Press Handstands and Rope Climbs

[AlexsGymmyMom]

This is kind of an offshoot of the rope climbing thread.
Someone posted in the other thread ( I think Dunno) that if a gymnast cannot do these two skills that they will never be a gymnast of note.

My DD's gym has a rope that hangs over a pit but they rarely use it. Also, only a few girls can do a press handstands (they are the exception, not the rule). My DD works on press handstands on her own but never have they done drills at the gym for this.

Are these two skills really that important and why? Just curious really!

 

[iwannacoach]

Maybe you don't have to do rope climbs or press handstands to be a gymnast of mention, but these two disciplines do indicate a gymnast's strength, balance, and flexibility. I've never had a "rope" in the gym, and have still had gymnasts compete to a pretty high level. I'm sure it's a good strength, stamina, and "core builder", and know it can be a valuable conditioning tool, but there are several other methods to get similar results. I think you could pick a random sample of well conditioned athletes who had never climbed a rope,but would be successfull with it in a matter of minutes. Don't get the idea I'm against rope climbs, I like them, I've done them, no feet, legs held out in front, with no prior training.....

Press handstands?....Can't live with-out them, and I'd never think of training and conditioning a gymnast with-out them.

 

[DND]

Another question in regards to both - not trying to hijack thread - what are the differences in the two as my DD can do press to handstands all day long, but cannot make it to the top of the rope with legs out in front. Are the two using different muscle groups or the same?

 

[Esoteric]

Core strength, arm and shoulder strength, shoulder flexibility, body control/awareness. I wish dd's gym utilized the rope more for compulsory levels. It seems the rec kiddos use it, as do the optionals- but not so much in between. DD works press handstands at home, and less frequently in the gym- but the optional girls, and on occasion the compulsory girls, do work them. It is no surprise to me when I see the girls who are proficient with presses and rope climbs, as they are typically very strong gymnasts, particularly on bars and vault.

 

[beamer]

Hmmm.

DD can shimmy up and down the rope all day but cannot do a press (from seated) to save her life.

Maybe this means she is a gymnast of "some" or "partial" merit!

 

[flipflopcrystal]

presses are great for casting on bars. if you can do a good press with straight arms and the right technique, then usually those girls are good at casting. like previous posts say, presses help with balance and strength, both needed for training bars.

there are tons of ways to work on presses besides just doing them. planche rocks on a floor bar with your feet on an octagon/barrel. then progress to a planche rock up to handstand. press hold forward rolls. swings on parallell bars will help with presses. doing pike knee drags up the side of a large spotting block to a forward roll.

as for rope climbs, there are obvious benefits to being able to do that well. at our gym we test all levels on how many steps they can take up the rope without the use of their legs. we also do pike/straddle leg lifts as well.

both very beneficial and necessary, in my opinion. we make both part of our warm up.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Maybe you don't have to do rope climbs or press handstands to be a gymnast of mention, but these two disciplines do indicate a gymnast's strength, balance, and flexibility. I've never had a "rope" in the gym, and have still had gymnasts compete to a pretty high level. I'm sure it's a good strength, stamina, and "core builder", and know it can be a valuable conditioning tool, but there are several other methods to get similar results. I think you could pick a random sample of well conditioned athletes who had never climbed a rope,but would be successfull with it in a matter of minutes. Don't get the idea I'm against rope climbs, I like them, I've done them, no feet, legs held out in front, with no prior training.....

Press handstands?....Can't live with-out them, and I'd never think of training and conditioning a gymnast with-out them.

after having spent years at the ranch, rope IS 1 of the core building blocks of gymnastics. and the europeans will tell you that if you can't do rope there will be no significant gymnastics on any of the events. and more specifically uneven bars. girls use their triceps more than their biceps. but for the triceps to handle the rigors of what they do you need the biceps and their attachments to be like trees in order to support the upper arm and elbow joint. then you have the hamstrings in the legs. you need strong quadriceps to support the the upper leg so that the entire leg can function properly. making the quads strong decreases the chance of ACL rupture later when vaulting and tumbling.

it's the old song...the head bone's connected to the neck bone...the neck bone's connected to the shoulder bone...and so on and so forth.

 

[2gymmies]

I think with regards to rope climbing, it is one things to climb the rope up and down with hands and feet - it is definitely a different animal to climb it arms only legs in an L or V. And for presses, I think it depends on the kid - my older dd struggled to learn her press (didn't have the core strength when she was young). My little dd made her press like the 5th time she tried it (drives her sister crazy with that fact). Our gym does tons of both.

 

[My_2_Gym_Monsters]

I've been wondering about this for my dd. At what age should they be able to climb to the top? Dd is in an adv rec class 4-6 year olds. Most of them can climb to the top. She can't. She just turned 5 last week. The goal for her class is just to get half way! Would I be a CGM if I had her do some conditioning at home? She also is having trouble getting her pullover at least she is glued to the beam and loves to "vault" aka doing a straight jump off the springboard.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes=cgm=have her do conditioning at home. lol. it is not the age but rather that they will do it eventually. and 1/2 way may still be much for a 5 year old. rope is gymnastics. it's a process and it takes time.

