Level 8 Vault Insight
The gym my daughter goes to now has requirements in order to compete on vault as a level 8. Front handsprings are not considered acceptable level 8 vault. Each gymnast is only working one vault and most be able to throw that vault in order to compete. Last meet the vault coach scratched the entire eight team from vault. They warmed up their timers and then saluted and scratched.
Just wondering what most consider acceptable level 8 vaults? Our gymnast most are performing sousks and one working toward next meet a Yurchenko.
I am a level 8 coach, and I may be able to offer some insight, though I do not know the situation at your gym enough to say for sure. It is very true that a Front handspring is not considered a vault that is up to par with the standards for level 8. By the time that girls are competing in this level, the kids are generally kids who have been dedicated and committed to gymnastics, and therefore, they are good. By not doing a flipping vault in level 8, it definitely makes for a weak-looking level 8. I have kids who are all training flipping vaults (they all do tsuks this year), and we just started our competition season, which goes until about April. I've got one girl in particular who has had a tsuk for months, if not longer, and she just decided she didn't want to do it anymore. She comes in with a poor attitude, and when I take her back to drills for the skill to try to help her "start over", she does not respond well or put forth any effort because she says she just wants to do a front handspring full twist (which she has had for a few years). I told her that she would have to scratch vault if she was not throwing the tsuks at least in practice, but that she could compete the handspring full if she would at least throw the tsuks at practice (we have a slightly softer landing, with mats over a foam pit). She has a very safe tsuk, but her attitude change caused her to stop working hard and setting goals. Therefore, it is her decision whether to scratch vault or not, based on what she chooses for the weeks leading up to the meets. One of my other level 8's has an awesome piked tsuk in gym, and she even competed it at our first meet. She got to a meet last week and wouldn't go for it. I did have her do a handspring instead because she generally works hard and does throw these vaults. However, if she stops doing them in practice, the same things will happen to her. I will force her to scratch. To be honest, it is slightly embarrassing to have level 8's competing front handsprings. That is a level 5 vault, though very important, which is why it is used for so long. By the way, when my level 8 did compete her front handspring, she popped off so high that she over rotated and landed with a fall. Why? Because she is used to having to pop off the vault and flip! Therefore, competing a handspring can cause the girls to start holding back on their power to try to land... in turn, lessening their power on tsuks. It is common for new level 8's to not have their vaults yet. Most gyms just tell the kids they have to repeat level 7, so don't be too hard on the coach. You go from doing a front handspring for 3 years or more to suddenly needing to pop high enough to flip. It's often the event that holds people in level 7 longer.
