Women Bars question

[rjb123]

Is it wrong/ a deduction/ unsafe/ bad technique if a gymnast moves her hands in closer together after kip cast HS before going into the clear hip HS? Just curious. Tx

 

[JBS]

In theory...I guess it could be a deduction. We have gymnasts whose hands change width per skill though.

Is it a smooth slide that happens right at the top of the cast...or is it a struggle?

 

[rjb123]

no, not a struggle, just smoothly moving them a little closer after the cast as she moves into the clear hip. DD is all worked up as her coach is riding her for it. I was wondering if it was a safety thing, a technique/ form thing or just a preference thing. Also, if she is going to take a hit for it on her score.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Is it wrong/ a deduction/ unsafe/ bad technique if a gymnast moves her hands in closer together after kip cast HS before going into the clear hip HS? Just curious. Tx

it is unsafe. hands should always be in direct line with elbows and shoulders. when you narrow the support base of the hands inside the shoulders you overtly shift the torque to the little and ring fingers and come off the wrist pads.

when they hit the bottom of the free hip, where there is already present a ton of force to the hands, they risk peeling from the bar. usually, the non-dominant hand first then the dominant hand. they peel off one hand at a time with an almost 1/2 twist and come crashing down on the mat facing the high bar. i'm sure you have all seen this if you are coaches.

and since you brought it up, some coaches will take the lazy way out and have their athletes slide their hands together on the fall of the giant for a blind change. this method has them lose pressure on the bar during the swing and subsequent post phase of the blind. they have them do this because it makes them have to travel less distance on the rail to put their hand down. example: the athlete blinds to the left. when you shift the left hand in against the right hand this moves the center of gravity off to a right angle. when they let go with their right hand to blind, you will see their body at a right angle to the rail. this is a bad practice and leads kids to peel off at the bottom after the blind because they are crooked or collapse on top of the bar because when that weight shifts to the right hand, they are not able to shift their left hand on top of the rail to post the 1/2 turn. this is becuase they are being pulled to the right and must hold on instead of shifting and posting. just an fyi.

additionally, is it easier to kip cast handstand with a wider hand support (say a foot on each side of the hips) and easier than keeping the wrists, elbows and shoulders in line with each other? yes, it is. but easier does not make it right. eventually, if not checked, their hands will be so far apart and away from their hips that they will bend and collapse at the elbows and fall to a chest stand on the rail if they don't just fly over the rail like a front handspring.

 

[rjb123]

Thanks dunno, that is very helpful (well the part that I understood about it being unsafe and the arms/shoulder stuff). Another question- during her kip cast HS, her hands appear to be slightly wider, maybe just outside her hips, and she moves her hands just slightly so that they are more in line with her shoulders for the clear hip. Still scary dangerous? She is struggling to stop doing this- any tips/ thoughts? (other than a sedative for me for meets!)

 

[Deleted member D3987]

she has to be handspotted on a low bar by a coach. she's doing this because she doesn't feel right just before the free hip. what she feels is that her hands are too wide. and it's probably not happening subtly after the cast. it's happening right as the kip goes to support and just as she casts. but then she knows they are too far apart (scary) to drop a free hip.

a coach spotting this a few times on a low bar can fix that.

 

[rsm]

Now this thread has me curious. Is it also dangerous if their arms are a little wider, but they keep the same width throughout (including cast handstand and free hip to handstand)? Or is it also bad form that will need to be adjusted later on?

This is the case for my DD. She doesn't seem to have a problem keeping the width the same throughout, but her hands are definitely wider than shoulder width.