What is this stunt called and is it REALLY supposed to look like that?

[Bella's Mom]

Okay....so the stunt is what I would call a "back or front tuck" but the gymnast, while in the air grabs their knees and their legs are spread apart. I HATE it. It looks vulgar and gross and like they are "taking a poo" in mid air.

I don't know if that is called something or if they are trying to do a tuck with really yucky form (knees open rather than together).

Imparting of the knowledge please....

 

[justanothergymmom]

My daughter calls it a "cowboy"...easier to rotate quicker this way for doubles...

 

[canadiangymnast_eh]

we call it a cowboy too. Some people use it to flip faster and sometimes they do it for forward flips to avoid kneeing themselves in the face if they have a weird landing.

 

[Bella's Mom]

Is it a form deduction?

 

[justanothergymmom]

LOL canadiangymnast--my daughter said the same thing about avoiding a knee in the nose or a black eye!

Bella's Mom~my daughter didn't think it was a deduction, at least not at L9, but maybe someone else more knowledgeable could weigh in...

 

[Deleted member D3987]

there would be a deduction for a double tuck forward or back. i doubt they would take one for a triple...

 

[3rd_time_around]

Okay....so the stunt is what I would call a "back or front tuck" but the gymnast, while in the air grabs their knees and their legs are spread apart. I HATE it. It looks vulgar and gross and like they are "taking a poo" in mid air.

hahahahahaha! I just cracked up!
It's called cowboy-ing the tuck. It helps them rotate faster or something like that (according to my daughter)

 

[NewtoGym]

Isn't this a move that many elite gymnasts do? Or am I thinking of something else. I have seen it in dismounts? I agree, not very attractive though.

 

[gymnastjess]

In Aus i have never seen someone not do this... at my gym we are taught to never keep our knee's together due to the broken noses, teeth through lips ect. that have happened and trust me they have and they aren't pretty.

 

[Bella's Mom]

Isn't this a move that many elite gymnasts do? Or am I thinking of something else. I have seen it in dismounts? I agree, not very attractive though.

I saw a college gymnast doing it. Are college gymnasts considered elite? The woman I saw doing it was on floor. I THINK she was doing forward rotation but I'm not confident enough to say for sure.

 

[fuzi]

College gymnasts compete under L10 rules. Some college gymnasts used to be elite. Others were solid L10 (or even L9) JO gymnasts.
Deductions can be taken for knee separation.

 

[coachmolly]

I'm pretty sure that knees are allowed to be slightly separated in tucked skills to prevent injury, but if it's done to an extreme, a deduction can be taken. I feel like one can be taken if the knees are more than shoulder width apart, but it's totally possible I'm getting that from something else.

 

[Mag_7_Fan96]

If it's the move I think you're talking about, Carly Patterson did that for her beam dismount in the 2004 Olympics in the AA competition.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

This is called a cowboy tuck. It's a technique used for faster rotation and safer landings in double tucked saltos, particularly forward ones. It allows the gymnast to rotate faster and makes the gymnast less likely to slam her face into her knees if she underrotates.

It is a form deduction, but in some instances some coaches feel that the few tenths you'd gain by bringing the knees together are not worth the increased safety risk. This is why you will almost never see a double front done with knees together.

 

[gymdog]

If it's the move I think you're talking about, Carly Patterson did that for her beam dismount in the 2004 Olympics in the AA competition.

She did a roundoff double arabian. This isn't really a move or a skill, it's just a technique to shorten the body length and increase rotation. If you grab behind the knees when rotating, and then pull hard, it's easy to just end up in the position (I'm not claiming it's superior technique - obviously it's better to have enough height to do the skill in a nice tuck position).

I didn't remember Carly having an obvious problem with this, but I just went back and rewatched. I suppose she does have some separation during part of her flip, but she brought her knees back together before landing, so it's not that obvious to me. Not exactly what I'd call a noticeable "cowboy", more like just separation. Nastia's leg separation in her double front on floor, for example, is more noticeable for me.

But, in some cases it just has to happen in order for the skill to be completed. Not the ideal that should be aspired to, obviously.

 

[AGM78910]

Saw a perfect 10 at a college meet on vault where the gymnast "cowboyed" the double so I think there is no deduction.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

it was men's gymnastics. ncaa/fig code. you wouldn't know there was or wasn't a deduction just by seeing the score. you would have to see the judging sheet. the deduction would be very small anyway.

 

[Muddlethru]

On somewhat the same beam "tuck" skill/move, Nastia did this in her beam routine in 2008, what do you call the skill where the gymnast performs what looks like a side aerial but the legs spread apart and are bent (tuck position) to the sides and the hands hold the knees tight. My daughter thinks it is also very unappealing, a cowboy aerial?

 

[Bella's Mom]

Yep. I know what you're talking about. I feel the same way as your daughter goes.

 

[Optionals United]

a side somi???