Front Mill Circle

[gymmomntc2e6]

Hi - my dd L3 is really struggling w/ the front mill circle. She has been since October. She is sooooo close but yet so far.

She makes it all the way around but as soon as she starts to come back up to a position on top of the bar she bends that front leg and drops back. Any suggestions ? Everyone who has tried to help has told her to keep that leg straight but she still bends it. She has bar burn all over that leg. Bars is her favorite and she is even working on her kip and has done a couple clear hips (but I must admit they were not intended to be that ).

Any additional suggestions would be great. Her bar scores suffer greatly because of her struggle w/ this one skill, and I know she still needs it for L4.

Thanks.

[BlairBob]

The trick about the mill/stride circle is to start high and reach out. I teach our kids from the support to have the leg as high as possible ( like a split ). Pushing head as high as possible, chest open.

With her front leg, she is not going to just drop it down and around. She is going to lean the top toe forward as if she was taking a step while supporting. Push high, lean forward. If she lift it even higher forward, it can generate more momentum.

Just be determined to not bend the arms or legs in the back as that does not help anyways.

It's a skill that a lot of fear is involved with committing to really push and extend. A good spot is good about this.

A supplemental progression is the knee uprise. Hang inverted on the bar, hands on the bar, one knee bent over the bar. With the free leg start swinging it to build momentum and push to rise to support.

A note about the knee uprise is that is quite uncomfortable on the back of the knee and tendon. I'd reccomend wearing sweat pants or maybe one of those cloth knee braces. It puts a lot of pressure on that region, especially if they want to generate a lot of swing with the free leg as they really have to squeeze the bar with their knee.

Knee uprise is one of those progressions outlined for L2 or L3 that I wouldn't skip before mill, front hip, and kip.

At the top of the knee uprise or mill circle she should try to lift to that high stride position.

When it comes to mill or front hip circles, it's all about getting the gymnast comfort and not scared as well as patient to not try and support early ( just like a kip ).

[lannamavity]

The above is really good advice.

What I would add is that falling over the bar a second time, and becoming comfortable with the fall may give her a little more confidence.

I tell kids to swing hard and then "put on the breaks" which is wrapping thumbs around the bar on the opposite side of the fingers...which is really effective.

Another trick is to keep the lead leg off the bar all the way around, and press the back thigh, just above the knee, against the bar for the entire circle, much like a front hip circle.

[gymmomntc2e6]

Thank you sooo much I am sure that will help. I know it will come in time, she works very hard.

I am going to try to watch today to see if she may be closing her chest some when she drops down. Her split is good and she seems to have a good reach at the start - chin up looking @ high bar, just bends the top knee as she starts to come back to upright.

[BlairBob]

Lannamavity's post there about the wrist shift being the brake is what I neglected to remember and state. However, if it's too early, you'll just end up with a bent arm to support.

Keeping that leg high is really crucial and it helps to have the bottom leg brace itself on the bar as that acts as a pivot. It does rub your leg. I hated that about mill circle ( that got old on me like front hip after a half a dozen tries ).

[gymmomntc2e6]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlairBob Lannamavity's post there about the wrist shift being the brake is what I neglected to remember and state. However, if it's too early, you'll just end up with a bent arm to support. Keeping that leg high is really crucial and it helps to have the bottom leg brace itself on the bar as that acts as a pivot. It does rub your leg. I hated that about mill circle ( that got old on me like front hip after a half a dozen tries ).

Thanks again for all your help - she actually made it all the way around last night at her practice meet !! got all the way to front support - then bent that front leg and fell forward. But hey - she made it back to front support w/ leg straight so I do finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Who knows, maybe she will get it tomorrow at her meet.

again - thank you.

[cfg]

Now that I finally figured out how to post something...
One of the things that I was always told as a gymnast and then I was always telling the kids I coached was to "step off the end of the world" This might help her to visualize the mill circle.

[hammy]

I like to give my girls a little saying for this skill--just before they begin the skill I say: "Push up tall, big step forward, hands on top quick." This saying helps remind them to push the bar down and away from them, then to take a big step forward to build momentum, finally, to get their hands on top of the bar (shift their wrists) quickly. I think it also gives them a mental picture of what they're supposed to do.