Coaches Sole Circle Dismount

[coachmolly]

The sole circle dismount is the Xcel dismount of choice in my gym, and one I am not super familiar with teaching. My current group is sort of a mixed bag as far as the skill goes- 1/3 can do it quite well but with lots of form issues (fixable), 1/3 can do it decently with nice form but no rise coming off the bar (again, pretty fixable with time), and the last 1/3 (the ones I am most worried about) refuse to put their feet on the bar. We have done drills, spotted them, piled mats under the bar and nothing has changed. I am hoping someone here has a morsel of wisdom that will help us get unstuck and start moving in the right direction.
I have had kids do something similar with squat ons, just not putting their feet on in spite of all of the other pieces being there, but I feel like this shouldn't be that hard- it's the level 2 dismount for Pete's sake!

 

[GymRays]

Are you having them do it in a Straddle or Pike?

 

[coachmolly]

Straddle. But I wouldn't have a problem trying pike.

 

[GymRays]

If they have trained squat ons they may do better with pike. drill I would suggest ( you may have tried)... we use a low bar it mats under, have them jump into the straddle and fall to their bums. Be sure they are pulling the bar with their arms and keeping straight legs so the tension helps keep their feet on.

 

[GymRays]

you can also have them put their hands on a low beam and jump up to a straddle repeatedly

 

[coachmolly]

They don't do squat ons yet, but I have thought of introducing them to see if that helps at all with sole circles. But I figure the 6 kids who can do the dismount decently will pick it up while the 3 strugglers continue to lag behind. I guess we will just keep plugging away at it.
We have tried all of the other stuff you mentioned, but I guess perhaps we will go revisit it.

 

[GymRays]

Keep doing the drills.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

With recreation gymnasts we use these drills to build confidence:

Climb onto the bar to start the skill
Swing in straddle to shoot into pit (usually pushed by coach)
Jump from a block or pit edge to put feet on (already under bar and less scary)
The fall back from a floor bar to soft mat.
Jumping to straddle on floor bar
Swinging in straddle/pike

 

[gymdog]

Try having them climb on one foot at a time, or start standing on the bar holding onto something else (like preschool uneven bars or close uneven bars, they can climb up and hold the high bar) and then from there straddle their legs and reach down.

 

[gymcat]

We have girls stand on a block and start by holding the bar, with one foot on it and then they just have to jump the other foot onto the bar. Once they master that, they still start from the block but jump two feet on the bar at the same time. Next would be to start from the bar itself.

 

[strawberries]

a few more ideas...

Straddle on:
Have gymnast in front support on low bar w/ two bar-height blocks on either side of gymnast, extending back from bar.
Cast to straddle stand on blocks. They may land a couple feet behind the bar at first. Continue landing feet closer to bar. If blocks are too high, start w/ panel mats on either side, then 2 stacked, etc. they should be easy and get incrementally better.
They can also start w/ springboard between blocks, holding bar, and jump to straddle on blocks.

Fall:
Put resi just under low bar. Climb to straddle stand on bar, and fall to resi in tight straddle. Don't let feet come off bar, press back of knees to make sure they are locked out. Raise bar, and repeat fall to resi in same tight straddle. Continue to raise low bar, so they are falling a few inches further each time until they miss the resi.

Shoot-out:
Practice straddle swing from dead hang (both spotted and un-spotted) to shoot out on pit bar, w/ emphasis on keeping feet on the bar as long as possible. If they have to manufacture their own swing, the shoot out is less scary.

 

[coachmolly]

Thank you all so much, these are a huge help. 2 of the girls struggling are rather timid in general, so I love having lots of options to gradually work them towards getting the actual skill. The other girl is not a fearful kid at all, so she's especially puzzling to me, but hopefully something will click with lots of drills. Next time we get to bars I plan on devoting lots of time to a few different drills.