WAG vault- uhhh what to do when they just don't get it

[juststartingout]

My daughter has been progressing in every area except vault. The coach wants to move her to the next level but can't seem to get her to handspring vault over the table. She has a good run but it doesn't seem to translate to the board. Unfortunately she has never had the opportunity to work with a head coach for vault, just high school age junior coaches. While these girls are great gymnasts and know how to do the skills I don't know how well they do at explaining the concept. The coach keeps wanting to push her to the next level but at the same time when I ask about privates on vault she keeps saying "don't worry she'll get it" and blowing me off. She can't even do the handstand flatback vault very well, highest score for that was a 9.2 and that was on a good day. So I guess my question is are their any instructional videos that explain what to do step by step that she could watch or could any coach explain it. Does she start driving her heels as soon as she jumps on the springboard? At what point does she reach for the mat? It's just frustrating because they keep acting like she's just going to wake up one day and do it but she doesn't understand the concept.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

It doesn't take much coaching to get a child to do a handspring. And yes she will get it, it takes TIME. Coming from the coaches point of view, and don't be offended, but please do not try and teach her anything. If she is slowing down in the hurdle then that is something she needs to work through.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Wow... 9.2 for a handstand flat back is awesome! I think my dd got one 9 ever for that vault! Now she gets 9.4's 9.5's for a piked yurchenko. Don't sweat it. She will get it. Trust her coach. They do that front handspring vault forever. (My dd was never great at that one, either, lol)

 

[Clover]

ITA with the above posters that vault can just take some kids (who may be fantastic little gymnasts) some time. My DD's worst event was vault for several years with scores mostly mid to high 8s (certainly not terrible but not killing the vault). Then one day she came home from practice and said "I fixed my vault". Sure enough, her scores have gone way up. I think that one day she just "got it". I think that coaches understand this, so just try to be patient.

 

[profmom]

Even if it doesn't ever get very strong, it will improve when she starts training the flipping vaults, because that will force her to run faster. But don't sweat it regardless. DD (level 7) has never gotten a 9 on vault, but her scores have been better each year. Her coach told her that her vaults will start scoring well when she starts competing Yurchenkos, because they are more about finesse than power.

 

[munchkin3]

Vault is my DD nemesis too. Is your DD small?? Does she even get over???
Mine is. She is also scared of the vault. Some days she does the front handspring OK, other days she doesn't even get over.
Head coach also is like 'don't worry she will be fine'. On the other events she is training L5! ( she just finished L3)
I guess if she has everything else, they could not hold her back!!
Don't worry, she will get it.....reps and time, and speed!
PS our small L10 could never do a good FHS vault. She does a yurchenko instead.

 

[pamred4]

Vault was terrible for me then one day i ran, jumped and made it everyone clapped and cheered. My point is that it will just click one day good luck and hold in there

 

[my4buffaloes]

My dd always struggled with the FHS vault too. a 9.2 is a great score! She will get it eventually, it is the coaches job to teach her and it sounds like they know it is an issue. But just because it is an issue now does not mean it always will be.

 

[juststartingout]

Well the 9.2 was on a flat back vault onto a resi mat. She can't even get up to a handstand on the table at the lowest setting. She is super short but there are shorter girls doing it. She is also extremely muscular so you would think she has the power somewhere. If she was getting good coaching on vault I wouldn't sweat it but her coach is a 12th grader who can't seem to explain it to her. She is the only one having problems although all the other girls came up through the preschool programs and she came in and was put onto team with nothing but some home taught tumbling. That was about 2 years ago so you would think vault would have improved in that time at least a little and it hasn't. On one or two occasions one of the head coaches from another group filled in and she seemed to make some improvements so I know if we had a coach on vault that was better trained it would help, they just aren't telling her anything that helps.

 

[gymgal]

As coachp and the others have said - it takes time. Let your dd and the coaches figure it out. She will "get it". One day it will just click. don't try to 'help' by showing her videos or explaining it. Trust the coaches. They work with this all the time.

Dd struggled with flatbacks and fhs. She had a hard time getting the power from the springboard. Her scores were usually in the high 8's to low 9's (when other vt scores were low to mid 9s). Each year she improved her form a little, though her scores stayed the same because the level requirements were different. Fast forward a few years, she is a level 8 now and competes a yurchenko. She has never been a super vaulter but it hasn't stopped her from getting this far.

Give it time. It will get better. Think long term...

 

[Quadqueen]

Yup, just like the others have said....it takes time. There's a reason the front handspring is competed for three years!!!

My DD struggled with FHS in her first year, getting mid-high 8s. Her coach almost had her repeat old L5 because of it. Her second year competing it, she was getting mostly 9.0. Now in her third year, she is getting mid 9s and even won vault at her last meet. And, she's so far not struggling with flipping vaults in practice.

So, it CAN work - you just need to be patient.

