WAG FHS vault, not clicking

[iwannacoach]

I think you should let the coach deal with it. You are paying money for instruction so stay out of the way and let him/her instruct.

I agree that parents should leave the coaching to the coaches, well sorta almost kinda. There's a cross over between what coaches and parents do, and CoachTodd makes a good point........

You could ask her what corrections the coaches are giving her and have her think about it to see if she's understanding them. This might make her look at the skill a little differently.

.........in the sense that parents can help by teaching their children how to learn. His example of asking the dd if she can repeat the corrections while away from the gym is a step that helps them understand the important role corrections have, and that their job isn't to just repeatedly do the skill, but to try to model their attempts to the coach's version, and not theirs.

Also parents can help is teaching their child the importance of listening and asking questions when they don't understand. My favorite one is to have parents impress upon their child that change is the only way they can improve a skill, and that they have to make the change happen because nobody can do that but them.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

New Level 4 so it's her first year doing FHS, right? There's a combination of things that go into vault - the run, the block, body position....things that me as a mom had trouble understanding, LOL. She may need the coach to break down each part of her vault to understand the corrections she needs.

My little one was in her FIFTH season before it clicked and when it did, she did really well.

 

[cbifoja]

vault is an enigma to me. my daughter has scored everywhere from an 8.6 to a 9.8. with the exception of random steps on landing, I swear they are all the exact same vault.

this is DD's 2nd year competing the FHS vault and when I look at video from her first meet compared to what she is doing now, I do see a slight difference especially in the block.

one of my personal goal this year is to learn how to read vault. It's tricky!

 

[cbifoja]

I agree that parents should leave the coaching to the coaches, well sorta almost kinda. There's a cross over between what coaches and parents do, and CoachTodd makes a good point........



.........in the sense that parents can help by teaching their children how to learn. His example of asking the dd if she can repeat the corrections while away from the gym is a step that helps them understand the important role corrections have, and that their job isn't to just repeatedly do the skill, but to try to model their attempts to the coach's version, and not theirs.

Also parents can help is teaching their child the importance of listening and asking questions when they don't understand. My favorite one is to have parents impress upon their child that change is the only way they can improve a skill, and that they have to make the change happen because nobody can do that but them.

I agree that if she is just clarifying language, then it is probably OK. I just assumed from her questions, that she was going to bleed over into coaching her kid.

Yes, parents, especially of young children, need to interpret for or kids some. I had to explain what a pillar was to my DD. And then there was the time when her coach kept getting on her for not hitting 180 on her split leap. She came out of the gym frustrated and crying and asked me "180 what?" She was still learning to count money and had no idea about angle measurements. So yeah, a need for parental involvement there!

 

[rsm]

DD has been having some trouble as well in practice. She seems to be doing a little better now and has been able to step it up a little at meets. She seemed to be very inconsistent, and the coach seemed to be getting frustrated, so I started by just asking what the coach was asking her to correct.

The first week of this, the coach asked her to run "faster". She thought that meant more turnover (which makes sense), but it really meant for her to lengthen her strides. We had her practice that a little at home.

Once she was fixing that, she kept missing the mark to hurdle, so ended up on the wrong spot on the springboard and the table.

Once she fixed that, she was diving into the table instead of jumping up from the springboard.

Then she wasn't landing her hands far enough on the table, so ended up with an extra bounce on her hands.

Then she wasn't blocking with strong shoulder and arms so she sort of just flopped over the table.

So there's a lot to get right at the same time, and I think it will take some time for all of it to be "automatic" for DD. I just make sure she knows what her coach is asking her to do, and that she actually knows what that means. Listening is not her strong suit so if she know I'm going to ask what her coach said, she is more likely to try to remember it.

 

[Clover]

I agree that if she is just clarifying language, then it is probably OK. I just assumed from her questions, that she was going to bleed over into coaching her kid.

Yes, parents, especially of young children, need to interpret for or kids some. I had to explain what a pillar was to my DD. And then there was the time when her coach kept getting on her for not hitting 180 on her split leap. She came out of the gym frustrated and crying and asked me "180 what?" She was still learning to count money and had no idea about angle measurements. So yeah, a need for parental involvement there!

ITA with this!

My DD has always been the youngest on her level, and she is not one to speak up or ask the coach for clarification. She is very good at making corrections as long as she understands what she needs to do. She would come home saying that coach told her to do such and such, and sometimes I was able to explain what he meant, but often (as someone who never did gym) I was lost as well. In those cases I could research on Chalkbucket or ask questions about fixing problems. I was not trying to coach my child but just help with the communication between the coach and my DD. After getting info from the great parents and coaches on this site I could say "Do you think he meant .....". She would say "maybe" and try it at the next practice. Lo and Behold that was often what she was supposed to be doing.

