WAG Private lesson for squat on?

[Ginger]

I posted here before about my daughter struggling with her squat on. She can do it now, but she keeps her ‘shoot thru’ style – meaning, she places her right foot on the bar first, then her left foot joins, she stands up and jumps. She is quite consistent in these not-so-good-looking squat ons, and I believe it would clean up with more time and practice (her older sister started it the same way and now after about 2 months, she can keep her feet together with no problem), but her coach claims (or so my daughter tells me) that she can’t do it this way and that she needs to keep her feet together (maybe she is worried about a bad habit hard to get rid of?)
My daughter is very stressed out about this one skill. She claims she can’t keep her legs/feet together no matter how hard she tries, so either she does it her ‘shoot thru’ style (which her coach is not happy with), or she fails to do it (and then she isn’t allowed to do the high bar portion of her L4 routine).
In your opinion, is this something that can be fixed in one hour of one-to-one time, a.k.a private lesson? I am not sure, because - as I mentioned above – I believe she just needs time and practice (but she actually doesn’t get much practice at this point, because she is so stressed that she tries to avoid bars - takes a lot of bathroom or water breaks during bars, messes up her beam assignments on purpose so she can stay on beam rather than go to bars, etc). I am trying to find a way to help her.
I searched older threads here to get some ideas. She can do it on the edge of 30’ bed with no problem, or jump from push up position to squat position. Anything else she can practice at home?

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I can't believe her coaches haven't caught on to her avoiding bars.... If I were her coach, I would not allow any more bathroom/drink breaks and no matter how much she messed something else up on purpose, she'd be starting bars with everyone else.
There's not really much she can practice at home.... There's a drill with a floor bar that is just holding on to it, jumping up with both feet, stretching up and jumping off.... That's the closest thing I can think of that she could try to mimic at home.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

There's not really much she can practice at home.... There's a drill with a floor bar that is just holding on to it, jumping up with both feet, stretching up and jumping off.... That's the closest thing I can think of that she could try to mimic at home.

This is how my DD practiced at home as well. But she is a bad example, it took her 3 YEARS to get over her squat on issue!

 

[Ginger]

Thank ladies. We don't have floor bar at home, would floor beam work for this purpose?
And, what about private lesson? Do you think it would help at this point?

 

[Gymsanity]

Sounds like a great opportunity to teach your daughter that you run towards problems, not away from them if you want to make them go away. I'm sure if she changes her attitude towards the skill, and conveys her willingness to learn it correctly to her coach, they can easily help her. There are literally dozens of easy safe squat on progressions that she could do over and over until she gets it. Good luck to you both.

 

[Ginger]

@Gymsanity: I agree, but she claims her coach yells at her because of it and it stresses her out.
It is really such a big deal that she can't keep her legs together at this point? She basically just got her squat on a few weeks ago (together with her kip) and as I mentioned, she seems to be consistent in it - meaning, she is able to get up and jump on high bar. Am I wrong if I think it will get better with time and practice?

EDA: she is not scared of the squat on. She is scared of being yelled at because she does it wrong.

 

[sce]

I think the private lesson could be helpful in this situation. It give her and the coach a chance to focus on just her and the one skill. She won't be able to avoid it either as it will be just her the coach and the bars.

 

[Ginger]

@sce: thanks. I'll schedule a private for her ASAP.
It is kind of exhausting. She just got her kip a few weeks ago, became consistent in it (knock on wood!) and instead of being excited about her achievements, all she can think and talk about before and after practice is that darned squat on.

 

[windydays]

I really like 1/2 hour private lessons for one or two issues. I have found that my DD gets more out of them than a one hour. Or, if she has a few friends to split the private, get a few girls together that can use the practice too. It might make for a less stressful environment if they are all practicing the same thing and cheering each other on.

 

[ladybird]

Absolutely do the private. We had squat on troubles too and it worked wonders!

 

[gymdog]

@Gymsanity: I agree, but she claims her coach yells at her because of it and it stresses her out.
It is really such a big deal that she can't keep her legs together at this point? She basically just got her squat on a few weeks ago (together with her kip) and as I mentioned, she seems to be consistent in it - meaning, she is able to get up and jump on high bar. Am I wrong if I think it will get better with time and practice?

EDA: she is not scared of the squat on. She is scared of being yelled at because she does it wrong.

Yes. It is dangerous. One of her feet could become hooked on the bar and cause her to fall forward which commonly results in a broken arm or worse major dislocation. However this means she should do it at all without spot if she cannot perform it correctly. But it is a big deal to me. We just use very low bar progressions until they get it right and move up from there.

