back handspring?

[mayestra12]

So I'm wondering when girls usually start working on back handsprings? My dd has been on L3 team for a year (2nd competition season) and still has a long way to go to master this skill for L4.

It doesn't seem like she has worked on it consistently in her team practices. Would there be a specific reason for this? She has two meets left this season.

I guess I'm just nervous for dd as she is not the type to master a new skill quickly. I would hate to see her spend a 3rd year at L3.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

I'd say at this point if you could schedule a private or two it may help. DD was a long way form getting it- and they really weren't practicing them much at regular practice. There were girls who had it and girls who didn't and it didn't seem like the girls who didn't were progressing. Another teammate and my DD did a semi-private lesson together (cut down on cost and was a little more "fun" for them) and they both had it in two lessons. Sometimes some of the skills take a little more one-on-one for some kids than they get at practice. DD's team is large so she wasn't getting enough rotations of it at practice. The private lessons worked well for her and her friend.

She worked on it for a good 6-8 months before I agreed on the private lessons. She did the private lessons 2mos before meet season started so that she could have it before her 1st meet- she did!

 

[gymgal]

as with most other skills, it is so individual that it's hard to tell. It also depends on how the gym handles teaching new skills - do they up train and expect the child to have most of the skills for the next level before moving up? Or do they train the skills once they have moved to that level? Age plays a part too. Many gyms won't train anything that requires major back arching until after 5 yrs old for safety reasons.

dd began training them in preteam at 6-7 yrs old. She had been doing really well but then broke her arm and it basically set her back about 6 months for that skill. She already had some minor fears and the time off from training it just planted the fears deeper. Took her about a year before she would compete them in her routine. Because she does prep-op, she didn't need to have it but it frustrated her to be doing backward rolls when her teammates were doing the bhs in competition.

 

[mayestra12]

My dd is 7. She'll be 8 in March. I don't think it's an age thing. I've been thinking about private lessons but my husband is a bit against it due to finances and we both feel she should be able to learn it in practice. But....I know my dd and one on one has always been something she's needed at some point (we did some tutoring last school year). She has some anxiety issues and I feel she shuts down if she feels her teammates are "getting it" and she is not. I believe she is just as capable but staying focused and fighting the "negative thoughts" that might creep up during the learning process may just overwhelm her and not allow her to give her best effort.

 

[TexasRose]

Too funny! I was just talking to DD's coach about this last week. My DD is also a 7 year old Level 3. I don't really see them working on the bhs too much in their team practices either. From what I can tell from talking to the other parents the gym doesn't do a lot of uptraining during the competition season, they just work on the skills neede for their routines. The girls are moved up at the end of the season and then begin to work on the skills for the new level. If they don't get the new skills over the summer then they drop back down.

So her coach told me that they go through a progression of skills to get to the bhs. First is the backwards roll, then the bridge kickover, then a back bend kickover, then back walkover, then back handspring. I noticed that DD wasn't really working on much on floor other than the elements in her routine so when I asked her coach about it she told me to that she recommends tumbling classes for all the gymnasts. So we started a tumbling class last month and it's been fabulous. DD went from not being consistent on her bridge kickover to being totally consistent with straighter legs and is very close to her back walkover. I had her HC watch her in tumbling one day when she was working on bwo. She said that once she has that her tumbling coach will start working bhs with her in class or that we could do a few privates. The HC has to pick which tumbling coach teaches the private so it's done to her standards, lol.

My DD also thrives with one on one- our kiddos must be related, lol . We did a few privates for her handstand on beam because she's choking on it and now she begs for privates. She also does some private tutoring for school. So since she'll move up to level 4 in May and would need the bhs by September to stay on level 4 I wanted to start working on it now so it's a slow and steady process and it won't affect her moving up. Sorry this was so long, lol

 

[mayestra12]

Move ups are a bit of a mystery at dd's gym. I don't really know the procedure. Two of dd's teammates got moved to L4 last spring and the rest stayed at L3 to train for the spring/summer. Not one made it up to L4 for this season. I thought that was a bit strange.

Dd has the bridge / kick over and back walkover. Although, she must not be doing many back walkover because she did one today and landed on her head. They looked really nice over the summer.

 

[Danica76]

The BHS has been such a bugger for my DD. She had it, lost it, had it again and now lost it again...all due to different issues. My DD is also not one to get a skill quickly - she works hard for every one she has, so I understand your nervousness. A lot of it for her is fear issues (a scraped face over the summer, falling during warm-up at her first comp.) - she is obviously capable of doing it, but her mind plays tricks on her, I think. My DD struggles with focusing and concentrating, which is likely another problem that adds into the mix. Once she is distracted, she has a hard time getting back on track. She also really thrives with one-on-one coaching/teaching. Maybe once your DD has been moved to L4, you can see how she progresses and then consider a private. Maybe you won't even need to

 

[mayestra12]

I'm hoping I don't have to either!

The nervousness is also because I don't know if they will move her up if she isn't really close. Last year (as I said above) two girls got picked to move up to L4 in the spring and that was it. I don't know if they had the bhs yet but I'm guessing they were close. They got to train at L4 all spring/summer and the other girls stayed at L3. Not one L3 got moved to L4 at the end of summer. Personally, I think my dd is more likely to focus on the skill if she is actually on L4. She loves to compete so if she knows she can't stay on L4 she'll work for it.