Coaches Favorite drills 2017 (video)

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I put together a montage of some of my favorite drills.

Hope y'all find it helpful!

 

[Scott W.]

Great stuff! I really like the free hip one, I've used it a few times with great success!

With the cast/swing handstand one, are you ever worried about them falling? I use blocks a lot with boys to teach swings and just about every single one of them bends their arms and face plants at least once.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Great stuff! I really like the free hip one, I've used it a few times with great success!

With the cast/swing handstand one, are you ever worried about them falling? I use blocks a lot with boys to teach swings and just about every single one of them bends their arms and face plants at least once.

I compressed the progression a bit for the sake of this montage. I generally spend a good deal of time working very low straight-body swings until they can do it with absolutely zero change in body position other than the shoulders. Once this is solid, I allow them to start swinging higher. I have had very few kids buckle and face plant, because by the time they're swinging big enough, they've already developed strong control and balance through the skill.

I also make a point of teaching them to bail if they overshoot it (ie level 3/4 beam dismount).

Also not shown in this video is the final step in the process; take out the noodle so they can swing back down, and have them do them in sets of 10+. You can get 50-100 reps in a single bar rotation with no spotting and no bruised hips; definitely better than trying to get that many reps on a single rail.

I did this progression with my level 4s in San Jose; as a result, half my level 4s and almost all my level 5s could cast to handstand, and they learned it without ever being spotted on the skill.