WAG Cartwheel drills for 4 year old please!

[Jessikazaar]

My DD is so close to getting her cartwheel but something isn't clicking! I have tried telling her to keep her legs straight, keep arms straight, kick harder, bring legs up faster, lift hands up quicker etc etc and she is improving but very slowly. I feel like she's hit a wall with it, in her group they don't really work on cartwheels and she's joining a competition team in January, so I'd like her to have her cartwheel! Please check out her video (it's 4 seconds!) and let me know what she needs to do to get it - thank you

 

[Iwannabemargo]

she is 4, she is fine

 

[Dr Maleficent]

At four it should definitely be more fun than drills - she is right where she should be- have faith in the coaches and she will be fine

 

[Jessikazaar]

I appreciate what you're saying however it is holding her back. She cannot get the certificate she wants until she gets her cartwheel, in her class they help her for all of 2 mins and that is it. She really wants to get her next badge before she turns 5 in 8 weeks and I'd really appreciate actual help and things I can do because she is getting frustrated that she can't do it properly

 

[Iwannabemargo]

she can't do it because she is not yet able to physically apply the corrections she needs to . She needs to mature physically and mentally before she will be able to acqure lots of skills. Her body proportions will change, her musculature will improve and her abilty to understand what she needs to do will mature. Until then as Malificent says she needs to be having fun.

 

[sce]

At 4yo she may not be ready to get it. It looks pretty good for a 4yo by the way. FYI - the reason you trust the coaches is that they know which correction will actually fix it. Straight legs etc are not her problem. She does the whole thing with eh head out and is never fully upside down. She may not be string enough at 4yo to do it properly.

If you want to say anything to her, and it seems you plan to even if others suggest you not coach her at home. then there are 2 things 1) arms by her ears, the whole time - start to finish. 2) keep her head in.

My dd did a project about cartwheels, so I can show you photos. It's not letitng me upload them here though.

 

[sce]

she can't do it because she is not yet able to physically apply the corrections she needs to . She needs to mature physically and mentally before she will be able to acqure lots of skills. Her body proportions will change, her musculature will improve and her abilty to understand what she needs to do will mature. Until then as Malificent says she needs to be having fun.

This is a really good point. 4yo body proportions are very different form an older child. The things I suggested as correction are difficult until their arms and legs change in proportion to their head and body.

 

[Amusibus]

I don't understand. That looks like a cartwheel to me. Ok messy but pretty good for a four year old! Really, don't worry. This is not your job, to teach it to her. She gets it when she gets it and stressing over it will just make everyone unhappy. I promise you, she will get it!

I used to worry too but it does come together gradually. I am amazed this year how much better my daughter is doing than last year! If you watch too often, it's like watching water boil, or a plant grow, or a puddle evaporate. It will happen, but the more you pay attention to it, the slower it seems.

 

[Jessikazaar]

Thank you all. The certificates are for the recreational class she's been doing for a while. It's the BAGA awards and she's stuck on badge 3... That class is only 45 mins, around 30 kids and they literally do 1 cartwheel as part of their rotation. She needs this to tick off her badge, and she's been working on it for ages. It is fun for her, and she wants to practise all the time. She is tall, very nearly 5 and is pretty strong, she gets a bit lazy keeping her arms straight though. I will say to her about going upside down. She has a good handstand against a wall and can handstand in a bridge but can't fully support herself in handstand position yet. I think she's finding it frustrating because she progressed very quickly because she's very flexible, had her splits at 2/3 and so was able to do Rec with older kids. I know she'll get it in comp group as her class goes from a size of 30 to just 6, and from 45 mins to 2 hours, but she really wants her rec badges before she gives up those classes. Really appreciate the helpful advice though and honestly I don't push or criticise - this was all lots of fun before bed time

 

[Iwannabemargo]

don't sweat the badges - mine started gym at 6, got as far as badge 5 and then started the competitive track - in the long term badges will mean nothing, as longas she is having fun and improving its all good

 

[COz]

That's a great cartwheel for a 4 year old! Well done to her.

It's great that she has goals, but your job is to remind her that things will come when they come, that there is no hurry and that she is already doing well and working hard.

At this age (from what I understand), coaches are more interested in the child's potential than whether they have perfected skills. She will impress the coach far more by having an amazing work ethic, never complaining about conditioning, willing to give things a try and always being attentive and listening to corrections, both hers and corrections given to other children. THIS is what will get her attention. Although it feels like skills like the cartwheel are important right now, your perspective *will* change as time goes on. Most kids at 4 are no where ready to do a cartwheel at the level your child already is, this is why they are not spending a lot of time doing them. Also, they are less important than you think at this point.

