MAG When do boys start hating pommel horse?

[profmom]

DD is in an I-hate-beam moment. I told her that just about every girl who's made it to L8 or beyond has had at least one moment when she wished that all the balance beams in the world could be collected in one spot, chopped up into bits, and set on fire.

What is the equivalent for boys and pommel horse? DS and his teammates are just prospective L6s, and some of them have not yet had the equivalent loathing for that most dreaded of men's apparatuses. Is it when they are exclusively on the horse with handles? Or before?

To make it a more serious question, Dunno and others have said before that colleges are often looking for great pommel guys because there are so few of them. Is this simply because the apparatus is hard, or is it something in the American way of training it? Uncle Tim suggests that a lot of countries stink on pommel horse . . . http://uncletimtalksmensgym.blogspot.com/2014/05/mag-whats-your-countrys-worst-event.html

 

[wheezy]

I used to tell my son to give it a good beating every so often.

 

[skschlag]

No clue. D is training 8, and LOVES ph. Handles, no handles, doesn't matter...he loves it

 

[Popcorn]

I think pommel horse is just a different event from the others in that there is no "easy move" like a somersault/floor, long swing/bars and rings, straight jump/vault. The base move seems to be those circles that take a looooot longer than the base moves in other events.

Someone in the comments suggested that Uncle Tim could look at the rankings instead of the scores, as it may simply be more difficult to score high on pommel horse.

 

[BlairBob]

PH is not as similar to the other events as they are to each other. PB and HB are similar as are FX and V. SR is somewhat similar to PB and HB (in the hang).

It's a pretty difficult event. Generally I find only boys hate it when they are starting to learn the basics of PH such as single leg swing. By L6, it shouldn't be as much of an issue.

 

[Sperkowsky]

I love pommel horse a lot of people hate it but not everyone hates it.

 

[sce]

I don't think it correlates to the girls feelings for beam. It is a unique and difficult event, but I think boys like those sorts of challenges.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

It usually starts when they first slam into a pommel on a back loop.

 

[skschlag]

It usually starts when they first slam into a pommel on a back loop.

D has BTDT! His former coach offered to write a note to his doctor that explained all of his bruises....his legs were so beat up for a long time.

 

[gracyomalley]

Actually my older boy hated it from L4 up. He hates it less these days as he's almost got his L7 routine...but boy is he glad to leave mushroom behind. PH is not scary like beam is, though - just hard and different from all the other events (more akin to bars for girls, I'd say...) Younger DS likes pommel more - and is a bit better for age at it than older....but he's terrified of the HB

 

[Popcorn]

D has BTDT! His former coach offered to write a note to his doctor that explained all of his bruises....his legs were so beat up for a long time.

Oh those gymnastics bruises!! My ds usually has one in a perfectly straight line diagonally across his legs, thanks to the swing-to-handstand on parallel bars...he finally got that and now it's the pirouette on pb....same long, straight bruise!!

I truly believe gymnasts have higher pain tolerance, whether it's a chicken or egg thing....

 

[skschlag]

Oh those gymnastics bruises!! My ds usually has one in a perfectly straight line diagonally across his legs, thanks to the swing-to-handstand on parallel bars...he finally got that and now it's the pirouette on pb....same long, straight bruise!!

I truly believe gymnasts have higher pain tolerance, whether it's a chicken or egg thing....

Wait until he "nuts the bar!"

 

[Popcorn]

Wait until he "nuts the bar!"

Which begs the question: Why don't they use protective gear in gymnastics?

I was told from my ds that, under no circumstances, will he be the pioneer for my idea "MAG helmets with matching knee and elbow pads". Too bad.

 

[BlairBob]

I've actually seen girls wear helmets on vault. I'm not exactly sure why, but I've seen it at gyms I've visited.

All in all, you're not gonna take one to the privates frequently to the point that it's routine.

OTOH, I did remember a boy at a meet splitting the bar on PB and bleeding.

It's just not something that's pushed.

But it did seem everytime I didn't wear a cup in baseball that a groundball would bounce weird in practice. It also seems to happen when the kids don't wear a cup.

So it's not a bad idea but those things are annoying to wear day in, day out.

 

[Popcorn]

Fair enough. Gymnastics does not lend itself to protective equipment that limits movement, which is something I hadn't considered.

 

[profmom]

Wait until he "nuts the bar!"

I thought watching girls learn 3/4 giants was scary. Then the boys started over the summer . . . and I remembered those bruises across my DD's hips and their implications! Though I guess there is an incentive to figure it out quickly.

Whenever I ask mine, though, about the source of some spectacular bruise, the answer is always the same: "Huh? Wha? I dunno."

 

[sce]

I think PBs is scary to boys, pommels is just hard.

And yes the 3/4 giants can be quite painful for the boys. A big incentive to keep the arms straight!

 

[BlairBob]

This is why you attach a bar pad to the bar when learning these.

My dad swears he hit his plenty on pommel horse but I never had that injury. After a few times on HB, I learned to hate inbar work on HB.

 

[Sperkowsky]

This is why you attach a bar pad to the bar when learning these.

My dad swears he hit his plenty on pommel horse but I never had that injury. After a few times on HB, I learned to hate inbar work on HB.

Nothing's worse than kip cast handstands

 

[sbonham]

Prof,
Let's flip that question around... how about -
"When do guys start ***loving*** pommel horse?"
That happens (like on all events) once they start understanding the movement patterns and begin to see regular progress in the skill pyramid. On PH the predominate movement patterns (foundational skills) are pendular swings and circular (which is in truth, conical) swings. Both of these movement patterns are unique to PH (as BlairBob pointed out - tho they can be used elsewhere (circles/flairs on FX and PB)) - and incredibly complicated biomechanically, so progress is locked down until those skills are mastered. For that reason - (back in my day - 70s) it was not unusual to see scores like 9.4, 7.6, 9.3, 9.5, 9.35, 9.55 (on the 10.0 scale) even on the collegiate All Around scoresheets. Those scores are in Olympic order (FX, PH, SR, V, PB, HB). Pommels ARE "just hard" - and often frustrating(!)... until that magic moment when they "get it."

BTW (quick history) - the "handles" are called pommels. Back in the middle ages (1000 -1500 AD) knights had to train to develop and maintain skills in horsemanship and use of weapons. Imagine mounting and dismounting a horse in 100 pounds of armour! So an apparatus was devised that looked like a saddled horse... and "Squires" (experienced developing or retired knights) coached knights-in-development called "Pages." The front and back ends of the saddles in that period were pretty high to keep the knight mounted even after a strike by an adversary's lance or sword. Getting back atop a warhorse (BIG! 16-19 hands tall) was pretty much impossible without significant assistance. These horse-like apparatus as well as bars (PB & HB), weights, ropes and ladders were still all over Europe after the crossbow (which could be fired thru armour and ended the days of the knight) was developed. A German named Johann Guts Muths devised a system for training in the late 1700s-early 1800s using these pieces of equipment in his Turnvereins. If you go into a current CrossFit Box today - you are pretty much time traveling to the days of the knights... as far as the training stations go.

I'm attaching a few images to this post. They are:
1. Medieval knight on horse figure - check out the saddle with pommels
2. An old 1850's PH from Denmark
3. Comparison of 1850's Turnverein in Wisconsin and a current CrossFit Box.