Training tumbling, use of mats/tumbletrak/other training aids

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Bit of a spinoff from another thread: when teaching lower-level tumbling (ie anything between a forward roll and a backhandspring), to what extent do you use training aids such as wedge mats, tumbletrak, barrels, etc?

With kids small enough to be spotted, I'm finding more and more that I prefer to just train everything straight on the floor without any additional "props." At this point, aside from a backward roll there is not one single skill I use wedge mats to train; I never use barrel mats or other backhandspring trainers, simply because I prefer the precision I can get with spotting.

Thoughts? Anybody else prefer to train tumbling like this? Anybody have really effective drills using props that I haven't thought of?

 

[marie83]

I agree. When I was starting out coaching, I'd use lots of different 'training aids' to help, but now I am more experienced I find that I can teach a gymnast to bhs easily enough on the floor. However, Once I believe they can do the skill on their own, I would put them on the wedge, perhaps just for a few goes to help them feel the 'lean' on their own - sometimes gymnasts forget what they are doing the first few times they try something on their own.
I also like to use the tramp when they are competent in a skill but it still needs tweaking, purely to save their wrists.
I use the trampette for vault for the same reason when we are doing lots of repetition.
I Think I'd still teach rec gymnasts with the training aids because often they lack the confidence of a competitive gymnast.

 

[CoachGoofy]

With ALL our rec/developmental/lower level team T&Ters I do the "10,000,000 kinds of lengthening the roundoff" drills thing, & that uses mats. And most of our kids learn to back roll & back extension down a cheese. And I do a lot of handstands & cartwheels with a mat for my beginner rec T&Ters (because they have the strength to kick up but not the control to land, a lot of the time).

I teach those kids to BHS on rod floor & on tumble trak. And we do power hurdle roundoffs off a spring board (if you try to do a skippy thing it doesn't WORK!).

I hate barrels and boulders for bhs, especially kids who are expected to eventually go to a higher level. We use them in cheer tumbling, but doing a bhs over a boulder isn't gunna cut it for T&T team.

I like drills that use all the Stuff, I guess. But for putting the whole skill together I want to be right there hands on.

 

[MissBear]

I use wedge mats for backwards rolls and handstand forwards roll, although I've been moving to the edge of a big mat for backwards rolls much earlier recently, especially with those with the ability/strength to push off their hands properly. I find box tops/panel mats invaluble for beginning cartwheels with 7 and unders who have no concept of hands facing one way and feet facing the other.
In one of the facilities I coach in I don't have access to a tumble track, and I've found BHS and FHS difficult to teach without. Normally I would work body tension for a while, then spot FHS off a block (mainly for my back!), and then we go to tumble track and go. Without I've been using barrels, springboards, and trampette situations and so far it's been reasonably successful.

The other thing I like about the tumble track is that young, inexperienced kids fall easily. If they are going to be inconsistant and suddenly change everything and splat, I'd rather it be on the tumble track. Being winded and bruises are easily healed but not so easily forgotten, especially for the rec kid. (Of course, this only once we've talked and worked on safe falling!).

In the end, I like lots of fun situations using different equiptment for rec gymnasts. For development/pre-competitive we have completely different goals in terms of the quality, so I am more likely to spot to get the shapes right.

 

[gymdog]

Well it mostly depends on the group (age and size) but I use a lot of things. I think visual guides are helpful a lot of the time, and especially when it comes to connecting skills like RO BHS, I want them to stay on track and do things in the "right" places, i.e. not go way crooked or something. 1, for ease of spotting, and 2, to avoid overstressing one hand or arm or creating bad habits.

When I teach RO BHS I generally have them start on a line of panel mats doing the RO with their hands on and feet down to the floor, so they can feel the turnover of the RO and practice snapping their feet through. Then I move it to a wedge mat so they do a RO and their feet land on the incline part and they go back and do the BHS with their hands on a flat surface. This (the incline surface) helps the push through the toes and the backwards direction of the BHS. Similar for standing, starting with their heels at the low end of a springboard so the feet are slightly flexed, helps the push through and jump back. For refinement of BHS series on beam this can be very helpful.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I think visual guides are helpful a lot of the time, and especially when it comes to connecting skills like RO BHS, I want them to stay on track and do things in the "right" places, i.e. not go way crooked or something. 1, for ease of spotting, and 2, to avoid overstressing one hand or arm or creating bad habits.

This is an excellent point, and I do use mats as visual aids from time to time.

 

[Aussie_coach]

We use lots of training aids.

First of all when a child is learning a new skill they need to do hundreds of the skill and many drills leading up to the skill. As coaches we may have a large number of kids in our classes and we may teach a large number of classes a week. If you spot every single kid all the time you will have to retire early from the RSI you will develop. Also many gymnastics coaches were gymnasts themselves, often they are small people. Many kids these days are not small people, a good coach can spot someone larger than they are but they need drills first to learn where their body should be in the air, and they needs other drills to take the pressure off a coach. If the coach gets injured from spotting every kid on every skill they are not much use.

Also the coach can spot only 1 gymnasts at a time, having training aids set up as well for other stations means the kids are learning more, not just standing around waiting for their turn.

Training aids also save the kids joints. If the kids are doing a lot of tumbling it helps to do some on an air track or good rebounding mats, if we constantly pound their joints, especially while they are going through major growth spurts it can be very damaging to their bodies.

ALso if you are spotting the skills you are too close to see exactly what the body is doing. If they are on a drill or training aid you can stand back and get a much better idea,

 

[sally]

MY dd lives on tumble trak. I am sure they spend half the lesson on it for tumbles, then only a few min on the actual floor. Not sure if that is good though.

 

[ejgymmom]

I'm not a coach by any means but here are a couple of things I've noticed in my daughter's pre-team group that haven't been mentioned yet. When they were learning to fall backwards into a backbend from standing they'd stand at the bottom of a wedge mat and do the backbend UP the mat...I guess so they don't fall as far? Also for those learning to kickover from a bridge, they'll bridge up and kickover down the wedge mat. This, along with having her elevate her feet on a panel mat greatly helped her get her kickover.