 

[paige]

My daughter is the same way. She goes over but most of the time it looks very piked. She is 7 and extremely short....I'm told "she'll get it". She skipped the new level 3 and moved right to 4, and I often wonder if it hurt her not having a year of that flat backed vault.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

I never scored above a high 8 on a front handspring. I tsuked for a year and it was much better than my front handspring but the best vault for me was a yurchenko. The front entry just never clicked for me. I know that is not what you want to hear, but in higher level gymnastics a front handspring is not needed!

One meet we went to the vault table didn't go to my setting so my coach tells me to just compete a fronthandspring full. She had only ever coached me on vault when I was doing yurchenkos so she had no idea how bad my front handsprings were. Let's just say it was a hot mess.

 

[gracyomalley]

Ditto to what everyone is saying - FHS vault can be difficult for some girls - especially small ones (but not all). DDs highest vault score ever with FHS was I think a 9.15....even at L7. Kept her from the all elusive (for her) 37 AA. However, her coach thinks she'll have a fantastic Yurchenko.

My only thought would be - does the coach spot her on the table to help her get over with correct form at least in practice? Oh, and DDs first vault score at old L5 was a 5.5.....its been mid to high 8s/9s since age 8, but really, I am sure the coach knows this takes time and isn't a "gymnast breaker"

 

[lhmom]

I also agree. Vault was DD's worst event last year. She had a solid run but she didn't "get" the concept of blocking no matter how many times the coaches explained it to her. But something this summer finally clicked in her head. She started blocking more and she went from scoring low to mid-8's to 9's this season. I remember telling my daughter not to fret about it since she was keeping this vault for a while.

 

[Flossyduck]

I can completely relate to you on this one. My dd has never been a great forward vaulter, although her forward tumbling is strong.

I wondered for a while if it was because she was a late starter and skipped all the springboard and flatback drills. By the time she got into a team all the others had already been competing handstand flatbacks and were working handsprings - she didn't have a clue what to do. She'd come straight from rec where they did squat though vaults, which seemed the total opposite.

She got so frustrated and didn't understand the terminology or get what the coach was saying to her and I do think there was some assumption from the coach that she knew what was required and just needed to try harder. Even though she didn't really understand what she was doing wrong, she wouldn't ask for different explanation. I remember feeling frustrated for her and thinking that the coaches didn't seemed concerned and weren't explaining things properly. It was so tempting to try and sort it out somehow and 'fix' it for her, but you can't.

It did get better of course, but in comparison to her other skills it seemed to be very slow progress. To be honest I was glad when they changed the requirements for her level to backwards vaulting. She's always been very strong on form, timing and technique and she is flying on backwards vaulting.

The other day they were working on some front vaulting, for the first time in a while, and I realised how much it had improved and looked quite strong.

So yeah, been there and feel for you, but you just have to let things unwind and they will.

 

[MaryA]

I know you feel like the girls coaching your daughter maybe don't have the coaching experience to help her with her vault, but if she's progressing in the other events, and if the other girls are getting their vaults, and if the HC isn't concerned about it, then it sounds to me like she's getting pretty decent coaching. My DD's first FHS vault at a meet was a 4.something. Ugh! But eventually she got it and was scoring well into the 9's by the time she got to levels 6(old) and 7. I know that every mommy instinct you have is urging you to find a way to "fix it." That's what we mommies want to do. But the sooner you make her the owner of her gymnastics experience, the more you'll both enjoy the sport. Believe me, I know it's easier said than done, and there are plenty of times I still need to be reminded of this lesson, and DD just finished her 7th season competing.

 

[htimcj]

It just takes time. There is a really good reason that the fhb vault is done for THREE or sometimes even 4 YEARS. It is HARD for some girls. My DD is on her third year of this vault as a L7 and is just now getting nines. So relax it will come.

 

[juststartingout]

Ditto to what everyone is saying - FHS vault can be difficult for some girls - especially small ones (but not all). DDs highest vault score ever with FHS was I think a 9.15....even at L7. Kept her from the all elusive (for her) 37 AA. However, her coach thinks she'll have a fantastic Yurchenko.

My only thought would be - does the coach spot her on the table to help her get over with correct form at least in practice? Oh, and DDs first vault score at old L5 was a 5.5.....its been mid to high 8s/9s since age 8, but really, I am sure the coach knows this takes time and isn't a "gymnast breaker"

See this is the problem, she can't even be spotted on form on the table because she can't get up there. She runs then jumps but her feet are still down while her hands are on the table, I guess she's not driving her feet up. She just doesn't even know what she's supposed to be doing. If it was just form that would be different. I don't care if she looks like Kermit as long as she gets up and over. Right now she can't even get up so she can't move up and her coach is on her to get it because everything else is there.

 

[wgagym]

I understand your frustration. If the head coach does not think she needs privates to address the issue then her coach does not think it will be a huge issue. As everyone else said vault does take time, and yes that Front handspring vault does just click one day. I see it happen all the time. If other kids are learning the vault properly then her coach most likely does know what she is doing. Also, a head coach would not have a young kid who does not know how to coach touch the team kids. Don't count out those high school kids. They sometimes make the best coaches. Just trust your coaches and the system. If you try to coach from the sidelines it will most likely only confuse your daughter and will take her even longer to get the skill.