Coaches Advice for spotting flyaways

[VA Gym Coach]

Hi all,

I need some tips on flyaway spotting/drills. I am a small coach (5ft) and am in the beginning process of teaching flayways. I know the beginning drills for the skill but I need advice for helping the girls actually flip for the first time. Some of the girls I am teaching are simply just too big for me to get them into a candle shape in the air and then flip them over.

Anyone have advice on drills or methods to help me teach my girls flyaways when I am limited in size and strength? (our gym also has no pits...)

Thank you very much

 

[fishchimes]

Hi. I'm not a coach (yet lol), so sorry for posting where I'm not supposed to, but I had a suggestion.

I'm 5'7 and when I was first learning flyaways my coach (who is about the same height as you) put me in a spotting belt while learning it. You could probably also ask another coach to pull the belt while you spotted for technique. So if you have a spotting belt, you might want to consider using it, or getting one if you don't. We use them all over the place at my gym, even on beam! I did my first beam back handspring attempt, ever, on a high beam with a belt. They definitely come in handy.

 

[gympanda]

We have this problem all the time because we are all smaller women. We stack a few 8 inch mats so we are closer to the bar and then double spot. We double spot new flyaways for a very long time, essentially until they are ready to be one their own, since many of our kids are the same size as us or bigger. But, making your self taller with mats really helps, but I don't recommend trying to use spotting blocks because you aren't very mobile that way.

That's the way we get through this particular challenge of not having pits, spotting belts or coaches over 5'3".

 

[ryantroop]

Or, you can lower the bar...

If you have a single rail (strap bar) you can lower it so that they can still swing. Then, you can put a few panel mats stacked so you can spot next to them, generally, a pancake spot.

Put an 8" underneith if you feel the need, but with them that close to the floor, it shouldnt be an issue. A sting mat on top of the normal matting would probably suffice.

The added benefit - if they can do it lower, they can most certainly do it higher up, and they can learn to start spotting the floor for landings.

Hope that helps!

Ryan

 

[marie83]

I had this problem a couple of yrs ago as I had slightly taller gymnasts than I have now.

I used to lower the bar slightly, and also stand on a 60cm coaching block myself. As the gymnast performed the skill, I'd end up jumping off the block to ensure I had them right to the landing. A National coach taught me that trick, and I actually do this set up with my smaller gymnasts now!

I also started off by asking another coach to stand the other side too so that a) it gave me more confidence and b) it gave the gymnasts more confidence.

I also did quite a few progressions with the gymnasts before attempting to turn the somersault.

 

[BlairBob]

at the beginning you can teach the flyaway from a bent knee swing on the low rail of the HB or a single rail

another drill we have done (when you don't have a pit) is flyaway timer to portapit. put a wedge mat with the low end declining towards the high rail. they land on their back and then perform a backward roll.

I myself am a short coach 5-5'1 though I'm a guy. Still with the bigger girls, I am not going to able to spot them through in slow-mo, especially after catching them.

you can build platforms of course.

i prefer to of course have all kids be able to do back pullovers on tramp besides flyaways on low bars before we take it up.

you can also spot a lot of the flyaway timer to release with their body angled about 15-45 degrees above horizontal and guide them down.

 

[emacmommy]

I got you all beat in the shorty coach department. 4'10" and probably shrinking as I get older. Ha ha...

Still we do a lot of progressions. Here are two of my favorites...
YouTube - gymnastics - introducing "flyaway"
YouTube - gymnastics - introducing "flyaway" dismount

We also do a lot of "pitch" drills, but not on the "Wall of Death" set up. We are lucky to have a pit, so we start there with just tap swings that let go and land on their back in the pit. That's all the pitch is. I find it really helps to learn that basic let go, so you don't have the fear of what happens when you let go of the bar and us coaches aren't physically pulling them off. Small people just can't hold a girl above their own head and use their strength to get them to let go for the first time. I start this with experienced Level 3's and new Level 4's. You can pitch into a Level 4 vault resi pit too.

For our wall of death set up, we use a high beam and lean a "skid" we made out of 2 X 4's for the mat to lean against. We protect the beam covering from the wood with a chunk of carpet or a very old junk mat that isn't even as protective as a panel mat anymore. If you want a pic PM me and I'll take one and send it.

Anyhow, I also prefer to introduce on low bar, with it set all the way up, as long as they can bend their knees to swing through. Some of the much bigger girls we double spot, but usually I don't need the extra help.

I have had gymnasts on the low bar tap (even with bent knees) to candlestick that rests on my good side shoulder and I have them by the waist, and then they use my shoulder as the pivot point to roll or flip over to understand where to let go. I am facing sideways to them to start and time their taps, as they reach the top of their tap I step a bit under them and just a bit turned away from the bar to position myself. This allows a firm grip and they can roll over much more slowly than if I was only using my arms to spot.

I will warn this, I was a Level 10 gymnast that really understands the timing of this particular skill, it is not a technique for the beginner spotter to use. I've adapted techniques to my size, however while I am a confident spotter, it is hard to gain the trust of some of the taller gymnasts that I have. Just today I was spotting tsuks into the pit, and while it's fun in the gym, to take spotting blocks to a meet is frustrating at best. So for the most part we have skills well down in practice before we compete them, although my co-team coach has almost 8 inches on me so she usually spots at meets.

RickMcCharles has some good stuff posted on YouTube and he used to post around here I thought. Or maybe it was a friend of his.

Hope that helps!

 

[nevertooold]

2 coaches
athlete must have GOOD tap swing
& understand timing
& be able to do flat drop to resi or mat stack correctly on own
& be able to back tuck

set bar just high enough to swing straight legs (hard to tap with a bent knee swing imo)
teach from a tap swing... 1... 2... flip on 3
on 1 and 2 lead spotter taps the back or side at release point to build memory of when to release bar
on 3 lead spotter gets both hands firmly around hips, thumbs to the back, fingers to the front, shoulder ready if needed, and facilitates the flip
2nd spotter can pancake or "bump" or fight for room with 1st spotter or just be ready for mistakes

agreed it's much easier to start with small kids, level 3's and 4's but for the ones who you didn't get in time, weren't ready, etc.. can still be done, but I personally would not consider single spotting the bigger kids until they have done probably 50-100 with consistency with 2 spotters

Also if you do not have one, you can make a mat out of fabric filled with pit foam to lay atop an 8in on top of a landing mat. If you do not have a 2nd spotter you could use something like that for 1st timers.