Giant troubles

[gymjourneymom]

DD is level 7 & having trouble getting her giant. She says her problem is... "she has trouble shifting her hands properly"??? Anyone know what she means or have any advice for her???

 

[ryantroop]

While I would again urge that her coaches should be the first resource, the way I would handle her trouble is two fold:

a) get a broom stick, and have her practice going from her thighs to above her head, flicking her wrist as it peaks. As she gets more comfortable, some sort of resistance can be added, though it would be hard to do this at hime.

b) in the gym, I would have her do 3/4 giants where she intentionally does not stop on the bar. Normally, a gymnast will get their hips to the bar, and then shift. If she thinks about doing a 3/4 giant, and shifts before her hips hit, she can push away and feel the proper shift for giants.

c) practice!! It takes time. They will come. Be patient.

Good luck and best wishes!


Ryan

 

[BlairBob]

I've heard about doing strap giants in gloves to learn that wrist shift.

 

[gym monkeys mom]

I feel your pain. My DD has been working on these since end of Level 6 basically may of 2006. She had them and then turned 12 yrs old and got huge mental block and has been working them ever since. One spot that helped is the web site below it has a great article as well as a video of a girl doing one. Best wishes. My DD is a Level 7 second year and needs them to compete this year so says the coach. Ugh. He asures me she will DO them. He is a great guy and I wouldn't work with his option al head cases for all the $$ in the world. Best wishe to you.

Link Removed

 

[ryantroop]

I've heard about doing strap giants in gloves to learn that wrist shift.

Strap bar giants are great for learning advanced skills, but I try not to use them for learning the giant itself.

Many times, the gloves or straps offer zero resistance through the swing and actually is SO forgiving that a gymnast can learn to belly over on giants and it leads to a slew of other problems.


In my opinion, the best way to learn is either by a hand spot, or by doing 3/4 giants with a shift that prevents the hips from hitting the bar. It may look ugly at first, but with time it teaches really good technique.


Ryan

 

[gymjourneymom]

Thanks to all for your replies! DD got her giant today at practice!!! Yeah!!! She even says they're " fun" & can't wait to go to practice on Monday & do some more! It's so nice when their hard work pays off!

 

[zooky41216]

I have the hand shift problem and the block problem lol i could giant when i was 11 then avoided them untill a few months ago im now 18 how pathetic is that !!!
i have problems with wrist action falling from handstand and drop through my wrists although i put that down to a confidence problem which in that case i would advise just do as many as possible
with the hand shift on the last 1/4 i would recomend lying under a floor back and have her coach lift her feet up to handstand and she snap her wrists up to handstand and then move once confident on the floor bar. This is a great way to build confidence because its on the floor.

 

[gymalex]

I disagree. I think kids should start working in straps in level 4 to learn good tap swings. It gives the kids a feeling of safety so they can practice swinging aggressively, and it's easier to learn and make the correct shapes with a bigger swing.
For learning giants- straps are THE place to learn them. Yes, it's a little easier, but again- if you make it easy, you can demand proper body shapes. I have NEVER allowed athletes to arch over when training giants in straps- and after practice, this does translate to the regular bar. I say definitely get the kid in straps to practice shifting the hands, but an even bigger problem may be the tap. Shifting your wrists comes naturally if you have enough momentum...perhaps she is tapping too early or not aggressively enough to get over? That's what I'd look at. Also, make sure she is pushing hard on the bar in the handstand and on the way down to push her center of mass as far away from the bar as possible to create the biggest swing. Do you have a video? If so I could get a better idea of what the problem is. Good luck!!!

