A little sass with the brass

Inching Inchworms on Beam

Girls were five minutes early on beam, and we only had one available until the previous rotation ended; so I kept the new fives busy with this:

TBT Compulsory Bars

On this Day in History: Ashley Level 5 Bars 2nd 1/2

4 years ago....

The Most Hated Skill in All of Compulsory Bars

A number of coaches seem to hate this skill.  They don't see it serving much purpose beyond it, as it relates to future skills; and it can be a difficult skill for novice gymnasts to do well.  Neil Resnick points out that one thing it educates the gymnast on, is the slip grip, for safety. 

BlairBob:

 Ask Neil Resnick or I will state what he said at Congress.
Mill/Stride circle: to teach undergrip for later use in other skills. As well, it's less scary to fall forward in split than in a straight body like front hip circle because many girls think they are gonna peel during fall of front hip.
Front hip: it is the inverse mirror of a glide kip. There is a stretch, then a fold of the body and pop to support. Neil thinks there is some beginning correlation to Jaegar as well. Also for kip cast HS. Exactly the reason I was told by an Olympic gymnast why we were doing them with the girls.

Here is one version of a drill to get gymnasts to fall long, prior to the pike (a common mistake I see is gymnasts letting the bar slide back up to the hips by piking prematurely and bending the arms to shift and regrasp).

Why spot when you don't have to?





Related videos: 
Front Hip Circle Down Spot 
Front Hip Circle Alone Arm and Leg Actions Close Up
Technique Tuesday: Kip to Front Hip Circle
Arched Front Hip Circle and Cast
Drills for Front Hip Circle
Front Hip Circle to Cast 
Technique Tuesday: Front Hip Circle
Glide Kip Front Hip Circle Spot 
Front hip circles 
107 back to front hip from wiggle hip.MP4
108 back to front hip circle.MP4

New Level 5 Compulsories

Vault:




Bars:



Beam:

New Level 5: Clear hips, sole circle, stalders

In the new level 5 compulsory bars, gymnasts will have the option of doing either a clear hip, sole-circle, or stalder (horizontal requirement).

Tom Forster and other coaches have held to the belief that stalders are not anymore difficult than clear hips.  Some coaches also believe flexibility isn't a major factor in acquiring them.

Mark Folger:

Have you ever wondered if toe shoots (sole circles) may be easier for some of your gymnasts to learn than clear hips? Do you have talented gymnasts who struggle with free hips? My personal experiences would have me answer yes to both of these questions. I have talented gymnasts on my team that seem to struggle with understanding the technique required to perform a good clear hip, which leads to poor performance of that skill. Over the last few years, I've increased my efforts to teach sole circles and stalders. The results have been good and I now believe, without a doubt, that some girls are destined to be more successful with toe shoots and stalders than with free hips.

The new competitive structure for the 2013-2017 cycle will create more opportunities for gymnasts to use these skills earlier in their career. As coaches, we want our athletes to be successful. Including toe shoot and stalder training along with clear hip training will create more chances for our gymnasts to succeed in the mid-levels of our sport and to carry stronger in-bar skills into the higher levels. To help with that effort, I've posted some of the drills and progressions I've been using for these skills.

~~~

A few more notes 
*We spend approximately 75% of our time working sole circles and stalders in the straps. 
 *If the skills can't be performed well in the straps, there is no need to try them on a regular bar. 
*Straps allow for lots of repetition with little wear and tear on the gymnasts hands. 
*From a coaching standpoint, seeing 3 or 4 toe shoots or stalders in a turn on the straps is better than seeing 1 per turn on a regular bar (at least in the learning phase). 
*When we run into problems with these skills on the regular bar, we always go back to the strap bar to fix them. 
*We begin working "monkey giants" on a low strap bar at level 4. 
*The girls in these videos are level 7, 8 & 9. 

An option for level 5 bars (2013-2017) 
A sole circle backward to clear front support, stalder circle backward to clear front support or clear hip to clear front support are the 3 choices available in the first half of the level 5 compulsory routine in the new 2013-2017 structure.

Check out his series of progression drills.

At Wade's suggestion of 30 stalder basket swings (he calls them "tick-tocks") per day in straps, I had Abigail doing this in October of 2011.  Within a couple of weeks, with minimal coaching, and not even working 30/day, this is where she got to:


 I'm hoping over the summer that the girls are able to seriously pursue this skill; and maybe a few- like Abigail- will one day be able to compete it, and connect it into other skills.

Forster-Resnick Bar Boot Camp:


There are two methods for toe-on entry: Single leg and double leg drop. My preference? Double-leg:


It generates much better potential power.

 Good tutorial by Enrique Trabanino:




I'll post more on stalders, later.  I don't want to make a long post even longer...(Might keep adding links below)

Further study:
Stoop Circles Spot
Stoop Circle 
Stoop Circle to Reverse Hecht (*Ahem*Somewhat Thea*Cough*)
Inbar Work for Uneven Bars - Tom Forster
Stoop Circle to Handstand
drill for toe on #1
drills for toe on #2
Drills for the Toe and Stalder
Toe Circle Drills - Kellie Mizoguchi
toe-shoot drill
Mancino Mats Big Hill used for toe-up transition drill
Stoop Sole Circle to Catch High Bar
Stoop or Stalder to Catch the Upper Rail

Level 5 & 6 Dismount Assembly Line

Coach Manzanet loves shape-spotting.

Here's a great "one-size fits all" setup for mass number of gymnasts, to generate mass repetition of turns:

Dancing with the Bars

 Coach Michael Manzanet livened up the gym during level 4 and 5 bar rotation, today.  He set up his ipod with speaker right in front of his bar station and proceeded to spot the girls to the beat of the music.  The level 4s got to train to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", among other lively pop songs.  Then when the level 5s rotated to bars, he changed up the pace by putting on Strauss' The Blue Danube Waltz.  I knew right then and there that there was going to be some awesomeness happening over at bars.  Then when Coach Michael began singing to the tune while spotting, I knew that awesomeness just became epic; so I grabbed my camera:










It's like watching a kind of classical, lyrical ballet on the bars.