WAG Level 8 Vault Practice

[Yuenling]

Hello,

I am posting this again, but this time in the correct forum. =)

It is now September, and as of last week, the level 8's only does Yuchenko drills about 2x a week. The other 3x a week, they do FHS vault drills. My DD has done a Yuchenko tuck into the pit over the summer, maybe during a private lesson once or twice. However, it's now been a month since she's tried it again so I think she might have lost it.

I dont want to question my DD's coach. She is a little intimidating, and I tend to ask things untactfully. What I really want to ask her is, "Why are the level 8's still working on front handsprings?" Last year, she made all the level 8 girls who didn't flip scratch vault, so I don't think she is planning a FHS vault as a back-up level 8.

If she doesn't practice level 8 vaults every day by the end of September, is there any chance she'd actually get them by January? Do some of the punching and blocking drills used for FHS vaults translate to Tsuks or Yuchenkos? Is she trying to pace my DD so there are no overuse injuries?

The coach has a good record for teaching vault. One of her level 10 girls got a 9.95 last season. So it's not that she is inexperienced. She just seems to be really, really methodical and slow at progressing the girls. I know it's not a race but my DD takes a long time to learn new skills so I just wish she'd work on the tough skills sooner. I've been reading on CB and it seems like it can take over a year to learn how to land a Yuchenko properly, so doesn't it seem strange that she is not practicing them yet? What can I do besides schedule private lessons, which are really tough to schedule since they are already in the gym 20 hours a week for regular practice.

Thanks for letting me vent, everyone!

 

[gymdog]

There are a few things that could be going on and it would be pure speculation on our part. What we do know is that she is capable of teaching excellent yurchenko vaults, and we can assume her goal is for the kids to be good at gymnastics. So unless she just got super lucky (probably not very likely if there's more than one level 10), her plan is probably one that will lead to progress, although it may be slower than you'd hope for. The good thing about this is that it's safer, less likely to lead to injury, and less likely to lead to fear blocks.

She could be teaching the FHS because she wants to improve their run and it's easier to use a familiar vault to do that. She could be teaching it because she wants to move into front style vaulting and she's drilling them to eventually do front fronts. Maybe this year she is going to let them compete a FHS so she wants it to be pretty good. When she let your daughter try it, maybe she saw deficits in strength or technique that would lead to injury and fears if she let her continue to "throw it." Actually, it's entirely likely that happened. Unfortunately there is no way to rush this whether your daughter takes a long time or not.

 

[Yuenling]

Gymdog, your response makes perfect sense! And yes, she has had girls on the team have fear of flipping in the past so I can see where she doesn't want a bad experience like landing on the face become a mental block.

Safety and good form is very important to her. She spends a lot of time on "fundamentals".

Thanks for reminding me that this sport is a marathon and not a sprint. I'm not sure why I feel in such a rush.

 

[Yuenling]

Gymdog, I had another question. The focus of yesterday's practice was "blocking" according to DD. So they did front handspring blocking drills. Does a good FHS block translate to a good block for a yuckenko or a tsuk?

 

[gymdog]

Well, sort of, I suppose, in the strength required but they're all different skills. Sounds more like the coach could be trying to develop front vaulting.

 

[Yuenling]

Well, sort of, I suppose, in the strength required but they're all different skills. Sounds more like the coach could be trying to develop front vaulting.

Okay. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Gymdog, I had another question. The focus of yesterday's practice was "blocking" according to DD. So they did front handspring blocking drills. Does a good FHS block translate to a good block for a yuckenko or a tsuk?

oddly enough, my two front handspring front kids were picked at the ranch years ago to demonstrate the yurchenko block drill, because they were the best at it. Neither of them have ever done a yurchenko. It got me immediately thinking and yes we now do mix in front entries with our upcoming 8's and 9's.

 

[gymdog]

oddly enough, my two front handspring front kids were picked at the ranch years ago to demonstrate the yurchenko block drill, because they were the best at it. Neither of them have ever done a yurchenko. It got me immediately thinking and yes we now do mix in front entries with our upcoming 8's and 9's.

I'm not really surprise because I think front entry requires a much stronger block to even attempt than a yurchenko, which you can kind of fling around based on backward momentum (not saying you should, but I've a seen lot more yurchenko a land on feet with poor block than front fronts). So they would have more body tension and shoulder action. Also, it is much easier for the kids to make changes in the front entry because they aren't thinking "okay just fling myself over to the other side whew didn't hit my head." So that's why I'm thinking maybe this coach is seeing deficits in general vaulting and so she is having the kids work on blocking and run with the front handspring because they are actually making changes and blocking vs just flinging themselves into the pit over and over so they can say "I flipped 16 yurchenkos."

Hopefully they will get good enough to do it soon but in the meantime I think you can feel assured knowing the coach is trying to design a safe and productive workout...safety is the number one priority so if a kid is not ready to flip a yurchenko...then the coach must come up with alternatives to let them strengthen their skills.

 

[Yuenling]

My DD ended up working on the yuchenko drills 2 out of 5 practices this week. She even flipped into the pit so I was happy to see that it is part of her practice. Without me approaching the subject, the coach came up to me after practice and told me my daughter had to work on a lot of things . She listed a lot of things 1) run faster 2) better round-off 3) not throwing the head back on the back handspring 4) open shoulders 5) not bending the elbows

She said that my DD should be paying close attention to her BHS corrections on floor because they will affect her yuchenkos.

Is it normal to have so many problems while learning the yuchenkos? How fixable is it?

Also, how normal is it to have a slight shoulder angle and bent arms on the table? I noticed that even when she is doing BHS-BHS on beam, she also has the shoulder angle and slightly bent arms

 

[gymdog]

Yes normal and those are common errors. When she gets stronger and more comfortable with the timing she should get better!

 

[Yuenling]

Dumb question maybe, but are the elbows supposed to be locked during the back handspring of a yuchenko?