WAG While competing on beam: What to do next when gymnast goes past vertical, and has to bail?

[teksquad]

Hi Everyone,
I have a level 4 gymnast who is getting comfortable with her vertical handstands in practice, yet is cautious during the meets, and doesn't quite hit vertical. She says she isn't sure what she is to do if she goes past vertical during her routine at a meet, and has to bail. She wonders if that handstand will count, or if she needs to do the handstand again, to get credit for the skill? Is there minimal criteria that must be met to say the handstand is complete? (like landing one foot on the beam)? Thanks for any input you can give us!

 

[Gymnastics5252]

If I were you I might put two handstands in her routine just to make sure she has two chances to hit vertical

 

[fuzi]

A foot needs to touch the top of the beam to get full credit for the skill. If she does a handstand and falls over, her best bet is to then repeat the handstand, and make sure she steps down that next time.

 

[2G1B]

She is a level 4, so her routine is compulsory.

I have no idea on what they should do; but I do know that our coaches have said that it is better to hit vertical, step down then lose your balance and fall off than it is to not hit vertical and stay on the beam.

 

[raenndrops]

Lol, is she strong enough to do a front walkover... is so, if she goes past vertical, she could step out in front instead of behind. She WOULDN't get the fall, but would get changing the skill... if ur lucky (very nice, drunk judge), it might just be counted as a BIG text error.
Maybe against a wall or wedge, have her practice pulling a handstand back from past vertical... train her body to compensate. I have actually seen 2 girls in L4 do just that this season in meets - overshot vertical, but were able to pull it back... but it may have been the same girl in both meets, if not, it was at least the same team.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

The handstand in L4beam routine is right at the edge of the beam.
I don't know what the correct way to do it is. I have seen a few girls fall on the handstand (go over and off the beam) and none have done the handstand over when they got up... Doesn't mean they were not supposed to or that it isn't done, it just wasn't done the times I saw this happen. Good to know what they are supposed to do in case it happens to dd!

 

[IreneKa]

At the last meet DD (L3) fell on her turn (the one where she bends her knee and turns 180 degrees on one foot) before she touched the beam with her second foot. When she got back on the beam, she proceeded with her routine after the turn. This means that not only she gets deducted for the fall, but also the value of the skill, right? I thought her score was pretty low even with 0.5 deduction for the fall.
So, when she goes back up, she should be attempting the skill she fell on? I never saw girls do that, other than on dismount. I wonder why the coaches don't teach them that. Don't want to risk another fall?

 

[LizzieLac]

I believe is they fall without getting a foot on the beam (when landing) that they get the fall and value of the skill deducted. That is why sometimes they get up and do the skill again. But even then our coaches will come over and talk the gymmie before they hop back up - sometimes a coach might feel it is better to not try the skill again.

But as for what to do to not fall over on the handstand. My DD used to say that when the second leg comes up - it should find the other leg and the whole body should squeeze.

 

[BarCoach]

We do tons of handstand work so the girls are very comfortable on their hands. Most of them have at least a foot between their hands and the end of the beam. A couple have been very successful at pirouetting a quarter turn and then stepping down sideways if they go past vertical. Luckily, they haven't needed to do that at a meet. The couple times one of my girls turned out at a meet the score was lower than just the fall. I agree it is probably worth doing again, though I admit I probably won't tell them that at this point (just sectionals and states left).

 

[teksquad]

A foot needs to touch the top of the beam to get full credit for the skill. If she does a handstand and falls over, her best bet is to then repeat the handstand, and make sure she steps down that next time.

Thank you, fuzi! That sounds very clear.

 

[teksquad]

Thank you all for your feedback. I think my daughter would feel better about going for it, if she knew what to do in different scenarios. Going past vertical, and taking the fall, and knowing what to do next is the one situation that she most wants to know about. This question gave her coaches pause the other night when she asked, but they really didn't have an answer for her at the time.

I'm sure as she gets better at getting and holding vertical, this will be less of an issue for her. Thanks for the suggestion to practice regaining balance past vertical, raendrops! Thanks again to you all.

 

[AmandaLynn]

Compulsories will get partial credit, based on how much of the skill the judge deems that the gymnast completed, even for an incomplete skill.

Usually, if a kid has a fluke fall on a skill they are typically very solid on, I make them repeat the element. If there is a good possibility that they will fall again (shaky skill, or a kid that gets nervous/worked up when they make a mistake), I just have them continue from there.

 

[GYM0M]

We had a girl at north state that fell in her handstand. Her foot did not touch the beam as she fell over from vertical. She did not repeat the skill. Routine was pretty flawless other than the fall. Routine scored an 8.7. Another girl fell in her leap, didn't hit vertical in handstand, toes not pointed, legs a little bit bent, not very tight, and scored a 9.025.

 

[sevenatenine2]

If she falls over and doesn't step down from the handstand, she needs to redo the handstand completely. If she does that, it's only a fall. If she doesn't repeat the handstand, she loses credit and a fall, which is a much bigger problem.

I drill that into the heads of my Level 3s, as well as if they don't make their beam dismount, but I had one that got me at the last meet. She is a Level 2 and overshot the handstand on floor and rolled out of it and kept going instead of redoing. Same thing there. It's because what she did, a handstand forward roll, isn't the skill it calls for, a handstand. She's missing the whole second part of it.