will still need to do at least one level 5 meet to score the girls out of compulsories. For that meet, they will need these new skills:

floor: 180 degrees split/switch leap, full turn, rbhsbt, fhsfhs, ft.
beam: full turn, back walkover, 2 second handstand.
bars: cast to horizontal, baby giant, flywaway dismount.

For level 6, you will need As and Bs. Since it is an optional level, you have choices. But the most common choices are:

floor: switch leap to 180, fhsft, rbhsbt, full or 1.5 turn, 180 straddle leap, tuck jump.
beam: bhs, bwo, full turn, 180 leap, ft or bt dismount
bars: cast (at least above horizontal but as close to handstand as possible) on high and low bars, flyaway dismount from (as close as possible to) handstand

 

[LTB~Mom]

Totally off topic, but what would you call a higher setting for vault?

Seems like most L4s vault at setting 2/3, but the setting continues to move higher until they are vaulting at setting 4/5 for L7s. Presumably because 1) the girls are bigger/stronger/faster as they move up the levels and 2) to get them ready for flipping vaults on the higher vault setting.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Seems like most L4s vault at setting 2/3, but the setting continues to move higher until they are vaulting at setting 4/5 for L7s. Presumably because 1) the girls are bigger/stronger/faster as they move up the levels and 2) to get them ready for flipping vaults on the higher vault setting.

So as a european, how many centimeters is each setting? I vault at 130 now, what setting would that be?

 

[fuzi]

Pretty sure this is right. Our vault tables have settings in centimeters, so someone do let me know if I'm off.
0 = 100 cm
1 = 105 cm
2 = 110
3 = 115
4 = 120
5 = 125
6 = 130
7 = 135

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Pretty sure this is right. Our vault tables have settings in centimeters, so someone do let me know if I'm off.
0 = 100 cm
1 = 105 cm
2 = 110
3 = 115
4 = 120
5 = 125
6 = 130
7 = 135

This suprises me, because i do the lowest level in my country for 13/14 year olds and 130 is the minimum? I'm starting to think more and more our system is a bit strange...