3/4 giants

[gymluvr33]

I am in L6, and we do baby giants (also called 3/4 giants or giant timers). I get a lot of height in my cast, and have fairly good form, but I can't seem to flip my wrists to keep the skill moving, and not lose the connection to the swings. My coach says that it is because I have too much power, but I really need to connect it because I have one more season as a level 6. Any tips? Thanks. :bars:

 

[gymkat]

Power is a good thing on these. It sounds like you're piking at your hips to get on top of the bar. I tell the L6s to think about doing a strong tap through the bottom and to think about lifting their shoulders instead of worrying about shifting their wrists. The wrist shift comes naturally to almost everyone if the shoulders are going in the right direction.

 

[gymluvr33]

Thanks. I have practice on Monday, so I'll try it out then. I do pull into the bar at the top of my swing, so I can't wait to try that. Thanks again.

 

[Gym-Nice-tics]

Ah, the dreaded long hang pull over. This really gives some people problems at points.

I'm not sure it's necessarily that you have too much power, but that you haven't learned how to control it. As gymkat said, you are probably piking at the top of the swing, rather than lifting with your chest and shoulders.

Something that I tell the kids that I coach is to try and think about squeezing their butts and doing a back hip circle IMMEDIATELY out of it- no casts or anything. It gives you a different way to think about lifting your shoulders, which in turn will make your wrists shift.

 

[gymluvr33]

Thanks, I think that the back hip circle analogy will help, and I can't wait to try them again on Monday (@ the next practice). My other coach wants me to do giants in level 7 (normally our gym does a free hip on the high bar instead), but I figure that I need to get baby giants down before I could understand giants (hope that makes sense)

 

[BlairBob]

If your push away ( bail ) from the cast is nice and extended and doesn't arch early you'll get to use a lot of the power developed from the high cast. Try to stay hollow until you start passing the low bar.

Many gymnasts either arch too early as they push away and swing down, which also tends to cause them to tap early ( sending their swing out instead of up-horizontal instead of vertical ).

It's all about the swing.

 

[gym4fun]

hello gymluvr33.
i am a level 6 gymnast too. I don't usually have much diffuculty with baby giants, but i can maybe help. ok. my coach told me to pretty much just tap later. i had a habit of tapping too early. and after that, even though i had plenty of power, i wasn't able to shift quick enough. i kept trying to tap later. Eventually, if you practice it, you'll get used to just tapping later. if that doesn't help, you could always try to do them from tap swings. do some tap swings, then pretend you came out of a kip cast, and go. i hope this helps.

 

[gymluvr33]

I tried all of your suggestions on Monday, and they really helped! I am still not quite connecting it, but they got much, much better. Thanks so much for all of your advice!

 

[Gym-Nice-tics]

Glad to hear it!

 

[gymluvr33]

Yay!!!!!! I finally connected my baby giants! (just in time for the first meet of the season, too) Thank you all sooooooo much for your suggestions, they really helped! Well, I've got to get to gymnastics now. Thanks again