BGS the Explorer

In mid-July, a Nickolodeon commercial was filmed at the gym:



Watch Dora's Fantastic Gymnastics Adventure:
Part 1
Part 2

3 in a Row!

Cassie's been frustrated with her Jaeger for a while now; but last Saturday, she ended her bars workout on the positive note of catching 3 in a row.  I didn't record her last one, which had more heel drive (but pulled in a little):

Reanna's Giants Last Week

Some progress:

¡uʍop əpısdn plɹoʍ əɥʇ uɹnʇ

Happy National Gymnastics Day!

Admitting you don't understand is the first step to recovery

One of my optional 8s was having difficulties with her front layout. I recorded one of her attempts and played it back to her, explaining what she was doing wrong along with what I was looking for. Then she said something intelligent: "I don't get it."

 Periodically I remember to ask my gymnasts, "Do you understand?" after providing feedback.  Because on a number of occasions, I feel like maybe they nod their heads as if they know what they need to fix, but in fact aren't really understanding the skill or the corrections given.

I encourage students to always admit upfront when they don't understand what I'm saying so that I might explain it in other terms until something finally clicks.

I'm hoping the following video will help gymnasts understand one method and technique of doing the front layout (whip):
It's okay for whips to be long and low. They are more related to back and front handsprings than they are to back and front layouts. Power should be traveling in a linear direction. A front layout that goes for height is okay if your goal is to land it and not connect some other tumbling skill out of it.

One of my drills for body shape positions:

Ahoy thar, mateys!

E'en tho' thar be no "aye" in "team", what is a pirate's favorite team sport?

Arrrrrtistic gymnastics!

Me fav'rite event ta coach?  Why, the uneven barrrrrs!

Fav'rite exercises?  Anything that involves tha plank!

What skill values do pirates prefer havin' in their routines?


High seas!

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, ye scurvy landlubbers!

Happy Birthday, Cassie!

Taking a Step Back to Move It Forward

Thea's competed her shootover to handstand last season; but she's never done it extremely well; and since recovering from her wrist stress fracture, has been sloppy on her high to low bar transition.

She has been turning early through the bottom with a form break and releasing with her chest out.  So I thought we'd spend the time to walk it back through, from the beginning.

 Thea's gotten bigger in the last 2 years and i can no longer simply hold her suspended and paused in the air by using the typically seen spotting method (hand support on hips/waist/thigh).  So I thought I'd try using a technique I'd normally do on the low bar from tap swings as part of the introduction to bails.  I had never tried doing this all the way through from cast handstand, swing down, one-arm drop with pause, carry to low bar.

The great thing about this spotting technique is that It works with larger, older gymnasts (Thea's about as tall as I am now, and densely packed full of muscle) if all you want to do is a drill.

Basically, as she swings down, starting at her wrist, I slide my grip down her forearm, upperarm, over her shoulder to finally catch her under her trapezius when she's semi-inverted.  My arm is buttressed like a shelf so that her body weight is stacked on top (with some of it supported by my other hand on her thigh) and I really don't have to exhaust very much of my bicep strength. 

It's a little tricky at first, and I practiced a few times with her on the low bar before I took it to the high bar and from a cast handstand (and only after I made sure I understood how to get a secure hold on her did I allow her to release with the 2nd hand so that I could complete a full, simulated bail- although I'd say that carrying her to the low bar like that is not necessary).

Eventually, I'll probably hand-spot her with the more conventional method when she's comfortable and ready to release right away again (without the technical flaws and form break). 

Is she mad?!

Last Friday night, Maddie told Coach April she wanted to try her double back on the floor. This is her 2nd attempt. She landed completely off the 4" mat (is it too late to fix that round-off?)...if she were bowling, we'd call that a gutterball. (~_^)

Props to Maddie for wanting to step it up.

Maiden Voyage on Front Giants

Izzy won't need front giants for at least another year; but it's great fun for her to have experienced it already. 

A Rule of Thumb...

"In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence." 

-Sir Isaac Newton

 A favorite scene from the movie, 2001:  A Space Odyssey:


Accompanied by one of the most famous transitions in cinematic history.

Opposable thumbs is one of those dramatic differences that distinguishes us from other primates and animals:

Thearial

Theawesome has had this problem on her aerials where she twists her upper body too early, creating a problem with her back leg sweeping around the side rather than going straight over the top.

Aside from recommending front aerials and going back to regular cartwheel progressions, I think these slider drills could help fix the problem:

Muscle has Memory

“We are what we repeatedly do. 

 Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

-Aristotle 

 "Specific adaptation to imposed demand".

Muscle has motion-specific memory; and in the case of a subjective sport like gymnastics, [the quality of ] function follows [the quality of] form.  It's also usually the case that efficiency of movement is also instinctively recognized as the one which is also most aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

To reiterate the quote under the header of this blog:



"Every time you let yourself practice a movement incorrectly, you’re increasing your ability to do it wrong." -Dan Millman, The Warrior Athlete

Developing Planche Strength for Casting

I had Reanna try this at the end of her workshop:


 We were experimenting with the setup and I was focused on whether she could lean and bring it back (without someone spotting her shoulders); but she also needs to get rid of the body wiggle.  More commonly seen is the use of a roller under the legs in a more horizontal plane.

She's still having trouble with connecting a kip cast handstand. Part of it is strength-related. I first kind of got the idea from the 2011 Resnick/Forster Bar Boot Camp clinic:


I like the tucked planche-press exercise at the end of that video, as well.  I used to have girls hold tuck planches, and think there is value in incorporating quite a bit of these exercises during bar rotation.

Here's a variation, same kind of idea:



Here's another good one from Resnick:

Shared Workshop on Fun Friday

Earned smelly stickers for a job well-done!

Abigail made one front giant for the first time.  Not bad for someone who has not put in a lot of flight hours, working on acquiring them.

Thea has been working on getting her toe-shoots to handstand stronger and more consistent for the purposes of doing her bar release (a Ray).  I think once she knows exactly where handstand is everytime on a regular toe-hand, she'll be better prepared to tweak the release point for her Ray.

She's done 3-in-a-row before from single leg toe-on; but Friday was the first time she made 3 from double-leg toe-on.  Her first set was good (she should have kept going and not stopped at the target goal of 3-in-a-row), getting a good arch-snap drop and power on the handstand, getting some bounce on the bar.  She did 2 more sets of 3 after this, and I think she can phase away from doing the single-leg toe-on, anymore (more potential to generate a stronger, late drop by using the double toe-on method).

For Claire, I got to finally play with building an improvised trench pit.  Hard to do during regular practice, as we need to hog up quite a lot of spotting blocks and mats.

Now that Claire's got more of a sense of going over the bar, I think she should be okay using our regular set-up.  I don't think I'll have to reach out and yank her onto/over the bar, but can now do more guidance-spotting into helping her catch the bar. 

I guess we'll see, come Tuesday...