Parents Bent legs in all skills-frustrated mom and daughter

[kris]

My DD still struggles with bent legs on a few skills. She's a smart kid, and a very hard worker, but she says sometimes she can't tell they are bent. She's at a new gym now where they are giving her more advice on how rather than simply saying "straighten your legs," and she's improving on it a lot. I agree with the others that it doesn't have to end a gym career. Mine won beam pretty much all season as a level 7 with slightly bent back knee in her BHS-BHS series, but really got nailed on it last season as a level 8. A lot of kids need time and maturity to put all the pieces together.

 

[Muddlethru]

Her coaches want the bent legs fixed now before competition begins though. I do video her as much as I can at home but she can't do bigger skills at home. DD doesn't know they are bent. The other night as she was laying in bed I said hold your leg out and point it and I pushed her knee down and she said ouch!

If when you or your daughter tries to straighten her legs (gently) it can't really straighten and your daughter feels like it will not go any further, then perhaps it is structural and part of her anatomy to not be able to straighten her legs, then there is very little you can do. If when you attempt to straighten the legs and she feels a stretch (albeit somewhat painful), you may be able to remedy this by gentle stretches daily.

If your daughter has no trouble straightening her legs outside of doing her routines, then it is perhaps a lack of "tightness and strength or just her being not aware or as you state having too much to concentrate on that the leg straightening falls in the wayside. Practice and more experience and maturity should remedy this. Try to show her how it feels to have "locked" knees and tell her to seek this feeling out everytime. Also, ballet classes may be very helpful.

I think coachp did not mean your daughter was intentionally "screwing" her routine up but more likely he meant your daughter (is fortunate enough) to have that choice of being able to straighten her legs.

 

[gracyomalley]

Body awareness isn't all there for many 7year olds. My oldest boy was all angular in rec class at 7...but has great lines as a 15 year old optional. Unless it's a new or poorly taught skill....then he might be just trying to get through it...but he can tell his form is off now and work on it. My younger boy is in between at 11....tight and straight when really focused but scary if goofing off. When he had an experienced coach this spring/summer they worked on him understanding that "practice makes permanent " and skills done "a little wrong" use different muscles than done right and he's making headway in "choosing " to straighten things all the time.

DD had naturally tight form on pretty much everything but the kind of legs that look "less straight ". Still got 9.5s. (Rare in our region) through level 7...just took a little more effort to have 180+ on split and switch leaps, etc. her friends who didn't correct truely bent legs by about age 8-9 hit a huge wall at level 7/8 where their scores plummeted.

So good to address now rather than learn tons of higher skills poorly, but she's still very little!

 

[gopuckgo]

Not to worry. Sensory development is variable and different kid to kid. Some kids don't get their "form" until around age 12. Although by 10 it should be coming along better than at age 7. Senses are developmental including kinesthesia and proprioception, which you are describing. The ability to recognize without sight the excursion of joint movement and placement. This sense develops after vestibulation, vision, auditory. In that order. Some kids have processing issues in these lower level senses, thus cascading the entire sensory integration pathway, affecting proprioception and kinesthesia (called by coaches "air sense") from developing properly. It is most likely not conscious, and will develop in time. Seeking a SIPT expert if the problem is severe is an option, but it doesn't sound as if her school work is affected? Otherwise give her brain and limbic system time to organize properly.

 

[raenndrops]

DDs coach went over with them the difference between "straight" legs and "locked" legs. They want the girls legs locked that you can see the tight muscles.

At this point, my YG can't even lock her legs or straighten them completely (like in splits)... they had to hold their splits at practice one day and she wasn't down, but was holding where she was - in tears... you could SEE the tightness of the tendons and ligaments and all that stuff behind / beside the knee and it was not even close to straight or close to all the way down. The Assistant HC even commented on it. We are working stretches at home to help it.
Before her 8 inch growth spurt, she had FINALLY gotten the straight leg / pointed toe thing down most of the time!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

@coachp I CAN make a mean risotto, but if the phone rings or a kid needs to have their nose wiped, the risotto may end up stuck to the pan. I didn't CHOOSE to mess up dinner, but there were a lot of other tasks demanding my attention. I'm sure you get the point, but these are kids with naturally small attention spans, trying to multi task beyond their developmental stages. It takes time. When they are relatively new skills and the coach says "I want you to all make sure your arms are in the correct position" and a few kids end up forgetting to focus on their legs (or toes, or arch/hollow) that is completely appropriate for the age. They aren't deliberately messing up.

