Women At home drills for beam?

[cbone]

My little one has been struggling with her turns on beam a little and her handstands have been what I call "Heel clackers" where she touches her heels together (about three-quarters of the way to vertical) and then goes down.

Are there any at-home drills that can help this? She practices at home ALL THE TIME, but I figured if she had things to practice that might help beam specifically, it would be great. She averages a 4-5 second hold on handstands when not on the beam, so I'm thinking there might be a mental hurdle on the beam. (?) Any help is appreciated.

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

If anything I would say practice on a line, you can use duck tape to make a line across carpet, and thats all I would really say to do. Other than that it will just take time, some take longer than others. Her coaches will work with her on it, but as of right now I would say that she just isn't fully comfortable on the beam yet. It will come with time and practice on the beam.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

Tape line on the floor and lots of practice with the handstands. DD has a fold up practice beam from Resilite, but it's not necessary a tape line works just as well.

 

[GymBee97]

I agree with the others a Tape line on the floor 4" wide is cheap and works just as well as the practice beams you can purchase. It's usually staying straight on a line that throws most gymnasts off. If you can put it in a hallway it will help too because most halls aboutr about 3 feet wide so they have to stay straight to keep from hitting the wall.

 

[iwannacoach]

More handstand practice by cartwheeling up to them on a line is going to help, but the line won't allow her fingers to function the same as on beam. The fundamental principle of pushing and lifting your fingers to remain balanced will be the same as beam, but the beam shape creates a different feel for her fingers and wrists to work with.......so a folding resi-beam is gonna work the best. Put it in the hall as GymBee suggests and place all of the family heirloom china on ether side to keep her from falling.

 

[wallinbl]

Tape line on the floor and lots of practice with the handstands.

Would that help with a handstand? A handstand on the floor (as well as the dismount handstand) has a completely different hand position from the mid routine beam handstand. The hands have to be much closer together, and the fingers go down either side of the beam, so the balancing mechanics related to the fingers/hands are different than on the floor.

If you want her to practice at home, you'll probably have to join the legions of us that have beams sitting unused in our houses.

 

[2gymmies]

It may be obvious, but two things my kids had issues with on handstands (and lots of stuff) on beam were 1. where are they looking and where should they be looking and 2. what happens when you go over the handstand

So many kids are scared to kick up to a vertical handstand because they are scared of what will happen on that turn when they go over and panic. If they know what to do to "save" a handstand and know what to do if they go over, that will help ease the fear. Also, is she watching her first foot land, i've seen kids looking at their hands the entire time and scared because they don't know if they are going to land back on the beam because they are not seeing their first foot land.

It's similar with turns, if you don't know where to look, it can be scary. Also, we've had girls turn their palms facing out or hold a small ball between their hands. It forces them to keep their arms tighter and in a good (at least better) shape and their chest up and belly tight.

Just some ideas (assuming you bite the bullet and go with that home beam)...

 

[sglemon]

For Handstands, the kids in our gym practices handstand forward rolls on the beam. Maybe doing some sort of variation on a line may help.

The biggest advice that helped my daughter on the turns on the beam was to "remember her core" Concentrate on tightening her core as she turns

 

[wandrewsjr]

If she is scared to kick up to vertical on her English handstand on beam, but can do it on floor, she is probably lacking the control to hit vertical every time(kicking up hard, then stopping it at the top, which is scary to do on beam). She can practice balancing the split handstand hold - kicking up to just the split hold and balancing this position in vertical first(just make sure she keeps pushing through her shoulders, doesn't arch and stick her head out too much). Then when she can consistently balance the split handstand hold, in vertical, she can bring her legs together at the top while in a controlled balance. It is much less scary to hit that vertical on beam when the girl feels in complete control.

 

[BlairBob]

Releve holds for time to the side and releve lock R/L besides One legged Releve holds in coupe/passe. You can also work holds in forced arch.

I'm not sure but I have heard the Chinese will hold these for extended amount of time at the end of practice. They are known to do this for handstand off the wall for 15-30 minutes, sometimes up to 45 minutes if they are slacking.

 

[cbone]

Would that help with a handstand? A handstand on the floor (as well as the dismount handstand) has a completely different hand position from the mid routine beam handstand. The hands have to be much closer together, and the fingers go down either side of the beam, so the balancing mechanics related to the fingers/hands are different than on the floor.

If you want her to practice at home, you'll probably have to join the legions of us that have beams sitting unused in our houses.

If I'm reading between the lines, I should just relax about it??? Buying something that doesn't get used seems silly...

 

[wallinbl]

If I'm reading between the lines, I should just relax about it??? Buying something that doesn't get used seems silly...

You know your kid better than anyone on here does, but of the parents I know, there are plenty with beams in there house. The pattern is largely the same - kid was excited to get beam, parent was happy to oblige, kid used beam for a bit, beam is now being tripped over more than being used, but kid wouldn't dream of letting parent get rid of it.

I think we made it about 3 months at first. Now, the beam get used in spurts when she gets a new skill, and usually only for a week or so while she's still excited about the new skill.

 

[iwannacoach]

For Handstands, the kids in our gym practices handstand forward rolls on the beam. Maybe doing some sort of variation on a line may help.

Having an exit strategy is a must if you want kids to commit to complete verticle. I have them work the english hs at the end of the beam after teaching them how to fall and turn out safely. After learning how to "bail-out" safely most kids' handstand attempts go to verticle where they can get some learning done.

 

[BlairBob]

the L4 dismount, a pirouette is an exit strategy to falling out of HS. Just as a cartwheel is in a way of an exit strategy of falling out of HS on floor. Rudimentary step down to side.

 

[Danica76]

I am going to chime in about the beam - we have a resi beam that sits on the floor as well. DD rarely uses it, mostly because she says it feels weird, but I think it's because she dislikes beam in general - lol. The nice thing about it is that it folds up and I can shove it the corner of her closet. Does she use it sometimes? Yes. Was it worth the $100 I paid for it? Probably not. Obviously, it is your call.

I also agree with BlairBob on the releve holds at home, if she is dead set on practicing. Particularly in coupe and passe, with nice tight arms, remembering to stay tight in the core and not the shoulders. Shoulders she be down. Pivot turns are also good to practice in high releve, focusing on the arms again - keeping them up in crown (with relaxed shoulders) and really squeezing the core. The other thing I often see with turns is that the kiddos do not get their turning foot all the way around and attempt to finish out of it anyway - that's where you get a lot of major bobbles and falls. So maybe practicing her half turns and heel snap turns on the floor, on a line, using the best body positions and really focusing on her form and all the little details will help her feel more confident once she gets up on the high beam. Just my two cents, all of which comes from years of ballet and lots of observations in the gym.