dive forward foll

[isaelijohjac]

Hi there. My daughter is a level 5 and is having a difficult time with the dive forward roll for some reason. She bounces on her back sometimes...she is getting conflicting help with her coaches. One coach is telling her to go up in a handstand because she is not getting high enough. I think that is confusing her. Another says keep her chest up. the first coach is telling her to put her weight on her hands, the other is not...any help is appreciated.

thanks.

isaelijohjac

[EntrReality]

They all are probably right in their corrections. If she is piking into the roll or tucking early she is going to bounce on her back. The one coach that is telling her to do a handstand is implying she is not in a straight hollow position upon placement of her hands on the floor. The coach telling her to keep her chest up is implying the gymnast is reaching down to the ground too early and may not have any flight at all or very little. This coach is probably also trying to get her to place her hands down later. Each coach is is TRYING to give her a verbal correction that she will understand neither is really conflicting. There are several drills that can be tried though. She could dive over a barrel off a springboard and onto an 8" skill mat. This would give her more time in the air to get the desired body position. Once that is accomplished she could remove the springboard and rely on her own "punching" ability. I like to explain this shape as an "over-rotated" handstand or punch to a handstand that is that is "over hollowed." Having the barrel or some other matting to dive over will force her to keep her chest up. The problems she seems to have may be more related to the insecurity of doing a new skill. Typically, if a gymnast is nervous about a skill like this they will tend to find the "fetal position" until they are comfortable.

This post does not cover all aspects of the dive roll only those aspects that I understand from what corrections your coaches are giving.