Back Hip Circle Problem!

[gymbaby12]

Ok, so I'm USAG level 4, training 5/6. I have very solid routines on everything but bars. I've fallen on every skill in meets except for my glide pullover and mill circle. The most I've fallen in one routine in twice. Right now, bars is looking pretty good except for my back hip circle. I have a 90 degrees cast which is slightly piked and then my coach tells me I pike into the bar and its making it impossible for me to go around. It's so annoying because I feel like my cast is hollow and then I feel like going into my back hip circle I'm hollow but I'm not. My coach tells me to bring my shoulders back but when I do that, I'm either still piked, or I don't get me hips on the bar and I shoot out! .Does anyone have any tips or drill? Southern Leagues is on Sunday and I have 2 Practices left! I really need help!

 

[CoachTodd]

Cast
put your shoulders in your ears as your hips come back to the bar
Make sure you are still leaning slightly forward before you start the back hip
Lean back with your shoulders. Your feet aren't heavy enough to spin your body around the bar. when you pike, you are basically trying to let you calves and feet pull you around the bar. Let your upper body push you around the bar.
Rotate your hands slightly ahead of your body so you keep moving.

Start the shoulder pull for the undershoot while you are still leaning forward in the back hip.
Most folks don't realize that these skills both start with the shoulders over the bar and not straight up and down.

In the undershoot, act like you are doing another back hip circle. When you hit the candle stick shape on the other side of the bar, throw the bar away behind you.

A good drill is to do 3 back hips in a row.

Good luck

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

A crucial and in my opinion under-emphasized point in back hip circles and freehips is the drop back with the shoulders.

If you are piking, I can almost guarantee you are keeping your shoulders too far forward for too long. The shoulders should aggressively drop back, and this drop starts BEFORE the hips contact the bar. If your shoulders are still in front of the bar when your hips contact, the circle will be very slow and you'll have to pike to compensate.

As for the undershoot, as Todd said, it should start exactly like another back hip circle. I prefer to train two consecutive back hip circles before training an undershoot; once the gymnast can do this comfortably, I tell them to perform one and a half back hip circles going into the undershoot.

 

[Linsul]

To add to the great advice here, I find piking issues that I deal with are girls trying to force themselves back to the bar after the cast. Rather than allowing it to finish as gravity bringing them back to the bar in their hollow, they force it by piking to rush things, which results in a piked bhc. Usually explaining that they need to maintain the hollow and fall back aligned rather than rush and pike is enough to get their shoulders in line for the bhc.

 

[gymbaby12]

Thanks Linsul. I think that's my problem. I just do a quick cast then go immediatly into the back hip circle. Thanks also CoachTodd and Geoffrey Taucer! My coach tells me all the time to lean my shoulders back but I even when I try that, I still pike immediatly into the bar. I didn't realize it until Linsul said that that's a problem with back hip circles. I thought about when I do a back hip circle and that's exactly what I do. Thanks everyone! :huge:

 

[Linsul]

Thanks Linsul. I think that's my problem. I just do a quick cast then go immediatly into the back hip circle. Thanks also CoachTodd and Geoffrey Taucer! My coach tells me all the time to lean my shoulders back but I even when I try that, I still pike immediatly into the bar. I didn't realize it until Linsul said that that's a problem with back hip circles. I thought about when I do a back hip circle and that's exactly what I do. Thanks everyone! :huge:

Glad it helped! The last time I had a girl with this problem, she paraphrased the solution as: "ok, I'm going to stay tight, be lazy and let gravity take me for a ride.' I was like 'That works!"