Coaches Creative Front Fly Entry...

[emacmommy]

Okay, I've posted nearly a year and a half ago regarding a gymnast with natural body ability but unnatural fears. She joined us with these fears already instilled and we worked through some of her fears (back flyaway & BHS on beam) as a Level 7 two seasons ago. Last season she did HS only (now the program is dropped), and this year has retained and even advanced most necessary to be a Level 8. She has excellent forward awareness so we have moved in that direction on beam with Front Handspring, Round Off, as well as tumbling on floor, but will have to wait until Level 9 for Handspring Fronts on vault, so fo now is twisting. Bars is our sticky spot...

She is successful with HS pirouette on low bar for the L8 direction change/flight SR, she clear hips to HS on low bar, but not high bar, for her circles, and now has hit a fear wall with HS on high bar (so no giants for now, but will almost in strap). We have not been able to work through back flyaways on bars so have made significant progress switching to front flyaways... Yeah! I've been bending over backwards trying to give her the non traditional tools to work with, but with the cast handstand fear on high bar, I can't just tell her to reverse grip cast HS, fall as a front giant.

So, any creative ideas out there? Considering squat on, jump to high in mix grip, counter swing 1/2 to long hang kip, cast clear hip 3/4 HS, undershoot (yes, as in level 5), counter tap swing to front fly. Anybody see any problem with this uncharacteristic HB as a Level 8? Are any of the counter swings considered extra swings?

She's 16, and at this point we are just trying to work around her fear issues and not through them. Last time I stuck to my guns about working through these fears it just created a lot of angst between her parents and me. Right now when it comes to working through things that are fearful for her, I'm the bad guy when I push it. She won't even do any "pitching" drills into the pit to her back. It's unlogical fear and she admits there is no rhyme or reason to feelings. Never crashed but has watched others take diggers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[10.0]

I don't know the answer. You said you and her parents butt heads when you have tried to work through the fears though? Why? What ever happened to make her have these fears? You say she joined your gym last year? Where did she come from? I understand fears, I just don't understand why a kid and her parents would not be willing to work towards working through them at least. It is really cool that you have been able to accommodate her, but the truth is eventually you won't be able to anymore and she won't progress. I hit a place in my gymnastics where I hated front twisting, and back twisting but front more, my coach told me I had to front twist in order to move up. Unless she quits after this season, things are probably going to come to a head at some point and she will either have to work towards over coming her fears or quit.

 

[emacmommy]

This will actually be her third season with us. The first year we did try and work through it. Lots of baulking at meets with the L7 state meet being the worst. Her natural physical ability is that when she goes for the skills, she wins the meet. When she baulks... well of course she then is missing SRs. In the state meet, she baulked on BHS on beam and Flyaway. She was very disappointed, and so were we for that matter.

We've taught her about goal setting, visualization, the power of possitive thinking, etc. Our attempts to revert back to basics and skills in simple forms, drills taking height out of the picture, doubling spotting, having male spotters, "moving up" repetitions (i.e. starting onthe floor, moving to the low beam, moving to a beam with stack mats, taking mats away one at a time) etc, all led to the opinion voiced in a meeting between us coaches, the gymnast and the parents that we weren't progressing her fast enough, calling us out on our methods of teaching, that bringing her back to the basics was actually demoralizing to her, that we weren't paying enough attention to her daughter, etc. In a nutshell we let her parents and her vent, and we actually let her walk away, which she then took the High School gymnastics route for the next season. I guess it was a frustrating season for her then.

This summer she walked back in the door and asked to train again, as there is no other gyms within a 55 mile radius of us. We set clear expectations and her parents also said she just wants to train and have fun with gymnastics. No traumatic working through these unreasonable fears. Fine, we said, but don't expect to go far. So she's fine with this and so are we at this point. She knows, and we know this is probably as far as she is ever going to take gymnastics. She can't dive, because of fear, however she did manage to get over some height issues and learn to pole vault for the high school track team. Don't ask me how she can do that, yet not let go for a fly away.

Our state is going to launch a league program this year (similar to prep op) so eventually this might be an option, or we choose just to be a three eventer, as we are also allowing event specialists for the first time this year up to our state championship. We would like to adapt to this though if we could.

Does that give you some more info 10.0?

 

[gymnut1]

As she is already 16 I think you are right to let her take the lead about working around or through the issues. Sounds like you are being as creative as you can. I don't know about your bar system so much but could you pack the low bar work with difficulty - what about endos as well as her free hip. They are forwards and circling - would they fulfill a circling requirement instead of giants. Why not full pirouette on low bar. Is she capable of training a comaneci for a release move (not sure when you need that). Your other options are going specialist on the other 3 pieces. Good luck to her and to you. She must love gymnastics a lot to keep coming!

 

[10.0]

Yes it does clear it up. Sorry I wasn't trying to be a snot and I know it did not answer your question, I was just curious as to what her goals were if she were trying to be a high level with those fears she isn't willing to work at.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Could she cast to a higgins? That skill is in the code (2.101, on page 90), and would have her swinging down backwards without an extra swing deduction, I believe.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

or a tanac or cross over grip swing thru barani. both are relatively simple.

 

[emacmommy]

We will experiment with the Higgins, but I don't think she will cast high enough on the high bar to give herself enough time to do it proper. She will get about 3/4 Handstand. I've thought about the Tanac, believe me, but I can't even get her to leaf drop off the high bar into the pit, something my Level 3's and 4's LOVE to do. Hmmm, that gets me thinking that a Fear Factor Friday practice (which we usually do around Halloween instead of a party) is coming up... I'm going to need new challenges. I won't hijack my thread, but look for it in Questions for All.

 

[gymdog]

The cross over grip swing was my first thought. 3/4 cast, cross over (I'm a righty but I'd pick up my left hand and cross it over my right, but I twist left). You regrasp the bar with the picked up hand on the downswing. As she swings down under the bar she'll "uncross" (turn around). Then go to the front flyaway. I am not exactly sure how this will be evaluated (there would be an amplitude deduction for missing the cast handstand, obviously) but I think it is your best option. In level 7 they are allowed to swing forward once to do the front flyaway but I am pretty sure after that you're getting the empty swing deduction. The cross over grip is relatively simple and probably the only option that doesn't require a higher cast, working through a handstand, or extra swing. The cross over may be uncharacteristic or something but it's probably what I'd go with.

Edit: the higgins she might be able to manage physically but from what you've posted I'm guessing she doesn't like doing anything where she can't see the regrasp of the bar, so the higgins might be a stretch. I have almost no irrational fears and out of all turns, don't really love doing higgins myself, although I think they're fairly easy (but I have terrible wrists and shoulders so peeling off in L is not far from reality ). The cross over grip she can see the bar longer doing the skill, so it seems like something she'd work with.