Help with straddle undershoot on bars

[Dizzy_And_Lazy]

I have been working on straddle undershoot for a couple of months now because I only do one hour of gym a week. I have improved it a lot from when I started but still can not quite do it. I cast to get my feet on, but my toes only tap the bar before falling off. The coach said that I lean my shoulders back so they are not over the bar, which means I won't be able to get my feet on. Also, she said that I am pushing away from the bar with my arms, but I'm not sure how to stop doing this. One last thing was that I think it would be easier to do this if I could get my casts higher, but I am also not sure how. Someone has said before to try practising jumping my feet onto a floor bar, but we don't normally have one set up at my gym so I can't do this. Any tips to help me get my feet on would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[rd7]

Quick note for the american members - I think this is called a sole circle dismount, possibly your level 2 dismount?

anyway hi op and you're right, improving the height of your casts will help, this will come with more core and upper body strength. You also need to be flexible enough to get into the straddle position on the bar.

Here's a couple of things you can do at home, assuming you've got a little bit of space and your not on a solid concrete floor.

Hold front support on the floor, shoulders above your hands, start with 30 seconds and build from there, keep you back rounded and your bottom down as you've been show at the gym.

Starting in front support, shoulders above or slightly in front of your hands, jump feet to straddle either side of your hands. No cheating with your feet, don't walk them in or shorten your front support before jumping.

If you're not very flexible then work on sitting in straddle and folding your chest to the floor.

As you're only been in the gym one hour per week you're doing well to get to the level to work on this skill at all so well done for that.

 

[Flossyduck]

My daughter is learning these, but she's at gym five times a week, so you are doing well to be picking it up in an hour a week!

I'm not a coach, so can't advise other than what my daughter has been told which is not to stick her head out. It helps keep the shoulders forward.
If the gym has a floor bar (and it's a fairly basic piece of equipment) can you ask to get it out and practice jumping on to it? They do a lot of that at DD's gym!

When doing the exercise rd7 suggested - jumping to straddle- can you put a line of tape on the floor, or some other indication of the line you are aiming for when you jump forward. Would that help get a feel for whether it's flexibility issue?

Good luck

 

[marie83]

Really good suggestions so far... just to add:

Once your feet are on the bar, pull upwards with you arms and push down with your feet.
If you do get a chance to practice on a floor bar, you will be able to try this action on there first.

Hang on the bar with your feet on the bar in straddle and practice small swings forwards and backwards

Practice an undershoot from standing (no straddle on) If you don't know what I mean let me know and I'll try to describe it for you!

Place a marker on the floor for you to aim at to land on - this seems to help our gymnasts to keep their feet on longer.

Can you be spotted at all?

Are you tall? I find it harder personally to do a straddle undershoot on low bar, Not sure why! Its a bit scarier, but I seem to be able to keep my feet on longer if I am higher up!

Good luck!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

This has some very simple progressions you can try
Straddle Sole Circle Dismounts - YouTube

 

[Dizzy_And_Lazy]

To marie83
First of all I think I get what you mean about doing a straddle undershoot from standing as I have tried to do them before, but I couldn't get them then. However I think I have improved it a bit so I will try to do it next week. Coaches have offered to support me doing it, but I find it really hard to cast when a coach is holding my arms to keep my shoulders over the bar. Finally, I am tall so my legs are longer, meaning I feel as if it is harder to do. When I started to do straddle on to the bar I tried to put my feet really far apart so I didn't have to cast as high to counteract my long legs, but my feet are a lot closer to my hands now. I don't really know if all this information is relevant! Anyway, thanks for all the tips from everyone so far!

 

[Dizzy_And_Lazy]

I just wanted also to say that I will try jumping to straddle from a front support position at home to see if I will find it easier to do straddle onto the bars after practising this. However I am slightly confused about Flossyduck asking if it was a flexibility issue. Will my flexibility stop me getting my feet on easily because I never thought that that could be the issue. I am not incredibly flexible, but recently it has been improving slowly. Before I have done drills with jumping my feet onto the bar from standing on a block, and I could get my feet on to the bar then, it is just trying to get them on by casting into it. Any comments? Thanks again!

 

[Flossyduck]

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse.

I was just thinking about what rd7 has said above about working on sitting in straddle with your chest on the floor. It made sense to me that to continue gripping the bar whilst taking your toes cleanly on to it without hitting it, you need to be able to almost fold yourself in half, with your head tucked in. Your feet will need to be at the level of your wrists to avoid hitting the bar.

At daughters gym they stretch for it by doing those straddle sits with chest on the floor and also standing on the edge of the tumble track and reaching down over the edge of the track to touch the lower floor, whilst keeping their legs straight.

As I said I'm not a coach and just passing on what they do, because she's going through the same thing, but perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong on the flexibility thing?

Good luck anyway.

 

[Kiwi]

I don't think you need that much flexibility to do it, as I'm not very flexible, I certainly can't fold myself in half! Of course, my straddle on bar probably isn't that great and better flexibility probably makes a better quality move. I think it is more about getting your weight forward enough. If no floor bar, you could possibly try it on a floor beam, or a box top (you know the old kind, if your gym still has those). When I was doing these I was going for a straddle-on, but I guess it is the same starting position for the undershoot, you just don't need to stand up on the bar.

 

[Faith]

My daughter is learning these, but she's at gym five times a week.

How old is she Flossyduck? I thought she was the same age as my DD ('04 birth)- how many hours is that a week? Sorry for the off topic but it's interesting to compare gyms, another gym mum and I were chatting just last night about the hours, and wondering what was normal in other gyms, as it's seems quite intense at ours.

Back on topic I can't really help. All I remember about them is you have to pull really hard on the bar with your arms, so you push your feet against the bar, if that makes sense. I do think there's a fear/confidence this as with squat ons too, if you're even subconsciously nervous and hold back you won't get your centre of gravity over the bar and your hips up. My DD has just about got it, first of her group, but I'd say that was mainly because the fear gene hasn't expressed yet so she just went for it, where the other (and better) girls are more hesitant.

 

[Dizzy_And_Lazy]

I am glad to know that you don't need to be too flexible to do it. I understand that it is a similar position to sit in straddle with your chest on the floor, but I do know people at my gym who can do straddle undershoot but can't get their chest to the floor. I think this could be because you could probably curve your back to do straddle undershoot so you don't need the flexibility in your lower back to fold down. Furthermore, I do think that I am slightly scared which could mean that I will subconsciously do smaller casts than I need, and therefore my centre of gravity won't be over the bar meaning I will fall off. Thanks for the idea to practise on the floor beam, something I had never thought of but something I feel will be very useful! Thanks!

 

[Flossyduck]

You're right Faith my dd is 7 and an 04 birthday. She's following the elite path. I'm not really sure how her programme compares to others to be honest as I'm relatively new to all this and most of the info on here relates to US, Canadian or Australian levels, but I'm feeling my way!
DD's very happy with the number of hours she does and she's the one doing it - I just sit in awe!

 

[Flossyduck]

I'm really sorry if I mislead re the flexibilty Dizzy. My desire to help sometimes needs to be curbed and I just recognised that it's what my daughters doing and the drills she's working on. I've made a note to myself to resist commenting on skills matters!

 

[Kiwi]

Don't be sorry, commenting is what a discussion forum is for! Of course you need a certain level of flexibility and more will generally give a better quality skill.