front hip circle

[k-dog]

My six year old, level 3 dd is just starting to work on her front hip circle. She understands the basic idea behind it but is still having trouble completing the skill. She does okay with a spot but if she tries herself, she can't quite complete the skill yet. My concern is that she sometimes hits her chin on the bar at the end of the attempt which is making her nervous about trying. Should I be discouraging her from practicing without a spotter? (She loves to work on "new" skills during open gym when a spotter isn't always available). Has anyone else seen this issue with their young gymnasts while learning this skill? Any tips to help her get this skill quicker?
Thanks!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

she's 6. leave it be. gymnastics learning is not like going thru the drive up at mcdonalds. fast...

gymnastics takes time. and for some things a bit longer. you DON'T want her to learn a front hip fast. you want it to take as much time as is needed, not just for her to learn, but to learn about herself and what it means and takes to be a gymnast. learning about yourself, how you learn and what works for you, and failure in consistent doses is what produces gymnasts. they learn in time that nothing comes fast in gymnastics.

this is in stark contrast to how the world has become. better she learns now that gymnastics is nothing near that fast food window.

and tell the coach that 6 year olds should not be hitting their chins near the completion of the skill. they need to figure out a way for her to practice the skill when on her own so that she understands what NOT to do to prevent her from hitting her chin.

 

[bogwoppit]

DO not have her working skills like that alone. A FHC should be learned correctly and it is too easy to get it "wrong". Even worse she could smash her face on the bar, and that would be awful.

There are lots of skills I can guaranteee she will struggle with, most gymnasts do, and you cannot fix them all with with extra time in open gym. Just let the coaches work through it with her.

 

[NGL780309]

My six year old, level 3 dd is just starting to work on her front hip circle. She understands the basic idea behind it but is still having trouble completing the skill. She does okay with a spot but if she tries herself, she can't quite complete the skill yet. My concern is that she sometimes hits her chin on the bar at the end of the attempt which is making her nervous about trying. Should I be discouraging her from practicing without a spotter? (She loves to work on "new" skills during open gym when a spotter isn't always available). Has anyone else seen this issue with their young gymnasts while learning this skill? Any tips to help her get this skill quicker?
Thanks!

DD is 5 and moved to L4 last March. It was probably June before she made her FHC. So it really took her quite awhile. I remember feeling like I wanted to help her and she wanted to get it so badly. She never had a problem hitting her chin and I actually can't even picture how that would happen. I never felt like she was in any danger practicing it without a spot because the worst result was that she didn't make it. What finally did help her was working on keeping her body really straight as she was falling forward. To be honest she learned it almost immediately when she had a coach (her dad) show her the right body position. He had her push up to front support in a hollow position with the bar kind of mid thigh. Then she would arch slightly and think about her feet going first as she was falling forward. Once she was able to stay straight on the first portion she had it. He taught her to arch slightly first and then when she had that feeling and the timing he had her stop arching. After she got it it was probably another few months before it looked really good and she could cast nicely out of it. It really was a long process. She got it but it was ugly and she would still miss it sometimes. Then it got prettier and she always made it, but couldn't always cast. Now she can cast and connect to her shoot-thru and most recently she is casting to her squat on. Good luck to her. Hope that was helpful.

 

[JAO]

Try this:

YouTube - Front Hip Circles