 

[gymjourneymom]

I disagree. I think kids should start working in straps in level 4 to learn good tap swings. It gives the kids a feeling of safety so they can practice swinging aggressively, and it's easier to learn and make the correct shapes with a bigger swing.
For learning giants- straps are THE place to learn them. Yes, it's a little easier, but again- if you make it easy, you can demand proper body shapes. I have NEVER allowed athletes to arch over when training giants in straps- and after practice, this does translate to the regular bar. I say definitely get the kid in straps to practice shifting the hands, but an even bigger problem may be the tap. Shifting your wrists comes naturally if you have enough momentum...perhaps she is tapping too early or not aggressively enough to get over? That's what I'd look at. Also, make sure she is pushing hard on the bar in the handstand and on the way down to push her center of mass as far away from the bar as possible to create the biggest swing. Do you have a video? If so I could get a better idea of what the problem is. Good luck!!!

gymalex-Thanks for you insight! My DD did get her giant(and figured out the wrist shift) a few weeks ago. I think it may have been her tap not being aggressive enough. She did have a fear of doing them...so I think she was holding back. She can go around once, on the high bar now. But as you know...it's always something in this sport! Now she's trying to get her fly away out of it! Any suggestions for that? Also, for her to learn to go around more than once(giant-giant). Do you recommend she get back on the strap bar?

 

[gymalex]

gymalex-Thanks for you insight! My DD did get her giant(and figured out the wrist shift) a few weeks ago. I think it may have been her tap not being aggressive enough. She did have a fear of doing them...so I think she was holding back. She can go around once, on the high bar now. But as you know...it's always something in this sport! Now she's trying to get her fly away out of it! Any suggestions for that? Also, for her to learn to go around more than once(giant-giant). Do you recommend she get back on the strap bar?

Hi there:
First, the multiple giants- I'd definitely go back to straps...it's probably a mental thing. If you can do one and make it all the way back up to handstand, you can do five. After practicing on straps, does your gym have a pit bar? If so I'd recommend she go and practice there. If not, ask her coach to spot the first few sets. Just stay tight!

For flyaways- I think my best suggestion is to practice cast, swing down, flyaway. Start making the cast higher and higher until she can swing down from a handstand and complete a flyaway. Then it's the just about the same as doing the dismount out of a giant swing! Remind her to tap at the bottom of her swing, whether she's dismounting out of a cast or a giant, and to keep her arms by her ears so she won't over-rotate. (If she brings her arms down, her radius shortens, and she'll rotate faster- often too fast.) Into the pit is best, and a good spotter is always a plus, especially for the first few tries.

She should wait to dismount out of the giants until she can confidently and agressively complete sets of 3 giants to make sure she is tapping and making good shapes consistently. (She can practice the cast, swing down, flyaway drill now though!) If she needs to compete L7 bars now and the dismount is holding her back, she can do giant, baby giant (level 6), under swing, swing, flyaway. She'll get a .3 deduction for the extra swing, but at least she'll have a routine she can safely compete until she is ready to compete the dismount from a giant. Good luck and let me know how it goes!!

 

[ryantroop]

It's just a coaching preference.. I find the tumble track giant drill much safer, and easier to spot than a full swing, as well as b-x rolls on floor. After the proper body positions are learned, I would take it to straps. So, yes, in the long run it does run to straps but I re-enforce body positioning and taps early on to transfer.

 

[gym4fun]

straps is a good place to do giants, i think so at least. Lvl 6 states is coming up so we're not doing any giants, but they are soo fun. i think straps is a good place to do giants because it helps you shift. it gives you a boost so you know what it feels like. that way, it helps you to learn giants better. i can hardly wait to start doing giants again!

 

[LittleLady]

Uneven Bars Giant trouble

The drill my coach had us do was to have an uneven bar secured to a trampoline's edges (he had a system that bolted it in) and we would lay on our back on the tramp bed holding the uneven bar with arms straight and tight. Then with legs together pointing at the ceiling we would create a bounce off our back trying to shoot to a handstand and you learn the wrist flip at the precise time. If you don't make the handstand you just bounce onto your back and try again and again. Eventually the wrist flip becomes natural and there's no fear of falling. I learned a Giant at age 33 and this method really helped. We used the strap system too which was fun and helped me develop a correct, powerful tap.

 

[ryantroop]

I learned a Giant at age 33 and this method really helped.

That, right there folks, is happiness in a sentence. Good for you!

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

I can't do the tumble trak giant drill and I have giants easily. haha.

 

[ryantroop]

That's actually pretty common.

You dont know how to bounce well with your hips. If you really dedicated yourself to it, you would probbaly pick up the drill in about 2 weeks.