This week I accomplished...2010 version

[kyliesmith1]

We're always happy to have another adult gymnast join us. Anyway, at night definitely try to put some neosporene on the rips and band-aids and tape to keep them on but during the day since its too hard to keep band-aids on them I just let them air out. They usually get better in a few days but if you don't keep them moist somewhat (by putting ointment on at least at night) they will re-crack a little and that hurts. At the beginning its really hard to prevent them because your hands need to build up calluses. It might help to stop though when you start to feel some pain on your palms. Thats actually what my coach says when I've been swinging for awhile so I don't rip. I move on to another aparratus when it gets to be too much on my hands but sometimes it happens with no warning. Anyway, I know showers may hurt but it seems the more you wash them the faster the pain goes away. Hang in there .

 

[teena82]

I got my handspring front last night. I've been having trouble getting forward momentum out of my handspring but it turns out I just wasn't blocking hard enough. Once I fixed that I got up the guts to just throw it and landed it on my first try. YEA!!

 

[kgymn]

This week... I got 60% for cartwheels on beam (I've started taking data on my first ten tries any given practice)

I also did my roundoff back handspring on the floor onto a sting mat! I don't need the mat LOL, it's just to make me feel better. My shoulder angle needs work but now I am confident with it being at the end of my floor routine!

~Katy

 

[katy]

welcome zemirah - any type of ointment will help your rips heal. you can't prevent them, only build up your hands. i also prefer to let the air heal as compared to band aids.

katy - awesome job on your ro bhs. i remember learning them - that first one is scary!!

we have winter nationals next weekend. i kind of gave up on the cartwheel bhs on beam, just not feeling it. my goal is my kip cast handstand on bars and to build up my stamina on floor. i have yet to do a full tumbling routine, but sundays are always good practices (because i have two full days to recover) so i'm really looking forward to practice.

i feel like the adults have arrived! i actually received the email list for t&t and artistic meets...yay!

 

[GikiGirl]

Good luck for your meet katy!

And Nicole, you might not notice, but so many of the things you are doing look so much better and more real 'gymnast like' I could not beieve how much you progressed since I last saw you practice, probably around May, and now!

 

[zemirah]

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

Got my pullover by myself tonight.. I was in shock after the first one and did about 5 more times just to prove I could and then couldn't do any more at all! You don't realise how much your muscles are working until the day after (aagh!) Your tips for getting BHC are very welcome - I can do it with a spot but just fall straight under the bar by myself.

Hope everyone is having a good week

 

[nicci1999]

Gina, thanks!!! That means a lot to me lol. And Z, congratulations!!! I had to do the same thing when I got my pullover finally, I did like, 15 in a row, then couldn't do anymore, and I have totally lost it again, but at that point, it was more a personal accomplishment more than anything. Though I do still need to get ti back!!

 

[JMR132]

I finally got my squat on/jump to high bar on bars last week. Still just shy of my kip though. It's driving me nuts! lol Didn't get to do much working out last week because I ended up working with the pre-team because they were short coaches.

Any NYer's here that are going to compete in the Emprire State Games?

 

[katy]

posting this in 2 spots for follow up on aau winter nationals
what a fun meet. i was really happy to see how many other adults were at nationals. i think there were about 12 of us. i learned that three adults had only started gymnastics a year ago! there were modified optional, intermediate optional and ladies level 8's.
i was really happy with vault, bars, and floor. beam needs a lot more work - two falls and so many wobbles and steps after my bhs, i'm sure they counted it as a fall.
we have a lot of new goals for the jr olympics after we saw how amazing the other two level 8's were. one used to compete level 10 and the other 9. not to mention, all the level 8 ladies are 22, and i'm not!!
practice went really well last night. we have two power tumbling meets coming up (this sunday and 3-7-10)

 

[nicci1999]

So after a little pep talk from a fellow adult gymnast, I went to practice today with the attitude of simply having fun, and what a difference it made in my practice! I did some really good handstands on beam(I think my shoulder may now finally be strong enough, or I just learned how to hold it!), even though they weren't vertical, and they felt almost easy, Fell on a few, but whatever did some cartwheels on high beam, even though I had some mats stuck up beside the beam. Did a couple of really good glide swings and some really good FHS. And most importantly, I didn't get down on myself once for not sticking something.

 

[zemirah]

JMR - Yay for getting your squat on!

Katy - that sounds like a great meet! Good luck for the power tumbling

Nicci - Sounds like you are really making progress! When did you start gym?

