WAG Increasing flexibility

[Orangesoda]

My daughter's a young 5yrs and does three pre-preteam hrs of gym per week. She told me last week that her coach told her to "stretch while I watch tv." She's bar far the least flexible grommit in her class. I think her shoulder flexibility is comparable, but her splits are the pits really. Most girls have their splits at this point, but there's a couple inches of space under her if her legs are really straight on both her right and left splits.

Anyways, I've gently reminded her a couple times, but darn it if she isn't a lazy kid when we're at home. Ha. Must get it from her mom. She's not into stretching. Like. At all. A couple of questions.

1. How important is it that she stretch at home? Will the flexibility develop eventually in class? I'm guessing the answer is no, otherwise the coach wouldn't have told her to do it on her own.

2. What is a reasonable amount of stretching to "inflict" on a kid? Ha. I mean, she can't really sit and watch tv in her splits if she has to hold herself up because there's so much space between her bumb and the ground. Is there a better way?

I haven't really decided on the approach I'm going to take, so I'd love some perspective. I know there's a lot of "leave gym at the gym" and "are you a coach?" attitude here. Does that apply to stretching too? If my kid takes piano lessons, I make sure she practices. Right? Wrong? Is this different? Can I make a chart? I foresee her flexibility being the "limiting reagent" in her gymnastics. (Does anyone remember chemistry? Funny.)

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

As a coach, I tell my kids (in our developmental program) to stretch while watching tv all the time. I teach them how to do their split stretches correctly, and it is obvious which kids do work on them at home and which do not.
You don't have to be all the way down in your splits to get an efficient stretch. I do want "my" girls to A) work on their splits CORRECTLY which means hips squared up and B) keep their chest up and shoulders back as much as possible.
Back knee tucked under, legs straight. I'd much rather they work on doing it correctly than be able to go all the way down turned to the side with bad alignment.
Getting their splits sooner hinges on working at home in addition to in practice. We do stretches every practice, of course, but it's definitely something that we strongly encourage to practice at home, every day.

 

[Faolmor]

We've just hit this issue with DD here too. She came up with her own method of doing the stretches, involving playing with the stopwatch on my phone, and reaching for a picture of a certain toy she wants to earn for herself if she gets her splits down within a time-frame she set for herself also. I'm usually on-hand to make sure she stays square, otherwise, she tends to turn sideways. Other than that, it's all her.

 

[Faith]

She's just 5. I wouldn't worry about it.

just because she's not naturally flexible doesn't mean it can't be trained fairly easily. But again, she's 5 . its not going to hold her eventual career up if she doesn't stretch now.

Don't push it or force it. As she progresses through to team her flexibility will improve.

I do think it's important they learn to stretch/condition because it will improve their gymnastics, rather than because mom says or it makes her happy. The work= results connection is vital. At 5 that concept is probably a bit abstract.

 

[B.Gold]

I am constantly nagging at my DD. Nagging for her to do her homework, practice her piano(because piano practice IS at home, where the piano sits, unlike gym practice which is at the gym where the gym equipment sits), to wash her hair, brush her teeth, straighten her room, hang up her towels, choose clean socks....I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Imo, One gentle reminder about stretching to put the bug in her ear. If she doesn't bite... Forget about it. This is not a battle I would choose.

 

[rsm]

When my DD was 5 and on pre-team, she told me one day that her coach told her she had the worst splits in the group. Which she did, because she's not the most flexible and hated splits and would rather do anything else. So, I stretched with her everyday for a week, and she got one of the splits down and almost the others (and I got a little work out in). That was the only time she did any stretching/splits at home. She was happy, coach was impressed, but it didn't lead to any kind of long-term changes. And it was only fun because I was doing with her, and I was so much worse Fast forward to now, she just turned 9, is on the level 5 team, and STILL has the worst splits on the team. But she is doing okay, is very strong, rocks bars, and she is happy. The only time she works extra on splits is if she is early to practice or one of the teammates is doing it. Anyway, I think the gist of this post is that I found out that you can show her the way, encourage her, and help her to see the results if she does it, but then it's up to her. I still cringe seeing her jumps and leaps, and will suggest occasionally that she works on her leg flexibility, but otherwise she is doing just great.

 

[Orangesoda]

Thanks for the responses. I'm still thinking about my next move. I'm leaning toward making a sticker chart with a small "reward" associated with seven consecutive days of stretching. And I'm talking about literally five minutes each day. I agree that she's a little too short-sighted at this young age to associate the reward, that reward being improved performance, with the work of stretching. Stickers and an ice cream cone are more effective motivators at this point! I've never been big on bribery, but I think if I proposed a system and we came up with an appropriate reward together, it might be a good chance for her to take the lead and see results.

If anyone has more thoughts, I'm open to them. Thanks again

 

[izzy'scrazygymmom]

When my daughter was working on getting her splits all the way down she would do them on her bed. She could get down farther on her bed so she could sit in them longer. It worked for her.

 

[MomIdidit!]

My DD has a stop watch and times herself...she loves it because then she is in control.

 

[wh/gh]

Flexibility is tough to work on because it's such a long term thing, especially for little kids. You don't really see progress from stretching every day, not for a few months...and a few months might as well be eternity for a five year old. And stretching is really not intrinsically fun in any way. So I think having a reward system might not be such a bad idea here.

However, as others have said, it's really not a big deal for a five year old to not have her splits. If she continues on in gymnastics, it will come with time. You also have to be cautious of making it too serious and discouraging her...my dad used to force me to practice violin every day before school, and it wound up making me hate the violin. I quit as soon as I could and don't regret it!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

want to know just how complicated and complex this subject matter can be? enjoy.

http://www.advancedstudyofgymnastics.com/flexibility-articles.html

 

[profmom]

Finally! The reason for those "rumble boxes" they use!

 

[Alie21]

So, I stretched with her everyday for a week, and she got one of the splits down and almost the others (and I got a little work out in). That was the only time she did any stretching/splits at home. She was happy, coach was impressed, but it didn't lead to any kind of long-term changes. And it was only fun because I was doing with her, and I was so much worse

Soooo funny, I laughed reading this - my DD is the same and she and I did the same about a year ago with the same result! Fast forward to now and she has gone up a bit as her new class doesn't stretch much and she does zip at home BUT (brag alert) I have both my forward splits down now!!

Good luck and hope the motivation works out for you Perhaps you could ask coach to provide the incentive for good improvement? Some time in foam pit for example? That way she sees it as gym related?

 

[Aussie_coach]

She is 5, there is no need to worry about it. At 5 gymnastics needs to be fun, if it turns into her having to do painful stretching at home and being pushed to do it you could very well lose her from the sport.

At 5 she can't think in the long term, about how if she dedicates herself to training her splits she will have better skills in the future. She lives in the moment.

 

[Committed]

When my dd was 5, her gym had a deal with Baskin Robbins. For each split the girls had, they would earn a banana split from BR. DD worked very hard on her splits once she had a challenge and a reward to work towards.
Perhaps she needs a little outside motivation?