Coaches Hesitation

[Mikkie]

Hello All,

I posted this in the Judges forum as well.

My DD is level 8 and on the beam she has 2 BH's and layout for the dismount. Her coach is telling her she is getting deductions for her hesitation before her 2 BHs which she is connecting and she is getting deductions for her hesitation before her layout. Does anyone know how long your allowed to stand there before deductions are considered? Also, her coach has told her she could easily get 9.7 / 9.8 if she would just speed up.

Thanks,
Concerned Gym Mom

 

[Gym-Nice-tics]

What I have been told in the past is that the gymnast needs to show consistent backward movement with no arm swing to get credit for the connection. Once the movement stops, even for a split second, the connection is broken. If the series is not connected, it's a .5 deduction. Ideally the bhs's should flow together with no pause once so ever.

 

[Gym-Nice-tics]

Ha ha, so I reread the post and realized that I'm an idiot and thought you meant between these elements, not before. Lol. Really I think the deduction is taken when there is no movement for two seconds. One second, to me, is acceptable, but once you get beyond a deep breath, then it becomes too long.

To eliminate the pause I have my girls practice going from two poses or dance elements before their series/element to get them used to the flow. If they need to count to three (I don't know why this helps, but my girls really rely on it) I teach them to start counting during the two poses before their routine so that three happens when they stretch tall before the skill(s) and then they go almost immediately. Takes some getting used to, but it flows so well when they do it.