this is the conundrum of bars. the closer you have the setting to FIG the more precise your technique must be. FIG promotes good giant technique.
what becomes problematic for advancing the learning of bars is when you spread the setting. it's obviously easier to swing giants when the bars are spread further. but this causes the technique required to go awry.
when the bars widen, consideration must be given to low>high>low connections. the farther you spread the bars to allow for a poorly executed giant, the more risk you place on the athlete going from bar to bar. angular momentum is fierce during a giant swing. this is why you read/see things having to do with kids missing the bar on Chinese sit-ups, bails, counter swings and Paks and injuring their shoulders, backs and elbows. spreading the bars creates more swing than they need to perform these aforementioned skills.
when the kids reach upper high school and college, and after several years of training, their strength weight ratio becomes commensurate to the task. their bodies are able to handle the 'physics' of uneven bars and the forces that are created much better.
as you can see at the Chinese National Games, the bars are set even closer than FIG. the FIG spec on AAI bars is 1 click above the line on the high bar (96 inches from the top of the bar to the cement/floor), 1 click above the line on low bar so that the high bar and low bar setting are identical (and 62 1/2 inches from the top of the bar to the cement/floor) 2 lines under 4 on the high bar spreader and all the way up on the low bar spreader. then, when you take a tape measure and place it on the angle measuring from the high bar to the low bar on the inside of both bars the measurement is 181cm or about 72 1/2 inches.
2 lines under 4 gets you that 181cm on the angle. and the rule is 180cm "plus or minus" 1 cm. it doesn't say you can't move them closer from that setting, only that you can't make them wider. 181cm is the maximum spread. understand so far?
now look closely again at the video. you will see that Huang, and every other gymnast before and after, is swinging on AAI bars. Yes, the Chinese use AAI bars. you can clearly see that the low bar spreader has been slid all the way down. there is a black bolt stopper in the upright that prevents this spreader from going any lower. let me tell you, these bars are close. i've never measured this setting, but knowing the AAI bars such that i do, i would guess that the measurement on the angle is closer to 67 inches. that's 5 inches closer than FIG at 72 1/2 inches or 181cm.
if you watch her dismount, Huang performs a straddle giant. certainly when the bars are this close, performing a leg together giant would be very difficult as she is too 'tall'. lol. if her legs were together given her height coupled with the close bar setting, it is more likely than not that she would have to bend or pike A LOT in order to clear the low bar. there is a deduction for 'piking' at the low bar when they giant swing. ironically, and because the bars are set closer, she is to short to perform what you see her do if the bars were set out further to FIG. they are set to accommodate the precision required to perform her Stalder Shaposh>Pak salto>Stalder Shaposh 1/2 turn to high bar. this is a very difficult combination, and my experience tells me that the coaches have the bars set close so that she is able to 'reach' both bars seamlessly with ease.
so, some must learn to straddle. neither one is the 'best one'. some girls gets so tall that they must learn to straddle no matter how wide the bars are set. others are able to perform a leg together giant swing with the bars close or far and because either their body type and length allows them to make a better 'shape' at the low bar, or because they are stronger and can make better shapes at the low bar or a combination of both.
and then there are kids who will be chronically scared that they will hit the low bar. spreading the bars all the way out is a bad idea for the reasons i gave above. plus, doing so would not allow any kids to be developed for the Elite program. so you teach these kids to straddle. there has been much discussion at the Ranch about this. Valeri's position is that you should straddle because that is what the best bar workers are doing and they don't suffer a deduction at the low bar because of this. And maybe this is the most important at the elite level.
my athlete is very short and straddles her giants to eliminate the pike altogether at the low bar. when she performs a leg together giant there is a very slight pike at the low bar. enough so that there is a deduction not only in the compulsory exercise but the optional exercise as well. so, when you're trying to eliminate these small deductions you do what you must do as an athlete and coach. if the athlete does not have 'fear' issues, doing either one does not present a challenge. for instance, this athlete can perform a 2ble 2ble bar dismount from both pike and straddle. we are still experimenting to learn which will work best for her for when the time comes to put it at the end of an elite bar routine. and that might never happen regardless of which giant she performs. that would be an issue of cardio/muscle endurance.
you'll have to explain to your daughter just that. the coaches can place mats over the low bar, tweak the setting to figure out where best to set them for all she must do now and in the future and play/experiment with both techniques in straddling and closed legs.
but in the final analysis? she'll have to put up or shut up. she may have no say in this matter. her body measurements will dictate what she is going to have to do and where her bars will be set. this is the hardest of all things that can happen at bars that MUST be overcome by both the athlete and coach. do i need to tell you all how DIFFICULT it is to overcome something such as this at bars when you have an illogically and overtly scared athlete that is uncooperative?
i have been here long enough for you all to understand that i am NOT singling out this kid. it's all kids that have this problem to overcome along with their coaches. their bar work will NOT develop and progress if they don't get over this issue. and diverting too far away from FIG depending on the athletes anthropometric metrics can be unsafe to the athlete.
) is that she picks up too much momentum when straddling and she can't control it? If that makes sense?
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