WAG Clear Hip to Handstand Progression

[JoyAvenueMom]

Just curious..(and really don't want my dd's coach to know I am a secret CGM). What are the pre-requisites for training the clear hip to handstand? Kipper has a decent clear hip, some days better than others, but normally above horizontal. She has mentioned doing some spotted clear hips to handstand, but says it is not frequent. One of her carpool partners talked about working clear hips on her own on the pit bar the other day. This girl is a strong bar worker, so I assume she is just "ready" to learn the skill. Kipper says she doesn't have a feel for the "timing" yet, but I assume there is more to it than that. She says she "really" wants to get it before the end of the season. I just smile and tell her to keep working hard. But I wonder...it seems like a very difficult skill to learn, and I don't think her coach is even focusing on that right now. Still trying to get the arch out of those giants... Any coaches or parents who have BTDT want to share?

 

[Texasmomof3]

I have no clue. But it is funny you mention that. My dd has recently gotten her clear hip to handstand and her giant (she taught them to herself on pit bar), but she still isn't doing a straddle cast handstand. I was also wondering what the normal progression is.

 

[munchkin3]

Not sure about progressions or coaching.....what I see at our gym, strap bar work is done at L4/5 and clear hips and giants are done with spotting and then without. By level 6, on the wood bar, they do millions of spotted CHS, drop kips to CHS, free hip to HS, over and over and over.....sometimes 5-10 in a row......this lasts until they get it......lots of arm/shoulder conditioning with 3 or 5 lb weights.....focus is on hollow tight shape the whole time.
Giants are worked slowly and a lot of emphasis on shape. They do not allow Giants with the arch over style and will stop the girls from doing them entirely and go back the 3/4 giants......

It is very labor intensive for the coaches and they leave with achy arms too......

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

Not sure about progressions or coaching.....what I see at our gym, strap bar work is done at L4/5 and clear hips and giants are done with spotting and then without. By level 6, on the wood bar, they do millions of spotted CHS, drop kips to CHS, free hip to HS, over and over and over.....sometimes 5-10 in a row......this lasts until they get it......lots of arm/shoulder conditioning with 3 or 5 lb weights.....focus is on hollow tight shape the whole time.
Giants are worked slowly and a lot of emphasis on shape. They do not allow Giants with the arch over style and will stop the girls from doing them entirely and go back the 3/4 giants......

It is very labor intensive for the coaches and they leave with achy arms too......

Sounds like Kipper's gym. Those coaches certainly earn their paychecks! I didn't mean to imply she has an "arch over" giant. She has a natural arch in her back and heavy, muscular legs. Her coach explained her body shape makes it that much more difficult for her to maintain the hollow shape all the way around. She complained this summer that she might NEVER learn to do a giant because he wouldn't let her arch over. LOL Sometimes that arch slips back in just at the very top. ;-)

 

[Ali'sMom]

They do not allow Giants with the arch over style and will stop the girls from doing them entirely and go back the 3/4 giants......

Just curious - what is a 3/4 giant?

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

A 3/4 giant or "baby giant" as they are often called, is a circle around the bar without full extension. They stay hollow and tight, but their shoulders are not fully open. You shouldn't ever see one in a competition, it's just a training exercise.

 

[rjb123]

DD's clear hip to HS and giant both came around the same time. She said that they are similar in some way. I don't understand all of the lingo but from what I gathered she said she just had to figure out when to open her shoulders (Not sure at all what that means but that is what she said!). I think maybe (like everything seems to be!) it is a strength/ timing thing?

 

[ascarter1]

DD's clear hip to HS and giant both came around the same time. She said that they are similar in some way. I don't understand all of the lingo but from what I gathered she said she just had to figure out when to open her shoulders (Not sure at all what that means but that is what she said!). I think maybe (like everything seems to be!) it is a strength/ timing thing?

Same with my dd. The skill didn't come until training level 7.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Not sure about progressions or coaching.....what I see at our gym, strap bar work is done at L4/5 and clear hips and giants are done with spotting and then without. By level 6, on the wood bar, they do millions of spotted CHS, drop kips to CHS, free hip to HS, over and over and over.....sometimes 5-10 in a row......this lasts until they get it......lots of arm/shoulder conditioning with 3 or 5 lb weights.....focus is on hollow tight shape the whole time.
Giants are worked slowly and a lot of emphasis on shape. They do not allow Giants with the arch over style and will stop the girls from doing them entirely and go back the 3/4 giants......

It is very labor intensive for the coaches and they leave with achy arms too......

Disallowing archy Giants is an excellent strategy from what I've seen so far in L7 bar scoring - archy Giants are scored very harshly. Same thing w/ archy casts.

 

[Committed]

DD got her to HS pretty quickly once she actually started trying. It was all part of training L5. She just said she had to shift her hands way earlier, but bars have started coming much easier in the past 9mo.

 

[Ali'sMom]

A 3/4 giant or "baby giant" as they are often called, is a circle around the bar without full extension. They stay hollow and tight, but their shoulders are not fully open. You shouldn't ever see one in a competition, it's just a training exercise.

Thank you! I know them as baby giant from level 5.
For 3/4 giant I was picturing them swinging 3/4 around the bar, and I couldn't figure out how they stopped - lol!

 

[gymjunkie]

Honestly, it takes over a thousand attempts for most kids.