So, a parent asking questions about issues with their gymmie may not necessarily be trying to coach their child, but may just be trying to support the coach.

 

[rjb123]

It took my DD a good year and a half to figure out how to recall and retain corrections. She was (is) very very young for her level and training group and was so shy that she couldn't bring herself to ask her coach questions when she had them. I started just having her "retell" me exactly what words her coach would say to her and then see if she understood what they wanted (sometimes it was yes, then others it was no!) There was also a language barrier which made things a bit more difficult. We had a breakthrough when her coach started to get mad at her and then just stopped and asked "do you understand what I want you to do?" and DD said "no". Now one of her coaches told me that she is a different kid- that he (they) realized that last year she was just scared of them a little and so shy- not unwilling or unable to do what they wanted. They have found the keys to communicate well with her and she makes and keeps corrections very well. They also found that she is more visual and will use more visual examples to correct her. So I agree with pp who say that parents who ask questions are not trying to coach - in my case that is the last thing I want!! I think that it has to be really hard for a coach to remember that in a group of six or so kids that range from seven to 11 that a seven year old might have NO clue what some things are while an 11 year old would. so I try to fill in the blanks or encourage DD to ask to fill in the blanks.

 

[wgymmom]

She's more of a visual learner, so that might be why she's having trouble making verbal corrections. She has said that there's a lot to remember in vault. She's about 55" tall and weighs 64 lbs, second smallest of the group of L4's. The tallest girl is the one who managed above a 9.

 

[htimcj]

She's more of a visual learner, so that might be why she's having trouble making verbal corrections. She has said that there's a lot to remember in vault. She's about 55" tall and weighs 64 lbs, second smallest of the group of L4's. The tallest girl is the one who managed above a 9.

Seeing how small/light weight she is some of the problem will be that she is just small and can't punch the spring board like a bigger kid can. DD coach keeps telling me that she is doing all the parts right but at 62 pounds and 54'' there is only so much you can do Just wait till she grows.

 

[beamer]

I was thinking about the handspring vault the other day when I happened to arrive early for DD's gym pick-up and watched the vault portion of practice.

For all but the prodigies at DD's gym, the handspring vault is a "forever" work-in-progress. It does come, in time, but in the interim -- be prepared for head-springing, piking, arching, hopping, stutter-stepping, bridging (ackk), and all other manner of not-okay ways to make it over that pesky table.

 

[gymdog]

She's more of a visual learner, so that might be why she's having trouble making verbal corrections. She has said that there's a lot to remember in vault. She's about 55" tall and weighs 64 lbs, second smallest of the group of L4's. The tallest girl is the one who managed above a 9.

I would share this observation with the coach and ask if he knows any ways she could see what he means visually - watch a teammate, or is there a video of the drills he uses where she can see it beforehand so she understands.

 

[GYM0M]

DD is 43" and 48 lbs! She has a VERY hard time with her vault this season! Her scores have ranged from 7.75-8.9! She has struggled all season long! If it wasn't for her beautiful beam routine, she would not have qualified for state. After her last meet, coach stopped letting her vault over the table. Instead he stacked the big blue mats up much higher than her comfortable table height and made her vault over it. Granted, it was never pretty, but this week, 3 weeks later, brought the table back out, and she looks much better! Excited to see it at state this Sunday! No advice for OP, just feel your pain!!

 

[raenndrops]

DD is 43" and 48 lbs! She has a VERY hard time with her vault this season! Her scores have ranged from 7.75-8.9! She has struggled all season long! If it wasn't for her beautiful beam routine, she would not have qualified for state. After her last meet, coach stopped letting her vault over the table. Instead he stacked the big blue mats up much higher than her comfortable table height and made her vault over it. Granted, it was never pretty, but this week, 3 weeks later, brought the table back out, and she looks much better! Excited to see it at state this Sunday! No advice for OP, just feel your pain!!

Our HC uses this as a teaching tool, especially for girls moving up and the tiny ones that have already moved up... it really is a good idea. Good Luck Sunday.

 

[gracyomalley]

DD is 11 at Level 7 and still only 52"...but packs a mean 80 lbs of solid muscle now. FHS vault was an incredible struggle when she started - at 8 I think she was about 42"....vaulted at 0 forever.....and I left the room for her whole Level 5 season during vault...however, it does get better!

 

[GYM0M]

Update on my tiny gymnast.....Meet went GREAT! She got a 9.25 on her vault! Good enough for 7th! That's 1.25 better than the last meet! So proud!

 

[flippingtogether]

Here's a string with some great info and links - and congrats on the meet!!
Judging-the-front-handspring-vault
http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/index.php?threads/Judging-the-front-handspring-vault.42418/