Coaches Favorite Vault Drills for Beginners

[coachmolly]

My group of beginner girls does vault every other week and I'm need of some new drills. We don't have a level 4 vault mat, just a port-a-pit that we can stack an 8 incher or two on top of to get a similar effect. We also have a vault table, I just prefer not to use that with the lower levels, especially younger/smaller girls because I know all too well how easy those bad habits on vault are formed!
Equipment is limited- 1 regular sized springboard and 1 smaller springboard, a resi pit, some 8-inchers, panel mats, and the things mentioned above, so anything with too complex of a set-up would be out of the question.
So does anyone have any great drills for these girls? Currently, I try to do lots of handstands, good running form, teaching hurdles (any drills would be welcome though!), arm positions, etc. But I feel like I do the same things every week and want to mix things up a little but still have a productive class.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!

 

[gymdog]

Is this for total beginners, or beginning team level (i.e. preteam)?

 

[coachmolly]

Total beginners, so I'm looking for VERY basic stuff.

 

[ryantroop]

Take 3 dots, 2 of 1 color, 1 of another - I usually use green yellow green. Place them in a straight line on the run way leading up to the board, spaced with a rough guesstamate based on the average size and stride of your gymnasts.

I ask the kids "How many feet go on the dot?"

1

"How many feet go on the board?"

2

"Why are they different colors?"

They get a different foot!

"Do we ever put one foot on the board?!"

NO!

Have fun from there. With smaller kids, or kids who are particularly uncoordinated, I use the kid's beat board instead of a full size spring board.

I do lots of straight jumps, building to higher heights, to teach them to jump up while maintaining forward energy. Then we do squat ons, and then we start doing tumble track/floor drills for turn over to handstand/handspring.

Since most of my rec kids do not lead into our pre-team, I don't spend too much time working on running drills or explosive power drills (handstand pops, etc... burst running..), so it keeps it a bit more fun. In general, I do a lot of handstands and holds to maintain arm/shoulder muscle to prevent injury, and we land into porta pits to prevent landing injuries.

 

[coachinkal]

With our beginners we use hoops placed on the floor in a row. Two smaller ones for the one foot and a bigger one for the two feet. They run place one foot in one hoop, one foot in the next and both feet in the third.

If kids are a bit unco-ordinated or quite young it can take a while just to get this drill. It does seem to help with getting two feet on the board when we take it to the beatboard.

Main things I would be looking for with beginners is basics like not running on flat feet, where to jump on the board, where to land on the block, and body position in straight jump. We always do a straight jump for beginners onto a block.

 

[coachmolly]

Thanks for the great replies! I'm used to have a few more mats/blocks to mess around with, but these ideas will be great with the limited resources available.

 

[nevertooold]

- tight body bounces, first on floor, then trak if you have one, then springboard
- jump from spring board to safe landing position on 8in mat
- 5 tight body bounces on springboard then straight jump to 8 in mat (tuck and straddle to mat too)
- walking hurdle drill down the runway or across the floor: step, assemble/hurdle, punch to stretch jump, repeat, with or without arm circle
- panel mat in front of board in front of 8 in mat: stand on panel and step hurdle to board punch straight jump to mat, or tuck jump, straddle jump, jump 1/2 turn etc.
- all above from a short run
- board in front of short end of panel mat stack with 8 in at end: hand on mats, 3 bounce to squat on, fwd roll across mat, stand up and stretch, tuck or straddle jump to 8 in mat.
- board in front of long end of panel mat stack w/ 8 in at end: hands on mats, 3 bounce to straddle on, jump off
- short run to squat on and straddle on jump off
- bounce to and then short run to flank vault, legs around the side
- short run to cartwheel over
- 8inchers on top of resi: hands on mats, 3 bounces to coach assisted straight arm roll
- hs flat back with panel mat and 8 in, stand on panel mat and kick up to hs on end of panel, fall to back on 8in
- then 3 bounces to tuck or pike up to handstand on resi/8in stack to roll down or flat back
- 3 bounces to coach assisted handstand starting with arms up by ears instead of on mat
- short run to coach assisted hs flat back