 

[My_2_Gym_Monsters]

yes=cgm=have her do conditioning at home. lol. it is not the age but rather that they will do it eventually. and 1/2 way may still be much for a 5 year old. rope is gymnastics. it's a process and it takes time.

Whew. I was beginning to worry! Thanks!

 

[wallinbl]

yes=cgm=have her do conditioning at home. lol. it is not the age but rather that they will do it eventually. and 1/2 way may still be much for a 5 year old. rope is gymnastics. it's a process and it takes time.

DD's coach seems to have no problem handing out conditioning homework. DD has been told to do "millions" of press handstands. Some days, she does a bunch of them. Most days, she doesn't do them.

 

[LizzieLac]

I heard or read that if the kids don't start press handstands by a young age (6ish?) it is unlikely they will be able to them (sitting straddle on the floor to handstand and back down). They may be strong enough, but something about the muscles not being able to work together because they are too old to learn. Not sure if that is true, but my daughter started gymnastics late (as did a couple of other girls on our team) and they can't do it, but the younger girls (same level, same basic skills) can.

My DD still does pretty well, although she is only level 5. I guess we'll see if there is a connection to success in gymnatics when she gets to level 7!!

Thoughts?

 

[MaryA]

Dunno has said something like this before. At DD's old gym, they never did press handstands and rarely did the rope climb. Once DD switched to her new gym, she started doing press handstands as a part of every practice and I honestly thought, "Oh, good. Dunno would be so pleased!" HC actually wants DD to use one as her beam mount next year, though DD is not convinced that she'll be able to master it to that degree. They recently installed a rope over the pit, but I honestly have no idea how much it's used.

 

[CoachGoofy]

I heard or read that if the kids don't start press handstands by a young age (6ish?) it is unlikely they will be able to them (sitting straddle on the floor to handstand and back down). They may be strong enough, but something about the muscles not being able to work together because they are too old to learn. Not sure if that is true, but my daughter started gymnastics late (as did a couple of other girls on our team) and they can't do it, but the younger girls (same level, same basic skills) can.

My DD still does pretty well, although she is only level 5. I guess we'll see if there is a connection to success in gymnatics when she gets to level 7!!

Thoughts?

Someone better tell the kid I know who got her stalder rolls when she was 10 & started press work at 9....the whole "must start by 6" is grotesquely untrue.

 

[LizzieLac]

Someone better tell the kid I know who got her stalder rolls when she was 10 & started press work at 9....the whole "must start by 6" is grotesquely untrue.

I heard Alicia Sacramone didn't start gymnatics until she was 8 because she was doing dance. Don't think there are a lot of press handstand work in dance!! Obviously didn't hurt her any!!

 

[wandrewsjr]

I heard Alicia Sacramone didn't start gymnatics until she was 8 because she was doing dance. Don't think there are a lot of press handstand work in dance!! Obviously didn't hurt her any!!

Not sure Sacramone is the best example to use if you are trying to discount the arguement that you need to start press handstand work young to be a good bar worker!!

But in all seriousness, 8 to 9 years old is still plenty YOUNG in my book!

 

[C's MOM]

So...Should I tell DD, "Good job! On the rope climbing!"? The other day, I saw her climbing the rope continuously with her leg in a V position. I teased her after practice and said, "What did you do to have to climb the rope so much?" She admitted she had been goofing around and was told to climb the rope. NO they don't use rope climbing as punishment at her gym. I think it's more like "Go get some energy out kid."
Whatever it is she is getting stronger! They do tons of conditioning. She's been pressing since she was 5. I guess that means the big O! Yeah right!! I think the girls who have figured out the press just figured out the timing and have good body awareness. Sometimes that just comes with mental age. I'm no coach however.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I definitely think there is a "too old" to learn presses...maybe not for everyone but for a lot of people. I started working on press handstands at age 13 or 14 and I'll probably never get it. I have okay straddle flexibility (can do a flat pancake stretch on some days) and handstand holds (>30 sec on a good day), and I can do a good reverse press from handstand back to clear straddle hold. It just seems impossible from here. Watching the 7-year-old level 4s get theirs...it definitely seems like an age/height/weight issue.

 

[LizzieLac]

I definitely think there is a "too old" to learn presses...maybe not for everyone but for a lot of people. I started working on press handstands at age 13 or 14 and I'll probably never get it. I have okay straddle flexibility (can do a flat pancake stretch on some days) and handstand holds (>30 sec on a good day), and I can do a good reverse press from handstand back to clear straddle hold. It just seems impossible from here. Watching the 7-year-old level 4s get theirs...it definitely seems like an age/height/weight issue.

I think I agree with on 7-yr old level 4s. I see the same thing at our gym. That being said, the kids should continue to work on it!