WAG Young kids & Splits

[GymnasticM]

Does anyone have any tricks,tips or techniques for getting 5-7 years old understand how to do'proper' splits. As in hips square,back knee under etc. A few of them or more or less perfect while the rest are all over the place, can't stay in a nice straight line.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Time and stretching.

 

[GymnasticM]

Time and stretching.

Any particularly good stretches besides the actual splits of course?I find with partner stretching or against the walls etc their hips go out of line so it defeats the purpose. Any advice appreciate I've never coached kids so young!

 

[ayyyrial]

It's hard for them to figure out where their legs are in relation to their body so I think putting down a visual marker helps. Like having them do splits over a tape line so they can see and kind of feel if their feet are in the right place. of course, it's possible to do this and still have hips out of line....another thing we do sometimes on pre-team is put stickers on their hips (over the leotard) and they have to make both stickers face something in front of them.

 

[LilyChow7]

Time is definitely key here. Always doing splits on a line and getting them to check is your back leg on the line? Is your front knee facing the roof? Is your back knee on the line?

 

[3gymgirls]

Any particularly good stretches besides the actual splits of course?I find with partner stretching or against the walls etc their hips go out of line so it defeats the purpose. Any advice appreciate I've never coached kids so young!

What helped my daughters (ages 8 and 10) was something a YouTube video called "pigeon pose" which is like a split but the front knee is bent so they are sitting on that foot. They stretched both sides equally to help stretch their hip flexor. My girls aren't naturally flexy and gain strength easily so working that hip flexor was a must.

 

[azara]

Depending on just how off-line they are, you could have them try their splits on a (low/floor) beam. For some reason, kids at my gym find this prospect really exciting. Splits on a beam will force them to sit in the right position, or they'll fall off. Just make sure there's soft matting around, and that the beam is very low, so it won't matter if they fall off.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Time is definitely key here. Always doing splits on a line and getting them to check is your back leg on the line? Is your front knee facing the roof? Is your back knee on the line?

This is our gym too.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Any particularly good stretches besides the actual splits of course?I find with partner stretching or against the walls etc their hips go out of line so it defeats the purpose. Any advice appreciate I've never coached kids so young!

Again our kids do stuff on a line. And some of it is flat our stretching. So they do partner and wall stretching.

We the global, parent, kid, coach we, are finding this stuff key for leaps now that upper levels are looming. I have to say we are keep gym in gym mentality. Including the coaches.

And the coach first encourage stretching then conditioning at home. Its a process, they are little

 

[eucoach]

One important thing is to make them understand what "hips square" means. Point out their hipbones, show them that they have to be next to each other, not one further in front than the other. I feel with little kids, the biggest problem is that they do not have the vocabulary or anatomical knowledge to really understand these things, and this is often overlooked.

And then....time and patience. Make sure they stay square on leg swings (especially back leg swings...only let them go as far up as they can with square hips and a sucked in belly). Do a set of stretches before you go to actual splits and make them do them correctly. Then - let them do splits with the back leg bent and resting against the side of a mat. Some kids still find a way to turn out their hips a little but in my experience this is a stretch that eliminates the hip problem for the most part.

 

[GymnasticM]

Thanks everyone some really helpful ideas particularly like the sticker idea!

 

[gymdog]

In my opinion they most likely need to gain control at the end range of flexibility and core strength in order to align their body and maintain that position. I recommend focusing on basic splits stretches, pancake, pike stretches rather than holding stretches where they can't maintain proper body alignment.

Also, even if they have a perfect split, if they don't have control at the end range of flexibility it won't translate that well. Also remember that when a gymnast lacks core strength or basically their body is off balance in any position something else will reciprocally tighten up.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

If your gym has small floor parallettes make them do the splits with them. Each hand is on one parallette and that helps them to support their weight better and keep the hips more squaered. If you don't have parallettes, panel mats on each side might work as well.

 

[AndeS]

Have them back up against the wall and put their back knee to the wall, with their foot pointing straight up, shin directly against the wall. Then just lunge the front knee forward (like a quad stretch) keeping that back knee glued to the wall and foot vertical. Their legs should look like an N here. They just keep sliding the front leg further from the wall to open up into a split (once flat, the legs will look like a ring-leap.) But.. time and repetition are the most important. There is not a "fast" way to get a split, but this will help with the correct form.

 

[Tumbellina82]

One important thing is to make them understand what "hips square" means. Point out their hipbones, show them that they have to be next to each other, not one further in front than the other. I feel with little kids, the biggest problem is that they do not have the vocabulary or anatomical knowledge to really understand these things, and this is often overlooked.

Oh yes. I remember spending quite a while trying to get some kids to push their hips forwards on seat drops before I realised that they didn't know what hips were. I find a good way to help younger kids grasp anatomy is to point or tap on yourself and get them to copy. So in this instance I would get them to stand in a lunge with their hands on their hips and turn their hips square. Having your elbows sticking out makes it way more obvious and having them do it to themselves, rather than you do it to them seems to help them internalise it better. Also avoids too much touching.

 

[Gymbee06]

Have them back up against the wall and put their back knee to the wall, with their foot pointing straight up, shin directly against the wall. Then just lunge the front knee forward (like a quad stretch) keeping that back knee glued to the wall and foot vertical. Their legs should look like an N here. They just keep sliding the front leg further from the wall to open up into a split (once flat, the legs will look like a ring-leap.) But.. time and repetition are the most important. There is not a "fast" way to get a split, but this will help with the correct form.

My dd tried this way tonight she is horrified how far off the ground she is should she continue practicing this way or what she has been previously shown the coaches don't seem to stay on them and watch that they are doing any conditioning correctly I think they are just expected to do it right

 

[Miss Alyssa]

We always stretch the front and back legs separately first before the full split. First kneel on back knee with the other leg out straight in front of you - straight knee and toe pointed toward the ceiling (not touching the floor) this helps keep their leg straight (fold to knee to stretch). Then front toe down and push forward to stretch the back hip flexor - making sure the knee does not go over the toe.
When doing full splits a couple reminders I use to keep them in line is making sure one hand is on each side of their front leg, and they look at their front foot. Back knee on the floor and top of their foot/toenails flat on the floor in the back. I agree with using terms and hip positioning I don't think the kids always understand, but simple things like toes on/off the ground make it easier to follow and get the positioning they need to be in.

 

[Aero]

This is what I do, and it pretty much forces them into a square position. Make sure the inside of the entire back leg is flush with the block/mat. It's also great for training ring jumps and leaps.

It's also important that the kids know you care way more about form and position, rather than the depth of their split. Let them know very clearly that you love to see correct positions the most; they may have the wrong goal in their head.

 

[azara]

It's also important that the kids know you care way more about form and position, rather than the depth of their split. Let them know very clearly that you love to see correct positions the most; they may have the wrong goal in their head.

Good point. You can almost guarantee every kid who doesn't have their splits yet just wants to be flat, ugly as it may be, because flat = will be comfortable.

 

[Bess]

It's also important that the kids know you care way more about form and position, rather than the depth of their split. Let them know very clearly that you love to see correct positions the most; they may have the wrong goal in their head.

Where are you located and do you have any spots available