WAG Giants on bars- advice needed

[anonymouse_arina]

Hi! I’m a gymnast who is training level 7- and I can’t move up until I get my giants. I have them on the pit bar, but I need some advice on how to correct some form issues.
The main problem I have is piking my hips on the way up.

Any general advice to help make my giants more consistent helps too.

 

[gympoppop]

You’ve really almost got it and I’m sure you’ll get it. Not a coach at all but the main thing I see from a physics perspective is that your head is coming way out from between your arms on the bottom of your swing and it’s killing all of the momentum at the bottom of your swing. You can see your body sort of stopping there b/c energy is going down to the right rather than being directed up and around the bar. Head gets forward arms lag behind and pull hard on the bar stopping the swing. This forces you to try to pike up hard over the bar to get energy back. Keep head between arms instead and get into a hollow fast to get momentum to direct swing energy up and take you around the bar.

 

[anonymouse_arina]

You’ve really almost got it and I’m sure you’ll get it. Not a coach at all but the main thing I see from a physics perspective is that your head is coming way out from between your arms on the bottom of your swing and it’s killing all of the momentum at the bottom of your swing. You can see your body sort of stopping there b/c energy is going down to the right rather than being directed up and around the bar. Head gets forward arms lag behind and pull hard on the bar stopping the swing. This forces you to try to pike up hard over the bar to get energy back. Keep head between arms instead and get into a hollow fast to get momentum to direct swing energy up and take you around the bar.

Thank you so much! I didn’t realize how my head position could’ve affected my swing

 

[estamey21]

The first half of your giant is beautiful!

I’m seeing a break in body tension on the upswing. Your tap position starts off strong, but then you tap by bending your hips. The shape change in a tap—from stretch to hollow—should be generated from your core with flat hips (no piking). On the upswing, I can also see you bending your arms, sticking your ribs out, moving your head, etc. Not only do these form breaks kill your power at the top of your giant, but they are symptoms of a lack of body tension in your core and shoulders. In the clip that I attached, you can see how loose you are.

To strengthen your core for giants, I recommend hollow body rocks with a rubber band. As you rock back, really tug on the rubber band to exaggerate overhead body tension. You can even do these rocks on a wedge mat (head downhill of feet).

Another drill I like is back extension roll to handstand. Can you do this with perfect form on the floor? A lot of problems in giants show up in the back extension roll. Quiz yourself to see if you are piking, bending your arms, sticking your head out (etc.) in your back extension roll.

Don’t forget to spend more time on the strap bar. It’s a great tool for perfecting giant swings without killing your hands.

Keep up the good work!