- Jan 21, 2007
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Block is an important part of so many skills. Most notably, handspring vaults and variations thereof.
I've tried coaching a block in several ways, and discussed it with many other coaches, and the conclusion I've come to seems to dissagree with the way many coaches teach it. I thought this would make for interesting discussion here.
The way I almost always see block taught is as an active push done by extending the shoulders on contact with the table. However, I dissagree with this idea.
In my opinion, block isn't something you "do," it's something that happens on its own when you do everything else correctly. I teach that the shoulders should already be extended before you ever contact the table. If your body is tight and your shoulders are extended, you will block when your hands contact the table. It's not something you actually try to do, it's just the effect of a tight body hitting the table.
Both I and the other boys' coach at my gym (and we both coach the girls team as well) teach vault this way, and it seems to be pretty effective.
Another thing I do differently than some coaches is that I train kids to vault with the board close (between 1' 6" and 1' 9" from the table for most of my girls -- I don't currently have any kids who vault with the board further than 2' from the table) and the table high (I aim for shoulder height with most of them, and sometimes have them practice with it a notch higher than that). Having the board close and the table high forces the kids to get their chest up on the board. Once they learn a proper heel-drive and tight position, I find that they also tend to get a more powerful block with the board close to the table.
Thoughts?
I've tried coaching a block in several ways, and discussed it with many other coaches, and the conclusion I've come to seems to dissagree with the way many coaches teach it. I thought this would make for interesting discussion here.
The way I almost always see block taught is as an active push done by extending the shoulders on contact with the table. However, I dissagree with this idea.
In my opinion, block isn't something you "do," it's something that happens on its own when you do everything else correctly. I teach that the shoulders should already be extended before you ever contact the table. If your body is tight and your shoulders are extended, you will block when your hands contact the table. It's not something you actually try to do, it's just the effect of a tight body hitting the table.
Both I and the other boys' coach at my gym (and we both coach the girls team as well) teach vault this way, and it seems to be pretty effective.
Another thing I do differently than some coaches is that I train kids to vault with the board close (between 1' 6" and 1' 9" from the table for most of my girls -- I don't currently have any kids who vault with the board further than 2' from the table) and the table high (I aim for shoulder height with most of them, and sometimes have them practice with it a notch higher than that). Having the board close and the table high forces the kids to get their chest up on the board. Once they learn a proper heel-drive and tight position, I find that they also tend to get a more powerful block with the board close to the table.
Thoughts?