Parents Tight upper back/bhs

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Looking for advice for my 9 yo. She loves gymnastics but has a tight body (hamstrings and upper back) She won her level 2 vault at both of her meets (60 kids) and placed 3rd and 4th on bars. She is strong, powerful, but not flexible. She has been stretching a lot for the last year and halfway through the year she got her handstand kick over. They have been working on bwo for the last three months, and she does not seem to be getting better. We continue to do shoulder stretches at home and bridges with feet elevated and pushing into bridge. For her bwo she seems to have trouble balancing on one foot while backbending. Also once she bends down it seems her bridge is too spread out to kick over. Some girls are now working on bhs, but she is not allowed to since she doesn’t have bwo. She is getting frustrated, so I have been spotting her on bhs at home on a mat. I’ve watched lots of videos and and can easily support her weight. Any thoughts to help her get her bwo? Otherwise, any thoughts on why she shouldn’t do bhs first- it might be easier on her back. If it matters, she is doing NGA. Thanks for any advice!
 
She really needs to improve her bridge. Spend some time on youtube looking up drills. She needs to be able to do a bridge with her feet together and pushed back over her shoulders. Once she has the flexibility, she will be able to balance on one leg and eventually kick-over. Is she comfortable with bridge-walking? That’s like a crab walk but in a bridge. She should at least be very good at that before moving to a BHS. Bridge walking is more fun than other bridge drills and she can do it all around The house. Good luck.
 
Some gymnasts will struggle with back walkover due to flexibility, keep working and she will get it although it may never be beautiful.

Please don't start bridge walking around the house, if she is stiff in the shoulders and back she will compensate by using her lower back and this can lead to back injuries.

You could consult a sports physio to get specific advice for the best stretches for her, they can show you how to target the problem areas. Bridge with feet raised is a good stretch in the meantime as this takes the pressure off the lower back.

Good luck, she will get there in the end. Quite often the less flexible gymnasts will come into their own as bars and vault skills get harder and strength becomes much more important.
 
Please don't start bridge walking around the house, if she is stiff in the shoulders and back she will compensate by using her lower back and this can lead to back injuries.


Good point about avoiding excessive amounts of bridge-walking, if she is not able to do it safely. It is definitely possible to over-do it.
 
Thanks for the advice! Interestingly enough, I did take her to a PT over a year ago. He told me he thought she could do anything they required in gymnastics and at her age she wouldn’t hurt herself (long term). After reading about gymnastics myself though, I decided she has the body type in which she would eventually compensate with her lower back since her shoulder/upper back are so tight, and I definitely do not want that. Better to do it right from the start. We will have to get a recommendation for another person possibly.
Also just curious has anyone experienced where the gym progression is accomplish kickovers and go next into bhs and skip over bwo? I forgot about this, but this is the progression they used at the YMCA when she was there last fall. The private gym she is at now is where the kids have to have the bwo and then move onto bhs. The different progressions are interesting. Either way she needs more flexibility and better form.
 
Thanks for the advice! Interestingly enough, I did take her to a PT over a year ago. He told me he thought she could do anything they required in gymnastics and at her age she wouldn’t hurt herself (long term). After reading about gymnastics myself though, I decided she has the body type in which she would eventually compensate with her lower back since her shoulder/upper back are so tight, and I definitely do not want that. Better to do it right from the start. We will have to get a recommendation for another person possibly.
Also just curious has anyone experienced where the gym progression is accomplish kickovers and go next into bhs and skip over bwo? I forgot about this, but this is the progression they used at the YMCA when she was there last fall. The private gym she is at now is where the kids have to have the bwo and then move onto bhs. The different progressions are interesting. Either way she needs more flexibility and better form.
If it was a general PT, you might consider looking for a PT that specializes in working with athletes. My dd had really tight shoulders and we were able to get her in with a sports PT who helped with that immensely. And they were able to bill it to insurance as well due to how it was preventing injury or something similar to that.
 

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