Parents Any tips for straight legs ?

[marie83]

Yeah the quads straighten the legs, but only as far as the hamstrings allow. Tight hamstrings reduce to ability of the quads and hip flexors to move from extended to pike while keeping the knees straight.

But wouldn't doing the exercise mentioned in the first post strengthen the quads and hamstrings if using ankle weights, thus reducing flexibility?

I've personally always found that stretching hamstrings, quads and hip flexors to be better at producing straight legs. Having said this, we do have a couple of those girls in our gym whose legs can't straighten no matter what you do!

 

[KSLaura]

Enroll her in Ballet. Ballet will focus on form (especially straight legs) and is frequently taught in a room with lots of mirrors.

 

[Libby's gym mom]

Well I did the exercise as advised and her knees don't move , I did this a few times and couldn't really see a difference other than she tightens her thigh muscles , so look like it's her being lazy !!

 

[Libby's gym mom]

But reading through all your replies , there seems to be a mixed reaction to what is best but just want to ask
Tight hip flexors ?? Plz explain lol

 

[gymjunkie]

But if they aren't?

Well, first identify what the problem is. Another reason kids bend their knees (on bars) is because they aren't strong enough, so they bend their knees to both shorten their body length and to get a little pumping action from bending and straightening. So if that's the issue, they need to be spotted through skills to prevent a very bad habit from forming while they build strength. Some kids just can't contract their muscles for long. They need work on the ballet barre. These kids don't just have bent knees, they also have a loose behind. If a kid does not have full splits in the passive position, they are going to bend their back knee in a back walkover, so that's a flexibility issue. My point is, there is not a "one-correction-fits-all" answer to bent knees. You have to first establish the bio-mechanics of what's causing the bend before you can correct it.

 

[gymjunkie]

But reading through all your replies , there seems to be a mixed reaction to what is best but just want to ask
Tight hip flexors ?? Plz explain lol

How about if instead you give examples of when her knees are bent (what skills)? Does she also have any other posture issues such as hips that do not stay square, fallen arches, etc.? Does she stand pretty straight up and down or does she have posture things going on like a dropped chin, belly out/ribs out, knees that are not in line with her feet ankles? Is she a good runner/vaulter/tumbler or are those areas weak?

 

[Libby's gym mom]

She is fab at everything the only thing is it has taken her a considerable long time to get her splits to floor and if she dosnt stretch them daily they tighten up quite quick and can be painful to get down again . Other than coach saying she needs to straighten legs ( mainly backwalkovers ) there's nothing else . Back to coach tomorrow to see if what she's doing is improving x

 

[gymjunkie]

She is fab at everything the only thing is it has taken her a considerable long time to get her splits to floor and if she dosnt stretch them daily they tighten up quite quick and can be painful to get down again . Other than coach saying she needs to straighten legs ( mainly backwalkovers ) there's nothing else . Back to coach tomorrow to see if what she's doing is improving x

Well there you have it. She really needs solid splits to properly fix the problem, but she can learn how to straighten them once she is upside down by being stopped in the handstand and held until they are straight after she has gone backwards for the 1st half of the BWO. It's kind of a band-aid fix, but it works for competition. The real issue to fix is the lack of flexibility.

 

[BlairBob]

Again, if I had a gymnast with tight hamstrings, it would be better to just stretch out the hamstrings at the glute or knee insertion than a bunch of quad extensions.

And there are better ways to do a loaded stretch on extended hamstrings. Standing weighted pike for example.