straddler lever press to handstand

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B

Bobby

My 6 y/o is a bit obsessed with practising this skill at home. It does get some regular work in class too.
Her technique is a bit off. Her initial lift from lever seems good and there's a moment where she's 'butt up feet down' which seems right. But then as she brings her feet up she seems to open her hips too quickly or early and she kind of hits a planche (135 degree HS). She occasionally does struggle up from planche to a full HS (I didn't say her form was good :p) - and I don't know how because it must take so much extra strength to do it that way.
Here's my questions:
a) Is there something a mother could try/suggest that might help??;
b) Or is it better to discourage her altogether for a while because I think she's developing quite a habit and the more she does it that way I wonder if it will take longer to get the rhythm really right??
PS: I'm pretty sure this skill won't crop up in a routine for at least 18 mths.
 
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See if she can do a handstand and lower down to a straddle sit (through the compression when the feet come near the floor).
 
She comes back down from handstand just right, and actually has OK control (she mostly lowers back to hold the lever position for a millisecond or three and very rarely just thumps down on her butt ... I think the tile floor is a bit motivating that way ... ;):D).
It's going up she finds hard.
 
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If she can do that then she should try to feel a similar position on the way up. Sometimes though the kick back is kind of an overcorrection because they don't want to lean too far and fall on their face, so she might want to practice doing it into a straddle roll onto something soft (basically just where the feet would start to come together, don't kick them back and go into a straddle roll).

Does she press from a straddle stand? She can also try to do straddle stand, lift up a couple inches, and balance there (half press), then do the balance for a few seconds and try to lift into handstand.
 
My dd started with the straddle stands too. This really helped her learn the balance part of it. When the coach had her start to learn it on the high beam, she had her start with the straddle stand to a press. This helps them with there balance. I would let her do them the way she is doing them too because it must be increasing her abdominal strength which is always good.:)
 

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