Level 6 boys p-bars (would love to hear from judges as well)

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I have several boys who have been struggling with the moy on the level 6 p-bars routine (and this has long been a skill I have had trouble teaching well). Today, I had several of my boys experiment with more of a Tippelt-type tap (ie comming through the bottom in a glide shape rather than a traditional giant swing), and it worked spectacularly; one of my boys who couldn't get his moy before did it by himself, and one who barely had his moy before nearly caught it in straihgt-arm support.

So I have two questions:

First, would there be any deduction for competing a glide moy instead of a giant swing moi at level 6?

Second, are there any disadvantages to training a moy this way right from the start (assuming I still use the flyaway off the end to train the giant swing)?

 

[ryantroop]

I am not familliar with the level 6 rules, but to answer your question from an optional perspective - no, there is no real issue. If you plan on teaching giants later, you will probably have to go back and "fix" their bail later on, but other than that it doesn't seem to be an issue.

You will need to ask a judge about the deduction. I know that many of the compulsory routines are designed to "build" on to later skills, so they may want that bent knee position for a reason.

What I don't understsand is how your gymnasts are having trouble bent knee on their bail and are ok with straight leg! That would have freaked me right the heck out!!

When I teach moys (and ask any of my gymnasts - I abhor the skill), I teach it first by letting the gymnast swing under the bar as if they were on high bar, and build up higher and higher. Then, I teach them a hand spotted bail. By the time they put it all together they already know how to control the power in the swing (because they have been underswinging for so long), and they know a good bail from a bad one (i.e., when they bend their arms they get hurt and lose control).

What I would like to hear is your method for teaching a giant, though.. I never used fly aways to teach them, so you peaked my curiosity.

Ryan

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I am not familliar with the level 6 rules, but to answer your question from an optional perspective - no, there is no real issue. If you plan on teaching giants later, you will probably have to go back and "fix" their bail later on, but other than that it doesn't seem to be an issue.

You will need to ask a judge about the deduction. I know that many of the compulsory routines are designed to "build" on to later skills, so they may want that bent knee position for a reason.

What I don't understsand is how your gymnasts are having trouble bent knee on their bail and are ok with straight leg! That would have freaked me right the heck out!!

When I teach moys (and ask any of my gymnasts - I abhor the skill), I teach it first by letting the gymnast swing under the bar as if they were on high bar, and build up higher and higher. Then, I teach them a hand spotted bail. By the time they put it all together they already know how to control the power in the swing (because they have been underswinging for so long), and they know a good bail from a bad one (i.e., when they bend their arms they get hurt and lose control).

What I would like to hear is your method for teaching a giant, though.. I never used fly aways to teach them, so you peaked my curiosity.

Ryan

I haven't actually taught a full giant to any of my kids yet; I'm going by what I've heard from other coaches who have. The idea is to first train the bail into a flyaway off the end. As they get more comfortable, you move that flyaway to the middle, so they are doing a giant swing to flyaway between the bars. Once they get comfortable with that, you eventually have them catch the flyaway in support.

Again, that's just going by what I've seen/heard with other coaches; I've never taught the skill myself.