L4 - Cast after front hip

[gymmom-n-coach]

DD's team is really struggling with getting a cast out of their front hip circles. They all have the front hip, but are coming out of them with bent arms. I assist their coach 1x/wk - any suggestions?

Also - what are the possible deductions for having a small, or non-existent, cast after FHC?

Thanks!

 

[gymdog]

It only needs to be a small cast. In fact, this isn't a major skill in L4 - it's not like L5. The small hollow cast is part of the FHC major skill (rather than being one in it's own right) so even if completely omitted, I think it's .3. Really bent arms is also a deduction of course.

I stack panel mats under/slightly in front of the bar. Make two stacks, they should be able to go two at a time. Start with straight arm jump ups. It will take them a little while to figure how to do it with straight arms, but as long as you haven't set the bar too high (set it about chest height, don't want it too easy) they can do it. When they can do 10x with straight arms like that, then they do straight arm jump up, immediate FHC cast to return to the mat, jump up, FHC, cast back to mat. They do this 5x in a row. This also helps with learning to connect the FHC to the straight arm lever up action which will help with the kip FHC in L5. And it is good conditioning/endurance for them to do skills in a row because the L4 bar routine has pauses.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

you must pound in to them to "keep your elbows" straight. and don't say arms to them cause that's not specific enough for them.

 

[gymdog]

Also make sure they push the bar as they fall, the biggest error I see overall is that before achieving a straight body lever position at horizontal (falling into the circle) kids relax their arms (so their chest dumps over.) The arms have to be pressing back until they're parallel to the floor. This is a very tricky thing to explain to kids who are often 6 or 7. You can make a visual like a little smiley face in chalk on the inside of their elbows and tell them to keep the face pushing forward and not hide it in their elbows, etc. However you can explain this. You can also practice what "parallel/horizontal" means on a floor bar about six inches or so from the floor (alternatively you could put something like a trapezoid in front of the bar so the bar is just a little higher. They get in either a front support on the bar, pushing up, or on floor it'll be kinda a seal position holding the bar, with the chest forward. Then they fall forward GENTLY (supervise this so no one smashes their face or something else silly) to land on their chest (keep the head a little forward, mostly neutral). Show them what the difference is between this and a piked or closed position that is not parallel or has loose arms.

Otherwise when you try to teach them this skill you will tell them things and they will say they understand but they won't understand because they don't understand the words. So you have to give it other names they can understand and practice the small parts like how it feels to land on your chest where horizontal is.

 

[gymmom-n-coach]

Thanks guys! Tried the panel mat drill tonight - saw some improvement. Actually had a few pushing down on the bar for a change. Worked these for a good 25 minutes, then on to the other skills. 10 minutes later, ran routines....and it was like we had never even worked on them. ***sigh*** We'll keep plugging away! But there are nights when a glass of wine after practice seems sooooo well deserved!!!

 

[nevertooold]

Starting position is important, leotard above the bar, flat hips, tight butt, heels pulling back, hollow chest, eyes on the high bar...
From here make sure they are leaning out instead of down as they initiate the circle.
To keep straight arms and achieve a natural cast they need to generate speed at the beginning which they cannot do if they dump chest toward the floor instead of forward.

Same for mill circle.

For both skills I use the example of swinging a bucket of water. If you take a bucket with a little water in it and swing it slowly with a loose bent arm, what would happen? But if you swing it fast and strong with a straight tight arm? What if you swing it in a small bent circle? What about a big stretched out circle?

Also fhc followed by 3 casts. By the 3rd cast the shoulders are over the bar and they are feeling and fixing the shape. Then go to 2 casts so they have to lean and feel and fix sooner, then down to 1 when they understand the movement.