WAG Question/frustration with 1/2 pirouette on bar

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littlegirlsdream

Proud Parent
dd is struggling to control coming out of the 1/2 turn on bars. She hits handstand, turns it and then can't control it down into a swing that leads to a kip, she looks like she more just falls out of it and hits her feet on the mat. There hasn't been any drills or spoting to correct it but just the instruction to pike down and then frustration on everyone's part that she doesn't make the correction. The problem I feel is she may not know how to fix this on her own. She is told she isn't trying and she is choosing not to fix it. I find this a bit hard to believe, at this point if she could simply chose to fix it she would. This isn't a skill she use to have and now doesn't it is a skill she occasionally gets lucky and gets it to work but mostly she doesn't. She gets kicked off bars for not doing it and she has spent several entire practice (or close to it) on bars to"get it". Any insight to this skill or things that could help her I would love to hear.
 
I see many girls even at level 9 (after multiple years at L8) who hit there feet kipping out of the pirouette, so she's not alone. A coach (hopefully yours) needs to weigh in on how to fix it.

DD says it's all about the planche coming out of the pirouette. Not sure if a planche is the same as a pike (I think it's a similar position - I plead ignorance but know it's what our coaches preach). Also, I am pretty sure it requires a lot strength and girls hitting the floor are given certain conditioning. I believe it requires both abs and arm strength.
 
Well here goes ,,. Tapping your feet on the floor is usually intentional, and we can tell if they are doing it on purpose. So I would now to the coaches assumption on if they are trying and hitting (knees locked the entire time). Or if they are choosing, knees bend intentionally inches prior to hitting the floor. Bottom line , if she can do a glide out of a hstand she can hold her feet up. However not believing that you can do the skill or not understanding it can lead to the unconscious decision to bend your legs and tap your feet on the ground. Do you have the option to go to open gym?
 
As always, it is hard to tell where the problem lies without seeing it. It could be multiple things. Could be technique, could be a strength problem, could even be a fear issue.
And as always a gymnast can not just go and repetitively try something that obviously isn't working. Her coaches have to have her work drop kips, cast swing down kip, cast to handstand swing down kip... I addmit I'm not advanced enough as a coach to have much expirience with pirouettes but I guess controlling the pirouette is just as important. If it's strength they have to have her work strength, legs and core mostly. I can also imagine she is slightly unsure about her grip coming out of the pirouette and therefore isn't trying to kip as she's afraid she will slip.
Maybe it's a combination of all three aspects.
In either case, progressions an patience is the answer.
 
My daughter used to do this. I don't know if this will help or even make sense, but this is what helped her. One of her coaches noticed that she didn't have enough shoulder strength to push down on the bar at the top of the handstand. She's very strong, but just that particular muscle or muscle group wasn't strong enough. He had her do strength exercises, and practice the pirouette against the wall. Once she got stronger, she got control of it. She wasn't hitting her feet, but she was falling out of the handstand.
 
Can she do kip cast to handstand kip and hold her feet up? Also, is she pirouetting on top of the bar or is the pirouette happening too late?
 
She can do kip cast handstand kip but it isn't pretty and doesn't always hit. Her glide kip has been a problem from day 1...her glide actually is a problem...she remains partially piked through the hips and pushes her chest past her arm while gliding. Not sure that makes sense. I feel maybe her lack of core strength could be part of the issue. It isn't really just that her feet hit, it looks like she performs a nice turn then has gets shot and just kind of falls
There aren't any open gyms at her gym but privates to work them might be an option.
 
If she can glide Kip out of the cast handstand she can glide Kip out of the 1/2 . She needs to do a private lesson And put a spotting block that is even with the height of the low bar so you may have to add a couple of panel mats or stack to spotting box together to achieve this. She needs to stand on the block that is off to the side and put her hands in a mix grip on the bar and practice kicking handstand a couple of times, Her hands need to be close together As she kicks up to handstand and completes the 1/2. After a couple of those she can try to glide out of it. So she's basically going to give herself a lot more tries on the 1/2 without having to do the cast. So standing on the block that is off to the side same height as the Lowbar kick handstand in a reverse grip have to turn glide out. I hope that makes sense.
 
Sorry for the spelling or grammar errors I'm using my voice command On my phone. :)
 
she needs to learn to make the hand change in handstand. then, hold the bar down (pressure) and piro to arrive in handstand. then power down with a straight body to parallel before dropping the glide.

most kids try to piro away from the bar like a cartwheel. this gets their body (center of gravity) to far away from the bar (center of mass) and the body ends up dropping like a lead weight and slamming their feet in to the floor.

the key is keeping the elbows directly over the top of the bar during and arriving in the handstand after the piro is completed. :)
 
So, as a side note, they do a drill where they kip cast handstand 1/2 pirouette then fall back to back onto mats. That DD can do..I am not sure what that drill is for but it seems like if she can do that she should have the control to come out of the 1/2 pirouette into a glide kip..is that incorrect to assume?
 
So, as a side note, they do a drill where they kip cast handstand 1/2 pirouette then fall back to back onto mats. That DD can do..I am not sure what that drill is for but it seems like if she can do that she should have the control to come out of the 1/2 pirouette into a glide kip..is that incorrect to assume?

yes. that drill is to learn early piro so the athlete can arrive in the handstand ALREADY turned instead of turning out of the handstand.
 

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