Parents Bent legs in all skills-frustrated mom and daughter

[Avasmom]

My 7 year old daughter has bent legs in vault, bars, and beam. She is xcel bronze, 2nd year competing. Last year she competed level 2 but only one competition. Her coach told her she is going to get big deductions for them. She is an overachiever and tries so hard to get it but I honestly don't think she knows that her legs aren't straight. I realize its a really big deal but I'm at a lose of how to help her. I think she may be the only one struggling in this area. She has her bigger skills like robhs and front handspring. She loves gymnastics.

If she doesn't correct it does that mean her career in gymnastics is over?

 

[roll123]

Following, DD has one bent leg. In everything she does

 

[Avasmom]

Following, DD has one bent leg. In everything she does [/QUOTE

It's so frustrating to see her give 110% and then for her to hear your legs are bent.

 

[raenndrops]

It doesn't mean her gymnastics career is over... but don't expect an Olympian or D-1 NCAA gymnast if it doesn't eventually fix itself.

That being said, YG was like that. Competed old L4 for two years and New L3 for a year (ages 7-9) and always had bent knees. Started straightening them toward the end of L3. At 10, she switched to Xcel Gold. She still has bent knees sometimes, but it is what it is. The most it should cost in a single routine would be 1.0 ... but it should usually only be 0.1 per skill with bent knees.

One thing that helped YG was recording her and having her watch it. She SAW the knees and would focus more on them. I also held her legs straight a couple times (and had coaches do it a few times at practice) so she could FEEL how it felt when they were straight. Of course, with her latest growth spurt, her legs grew, but her tendons and ligaments didn't keep up and she literally CANNOT straighten her legs completely - even when forcing it.

 

[ZJsMom]

When ds was 7, he just didn't have the focus to keep it all together either. If you told him to straighten his arms, his legs bent and vice versa. It clicked when he was 8. I think some kids just need more time to mature. Now, he's 15 and recognized for his great lines. I wouldn't worry about it yet, she's young.

 

[kayjaybe]

Let the coach deal with it.

You can always video her at meets and let her look at her own videos without saying anything. My dd would do that and on her own say "ugh! My legs are all bent!"

I think she also didn't feel like they were bent, but once she saw it (when she asked on her own to see the videos without any prompting or comments from me), she was able to see it and start working on fixing it.

 

[auswi]

Dd thought her legs were straight but they weren't...she equated the slightly bent feel to being straight. She could flex them straight in splits .

She was given a simple exercise to do at home-of sitting down , legs out in front, then tightened them into straight position 10 times for a 3 second hold.

After a few weeks the difference in the gym was huge

BUT this was coach directed & physically she was able to become straight-no problems with tight hammies etc that could cause this problem.....Bottom line-trust your coach to be able to help☺

Good luck☺☺

 

[Committed]

DDs coach went over with them the difference between "straight" legs and "locked" legs. They want the girls legs locked that you can see the tight muscles.

 

[tortuga]

I agree with the - let the coach fix it, but it sounds like this coach is saying "you gotta get it right!" without providing some techniques to improve. I know my gymmie was given instruction on how to pull it all together: the tight butt, hollow, point toes, etc. I don't know what she did that helped but the *coach* did it.

 

[MAcastsalot]

Last year (L2), my dd had straight legs most of the time. Now (L3) it seems like they are constantly bent. She did grow a bit, but her flexibility has improved tons, so I don't think it's a physical issue. I actually see it more on the skills where she is trying to focus on multiple components at the same time, and there is a lot more to think about on those L3 skills. I don't mention it to her, but I have taken videos of her (at home) doing basic leaps or kicks when she wants to show me the dancy parts of the routines. She notices right away when she watches herself.

 

[gymdog]

Last year (L2), my dd had straight legs most of the time. Now (L3) it seems like they are constantly bent. She did grow a bit, but her flexibility has improved tons, so I don't think it's a physical issue. I actually see it more on the skills where she is trying to focus on multiple components at the same time, and there is a lot more to think about on those L3 skills. I don't mention it to her, but I have taken videos of her (at home) doing basic leaps or kicks when she wants to show me the dancy parts of the routines. She notices right away when she watches herself.

I think this is likely part of it if before she has had straight legs on easier skills. At 6-7 they can only remember so much at once so until something is memorized it usually looks messy. The only solution is to break it into smaller parts and improve strength and flexibility (overall physical abilities) so the default strength and form in the body line is better. That all takes time.

Of course some kids have a structural issue that causes their legs to look slightly bent. That can't necessarily be fixed.

Others have a strength and flexibility imbalance between their quads and hamstrings, if this is the case it can be improved but takes time.

