WAG Spotting on bars with their head is incorrect, right?

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Canadian_gym_mom

Proud Parent
Can someone correct me if I am wrong but pulling them up out of a straddle circle thing and handstand by their head is really bad right?

I know not knowing the terms is bad too but this shocked me.

Not my daughter, not my gym, but a video on YouTube i just watched, FYI.
 
I'm not sure how that's even possible. The only thing I've seen like that is kind of pushing on the top of their head as they come up to show them how to keep it still, but it's not pulling on their head or even pushing hard, just kind of helping them stabilize it in place.
 
I'm not sure how that's even possible. The only thing I've seen like that is kind of pushing on the top of their head as they come up to show them how to keep it still, but it's not pulling on their head or even pushing hard, just kind of helping them stabilize it in place.

I have seen this, not sure how the other way is possible either .
 
I'm not sure how that's even possible. The only thing I've seen like that is kind of pushing on the top of their head as they come up to show them how to keep it still, but it's not pulling on their head or even pushing hard, just kind of helping them stabilize it in place.

Well it was on a strap bar close to the ground and the coach was standing in front of the girl and when she came around under the bar she grabbed her by the head and lifted her up into a handstand.
 
I don't think you can physically lift some one into handstand by their head from under the bar. In a handstand everything apart from the arms are above the head. How would lifting the head make a handstand shape? You could maybe remind them to keep their head in and push against your hands as they straddled up. Kind of like doing a press to handstand with your head against a block for stability.
 
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Sometimes I might tap to remind them to keep the head neutral? I wonder if that's what your seeing versus pulling or pushing on the head (both bad!).
 
I have seen our coach put a hand on the head in several different bar skills. Dd says it is just sitting there to keep them from throwing their head out as they come around. Maybe she was doing more of the skill herself than you thought and this is what the hand was for? My dd and another of her team mates are learning stalders and I can't imagine how the coach lifting them by their head would work. If she needs a push he does stand in front of her but generally pushed on her back somewhere?

But, I've seen some crazy things on YouTube though so you never know.
 
okay people, pulling and pushing are completely different.
 
Well it was on a strap bar close to the ground and the coach was standing in front of the girl and when she came around under the bar she grabbed her by the head and lifted her up into a handstand.

I think the kid was going to handstand by herself and the coach was pushing her head relatively lightly. There's no way to pull someone by their head to handstand in a circling element. Presumably the kid wasn't harmed ot they wouldn't put a video of it in YouTube.
 
I think the kid was going to handstand by herself and the coach was pushing her head relatively lightly. There's no way to pull someone by their head to handstand in a circling element. Presumably the kid wasn't harmed ot they wouldn't put a video of it in YouTube.

Yes, and more like a pushing movement, pulling her under the bar then pushing up to handstand. It just looked like it could have ended very wrong.

I can't post the video it was of a coach and athlete we used to know. I found the YouTube from the video on the gym website.
 
Well, a link would be helpful. But I ain't gonna ask! ;)

I've seen coaches like Enrique Trabanino sometimes put one hand on top of the gymnast's head to remind the kid of keeping a neutral position during tap swings.

To try and make sense of what you described, can you specify exactly where the spotter's hands were? Are you sure it wasn't more behind the trapezius?

I suppose I can envision seeing a very light spot on the top of the head if the gymnast essentially was doing the skill to handstand by herself; and the coach wasn't really applying any pressure but just reminding her to keep the head in.

Most everyone who spots eventually comes up with their own way of spotting that's comfortable for them; sometimes it may be a very specific adaptation to the needs of the individual gymnast being spotted. I know there are ways that I've spotted someone, to never spot that way again because it was a unique method specific to that person at that particular stage in development.

Here's a story which may relate to this thread: I have a level 5 gymnast who has been getting light spots on cast layout flyaways and tap swing candle to tuck flyaways. She had a certain apprehension about the possibility of being too close to the bar (usually she wasn't and isn't) and I'd mostly either place one hand behind the base of her neck upon release; or just gently touch her at the wrist (in case I did need to help a directional push away from the bar). Sometimes she'd work without a spot altogether.

About 3 weeks ago she asked for a spot and when she landed on her feet, she turns to me and says, "You spotted me on the top of my head!" It just sort of happened. I did it a couple more times on purpose and thought it was actually pretty cool. It's certainly not the way I'd normally spot someone. But it is all dependent upon how well you know your athlete and what the needs are. I think my hand migrated there because her head's centered on her body whereas spotting her one arm is not. :)
 
Well, a link would be helpful. But I ain't gonna ask! ;)

I've seen coaches like Enrique Trabanino sometimes put one hand on top of the gymnast's head to remind the kid of keeping a neutral position during tap swings.

To try and make sense of what you described, can you specify exactly where the spotter's hands were? Are you sure it wasn't more behind the trapezius?

Standing in front of the bar, bar around midsection level, gymnast comes under the bar toward coach.

Coach grabs gymnasts head with both hands around the head close to the chin almost to the neck area, pulls gymnast toward her then as the gymnast moves around and up toward handstand the movement switches direction upward towards the handstand.

Coach's 2 hands wrapped around the head/chin/neck area.
 
Well...I had to go look, wasn't that hard to find the video with my mad detective stills :p It looked to me like she was pushing on the shoulders, not the head.
 
Yeah well I hope the video I found is the wrong one because what is shown isn't anything even remotely close to pulling a child to handstand by their head. The coach lightly spotted (like with fingers) the child's shoulders on a stalder from the front of the bar which is a totally standard spotting technique. I know it was light because the child has a set of five clear hip handstands shown prior in the video and then also clips of stalder drops and seat circle drills she was doing well. The coach was just assisting her lightly in fully opening her shoulders.

But I guess it's a good reminder of the danger of coaching techniques being misinterpreted (and I'm not being snarky - this is a real problem we all need to be aware of).
 
As long as the coach isn't Swearing at the gymnast while they are spotting this way, I think it's okay. ;)
 

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