Yes but the op clearly says she bends then all the time on everything . So.... That comes down to effort. I clean kids up like this all the time.

 

[sce]

Yes but the op clearly says she bends then all the time on everything . So.... That comes down to effort. I clean kids up like this all the time.

What do you do that helps them straighten out and stay tight?

 

[wgagym]

Her coaches want the bent legs fixed now before competition begins though. I do video her as much as I can at home but she can't do bigger skills at home. DD doesn't know they are bent. The other night as she was laying in bed I said hold your leg out and point it and I pushed her knee down and she said ouch!

If the coach wants it fixed now the COACH needs to fix it. There are plenty of leg tightening drills to help a gymnast relearn that muscle memory to straighten her legs. If they are not getting it by saying get your legs straight they need to drill the child to get it.

 

[gymjunkie]

My question is why was she taught so many skills if she can't get her legs straight on the basics? When I get a kid who can't keep their legs straight, I don't continue to teach them more and more skills with bent knees. I make them show me straight legs before they learn 50 more skills (ie: 50 more bad habits).

 

[Deleted member 14190]

What do you do that helps them straighten out and stay tight?

Well. I don't let them get away with it.

 

[Avasmom]

My question is why was she taught so many skills if she can't get her legs straight on the basics? When I get a kid who can't keep their legs straight, I don't continue to teach them more and more skills with bent knees. I make them show me straight legs before they learn 50 more skills (ie: 50 more bad habits).

We switched gyms last November and the former gym wasn't big on form. Also, she twisted her ankle and had to wear a brace for several weeks. It's at that point she started bending her knees and it became noticeable. She complains about it popping and hurting but I have taken her to the doctor and they said to have her practice in a brace and it was no big concern. Would a sprained ankle affect bent knees though?

 

[gymjunkie]

We switched gyms last November and the former gym wasn't big on form. Also, she twisted her ankle and had to wear a brace for several weeks. It's at that point she started bending her knees and it became noticeable. She complains about it popping and hurting but I have taken her to the doctor and they said to have her practice in a brace and it was no big concern. Would a sprained ankle affect bent knees though?

Yes, if she has lost flexibility/ROM due to her injury. A brace is not a good substitute for PT/rehab.

 

[xxStumpyxx]

This is an interesting thread, my daughter (9) has trouble with bent legs, she is quite flexible, can do her left and right leg splits and is nearly there with her box splits, she can do a pike fold and touch her nose on her knees.

When it comes to doing skills she always seems to have bent legs, especially when she does back walk overs and bridge kick overs. I did ask my daughter to show me her like fold and did notice that there is a gap between the backs of her knees and the floor when she straightens her legs, she cannot lift her heels off the ground when she is sitting up straight with her legs together in front of her, legs straight and toes pointed.

 

[roll123]

My daughter has thinner legs and knobby knees. I think it makes it harder for her legs to look perfectly straight. I hesitate to say a little thicker leg would mean her legs would touch and would be together forming a cleaner line.

 

[xxStumpyxx]

My daughter has thinner legs and knobby knees. I think it makes it harder for her legs to look perfectly straight. I hesitate to say a little thicker leg would mean her legs would touch and would be together forming a cleaner line.

You have just described by daughter to a "T" she is always going on about her knobbly Knees, for a short person she has long arms and legs and is very little fat on her at all, just muscle lol., My daughter complains in tightness in the back of her legs (just above and below the back of her knee when she straightens her legs) so maybe it is a muscle issue for her and can be improved in with time. Maybe it is worth me having a brief chat to her coach and see if she has noticed anything and ask for some exercise at home that could help of required.

 

[MommaLove]

My Daughter also has bent legs on some occasions in the gym. try some stretches at home every night they tell me its because she has really tight hamstrings hope that helps