Coaches Crooked hurdles!

[gymnastike30]

Hurdles crooked, tumbles crooked. I've done hurdle drills, line drills, conditioning....there is no change in her tumbling. I'm going crazy!

 

[Gymsanity]

Hurdles crooked, tumbles crooked. I've done hurdle drills, line drills, conditioning....there is no change in her tumbling. I'm going crazy!

The idea is to have HER go crazy, not you! Put two resi pits, spotting blocks, cheeses on their side, or something similar. Have them about 3 feet apart to begin with. Have her tumble between them. It's self aligns the gymnasts As she gets the hang of it, move them closer and closer together until they are shoulder width apart. The other things you are doing are all good, but at the end of the day, this forces them to tumble straight! Good luck.

 

[gymnastike30]

Haha, that is true. Did I forget to mention this thread is about my daughter?! Thank you for your help. I will definitely try what you have suggested.

 

[Aussie_coach]

A very common problem with hurdles into the round off is that the gymnast is turning their body too early. If she can play a game with the hurdle where she pretends she is doing a front handspring and has to convince the person watching that she is going to do a front handspring and wait as long as possible to turn it into a round off, it may help.

 

[iwannacoach]

I can't think of a way to cure her crooked round off, but would recommend learning a round off that want's to go straight forward from the very beginning.

The following is a lessons from the apple tree, the stick, and the ball...... From a slightly elevated platform, like a single layer of a fold up mat (1 inch?).....

Have her stand on what becomes the "kick" leg of her round off, elevate the other leg to thigh height, hold and balance for two counts while checking her alignment, rise up into releve'/stand on toes, and then let herself fall forward (there's the apple tree) until self preservation kicks in and tells her to kick/tip/lever/seesaw/swing her back leg while she supports and pushes with her front leg.

Next you should concentrate her focus on maintaining her body posture to resemble a handstand alignment with maybe a teensy arch (there's the stick) nobody will admit is there because it's so slight it can't easily be seen while watching a good round off. The handstand posture alignment will allow her to use all the strength she has when it comes time to block/push/punch the second hand when it comes to the floor.

Some important contributions and their effects during the skill......

The kick leg if done with energy and attached to a tight core will provide the beginning of the tumbling motion that goes upside down and rotates (there's the ball) toward the connection with a bhs or other skill. The kicking motion when done with energy and attached to a tight core will bring her hips out of a straight forward alignment and move them nearly to a 1/4 turn. So no more trying to turn for the round off because that usually puts them in a weak twisted trunk position with hips, ribs, and shoulders that are out of position with respect to each other..... like right side stretched and left side scrunched.

The second hand pushing against the floor, more like a Tsukahara block, when connected to a tight core handstand posture will convert some of the forward energy into most of the second 1/4 turn. When done correctly the only emphasis on turning should be the kick, the hand push, and letting the turn happen, insted of fighting to control it during front handspring work.

Yeah, you could say it's a front handspring that is allowed to turn, and then a Tsukahara that snaps down without doing a salto.

If you work this drill from a 1 inch mat, the best you may get is a good cartwheel. As she progresses and has the major elements of her cartwheel looking the way they should, add another layer of the fold up mat. Add layers up to a height of 4 inches and stay there for a couple hundred before adding any more height. I've had kids do this from heights up to 8 inches but 6 inches seems to be the point where things start to get worse rather than better.

 

[gymdog]

Drop one arm:

 

[Deleted member D3987]

very good, Gymdog.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

btw, i have given the explanation of why this is before. if someone needs it again just ask and i'll explain again.

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

btw, i have given the explanation of why this is before. if someone needs it again just ask and i'll explain again.

I would love an explanation. I've told some of my girls to reach further in front and pull their ribs in to not go crooked but I've never heard of telling them this until I saw a few weeks ago on YouTube.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i'll use the left round off, then reverse it for right round off.

in a left round off, the left knee in the hurdle comes up in concert with both arms. the problem that is presented is that when the left knee comes up, the left side of the body shortens and the right side of the body lengthens and takes up the borrowed weight from the left side. this lengthens the right side of the body and right arm ever so subtly.

if you watch from behind, you will see the right hip and right shoulder turn slight right. in some kids it doesn't affect them. but in others it's drastic.

so when they step down from the hurdle, and because the torso is slightly turned right (and a left round IS a right twist), when they step down on to the floor you will see their right (back kick leg) leg slightly to the left of their butt crack (center of body) and their left leg (push off leg) slightly to the right of their butt crack.

have them do it on a tape line. you will see them step down with their right foot in back on the left side of the tape line and their left front foot to the right of the tape line. this phenomena is called 'crossing over'. you will hear coaches say this all the time. they tell them to stop "crossing over" in various ways but none in which will correct the problem.

so, you want to keep the right shoulder and hip from opening to the right. you accomplish this by softening the arm swing with the right arm. you start by having them NOT swing the right arm up any higher than the chin.

from the side you will see the left arm above the forehead and the right arm slightly down around chin level. this prevents them from opening the right hip and right shoulder which causes a subtle turn to the right which will then cause them to 'crossover'. when they crossover, from behind you will see their right leg kick over their left shoulder and the left foot gets stuck (torquing and rotating the right groin and hip flexor) for a moment until gravity turns over the body which subsequently causes the body to go the right and then to the left. a hot mess.

incidentally, it is this that causes so many groin pulls. if it is really bad try this yourself. only swing up your left arm and leave your right arm at your side. and when you bend over to place your hands on the floor you still thrust your right hand to the floor to push off in concert with the left hand. this is the method i recommend and use if the kids round off is really really bad. after a couple of weeks you then reintroduce the right arm swing very softly and not allowing to go above the chin.

i dare to say that this will correct a crooked round off 100% of the time if done correctly and given the time for the gymnast to adapt.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I use the opposite arm drop and front handspring a lot as a correcting tools. One other thing is making sure the lead leg is not locked out or straightening too early. A locked out leg can also contribute to the hip being pushed back throwing the back into an early arch during the leg drive, usually causing the leg to drive out and around the side, not to mention potential hamstring problems.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes ^^^ they need to learn that they must push off both legs in to the kick. often they will only kick their leg but leave the push leg on the floor causing that front leg to lock.

you can do this with those furniture things. we have tons of them but can't remember what they're called. hard plastic on one side and soft on the other.

you place both feet on the soft side. hard plastic down against the carpet. cartwheel position. they then bend and push off both feet. you will find it amazing how only the back leg slider will fly out backwards and the front leg slider will almost stay in place.

of course, the objective is to get both of them flying out the back before the kick.

you can do the same thing for aerial walkovers and aerial cartwheels. same concept applies.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Sliders

 

[gymnastike30]

Just an update.....dropping the left arm has worked wonders for her. My fellow coaches wanted to know how I fixed her. Thank you for the help! I can keep my sanity....for now, anyway.

 

[Deleted member D3987]