 

[katy]

nicci - good job for remembering that it is just for fun. if i had expectations of sticking something, i would have quit a long time ago, and i don't think that i would have ever started back up as an adult gymnast. you are talking to the girl who has the record of 5 beam falls in a meet. one was because is was laughing so hard i fell on my pivot turn!
i know that it can be hard to watch others doing so well, and i remind myself that gymnastics is great exercise and that i'm doing pretty damn good for my age. all of us are, pick out another person in their 20's and ask them to do a cartwheel, now ask them to do it on beam.
i think we are all an extraordinary group of athletes, keep up the good work ladies.

 

[JDCrook08]

My sister and I are training to compete in an AAU ladies meet next month in Florida. We both stopped competing gymnastics in 2001 and are really enjoying practicing again. Bars and beam are coming back very easy but I'm working on getting my endurance back on floor right now and I've never really liked vault so just working 1/2 on 1/1 off on hard landings and tuck tsuk into the pit.

 

[zemirah]

Woo hoo, got my back hip circle! I did it better on Tuesday, did heaps of pullover to cast, BHC and it felt really good! Today I kept half bailing out after the cast so I started fall under the bar and then somehow pulled myself over the top. I think my bruises confirm that it wasn't a great technique.

Question for all: I think I need to get some grips, my hands just seem to rip really easily, got another one today. What kind of grips should I start off with? dowels? or would palm guards be enough?

I'm going to feel kind of dumb turning up with grips to do hip circles and glide swings .

 

[nicci1999]

Sounds like everyone is having a great week! Z I started about 14 months ago, but do have some experience from when I was younger

 

[nicci1999]

Woo hoo, got my back hip circle! I did it better on Tuesday, did heaps of pullover to cast, BHC and it felt really good! Today I kept half bailing out after the cast so I started fall under the bar and then somehow pulled myself over the top. I think my bruises confirm that it wasn't a great technique.

Question for all: I think I need to get some grips, my hands just seem to rip really easily, got another one today. What kind of grips should I start off with? dowels? or would palm guards be enough?

I'm going to feel kind of dumb turning up with grips to do hip circles and glide swings .

If you are ripping easily than grips may help. They will not prevent rips though. Talk to your coach and see what the recomrndation is. I use dowel grips and don't do anything amazing on bars LOL. But it does help to extend my time on bars especially with tap swings Amd glide swings

 

[zemirah]

Thanks Nicci, I will talk to the coaches when I go back (going to be away for 2 weeks - no gym, waaah!)

 

[nicci1999]

So today I did a couple of front tucks, learned I can indeed do a pullover the "proper" way-with a little assistance from a spring board but since learning a pullover the proper way is my next goal in pullover world, then I will take this as a training tool. Glides on bars are coming along wonderfully. Didn't fall during pressure set on beam tonight, though I didn't hit my nearly vertical handstand. I was a little disappointed, b/c I really wanted to show it off in front of everyone, but aw well, there is always next week! Gives me another week to work on it even more, maybe I can get it vertical by then!!!

 

[teena82]

Zemirah: I agree with Nicci. I got dowel grips when I started working on my kip because I was ripping like crazy. I definitely don't use the dowel for it's intention yet but I can get a lot more tries in before my hands start ripping. Just know that grips don't prevent rips and that's not what they're for but they will help a bit. From everything I've read palm guards are useless and slippery. I thought my coaches would make fun of me when I came in with my grips but all 3 actually encouraged me. And since your not used to bars without grips the transition should be super easy for you.

All that being said... I GOT MY KIP TONIGHT!! I got it without my grips on because I didn't feel like messing with them. I'll try it Wednesday with them on and make sure I still have it. This whole time I thought my problem was that I wasn't shifting my wrist, turns out I wasn't pulling the bar long enough. I was quitting when the bar got to my hips and thought gravity was supposed to do the rest. Once I started pulling the whole way through I got my kip every try.

I also did my back tuck (with a spot) for the first time on the tumble trak since I destroyed my ankle/foot Oct 08. So that was a big step. I've been doing them off the tumble trak onto 2 mats in the pit. The best part was I wasn't afraid at all.

 

[nicci1999]

Tina I congratulated you already, but here it is again....Congrats!!!! I again had a super practice today, did a ton of pullovers-theyre so much fun now! Worked on the level5 bars dismount, and fixed my handspring vault on tumble track so I fly over now, those are so much fun. Just flying for a second, its great! So all in all the last couple of weeks have been great for me and I hope it continues!