 

[Ginger]

@windydays: thanks, I was also thinking a half hour private rather than one hour (before practice probably). Her schedule is so packed that it would be hard to fit in one extra hour anyway!

Unfortunately she is the last one in her group who can't do it right. So no more drill stations during bars (other than rec bar in front of a big fat mat), and no one to split the private with (but the latter one I am cool with).

 

[Ginger]

@gymdog: thanks for the explanation.
The weird thing is, all their teammates seemed to get this particular skill easily. Many of them still can't do kip, but they got their squat ons even before the L4 uptraining started - sometimes in spring (March/April). I don't even remember there was some drilling for this skill, they just seemed to get this on their own. Weird because I really don't think we missed a practice (and therefore some drills) back then. My daughters were the only ones who struggled with it, which wouldn't surprise me if it was my YD, but my daughters are very different type of gymnasts and the OD is actually quite good on bars - gets most skills before her teammates.

 

[Gymsanity]

'she is not scared of the squat on. She is scared of being yelled at because she does it wrong.'
I just realized, we don't have a squat on problem, we have a coaching problem!! Yelling is for safety issues, not coaching ones....... If it's the squat on now, what will it be next time? BWO, BHS, BT, KIP, etc., etc. Extra good luck this time.....

 

[munchkin3]

I would ask for a private. My DD practiced at home by getting into push up position, and jumping into squat position with her legs glued.
My DDs Squat On is sketchy. all depends on her mood and confidence that day.........strap bar giants however, those are fine any time!.......go figure.

 

[Ginger]

@Gymsanity : gymdog explained that this actually IS a safety issue. I am not a coach, so I don't know.
So, we'll try private and we'll see.
She is very thin and long-legged, so sometimes I wonder if it may be a part of this problem - like she can't get her long legs under her torso fast enough?

 

[Turk]

She is very thin and long-legged, so sometimes I wonder if it may be a part of this problem - like she can't get her long legs under her torso fast enough?

It could well be something to do with it. It's a big part of why I struggle with this, with any sort of squat-through (eg. vault), and sometimes with heel drive. I should be at least 5' 7" for the length of my legs, but I'm considerably shorter than that and I have trouble getting them to go places fast enough because there's just so much LEG compared to the rest of me! In dance it's a bonus and I love to teach students who can make those gorgeous lines, but in gymnastics I haven't the first clue where to start with myself.

 

[gymjunkie]

@Gymsanity : gymdog explained that this actually IS a safety issue. I am not a coach, so I don't know.
So, we'll try private and we'll see.
She is very thin and long-legged, so sometimes I wonder if it may be a part of this problem - like she can't get her long legs under her torso fast enough?

No, it's not the long legs. Plenty of leggy kids get their squat on quickly. We had a kid make the same mistake while learning squat-ons this summer. She has it fine now (no privates, just refined it in practice). It is a fear issue, despite what she says. She is afraid of getting her hips high enough to squat on properly, because it will cause her more of a lean.

 

[Gymsanity]

@Gymsanity : gymdog explained that this actually IS a safety issue. I am not a coach, so I don't know.
So, we'll try private and we'll see.
She is very thin and long-legged, so sometimes I wonder if it may be a part of this problem - like she can't get her long legs under her torso fast enough?

I respect gymdogs opinion and I understand he feels it's a safety issue, but I don't happen to consider that a safety issue for my kids. Lots of kids learn it that way, and with some practice and patience they all seem to get it just fine. Can they trip when they first learn their squat on? Yes, I wish I had a dollar for every optional I've seen trip! Will she get hurt? Hopefully not if she has been taught properly what to do if that happens. All my girls learn as early as the class program how to do 'shins on', slip grip, and tuck and roll. Don't want to jinx myself, but not sure if in all my years I've had a girl get hurt on a squat on. Plenty at another gym I remember, but that's another story!

 

[windydays]

@windydays: thanks, I was also thinking a half hour private rather than one hour (before practice probably). Her schedule is so packed that it would be hard to fit in one extra hour anyway!

Unfortunately she is the last one in her group who can't do it right. So no more drill stations during bars (other than rec bar in front of a big fat mat), and no one to split the private with (but the latter one I am cool with).

This is an example of one thing I don't understand. If your daughter is struggling with squat-ons, why can't she work drills to strengthen that? Not every child is the same. There isn't any reason that she couldn't be working on drills for that or when it is her turn on the bar work on what she needs to be fixing/strengthening.