Hitting Toes On Giants

[gym monkeys mom]

Ok so DD is finally doing giants on her own on single rail bar and pit bar. Yeah! However, now she can't figure out how not to hit her toes on the low bar and is worried about this. Teammates told her to straddle or pike and when she does this it kills her swing. Any ideas?? I know you guys will have ideas you are great at these things.

 

[BlairBob]

Pike will really kill momentum and change the giant. I reccomend straddling though, but it may be necessary to learn pike first. Watch the toes going through the bar as she goes down in the down phase.

Straddling will help with keeping momentum, especially if she gets tall or wants to work big dismounts. It's up to the coach, really, I would think.

 

[gymkat]

She has to hollow past the low bar, stretch the swing out once she passes the LB, and then tap through the bottom. The trick is to hollow just enough to miss the LB and not enough to affect the swing-- figure out the right amount by doing tap swings that pass the LB.

Straddling should not kill the swing at all. It should not be a big straddle; you only need to straddle enough to pass the LB.

I personally prefer "piking" (which is really more like hollowing), since I'm not especially tall, and I avoid straddling whenever possible... not my favorite position in gymn!

 

[Drowning123gone]

Piking is probably the worst thing that she could do to keep her toes from hitting the bar. Not only is it hard to do a pikey giant but it can cause some serious problems down the line with her dismounts and releases.

If she is really tall, she needs to straddle and keep her hips and shoulders completely open. If she is on the short side, she needs keep her hips flat and hollow her chest and point her toes beneath the bar.

 

[TuesdayPillow]

Is she tapping before her feet pass the low bar? If so she needs to pass the bar with her feet before tapping. If she's really tall and that is the issue, then I imagine the coach would have her straddling until she passes the low bar.

 

[lannamavity]

There are different ways to transition from a single rail to a set of bars. The coach can set the bars wide and then bring them in, or put a big block behing the single rail and move it in slowly as your daughter adjusts her giants.

She may as well learn a straddle giant now...most kids who stick with piked giants are limited in the long run.

 

[KBT]

I would recommend replacing the low bar with two pieces of thick ribbon that are velcroed together in the middle. She'll be able to learn how to get past the low bar without being afraid of hitting her feet. It won't hurt to hit the ribbon and the velco will just come undone if she does.

 

[Drowning123gone]

I would recommend replacing the low bar with two pieces of thick ribbon that are velcroed together in the middle. She'll be able to learn how to get past the low bar without being afraid of hitting her feet. It won't hurt to hit the ribbon and the velco will just come undone if she does.

I have also seen people use like rubber tubing or even prewrap because they will don't hurt and they stretch if you kick it.

 

[gym monkeys mom]

Thanks for all the good info. DD is reading them all and taking it in. I wonder how many mind blocks DD can get get with the same skill. it is the hard part of parenting and i am sure coaching also. Thanks for the help keep up the good jobs. I am sure you are all great coaches