WAG Slow Tumbling - Is There a "Fix"?

[gymdog]

Yes. Get stronger, and work on bars and become better than everyone else on bars. That will help too. In general, a stronger athlete will be a faster one. Not just legs but core.

 

[Quadqueen]

She can always use more core strength!

She told me she landed her piked tsuks on a mat in the pit today, so I guess that's progress.

Thanks everyone.

 

[wallflower]

I know what you mean quadqueen. I've seen girls like you describe.

It's interesting to me because I have always just assumed my kid doesn't have much fast twitch. Nobody would describe her as powerful, but she actually tumbles very quick and flips very quick, but everything is small.

Anyone care to share thoughts on fast tumbling that lacks height?

 

[Aero]

It's interesting to me because I have always just assumed my kid doesn't have much fast twitch. Nobody would describe her as powerful, but she actually tumbles very quick and flips very quick, but everything is small.

Anyone care to share thoughts on fast tumbling that lacks height?

Height requires a balance of fast and slow. If her set up skills (i.e. round-off, back handspring, front handspring, etc.) are fast, that usually equals power. However, if her aerial skills (back tucks, front tucks, layouts, twists, etc.) seem to lack height, that usually means she's rushing the set of the flip. A powerful, rapid take off is necessary, but the set must be held until the peak of the jump/rebound. If the athlete doesn't "wait" before initiating the flip, then this usually results in starting to flip early, while still on the ground. A common symptom of this is throwing the head (either backward or forward depending on the skill) too early. Another thing to look out for is angle of block into the floor, too. Great tumbling comes in hard and fast and then looks high and floaty.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Maybe this isn't the best forum for the question, but based on the discussion above..... What about swimming for gymnasts? It is that time of year with summer swim teams, and I know many kids who sign up for swimming to complement their gymnastics training. Does that type of endurance/aerobic training help or hinder what they are doing in gymnastics?

no

 

[gym.new.bee]

It may not help her gymnastics, but put a team gymnast in a few stroke lessons and then a summer league and get the popcorn out for the drama that ensues when she bumps the year round swimming kids off the A team relay. Talk about drama. Geez. Gymnastics conditioning is so great!

 

[Flossyduck]

This is really interesting.

I knew nothing of twitch until I read about it on here and made a passing judgement that my daughter was not particularly fast twitch, although I'm no expert and am using chalkbucket educated guesswork!

She is a good tumbler though. She gets a lot of power from her legs and plenty of height and doesn't struggle with tumbling skills at all. She's was told last summer she'd have no problem getting her double back as she was doing tucks up onto a stack of mats and getting round and then round again to her back. She's also good at yurchenko type vaulting - again getting plenty of power and height. She is good at bars because she is strong and also she just loves them and seems to 'get' them.

Where she struggles is jumps, she can leap but not jump - spring from standing basically.

They do plenty of plyometric type work and she's improved a lot and her bum sticks out a lot more ( obviously I would NEVER tell her that)!.

So is she just getting power without fast twitch? Due to technique? Can this compensate or will the lack of fast twitch out in the long run? Or maybe I've just got her all wrong?!