Anon Kip Cast Handstand Help

[Anonymous (792c)]

My daughter needs to get her KCH in the next three practices or she will not move to Level 6 even though she’s starting to do Level 7 skills on beam and floor and her gym does not compete until December.

Any tips or drills she can do at home to help? I think the problem seems to be in the timing. She leans a lot and then is too far over the bar to push down on the bar resulting in her crumbling over. Now she’s worried about falling over the bar so she seems to stop her self from getting her hips over her shoulders.

Thank you!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

On general principle, looking at any skill in the mindset of "I need to get X skill by Y date" almost always does more harm than good. Every skill comes when it comes, and deadlines will only make it more stressful and more difficult.

Having said that, here are the key things I'd do to help with a kip cast handstand:

AT HOME:
Press handstands. Piked, straddled, tucked, from push-up shape, from support, from straddle stand, fast, slow, in reverse every which way you can think of.

AT GYM:
Work on delaying the start of the kip. Fully extend the glide swing all the way to the top, initiate the kip on the way down. Initiating the kip too early is an extremely common problem that can result in insufficient power for a cast.
Work p-bar swings. Rather than explain these by text, here's a video of the progression I use, which I've always found works like absolute magic:

 

[Anonymous (aff7)]

I 100% agree that giving a date for a skill does way more harm than good. My dd was given a date for getting a cast handstand at the beginning of the level 7 season. She was so stressed about it, never got it and the night before the practice deadline, she said that she wanted to quit gymnastics. She did finish out the season without ever getting the skill because she had committed to the competition season but then she switched gyms and moved to Xcel. She did have some injuries which contributed to lack of confidence but it was still not helpful at all. She was always great at bars and really wanted to do it but no deadline/incentive would make the skill come faster!

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

Thank you so much! The video is really helpful. I will have her try these.

Believe me, I’m with you about date deadlines on skills. I wish the coach wouldn’t put this kind of pressure on her. She’s very stressed because she knows that if she doesn’t get it she will be leaving her gym where she has lots of good friends and coaches.

 

[Anonymous (aff7)]

Thank you so much! The video is really helpful. I will have her try these.

Believe me, I’m with you about date deadlines on skills. I wish the coach wouldn’t put this kind of pressure on her. She’s very stressed because she knows that if she doesn’t get it she will be leaving her gym where she has lots of good friends and coaches.

Why will she be leaving her gym if she doesn't get the skill?

 

[Anonymous (1a61)]

A cast handstand isn’t required for level 6. It may be a gym preference, but I would fight it. I believe she needs to go up to 45 degrees? I would talk to the coach.

 

[Dahlialover]

My kid got over his issue with cast handstand by casting to a straddle with feet on the bar and then falling over the bar onto a mat on purpose. This drill took care of his fear of leaning too far and falling over and he got his cast handstand the same day.

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

I 100% agree that giving a date for a skill does way more harm than good. My dd was given a date for getting a cast handstand at the beginning of the level 7 season. She was so stressed about it, never got it and the night before the practice deadline, she said that she wanted to quit gymnastics. She did finish out the season without ever getting the skill because she had committed to the competition season but then she switched gyms and moved to Xcel. She did have some injuries which contributed to lack of confidence but it was still not helpful at all. She was always great at bars and really wanted to do it but no deadline/incentive would make the skill come faster!

OP here. Thank you for posting your experiences. I’m sorry that happened to your daughter. I really related to so much of this.

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

Why will she be leaving her gym if she doesn't get the skill?

Because she doesn’t want to do another year of L5. The past two years have been very rough in that they have not uptrained during the year so she has gained skills in the summer that she hasn’t gotten to do for 8 months and then has lost them and has to spend part of the little uptraining time they have getting back skills from last summer. Now that she’s starting to get/train L7 skills she doesn’t want to lose that momentum. Plus, she’s just ready to get her own floor routine, travel to bigger meets, etc. Other gyms have said they will take her at L6, so we’ll see.

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

A cast handstand isn’t required for level 6. It may be a gym preference, but I would fight it. I believe she needs to go up to 45 degrees? I would talk to the coach.

I know it’s not required per USAG, but unfortunately her gym requires it for L6.

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

I 100% agree that giving a date for a skill does way more harm than good. My dd was given a date for getting a cast handstand at the beginning of the level 7 season. She was so stressed about it, never got it and the night before the practice deadline, she said that she wanted to quit gymnastics. She did finish out the season without ever getting the skill because she had committed to the competition season but then she switched gyms and moved to Xcel. She did have some injuries which contributed to lack of confidence but it was still not helpful at all. She was always great at bars and really wanted to do it but no deadline/incentive would make the skill come faster!

OP here. Thank you for posting your experiences

My kid got over his issue with cast handstand by casting to a straddle with feet on the bar and then falling over the bar onto a mat on purpose. This drill took care of his fear of leaning too far and falling over and he got his cast handstand the same day.

Thanks! She has been doing this, so hopefully it helps.

 

[Anonymous (792c)]

Just an update for anyone who was curious, she finally did it on the very last day (and then ended up doing six of them that day ). Thanks for your help!