Front Handspring Vault

[gymnut29]

Im running low on ideas and need some help!

I coach a level 5 team. My new level 5s learned how to vault over the summer. Most picked up the concept quickly and can successfully make it over with no spot. But some are still very ugly.

Ex: Slow run, stutering before the board, Bent knees, no block, arching and leaning off the table.

I know what a successful vault looks like, some of the level 6s and 7s have great vaults and I use them as examples but the 5s just dont get it!

I feel like drilled the skill to death everything I can think I need new ideas. I got so frustrated at the last practice I feel like a broken record, and I know they are just getting bad habits if I dont fix them soon!

Here are some of the drills I use:
Handspring with tramp board (these look really nice, doesnt transfer when the spring is put back though, everything slows down)
Handstand Flatback
Handstand Flat back with a panel mat vertical in front so they have to jump over it
Handstand on a spring board should pop up to a panel mat
Handstand pops down the runway
Shoulder blocks against the wall.


I just feel like I am not saying something correctly to have it click with them. They are pretty talented gymnasts but I wonder if its my lack of coaching knowledge on vault that is bringing them down.

HELP please!
Thanks!

[gymkat]

From what you're describing, it sounds like a lot of their problems can be attributed to the fact that they aren't hitting the board correctly.

My gym's group of newbie L5s was doing more or less the same thing towards the middle of the summer-- leaning in, piking, arching, tucking, generally looking like sloppy new 5s. One of the HC/Os banned them from turning upside down for 2 solid weeks. They spent the vault rotation running to the board, arm circling, and doing a straight jump onto the table (and onto the L4 mat stack), really focusing on the run and contacting the board correctly. Once they were allowed to turn over again, their vaults improved immensely (.5-1.0 in most cases) and immediately. Caveat: If you're already in the middle of your meet season, I'm not sure if you have the time to do this, or if your boss/HC/O/parents would be supportive of this idea.

[CoachTodd]

Originally Posted by gymkat

... They spent the vault rotation running to the board, arm circling, and doing a straight jump onto the table (and onto the L4 mat stack), really focusing on the run and contacting the board correctly. Once they were allowed to turn over again, their vaults improved immensely (.5-1.0 in most cases) and immediately. Caveat: If you're already in the middle of your meet season, I'm not sure if you have the time to do this, or if your boss/HC/O/parents would be supportive of this idea.

I don't like using the straight jump from a full run as a drill as it tends to cause their bellies to come out first to kill their rotation. It's just something I've begun to notice over the past few years.
I do agree that the gymnasts at this level tend to focus on the table itself far too much and not the spring board. I have to constantly remind my gymnasts to focus on the board and that the table is something that you might bounce off of somewhere in the middle of your vault.

One drill I do is I basically stand in between the board and the table. I ask them to try to vault over me. (sometimes I need to squat down low enough for them) Make sure the board is in the correct place as not to mess up their run. If they aren't hitting the board correctly or aren't tight enough, I catch them and they don't go over. If everything is correct, I simply bump their hips a little so they can bounce off the table.
A few other things to keep in mind:
Most of the time, the springboard is closer to the table than it was for the flat back vault. If it isn't, I think it should be. Most of my girls use the board anywhere between one foot and 1.75feet from front of the table. This allows for a shorter preflight and a quicker block. This also helps smaller gymnasts clear the table more easily.
I really don't like trying to teach a "block" The block is something that happens when everything else is done correctly. One drill I use for this is to put a mat against the wall and one on the floor. I have the gymnasts lung forward while arm circling into the mat on the wall then they fall on their stomachs onto the floor mat. This should help them get used to extending through their shoulders and letting the block just happen.
If they are able to do it fine with the trampoline, they may be having difficulty getting the "heel drive" they need off the spring board. I ask them to try to push the board under the table. A good drill for this is to set up a springboard by the pit and have them do punch layouts with an arm circle and keeping the arms by the ears during the layout. i.e. vaulting over an invisible table.

Good luck.

[Wally]

Much of the trouble often comes just from how they hit the board and even though the gymnast hate going back to basics here that is what I have been doing to get them doing better handsprings. As Coach Todd said, I have been getting the girls to think about pushing the beatboard under the mat/table when they hurdle on rather than "stamping on ants". We have slowed everything down to get a low trajectory onto the bboard. I have returned them back to walk hurdle from bench to b/board, I also hold a foam tube at the beginning of the b/board just before the carpeted area at the height of the top of the b/b and prompt the gymnast to hit it as they hurdle on.

When they have this I have been doing a lot of short run hurdle rebound back onto the b/board. Having the b/board right in frontr of a mat standing up on a wall helps this drill. As they build up a little speed from a short run the girls start feeling a "natural" impetus to rotate forward without the piking forward or initiating rotation with the old arms & body reaching for the table. I also do the stand in front of the b/board as Coach Todd suggests.

I have had to take my girls back to this. They were getting better entry onto board ready for preflight rotation but i have been away from the gym for 3 weeks so who knows.

[dunno]

spend the time doing layout fronts on tramp, tumbl trak, off vaulting boards, rod floors and spring floors. lotsa layout fronts. lotsa heel drive.