WAG Vault Table Question

[CoachTodd]

It is a sign of a lazy coach in my opinion. I've had small vaulters that vault at higher settings than bigger vaulters. Each vaulter is different. From what I've seen, coaches that require a specific settings aren't coaching to the individual gymnast. They are coaching a skill and apparently only know one setting at which to coach it. I won't say I know everything there is to know about the subject. As soon as I do, I'll stop coaching. I have had some pretty decent vaulters.

 

[cbifoja]

I won't say I know everything there is to know about the subject. As soon as I do, I'll stop coaching. I have had some pretty decent vaulters.

Love this attitude!

 

[Muddlethru]

Having experience at two different gyms/coaching styles, I wish Coachtodd's coaching style was what they did. I do believe it is best to cater to each individual gymnast. But I do understand the time constraints to continually adjust the vaulting table. My daughter's old gym was kind of a mess. As long as you could somewhat get over the table, they left e setting as is. However, they did occasionally adjust the vaulting table if it was clearly and grossly difficult for a gymnast to get over the table due to it being too high or too low. But then they would leave the setting on that for as long as they can until another situation arose. So, my daughter really never had a consistent setting! Her new gym has one setting for vault and bars for each level. It seems to work. But it does feel like a "factory" setting. At least however, she is vaulting the same setting everytime.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

For handsprings I compete them on the setting that works best for them. During training we vault on various heights. I often vault them higher, but I also spot a lot before they go solo. If I have gone really high, I will drop it down for the weaker vaulters to go solo at the end of the vaulting session.

I find it interesting that some clubs will split by height, my tallest gymnasts are not always the strongest vaulters. Its the kids who get great speed and can use the board effectively that do better with the vault higher.

 

[vagymmomma]

One funny observation that just happened this week. Our coaches are really good about changing vault settings for individual gymnasts (even over the course of practice), but they forgot to adjust the height for when my DD went to vault. They realized that the "mistaken" lower height gave her way more distance off the table. So now they're going to work more with the lower height. The coaches are always learning as well.


Pineapple -- I think the height approach is pretty common though. My DD was always the exception in that model (small girl with the tallies).

 

[Quadqueen]

For handsprings I compete them on the setting that works best for them. During training we vault on various heights. I often vault them higher, but I also spot a lot before they go solo. If I have gone really high, I will drop it down for the weaker vaulters to go solo at the end of the vaulting session.

I find it interesting that some clubs will split by height, my tallest gymnasts are not always the strongest vaulters. Its the kids who get great speed and can use the board effectively that do better with the vault higher.

agreed...one of the best vaulters in my DD's group is one of the shortest, so she vaults at a higher setting.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

DD's group trained/competed at 110cm until Jan, then moved up to 115cm. Not sure how that relates to 0, 1, 2. They are 7-9 years in age, and competed L5-L7. The vault was not adjusted for any girl in the group, but was adjusted between rotations for other groups. Our vault doesn't adjust stylist chair style, and seems to take a couple of minutes, so as a parent, I'm happy to see more vaulting time than adjusting.

 

[mimi]

Our coaches have it at the same setting for training and they adjust for competition but only if someone is struggling. I agree about the height vs. power thing. My dd is the shortest on the team. She is only just over 4 feet and she vaults on 3. And she was the level 5 state vault champ this year.

 

[SignHere]

My DD is the tallest girl on her team. She vaulted on 2 all year, did OK, (think high 8s some low 9s) , then at the State Meet, asked her coach to set the vault to 0 because "I want to win!".
Low and behold, she scored 9.5 on vault and won State champion in her age group.

I saw her vault, and didn't believe it was her, since I had never seen her come so far off the table!
Who knew!

 

[gymdog]

It depends on the kind you have. Some of the newer ones have a really good air pressure system that makes them easy to move and quick but not all of them are that easy.That's kind of beside the point though. I don't think vaulting at 2 is unreasonable for this level at all, but coaches should be willing to adjust in the best interest of the child or due to extreme size situations. Sounds like overall these coaches are handling it.

 

[JBS]

do a search here on CB...I know you are new, but this topic has been covered before, and several coaches have said they adjust the table for gymnasts. Pretty sure a very frequent, well-respected poster said as such...but, to each his own.

WOW!...are you kidding me! coachp runs a smoking team!

 

[JBS]

I do not adjust the vault hardly at all anymore.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

oh, I know...and you had 25 state beam champions this year too. I said "in my opinion"....I have mine, you have yours. I agree that "vaulting up" is good for practice...my response was related to whether everyone should be vaulting on the same setting.

The OP asked for opinions. Apparently, yours is the only one that's acceptable.

==
Just saying we are not lazy and the op kid will be fine vaulting up. And no I never said I had 25 beam champions, I said, "Hypothetically, what if a team had 25 beam and bars champions" (meaning 12 of one and 13 of the other etc... hypothetically). and that was about risk verses reward on another thread.

 

[DND]

Late to the party..dumb question...isn't the height of the table set/required by the level the child is competing rather than the size of the child?

Or is this more just a training situation and when they compete they have to vault and "X" height?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

In my limited experience, there's no absolutely "right" way to coach. As with all sports, coaches seem to bring their collective wisdom to the table to do what they've seen is best. I saw this first hand on vault this past year. DD and her best friend left their last gym and went to separate gyms (this was for L7). Both scored much higher on vault at the new gyms, but one coach set the table low (lower than the prior year) because the coach thought the girls got a better block that way and DDs coaches moved the table higher (and DD is smaller than her friend). Again, both scored much higher. DD said that she likes the higher table for the L8/9 vaults. It gives her more air time and she has the power to get up, so to me it's better for the long run. But, both girls scored great. And both gyms made minor adjustments for really tiny or really tall girls. You have to trust the coaches (or leave).

no pun intended? (wink wink)

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Late to the party..dumb question...isn't the height of the table set/required by the level the child is competing rather than the size of the child?

Or is this more just a training situation and when they compete they have to vault and "X" height?

this is a whole other can of worms ^^^ when you consider FIG and then the USAG JO system.

 

[DND]

AH...I keep forgetting when I read that there are all of these systems...the same yet different. Maybe someday there will be just one system to figure out!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our gymnasts don't get much of a choice either.

In Australia all level 7-10's must vault on 125 cms.

level 6's can be 120-125 cms

Level 5's can be 110-125 cms

Level 4's can be 105-125cms.
pso we don't even have the option of doing the little ones on 0 or 1.

 

[bogwoppit]

Late to the party..dumb question...isn't the height of the table set/required by the level the child is competing rather than the size of the child?

Or is this more just a training situation and when they compete they have to vault and "X" height?

In the USAG JO program there are no set table heights for age/level. Unlike in Canada where we use a modified FIG height of 110 for the under 12's and FIG at 125cm for the over 12's. Less to worry about when we all know there is no moving of the table.

 

[Quadqueen]

WOW!...are you kidding me! coachp runs a smoking team!

I don't doubt it...and he has told us as such. I was saying that several well respected, established coaches here on CB have said that they adjust the table based on the gymnasts' needs. I gave my opinion and he got snarky. We're all entitled to our opinions.