Coaches Growing Gymnast

[caraburn]

Hi There,
I have a level 5 gymnast who is 9 years old, working towards level 6. She was a great level 5, frequently placing top 3 in all-around at competitions. She has been working level 6 skills even through the level 5 meet season and was starting to really understand the concepts. She has always had a flexibility issue in her low back and hip flexors. She is one of the hardest workers and was starting to really improve on that issue. However, she has recently begun to regress and I believe it is because she is starting to get taller and grow out of her "baby" shape and its making the flexibility issue alot more apparent and its also causing some shift in her center of gravity. It is frustrating to her and also to me to see her go backwards when she was doing so well. Does anyone have any tips on how to handle this?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

increase conditioning and continue to keep practicing. it's all you can do.

 

[CoachTodd]

condition and stretch while warm. I can't personally think of any skills that require a flexible lower back. Most of the ones that folks think require a bendy back actually require shoulder flexibility. Of those, many times strength can make up for lack of flexibility. The bones tend to grown faster than the tendons from what I've seen. They usually catch up with each other eventually.