I'm here speaking from the hugely experienced *cough* perspective of a mother of a 5 year old But I watched her move to a higher level group with a cartwheel no where near as good as your daughters, hey she was moved to 12 hours a week with a cartwheel that wasn't in a straight line.
Those badges, certificates etc. are just to keep the interest of the parents and kids who will probably wander off after a year or so when they realize that gymnastics is far more 'boring' than cartwheels and handstands, with many hours of really really repetitive conditioning and drills. If your child is interested in higher level gymnastics, she pretty much needs to be the sort of kid who enjoys this, rather than getting annoyed that it's boring, and you have to be supportive of this.

You're in the UK, so she can't actually compete until she's turning 8, right? I'm sure there's no rush to move her to the next group (apart from wanting to say she got there before she was 5). Don't fall into the trap of setting deadlines for skills. By the time she is actually old enough to compete you'll be insane and she'll have burnt out!

Have a search on this forum and read the posts from people talking about their 3-4 year olds and listen carefully to the responses. You don't have to agree with the responses, but do read them. If you have trouble finding stuff, let us know and we'll find some relevant threads for you.

What you don't want to do at this point, is make the coach and gym owner wonder if you are going to be a "crazy gym mum" and cause trouble later on, particularly if you are worrying a lot at this early point. You will get much further by showing outward trust in the coaches, asking questions gently, not demanding your child gain those extra skills to be moved up soon and giving the impression that you are laid back about the whole process - even if you are not

 

[Dr Maleficent]

And just to add to what COz said, be careful about bridges at home- if you search the threads here you will see that there is some concern about these under 5 - you don't want to cause difficulty with later development because of back problems so these are definitely best left for the gym and experienced coaches (I know you didn't say she was doing these at home but I thought if she was doing cartwheels she might be tempted to try bridges at home too)

 

[Jessikazaar]

I found out about the bridges at home a while ago had no idea until I came on here! She doesn't practice them anymore, she saves it for actual practice. She mainly does cartwheels, handstands against the wall (had to stop her from going over into bridge), pull ups & chin ups and splits. Oh she likes to hold onto the sides on her bed and lift herself and hold in pike position

 

[gymdog]

I'm a little confused. That is a cartwheel, more or less. She doesn't stand up out of it fast enough, if that's what you mean. In order to do that she should go over an elevated surface.

 

[Ex member]

If your dd is working on the yellow badge 3 then you have nothing to worry a about, she has gone through her badges really quickly, most children do not get that badge until they are 7+ (Depending on how your gym club works on these badges, they only do badge week twice a year here), I don't know how it works at your gym but in our gym they don't do badges in competitive groups unless they are in advanced rec, everything higher the don't do them, my dd got badges 7-1 while she was 6 and hasn't done anymore since being in a competitive development group over 1 year ago.

 

[OzZee]

I don't know what is required for badge 3 (Tiny dancer thinks that is adequate) but that looks like a good cartwheel for a 4 year old.
Whilst I know your dd wants to get this badge before she finishes this class if she doesn't have all the skills she won't and she will be disappointed. But she is 4 and that disappointment is likely to last for a few hours. I am guessing you think she will be moved to a preteam group after this that doesn't do the badges, I'm sure she will be excited about that and completely forget the badges ever existed.

 

[Jessikazaar]

I don't know what is required for badge 3 (Tiny dancer thinks that is adequate) but that looks like a good cartwheel for a 4 year old.
Whilst I know your dd wants to get this badge before she finishes this class if she doesn't have all the skills she won't and she will be disappointed. But she is 4 and that disappointment is likely to last for a few hours. I am guessing you think she will be moved to a preteam group after this that doesn't do the badges, I'm sure she will be excited about that and completely forget the badges ever existed.

This is very true... She is close they just said she needs to be able to stand up properly from the cartwheel to get the badge. Ah well - not the end of the world. Once she starts her competition group in Jan I am sure she will get over it. She has done really well to get as far as she has with the badges considering her age thank you all!

 

[Faith]

Are you a coach?

If you aren't at least a level 2 coach please don't try and teach her at home. Chances are you don't know the correct way to teach a skill. Teach it incorrectly and it will in fact slow her progress, as her coach will need to undo all her bad habits.

If she's in a good club there's likely a reason they're not teaching 4 year olds cartwheels. Most don't have the arm length to allow for head size, or the core strength to hold the correct shape. As they grow proportions change and you can teach things far quicker with better technique. It should be about strength, flexibility, basic body shapes (which she will need for that cartwheel!) and FUN!

 

[stillgotmyleotard]

The coaches have selected her because they want to teach her. That's what they do and what they know. Your job is to take her there and tell her she's great.

She looks lovely, I'm sure she will do fine.

 

[Flossyduck]

That looks like a pretty good cartwheel for a 4 year old. At her age, her head is still quite large in proportion to the rest of her body and her arms are quite short. Yes she could tuck her head in and try and flip a bit more upright, but because of the length of her arms she'd virtually have to do a roundoff to be able to get her legs down and chest up quickly.
Honestly it's great. Don't sweat about the badges. In a very short period of time you will have much bigger things to fret over and this will make you chuckle...