And again most of the time it's just not being able to concentrate on it AND lacking overall strength, particularly core strength, to make the move easy enough that they can correct their form without collapsing or just trying to chuck it.

 

[MAcastsalot]

It's definitely not a core strength issue for my dd, as all of her skills are "tight" according to her coach. I think it is mostly mental, with a side of trying to make skills bigger than they need to be (mostly trying to get those kicks WAY higher than they need to be/her flexibility allows).

 

[gymdog]

As a coach, it doesn't really make sense to me that skills would be tight with constantly bent legs (unless the bend is a structural issue where the knees appear bent even if locked). True bent legs imply a lack of body tension.

But kids can have the superficial appearance of muscles without having strength or awareness in the proper alignment positions in gymnastics making it hard for them to appear straight and aligned. It could be a few things but the number one is strength and body alignment awareness...it is possible to have the strength and just lack awareness but usually there is strength lacking in at least one area.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

In my experience, if the legs physically straighten,,,, and they still bend them,,,, it's a choice....

 

[MAcastsalot]

@Avasmom Do you know what her preferred learning style is? If she is a kinesthetic learner, but she's only being told to straighten her legs or shown what straight legs (on someone else) look like, it may not be sinking in as well as it would if she was physically put in a position with straight legs. In my (very limited) experience, DD's coaches tell them, show them, and make them "feel" the right way to do a skill, and often times mine doesn't get it until they get to the "feel" part. Just food for thought.

 

[Avasmom]

Let the coach deal with it.

You can always video her at meets and let her look at her own videos without saying anything. My dd would do that and on her own say "ugh! My legs are all bent!"

I think she also didn't feel like they were bent, but once she saw it (when she asked on her own to see the videos without any prompting or comments from me), she was able to see it and start working on fixing it.

Her coaches want the bent legs fixed now before competition begins though. I do video her as much as I can at home but she can't do bigger skills at home. DD doesn't know they are bent. The other night as she was laying in bed I said hold your leg out and point it and I pushed her knee down and she said ouch!

 

[Avasmom]

@Avasmom Do you know what her preferred learning style is? If she is a kinesthetic learner, but she's only being told to straighten her legs or shown what straight legs (on someone else) look like, it may not be sinking in as well as it would if she was physically put in a position with straight legs. In my (very limited) experience, DD's coaches tell them, show them, and make them "feel" the right way to do a skill, and often times mine doesn't get it until they get to the "feel" part. Just food for thought.

I always thought she was a visual learner until I looked up the characteristics and one of them was memorization. She has difficulty with memorization. I have noticed spelling is difficult for her and still in 2nd grade she reverses letters b and d. She is aware that she does this and has to hold up her hands to remind her which way they go. I would say she is more kinesthetic with some visual learning. She is naturally average in reading but pushes herself to be above average and in math she is above average without trying.

 

[Avasmom]

I think this is likely part of it if before she has had straight legs on easier skills. At 6-7 they can only remember so much at once so until something is memorized it usually looks messy. The only solution is to break it into smaller parts and improve strength and flexibility (overall physical abilities) so the default strength and form in the body line is better. That all takes time.

Of course some kids have a structural issue that causes their legs to look slightly bent. That can't necessarily be fixed.

Others have a strength and flexibility imbalance between their quads and hamstrings, if this is the case it can be improved but takes time.

And again most of the time it's just not being able to concentrate on it AND lacking overall strength, particularly core strength, to make the move easy enough that they can correct their form without collapsing or just trying to chuck it.

I think you are on to something here. DD has difficulty memorizing and her routines are new to her so she is concentrating on them and the fact she wants a sticker for being competition ready (which she hasn't earned yet) with less regard to her form. She is one of the youngest girls on the team and the older girls have all memorized their routines.

 

[AWOL]

My daughter was the same way and the coach told her to concentrate on keeping her toes pointed. This fixed it in a matter of days. I guess by doing that, it made her whole body stretch out without her needing to think about every part of her body.

 

[MAcastsalot]

@coachp I CAN make a mean risotto, but if the phone rings or a kid needs to have their nose wiped, the risotto may end up stuck to the pan. I didn't CHOOSE to mess up dinner, but there were a lot of other tasks demanding my attention. I'm sure you get the point, but these are kids with naturally small attention spans, trying to multi task beyond their developmental stages. It takes time. When they are relatively new skills and the coach says "I want you to all make sure your arms are in the correct position" and a few kids end up forgetting to focus on their legs (or toes, or arch/hollow) that is completely appropriate for the age. They aren't deliberately messing up.