Coaches Can't straighten legs

[PalmTree]

What do you do for kids who can't physically straighten (or hyperextended) their legs? We have worked on her pike flexibility and just getting her to really squeeze, but she has those knobby knees that never actually look straight. Anything you can do to fix this?

 

[Gymsanity]

Pike stretches alone aren't enough, you actually need to stretch the knees. It should only be done by a VERY qualified coach as you can destabilize the knee and over stretch them if you aren't careful, but I don't know of another way.

 

[gymdog]

Quad strength. It's not all flexibility.

 

[Gymsanity]

^^True, you always need strength and flexibility. It's just been my experience that the overwhelming majority of girls with that problem tend to have inflexible knees, as opposed to not being able to straighten them because of lack of strength, but that's part of what makes our job so fun, we have to figure out which!

 

[gymnastike30]

I am having the same problem with a few of my girls. I'm leaning more towards hip flexor. Joy!

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Pike stretches alone aren't enough, you actually need to stretch the knees.

Gymsanity; What are you hand stretching? (Quadriceps femoris, bicep femoris, avascular structures, combos, others? )

Context: I have experienced some difficult rehab with personal alignment (injury related) and stretching. I understand that in order to straighten the leg, the lower limb needs to be brought into alignment with upper. Extensors straighten the limb. Commonly the knee can hyper-flex by approximately 5 degrees.

Back to point - In the gym I work lower leg flex with gymnasts w/flexed foot using thera bands. You can work the small muscles in the ankle at the same time. Hyper flex the leg, lift the heel off the ground is the goal. This engages the quads and at the same time can work bicep femurs and hamstring connections.


Thanks, SBG -

 

[Gymsanity]

Gymsanity; What are you hand stretching? (Quadriceps femoris, bicep femoris, avascular structures, combos, others? )

Context: I have experienced some difficult rehab with personal alignment (injury related) and stretching. I understand that in order to straighten the leg, the lower limb needs to be brought into alignment with upper. Extensors straighten the limb. Commonly the knee can hyper-flex by approximately 5 degrees.

Back to point - In the gym I work lower leg flex with gymnasts w/flexed foot using thera bands. You can work the small muscles in the ankle at the same time. Hyper flex the leg, lift the heel off the ground is the goal. This engages the quads and at the same time can work bicep femurs and hamstring connections.


Thanks, SBG -

SBG, you are correct (in my opinion) about being able to lift the heels off the ground while sitting in a pike on the floor with a flat back and squeezing the quads (that's the point I agree with gymdog on). My experience and preference is about 1 inch. Anything less, and it is difficult to achieve a completely straight (I didn't say tight) knee/leg. If you go more, and I have seen as much as 6-8 inches! I believe you create instability, a recipe for hyper-extension, and just plain not very esthetically pleasing (banana legs). I have the girls sit in a pike with their heals on a panel mat and gently apply pressure to the knees. It should be done slowly and without pain. We do lots of drills and conditioning to help keep the knees strong and stable as you would want in any case. What you are doing with the thera bands is also very good.

 

[gopuckgo]

Check out the end feel into knee extension. Is it spongy, hard or soft? Different structures have different end feels. Hard is bone, spongy is typically tendon and sometimes ligaments (depending on where you are at on the body) and soft is muscle. Remember the knee is not a straight forward hinge joint as many think. It has degrees of internal and external rotation as well. Some people are genetically thicker and have more dense (thick and heavy) bone, hence the hard end feel. They WILL NOT ever go beyond this range without damage. So be careful.
Pike with heels up is great advice. Also the hamstrings cross the knee joint causing flexion and if they are tight it can cause this look as well. The hamstring pulls and stabilizes the knee into extension and VMO does terminal extension. Often the problem is not the quads, but the hammers.